Dwarf/Mystic

[Bukharistan]

So, I'm going to take over a Dwarf/Mystic from someone else. Currently it's being played as TM, but I'd like to play it as A/M. I was thinking of running this:

1. Homes: 150 (15%)
2. Farms: 100 (10%)
3. Training Grounds: 100 (10%)
4. Military Barracks: 50 (5%)
5. Forts: 100 (10%)
6. Hospitals: 130 (13%)
7. Guilds: 80 (8%)
8. Towers: 100 (10%)
9. Watch Towers: 100 (10%)
10. Stables: 90 (9%)

Raze stables before war and put them either into banks or extra hosps.
Raze Barracks to put into an extra 5% WTs.

Military build:
29 PPA
5 wpa
2 tpa
10 def specs/acre
7 elites/acre

Could also run 9 def specs, 8 elites. Depending on the situation I guess. This strat allows me to turtle up before war on 75-80 dpa. I get about 60 opa, enough to double tap attackers with armies out, especially if I hit a bit down the chain. My 5 wpa will allow me to grow while still remaining an effective FBer. Early war I could be of use for MS on attackers with low wpa.

Let me know what you guys think.

[crease]

screw the forts, get gs. You can build swap freely in war if you get close to ub, until then they have no value. You will be wanting more hosps, especially if there are undeads in your/enemy kd. 5 wpa is a bit too much, 4 is about a max limit on usefulness. Just ensure you have good chan sci.

Dont cast MS with 8% guilds hehe

[2Utopian]

you know 8% as a mystic gives 16% towards durations right? Still might bump it to 10% but I am thinking you forgot that crease.

[Landro]

10% towers is way too little unless you have extreme sci (at least +150% magic sci that is)
You'll need at least 20% towers unless you want to stick with cheap spells like Greed and FB.
You could drop the rax because war benefits + QF lets you hit 2x/day already. (you'd just need to do -1 hr every now and then outside war to keep your attack times aligned)

[StratOcastle]

Does anyone AW fat attackers to make shelling easier for non-mages fury mystics or t/ms for that matter?

[crease]

you know 8% as a mystic gives 16% towards durations right? Still might bump it to 10% but I am thinking you forgot that crease.

i didnt forget that at all, dwarf BE at war start is usually about 90, one incoming land puts you at 12% mod guilds, if ur a mystic going for duration spells then GTFO.

Does anyone AW fat attackers to make shelling easier for non-mages fury mystics or t/ms for that matter?

i havent seen it done since age 54, but theres no need to shell with ops when 1 mass removes 25% of a guys wpa.

[noobium]

Dwarf/Mystic is really hard to use. Really only strong point is that they're the easiest Mystic to convert to plain attacker after being massed into the ground.
You would probably want to keep your Dwarf/Mystic as far away from any 2taps as you can. If so, heavy GS with forts is pretty useful, Dwarf/Mystic is often a chain magnet. The biggest concern now is massacre being so strong.

[crease]

Dwarf/Mystic is really hard to use. Really only strong point is that they're the easiest Mystic to convert to plain attacker after being massed into the ground.
You would probably want to keep your Dwarf/Mystic as far away from any 2taps as you can. If so, heavy GS with forts is pretty useful, Dwarf/Mystic is often a chain magnet. The biggest concern now is massacre being so strong.

This, there are 2 schools of thought, the first being baiting them to mass you by only running ~3ish wpa and going heavier off. Or picking a better turtle race. If you get massed you can convert to 50% guilds and outpump anybody in a long war, just about the only reason the pick is good.

edit: if you get chained in the above situation with only 3 wpa, you will still be LL'ing anybody and everybody. If not you will grow a bit slower than attackers and maintain enough wpa to econ control. No point in wasting the pop space on casting MS imo, certainly not till ur chained. However in that situation its usually better to let guilds drop and put in 30-40% towers for LL+fbs, theyre usually more useful than selfspells, qf included.

[StratOcastle]

Couple of ages ago when I was with Arktic Fury we ran across a kingdom with a number of dwarf mystics in the core. This was also the kingdom that used SN and survey effectively. Anyway they shelled the crap out of our heavy undead core and we were nearly all frozen in our steps for econ depletion.
The dwarves wilted as soon as we exchanged hits, but the overall strategy was sound enough. Didn't dwarves have an op bonus in age 56, I think? I was undead cleric, so no shame in dwarf crumbling.
You will be good at opportunity tactics, not the grime of exchange in the hellpits of core, or the electric palaces of true t/ms.

[noobium]

mystic also grants nightmare, and that is probably going to be a dwarf's go-to op early in war in any kingdom that can organize nightmare chains - something to consider. as a meteor caster dwarf can keep it up on bloated targets, but will have trouble casting against stronger magic defenses.

dwarf/mystic is also decent if it is mostly left alone. it is very likely that they are not immediate targets for fb or nm, and their watchtowers are better than everyone else's.

buildwise i would either go with no homes or homes-heavy, not 15%. 15% sacrifices too many buildings a dwarf would rather have instead and does little for building efficiency.

[crease]

dwarves have very reasonable levels of military sustain. 18-20% hosps for a dwarf give the magic -50% losses, something that would require 27-30% for another race, depending on how deeply drafted. I dont honestly remember dwarves ever having +dmg mods, that was avian for thief ops and fae for mage ops afaik. Dwarves just get that inbuilt free tpa boost on TDs and easymode wpa pumping for the same reason.

[noobium]

dwarves used to have +20-30% instant spell damage depending on the age. a lot of people liked dwarf mages for that reason, but i always considered it (like the avian bonus) too situational to build a province around.

the age where dwarves had clear sight, they were beasts but better in the a/t role than the a/m role despite the spell mod.

[StratOcastle]

Oh, I almost didn't think of this. Won't mystic aura stop a reflected spell? If it does you now have a safety on your 45.

[Palem]

Oh, I almost didn't think of this. Won't mystic aura stop a reflected spell? If it does you now have a safety on your 45.

It shouldn't. MA stops spells that are cast at you. Reflected spells aren't cast at you.

[Landro]

It shouldn't. MA stops spells that are cast at you. Reflected spells aren't cast at you.

It shouldn't and doesn't