How do I utilize the void?

[Contemptible Brigand]

The void is so mysterious and terrifying! How do you explore it without going insane, and is there even a reason to explore it? It seems like all of the horrible creatures of the void are insanely strong, so surely there's some large reward waiting for you if you brave the void?

[SaD-82]

You have to use the powers of Cthulhu - in other words: Use Starspawns or Void Lords. Creatures native to the void.
All other creatures - well, they will end up being insane or horror marked sooner or later.

As horrifying this may sound - the Void is a perfect spot for starting the conquest of the other planes.
You just have to survive the trip, which is a huge "IF".

[Draken]

Honestly, the void is pretty "meh". Not many resources, the map randomly reshuffles and the exit portals are random too.

Necromancer would be the second class that deals with the void well, -ish.
The regain sanity they have works on void sanity loss too.

If you managed to reach the Nexus, you can hire Ether Lords, which also have the void sanity and can explore the void without going bananas.

[Nathan Pascal]

Originally posted by Contemptible Brigand:

so surely there's some large reward waiting for you if you brave the void?

As a general rule regarding the planes, to avert future disappointment, there is not much out there in the multiverse worth your time. Some classes might be able to get some benefit from them, but if you are able to conquer and hold them, you should have already been able to win the game, so they are more an alternative objective to explore for pure entertainment, not utility. There may not be nothing out there (Void holds an level 3 library, for example), but not as much as one might expect or hope for.

[Draken]

It honestly depends on the class.

The Witch for example has a very easy access to off-plane swamps. She can quickly hop into Aztlan and grab some nice swamps and settlements for more income.

If you have Red Kobolds and find a Volcano entrance to the Plane of Fire, that's nice too. Quite a lot of those enemy inside can't hurt you and you will get a bit of extra gem income.

But yeah, normally you need endgame armies to properly conquer a plane, and the resources you get out of it are usually pretty sparse.

The Elemental Plane of Earth is very nice for all gem using classes, but not easy to reach.

[The Grand Mugwump]

Originally posted by Nathan Pascal:

Originally posted by Contemptible Brigand:

so surely there's some large reward waiting for you if you brave the void?

As a general rule regarding the planes, to avert future disappointment, there is not much out there in the multiverse worth your time. Some classes might be able to get some benefit from them, but if you are able to conquer and hold them, you should have already been able to win the game, so they are more an alternative objective to explore for pure entertainment, not utility. There may not be nothing out there (Void holds an level 3 library, for example), but not as much as one might expect or hope for.

I find that planes become more important in large team battles, where securing some extra income from other planes becomes a much bigger deal. But yeah, even then, we don't conquer the really well defended stuff right away typically.

[Underscorecow]

I have seen other planes used in multiplayer pvp but those types of games literally take all day.

Some planes you wont have to invest much into defending/attrition its just free income for whatever you manage to grab, but it takes a really long time to see that investment pay it self off especially in a multiplayer game where a single turn can take upwards of 2 minutes.

the void is not one of those places that you can invest in during the early game, you could theoretically take an army, put it on a boat, and sail that boat to the edge of the map and get lucky within the void and quickly find something somewhere decent.

infact it might be viable on classes like baron/kobold where you have an absurd amount of units but little ways of dealing with late game doomstacks so you could theoretically avoid a loss by finding stuff on other planes using your endless chaff that wouldnt do anything to army wiping spells but could be thrown away to explore, but its just a hunch.

as for high cultist / necromancer the classes that have access to things that are best equipped to explore the void, I would say that most of the commanders that you have access to that can resist the void are very powerful in their ownright and should be used on elysium since there really isnt anything from other factions that you cant beat.

[/!X\Space\\^//Badger/X!\]

How feasable would it be, to make custom maps that utilize the various Planes?

[Sick Puppy]

I have a hard time with my necromancer so I try to hide in Hades as soon as I can. Base game doesn't give enough hands to do enough cool ♥♥♥♥. At least ghosts in Hades cost gold instead of hands.

[AN]

Originally posted by Sick Puppy:

I have a hard time with my necromancer so I try to hide in Hades as soon as I can. Base game doesn't give enough hands to do enough cool ♥♥♥♥. At least ghosts in Hades cost gold instead of hands.

Necromancer is the strongest class in the game

[Sick Puppy]

Originally posted by AN:

Originally posted by Sick Puppy:

I have a hard time with my necromancer so I try to hide in Hades as soon as I can. Base game doesn't give enough hands to do enough cool ♥♥♥♥. At least ghosts in Hades cost gold instead of hands.

Necromancer is the strongest class in the game

I never said I was a good player.

[Draken]

With CoE you should really throw "strong" out of the window unless you play pvp a lot.
There are a ton of different playstyles. Some people will just "get" some classes better. Some people will have a ton of fun with certain classes. Some people will not like how certain classes handle.

Me personally? I don't really get the Scourge Lord.
I also don't enjoy playing the Enchanter. It's a bit too much work.
I love playing with freespawn and classes that use a lot of stupid units.

So my advice would be, play classes you enjoy. Not classes that top the tier list.

[DasaKamov]

Originally posted by Sick Puppy:

Base game doesn't give enough hands to do enough cool ♥♥♥♥.

Different game setup options will help with that. Generally speaking, as Necromancer you want to play in the "Empire" or "Fallen Empire" eras.

[JackPhoenix]

Originally posted by Draken:

I also don't enjoy playing the Enchanter. It's a bit too much work.

I, in theory, should like Enchanter's playstyle. In practice, I absolutely hate that my beefy, limited use units (read: golems) can't be healed. I don't mind disposable chaff (read: animated junk) being disposable, but once golem's gone, it (and the mine/whatever other valuable terrain feature) is gone forever.

[Bumc]

Should have let us park golems in libraries to repair, kinda like how Dominions does the never-heal statues.

[Gilmoy]

Yes, Enchanter's heavy golems are (still) a finite resource.
Thou Shalt Not Spam Them and Heal For Free.

CoE5 Enchanter has the new L3 Create Brass Bull, with no map resource cost.
Spam those, if you like.
Also, infinite Dogs and Artifacts (= magic items).

Enchanter is most efficient when never using heavy golems early. Use your other rituals.
Stack Guardians, convert every Swamp (and frozen lake), create 100+ Animated Ballistae.
Build a Portal network, seize and hold space, play tower defense.

It is a very labor-intensive, click-heavy, and somewhat passive style.
You're not Super Mario or an energized Pac-Man, you're the cursor hiding from Qix.
Play to those strengths, and you squeeze even Emperor Qix AIs off the map.

Later on, you can convert enemy mines into heavy golems, as resource denial.
This works best after you've found 1 +Fast item for 4 APs, and maybe a +Stealth item.
(I prefer to not do this, because all mines belong to me, AIs simply borrow them.)

You can judiciously raise a few heavy golems, knowing that they'll die from attrition.
You want 1-4 magic items that give Spectral, Lucky, or similar, to extend their lifespans.
Crystal Golems are the cheapest, costing "only" a Gem Deposit in desert for -2 gold/turn,
while being studly fighters, plus their killspawn.

If you have excess Magic Libraries in a game, you can Infuse any heavy golem
to get a Commander mage golem. It still doesn't heal, but it can lead an all-size-3 army.

~~~~

I did actually jump through hoops to get False Life onto a mobile guy,
walk him across half the map, join with a Crystal Golem, and then kill him off.
Then I had a Bloodstone False Life Crystal Golem, who really does Regenerate.

This was doubly tricky, because the Heart of Life first got stuck on a Crystal Shard.
How do you kill off your own (immobile) Crystal Shard?
I had to park 1 archer in the tile, then patiently wait for Dwarf Queen AI to walk through us.
Eventually, they killed the right Shard, and it didn't transfer to another Shard

After it was portable, I moved in a commander, and ran them naked across the map.
Then { commander, archer + False Life, Crystal Golem } split off for 1 medium fight.
IIRC, it was neutral dwarves in an Iron Mine, of quantity sufficient to overrun the 2 humans.
They died, Crystal Golem is sole survivor, False Life had no other target.
Then join the Bloodstone army, and I finally complete the full checklist.

It is meant to be this hard. It's an epic side quest within the larger game.

~~~~

It was admittedly far easier in CoE4, without False Life as a game concept.
Then every Bloodstone Amulet instantly confers Regeneration to any 1 unit per turn.
Rotate it through all of your golems, Guardians, siege engines, and other mechs.

But that also somewhat cheapened the play experience.
Almost every game devolved into a No Bloodstone Yet phase + a Woot Bloodstone phase.
It made it a bit too easy, and lured some players (ahem ) into relying on it.
Nobody brags about a CoE4 regenerating golem, because it's so commonplace.

Also, transferring the Bloodstone Amulet every turn is a bit of a click-heck chore already.

Anyways, I think the devs designed golems to be a Thematic Vision for Enchanter.
Never healing, and never unzipping to restore their original mines, is part of that vision.
I get it that players are impatient, and you always want more more more now now now,
but I appreciate that Thematic Purity trumps those small desires.
Enchanter is not meant to be that faction that recruits beefstacks and rampages head-on.
There are other classes that do that as their Themes.

Not every faction must be equally strong in a straight fight.
It's fine, and delightful, that some factions are weird, and circumvent expectations.