Power of the People [trait]

[Narf the Mouse]

For 2 picks, you get +1 power per capital race pop. What build do you think this would work best with?

My own thoughts:

Halfling Boss Fight

Halfling + Power to the People + Stonemason + Warlord + Might Makes Right, 1 Sorcery. You have two fairly easy victory options; Slinger Rush with Floating Island, and rush Spell of Mastery. And you can (more or less) pursue both at the same time.

Hive B-mov(i)e

Klackons + Power to the People + Pirates, not sure about book picks, and go for the "raze 50 towns" achievement.

What If We Tried More Power?

Dark Elves + Power to the People; 7 Nature; your goal is the Spell of Mastery. This one is a bit of a gatcha, because you're hoping for Gaia's Blessing for that sweet (2xPower from Pops) +50%.

[Syrris]

I don't think that it works well with any of them, mainly because it's overcosted at 2 picks. Alchemy, Myrran, the various Mastery picks - they'll all have a greater net effect, and they do other things besides.

[rgp151]

Yeah at 2 picks its pretty costly. High Elves gives you .5 per pop and if you start with a Settler, you'll end up with comparable bonus power in your first 50 turns, which is when it matters, and likely more thereafter. So basically, by starting with High Elves you get the bonus power for "free".

If I were going to take it, then of course Barbarians or Lizard Men make the most sense, though Halflings aren't bad either. But it seems to me this bonus power is really only needed to jump start a Conjuration game or perhaps to help with I Need a Hero.

But you need too many other picks to really make I Need a Hero work. For Conjuration strategies I think you are better going for 7+ books to reduce the cost of spells rather than spending 2 picks to get a little more early mana.

The way I see it, the bonus power really only serves one purpose which in the early game to help you support more enchantments/summons. The other thing to do with it is to take Alchemy and convert the power to mana to buy production faster, but... meh.

So I don't know really. At 2 picks I think its hard to justify. If you want a strategy that needs extra early mana you're better off just taking High Elves.

Also consider that once you get your first Node the value from this trait is significantly diminished. Also consider that taking Node Mastery or any of the Elemental Masteries only costs 1 pick and will essentially net you more mana plus other benefits once you get that first node (assume its of the right type).

[Dorian Gray]

I would think it would work best with races that have the greatest population growth and/or can support the largest cities.

[Xeth Nyrrow]

Originally posted by Dorian Gray:

I would think it would work best with races that have the greatest population growth and/or can support the largest cities.

This is the way. Goblins, Barbarians, (or Kobolds from Mythical Realms) while playing wide works well and also helps you get a high score if you are chasing that.

[Narf the Mouse]

The math changes depending on with whether it's:

1. +1 power per pop in your capital.
   
2. +1 power per pop of the same race as your capital.

Personally, I'm reading it as the second. And as for high Elves, calling 1.5 power per pop "weak" seems a bit odd to me.

More testing needed, but I haven't got the energy for a game right now.

[rgp151]

I was thinking that it was +1 per pop in the capital. If its +1 per pop of the capital race, then that's a different story and more justifiable.

[Mr. Frosty L]

Every city of the starting race gets the bonus.

[Syrris]

Okay, that's much better, although I'd still favor Alchemy over PttP.

I haven't tried out the new race (Scourgers) but since they have a growth bonus and can still put up Animist's Guilds they might be worth trying with it.

[Narf the Mouse]

Originally posted by Syrris:

Okay, that's much better, although I'd still favor Alchemy over PttP.

I haven't tried out the new race (Scourgers) but since they have a growth bonus and can still put up Animist's Guilds they might be worth trying with it.

Hmm... Alchemy and PttP? There *just might* be a meme-only build that works off transmuting *mana to guld*.

So I'm thinking Alchemy + PttP + Famous + Charismatic + Dark Elves. Dark Elves have almost all the buildings, and this gets you 2 power per pop. Basically you want to hire mercenaries, hire heroes, and equip the heroes with top-tier gear you bought. Not optimal, but funny. Maybe throw in Stonemason for the engineers.

As for other races? well... maybe also toss in Pirate.

[Thewizardlord]

Goblins is my favourite for this.

[Brumm]

Mine as well. If you want a large population, Goblins are the way to go. Put life and nature in the mix to get Gaia, Stream of Life, Prosperity, Inspirations and Change Terrain and you're set.

And don't forget to capture a dragonian city to have a starting point for supply of airships and doom drakes.