There are many advantages to nonliving but what are the advantages of the living? If you have a book like Johktari beastmaster with an innate advantage against the bloodfilled what can you throw in as a plan B against the unnaturally animate?

Obviously the unvitaled cannot be healed so life tree and renewing rain are useful. Also if the game can be turned into hit and run tactics the healable should have an advantage, especially considering most living challenged are also mobility challenged.  This makes me want to consider more movement based attacks such as thornpushing.  A few walls of steel may be worthwhile if they make a squad of zombies take three turns to travel around. Especially when i could climb back over on turn 2. Steel is not so great against our jelly friends however and the ever-present threat of teleport makes walls unsound.

The one subtle thing that really struck me though is that the unbreathing ones completely lack flying and only skeletal archer has a ranged attack. This makes me think flying is really the crux of anti-nonliving tactics. Eaglewings, falcons, and maybe grey angels seem the best suited. More expensive flyers don't seem to gain enough defense for their cost and are too efficiently brought down by maim wings.  Although falcons can be disturbingly efficiently brought down by jet stream slamming their little heads against the arena wall.

This is too much theory with not enough experience. What would you add to a book as specific hate against the gutless?

"maybe with an increase in Purify running around I'm on the wrong side of the armor game."

Just an FYI, corrode is an acid counter, not poison so purify doesn't remove it. Only priestess, healing wand, spring of renewal and swapping armor can remove corrode.

Enchantment Transfusion is one of the trickiest spells in the game, and I keep learning more uses for it as I read old threads.  I decided it would be nice to collect all the tricks in one place and you veterans can inform me of any I missed.

1) Move enchants (or curses) off a dying creature onto a new one to get extra use out of enchants.  (I'm guessing this was the intended use judging from the artwork)

2) Stack curses on yourself when out of range of the enemy then transfer them all at once for a burst of aggression.  (A favorite of the ooze pit master)

3) Zip a reverse magic/attack from a nearby creature onto your mage to only counter a "real" spell as it's being cast.

4) Move an enchantment that is being dispelled to cancel the dispel.

5) Move an enchantment mid round to get two uses out of it in the same turn.  Cheetah speed, mongoose evasion, and eagle wings are all great.

Any more?

First, I'd like to point out that dancing scimitar does not take away a guard's token when it attacks.

However if you are keeping your opponent at 0 armor an extremely efficient maneuver is to cast wall of thorns and push them through it.  It separates them from their guards, it cost 11 mana and does 10 dice of damage, and if you are not next to the wall yourself then a reverse magic has no significant effect.

I almost shouldn't post this since I'm one of your main opponents. :p

Let's assume your opponent is coming towards you since priestess is the best at long games, most opponents will come to you.  I'm assuming your general plan is to summon high level creatures, and use your quick spell to support your creatures with heals and enchantments.  Your priestess is either spending full actions summoning or meditating most of the time and will only move out of the corner to get close enough to heal a frontline creature.  If your opponent doesn't come towards you and is also turtling than summon priests and mana flowers or battle forge while meditating.  Although if you suspect you opponent will play an idol of pestilence or a Murdock's obelisk than you need a more aggressive plan.

Plan A:   Temple+harmonize T1 (6 mana left), start T2 with 16 mana and 2 on temple, deploy Westlock knight and summon meditation amulet and meditate.  T3+ continue summoning and meditating.  You have 19 mana and are generating 15 mana a turn and have one action for summoning and your normal quick cast.

Plan B:  Start summoning right away and skip the temple and amulet.  T1: Knight and harmonize yourself, T2 Archer+ maybe enchant.  T3: continue supporting your creatures.  You will run out of mana to summon and will have turns where you either melee with your priestess of need to summon a meditation amulet later.  You are generating only 10 mana a turn.  However, you have a knight out swinging for damage on T3.  That's 5 dice of damage which is probably gaining you the benefits of a 4 or 5 mana attack spell every turn.  And he is hindering your opponents creatures giving your Archers more targets to shoot and causing the enemy to lose a turn if the want to move towards your mage.  You want the frontline knight positioned 2 spaces from your mage and archers.  Since you are a holy mage you would love to make the fight about your knight, because you are specialized in supporting creatures.

Again, if your opponent is going for a creature-less strategy (or a necromancer going for an anti-living strategy) than both of these plans are bad and you need a more aggressive plan.  But for turtling against an aggressive opponent I like plan B the most.

If I cast force push and push a creature through a wall of pikes in the direction that does not trigger the attack do I still have to pay the extra 3 mana since the wall technically has the passage attacks symbol?

Same question when pushing a level 1 creature through a wall of thorns.

Logically I think you should not have to pay but technically I believe you do.

Thanks.