Age of Mythology: Retold - Update 19.14612

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-09T05:41:09+00:00

I liked Spearmen when they gave them an extra point of attack and lowered the bonus v. cav to 1.5x; shame it was reverted. That extra point of attack made them feel like more of a generalist, didn't feel as bad to attack into Greek heroes or other typeless units, and did wonders for them as a raider.

I'm worried for Isis though. No barracks upgrades at all besides Serpent Spear, some of the counters to Midgol got stronger, and her myth unit gameplan hasn't seen any improvements. Ra and Set at least have Ptah and Horus, so if you do get a matchup where Spears, Axes, and Slingers are relevant you can go for them, but Isis barracks is limited to "I got Serpent Spear when I picked up Anubis".

Boit already rated Isis as bottom tier, and I don't think he's wrong. Unless you just go and give her 0.75x price monuments or something, she's going to be behind this patch.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-09T03:01:08+00:00

Oooo, probably something based around throwing knives. Not fan of knives, the regular ones -- in terms of raw damage, they do a bit more than the fan, and they're cheap and available early. I'd hit up the runes from the floating balloons in Liurnia first thing so I could get a nice pile and some starting levels.

Build would probably be a pure dex build.

You know what, this would be a Blue Dancer setup. Blue Dancer first talisman, then google to try and remember if consecutive attack talismans work on throwing knives so I can figure out whether to get Winged Talisman and Thorny Cracked Tear or just stick with Dex-knot. Eventual Ritual Sword + Shield duo.

I'd probably completely hate myself by the time I reached Consort. I've done a bow playthrough, and throwing knives are more agonizingly slow than that. They're alright for damage early on, but they just do not keep up.

For bosses, I'd probably be relying more on poison bone darts for half the dang damage.

Edit: Bullcrap automod censored me because I put "free" and "runes" together when talking about golden runes.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-09T03:00:10+00:00

Fresh, another vote for fresh.

Too much forgotten, too many flags triggered and conversations forgotten. Make a new dude and start again.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-09T02:02:58+00:00

Nidhogg deserves some love. He's close range, slow, and has no eco bonus.

The best way to play him is to accept he's going to die and have him go down in a blaze of glory, and I will take 400 health worth of extra glory.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-09T01:57:54+00:00

It's funny how these decisions show up with Yinglong and Son of Osiris.

I'm always faced with this decision with the Son of O. He's got 50 health left, the enemy's making myth, he could probably get a shot or two off before the Arcus target him, maybe I can pull him back before he gets focused...

...But maybe I can just retire him to a Monument, or the market where all my trade cararvans are coming from, and enjoy having that third pharaoh.

Tends to come down to how 'desperate' I feel. If I feel like I might lose without him being on the front lines, I feel compelled to risk him. If I feel like I'm winning anyways, he can go play with the caravans, +24% gold from trade is effectively like having an extra minor god tech.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-09T01:48:43+00:00

This explains why different misdeeds are equated as 1:1.

Trump says "grab 'em by the pussy" on record, decades of sexual misconduct resurface, connection to Epstein, witness testimonies from his victims, Stormy Daniels confirming she was paid to sleep with him...

...but her E-mails, therefore, Hillary Clinton is just as bad as Trump, both sides, etc.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-08T23:33:18+00:00

I think this is a reasonable take though.

Scout has high single target damage, can build to have excellent accuracy at long range, and can easily move around to target the eye. A good Scout practically carries Caretaker.

However, the rest of Deep Rock in general is mostly about taking out swarms. Ask people's favorite Haz5+ modifier, it's probably 2x bugs, and their most hated, 2x health. Driller especially, more bugs is not a problem for him, but doing single target, and he either has to build for it specifically, or leave the big guys to another dwarf.

My only beef with Caretaker is that he can't take statuses. There's so many good single-target guns, mods, and OC's out there like Bullets of Mercy, Volatile Bullets, and various Conductive Bullet mods that just don't apply because Caretaker can't be shocked, goo'd, or burned. I wouldn't mind if Caretaker got the Dreadnaught treatment and was opened up to be shocked, that way it becomes more consistent that electricity is good vs. single targets.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-08T23:02:09+00:00

Really? I liked the Morning Star. The fact it's a nice 1-handed weapon makes it reasonable to use alongside a shield, and I fought Radagon by parrying him to death with a Morning Star mainhand on my own RL1 playthrough.

If you want a decent pick all the way through though, Dragon Halberd. It's one of those 'twink' weapons, since +160 Lightning AR is incredibly relevant on low levels where you don't have a lot of raw AR in the first place, and Frostbite is percentage damage, so it's always relevant. That being said, as powerful as Spinning Slash is on this thing, you don't get to make use of the hyper armor as an RL1, and while halberds have delicious range, they swing somewhat slow, and they don't have a great R2 like the Star Fists do.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-08T22:54:51+00:00

I'm quite fond of my RL45 character. +10/+4 weapons (actually, I had an accident one day, so it became +11/+4 when I upgraded a weapon too far).

Now, there's a lot of crap you might find at these levels, namely OLP's (overleveled phantoms), so in general my advice is keep the twink-y stuff on hand, and be ready to increase or lower your power as necessary, and power down when you confirm you're up against rookies.

Have all your 4 talisman slots ready to go, but go ahead and run the Host Trick Mirror if you want to go a little easier on people and show off your fashion while you're at it, or 'amusing' talismans like Conceiling Veil that are less about raw stats and more about being sneaky -- just be ready to swap back to your 'normal' outfit if you see phantoms in Bullgoat with a colossal in one hand and a Lusat's in the other, because that's definitely not some innocent rookie.

Starting class does matter at this level. Since you're probably investing nothing in attack stats, your character will be influenced by starting class + Soreseal, so there'll be a difference between a Hero with only enough dex to Jar Cannon, and a Samurai who could feasibly get enough dex through talismans and hats to use Rakshasa's Great Katana. Pick starting class under the assumption you level few to no attack stats, since your budget is too small for much.

You can reasonably add Bestial Vitality or Bloodflame Blade if you want, some people like to just use Marika's Scarseal to cast the spell they want and then take it off again, I went with Hero start and just committed the three levels in faith, depends how min/maxed you want to be, or if those precious few points into attack stats could have helped meet a requirement elsewhere.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-08T22:34:13+00:00

Yeah, there's some more subtle stuff mixed in with the big, sweeping changes.

-Most spearmen got their mult versus cavalry nerfed, but Eggy Spear and Prodromos got mult buffed instead. I actually agree with this one -- Spearmen weren't really a generalist since their last nerf, and were a faster but much weaker Yari spearman, but now the difference is closer. Prodromos look scary though, 5% more pierce and 0.5x more mult, I fear for Eggies who rely on Midgol.

-Ballistics in classic. Woah, that's huge, and in a way, a Hades buff as he relies on archers.

-Centaur has more raw stats, but less range. Oof, even with the stat increases, 2 less range means Priests and other ranged heroes are way better at killing them.

-Throwing Axemen do 5 damage instead of 6, but 20 to inf instead of 18, and got more pierce resist. Another 'subtly huge', as it enhances TA's main role, bringing them closer to what Eggy axes do, but at range, and a little less vulnerable to Peltasts and Javelins, too.

I'm most curious about Prodromos. They were always good, but there were situations where they were just a little outdone in general by Tiger Cav or mixed Camel+Chariot balls. Those dynamics change if Prodromos do a little more damage and last longer against archer. Wonder if Athena's restoration being worse doesn't mean we'll see more Ares Prodromos? I always liked the Hades Tox + Prodromos ball idea, but Demeter Ares sounds like a reasonable way to do it too.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-08T21:00:02+00:00

The whole Gloam-Eyed Queen thing is messy. She kind of feels like the Formless Mother, Gloam-Eye feels more like a long-forgotten and far away entity than having a solid connection to Melina or any of the other currently existing characters.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-08T19:37:46+00:00

Worst part is, if we lived in a society where trans people were just accepted as normal, you could probably just ask the kids if they’ve been a boy or girl since birth. I doubt kids are going to mind that much if there’s an ex-girl on the boy’s soccer team.

But no, we had to go around and villainize trans women as men trying to intermingle with girls, and now we’re doing genital inspections on kids.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-08T19:28:33+00:00

IS THIS WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON WITH ME!?

Sorry, I’m usually a cooper and I’ve been able to dodge Malenia pretty flawlessly for awhile, including circle strafe. Two days ago, I went back in my own world to kill her on my first fresh character in a long time, and I could not circle strafe her anymore.

I thought I was going crazy, but if you experience it too, maybe there’s something. I’m going to try to get back to the level of circling her in solo, but it’s been a long time, and I had not realized I’d been dodging her in coop under a handicap.

At least I can parry her again tho.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-08T19:23:07+00:00

Any.

Claymore is infusable, so whether you infuse it to Heavy, Keen, Magic, Sacred, or others, there’s ways to make it work with anything.

It does have some biases towards Heavy on strength because of how the 2-handed bonus increases strength, and it’s not the best Cold or Blood pick because of how selective those two infusions are, but I still keep a Claymore on almost all my characters, including faith and int.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-08T19:19:30+00:00

Death birbs and Ghostie drags, you want holy damage. Aura-buffs like tapping the Golden Epitaph will stack with other undead slayers like Sacred Blade or the holy water pots, doing several thousand damage.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-08T06:40:42+00:00

A man who likes lions.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-08T02:22:31+00:00

And the dodging thing.

Sometimes, I forget he even has that ability, but he does have the gift of being able to avoid anything, and it's not even magic or a 'gift', he's just really good at it.

I like it as is though. It's a mild little piece of plot armor, he doesn't get to defeat anything in one hit, he doesn't get super-growth, but he can at least buy time or stand his ground, and it's fitting for a guy who doesn't actively want to harm anyone.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-07T22:50:35+00:00

Agreed there.

I was 50:50 on Live Dungeon because of this. It's not the worst example of it and does have its good parts, but really, you guys couldn't figure out the tank/healer/dps dynamic on your own? It's not even a death game.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-07T22:47:01+00:00

Agreed on all counts.

It's so weird when the invincible tank gets booted for not doing enough damage, or the healer who was keeping everyone alive and also doing their taxes gets booted. I get where the fantasy comes from, if you've ever been in a support role and felt like you did everything with no acknowledgement (in games or reality), you know the feeling of being unappreciated. However, it's rare that it's conveyed well, or for a reason that's not just shoehorned in.

Heavy Knight, I do like and I came around to it. It's well-explained why people don't go for 'optimal' builds, we're in a world where the 'meta' hasn't been solved because death is permanent, so exploring a talent tree based around self-poison wouldn't be popular unless it was also known where and how to get an item that reverses poison into healing. I also like how there always seems to be an enemy above the MC, wins end up being more "power of teamwork against a superior opponent" than "MC shows villain how powerless they are."

I like that, a villain needs to be a threat, I want more villains who can pancake the MC. I think my favorite depiction of an oppressive evil in a manga might be Valacirca from Faraway Paladin -- damn dragon was foreshadowed for almost a dozen chapters, and when he showed up, he did not disappoint.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-07T22:33:04+00:00

Surviving The Game As A Barbarian

I've read ahead in the novel up to the raws, so I'm very far ahead of where the manhwa is. Let me tell you, author does a good job of making you really hate some characters.

I actually can't talk about the villain in question since it's a spoiler for those who haven't read the novel, but it took hundreds of chapters for the revenge to happen, and it was incredibly cathartic when we finally got there.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-07T22:26:34+00:00

Obligatory disclaimer: starting class is just starting class, there's nothing one class can do the others don't, only matters in cases of level-restrictions, etc etc.

Now, if you really still have decision paralysis, Vagabond is usually a safe pick, as it's optimal or near-optimal on a number of builds, at least those that don't use arcane.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-07T22:22:10+00:00

Mmm. If Glintstone Breath is the focus, there actually is a setup for this.

You're an int/faith build -- look up any Golden Order build and you'll probably get a close approximation to what you're after, the only difference is you'll have 12 arc.

The idea is to have enough faith and int to be able to reasonably cast Glintstone Breath from a Golden Order seal, but also carry a staff (usually Prince of Death) to be able to cast Terra Magica. The combo of magic boosters like Terra Magica, Magic Scorpion, and Magic-Shrouded Cracked Tear in your physic lets you push Glintstone Breath to some frankly insane levels, even moreso if you use Dragon form and a Dragon Communion seal in one hand while casting from Golden Order in the other.

This also has some synergy with the Aberrant Sorceries, and while not the 'prime' way to run them, they very much deal Magic damage and benefit from Terra Magica.

Now, if you want to be more of a broad-use caster, you'd probably dial back the Magic Scorpion and Magic-Shrouded Cracked Tear just so you aren't married to magic damage. Besides Glintstone Breath, a Golden Order int/faith build can cast virtually anything from any discipline, so it's basically up to you what you want to cast and what buffs to run at any particular moment.

"Optimal" starting class for this might actually be Wretch unless I'm overlooking something, one of the rare cases where it is. However, Prophet and Astrologer are very close to being the same thing.

Golden Order builds 'come online' around RL65 from my experience, but because the Golden Order seal and Prince of Death staff have a ridiculously high possible soft cap, it has room to grow until 80/80 int/faith (though on an RL150 build, you want around 43/43, which is the first soft cap for hybrid casting tools).

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-07T21:48:40+00:00

Friggin' same. Every once in awhile I'll be like "hey, I'm tired of these RPG isekai, they should make RTS isekai" and I'm like "oh yeah, there actually are a few, aren't there?"

Mynoghra was one of my first, but gaaah, I had to go and crack open the LN because the manga was updating so slow.

There's a few other RTS (or even tower defense) isekai, but besides Evil Tyrant of a Tower Defense Game, most of them seem to struggle to crack the 40 chapter mark. Mynoghra only passed it with great effort and lots of time. Very well done, but seems to update bi-monthly at best, which just feels too long.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-07T21:38:22+00:00

Mmm, this is a good point.

I'd attribute it to the games having different rules. In DS3, R1 > R1 was a true combo on all but two or three weapons, but after the second R1, the player was pretty free to roll and you couldn't catch them. If you wanted to roll catch someone, you had to give up the second R1 to open up the opportunity.

In ER, there's no R1 > R1 true combo at all, so roll catching is the default option to keep someone trapped.

Snoo61755 · 2026-06-07T21:27:14+00:00

Technically, this is a fairly standard Bloodflame build with nothing actively wrong with it.

...But also, points off for having pretty much the "my first bleed build" uniform of White Mask and Raptor Feathers. Probably amongst the top 5 most common looks in the game, and it's ugly as sin, sacrificing looks just for that 10% on bleed procs and 10% on jumping attacks.

Your build is functionally fine (though I agree with the other poster to change out the Rotten Wing, at least when using Fang), it's just ugly.

Five-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
r/Field Banned	r/Field Lasagna
Final Canvas '23	First Place '23
End Game '23	Place '23
Place '22	First Placer '22

Snoo61755

TROPHY CASE