Dominions 4 Quick Nation guide and tiers

Taken from
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/games/431812-dominions-4-thrones-of-ascension

Author: KissBlade



EA Tier List/Nation Quick Fix Notes (Water nations are incomplete at the moment as they are hard to place due to high map dependency. On standard water body maps, likely ratings are Atlantis is"A. Thug nation", Oceania "B-. Troop nation", R'lyeh "C+" magocracy, Pelagia "D" troop nation.)

Each nation has suggested pretender chassis, research path & troop recruitment.

Arco: B + . Magocracy. Can form bad flying raid squads. Flex mages & healers.
Pretender: dom 9 awake cyclops, gorgon, fire/water dragon.
Research: Evo3, thaum 1, cons 4
Troops: Peltast, Cardaces
Arco is above average simply because of the flex cost in philosophers when you need early forts and the ability to take awake pretenders SC thanks to healers. Their mages are fairly predictable in use in evocation standards while Oreiads can stand in for either thunderstrike/storm of thorns/charm.

Ermor: B. Magocracy. Principes. Decent communion spam fodder & healers
Pretender: Dom 9 awake: Cyclops, Gorgon, Virtue, Dragon. Dom 9 awake (need to forge armor) Prince of Death. Dormant + Scales: Forge Lord, Titan of Rebirth. Imprisoned + scales: Oracle/Fountain/statues
Research: Evo 3, Thaum 1, constr 4, conjuration 3
Troops: Principes
Ermor is basically the average nation. Their mages are tricky to use thanks to path spread but augur elders can always bane fire. On the other hand, their troops are completely nobrainer. Principes in block formation at the front with no script is the norm mixed in with occasionally standards. The sacred shroud knights are actually pretty good but outmatched by better EA sacreds.

Ulm: B. Troop nation. Steel maidens/warriors. Cold Res/Stealth.
Pretender: Dormant+ Scales: Tiwaz/Allfather/Volla. Imprisoned + Scales: Oracle/Idol of Sorcery/Monolith
Research: Enchantment 3, Alteration 4, construction: 4
Troops: Maidens (various), Steel Warriors
Ulm's troops are quite good for EA in terms of standard troops. The cap only mage suffers a lot of issues in that it's simply not that good. They get some decent path diversity but spamming inept researcher shamans to get some death/nature is a downer. Stealth is a bonus and potentially can sell this nation as a B+.

Maverni: C+. Magocracy. Cheap comm fodder.
Pretender: Dom 9 Awake Gorgon, Dragon. Dom 9 dormant Gorgon /w E9.
Research: Enchantment 3, Thaum 1, Evocation 5.
Troops: Eponi Knights, barechests
Maverni can actually have decent expansion but quite vulnerable to rush. Strength of giants and barechested spam can stall rushes but this nation is also marred by a rep of easily rushable. Finally the mages while easy to set up communions are fairly predictable. Versatility is also an issue as awake pretenders are often needed. The E9 variant of the Gorgon is for survivability and in case you ever want to experiment with boars.

Sauromatia: A. Archery. Cheap comm fodder
Pretender: Dom 9 Awake Medusa, Fire Dragon. Dom9 dormant Phoenix. Imprisoned + Scales: Oracle
Research: Enchant 3, evocation 4, thaum 1.
Troops: Androphag archers, sauromatian lancers, cataphracts
Sauromatia is quite flexible and strong. They have many options from archer spam, cavalry rush, nether spell spam, raise skeleton hordes and Witchking thugs. Their power scales with user but as an archer nation with access to the gorgon chassis, they're also relatively easy for new players.

Tien Chi: S. Archery. Magocracy. Scaling sacreds.
Pretender: Awake dom 9 W9 Dragon. Dormant+ scales: General e4 + misc, Nyori: e4 + misc. Imprisoned: W9 Carp, w9s4Devi of Good Fortune, S7-s9 Oracle, Devi of Darkness: E4, b9
Research: Evo3-5, conjuration 3-5, Alt 4, Enchant 4
Troops: Archers, Shields, Wo5E.
Tien Chi scales amazingly well with user skill. They have a ton of flexible and amazing gem income thanks to path spread. You can also do whatever spread of scales with them and not go wrong though standbys of growth, order, magic are all varying levels of useful. Wo5E's are one of the best scaling sacreds in the game thanks to elemental resists. Noble 1 pt pds kills most small raids. While, some would argue TC is more A+ or S-, they win a disproportionate amount of their games so results are difficult to argue.

Machaka: B+. Archery. Elephants. Spies.
Pretender: Dormant: Collosal Fetish, Neter of Crafts, Moon, Many Names.
Research: Enchantment 4, Evocation 3-5
Troops: Archers, Shields, Elephants.
Machaka has good battlemagic and access to flaming arrows from archery spam. They don't shoot as well as TC/Sauro but flaming arrows in heat dominion is extra handy. Fireball/shadow spell access is useful as well and enchantment 4 naturally gives raise skeletons for spam. Heretic/unrest battlemages are troublesome but e3 native is always welcome. Also note that the Collosal Fetish CANNOT be minddueled or traditional astral tricked if you give it Astral for teleportation tricks. Elephant rush can still catch people offguard.

Mictlan: S-. Bless nation. Summons.
Pretender: Imprisoned: Collosal Head n9b9, f9 dragon, b9 Fountain, e9n4b4 Teteo, f9w9 Teotl of Rain, S7-9 Oracles
Research: Construction 4, enchant 4, blood x.
Troops: Jaguars, Eagles
Mictlan is fairly predictable as a blood bless nation with powerful summons. Beware of various cloud spells and archery/slinger spam that are fairly prevalent. Eagle warriors are an ok counter but doesn't always work. Mictlan is also perfectly viable as a pure scales nation. Suggested chassis are just easy blesses to get rolling.

Abysia: B+. Troop nation. Bless nation.
Pretender: Imprisoned: n9, e4-9 Neteret of Joy, Oracle + Scales. Dom9 Awake: Azi
Research: Evo3-5, conjuration 3, construction 4, blood x.
Troops: Burning ones, Abysians
Abysia has an amazing early game. They're also not as predictable as people think as they are quite capable of going the blood path. The issue primarily with Abysia is the lack of advantage from growth so luck maybe a late game consideration scale. Evocation rush, bless rush, blood spam are all viable. My hunch is scales + blood is the strongest route. Demonbreds are also amazing assassins with spammable medallion of vengeances ... Also if you manage to fort 2-3 archer provinces early and spam tons of archers, flaming arrows is still threatening.

Caelum: B. Archery. Magocracy. Mammoth
Pretender: Awaken dom9 Azi, Dormant: Teleporter dom9 Chassis.
Research: Evo 2- 4, Alt 4, enchant 3, construction 2
Troops: Mammoth, airya temple guards, Archers
Caelum's expansion phase is saved by the Mammoth but the Azi is also a great chassis for early game power to assist Caelum into the mid game. Unfortunately Caelum's late game is relatively predictable unless breaking into rainbow titans. Eagle kings are amazing late game carrying staff of storms => summon storm power => wrathful skies while others spam either phantasmal army or mists of deception.

C'tis: A-. Magocracy, chaff spam.
Pretender: Dom9 awake: e2-4 Wyrm, Fire dragon, Dormant + scales: Neter of Craft, Joy, chaos, Imprisoned + Scales: Oracle
Research: Enchant 3, Evocation 3-5, Conjuration 5, thaum 1, alt 5
Troops: Light infantry, City guards, Slave/Elite Warriors, Falchion, Chariots
C'tis has great recruit anywhere death mages. You play them very close to a zerg swarm Ermor with cheapo infantry flood backed with skeleton spam or shadow evocation. Late game should be fairly predictable Tartarian + Gift of Health. Take care that a nature 4-5 pretender may be worth considering to get an early mother oak rush.

Pangaea: B. Troops, Bless nation.
Pretender: Dormant: offpath Rainbow titans. Imprisoned + scales: Idol of Sorcery, Sphinx, n9e9 Gorgon, f9e9 forge lord/statue of war,
Research: alteration 5, thaum 3, enchantment 4, evo 2
Troops: Minotaurs, White Centaurs, Revelers, Satyr Warriors, Centaurs, Centaur Warriors
Sadly I don't play Pangaea often so my assessment is likely not accurate nor will my tips be that great. The only game I played Pan successfully was a dominion 3 strat that's outdated with awaken dual bless gorgon to snowball early with a white centaurs that relied on overtax/patrol tricks. However, all of Pan's troops are incredibly solid but sadly the nation doesn't hold a lot of flavor for me. My hunch says Pan is probably B+ but they feel very average to me atm.

Argatha: B. Mindblasters, Summons, Amphibian
Pretender: Awaken dom 9 N4-9 Dragon. Dormant: Risen Oracle
Research: Conjuration 3, Construction: 4, Alteration: 5
Troops: Olms, Trogs, Pale One Warrior
This nation really got saved by the addition of mindblasters. Mindblasters, trogs and hard hitting units can stave off rushes. Tempted to give this nation a B+ thanks to great summons but general inexperience with this nation makes it hard for me to tell. Aquatic ability will probably raise them to a B+ or even A- in maps where waters aren't contested.

Tir na n'Og: A-. Bless nation. Glamour nation. Thugs.
Pretender: Imprisoned: n9e4-9 Lord of Forest, e4s4n4 Monolith, w9 Dragon, b9 Fountain.
Troops: Firbolgs, Sidhe Champion/Lords
Research: Evo 2, Alteration 3, enchant 4, construction 4-x
TNN is a standard thug nation that's easy to pilot and pretty strong thanks to fir bolg troops, out of box thugs and air evocation. Most of their "big plays" comes from raiding and hiding massive squads of thugs to take a ton of provinces at once. Airdropping thugs is a favorite TNN pasttime.

Fomoria: A, Bless nation. SC. Sailing. Amphibian.
Pretender: Imprisoned: n9e4-9 Lord of Forest, e4s4n4/9 Monolith.
Troops: Firbolgs, Nemedians, Unmarked
Research: Alt3-6, construction 4, enchantment 4
Fomoria is a SC nation with versatile options thanks to Unmarked/Nemedians as elites and firbolgs as expanders/line. The Fomorian King is arguably the best SC chassis in the game thanks to it's paths/sailing/amphibian. Air/death evo even staves off any rush in case your troops somehow can't hold the line or you botched up big time. A+ on most maps if sailing/water is available.

Vanheim: B+ Bless nation, troop nation, Sailing, Thugs
Pretender: Imprisoned: n9e4-9 Great mother, n9w9 Son of Fenrir, W9aX Father of winter, scales/rainbow titan.
Troops: Huskarl, Mounted Hirdman, Vanhere
Research: Alteration 3, Enchant 4, Construction 4-x
Vanheim & TNN are different flavors of each other. TNN's better mages edges out the Vanheim (crappy) blood access, and dwarf forging. Everything said about TNN more or less applies with Vanheim though Vanheim is more thug reliant. Scales build Vanheim is perfectly fine but lack of regen could hurt. Having access to the n9w9 bless with an reinvig item will make your vanjarls practical gods of midgame though.

Helheim: S. Bless nation, troop nation, Thugs/SC,
Pretender: Imprisoned: n9e4-9 Great mother, n9w9 Son of Fenrir, W9aX Father of winter, scales/rainbow titan.
Troops: Huskarl, Mounted Hirdman, Valkyrie, Helhirdlings
Research: Alteration 3-6, Enchant 4, Construction 4-x
There's really no reason to play Vanheim over Helheim. While Vanheim does have access to A4 easier as well as potential sailing, Helheim gains the superior death 3-4 option, flying and better dwarf. Dis + Valkyrie allows limitless headaches with even a minor bless and Hangadrotts are practically SC's with n9 buffing their hp and adding regen. Helheim being S while Vanheim hovering at a B+ displays the gap between the two nations. Similar strats apply though Helheim is much more flexible in it's pretender route.

Niefelheim: S. Bless nation. Thugs/SC
Pretender: Imprisoned: n9e4-9 Great mother
Troops: Jotun Huskarl/javelin, Jotun Skinshifter, Niefels, Skrattis, Godes.
Research: Alteration: 2, enchantment 2, construction 4, thaum 3-4, conjuration 4
Niefel is a straightforward nation. Rush with blesses or skinshifters Mid-endgame with Skrattis to enhance. You can do some cute tricks with Godes with stealth items and jotun scouts being blessable to form stealth parties. The only downside is players will take heat dominion to push against you if there's a Niefel in the game. You are also fairly predictable. However unit wise you match up so well against 90% of the game that it doesn't matter too much.

Kailasa: B. Archer nation, Sacreds
Pretender: Awake dom 9: Dragon, Destroyer of Worlds, Devi of Darkness. Dormant: Destroyer of Worlds, Devi of Darkness. Imprisoned: w9s4 Devi of Fortune, a9d4 Destroyer of Worlds
Troops: Atavi Archers, Light Bandar archers, Yavana Archers
Research: Evocation 2-5, Alteration 5, Enchantment 3
Kailasa is an unweilding nation in that it's a nation full of sacreds but your recruit anywhere sacred are magical beings. You have relatively cheap communion mages but nothing impressive early game to communion. Your late game is pretty decent and an dormant n9 dragon might be worth in a game where no one fights you for mother oak as alteration 5 gives acccess to bone melter. Your sacreds don't wear armor so slings/arrows murder them but awe makes them ok at melee. Rust mist evens the odds for you but alteration gives the much more useful destruction so it might be worth rushing straight down that line instead. This nation has potential but it seems too clunky to unlock thanks to a relatively crummy troopline.

Lanka: A-. Sacreds. Bless nations. Summons.
Pretender: Imprisoned: n9e4-9s1- 4 Monolith, n9e4-9 Great Bull, w9s4 Devi of Fortune, w9 dragon, e9s4 Nyorai, e4b9 Devi of Darkness
Research: Construction 4, Blood 6, Alteration 3, enchantment 4.
Troops: Palankasha, light bandar archers, bandar warriors
Lanka fell a bit from dom3 glory days thanks to being a turmoil nation. However, loads of freespawn thanks to priests keeps you afloat along with hard hitting Palankasha's. The Kala sacred warriors are pretty crummy but if you have a bless they're recruit anywhere with no turmoil power. Your goal is basically get to blood 6 with an ok blood econ. At that stage, Dakini's basically clean everything on the field due to how powerful they are.

Yomi: B- Archer nation. SC nation.
Pretender: Dormant: a4s4e4 Celestial General, a4w4s4 Jade Emperor, w4s4Carp, Imprisoned n4e4s6 Monolith
Research: Enchantment 4, Evocation 3-4, construction 6, alteration 6, conjuration 8
Troops: Bakemono archers, Bandits, Ao-Oni's, Aka-oni's, Kuro-oni's
I wrote an entire guide on Yomi for dom3 that's mostly applicable still.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=41848&page=3

Hinnom: A. Troop nation. SC nation
Pretender: Dormant Diversity offpath Titans, Imprisoned n9e4-9 Annukai of Growth, Imprisoned b3-b9 Fountain of Blood, Imprisoned scales Oracle
Research: Construction 4, alteration 4, Enchantment 3, Blood X
Troops: Avvite Charioteer, Dawn Guards,
Hinnom is strange in for a giant nation with a strong bless troop, you actually dont' want to make any of them. Rephaite Warriors aren't sustainable thanks to unrest and pop killing and you dearly want your population for blood hunts. Blessed Melqarts are very strong early mid game t12-30 but you absolutely don't need a bless as your chariots are amazing indie expanders and dawn guards are great against players. Melqarts/Baal's are easier to use with a bless but the window when you get enough gems to gear them with rings of regen is very early so a scales build will be more preferable for veterans. Heavy blood on pretender is also fine for b9 on Melqarts and late game Grigori's.

Ur: B. Troop nation?
Pretender: Awake dom 9 Moloch, Scorpion King. Dormant: Diversity offpath Titan
Research: Alteration: 4, evocation: 3, enchantment 3.
Troops: Enkidu's Chosen (misc swamp recruit including Reaver, Archer, Hunter)
Ur doesn't really have a classification. I think the closest I would put them would be a "troop nation" but their in cap troops are pretty crummy outside of Enkidu's Chosen. On the other hand, their swamp ones are pretty good with a solid longbow archer and the bereserking reaver so it's kind of strange. They have a bunch of magic paths but they're not quite a mage nation either. An awake Moloch will serve you well since your pretender doesnt' lose path being called back and it lets you splash some fire to make Chosens hit better.

Berytos S. Magocracy, Elephants, Summons, Sailing
Pretender: Awake dom9 Moloch, Cyclops. Dormant: Forge Lord, Prince of Death, Diversity Pretender offpaths.
Research: Evocation: 2, alteration 4, enchantment 4, construction 4, blood 4
Troops: Spearman, Archers, Colossi Warrior
Berytos has excellent battle mages, good troops, cheapo researchers and sailing. On top of this they get a nice income bonus from the cap that can snowball your gold for the year pretty nicely. In addition, their priests are blood hunters that can also be used to evocation in a pinch. I feel Melqart is overpriced as a summon but it's a SC chassis option. On the other hand, the blood 3/4 national summons are very good. Much like Tien Chi, Berytos has a ton of options on how to play out the game and scales with it's user very well.

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MA Tier List/Nation Quick Fix Notes

Each nation has suggested pretender chassis, research path & troop recruitment.
Note: Ermor is not complete due to lack of data but suspect B+. dom kill/thug nation. Atlantis, Ryleh, Pelagia, Oceania are incomplete due to lack of data/dependency on map. Assume, Atlantis: B+ Thug nation. Ryleh: A-, Magocracy. Pelagia: D, troop nation. Oceania: B-, Bless nation.

Arco: A-. Magocracy. Elephants. Healers
Pretender: dom 9 awake: cyclops, gorgon, fire/water dragon. Dormant + scales: Titan of underworld/Rebirth
Research: Evo 3-6, thaum 1-5, alteration 4
Troops: Hyaspist, Elephants
Arco plays very similarly to EA Arco though elephants are slightly more reliable thanks to better escorts. Elephants are nice to rotate with priest healing and you also have access to SC though it's not really needed. Hoplites are great for holding the line and Hyaspists are quite good to place with elephants in the same squad as a line for indie expanding. While two elephants with X hyaspists seem expensive, they usually take most indies without casualties. Also less “power sacreds”in MA boosts Arco up a notch in addition to excellent battlemagic from their astrologists/mystics.

Sceleria: B+. Troop nation. Principes, Raise undeads
Pretender: Dom9 awake: w9 Dragon, Dormant: w9s4 Titan of Rivers. Imprisoned: s9 Oracle.
Research: Enchantment: 4, Evocation 5, thaum 1.
Troops: Principes, Shadow Vestals
Sceleria is essentially a solid pick. Thanks to principes, it enjoys a solid expansion and an easy troop line. In addition, it adds easy spam thanks to all priests gaining access to raise undeads and the various buffs. This allows an early snowball in terms of expansion especially if w9 shadow vestals are used. Finally, antimagic access in addition to Protection of Sepulcre allows your undeads to survive banishment spam.

Pythium: A. Magocracy. Principes. Communions.
Pretender: dom9 awake: gorgon, e9 cyclops. Dormant: diversity offpath Titans. Imprisoned + Scales: Oracle, Forge Lord.
Research: Evo 4, Thaum1-6, Alteration: 4, Enchant: 7
Troops: Principes
While it is obvious that Pythium is a communion nation from their mage lineup, they get the all purpose principe. In addition, they have a versatile core of pretender chassis as well as powerful late game in the national astral summons. Stellar Focus & Growth 3 should be considered to power your late game.

Man: B. Archer nation. Bards
Pretender: dom9 awake: f4 dragon. Dormant: Tiwaz, Master Lich. Imprisoned Oracle/Monolith + scales
Research: Evocation: 2, Alteration: 5, Conjuration 3-5
Troops: Royal Foresters, Longbow, Knights of Man/Avalon
Man is a relatively straight forward troop nation. While longbows/foresters/knights scale fairly well into a midgame squad, their mage line is sadly lackluster for late game. Consider diversity for your pretender if the map is larger or a high strength oracles hoping to have lizards for astral searching early on. The f4 dragon offers a good early game expansion rush in addition to access to flaming arrows as a flyer. Along with bard squads in groups of four, aim to shut down capitals of warring neighbors that scale better than you do. Foresters also give access to stealth raids.

Eriu: A+. Thug nation. Bards
Pretender: Imprisoned: n9e4 Lord of the Forest, w9n9 Volla, b9 Fountain.
Research: Alteration: 3, Enchantment:4, construction: 4
Troops: Firbolgs (spear), Daoine Sidhes
Eriu plays much like TNN from EA. The classic thug strategy of Sidhe Lord spam backed by a n9e4 bless works just as well as in EA if not better thanks to the lesser competition. Finally Bards are excellent spies in squads of 3-4 to shut down a capital. The proper Eriu play is often mass stealth attacking an empire with Bards shutting down centers of production.

Ulm: B+. Troop nation. Smith bonus.
Pretender: Awake: Tiwaz, All father. Dormant: all father, Tiwaz
Research: Evocation: 3, Construction: 6, alteration 4, enchantment: 3
Troops: Guardians, Black Plate Pikes/Infantry, Black Knights, Crossbow
Thanks to the smith bonus, Ulm doesn't necessarily need production scales to field their troops. Consider an awake pretender to assist snowballing early game by taking nearby forest/mountains. Setting up early forts to infantry spam is crucial. Ulm does falter late game but iron angels/iron blizzard are both still great spells. Finally, strangely, Ulm is weak to an early rush as their standard line don't match up well against Dragons/Flaming Arrows. Consider recruiting Black Knights in those events. Finally Drain scales are tempting due to one gem lanterns but I suggest keeping magic neutral as Ulm is fairly reliant mid game for some indie mages. If taking the awake Tiwaz/Allfather, consider pushing alteration, enchantment and construction earlier. The chassis is meant for an earlier site searcher rather than pure SC.

Marignon: B. Troop nation. Friars, Anti-Undead
Pretender: Dormant: Titan of Rebirth, Titan of Heavens. Imprisoned + scales: Oracle
Research: Enchantment: 4, Evocation: 3, Thaum1, Alteration: 4
Troops: Halberdiers, Crossbows
Marignon's troops are stable and pretty straightforward in their approach. Their starting army is on the crummier side so an awake pretender may be desirable or production is a possibility. Sadly their magic flexibility runs into issues late game with fire being largely useless except for allowing the angelic summons. Marignon is also unlikely to be able to contest stellar focus with stronger astral nations in many of the MA games. This tends to blunt their edge significantly. On the other hand, friar/troubadors does allow some tricks potentially in dom pushing/spying.

Tien Chi: B+. Troop nation. Consorts.
Pretender: Dormant: Nataraja, Celestial General, Master Lich. Imprisoned + scales: Oracle
Research: Alteration 4, Enchantment: 4, Thaum: 1, Evocation: 5
Troops: Archers, Ministry footmen
Tien Chi's shift from EA to MA is a drastic downgrade. Gone are the amazing sacreds and flying battle mage. The capital mages of Tien Chi are good for site searching, forging and summoning but overcosted as battle mages. Everything in Tien Chi is specialized for a role requiring lots of long term planning. It's best battle mage tends to be the imperial geomancer allowing cheap communion into gift of heavens or earth troop buffs. Celestial masters can add misc power as communion masters as well and an f2 roll on the imperial alchemist allows flaming arrow access with summon phoenix power. Consort spam is also a viable tactic as they are among the best spies in MA.

Mictlan: S. Magocracy. Jaguar Warriors, Eagle Warriors.
Pretender: Imprisoned: w9n4 Teotl of Rain, f9 dragon, b9 Fountain, e9n4b4 Teteo, S7-9 Oracles
Research: Evocation: 3, Alteration: 4, Conjuration: 3, Thaumaturgy: 1
Troops: Eagle Warriors, Jaguar Warriors
On paper, it looks crazy to rank MA Mictlan higher than EA Mictlan. Make no mistake, EA Mictlan would be an absolute giant in MA. However, relative to other nations in MA, Mictlan stands out. Recruit anywhere eagles absolutely mauls most scripts. In addition, communion access as well as Coatl's having access to power of spheres gives early thunderstrikes, stellar cascade spam. You also enjoy standard versatile evocations to counter your opponent's elements. Jaguar Warriors allow easy early expansion giving free imprisoned points to power their bless. Don't forget that turkeys fly allowing you to lead flying communions!

Machaka: B-. Magocracy
Pretender: Awake Dom9: Collosal Fetish, W4 Dragon. Dormant: Collosal Fetish, Neter of Crafts
Research: Evocation: 3-5, Enchantment: 4, Conjuration: 3
Troops: Machaka Archer, Machaka Warriors
Machaka on paper looks ok with spiders (especially the black hunter) able to do the expansion while the cap only mages are decent in their versatility. Sadly, spiders are absolutely awful against human players due to animal resistance. Sadly every other unit on their roster is practically unusable. They get a pass as in archery because they can flood short bows that can be lit on fire. It's really unfortunate that these guys stop one short of banefire. With a skull staff, death 2 witch doctors can banefire with eagle eye for consideration.

Argartha: B+. Bless nation.
Pretender: Imprisoned: Monolith: n9s4e2. Great mother: n9e4.
Research: Enchantment: 3, Alteration: 4, conjuration 3-5, evocation: 3, construction: 4,
Troops: Shard Guards, Troglodyte
Argatha got a huge facelift thanks purely to the fact that shard guards allow a much smoother expansion phase. Argatha's mid and late game is greatly augmented by incredibly durable national summons, most of which is buffed in dominion with an hp bonus. In addition, Olm Conclave gives a cheap access to anti thug/sc's. On the other hand, all of Argatha's national summons are countered by various spells (shatter for constructions, anti undead for others). Once Umbrals are attained, field them with buffs as they outfight anything in their research levels and scale very well due to life drain.

Abysia: B. Troop nation. Blood access.
Pretender: Imprisoned: n9e4-9 Neteret of Joy, e9s4 Neter of Crafts, Oracle + Scales. Dom9 Awake: Azi
Research: Evocation: 3-5, Conjuration: 3, Construction: 4, Alteration: 4, Blood: 3-5
Troops: Abysian, Lava Warriors
Abysia would rank higher were their best mages not all about to keel over from old age. As they gain no income from the powerful Growth scale, Abysia is kept at a B rank despite a great troop line and easy expansion. Dormant n9 may be considered simply to search for nature gems to eventually grab Gift of Health. Alteration: 4 also allows body ethereal to make lava warriors practically immune to non magic opposition.

Caelum: A. Magocracy. Mammoth
Pretender: Awaken dom9 Azi, Dormant: Teleporter dom9 Chassis.
Research: Evocation 3-5, Alteration: 4, Construction: 6
Troops: Mammoth, wingless
Wingless grouped with mammoth allow easy expansion squads. The frost archers are interesting but not really worth recruiting. While lightning spam is predictable, air also gets false fetters, false horrors, ghost wolve and other tricks in addition to powerful battlefield enchants late game. Take care not to spam High Seraphs as it'll bleed your coffers. Finally ice crafters with construction 6 can form 2 gem bracelets/brands along with 7 gem water bottles with a hammer which is absolutely insane so a diversity pretender with earth is worth considering. Great pretender chassis are available despite nerfs.

C'tis: A-. Magocracy. Hostile dominion
Pretender: Dormant: Neteret of Craft, Joy, Chaos, (off path) Many Names, King. Imprisoned: e9s4 Neteret of Craft
Research: Enchantment: 3-5, Thaumaturgy: 4, Evocation: 4,
Troops: Sobeks, light infantry, falchioneer, swamp guard
While C'tis dominion may look like a boon, it's actually a bane. Thankfully the dominion doesn't agitate most neighbors as heavily and discourages building forts at the borders of your dominion. On the other hand, it prevents you from making use of most indies within your dominion. Thankfully marshmasters are quite versatile with access to battlefield spells such as foul vapors (which you are immune to), as well as the standard death spells. Thaumaturgy allows communion as well as the very undervalued "Terror" at level 4. Finally, empoisoners are amazing assassins as animate skeletons takes care of most assassination battles. This lets you conquer difficult knight provinces by simply assassinating all their commanders before attacking with a single troop to force the rout.

Pangaea: B+. Troops nation, Bless nation. Freespawns.
Pretender: Dormant: offpath Rainbow titans. Imprisoned + scales: Idol of Sorcery, Sphinx, w9n9 Titan of Rivers, n9e9 Gorgon, f9e9 forge lord/statue of war,
Research: alteration 5, thaum 3, enchantment 4, evo 2
Troops: Minotaurs, White Centaurs, Revelers, Satyr Warriors, Centaurs, Centaur Warriors
Everything from EA Pangaea applies to MA save MA Pan's more specific path break between earth/blood assists them in this field. While Pandemoniacs are better blood hunters than the Pan of earlier age, they're still not great but serviceable for blood construction & rain of toads. Also due to the lower level of competition among sacreds in MA, Pangaea receives a slight boost here. This nation is arguably A-.

Aspodel: S. Freespawn nation. Dom kill
Pretender: Imprisoned w9n4-9 Volla, Idol of sorcery (varying levels of path)
Research: Construction: 4, Alteration: 5, Enchantment: 4, Thaum 5.
Troops: Satyr Warriors, Black centaurs
Aspodel is incredibly difficult to attack simply because of freespawns that absolutely destroy thugs/sc's with their sleep vines. In addition, dom kill + freespawn deters most nations from warring Asopdel in the first place. This often becomes a huge mistake as 100 gold temples ensures Aspodel can dominion push very effectively. Black centaurs are likely the only non mage troop you will be building (can also make a case for Satyr Warriors) and w9 makes them incredibly effective. Turmoil/luck/growth with a splash of magic is likely the scales of choice with sloth/heat assisting with points. You absolutely need to value Mother Oak highly as it assists you heavily in your national commander summons. Thaumaturgy five is for the inevitable Burden of Time.

Vanheim: S+. Troops nation, Thugs.
Pretender: Imprisoned: n9e4-9 Great mother, n4-9w9 Son of Fenrir, W9e4 Father of winter, Idol of sorcery + scales, e4s4-6n4 Monolith.
Research: Alteration 3, Enchant 4, Evocation: 3-5, Construction 4-x
Troops: Huskarl (spears), Einhere, Skinshifters, Van.
Vanheim's powerful troopline don't necessarily need a bless as einheres (skinshifters if resource is low) & huskarls are top class but Van/Valkyries are still great sacreds and the Vanjarl is a powerful thug chassis. Vanheim also has good versatility missingly only water thanks to dwarves providing Hidden Underneath/Sand spells. A herse prophet can also use a pair of flying boots to augment a blessed valkyrie task force. Vanheim's main weakness is a weak research recruit so early owl quills are something to consider. However, make sure to save air gems upon reaching construction 4-5 to save them for late game uses.

Jotunheim: S-. Thug nation, Magocracy
Pretender: Awake dom 9: Dracolich, Dormant: Bog mummy, Imprisoned: n9e4 Great mother, n9e4 Immursil, Scales Idol, e4s4-6n4 Monolith
Research: Enchantment: 4, Thaumaturgy: 4, Construction: 4, Alteration: 2, Blood: 3-6
Troops: Jotun huskarls (spear), Garmhirdlings
Skrattirs (wolf form to stealth) with shrouds & Jarls make up the thug lines. While it may seem strange to bill this nation as a Magocracy, Vaetti Hags are incredibly cost effective with only the n1's being difficulty to use. Astral gives cheap communions, death gives animate skeletons & ghost grip while blood make the cheapest MA blood hunters. Gyjjas are effective communion leaders with reinvigoration. While frost fiends are a good stop to start a factory for, ice devils add the extra SC power for this nation's mid game.

Vanarus: A-. Magocracy
Pretender: Awake dom9: n4 dragon, Wyrm, Dormant: Allfather, e4s4-6n4 Monolith, Imprisoned: Monolith: n4e4f1s4
Research: Evocation: 3, Alteration: 4, Construction: 4, Enchantment: 4
Troops: Chud Hirdman, Oathbound, Chud Skinshifters
Vanarus starts with a poor army for expanding. Without an awake pretender, this can be remedied by the Chud skinshifters. Sadly, due to the price tag of the werebears, they are overpriced for anything beyond expanding and should be steadily replaced by hirdman/oathbounds. On the other hand, Vanarus has great magic versatility and research though the paths are unreliable. The dormant monolith chassis is purely for potential master/slave matrix crafting which greatly helps stabilize Vanarus' mage line.

Bandar log: B+. Magocracy. Communion
Pretender: Awake dom9: f4 Dragon, e4b4 Devi of Darkness, Destroyer of Worlds. Dormant: e4b4 Devi, f4s4-6e1-4 Nataraja, Destroyer of Worlds, Impisoned e9s1-4 Nyorai, f9 Dragon.
Research: Thaumaturgy: 1-5, Alteration: 4, Evocation: 5, Enchantment: 7
Troops: Elephants, Tiger Riders, Atavi Archers
While Bandar Log starts with the awful starting troops as other monkey nations, tiger riders allow for a reasonably good expansion even without a bless. An e9 bless gives synergy to your summoned comamnding chassis to convert to thugs as well give tiger riders a sizable buff. Ultimately however, it should be easier to play with the various chassis that include fire. In particular, f9 tiger riders are vicious. In terms of magic, bandar is practically pure astral. Clam of pearls should be considered as it allows light of north star, power of spheres while cheap communions allows set ups of late game astral battlefield spells. Mid game astral research should be spread split between evocation for stellar cascade or enchantment for stellar focus. Note enchantment is also more helpful for a dormant Nataraja chassis as it gives many strong buffs as well allowing SC potential.

Shinuyama: B+. Archer nation. Magocracy. Kappa.
Pretender: Dormant: e4s4-6 Nyorai, e4s4a4 Celestial General, Imprisoned: a6e4s4-5 Celestial General
Research: Enchantment: 4, Evocation: 4, construction: 4-6, Alteration: 6
Troops: Daibakemono (longbow), O-bakemono, Bakemono Sho (8/9 Yari), Bakemono archers
The standard way to play Shinuyama is using the formidable Dai-Bakemono Longbow as tanks for your weaker archers standing behind. O-bakemono will also be serviceable as initial recruits when resources are light but should be discarded shortly after due to poor gold-effectiveness ratio. Note the 8 gold 9 res bakemono shos are NOT undisciplined making them ok for decoy squading. Archery mass with flaming arrows is powerful with this nation and alteration 6 darkness takes advantage of nation's darkvision. Kappas also allow underwater assess pretty easily and stealth raids can be done with bandit/bakemono archer armies. Finally the mujina is actually a fairly effective assassin thanks to fear and the shinji-doji can be used to thug thanks to lifedrain.

Ashdod: S. Bless nation. SC nation.
Pretender: Imprisoned: n9e4 Annukai of growth and rebirth
Research: Alteration: 4, Enchantment: 3, construction 4-6
Troops: Anakites
There's really not much to say about Ashdod. Their Anakites brute force anything in MA stats wise. Adons, Talmai Elders, Zamzumites can all do various degrees of SC/thugs depending on researching levels. National summons are worth consideration for late game especially Banquet of the Dead which replaces the need for Tartarians for this nation. If you had fun with Niefelheim, Ashdod will serve you well for MA.

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LA Tier List/Nation Quick Fix Notes

Each nation has suggested pretender chassis, research path & troop recruitment. LA is the era I have by far the least experience with so there could be many strat suggestions that are off. Feel free to contribute your own insight, thoughts on nations and their strats on this one. Ratings should be relatively accurate as most of LA nations live and die by how well they can handle early game expansion against tougher indies. Lemuria/R'lyeh are difficult to pinpoint as both are dom kill nations. Lemuria is likely B+ Thug/SC nation, R'lyeh is likely B- as Magocracy.

Arcoscephale
Tier: B+. Magocracy. War Elephants
Pretender: Awake Dom 9: Cyclops, Dragons, Moloch
Research: Alteration 4, Evocation 3-6, Thaumaturgy: 1
Troops: War Elephants, Hypaspists
War Elephants are sturdy even for LA and make an efficient expansion force with Hyaspists. An early rush with them can also catch players without astral/death/nature unaware in terms of answers. Consider body ethereal on the elephants against nations with low access to MR negate options. Mystics are still strong versatile mages for LA while sibyls give access to the sorcery paths. An awake expansion pretender also assists snowballing a different early game thanks to easy access to healing.

Pythium
Tier: B-. Magocracy.
Pretender: Awake dom 9: Virtue, Gorgon, Dormant: a4e4s4-6 Titan of War & Wisdom, dom9 d5 Prince of Darkness
Research: Thaumaturgy: 3, Conjuration: 3, Evocation: 3
Troops: Comitatense
Comitatense is the replacement line for Principes and functionally the same. Sadly, due to LA armaments, they are slightly less effective but the block formation with no script will still take most provinces without issues. Pythium's mage line is very strange and while serviceable, feels incomplete in how low their paths end up despite their various drawbacks. Panic & communion access from Thaumaturgy is useful earlier on especially if you decide upon using hydras for extra fear checks. Note the Prince of Death pretender is used as an SC chassis with high death for late game.

Man
Tier: A-. Troop nation
Pretender: Dormant: Tiwaz, rainbow a2d3-5 Ghost King. Imprisoned: f1e4s7n4 Monolith
Research: Alteration: 4, Evocation: 4, Thaumaturgy:1, Enchantment: 4
Troops: Longbow, Tower Guard, Wardens
Man's troops are among the best in LA while their Magister Arcane are extremely flexible. However, gem income is strange as they have no inherent way of using their capital nature gems. Thankfully indie nature mages are incredibly common though the Imprisoned Monolith chassis allows a source of use for the nature gems as well. Man has an incredibly strong early-mid game but falls off late game. The Tiwaz is an easy to use option but the Ghost King chassis is great as an SC standard as well as allows versatility late game. Wardens shouldn't be neglected as a potential stealth force for annoyance.

Ulm
Tier: S. Troop nation. Communions. Spies.
Pretender: Dormant: Fountain of Blood b3d3, Ghost King (rainbow)d3b3, Vampire Queen d3b3
Research: Evocation: 3, Thaumaturgy: 4, Construction: 4, alteration: 5
Troops: Rangers, Pikeneer, Ghoul Guardian
Ulm's S rating comes from their incredible versatility. Their troops are extremely solid with Ghoul Guardians capable of blocking most rushes. Evocation 3 early for Iron Darts can shore up early magic and Thaumaturgy allows access to the morale check spells off communions. If using the Ghost King chassis, alteration allows access to Baleful star which is incredibly potent with your tier 1 illuminated ones as spies to shut down a capital as well as offer a buff line for the Ghost King to SC. The vampire Queen is mostly for flavor and unlikely needed as your nationals provide a mini version as a blood summon.

Marignon
Tier: A. Archer nation. Sailing
Pretender: Dormant: Lord of the Forest, Titan of the Death and Rebirth, Teteo Inan, Imprisoned: Oracle. (Rainbow include earth or death for invul/iron skin buff) Baphomet
Research: Enchantment: 4, Alteration: 4, Evocation:3, Thaumaturgy: 1, Construction: 4, Blood: x
Troops: Crossbows, Halberdiers
Marignon are among the best blood hunters of LA. In addition, they possess access to both Flaming Arrows & Wind Guide so it's worth simply collecting all available indie archers and rushing an opponent once both spells are online. Sailing allows a versatile offense on some maps while blood gives access to a good mid-late Thug/SC chassis. Marignon also benefits from every scale so an imprisoned oracle can be considered.

Mictlan
Tier: S-. Bless nation.
Pretender: Imprisoned: Collosal Head: n9b9, Teotl of war: n4-9f9b4. Imprisoned: Scales Fountain of Blood
Research: Construction: 4, Alteration: 4, Blood: 4
Troops: Jaguar Warriors, Eagle Warriors, Rain Warriors
Mictlan LA plays much like EA except they gain the access to go underwater as well. Jaguar warriors should take a hard hitting bless such as b9 or f9 to be able to punch through LA armor. Mictlan gains significant power once they are able to spam their jaguar fiend summons liberally. Alteration/enchant trees are useful to buff troops (body ethereal, quickness, wood warriors among the more useful types) as well as assist with elemental resistances. While a scales LA Mictlan is playable, it likely needs the fountain of blood to assist the jaguar warriors in LA with a b9 bless.

T'ien C'hi
Tier: S. Troop nation
Pretender: Dormant: s4-6a4-6e4 Celestial General, e4-e9 Devi of Darkness, e4s4-6 Nyorai, Phoenix. Imprisoned: s6-s9 Oracle, scales, imprisoned w9s4 Carp, w9s4 Devi of Fortune, e9s4 Nyorai
Research: Alteration: 4, Enchantment: 4, Conjuration: 3, Evocation: 2-5
Troops: Archer, Footman (Shield), Barbarian Heavy Horseman, Ancestral Vessels
If you dream of playing the Mongol Hordes in dominion, TC covers that base with recruit anywhere Khans & Barbarian Heavy Horseman. Water 9 vessels demolish normal troops and your recruit anywhere mages are costly but useful in a variety of situations. The smith with an e9 bless can even take 1-11 pd provinces with himself thanks to the lesser fear on his sword. Consider an earth bless or even an s9 bless as all your mages are sacred.

Jomon
Tier: B. Magocracy
Pretender: Awake dom9 S3-5,a3-5 Dragon, w3s3-6 Carp, a4e4s4-6 Celestial General,
Research: Alteration: 4, Evocation: 3-5
Troops: Samurai Archers, Aka Oni's, Shark Troops
Jomon actually falls all the way down to a B- if no water access is provided. Their troops are incredibly overcosted in terms of resources and no shields in an era where xbows/cavalries are plentiful. In addition, they also receive the strange baseline -1 hp penalty to all it's human troops. The samurai archer is the main troop of choice though thankfully the Ashigaru with their yari's are also fieldable. Their cavalry is a complete laughing stock. Their mages, while versatile end up being too random to use with consistency and often the slow to recruit s2 variety ends up being fielded with a communion. Once you get past one of the worst early games for LA AND manage to get underwater, Jomon scales into late game very well off the backs of water recruited Ryujin's. You absolutely must take an awake pretender with this nation but the Eastern dragons are a shadow of the Western variety. Assuming conditions of map allows liberal water access, Jomon is likely a B+.

Argatha
Tier: A+. Troop nation
Pretender: Imprisoned: e4-9n9 Great Mother
Research: Evocation: 3, Conjuration 3-6, enchantment: 4. Construction: 4-6
Troops: Cave Knights, Blindfighters, Argathan light Xbow
Argatha's troops are incredibly durable, in particular, the Cave Knights and recruit everywhere blind fighters. The initial expansion squad should consist of 2-3 Cave Knights to tank anything incoming with squads of 10 blindfighters & a kthonian necromancer to bless them. Kthonian necromancers are also one of the best mages in LA with access to powerful evocations. Recruit anywhere blindfighters are made easier thanks to the resource bonus of reanimators who are capable battlemages of their own. Consider a dormant air pretender to make heavier use of evocation by allowing a wind guide caster in battle.

Abysia
Tier: B+. Troop nation
Pretender: Dormant: n5e5 Neteret of Joy, e5s5 Neteret of Crafts
Research: Evocation: 3, Conjuration: 3, Enchantment: 3-5, Construction: 4
Troops: Abysian Axe thrower, Abysian Heavy (Axe), Guardian of the Pyre
Abysia at first glance may seem like Mictlan light as their blood hunters aren't quite as efficient at hunting (though still very good) compared to the Mictlan priests. However, as a slight bonus, they can also lead troops making them slightly more versatile. In addition, warlocks not being StR assists them heavily. Smoulderghosts are very useful early game as they are difficult to kill early game. Due to the old mage plethora, alteration 5 with the neteret of joy is worth consideration for mother oak while dipping later into enchantment for gift of health. Also LA Abysia getting benefits from Growth scales can arguably make it the BEST Abysia. This rating can easily swing to an A- but my inexperience with blood nations is holding it at B+.

Caelum
Tier: A+. Magocracy. Mammoth
Pretender: Dom 9 Awake: Azi, Dormant: Gannag Menog, Spenta Mainyu, Ahura of Oath, Ahura of Wisdom
Research: Alteration: 3-4, evocation: 2-5, Enchantment: 1-3, Construction: 2-4
Troops: Mammoth, Iron Hail Archers, Spire horn archers
Mammoth are quite sturdy and reliable for early game. On the other hand … none of Caelum's other troops are. Thankfully, Caelum gets amazing diversity due to it's summons and the Harab Elders. While it loses a4 off innate mages (unless you get ungodly lucky), consider turmoil/luck for this nation as it's various pretender chassis possess chaos power and the extra gems can really assist getting it's national summons online. The iron crafters are quite cheap labrats so you don't need a ton of gold for mages. On the other hand, it stymies reliable early income for elephants so an imprisoned turmoil/luck chassis may be considered as well. Earthbounds are serviceable but far too expensive to get them out early game.

C'tis: A-. Magocracy, Thug nations, Reanimation
Pretender: Awake dom 9: Blue, Green Dragon. Dormant: Neter of Crafts, Neter of Joy
Research: Enchantment: 4, Evocation: 6, Construction: 6
Troops: Tomb Guards, Falchioneers, Light Infantry
C'tis suffers from the loss of their elite warrior options as damage dealers forcing them to rely on the inferior Falchioneers as damage dealers. The spammable javelin light infantries also suffer in an era where indie armor tend to be heavier lowering the shock value of the initial javelin volleys. Tomb Guards are very durable but have a difficult time. On the other hand, C'tis enjoys a great thug/sc chassis in the form of the Revived Tomb King and have reanimation ability. In fact, they are the defacto death power in LA as their Sauromancers are recruit everywhere. They also have plentiful access to banefire but lack of precision ensures it's only useful against massed troops.

Pangaea: A-. Troop nation
Pretender: Dormant: a4e4s6 Titan of War and Wisdom, w4-6d4-6 Draikana, n4d4 Dom9 Carrion Dragon
Research: Alteration: 5, Enchantment: 3, Construction: 4
Troops: Satyr Hoplites, Dryad Hoplites, Centaur Cataphract, Satyr Snipers, Stymphalian Birds
Pangaea loses it's amazing sacreds from EA/MA. The dryad hoplites are quite serviceable as they're tough to kill in hand to hand. The satyr hoplites are good at holding lines while centaur/minotaurs provide the offense. Thanks to Centaur sages, Pan can research a heckuva lot better allowing early strength of giants, legion of steels. Centaur cataphracts in particular scale very well late game thanks to being one of the better troop buff chassis as well as recuperation allowing veterans to stack up some stats.

Midgard: S. Troop nation. Magocracy.
Pretender: Dormant: a4s6d3 Allfather, f4a4w4 Father of Winter, Imprisoned: a4e4n9 Keeper of the Bridge, Idol of Sorcery+Scales
Research: Evocation:2-4, Alteration: 3-4, Enchantment: 3, Construction: 4,
Troops: Huskarl (spear), Einhere, Skinshifter, Vans
Midgard is S simply because it has a wealth of options. While it's hard to justify blessing Vans as Vanjarls are cap only, skinshifter/einheres are still offense machines. Galdermans are also serviceable thugs thanks to air/earth buffs making them mini skrattis on top of being amazing battlemages that regen and can trapeze anywhere. S2 lab rats are also quite useful and Vanjarls are available when you need sailing or glamour thug options. Blood & death access both ensure a sturdy late game. Galdermans alone turn this nation into an amazing magocracy as literally every roll they can get is useful. I don't know what IW was thinking with this mage being a recruit anywhere/non STR.

Utgard: A. Magocracy. Thug nation.
Pretender: Dom9 d4 Dracolich, Dormant: a3d4 Bog Mummy, a4e4n5 Keeper of the Bridge
Research: Evocation: 4-5, Thaum: 1, Alteration: 1-4, Construction: 4
Troops: Jotun Javelinist, Jotun Huskarls, Garmhirdlings
Utgard still gets access to Skrattis but a bunch of them tend to turn up on the old side making them more useful as blood access than thugs. Thankfully the younger ones can still do standard thug tricks. In addition, Seithkona are amazing recruit all mages allowing communion, nether evocation (with eagle eye), communions and astral tricks with more powerful Nornas. Expansion also tends to go smoothly thanks to Garmhirdlings taking little resources. Late game also Nornas can booster to very good endgame sorcery paths if they reach key booster artifacts.

Bogarus: B+. Magocracy
Pretender: Awake Dom 9: w4 Dragon, n4 Dragon. Awake: f4a4 Virtue
Research: Alteration:3/Enchantment 2-3, Evocation: 4, Thaumaturgy: 1, Conjuration: 2,
Troops: Voi Archers, Pesthi City Guards, Malaia Druzhinas
Bogarus troop line is in various shades of bad to worse. Peshti City Guards form a good line but Voi Archers are hopelessly outclassed in LA. An expander pretender is absolutely mandatory for this nation & the recommended alt/enchantment magic paths are simply for buffs for whichever chassis is selected. Druzhinas look ok but fall into the classic case of expensive cavalry elites that melt the moment magic hits the field. On the other hand, Bogarus has some of the best mages in the game with starets being absolutely amazing diversity in paths. In addition, having spammable A2's, S2's and s1d1's allow many battle magic options while occultists open up blood for mid-late game.

Patala: B+. Magocracy
Pretender: Awake Dom 9: Devi of Darkness, n4 Dragon, f4 Dragon. Awake: Destroyer of Worlds, Dormant: f1e1-4s6 Nataraja, e4s6 Nyorai
Research: Alteration: 4, Enchantment: 3, Evocation: 5, Construction: 4
Troops: Atavi Archers, Light Bandar Archers, Vanara Swordsmen, War Elephants
Patala battlemagic can be hard to leverage initially as it relies heavily on debuffs and buffs for troops that aren't very good. Rust Mist end up being a very fast favorite for this nation as well as body ethereal and stellar cascades. The main issue with Patala is it stands in the age of crossbows and Patala nationals have an absolute miserable time against xbows. 50% of their army is likely to compose of indies or mercs to some degree. However, Patala enjoys a good late game with high paths as well as astral access. A gem generator is absolute essential for this nation to assist with employing it's late game conjurations. Note Patala has access to blood summons from Lanka but it's hard to leverage unless you manage to find some indies to hunt for you.

Gath: A-. Bless nation
Pretender: Dormant: a4e4n4 Annukai of Love and War, f4d4-6 Lord of Summer Plague. Imprisoned: e4n9 Annukai of Growth and Rebirth, S6-9 Oracle
Research: Construction: 4, Blood: 4, Thaumaturgy: 1, Evocation: 5
Troops: Gibbors, Levite Zealots, Gittite Soldiers, Gadite Swordsmen, Benjaminite Slingers
Gath's mages are quite difficult to use in battle, discounting the typical Sibyl squads of stellar cascades under a banner or communion. While the astral spread Yeddoni can give access to good battlefield spells, the mage fort turns required for one is simply not efficient. Thankfully Gath has a good troopline and Levites are non cap (though the 800 gold temples make this difficult to leverage). This can give enough time to get a blood econ running for it's powerful Se'rim and She'dim blood summons to come on the field while communioned Yeddoni's simply provide buff support.

Ragha. S+. Troop nation. Magocracy.
Pretender: Dormant: w9e4 Annukai of Sweet Waters
Research: Evocation: 3, Construction: 2, Conjuration: 3, Alteration: 4, Enchantment: 4
Troops: Turan Infantry, Zhayedan, Turan War Elephants, Savaran Guards
On paper, Ragha looks like a complex nation due to it's awkward temperature based recruitment. In practice this is not true at all. Until fixed, Ragha should be played strictly as a heat nation as w9e4 Zhayedans are absolutely ridiculous units with squads of two being enough for any expansion without any losses. Ragha is even equipped with the flying f1 priest Athravan to allow flying squads of immortal gryphons to rampage past enemy backlines. In addition, elemental resistances defend against most generic evocation counters to Ragha's units allowing Savaran Guards to scale better than most elites. Finally, temples, though expensive at 800 gold per, gives free fire gems monthly. Ragha also gets blood access but it's mostly irrelevant as they would likely have decided most games by the third year.

Atlantis. S. Troop nation. Water access
Pretenders: Awaken dom9 n4 Dragon. Dormant: a4e4w2-5 Father of Winter, a3e3d4n2 Ghost King, Imprisoned: w9e4 Lord of the Waves. Imprisoned: s7-9 Oracle, f1e4s6n4 Monolith
Research: Thaumaturgy: 3, Evocation:5, Alteration: 6, Construction: 6
Troops: Arssartuts, Seal hunter, Ice Warriors
Atlantis is a S tier nation assuming the map offers any water access. While it's land units are adequate with arssartuts being very good cheap sacreds, it truly shines once it gains access to Forgiving Fathers and Unsleeping. Atlantis is also incredibly hard to kick out of the water in LA due to most national magic spreads and Atlantis' own strength underwater. Atlantis also enjoys very good battle magic as there are many evos that they can cast of which they are immune to themselves such as freezing mist, sailors death, etc. This eliminates a lot of friendly fire issues other nations may encounter employing AoE's. In addition, magical weapons & darkvision allows a variety of tricks such as acid storm, stygian rain & darkness.