Need help with The Dead World Expansion

I am an "OK" player with Legendary Heroes. On "normal/Challenging" settings, I win about 3 out of 4 games. I JUST got the dead World DLC 3 days ago. I've tried and tried, but I MUST be missing something. Playing the Undead, I get slaughtered time after time. - I mean slaughtered. I have problems "growing" the cities. I build the grave expansions but cannot seem to get population above 3 in any city except my starting city. I have excess grain, but there is no growth. Unrest is down also. SO I must be missing the big picture. Can anyone help with what I am obviously missing. It just seems to me that this race cannot develop. Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might offer.

Thanks,

Captain Ken

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Are you using the Undead's special "Morrigan's Call" spell? (adds +1 growth per death shard your empire controls and has built a temple on.) Of course, if you have no Death shards it won't help...

Alternatives include building consulates for outposts (expensive and not immediate, but doable) and fighting lots of wars (population goes to the nearest city, so it won't help much in the "back rows".) For the very early game, it can be worth "farming" outlaw/mercenary sites as they add to your population when killed.

Also - you probably don't really need to grow beyond size 3 for a fortress (which gives you the strike garrison upgrade to offset your init penalty.)

For your military - for anything that sees melee, use the female units with spirit trait (1/2 physical damage reduction.) Very strong. Also, make good use of the "Curse of the Undead" trait, especially for expensive units; if feasible, grow the unit by bashing in some weaker targets before they see veteran opponents. Finally - remember to build lots of units, even if subpar - they cost you no upkeep and look scary to the AI.

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WOW - THANK YOU for the reply. I must admit - I have no idea of what you refer to, but I WILL find out. I am totally unaware of consulates for outposts, Morrigan's Call spell, and "curse of the undead trait" = but it is probably just me and being stupid. I have played a few games with these undead, and yes I am Morrigan - so I will figure this out. Other helpful info you provided me with is the knowledge that I really might not need cities above level 3. In my other races, I always get to level five, with several cities. Thewn use that $2000 to upgrade armies, and then rule the map. SO these guys might just have to be played differently - Don't know whether or not I can do it, but I will continue trying. Thanks again jeffqyzt2

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You will find some good "Dead" tips in this recent thread:

https://forums.elementalgame.com/451131/page/1/#3431788

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The 'thing you're missing' is the Morrigan's Call spell which creates growth out of death shards. No wonder you're faring poorly if you haven't used this spell.

The Dead aren't as strong as the other factions, however. Even when you start casting Morrigan's Call your growth rate will still be very low. As you can read in the linked thread I'm suggesting a few ways to bring them on par with the other factions.

The best way you can play them is to seek out as many death shards as possible as quickly as possible. However, this really won't work as it will take too long finding enough shards to have a decent growth rate. More than any other faction the Dead thrive on warfare and this is your best bet for making up for their shortcomings - you can't grow properly yourself, so assault your neighbours and claim their developed cities. If there are no other players nearby for you to attack, however, you're essentially guaranteed not to fare well.

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Again, thanks to both of you for responding to my quest for help. I watched the "das" Let's play video on Utube, and even he had tremendous difficulty with this race. Still I learned some tips for watching it, so I'll try again. I appreciate your responses guys.

Captain Ken

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