The game I just started has a hypnotist as a choice for my 2nd specialist. I am only at war with one neighbor (right now). How good of a choice is a king to do early on? Will the lack of shields and threat of a king cause my neighbors to go to war with me? Do the pros outweigh the cons early on?

A king is a pretty aggressive choice and the dropping of shields could definitely encourage your neighbors to gang up on you before you can get your strength under you or, everyone's fear, start stacking up some kings.

No reason to promote unless you're at war. I'd keep an extra hire handy and keep the hypnotist out of sight of people you don't trust. That way you can get an instant driller bonus at the last minute if you need it. If not, maybe the hypnotist comes in handy.

I mean, my claim to fame was a day 2 king promotion in the exhibition game. I used the tactic that Bigredsk10 suggested above to eliminate another player. It was incredibly effective.
That being said, though, I also had a few conversations with other players in the game, notably FateCreatr, where I told them, "I doubt that promoting the king was wise in the long term. It was a way to win my first war, but I've never promoted one this early," essentially. It's a tricky specialist to use well. But, if you trust your neighbors a lot, the way I did in the exhibition game, then it can work. It is a very aggressive hire, though.

If Forman is coming up, King rises in value. King pairs quite nicely with the promoted Engineer. And if you can ever get 2x of either, even more so then.

I love the King - changes all the math - you need to build very strong relations with at least two of your neighbours though

In a past game I've taken a king as soon as my second hire came and completely dominated a game because of it. But its definitely a risky move. and will make you a target more often than not.

pmoney wrote:In a past game I've taken a king as soon as my second hire came and completely dominated a game because of it. But its definitely a risky move. and will make you a target more often than not.

Better not do that when you're in a game with me....I'll convince everyone to attack you pretty quickly hahaha

I agree with pmoney. It's totally situational. In general if I have an early hypno hire and want to go king I'll hire and hide it. But if there is a pivotal battle I need to win I'll upgrade king right before landing.

If there is not acute reason to upgrade to king do NOT. Do it though as it takes down your shields and makes you a target.