General Tipps / Things not to do / Scripts
 

Hi there!

Since Dominios offers a great level of details, maybe you can give me as beginner some "no no'es" some useful things to do at the beginning of a game, important spells, and generic / useful scripts for your commanders / troops and what items to create.

I know the basics and that I can set up certain spells and troop commands.

E.g. How can I be sure that my mage will cast Spell X if it's scripted and how do I control if he uses gems or not?

When setting an commander to (hold)(hold)attack it's still suicide most of the time.

Also still wading through the strategy index of the various nations.

Thanks for your help!

Re: General Tipps / Things not to do / Scripts
 

Commanders functioning as commanders - set to stay behind troops. Unless you thug them, its not worth having them rush to the front lines. Alternatively, give them a spellcasting artifact or a bow you've forged.

Re: General Tipps / Things not to do / Scripts
 

1. Mages will *usually* cast Spell X if there is a valid target for X in range. That much will get you through 90% of "my mage didn't cast X" moments.

2. Basic commanders should be scripted "stay behind troops". If you want a fighting commander, start with something with 20+ hp and decent attack and defense stats. Give him/her some equipment. You can search various threads on units and equipment for "thugs" on this forum for specific suggestions.

Re: General Tipps / Things not to do / Scripts
 

You control if a mage uses gems or not by giving them to him.

More usefully, a mage won't use gems if he thinks the opposition isn't worth it. This keeps him from using all his gems when attacked by a single scout, but will also underestimate thugs or SCs.

In general, only give mages enough gems to follow their scripts. After the scripts they'll waste gems doing things like summoning elementals that never reach the front lines.

I've never quite figured out when mages will use gems to reduce fatigue. It may be as simple as whenever they can, or it may have some lower fatigue limit.

Re: General Tipps / Things not to do / Scripts
 

Sorry, even in this "all powerful, dont make me pissed" pretender god thing.. there is still free will. You can TELL your commanders "this is how I picture the first few rounds of combat going" but if they decide that its not the best thing to do then they will change it. Usually there is a reason. They dont have the gems they needed, or they had too many gems so another spell tempted them more. Or the target was out of range. Or another target was closer and more tempting. Or the target was on the battlefield but because of where they were they were unable to see the target.

By the way, on the gems thing. One tactic that alot of people start using is sending scouts along to hold the gems and blood slaves. They stay out of the combat and wont use those up. That way you can replenish just a couple of gems to your mages after each fight. It can also be a good idea to have them hold important equipment that you dont want lost in a battle.

Re: General Tipps / Things not to do / Scripts
 

This is a very good tactic, but always remember to have your scout on sneak or hide orders. You do not want to lose those gems/blood slaves/magic items. Its also a good idea to script retreat with your scout and place to the rear of the battlefield just in case.

As a rule of thumb lets say I have a army with 2 mages who are scripted to cast spells in combat of 6 gems, my scout would typically be carrying 12 gems, enough to fight another 2 battles with. Make sure you always remember to transfer the gems from scout to mages, I have forgot once or twice and had some embarassing defeats... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: General Tipps / Things not to do / Scripts
 

Does anyone recall the command where you can view the army layout for all armies invading a single province?

And is there a list of these types of commands anywhere? Maybe I just missed it in the manual.

Re: General Tipps / Things not to do / Scripts
 

Select the province, then hit "y". http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: General Tipps / Things not to do / Scripts
 

Sure thing - to cover the entire set of things you should and shouldnt do in detail would take forever. So I'm just going to throw some random tips and you can just take whatever you want.

Buy mercs - they will drastically increase your early capture rate

Get an H4 (holy level 4) prophet if you can

Use mostly national troops (from your forts) - only supplement with indy troops when they have some ability your nationals lack

Dont try and use the low level summons

Buy archers

Use chaff against Heavy Cavalry to absorb Lance attacks

Stay away from using Blood magic or Communions until you have more experience with dominions

Random useful lower level spells: Raise Dead, Lightning Bolt, Fireball, Call of the Winds, Blade Wind

Use the site search spells instead of manual searching - its faster.

Random useful upper level spells: Mother Oak, Well of Misery, Tartarian Gate, Gift of Health, Warthful Skies, Master Enslave, Astral Nexus

SC Buff Spells: Personal Luck, Quicken Self, Mistform, Mirror Image, Body Ethereal, Ironskin, Invulnerability, Fire Shield, Breath of Winter

As for items... again the list just goes on. In general you will probably want magic path booster items and SC gear.

Re: General Tipps / Things not to do / Scripts
 

I might also mention...
A common first turn involves
A) set your starting army to patrol
B) turn taxes to 200%
C) buy mercs (increase the base amount by about 7 gold if you are playing against AIs)
D) set pretender to research, if no magic then patrol
E) since your army is sticking around for a turn.. check and see if the leader can lead more than he has. See what he needs (some cavalry for flankers, more archers, maybe a priest/mage to go along for early searches?)

Most people will NOT attack blindly on the first turn.

On turn two you can choose a neighboring province to attack. Hit the "8" key and turn on the map arrows to show you who is and isnt a neighbor. Check them and make sure that you can move from there to the next neighbor. Plan your route so you can move from neighbor to neighbor without having to return to the home castle and waste 2 turns going around a blockage. Keep in mind that you will be able to buy more mercs and troops, and send them to reinforce for the next few battles as long as you are doing the loop of the provinces that neighbor the castle. BE SURE TO TURN THE TAXES BACK DOWN. Your patrollers are about to leave. 200% taxes have drawbacks and should be sued for a very short time in your capital.

Disclaimer: as for everything in Dominions, nothing is an absolute "always a good idea" thing. There are some nations and situations which can change the above suggestions.