Did you know that? (Dominions trivia)

[Zeldor]

I couldn't find a topic on that, but there must be one!

One to gather all that small things. Strange, hidden or way too obvious to know. The ones that you find by accident in some small thread on or irc.

So write here them all. I guess small things from manual that get missed should be included too. Just small things though.

Examples:
- Elixir of Life works on Lifeless beings
- mages with only random picks can be built without a lab
- trampling does not give you gems from Sickle Whose Crop is Pain [someone could acutally test what can give them]
- Domes stack
- immobile units cannot use Teleport etc

I am sure that someone has much better examples http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Herode]

Undead units can catch diseases http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Wrana]

But don't get penalties from them! Which made them primary candidates for Fever Fetish in Dominions 2. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif However, this was fixed so now undead with FF produce much less gems.

[Edi]

Changing a mod will retroactively alter ongoing games to match the new settings since it is only an overlay on the game engine, not an actual alteration of the engine.

The various movement bugs.

[Sombre]

If you make a Jotun Herse, Demonbred, Lizard King or Dwarf smith into a prophet, they get a special graphic.

[DonCorazon]

Click a unit, then click 'S', and you will see all your starving units.

Great for pulling out hungry, low morale guys and sending them to get fed.

[Stryke11]

Sombre said:
If you make a Jotun Herse, Demonbred, Lizard King or Dwarf smith into a prophet, they get a special graphic.



Really? Wow! Too bad I never play those nations...but that's so cool!

[NTJedi]

* Mindless beings can receive the feebleminded affliction.
?(wouldn't that be an upgrade)?

* You cannot find blood sites within water provinces, supposedly because the water washes away the blood... ... yet you can find fire sites.
water and fire seem more likely to cancel each other than water and blood

* The game has a commander and unit limitation which are easily encountered on maps of 1000 or more provinces.

[ano]

Zeldor said:

- immobile units cannot use Teleport etc



Oracle can. I think that only totally immobile units like Sphinx cannot.

[Zeldor]

Right, teleport works, Gateway doesn't. Have to check Astral Travel. Giving Flying items to immobiles gives them mapmove 1 but they still cannot move. Treelords on flying carpets would look nice though.

[Cor2]

ano said:

Zeldor said:

- immobile units cannot use Teleport etc



Oracle can. I think that only totally immobile units like Sphinx cannot.



Yep. the monolith can as well for sure and I think the statue can. IIRC Only the spinx cannot teleport.

[ologm]

Longer weapons reduce damage taken from fire shield.
Transformation can turn you into a flying monkey or a big chimera.

[Cerlin]

The MA Athemate Dragons also have a prophet special graphic, it is pretty sweet too.

[Tyrant]

Helheim death mages gain the reanimate ability if you bring them back from the dead.

[Zenzei]

Do you mean the reanimate ability every undead priest gets(all helheim mages except the dwarf are priests after all) or some kind of Helheim special feature(which would be super cool)?

[Endoperez]

Tyrant said:
Helheim death mages gain the reanimate ability if you bring them back from the dead.



All undead and demon priests reanimate. This used to and might still include Demonbred, but that's considered a bug because it doesn't fit the theme of the nation.

[calmon]

Do you know the best use of the most wonderful holy artifact called "the challice"?

Ironically the death casted undead tartarians drink from it all the time to get rid of all the nasty afflictions!

[Saulot]

Demonbred are no longer demons and demonbred prophets no longer reanimate.

[Renojustin]

"Demonbred are no longer demons."

Time for a Demon Maury Povich DNA test show.

[Seve82]

Yeah! How many percent demon one has to be to be labelled demon?

[Sombre]

50%

[Kristoffer O]

Demons are part spirit, part body, while humans are part spirit, part body, part soul. We assume abysians have a soul like humans. We also assume that the soul is singular and impossible to divide.

If we call the spirit 'sd' or 'sh', the body 'bd' or 'bh' and the soul 'S' we would get:

Demon:
sd+sd+bd+bd

Human:
sh+sh+bh+bh+S

Demonbred:
sd+sh+bd+bh+S

Thus a demonbred is 40% demon, and not demon enough to get the demonic tag.

[theenemy]

If you make an anathemant dragon(MA Abysian lvl 3 priest, I think they are called that) into a prophet, he gets a cool hat.

[vfb]

Kristoffer O said:
... We also assume that the soul is singular and impossible to divide.
...



In that case, Vengeance of the Dead needs a little fixin'. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Kristoffer O]

Lol!

[Cor2]

Aww there goes my "brilliant" explaination of VotD. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[lch]

Did you know...

that you can remove neighbor connections (http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Number=239795#Post239795) in the map editor via ctrl+click?
that you can freely scroll the map with the mouse (http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Number=234499#Post234499) by holding the middle mouse button?
that freshwater provinces (http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Number=239189#Post239189) give higher income?

Why did I quote from so many JK posts? Why indeed...

[chrispedersen]

I can assure you (tested again tonight) that oni demon priests cannot reanimate. The Dai Oni are the only units that can.

e will let you select experienced units.

Lanka's markata scouts are +50!!! stealth. You aren't EVER finding them. Give them bane venom charms.. and the turn they're going to die attack an enemy capitol.

[B0rsuk]

Atlantian infantry with coral armour easily kill principes.

[Edi]

chrispedersen said:
I can assure you (tested again tonight) that oni demon priests cannot reanimate. The Dai Oni are the only units that can.

e will let you select experienced units.

Lanka's markata scouts are +50!!! stealth. You aren't EVER finding them. Give them bane venom charms.. and the turn they're going to die attack an enemy capitol.


You should notice that the Demon priests of Yomi do not have the actual "Demon" tag. So they are human priests who worship demons, not demons themselves. But prophetize a devil commander from Horde from Hell (the devil + 25 imps spell) and he'll reanimate just fine because he is a demon (like the Dai Oni)

[cleveland]

For any single casting of Tartarian Gate, the Tartarian has:

-A 60% chance of possessing SOME Earth magic

-A 31% chance of possessing SOME Death magic
-A 31% chance of possessing SOME Air magic

-A 17% chance of possessing SOME Fire magic
-A 17% chance of possessing SOME Water magic
-A 17% chance of possessing SOME Astral magic
-A 17% chance of possessing SOME Nature magic
-A 17% chance of possessing SOME Blood magic

So, Tartarians are primarily Earth, Death, and Air mages.

[sector24]

There are four Demon Lords:

Belial (Stealthy, Causes unrest, can corrupt enemy commanders)
Belphegor (Attracts freespawn and blood slaves, Heretic 5)
Buer
Pazuzu (Spreads Disease)

[Wrana]

You can gain information on your opponents' Pretenders form their titles: number of titles +4 equals their Dominion, and title themselves point at their magic schools and Dominion effects - at least, 3 pints in Order/Turmoil are always reflected, as well as high elemental magic...

[chrispedersen]

Sure, I know that. But the original post said Oni demon priests can reanimate. They cant.

[lch]

Wrana said:
You can gain information on your opponents' Pretenders form their titles: number of titles +4 equals their Dominion


I was very surprised to read this and found out that it wasn't true, too. Higher dominion has a higher chance to get titles and to get titles that sound more awesome, but it's not as straight-forward as that.

[VedalkenBear]

Ich: I always thought that you got one title per 2 points of Dominion, rounded down. Also, the titles do seem to reflect the paths the Pretender has. I think, though, that depending on the paths (and levels in those paths) that you take, you don't get all of the titles you are privileged to.

Just one example: a Dominion 10 magic-less Wyrm may not get 5 titles.

[Zeldor]

Titles are quite random, I don't think there is any direct link. You can somehow tell something about magic picks, mainly death magic.

[lch]

VedalkenBear said:
Ich: I always thought that you got one title per 2 points of Dominion, rounded down.


I was thinking it was Dom/2 rounded up, too, but that again is not always right. And comparing with base dominion of the pretender god didn't give any conclusive results as well. Unless I am getting mixed results from the pretender files I have because some of them come from games with CBM enabled.

[Kristoffer O]

It varies a bit, but basically it is dom/2.

Titles are tied to paths (or combination of paths), dominion strength, scales and nations.

[Wrana]

About nations, I didn't see. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
BTW, does "Patron of Warriors" mean something?

[Argitoth]

Two lifelong protections on one commander will summon double the devils.

[Sombre]

Imps.

[Argitoth]

imps...

No, devils! Seriously! it will summon 0 x 2 devils!

[Edi]

Soul contract summons devils. Lifelong protection summons imps in combat.

[Endoperez]

When you choose your opponents in game creation, 'shift+H' makes all nations human-controlled, 'n' adds in a new nation.

[Dedas]

My God, didn't knew that, thank you Endo. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[lch]

Same here. This will help tremendously when setting up games by hand, for example games which require mods to be present.

[Zeldor]

Yeah. Bring more, people! I will try to find some time [and motivation http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif] to assemble all that wisdom in one post.

[reverend]

There should be a sticky with all the undocumented key shortcuts...

[Dedas]

They should be in the FAQ perhaps?

[Edi]

Good idea. So if someone would kindly present me with a list of undocumented key shortcuts, I'll add it to the FAQ. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Zeldor]

Do a printable version of it http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Dedas]

If you press the "Print Thread" button at the bottom of the forum it does a pretty good job.

[vfb]

Most Flying units cannot fly underwater, but the Djinn can.

[Kristoffer O]

Did you know that:

A cat charm increases the seduction chance for succubii.

[NTJedi]

Kristoffer O said:
Did you know that:

A cat charm increases the seduction chance for succubii.



I've seen debates in the forums on whether it does or does not, yet this is the first official confirmation. Kool thanks for the info!

** Modding Manual says 10 is standard for seduction... so how much does it increase the seduction chance? (?+2 or +10? or something else?)

[Kristoffer O]

Might be +1, not sure.

[Dedas]

Does bear talisman increase seduction for male seducers?

[Zeldor]

Kristoffer O:

Another question about mechanics: what is needed to trigger Sickle Whose Crop is Pan gem generating effect? I have reasons to believe that killing mindless units does not give you gems.

[Kristoffer O]

Not sure there was a bit of jumbled code that made me think cats charm and bear claw both had effects, but I couldn't figure out if and what they did. The succubus was a bit more plain so that one is confirmed.

The others might also be a restriction making it impossible to seduce if the wrong item is used, now that I come to think about it. To get a definite answer you'll have to ask JK.

If they have effects they work for female and male seducers respectively.

[Maraxus]

Did you know...

...Jotun Boulders get a small area of effect fire when enchanted with flaming arrows.

[Ironhawk]

Wow, really?

[Baalz]

Mages who lose some of their magic paths when leaving the water (Oceana primarily) apparently have this functionality tied to their unit type, so you can circumvent this by casting transformation, twiceborn, etc.

[lch]

NTJedi said:
I've seen debates in the forums on whether it does or does not, yet this is the first official confirmation.


That's not true. It was said before by either JK or KO in the forums that all that the cat charm / bear talisman does is to change the possibility of being seduced. It would not change the actual chance of seducing others, was what I remember.

[sector24]

I've been using LA Pythium's satyrs from the Orgy spell, and they have a virtually 0% chance of seducing anything. There just aren't enough female commanders around. However...they are fantastic assassins because as far as I can tell they force a duel without bodyguards. Can anyone confirm this?

[Dedas]

Isn't that what happens when they fail their seduction? Guess there are less gay commanders than you think. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Saulot]

lch said:

NTJedi said:
I've seen debates in the forums on whether it does or does not, yet this is the first official confirmation.


That's not true. It was said before by either JK or KO in the forums that all that the cat charm / bear talisman does is to change the possibility of being seduced. It would not change the actual chance of seducing others, was what I remember.



It's sad that even after all this time, there are still a few things nobody is quite sure about.

[Ironhawk]

sector24 said:
I've been using LA Pythium's satyrs from the Orgy spell, and they have a virtually 0% chance of seducing anything. There just aren't enough female commanders around. However...they are fantastic assassins because as far as I can tell they force a duel without bodyguards. Can anyone confirm this?



This is not correct. The seduction-failure assassination battle occurs just like any other. I've seen them fight bodyguards many times. You must just be getting lucky and hitting commanders without guards.

[churl]

If you forge 1 clam of pearls per turn (with a hammer), it takes 29 turns to "break even": the number of gems put in (29 clams at 14 gems each == 406) equals the number of pearls output (0+1+2+3+... for 29 turns == 406 pearls). If you need gems output the break even isn't for 57 turns! (1596 pearls output, which alchemizes to the 798 gems input)

For blood stones (forged with hammer), you break even on earth gems at turn 15 (105 gems), and blood at turn 23 (253 slaves becomes 253 earth gems).

For fever fetishes, assuming you place them on units with 10hp and produce 9 fire gems before switching to another unit, (and forge with a hammer), the break-even is around turn 16, using 96 gems (assuming some amortization of the gems output).

So, fever fetishes are by far the most efficient gem-producing artifact.. although they're also require the most micro-management.

[chrispedersen]

If you just remove the random nation (so the last nation is human), each nation you add will be human too...)

[chrispedersen]

I've used it many times. Anecdotally, it is well worth the price of a cat charm to add it to a succubus - or a lanka demon.

[K]

Did you know...

When you have the Gift of Health up, and put a Shroud of the Battle Saint on an already Holy unit, your Regen percentage for a Nature Bless is doubled, and based on your new HPs (so N10 is 40% of (base HPs + GoH HPs)).

[K]

Did you know that....


Horrors sent to Hell with Claws of Cocytus(at B9) or Infernal Prison(at B9) will eventually come back to the world, attack a random province, and then sit around in that province(assuming they won the province battle) until defeated?

[K]

Did you know that...


You can cast Life After Death and Foul Vapors to kill all your mages in a battle, which then turn them into Soulless, and then you can stop paying upkeep for them.

As Souless, they'll lose all their unit powers, but they'll have magic paths to research and cast, have a lower encumbrance, and you won't worry about age or disease anymore. They do have a low MR, so watch out for Banishments.

Doing this to a pile of Priests is great way to create Reanimating Priests.

[K]

Did you know that....

Size 4 units and larger are brought back as Giant Mummies instead of Mummies when Ritual of Rebirth is used on them? They have double the HPs and Str, but one less MR.

[kasnavada]

For fever fetishes, assuming you place them on units with 10hp and produce 9 fire gems before switching to another unit, (and forge with a hammer), the break-even is around turn 16, using 96 gems (assuming some amortization of the gems output).



10 hp fetish means the indy basic commander ? So you will have to add about 272 upkeep cost (over those 16 turns) + 480 (16 turns) + 6 replacement for the deads (probably more if neverhealing wound is "gained" before of the disease) + 180 gold, totalling about 1000 gold. The other gem producing items can just be used on your researching mages, causing no additionnal cost.

Tip and tricks :
Fever fetishes can be used without any commander dying if the commander has recuperation or a way to recuperate from affliction (fairy queen, and some arcos priestess, being immortal) and high HP. A good example would be the minotaur commander for Pangaea (29 HP). However, disease doesn't heal immediatly so take the fetish away when hp is still "high" (7 to 10). When the commander is healed again, give him the fever fetish again ! It's probably not as cost effective as using indy commanders depending on the unit used to wear the fetish (due to higher cost) but it simplifies micromanagement a lot. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Falkor]

vfb said:
Most Flying units cannot fly underwater, but the Djinn can.



Same for Horrors.
Send (lesser) Horror spell is as valuable underwater as on land. The beasts are amphibian and will "fly" directly for horror marked units. You just can't cast it underwater but you can target water provinces.

[RonD]

Saulot said:

It's cool that even after all this time, there are still a few things nobody is quite sure about.



Corrected.

[lch]

K said:
Did you know that...


You can cast Life After Death and Foul Vapors to kill all your mages in a battle, which then turn them into Soulless, and then you can stop paying upkeep for them.


Mwahahaha, that is evil! I love it! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[llamabeast]

You can cast Life After Death and Foul Vapors to kill all your mages in a battle, which then turn them into Soulless, and then you can stop paying upkeep for them.

As Souless, they'll lose all their unit powers, but they'll have magic paths to research and cast, have a lower encumbrance, and you won't worry about age or disease anymore. They do have a low MR, so watch out for Banishments.

Doing this to a pile of Priests is great way to create Reanimating Priests.



Damn you K, that was my secret trick!

Though actually I wasn't clever enough to use Foul Vapours. When I did it I just had all my priests stand next to a Bog Beast. Still I was quite pleased with myself!

[Ironhawk]

LOL

Wow that really is a great trick. Poor researchers!

[DonCorazon]

i think my employer did that to me! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[sector24]

Sounds like a great move to use with LA Pythium to get rid of their Heretic status (and upkeep of course). Plus they have easy access to Foul Vapors or Hydras.

[Cor2]

K said:
Did you know that...


You can cast Life After Death and Foul Vapors to kill all your mages in a battle, which then turn them into Soulless, and then you can stop paying upkeep for them.




Ha, I thought i had discovered this one as well! Found that the mages end up with like 5 mr, so its not good for battle mages. and IIRC ocassionally you lose a mage, the life after death does not trigger.

[Kristoffer O]

Wouldn't you be immune to mind hunts as well?

[Renojustin]

Mindless death-spell-casting corpses. Now there's a movie.

[Ironhawk]

K said:
You can cast Life After Death and Foul Vapors to kill all your mages in a battle, which then turn them into Soulless, and then you can stop paying upkeep for them.

....

Doing this to a pile of Priests is great way to create Reanimating Priests.



So, while I think this idea is just great - the use of it to create Reanimating Priests seems a little fishy to me. Can any undead priest reanimate? Cause it would just be totally bizarre to have a nation like Arco with a widespread capability to get undead freespawn.

What do you all think?

[K]

Any undead or demon priest can reanimate.

[K]

Did you know that....

Several nations get their own special Soulless and Londead. While most people know about Lanka's undead bandar and markata or Caelum's winged undead, few people know that Atlantis gets undead that have coral armor and weapons.

[Amhazair]

Ironhawk said:

K said:
You can cast Life After Death and Foul Vapors to kill all your mages in a battle, which then turn them into Soulless, and then you can stop paying upkeep for them.

....

Doing this to a pile of Priests is great way to create Reanimating Priests.

So, while I think this idea is just great - the use of it to create Reanimating Priests seems a little fishy to me. Can any undead priest reanimate? Cause it would just be totally bizarre to have a nation like Arco with a widespread capability to get undead freespawn.

What do you all think?

Thematically I'm fine with it. Of course this would represent a major corruption of society, but if a nation like Ermor could be tempted by the dark powers of death magic, why should Arco (or any other nation) be immune?

[K]

Did you know that....

Storm Demons are one of the few creature who aren't affected by Storms. Toss in a Gift of Reason and give them a Bow of War and you have Storm-immune archery (and as Commanders, they can be set to Fire Rear). The Precision of 14 doesn't hurt either.

[Aezeal]

Storm demons and air elements and air queens right?

[K]

Aezeal said:
Storm demons and air elements and air queens right?



There are some nation-specific units as well.

[ano]

K said:
Did you know that....

Several nations get their own special Soulless and Londead. While most people know about Lanka's undead bandar and markata or Caelum's winged undead, few people know that Atlantis gets undead that have coral armor and weapons.


AFAIK, any non-humanoid nation has its own type undead similar to the majority of population (meaning R'lyeh gets atlantians, for example).

[K]

ano said:

K said:
Did you know that....

Several nations get their own special Soulless and Londead. While most people know about Lanka's undead bandar and markata or Caelum's winged undead, few people know that Atlantis gets undead that have coral armor and weapons.


AFAIK, any non-humanoid nation has its own type undead similar to the majority of population (meaning R'lyeh gets atlantians, for example).



EA Argartha and EA Formoria both have normal Reaninmated undead, as well as all the "mixed" nations that are both monsters and human units or are humanish (Yomi, All Abysia nations, Tir' Na' Nog, etc).

PS. Several of the giant nations get giant longdead, which are aweesome.

[Ironhawk]

Amhazair said:

Ironhawk said:
So, while I think this idea is just great - the use of it to create Reanimating Priests seems a little fishy to me. Can any undead priest reanimate? Cause it would just be totally bizarre to have a nation like Arco with a widespread capability to get undead freespawn.

What do you all think?

Thematically I'm fine with it. Of course this would represent a major corruption of society, but if a nation like Ermor could be tempted by the dark powers of death magic, why should Arco (or any other nation) be immune?



But you can make thematic reasons for anything, really. This effect is basically a loophole because the nations who dont have access to Reanimation were designed that way. Reviving a mage skirts the upkeep cost but doesnt add capabilities to a nation that never had them before. While I would LOVE to use this trick, I think I have to admit to myself that its an exploit in the case of priests.

[chrispedersen]

tengku, come to mind.

[thejeff]

K said:
Did you know that....

Storm Demons are one of the few creature who aren't affected by Storms. Toss in a Gift of Reason and give them a Bow of War and you have Storm-immune archery (and as Commanders, they can be set to Fire Rear). The Precision of 14 doesn't hurt either.



Are they actually storm immune? I know they can fly in a storm and I can easily see them not get the precision penalty, but doesn't Storm also stop 50% of missiles? Are they really immune to that?
Not to mention GoR just to get an archer seems a bit of a waste...

[Amhazair]

Ironhawk said:

Amhazair said:

Ironhawk said:
So, while I think this idea is just great - the use of it to create Reanimating Priests seems a little fishy to me. Can any undead priest reanimate? Cause it would just be totally bizarre to have a nation like Arco with a widespread capability to get undead freespawn.

What do you all think?

Thematically I'm fine with it. Of course this would represent a major corruption of society, but if a nation like Ermor could be tempted by the dark powers of death magic, why should Arco (or any other nation) be immune?



But you can make thematic reasons for anything, really. This effect is basically a loophole because the nations who dont have access to Reanimation were designed that way. Reviving a mage skirts the upkeep cost but doesnt add capabilities to a nation that never had them before. While I would LOVE to use this trick, I think I have to admit to myself that its an exploit in the case of priests.

True enough. From your post I wasn't sure whether you meant it thematically or gametechnically. I'm quite sure I have seen KO confirm that the fact that all undead priests can reanimate is WAD. Of course, that was mostly in regard to someone prophetizing some random undead to reanimate a few chaff units. I do agree that it is quite a leap from there to the mass production of priests in this way. I do see why you think it could be fishy, though I don't have strong feelings about it either way. It certainly is a very neat trick though.

[MaxWilson]

In a battle, if you type "U" (capital-U) you can create enemy units, and if you type "K" you can kill the unit the cursor is over. This doesn't affect the outcome but it lets you simulate battles.

-Max

[Endoperez]

When recruiting units, press Shift while selecting a unit to queue 10 at once.

[Baalz]

Berserking increases your encumbrance by the amount of the berserk. A E/N bless only nets you 2 reinvig for the troops which are berserk. This might actually be counterproductive if it leaves you open to critical hits.

[Starshine_Monarch]

Is there a hotkey to select all Diseased units in a squad?

[Ironhawk]

I dont know one for Disease specifically, but 'w' selects all units in a squad with afflictions (of which Disease is one).

[capnq]

Also, 's' will select all starving units.

[Wick]

A Great Boar of Carnutes calls about 0.2 boars/turn in a 2 dominion. Positive dominion is necessary, terrain doesn't seem to matter. Higher dominion wasn't tested.

[MaxWilson]

Death blessing increases affliction chance for overland and BE spells like Flames From the Sky and Flame Storm. (To be blessed outside of combat you need to either have a Shroud of the Battle Saint/Armor of Virtue or be a Prophet.)

Nature blessing (or any regeneration) prevents you from losing HP due to disease but does not prevent afflictions from accumulating. <font color="red"> Edit: Note, if you have a sacred which is diseased and not wearing a Shroud/etc., you have to throw him into combat to bless him and let him regenerate HP. </font>

Regeneration reduces your chance of getting afflictions in a fashion somewhat proportional to the regen percentage. 10% regen will get more afflictions than 70% regen.

-Max

[moderation]

K said:
Did you know that....

Storm Demons are one of the few creature who aren't affected by Storms. Toss in a Gift of Reason and give them a Bow of War and you have Storm-immune archery (and as Commanders, they can be set to Fire Rear). The Precision of 14 doesn't hurt either.



I wonder if 100% Lightning Resistance would give the same effect.

[Aapeli]

Sombre said:
If you make a Jotun Herse, Demonbred, Lizard King or Dwarf smith into a prophet, they get a special graphic.



Abysian warlocks get graphics too when prophetized. I think it was a red cloak and a crown.

[Edi]

There's a list of special prophet form changes somewhere. Good luck finding it from the mass of my posts.

100% shock resistance does not grant stormflying. It is a separate ability. from both flying and shock resistance.

[quantum_mechani]

The Eyes of God enchantment allows you to view enemy heroes in the HoF.

[MaxWilson]

...stealthy units can <font color="red">participate in an</font> attack during the magic phase if they're already hiding in the province?

-Max

<font color="red">Edit: clarified in response to Renojustin's post. Yes, someone else has to initiate the attack, like a Teleporter or Call of the Winds.</font>

[Renojustin]

I think stealthy units attack in the magic phase when there is an additional friendly ritual cast on that province, like a remote summon. So they will fight with your summons.

AND/OR stealthy units attack in the battle phase when you have an army moving in, to combine forces with the army.

I THINK. Not too sure what would happen if you ritualed a province then attacked it... but then that's not such a terrific idea either, most of the time.

[lch]

MaxWilson said:
...stealthy units can attack during the magic phase if they're already hiding in the province?


Same for Assassinations. I think it's the zero-move that does it.

[Zeldor]

...you cannot create game named 'debug'

Anyone knows why?

[Cor2]

While viewing research you can filter by path. N is nature E is earth and so on.

I just found this one and I have been playing dom fo years. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

[MaxWilson]

Bracers of Protection / Kruppe's Braces double the protection bonus from an E9 blessing?

-Max

[Endoperez]

MaxWilson said:
Bracers of Protection / Kruppe's Braces double the protection bonus from an E9 blessing?



This is a bug that affects all armors that aren't linked to a spesific bodypart (head, body, shield), like Skull Necklace, the bracers and Cat Charm.

[MaxWilson]

Apparently it stacks, too. Two Bracers of Protection get a triple bonus.

In a way this makes sense. Legions of Steel says it gives +3 to each "armor part", and I guess if you have multiple armor parts that apply to your whole body they each get the bonus. I guess I should check that this works for Legions of Steel as well as the E9 blessing.

-Max

Edit: I bet it makes shields thicker, too.

Edit2: Yep, it works with Legions of Steel, too. Legions of Steel + E9 makes every armor "part" thicker by +7. That makes a Bracers of Protection effectively +9, and Krupp's Bracers are +11.

[lch]

Cor2 said:
While viewing research you can filter by path. N is nature E is earth and so on.


The same applies to ritual casting. There it is VERY useful for casters who have multiple magic paths.

[moderation]

You can press 'h" as a shortcut to initiate hosting from the Play A Nation menu.

[secretperson]

lch said:

Cor2 said:
While viewing research you can filter by path. N is nature E is earth and so on.


The same applies to ritual casting. There it is VERY useful for casters who have multiple magic paths.



Wow, that is immensely helpful!

[Endoperez]

The filtering works everywhere, from battle scripting to rituals to research.

In case someone doesn't know already... You can copy and psate commanders' and units' orders. To paste, hover the mouse over the line of text that has the command and press Ctrl+number, and to paste hover mouse over the command and press a number. Commanders' orders can't be given to units and vice versa.

You can use 'y' key to give battle orders to all armies moving INTO the target province (instead of the armies that already are in the province).

[chrispedersen]

I still don't get the y key...

[Raiel]

Left-Click on a province you're moving multiple armies to, then press 'y'...

[JimMorrison]

I think right-click maybe, and then Y. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[MaxWilson]

...if you lose a mercenary bid you get your money back the next turn?

[Edi]

...in addition to increasing heat aura, Fire magic also increases the strength of fireshield? But it does not do that consistently. Apparently creatures with Fire Power get +1 per level of fire magic, while all others get +1 per 2 levels of fire magic (rounded down), except Chayot and Seraph, who don't get anything.

Did you also know that updating the fireshield display formula for the DB to reflect that is a goddamn pain in the arse and then some?

[capnq]

...if a blood mage dies in a battle, any of his unused blood slaves who somehow survive the battle are counted as negative regular units killed in the battle summary message?

I had a blood mage killed by a very lucky slinger, and the battle report showed -5 regular units killed.

[ano]

Mage doesn't need to die to receive this effect. If he moves too far from his slaves, they become units not "gems".
I'm not sure if the reverse change is possible, though. Probably not.

[Falkor]

ano said:
Mage doesn't need to die to receive this effect. If he moves too far from his slaves, they become units not "gems".
I'm not sure if the reverse change is possible, though. Probably not.



Yes, it is possible. "Soldier" blood slaves will appear in the gem box again.

[MaxWilson]

...being in enemy dominion causes unrest?

I had forgotten about this until recently. So the reasons you want a good Dominion score:

1.) It helps your pretender/immortal units.
2.) It gives a net +2 morale boost to your normal units.
3.) If you have good scales you need to push your dominion to benefit.
4.) Even if you don't you need to push your dominion to keep taxes at 100.
5.) Spells like Gift of Health, Lure of the Deep, etc., rely on it.

-Max

[ano]

2) Does "net +2" mean "+2 compared to enemy dominion"?

One more point (very important one):
6) it makes scales work as intended: magic gives more research, luck increases the chance of good events etc. In hostile/neutral dominion positive scales effects (at least some of them) don't work

As for unrest: yes, enemy dominion causes unrest but that unrest doesn't increase with time (it is what I observed in my games). So if you have 3 unrest caused by enemy dominion, it won't increase the next turn. This means (important!!) that there's no sense to allow auto-lowering taxes for such provinces. If you keep taxes at 100 you won't get additional unrest, if you lower them to 90, you won't get rid of those 3 unrest points. So it is worth manually setting taxes to 100 for such provinces. Watch your money http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[MaxWilson]

Yes, +2 compared to enemy dominion. Except in the very early game there are no neutral-dominion provinces.

#6 is related to #3. The fact that you can sometimes benefit from good enemy scales is a quirk--but yeah, it's worth calling out explicitly.

That's interesting about the auto-tax rates.

-Max

[MaxWilson]

...Phoenix Pyre overrides #secondshape? Chayot who have Phoenix Pyre up will keep their firstshape if they are killed with less than 100 fatigue. If they have 100 or more fatigue they will die without entering their secondshape at all--astral Chayot will go straight to dead. Presumably this is true of dragons, skratti, etc., as well.

-Max

[Zeldor]

There is a thread with all summed up http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

And that thing with Phenix Pyre looks like a nasty bug, you should put it into bug thread so it can be clarified.

[MaxWilson]

I don't think it's a bug. I suspect that each unit has only one secondshape possible, and that Phoenix Pyre overrides it to make your #secondshape the same as your current shape. Even if it's not a bug, it's an important mechanic to know.

[PsiSoldier]

Heres a trick.

When it starts to take a long time between turns you can open Dominions again and play 2 games at once in Windowed Mode alternating between them as the AI Thinks etc.

[JimMorrison]

Hahaha, I was doing that for awhile, it started to make me completely insane. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif Same as playing 8 MP games at once, it's looney tunes.

[Lingchih]

Four games is the absolute limit for normal human players Jim. To play eight games effectivly, you must have two brains.

[JimMorrison]

Blast! You know my secret!

Reginald, find that man. Bring me his brain to add to my collection.

[Baalz]

Edi said:
...in addition to increasing heat aura, Fire magic also increases the strength of fireshield? But it does not do that consistently. Apparently creatures with Fire Power get +1 per level of fire magic, while all others get +1 per 2 levels of fire magic (rounded down), except Chayot and Seraph, who don't get anything.

Did you also know that updating the fireshield display formula for the DB to reflect that is a goddamn pain in the arse and then some?



Same for cold aura and water magic - including the effect of the Rhime Haubrik. It has a larger cold aura worn by a water mage and it's protection changes with the temperature scale just like Caelum/LA Atlantis ice armors.

[Taqwus]

...that the Troll Archer adventurer combines a 'Fire at Commanders' order with a 30-precision magic bow?

...that 100-precision attacks work even if you're blind or it's dark?

...that the Rime Hauberk conveys well over 100 cold resistance?

...that MA Ulm has weapons which cause area-1 15-fatigue against enemy sacred units?

...that Sleep Vines provide multiple 33-fatigue attacks per turn, and often come in pairs?

...that a mercenary who dies while in the Hall of Fame can be brought back via Ritual of Rebirth?

...that not even national heroes (or Hinnom commanders...) are guaranteed to peacefully coexist?

[chrispedersen]

awwww.. thats one of my favorite tactics.. get a merc in the hall killed off.. to bring him back as a mummy.

shhh!

[MaxWilson]

Chris,

Why? You lose all his men, and he still won't give up items so he's a pain to use as an SC.

-Max

[Gregstrom]

Magic diversity?

[chrispedersen]

Exactly - some of make pretty ok SC's. Tupac Shakira - or whatever that ettin is, for example. Plus they come back with 0 Enc.

But magical diversity is definitely the big reason. Plus the ability to reanimate undead.

And a lot will depend on the heroic ability they had. Third Eye, Legendary researcher, Legendary Cruelty, Unimpressive Obesity.. theres a lot of niche uses for critters like that.

[Taqwus]

I'd think that this also lowers your payroll. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Ewierl]

If a single army engages in two battles during a single turn, not only will units not heal, archers won't replenish their ammunition.

[ano]

Wow! I'm really surprised with this.

[Ewierl]

Yeah, it was quite a shocker for me in MP when all my longbowmen charged straight into melee. I looked at the replays, and in the first battle they'd fired bows as normal, so their commands were all correct. The only explanation I can see is that they were out of arrows from round 1.

P.S:

Taqwus said:...that not even national heroes (or Hinnom commanders...) are guaranteed to peacefully coexist?



What does that mean?

[Taqwus]

OM NOM NOM, in the case of Hinnom's cannibalism.

Sauromatia has a couple of national heroes who have a certain history and shouldn't remain in the same province if you want to keep 'em both. I don't recall if other nations have similar situations.

[Tifone]

I think Bandar Log with the fallen four-harmed thing hero (Devasura). But I don't really remember.

I'm very surprised by the non-healing-nor-reloading thing too. A big advantage to the counterpart without any doubt.

[MaxWilson]

No healing is not a surprise, since healing takes place in a later phase. What surprises me is the notion that ammunition is explicitly tracked, and reloaded during the healing phase. I need to verify this because it's just plain weird--PD regenerates between battles, mages go down to zero fatigue, but archer arrows are still expended? Maybe it's done on purpose to be thematic, though.

-Max

[Nikelaos]

i believe eriu or tir nan og (can't remember which) has two heros which won't live together in the same province, the 1 with the spear always kills the other according to the little description i read on one of the heros.

[MaxWilson]

... you can have climate effects during an Arena match? E.g. cold-blooded creature creature in cold climate takes extra +1 encumbrance. Dominion effects on morale don't seem to apply, though.

-Max

[chrispedersen]

I have never gone to a deathmatch - is there a way to know in advance what the climate is likely to be like.. or is it random arena?

It would be cool if the annoucement said...

Territory X is hosting a deathmatch...

[MaxWilson]

NTJedi thinks it will always be in the province which has the Arena site. I'm confused though because I think I may have seen multiple Arena sites in some games. Also, sometimes it doesn't zoom in on the province (although that may be only when score graphs are turned off or you haven't discovered the province in question, I'm not sure).

Basically, no there's no way to tell.

-Max

[Edratman]

I can confirm that multiple arenas do occur. (One of my current games even has 2 arenas in the same province.)

When there are multiple arenas the arena that is chosen seems to be the one closest to the center of the map. In the cases whee I know there are multiple arenas, I have never seen the match change from the initial site. Nor have I seen it change provinces at any time.

I have never seen it fail to zoom in on the province.

[MaxWilson]

I just posted a trn in the Fear Mechanics thread showing that units in melee can recover Morale. In that trn, the arena does not zoom in on a province before fights.

-Max

[archaeolept]

when you hire a merc that someone else has, it will come still w/ the order for what it was doing (other than move)... including build fortress

you can then cancel the fort and get your money back... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Nikelaos]

did you know that?

spells like hellbind heart and enslave can be used in the arena deathmatch competitions. A converted commander may even take over and fight instead of the commander who converted him in later fights of the same competition. However even if you win, only the commander you chose to fight in the arena deathmatch will return alive but if a converted commander wins he will still gain the experience of winning a deathmatch competition (even though he dies afterwards) not only is converting commanders a great way to win arena deathmatches and get rid of some great foreign warriors but you can use ritual rebirth to bring back your converted winner or any other converted commander in the hall of fame.

[MaxWilson]

...Forge of the Ancients counts BEFORE forge bonus? If the forge bonus came first, a 15% forge bonus on a 5 gem item would round down to 4 gems, and then Forge of the Ancients would halve that to 2 gems. Instead, Forge halves the cost from 5 to 2, and then a 15% bonus on top rounds down to 1.

It's also possible to forge items for free, if you can get the cost below 1. (It's almost never worth doing so, though.)

-Max

[Zeldor]

MaxWilson:

I am almost sure that 1 gem is minimum price, have you tested that?

[Ming]

Did you know that...

"Huli" means fox. "Jing" is the stage non-humans (animals, plants, even inanimate objects) reach on their way to attaining Tao/Nirvana and becoming an immortal. As a "Jing" they no longer die of old age and gain some of the powers (magic?) typically associated with immortals. However, they can still be killed. The more powerful Jing's would have spent thousands of years meditating towards immortality - but usually less than ten thousand as presumably they would become immortals by the time they have spent ten thousand years meditating?!

The nine tailed silver fox is a myth like the white stag and a "Jing" of such an animal is supposedly the most powerful of all huli jings. According to Chinese myth/folklore, one such (in the form of a most beautiful woman) supposedly seduced an ancient emperor and caused the fall of his dynasty. Other tales of huli jing also have the common theme of it appearing as a beautiful woman, though not always evil. So nowadays the term "huli jing" is often used to describe a femme fatale, usually with a negative connotation - particularly by the wife in describingone who is having an affair with her husband!

I am afraid that, unlike other posts about the mechanics of the game, the above won't help you play any better! :smirk:

[MaxWilson]

MaxWilson:

I am almost sure that 1 gem is minimum price, have you tested that?

Yes. IIRC it was a Talmai Elder (15% bonus) w/ the Hammer of the Forge Lord forging a 5-gem item under Forge of the Ancients. Cost: 0 gems (65% off of 2 gems is 0.7 gems, rounded down to 0). Obviously, tying up both the Hammer of the Forge Lord to save one measly gem over a dwarven hammer is... suboptimal, but I was curious.

-Max

[MaxWilson]

...if you fail to send your Champion to attend the death match, you get an event "Suddenly X's Champion's trident disappeared in a puff of smoke." The trident goes to the new winner. Your old Champion does not die and does not fight, he just loses his crown.

-Max

[Gregstrom]

...Forge of the Ancients counts BEFORE forge bonus? If the forge bonus came first, a 15% forge bonus on a 5 gem item would round down to 4 gems, and then Forge of the Ancients would halve that to 2 gems. Instead, Forge halves the cost from 5 to 2, and then a 15% bonus on top rounds down to 1.

It's also possible to forge items for free, if you can get the cost below 1. (It's almost never worth doing so, though.)

-Max

Did you know that... that's not the whole of it?

Site bonuses to Con are also applied independently of these two - I think the order is Forge->site->hammer. And... the gem cost appears to be rounded down between each step. So you can get Rings of Wizardry for 9S, or clams for 3W1N.

[HoneyBadger]

I'm actually reading that ancient legend, Ming-I've got "Tales of the Tea-house, Retold" in hardcover. I'm up to the part where the two princes are carried off by the 2 giant security guard twins

Did you know that the "Blood Thorn" forgeable weapon is actually "Weapon-type: Athame"?

[DonCorazon]

...if you fail to send your Champion to attend the death match, you get an event "Suddenly X's Champion's trident disappeared in a puff of smoke." The trident goes to the new winner. Your old Champion does not die and does not fight, he just loses his crown.

-Max

Hmmm... I recently was in a position where I had a champion forced to defend the crown. When the death match was announced his orders defaulted to "compete in death match" and IIRC I could not change them so not sure how you are able to avoid it.

[MaxWilson]

...if you fail to send your Champion to attend the death match, you get an event "Suddenly X's Champion's trident disappeared in a puff of smoke." The trident goes to the new winner. Your old Champion does not die and does not fight, he just loses his crown.

-Max

Hmmm... I recently was in a position where I had a champion forced to defend the crown. When the death match was announced his orders defaulted to "compete in death match" and IIRC I could not change them so not sure how you are able to avoid it.

I actually did not avoid it on purpose, but I was playing around with his equipment loadout and scripting, so that I wouldn't lose any good stuff if he lost. It's most likely that sending some items back to the Lab set him back to Defend, as usually happens with item transfers. It can't be purely a bug, though, or else there wouldn't be a built-in event for this case.

-Max

[lch]

...if you fail to send your Champion to attend the death match, you get an event "Suddenly X's Champion's trident disappeared in a puff of smoke."It can't be purely a bug, though, or else there wouldn't be a built-in event for this case.

-Max
That "poof" thing is just the same that you get when somebody wishes your stuff away. It probably uses the same code.

[Zeldor]

MaxWilson:

Boosters mostly, if someone has a chance he should check it [or patience to wait for 2 arenas in test game].

[Gandalf Parker]

Did you know that you can change many of the games defaults?
Tired of setting the magic sites higher for each game you play?
Tired of setting the independents higher for each game?
Tired of turning on renaming for each game? (or worse, forgetting to)
Tired of switching to windowed mode all the time?
Is the clickity-click too loud for you?
Do you turn off music and/or sound every time to go into the game?

Tired of typing in the IP number, port, etc for every game you play online?

Would you like the random maps in your games to be less water, more mountains, greener plains, border lines more or maybe less noticable?

Tired of seeing the credits screen when you leave and having to click on it?

These are all things that you can set on the "command line". For Windows users its as easy as adding your preferences to the command line of your desktop icon you click to get into Dominions 3.

[trentzero]

* You cannot find blood sites within water provinces, supposedly because the water washes away the blood... ... yet you can find fire sites.
water and fire seem more likely to cancel each other than water and blood


Maybe you can't find virgins near bodies of water. ;)

[trentzero]

Yeah, it was quite a shocker for me in MP when all my longbowmen charged straight into melee. I looked at the replays, and in the first battle they'd fired bows as normal, so their commands were all correct. The only explanation I can see is that they were out of arrows from round 1.


Actually this might also be caused if one of your archers in an all archer stack (or if you stick a non-archer in one) happens to lose an arm, he won't have a bow anymore, thus, sending the whole squad rushing forward into the arms of the enemy. :doh:

[thejeff]

I think that happens when the first unit in the stack doesn't have a range weapon (lost arm or non-archer).

I know I've seen individual archers charge forward when they lose an arm.

[Sombre]

Did you know that you can change many of the games defaults?
Tired of setting the magic sites higher for each game you play?
Tired of setting the independents higher for each game?
Tired of turning on renaming for each game? (or worse, forgetting to)
Tired of switching to windowed mode all the time?
Is the clickity-click too loud for you?
Do you turn off music and/or sound every time to go into the game?

Tired of typing in the IP number, port, etc for every game you play online?

Would you like the random maps in your games to be less water, more mountains, greener plains, border lines more or maybe less noticable?

Tired of seeing the credits screen when you leave and having to click on it?

These are all things that you can set on the "command line". For Windows users its as easy as adding your preferences to the command line of your desktop icon you click to get into Dominions 3.


I'd like to know more about these commands. Is there a list of them available somewhere? Specifically the renaming one would be good.

[vfb]

If you run dom320 --help it tells you the available options:


usage: dom3 [option(s)] [gamename]
options:
-v --version Print version number and exit
-d Increase debug level
-g --host Generate new turn and exit
--verify Verify all 2h-files and exit (creates .chk files)
--statfile Create a player info file after each turn (stats.txt)
--scoredump Create a score file after each turn (scores.html)
--finalhost Generate new turn, send out final score msg and exit
-c --nocredits Disables the end credits
******* Network Options *******
-C --tcpclient Connect to a Dominions multiplayer server
-S --tcpserver Start a Dominions multiplayer server
--ipadr XXX Use this IP-adr when connecting to server
--port X Use this port nbr
--preexec CMD Execute this command before each turn generation
--postexec CMD Execute this command after each turn generation
-t --hosttime X Y Host on day X (0=sunday) hour Y (0-23)
--minutes X Set host interval in minutes
-h --hours X Set host interval in hours
--pauseday X Stop timer on this day (0=sunday)
-q --quickhost Host as soon as all turns are done
-n --nonationsel No nation selection when resuming a network game
--noclientstart Clients cannot start the game during Choose Participants
--uploadtime X Game is created after this many minutes.
--uploadmaxp X Game is created if this many players join.
--closed X Nation closed X=nation number (0-94)
--easyai X Nation ai controlled X=nation number (0-94)
--normai X Nation ai controlled X=nation number (0-94)
--diffai X Nation ai controlled X=nation number (0-94)
--mightyai X Nation ai controlled X=nation number (0-94)
--impai X Nation ai controlled X=nation number (0-94)
******* New Game Options *******
--mapfile XXX Filename of map. E.g. eye.map
--randmap X Make and use a random map with X prov per player (10,15,20)
--research X Research difficulty 0-3 (default 1)
--hofsize X Size of Hall of Fame 5-15 (default 10)
--indepstr X Strength of Independents 0-9 (default 5)
--magicsites X Magic site frequency 0-75 (default 40)
--eventrarity X Random event rarity 1-2, 1=common 2=rare
--totalvp X Vic. points available in the world 0-25
--capitalvp One extra victory per capital
--requiredvp X Vic. points required for victory (default total/2)
--summervp Vic. points are accumulated each summer
--richness X Money multiple 50-300 (default 100)
--resources X Resource multiple 50-300 (default 100)
--supplies X Supply multiple 50-300 (default 100)
--masterpass XX Master password. E.g. masterblaster
--startprov X Number of starting provinces (1-9)
--renaming Enable commander renaming
--noscoregraphs Disable score graphs
--nonationinfo No info at all on other nations
--nocheatdet Turns off cheat detection
--era X New game created in this era (1-3)
-M --enablemod XXX Enable the mod with filename XXX
******* Random Map Options *******
--makemap XXX Generate a random map with filename XXX and exit
--riverpart X 100 = normal amount of rivers, 0=no rivers
--seapart X Percent of map that is below water level (default=30)
--mountpart X Percent of map that is mountains (default=20)
--forestpart X Percent of lands that are forests (default=20)
--farmpart X Percent of lands that are farm lands (default=15)
--wastepart X Percent of lands that are wastes (default=10)
--swamppart X Percent of lands that are swamps (default=10)
--mapaa Enable antialiasing for random maps
--mapsize W H Set width and height of random map (default=1600 1200)
--mapprov X Set number of provinces (default=150)
--passmount Don't use impassable mountains on random maps
--mapgcol RGBA Ground color 0-255 (default=170 146 116 255)
--mapscol RGBA Sea color 0-255 (default=54 54 130 255)
--mapbcol RGBA Ground border color 0-255 (x4)
--mapsbcol RGBA Sea border color 0-255 (x4)
--mapnoise X Ground color noise 0-255 (default 15)
--borderwidth X Border width 0-500 (default 100)
******* Video Options *******
-w --window Run Dominions 3 in a window
-u --fullscreen Use the entire screen
--bitplanes X Try to use a color depth of X bits per pixel
--zbuffer X Try to use a depth buffer of X bits per pixel (default=16)
-T --textonly Use this with --tcpserver to get graphicless server
--gamma X Set gamma function (brightness) 0.1 - 5.0 (default=1.0)
--opacity X Set gui opacity 0 - 100
-r --res X Y Set screen resolution / window size (default=1024 768)
--animback Use animated backgrounds
-a --noanimback Don't use animated backgrounds
--fade Use fade effects
-f --nofade No fade effects
--nopopups No helpful popups
--fps X Aim for this nbr of frames per second (default=20)
--maxfps X Maximum nbr of frames per second (default=50)
--filtering X Quality of OpenGL filtering 0-3 (default=2)
--maxtexsize X Max texture size in pixels 32-4096 (default=unlimited)
--treequal X Tree quality 1-5 (default=3)
--texqual X Texture quality 1-5 (default=3)
--nolightfx No light effects in battles
--partamount X Max nbr of particles 0-8 (0=none, 4=default, 8=max)
--nograss Don't draw the grass
--noarcade Don't draw floating damage numbers
--noglext Don't use any OpenGL extensions
--vsync Enable vsync
-V --novsync Disable vsync
--renderpath X Use different optimizations 0-1 (0=good for low mem cards)
-x --fastgrx Faster graphics (use 3 times for best performance (-xxx))
-p --perftest Run a performance test and exit
******* Audio Options *******
-s --nosound No sound effects or music
-m --nomusic No music
--musicvol X Set music volume, 0-100
--clickvol X Set mouse click volume, 0-100
--arts Route sound through aRts (default)
-o --oss Use direct oss sound output (best quality)
Example: dom3 -wm Run Dominons 3 in a window and without music

[vfb]

More trivia...

Stealthy commanders hiding in enemy territory cannot be given the order to participate in the Arena Death Match.

[chrispedersen]

... unpurchased mercenaries, will die.. and yet may still occupy Hof Slots?

[Gregstrom]

...if a mercenary dies of disease, his troops will remain in the province until they die in battle?

[vfb]

You can also teleport (or otherwise magically transport) the mercenary commander to another province, leaving you with a bunch of merc troops sitting in the original province.

[Aezeal]

if you do that what happens after the next bidding round?

[Bwaha]

Did you know Star Children have feet? Brings a whole new level to Rylah communions. :D

[Bwaha]

Did you know every message is archived, every key stroke sent or received. :pc:

[chrispedersen]

how do you know? how do you retrieve.. often I forget how much gold I sent

[JimMorrison]

Seriously..... sometimes I just stare at the screen, thinking "did I just click on Marignon, or Mictlan? Would be so nice to be able to doublecheck that.

[Tifone]

Yep... It would be better if writing a message to send, it would be "A message TO Mictlan" instead of "A message FROM Agartha", as it currently is. Damn, I know who I am!! :D Seriously, sometimes I had to cancel entire messages for not being sure no more if I had clicked on friend or enemy.

[Nikelaos]

i have to double check everytime i send a message for that reason, i'm usually quite tired(just got out of bed/school) when i do my turns so i'm clumsy that way

[Gandalf Parker]

Did you know that "Imprint Souls" works on water provinces?
Unlike most other "attack other provinces" spells, you can do Imprint Souls against enemy water locations. Its a great way to get a foothold in some small lake in the enemy territory that he will have a rough time getting rid of.

[vfb]

If you don't have "Province Names" on in your Map Filters, holding down the Tab key temporarily displays the province names for as long as you hold it down.

[Endoperez]

Death 9 bless deals 2 points of armor-negating damage when the target fails a magic resistance roll. That doesn't happen as often as you'd like, but at least with the +350% affliction change, you have a pretty good chance of causing some permanent harm. But did you know that you are guaranteed to cause disease? The bless damage has unresistable Disease(143) as its secondaryeffect!

[Tifone]

But did you know that you are guaranteed to cause disease? The bless damage has unresistable Disease(143) as its secondaryeffect!


!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:
Nice to know

Please discover something neat 'bout the Air bless too, maybe one day it will become worthy :D

[djo]

Death 9 bless deals 2 points of armor-negating damage when the target fails a magic resistance roll. That doesn't happen as often as you'd like, but at least with the +350% affliction change, you have a pretty good chance of causing some permanent harm. But did you know that you are guaranteed to cause disease? The bless damage has unresistable Disease(143) as its secondaryeffect!

Is the unresistable disease attached to death 9 only, or does it come along with death 4+ and the affliction % increase?

[edit] And I see in the very next thread I read that the answer is death 9 only.

[vfb]

Ghoul/longdead indy provinces usually have just slinger (and vanilla commanders) recruitables when you take the province. But if the ghoul province is in caves you get cavemen recruitables instead.

[BesucherXia]

The types of underwater sites are very limited. You can use a rainbow pretender with F1A2W3E3S2D2N2 to cover any possible cases except the holy ones which need H1. (according to db 3.20)
Hence the popular spell Voice of Tiamat is not a must.

[vfb]

There are an extra 10 or so battle turns at the end of each battle, most people know this because they've seen their poisoned units die.

But you can also heal regenerating diseased units by using non-flying indie provinces or hostile PD. A unit down to 1HP, with regen 1HP, will heal back up to full HP even if he just enters a battle for a single round then runs away. You don't need to hold x 5, run away (and risk being hit by an arrow or cavalry).

[HoneyBadger]

I think that's a great candidate for the Exploits thread, vfb :)

[chrispedersen]

There are an extra 10 or so battle turns at the end of each battle, most people know this because they've seen their poisoned units die.

But you can also heal regenerating diseased units by using non-flying indie provinces or hostile PD. A unit down to 1HP, with regen 1HP, will heal back up to full HP even if he just enters a battle for a single round then runs away. You don't need to hold x 5, run away (and risk being hit by an arrow or cavalry).

Funny you mention this vfb, I just figured the same thing out accidentally, this last turn.

[chrispedersen]

Minor trick:

Sieging a Lanka, or abysian castle? Wolven winter, changing the temperature scales, and hence the supplies, can help starve your opponent faster.

[vfb]

It was an accident for me too. Down to 1 HP on a diseased capitol mage, and Late Winter was approaching rapidly. So I sent him solo into the indies, just holding one turn then retreating, so I could at least get up to 2 or 3 HP and live one more year. I was surprised to see he had the full 9 HP after retreating from the battle.

[MaxWilson]

I think that's a great candidate for the Exploits thread, vfb :)

IMHO that's not an exploit. It *should* work like that even if you don't go into combat.

Note that the units you send in also gain an extra point of experience for being involved in a battle, according to the manual.

-Max

[chrispedersen]

It is an exploit. No reason for a unit to ever die of disease, if you can keep a battle nearby.

[vfb]

With regen they won't die of disease anyway, or it'll take a really long time (like 10 years) for 10 Late Winters to wear them down. In my case above, it was that I'd only reached Const 4 just as the mage was about to die.

I'm really surprised that anyone would think that this is an exploit. I thought HB was joking! Maybe he was? Chris sounds like he's not joking though.

[cleveland]

1) Did you know that the "Charge Bonus for First Strike" that Lances receive is a damage bonus equivalent to 30% of the unit's action points?

So for example, a Lance-wielding indy Heavy Cavalry (20 action points, 16 damage, strength not added) will deal 16 + 20*0.3 = 22 damage. If he is Quickened, his action points will double to 40, so he'll deal 16 + 40*0.3 = 28 damage.

2) Did you know that with Strength of Giants, a Light Lance 1st strike becomes at least as deadly as a Lance?

Light Lances are 3damage plus strength of the wielder, while Lances are 16damage, but strength isn't added. The weakest Light Lance wielders are 9str (Jade Maiden, Nightmare, and Pegasus Rider), so after SoG they deal 9+3+4 = 16 damage before the 1st strike bonus, same as a Lance. Actually, most Light Lance wielders are stronger than 9, so Strength of Giants generally makes the Light Lance 1st strike more deadly than a Lance.

[Fate]

...Forge of the Ancients counts BEFORE forge bonus? If the forge bonus came first, a 15% forge bonus on a 5 gem item would round down to 4 gems, and then Forge of the Ancients would halve that to 2 gems. Instead, Forge halves the cost from 5 to 2, and then a 15% bonus on top rounds down to 1.

It's also possible to forge items for free, if you can get the cost below 1. (It's almost never worth doing so, though.)

-Max

Are you sure it doesn't just stack?

50% FoA + 15% hammer = 65% off of 5 gems = 1.75 rounded down to 1 gems.

and for 8 gem ring of wizardry
50% FoA + 15% hammer + 20% site bonus = 85% off of 55 gems = 8.25 rounded down to 8 gems?

I haven't actually tested any of this, but I do know that natural construction bonus (such as on dwarven smiths) stacks w/ the hammer, so I would think FoA and site bonuses would as well.


Another one:
Construction bonus from the dwarven hammer applies to the cost of rituals and even globals, like FoA and Mechanical Militia.

So you could get a 64 gem FoA and follow it with a sub-40 gem mechanical militia!

[HoneyBadger]

No no, I think it's funny, but I'm definitely not joking, sorry.

It's blatantly and obviously an exploit.

[vfb]

Another one:
Construction bonus from the dwarven hammer applies to the cost of rituals and even globals, like FoA and Mechanical Militia.

So you could get a 64 gem FoA and follow it with a sub-40 gem mechanical militia!

Are you sure about that? I just tested the Mechanical Men ritual, and there was no difference in gem cost whether wielding or not wielding a hammer.

I though the only thing that affected both ritual casting cost and item construction cost is magic sites with a Const discount.

[MaxWilson]

...Lifelong Protection only summons imps while the "wielder" is conscious?

-Max

[JimMorrison]

[QUOTE=MaxWilson;629941]
Are you sure it doesn't just stack?

50% FoA + 15% hammer = 65% off of 5 gems = 1.75 rounded down to 1 gems.

and for 8 gem ring of wizardry
50% FoA + 15% hammer + 20% site bonus = 85% off of 55 gems = 8.25 rounded down to 8 gems?


It is definitely not stacking, it is sequential. Because it is sequential, it matters not what the order is.

Anyway, if it were additive, FoA+Hammer would put a 25 gem item to 6 gems, but they will in fact be 9 gems every time.

[thejeff]

Well, if it rounds at every step it can matter what the order is.

Personal bonuses (Master Smiths, etc) stack with hammers.
The Forge and Site bonuses are applied separately.

[Gregstrom]

It is definitely not stacking, it is sequential. Because it is sequential, it matters not what the order is.



Actually, I think it does. From my testing with the Steel Ovens, hammers and Forge up, I got results that only worked if rounding happened after each step in the sequence.

Prime example: You have The Steel Ovens, Forge and a Dwarven Hammer. You forge a Horror Helm. Applying the Forge puts cost to 5, then the Ovens for 4, then the hammer for 3. In game, the cost is 2 gems. To get this result, you must be rounding down between steps of the sequence, and you can't apply the Steel Ovens bonus first.

[chrispedersen]

It does round down between steps.

[JimMorrison]

That's an excellent point, I wasn't thinking of the rounding ripple effects.

[vfb]

You can press 'Shift-F' (free?) in the review battle screen.

This unlocks the numpad '7' and '9' keys to rotate the camera about its Y-axis, and the 'Home' and 'End' keys to rotate the camera about its X-axis.

It also unlocks limits placed on the normal battlefield camera movement keys.

[thejeff]

Very cool. Nice for storming forts, where you can never see what's going on in the gate.

It does seem to cause a seg fault if you rotate too far, though.

[MaxWilson]

You can press 'Shift-F' (free?) in the review battle screen.

This unlocks the numpad '7' and '9' keys to rotate the camera about its Y-axis, and the 'Home' and 'End' keys to rotate the camera about its X-axis.

It also unlocks limits placed on the normal battlefield camera movement keys.

Wow! I have wanted this capability for the longest time. Thanks!

-Max

[vfb]

If you wield all three of the following items, you get Awe+0:

Whip of Command
Sceptre of Authority
Crown of Command

I needed to gate some units and wanted to increase my leadership, so I made all three, and ... ooh! Surprise, the Awe icon popped on.

[Szumo]

If you wield all three of the following items, you get Awe+0:

Whip of Command
Sceptre of Authority
Crown of Command

I needed to gate some units and wanted to increase my leadership, so I made all three, and ... ooh! Surprise, the Awe icon popped on.

All those items increase leadership, and very high leadership value gives you awe.

[vfb]

If you wield all three of the following items, you get Awe+0:

Whip of Command
Sceptre of Authority
Crown of Command

I needed to gate some units and wanted to increase my leadership, so I made all three, and ... ooh! Surprise, the Awe icon popped on.

All those items increase leadership, and very high leadership value gives you awe.

Are you sure? I've got a prophet running around in a different game with 320 leadership, and he doesn't have awe.

And I've got Aboleths in a different game with higher magic leadership, and they don't have Awe either.

The unit I equipped has this leadership now:
Normal: 115 (15+100)
Magic: 55 (55+25)

Maybe a high leadership bonus, from items or the heroic ability, gives Awe?

[Endoperez]

Maybe a high leadership bonus, from items or the heroic ability, gives Awe?

Leadership bonus from magic items gives awe after +100 ldr or so. This is why that artifact helm (Crown of Overmight?) gives Awe without it being listed in the manual, or why those twin artifacts (Picus/Procus axes of leadership) give Awe when wielded together.

[Gandalf Parker]

Interesting. So a unit that already has high leadership, of like 120, might get awe with only a couple of those. Or maybe an awe over +0.

[Endoperez]

Interesting. So a unit that already has high leadership, of like 120, might get awe with only a couple of those. Or maybe an awe over +0.

No. Leadership bonus from magic items gives Awe, after a total of about +100 extra leadership. From magic items.

Innate leadership has no effect on what items are needed for Awe.

[zzcat]

You can press 'Shift-F' (free?) in the review battle screen.

This unlocks the numpad '7' and '9' keys to rotate the camera about its Y-axis, and the 'Home' and 'End' keys to rotate the camera about its X-axis.

It also unlocks limits placed on the normal battlefield camera movement keys.

It's very useful, thanks.

Anyone knows how to see the sommoned creatures and heroes' gold/resource cost and random path in the game?
I fould this picture in a wiki page. But when I right click the hero in the game, I can't see the gold and resource line. Is there an undocumented shortkey?
http://www.letscorp.net/wiki/farm/dominions/uploads/Unit/OgonTheEarthBlooded.jpg

[lch]

They probably used modding to get that hero to show up in a recruitment screen.

P.S.: Yes, there's an undocumented way to get it, too. Dunno if I should document it here, though. :p

[MaxWilson]

... the artifact Sunslayer does 8 AN damage to any non-undead in its 5-square AoE, and is NOT MR-resistable?

-Max

[ryo_akashi]

You can mod in a new nation, put the summon creatures as recruitables in the new nation. Viewing the units from "Recruit Units" will show the Gold/Resource cost and random paths.




Anyone knows how to see the sommoned creatures and heroes' gold/resource cost and random path in the game?
I fould this picture in a wiki page. But when I right click the hero in the game, I can't see the gold and resource line. Is there an undocumented shortkey?

[MaxWilson]

...Skullface gives undead leadership 10? This is useful if you want to Gateway some undead creatures to the front lines without giving the Rod of the Leper King to one of your powerful astral mages (thus diseasing him).

Skull Talisman gives undead leadership 1 but that's obviously not much good. The Rod of Death gives more (40?) but is an artifact.

-Max

[Ylvali]

...sometimes (though very rarely) the gurus and yogi of monkey nations reincarnates after they die. Sometimes in equal power but sometimes more (or less) powerful?

[Gregstrom]

Mostly less powerful. White Ones can reincarnate on occasion, too.

[lch]

Interesting. So a unit that already has high leadership, of like 120, might get awe with only a couple of those. Or maybe an awe over +0.

No. Leadership bonus from magic items gives Awe, after a total of about +100 extra leadership. From magic items.

Innate leadership has no effect on what items are needed for Awe.
To nail it down, a combined normal leadership of +100 from items gives Awe +0, only of interest for units that don't have Awe yet. Every +25 leadership after that increases Awe by an additional +1. Here are the items that give normal leadership:

+25:
Champion's Trident
Sceptre of Authority
Whip of Command
Sun Sword

+50:
O'al Kan's Sceptre
Twin Spear (both of them)
Sceptre of Corruption
Crown of Command

+100:
Crown of Overmight

An Ettin (three hand slots, two head slots) can get up to Awe +8 with that.

[Gandalf Parker]

So a Wyrm can get +5? Awsome!
I wonder what the highest is for one of those 4-handed gods

[SlipperyJim]

So a Wyrm can get +5? Awsome!
I wonder what the highest is for one of those 4-handed gods
How do you get to Awe +5 for a Wyrm? It has two head slots and no hand slots, so I think the best it can do is:

Crown of Overmight (+100)
Crown of Command (+50)

Combined bonus: +150

If lch has the formula right, that should be Awe +2, not Awe +5.

On the other hand, one of my Davanas (one head, four hands) could have:

Crown of Overmight (+100)
O'al Kan's Sceptre (+50)
Sceptre of Corruption (+50)
Twin Spear (both of them) (+50)

Combined bonus: +250

Again, if lch is right, the Davana gets Awe +6 from all of that. Nice, but I'm giving up a lot of slots that could be used for other things. Still ... good to know!

[Tifone]

+25:
Champion's Trident
Sceptre of Authority
Whip of Command
Sun Sword

+50:
O'al Kan's Sceptre
Twin Spear (both of them)
Sceptre of Corruption
Crown of Command

+100:
Crown of Overmight

An Ettin (three hand slots, two head slots) can get up to Awe +8 with that.

Hey, even you would freeze seeing an Etting with all those bauble on :shock:

http://imgboot.com/images/Tifone/fabulousettin3.jpg

@SlipperyJim: I bet mr Gandalf's talking bout the Wyrm at dom10, thus at Awe+2... The way we usually take it :)

I think a 4-armed god could get to Awe+9 then... Maybe we understood why the DoW doesn't come with Fear too, even if it would be thematical IMHO :D

[lch]

On the other hand, one of my Davanas (one head, four hands) could have:

Crown of Overmight (+100)
O'al Kan's Sceptre (+50)
Sceptre of Corruption (+50)
Twin Spear (both of them) (+50)

Combined bonus: +250

Again, if lch is right, the Davana gets Awe +6 from all of that. Nice, but I'm giving up a lot of slots that could be used for other things. Still ... good to know!
You didn't count that there's two Twin Spears. Maybe I should have written "either of them", they give +50 each. The combined leadership bonus would be +300, resulting in an Awe +8 like the Ettin.

[MaxWilson]

...the Banefire Strike that comes with the King of Banefires has a built-in Plague effect in addition to Decay? Sometimes SCs *don't* need forged equipment to devastate an army...

-Max

[Aeshi]

Kurgi's Gift causes insanity (around 12 but gradually increases)

[fungalreason]

In addition to more accurate scouting reports over normal scouts, spies can see things like the exact amount of PD in a province, unrest amount, and the number of revealed magic sites (though not which specific sites they are).

[Zeldor]

fungalreason:

Won't you be able to check them via F1?

[fungalreason]

I think you used to be able to, but now you can no longer see the enemy sites on the F1 screen.

[vfb]

You only see the site details on the F1 screen for enemy forts you are sieging.

[Soyweiser]

Do you know that research points can go negative?
This has some effects:
First a magic user set to research will always add at least one rp.
Second you well never see if a magic user has negative research points.
Third rp increaser's will start to increase rp from the negative rp total.
Fourth, a rp experience bonus will decrease the negative penalty.

Fifth, an example:
Say you have a druid. Base rp 1, and you have drain -3.
The druid rp is now -1. When set to research he will provide 1 rp to your research.
After a few turns the druid gets experience. This increases his rp to 0.
After destroying Ermor, you have a few spare skull mentors. You equip one on the druid. His rp increases by 9. So now your druid has research ability 9. (Not 10 as you would expect from the druid status screen).

[Tifone]

Nice spot Soyweiser ;)

[Soyweiser]

Nice spot Soyweiser ;)

Actually this strange behaviour had me wondering for a long time. I equipped rp increaser's on mages, and I didn't get the full bonus. So I went experimenting and this is what I found. Eventually the whole mess made sense.

[lch]

Looks like Edi should add this to the bug shortlist. The minimum RP should be 0 or 1, it probably was an oversight that they can go negative. I'd think that this check would only be done after all the RP are added together, too.

[Zeldor]

lch: It's not negative. It's 1 RP base, -2RP from Drain2 + 9RP booster +1 from XP. So 9 total [but it had RP1 in description all the time, so you'd expect it to get at 10 or 11 with mentor and xp].

[lch]

Yes, I understood that, Zeldor. The real mechanic behind it for performing research seems to be doing ok. But the infoscreen for the commander isn't.

[Soyweiser]

Looks like Edi should add this to the bug shortlist. The minimum RP should be 0 or 1, it probably was an oversight that they can go negative. I'd think that this check would only be done after all the RP are added together, too.

I don't agree. If this is fixed, it would reduce the drain-3 penalty. With this 'bug', drain-3 is harder to circumvent with indy mages.

(edit: While I do think the effect must be make clear. Something like: Research ability 1 (-1).)
(edit2: I do think that the above description is not totally accurate. I doubt that under the hood it is really a negative research ability. I think that the penalty is just subtracted as the last effect. But research ability can never go lower than 1. It's a detail I know).
(edit3: I forgot to refresh this page, multiple tabs... meh).

[sector24]

Isn't it a bug that -3 research = 1 RP but 0 research = 0 RP?