Some beginner questions

[how786]

Thanks for these tips!
How786

[OG_Gleep]

The site searching spells search with a power of 9, it will find any sites for that particular path. There are a couple of other spells, an Astral 3 spell that will find all sites in a provence, including holy sites. There is another spell that will find all elemental sites in a provence.

They all take gems, so you will either have to alchemize, or do some manual searching to find them.

To get a good feel for magic, you might want to try a Rainbow pretender in your next game. Any pretender that costs 10 per path will do, then take 2-4 in every path that your national mages don't have access to (try to get 3 astral). Put Magic sites on 75% and have a ball.

I typically use castles in two ways. As a forward recruting stations, and as speed bumps for opposing armies, placed in tactical positions (borders/chokepoints/ports etc.). If you plan to use it as a forward recruiting station, placement is important. The higher the admin, and the more resource rich provences around it, the more resources you will get access to.

As PK said, boosters are very important. Boosters can turn a Sage useless sage with 1 death, into a Wicked crazy sage with 8 death (absolutley not advisable, but its possible). Its useful to know what your options are, as you can instead use items to boost your pretender, and save a lot of points during creation.

3. I didn't see anyone mention PD. Have you figured out how to use Provence Defense? In the top right corner, you will see the word defense and a number. You can raise this by spending gold. The higher the level, the more troops will be available for defense should anyone attack it. There is a chart in the manual I believe that shows what each nation has for PD. They are not all created equally however. Having 11 PD for Jotun, and 11 PD for Citis is very different. At certain intervals, you gain certain things. I think recommended intervals are 1,11,21,31. The AI will normally go after the lowest PD provence when deciding its attack route. A strong PD is often enough of a detterant to keep the AI at bay. The great thing about PD is it doesn't cost upkeep, and as long as you retain the provence, you get fresh troops for each attack, and they can catch stealth units. I tend to put atleast 1 in PD for every provence. Getting to see the layout of the enemy army is well worth 1 g.

[Endoperez]

Ah, THAT was what I thought I was forgetting.

PD 11 is enough to catch spies. And as OG_Gleep mentioned, AI doesn't know the difference between 19 and 11. PD 19 is much more expensive than PD 11, and not that much more useful.

Some types of PD, like Ulm's Crossbowmen or Machaka's Archers, fare much better if you have few infantry units in the same province. It is probably worth it to line 4-8 infantry to the recruitment line for those nations.

You can recruit units even if you don't have the resources, BTW. The resources will accumulate over many turns, so 15-resource province CAN recruit 20-resource heavy infantry if given a few turns.

[how786]

Thanks for all the excellent input. Altho I'm only at turn 27 of my very first game, I can appreciate the great depth and complexity of this game. Wow! It presents a daunting task for a newbie like myself.
I'll give the rainbow mage a try.
Could you define 'choke points'?
The tricky thing about Forts (are you also referring to them as castles?) is their ability to drain resources from adjacent provinces, which, if not well thought out, can create problems. This area seems 'above my head' right now. The choice of WHERE to place them.
Last night, I had a fort in a nice province close to my capitol. I kept trying to recruit a rather cheap commander to man the defense force there but it never would appear as acquired even tho it appeared I had both the gold and resources.
Also, it seems that I always have unspent resources after each turn. I'm wondering if there is some way to use these well other than buying troops.
Could one of you elaborate as to how gems are used to raise mage skills? I've not figured that out. Is it a temporary elevation or permanent?
Also, how does I fast forward or speed up combat?
I appreciate the heads up re:PD. I did not know about it. Sounds very useful.
Thanks for all the help! Keep it coming. please. I'm soaking it all in.
How786

[shovah]

chokepoints are generally areas where only 1-2 provinces are exposed and can therefore be easily defended (ie not a wide front). gems can be used to raise lvl through empowerment or temporary during a battle. resources are only used for troops. good places for castles/forts=high resource areas (mountains are good examples) and chokepoints and finaly the reason you couldnt recruit could have been because your unrest was over 100 in that provinces (lower it by lowering taxes/doing some patrolling) and if you want any other help either pm me or add me on msn (my emails in my profile i think)

[how786]

Ah...Shovah. Thanks so much. I never looked at the unrest. I'll have to read up on that.
I appreciate the help offer greatly.
How786

[shovah]

enemy spies can also cause unrest, which can be a pain if they get to an unpatrolled/un-pded recruitment center. and plz talk to me im bored

[how786]

3. I didn't see anyone mention PD. Have you figured out how to use Provence Defense? In the top right corner, you will see the word defense and a number. You can raise this by spending gold. The higher the level, the more troops will be available for defense should anyone attack it. There is a chart in the manual I believe that shows what each nation has for PD. They are not all created equally however. Having 11 PD for Jotun, and 11 PD for Citis is very different. At certain intervals, you gain certain things. I think recommended intervals are 1,11,21,31. The AI will normally go after the lowest PD provence when deciding its attack route. A strong PD is often enough of a detterant to keep the AI at bay. The great thing about PD is it doesn't cost upkeep, and as long as you retain the provence, you get fresh troops for each attack, and they can catch stealth units. I tend to put atleast 1 in PD for every provence.

Have you seen this thread?
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...=&fpart=1&vc=1

[how786]

Where are the Saved Game files for Dom II?
Thanks
How786

[OG_Gleep]

Theres no save game files, there are only game directories. The only way I have figured out how to "Quick save", is do your turn, save and exit the game. Then go into dominions 2 root directory, find the folder with the same name as your game, and copy that folder to another location. You can get away without exiting if you don't care about your orders for that turn. This is why I assume you were asking. Also, Alt-Tab switches to windowed mode. I have gotten in the habit lately of playing this way.

I am pretty sure the thread you mentioned is talking about human opponents. I have yet to see the AI attack with one seraph, and FH spam. I get numerous reports in my SP games that PD's have beaten an opposing army.

PD in MP games are a mixed bag. It really depends on the race your playing. Jotun for instance can get good results from PD. But no amount of PD will hold off an opposing player, or stop a strong AI. In MP PD is useful for stopping distance summon spells. For instance, Call of the Wind is an annoying but very easy to defend against. It will however always win vs 0 troops. A nominal PD is often enough to drive off the Birds. I haven't played nearly enough MP to give good advice, but just from my limited experience, as Vanheim, its not worth it to invest heavily in PD. Nominal investments however to ward off spells is a sound one, especially in key provences.

*edit*

Case in point, a PD of 2 or 3 chased off my flock of birds in my last turn.