What makes a skillful Dom 3 player?

[theenemy]

"What makes a skillful Dom 3 player?"

Not loosing your temper when getting beat up by other nations is a good thing. It's when you loose it that bad things start to happen...

[Ironhawk]

A couple of people have mentioned "encyclopedic" knowledge as being neccessary for a skilled player and I just wanted to reiterate that this is definitely not the case. It doesnt *hurt* to have that knowledge but it is not a requirement. Since the advent of Dom3 I have routinely entered and thrived in games where I had basically no idea of the stats and abilities of any units of the nations of other players.

What is more important is to learn how to look at a given unit that you've never seen before and tell from its stats - ok this unit is Light Infantry, Cavalry, etc. And to know how to compensate for certain stats - high defense means use arrows or massed attacks, high prot means AP or high strength/dam attacks. Stuff like that.

[Dedas]

Expect the unexpected.
Read on the forums that building more than 1 in PD is a waste of money? Do not get surprised if the enemy takes all your provinces at once with small stealth armies.

Always have a plan B.
What will happen if you do not win that big battle? See to it that you know and that you have a backup plan.

Do not put all your eggs in one basket.
One big army is as vulnerable to your miscalculations as two smaller armies but at least you get a second chance when those bombard rituals starts falling.

Know your enemy.
Use scouts.
Use diplomacy so that through other players you will get knowledge of how your enemy fights and if he is trying to betray you soon.

And so on...