blood sacrifice newbie question

[SlipperyJim]

Originally Posted by thejeff

But, sacrificing will cause dominion to spread out to other provinces, so it's still worthwhile.

This point is very important, and it's easy to miss. Dominion spread in a province that already has max dominion will "flow" out to other provinces.

Think of provinces as an ice cube tray. (Link provided in case anyone has forgotten what an ice cube tray looks like.) When one cube is filled to capacity, water will start to flow into the neighboring cubes. When you're filling an ice cube tray, you can simply pour the water into one cube, and the "flow" will take care of filling the entire tray.

In much the same way, dominion spread in a province that already has max dominion will "flow" out to neighboring provinces. If those provinces are also at max dominion, then the "flow" will continue until it reaches a province that is below the max. Please note that this principle does not apply to dominion gained through preaching. Preachers only affect the dominion score in provinces where they are actually preaching. However, it applies to all other forms of dominion spread, including:

• temple checks
• your Pretender
• your prophet
• blood sacrifice

Other types of dominion spread, such as juggernauts, can also influence neighboring provinces. Basically, it applies to everything except preaching.

[Sombre]

Except it doesn't work like an ice cube tray. Dominion can jump over any province which has friendly dominion. It doesn't have to be full.

This can be observed easily by starting a new game with dom 10. You never have to wait for the dom in a province to reach 10 before it 'spills over' into the adjoining ones.

That said it is /more likely/ to spill over once provinces are at full dominion, because it has nowhere else to go.

[Amonchakad]

Originally Posted by Sombre

Except it doesn't work like an ice cube tray. Dominion can jump over any province which has friendly dominion. It doesn't have to be full.

This can be observed easily by starting a new game with dom 10. You never have to wait for the dom in a province to reach 10 before it 'spills over' into the adjoining ones.

That said it is /more likely/ to spill over once provinces are at full dominion, because it has nowhere else to go.

If it's not outdated, the manual provides a specific formula for this: the chance of a dom increase in a province which has already friendly dominion is
30%-(3%*X)
where X is the current dom level of the province. If that chance fails, it "spills" to a neighbouring province, where it attempts again.

[SlipperyJim]

Oh ... hmmm ... thanks for clarifying, Sombre.