Alexander's Ever-Expanding Tome of Knowledge, pt 2

Teraswaerto · #1 January 13th, 2007, 09:01 AM

Any strategy that involves Wishing for units and then empowering them is only for playing around in SP. The goal, I guess, is not really to win, but to make crazy units.

Anything that doesn't have all slots is generally bad choice for an SC. Empowering to let them cast buffs that make up for the slots is really wasteful and expensive. Only for SP, only for experimenting, etc.

Meglobob · #2 January 13th, 2007, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Teraswaerto said:
Any strategy that involves Wishing for units and then empowering them is only for playing around in SP. The goal, I guess, is not really to win, but to make crazy units.

Anything that doesn't have all slots is generally bad choice for an SC. Empowering to let them cast buffs that make up for the slots is really wasteful and expensive. Only for SP, only for experimenting, etc.

Spot on Teraswaerto.

SP and MP are too completely different games.

SP is very, very easy and for experienced players is just for testing strategys used in MP.

MP is a harsh, very rapid, ruthless game. Expect the unexpected in MP.

Very, very few MP games will get anywhere near wish before someone wins. Also anything, 'wasteful' like globals, low level summons, clam spamming etc...are useless in MP and will get you killed. In MP you after make every gold piece, gem, research count.

Teraswaerto · #3 January 13th, 2007, 09:29 AM

I agree in principle. However, some globals, clams, and even low level summons can be useful at times.

Globals are risky since they can be Dispelled so easily, and cost so many gems, but gem producing globals will pay themselves back quickly. Most others are very situational, and some I would probably never use (Ghost Ship Armada for example).

Clams are an investment to the future. Most of the time it's probably best to use the gems for something useful right then, but I would't say they are useless.

Low level summons can be used if there's a war you are losing and need every bit of help you can get. Saving gems does no good if you are wiped out.

HoneyBadger · #4 January 13th, 2007, 06:14 PM

Playing on very large 1500 province maps with many opponents is also a completely different game from playing on a 25 province map.

I'd play larger if I could.
That's the kind of game I like, and very-long-term is the kind of strategy I follow.

I also tend to play ocean races over land races (except for Mictlan) so a lot of units and strategies which I otherwise would use, aren't as available to me. I do consider globals (except gem-producers) to be wasteful, but I don't believe juggernauts or abominations are amphibious (maybe abominations, but I don't know).

And playing R'lyeh, how exactly are you going to manage to pull off a blitz game? All you've GOT are SCs (another reason to play huge maps). So I'm stuck with 1 very good SC capital only commander per round, kinda crappy to very crappy everything else, and summons. 12 abominations at a time might be great, but by the time I've crossed the board and it's down to me and one other nation, the other guy is going to be pretty damn tough too, and I'm going to lose abominations and juggernauts-lots of them at 25 pearls a pop.

If I can take out a hundred of the other guy's troops per SC of mine, and still keep the SC, it could very well decide the game, even if I'm putting all of my astral pearls into SCs. After all, I'm going to have a lot more of them than the other guy, because that's one thing R'lyeh's good for.

If somebody handed me 300 astral pearls at the beginning of the game, sure I'd use them differently than I would if I were producing that many every turn and had most magical research done.

People need to get around the idea that every MP game is a blitz game.

Teraswaerto · #5 January 13th, 2007, 06:25 PM

I've never played a blitz game. Have you played an MP game, HoneyBadger? I am curious.

I like games that last long. Getting to high levels of research is fun, but the only time I can see one would have enough gems to Wish for and empower pretenders would be if one had Arcane Nexus up and even then there would be, IMO, a better use for the gems.

HoneyBadger · #6 January 13th, 2007, 07:11 PM

I have, though not a lot. So yes, I'm just speculating like everyone else, since we're not all currently involved in the same specific MP game.

Arcane Nexus is a given, but if you make a determined effort at clam-spamming right from the beginning-and Aboleths can do this very quickly into the game-you can be generating tons of them, at an exponential rate. That's just applied mathematics.

And certainly, you can find lots of good uses for 300 astral gems. That's not at all the point. Circumstances differ and different strategies should be developed which can get the most out of whatever circumstance you happen to find yourself in.

I don't suppose that this particular thread is intended to find "the one true only best way" to do anything, regardless of the game you find yourself in, and your own feelings on a specific subject at a specific time. It's for coming up with strategies and expanding our knowledge about the game-tools in the toolbox.

upstreamedge · #7 January 14th, 2007, 03:26 PM

Well, in one sense they do not. ME Pangea has no unit which can give you the detailed info of a spy, but they can instill uprisings, Here is how.

1) get a black harpy

2) give it ten revelers

3) send it to an enemy province

as each reveler has a check to produce turmoil separately you will average about 5 points of turmoil per turn. One drawback is the fact that you can not see how much turmoil you have caused, but the target will not be alerted that someone is causing trouble in their territories.

void · #8 January 15th, 2007, 06:07 AM

I'm posting here coz' I love the Ever-Expanding Tome, not for a paper-scissors-rock game. That said, it would be sad to see comical tactics--while relaxing--write in the tome.

Here's another example of such a comical idea, although IMHO it's far more executable than the great Karkens March On tactic, that had me stunned a few minutes ago on another Dominions Forum.

The idea is simple:

- Build a high astral unit. 10S Pretender can be a good start.
- Raise the unit's astral magic to 15+.
- Give him some penetrate bonus items. +7 or +8 would be very ideal(that's possible on a blind 4-misc slot unit).
- Get some astral gems for him.
- Have it scripted "Master Enslave","Master Enslave","Vortex of Returning"(or simply Returning).

Guess what?

Yup, that's the "THE GRAND MASTER". as hilarious as Kraken Swarm, but way more effective shall I judge.