I just started this game a few days ago and I am really enjoying it, one thing I am getting stuck on though is settlers and expansion. While I am looking for tips is general, I do have a focus on Allayi, as they are the faction despite their flaws I have found most enjoyable and would like to get good at.



The first thing is my starting location, after reading guides, most seem to state focus on food/indus but is there a general ball park number to look for? Often I find myself in situations where I can only settle with high food or high pop but not both and thats before taking science/dust into the equation. With allayi being so dependent on a good starting location this is obviously important but I am just there like is 6/10/1/1 good?



On top of that, another factor is room for expansion, often I will find good spots are blocked by expansion due to ruins/mountains or some combination. In this scenario, is better to go for lower starting resources so that you can expand efficiently or go for better starting resources and bad expansion efficiency.



As for settlers, the same issues obviously arise but also I have no idea when to go for second/third cities or even how many cities is a good number, I like to play tall but this game feels like you can't get away with just 1-2 cities, with the allayi I generally focus on getting happiness up high enough before expanding but with the obvious negative traits this can take a while, especially if I want seed/mill/extractors/parlay to also get sewers plus build a settler.



Also is it better to focus on expanding one city and getting districts to level 2 before moving on to other cities or bring them up together?





Sorry for the long post, just I am really enjoying this game especially the allayi but finding myself taking so long trying to work this out ingame. Thank you for any help.

imo, what is "acceptable" is really dependent on game settings, i.e. how resource rich your map is going to be, and a lot of times you just have to do the best with what you get. I tend to prioritize spots with good industry (because improvements help out), then at least some food (you can't have no food, but you don't necessarily need a lot of food), and then dust/science. It kinda depends, but I lean a little towards dust. Though I think a lot of people value science over dust.



For expansions, I find starting resources to be much more important, though for Allayi I feel you need to build your districts so you can't completely ignore where you will expand your city to.



I've only played 2 games with Allayi, so not an expert (not one with any other faction either), but generally, I expand whenever my empire approval can take the hit. So if I'm fervent, I'm definitely going to expand, but if I'm just barely content, I'll be more likely to put it off for a little bit before things are better. Additional factors might be resources, like taking a region with strategic resources you don't have, or spatial control, i.e. trying to curb future expansion by an opponent.



Either way can work. I used to never build districts and have been fine up to hard. I've also had games where I build districts. Building multiple cities can be a little more dangerous though because you have a lot of ground to cover, and undefended regions are not that hard to snipe. But it's economically better (barring your approval tanking) to expand to new regions then simply district up (which you can always do later, but land may not be available later), in my experience.

Jojo_Fr's guide http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=635764665

Has all the answers! Don't get confused by the fact that it is about multiplayer gameplay. Aim for the objectives in the guide, learn to achieve them, and you'll do very well.

danrelle wrote:
Jojo_Fr's guide http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=635764665

Has all the answers! Don't get confused by the fact that it is about multiplayer gameplay. Aim for the objectives in the guide, learn to achieve them, and you'll do very well.

This is an excellent guide. Though keep in mind the settings that describes early when considering the timings they describe.

Coldhands wrote:
While I am looking for tips is general, I do have a focus on Allayi, as they are the faction despite their flaws I have found most enjoyable and would like to get good at.

Well, expansion is the one thing that´s extremely different about the Allayi, because they´re allowed to do it but it doesn´t necessarily help them. Everyone else wants to expand as much as possible (3-5 cities on

50% landmass), but Allayi probably plays better with two cities.

The first thing is my starting location, after reading guides, most seem to state focus on food/indus but is there a general ball park number to look for? Often I find myself in situations where I can only settle with high food or high pop but not both and thats before taking science/dust into the equation. With allayi being so dependent on a good starting location this is obviously important but I am just there like is 6/10/1/1 good?



On top of that, another factor is room for expansion, often I will find good spots are blocked by expansion due to ruins/mountains or some combination. In this scenario, is better to go for lower starting resources so that you can expand efficiently or go for better starting resources and bad expansion efficiency.

Forget about food. Get predominantely industry and either large science or large dust. Regardless of your starting position, you want to start researching Mill Foundry and Public Library. Don´t worry too much about Dust right at the beginning - if you don´t have it, just cover your costs, and if you do have it (which means you probably lack other things), pay for buyouts.



Of course, this is more a matter of opinion than a fact, but considering that the dust from ruins quickly scales up to the near-hundreds, while your yielding or the cost of things doesn´t, I believe it´s better to snowball the turns you´re getting from rushing Monument, Foundry and Library a turn earlier than you´d have built it. Later you´ll be able to hire governors and generals just fine either way.



edit - regarding room for expansion, it´s quite important really. Rememeber you´ll build the Altar very quickly and that it provides some approval, which means that you can settle beside a problematic but good anomaly and get its benefits very fast while still settling a good place to expand.



Sometimes there are certain anomaly cluster that simply cannot be missed, even if it means your starting position will lack a tile (settling near borders or beside a mountain). You just have to do a rough math to see if the yields are worth it, and check the surroundings to see if you won´t be wasting more tiles - in which case that ceases to be a good idea.

As for settlers, the same issues obviously arise but also I have no idea when to go for second/third cities or even how many cities is a good number, I like to play tall but this game feels like you can't get away with just 1-2 cities, with the allayi I generally focus on getting happiness up high enough before expanding but with the obvious negative traits this can take a while, especially if I want seed/mill/extractors/parlay to also get sewers plus build a settler.

My Build order with Allayi is - Monument - Mill Foundry - Public Library - Altar of Auriga - Settler - Sewers.

This guarantees I won´t be held back either by industry or science, it advances your quest in a timely manner (you´ll be required to achieve Fervent Status before settling your second city, which plummets approval, and usually requires luxuries, which are cheaper with only one city)

I rarely ever go for a third city with them.

Also is it better to focus on expanding one city and getting districts to level 2 before moving on to other cities or bring them up together?

With Allayi, you want to keep your second city without any district for a long time. You need all the pearls you can get at the time to unlock Ice Works, Chapel of Auriga and build them along with a couple of Garths in your capital in order to quickly level up the Altar of Auriga (Quest).

For everyone, build districts whenever you can and whenever it won´t dmage your approval too much.





hope that helps