What exactly does the Search Party technology do? If it increases the loot for all armies w/ or w/o leader then that is a pretty important technology. If all the tech does it make it possible for leaderless armies to search ruins then that isn't a high priority.



How does empire plan cost scale up over time?



If between empire plan adjustments your empire plan starts running at a "deficit" do you forfeit all the potential bonuses or does it just knock you back down to a plan that you can afford? Is it better to be conservative with you empire plans so that you can alway outpace the influence requirements?



How is damage calculated (vs. the defense value of the defending unit,etc)?

Leaderless parties can search without Search Party, so it presumably increases results for both w/ and w/o leaders. The precise mechanic for that, however, I don't know.



Empire plan costs scale up based on the number of cities you have, AND are paid in full at the end of the turn you select them. There's no per-turn cost. So you never get knocked back down during the 20-turn period, but when the next time to renew comes around, you might not be able to afford it. If you're about to build a city, take a look at how long you have til the next planning phase. It's better to build a city on turn 21 than turn 19.

1. You see a % gain on loot in ruins wether they are searched by a hero lead army or a heroless army, honestly I usually don't even bother with it unless I play vaulters or broken lords. When leveling up your heros skill tree adding points to improved search stacks with the search party perk.



2. ^^^ touchstone is pretty much spot on. Just make sure you have at least 30 influence before turn 20 when you start a game to set all empire plans to their level one tick aside from military, unless your necrophages anyways. ANd yes the cost goes up based on how many cities you have.