There's no fixed number of cities to aim for. There are diminishing returns from founding additional cities due to approval, but from a pure FIDSI standpoint, more cities are almost always better than fewer. I aim to settle three cities ASAP (before turn 20 on normal), and perhaps two more shortly afterwards, before I move on to military conquest. Limiting yourself to one city, for anyone except Cultists, is probably unwise, but it's perfectly possible to win with only 3 cities, depending on difficulty level.



Villages spawn roaming armies. If these armies are a problem for your military, it's a good sign that your military isn't keeping pace. Destroyed villages in friendly territory can be rebuilt into pacified villages that provide bonuses. The only real reason to destroy villages elsewhere is for experience for your armies. Well, there's the denial aspect as well in multiplayer, because it is less expensive to parley with or bribe a village than to rebuild it and you can't do that to destroyed villages, but AI factions don't seem to ever parley or bribe.

eXistenZ wrote:
Also, about the endless day event, how do you unlock the exclusive content they are talking about on the site?

Explore the blue ringed ruins until you trigger the hero to pop. Subdue him and he joins you.

natev wrote:
Other than military? Probably science for AM, quest for cult.

Ok thanks, unfortunatly I already got those achievements, and my military skill is only average



I think I got most of it down, I won an economic victory with the roving clans on easy really fast, so I will step it up a notch in the future.



one thing that still eludes me are stockpiles though. I assumed it as food/science/industry you unleased on your empire at a given point, but it doesnt seem to work that way, espcially when looking a science.



Also, about the endless day event, how do you unlock the exclusive content they are talking about on the site?

eXistenZ wrote:
Also, which victory types are best suited for the ardent mages and the cultists?

Other than military? Probably science for AM, quest for cult.

Regarding heroes as governors, I've had some great experience with Necrophage governors.



That sounds like a joke, but one of them (I think his name was Long Fangs) has Food Boost 3 and Industry Boost 2, which means that his city gets +6 food +4 Industry per his level. Add to that the Necrophage racial skill for food production and this guy becomes a monster (well, he's a Necrophage after all...) for starting out new cities. I keep 1 or 2 of him in my empire and assign them to new cities; before I know it they'll be up at 6 or even 8 population and will have a nicely developed infrastructure to boot.

Ardent mages can use spells. These are active spells during battles and "passive" spells that are attached to locations. The passive spells are called 'Pillars'. It would be an easy one to get. Just wait till you have enough dust to activate 5 at once..



Not sure what you mean by market place taxes... the price of goods increases the more you buy.

Wanted to try an economic victory with the broken lords, but there seems to a bug in the quest line (its already reported).



So might use roving clans to try that out. What are market place taxes (since im going for th achievement as well).



Also, which victory types are best suited for the ardent mages and the cultists? And what does "have 5 pillars at the same moment" mean? When i look at these layouts, most cities seem to have 5



(http://forums.amplitude-studios.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=14533&d=1415406734)

eXistenZ wrote:
My first post on the forums, so feel free to move if out of place.



I just finished of my second game, on easy with a diplomatic victory as the drakken. I red some guides, but for some things I still need clarification. Let me say first that I quite like the game, its very pretty and it has some interesting mechanics compared to civ v (which I played a lot so excuse me if I sometimes make comparisons).

...

1-. Apart from the advanced "animation speed" option on the menu, if you double click on the destination tile once units start moving, they'll start running towards the destination, and can even sprint if you keep clicking. Still, it's somewhat inconsistent, maybe dependant on movement points available or something like that.



2-. Empire Management screen -> Status Screen



3-. There 3 specific units per mayor faction + all the generic minor faction units, available to mayor factions that have assimilated that minor faction.



5-. Regions only add to expansion disaproval (to both cities and empire). Usually the FIDSI benefits you get from those regions offset the disaproval, as long as you build/expand conveniently.



6-. In general terms, Cultists are a good choice (up to +3 FIDSI per pop) and up to +45% to , and ; but governors depend mainly on what you're focusing and the hero capacities (not all heroes from a faction are suited to be governors)



7-. You get less FIDSI on winter from most exploitations. Specialy early in the game, check production on every city you own (it can easily drop to negative values early on, leading to city starvation; once you start building enough buildings it won't be an issue anymore), and check your empire-wide production, so it stays positive (or a low negative value you're conformable with).

natev wrote:
There's no fixed number of cities to aim for. There are diminishing returns from founding additional cities due to approval, but from a pure FIDSI standpoint, more cities are almost always better than fewer. I aim to settle three cities ASAP (before turn 20 on normal), and perhaps two more shortly afterwards, before I move on to military conquest. Limiting yourself to one city, for anyone except Cultists, is probably unwise, but it's perfectly possible to win with only 3 cities, depending on difficulty level.

Three cities by turn 20!? Wow! It took me a 100 turns to get three cities (playing as broken lords but felt similar with vaulters). I found settlers to be prohibitively expensive and thus my old 4x strategy of rapid expansion into unclaimed space doesn't work well.

My first post on the forums, so feel free to move if out of place.



I just finished of my second game, on easy with a diplomatic victory as the drakken. I red some guides, but for some things I still need clarification. Let me say first that I quite like the game, its very pretty and it has some interesting mechanics compared to civ v (which I played a lot so excuse me if I sometimes make comparisons).



1)Speed. Is there a way to speed up the game, like skipping the walking animation (both for me and the AI). It would help with turn times.



2)Statistics. Is there a way to view them ingame, rather than only when you quit? Likewise, is there a diplomatic overview? (not for me, but to see the diplomatic standings between AI factions)



3)Units. Obviously, since I only played on Easy and Newbie, I didnt spend much on military research/units. I know that by assimilating minor factions, you can recruit their units. But is it me or is there only a very small number of units, or do you need specific research? (I know you need it to increase army size).



5) Is there a penalty for having a lot of regions? As Drakken I stayed relativly small, with only 5 cities. It didnt do much good for my score. Building on that, while the AI had lots of regions (it conquered some), their cities seemed fairly undevelloped, with only 9-12 inhabitants after turn 200, while I easily reached 20-25 with mine. Did i focussed too much on food?



6) which faction's heroes are the best governors?



7) Should I change something during winter, or just go bussines as usual?



I probably forgot some questions i wanted to ask, I'll add them if I remember them.



Thanks

I guess thats true. Although a triangle is more pleasing to the eye



Is there a number of cities you should aim for, and a number you should have by a certain turn? The AI seems to go mental on them compared to me, where I prefer a tall empire.



Im also watching a LP at the moment, and the player seems quite keen on attacking villages, just as the AI does. I assume because on higher difficulties they are more aggressive?

onedeadgod wrote:
What is the "Stick" layout?

A method of laying out boroughs such that they form a long line, two boroughs thick, that is intended to maximize both the number of lvl 2 districts and the number of exploitation tiles. Contrast with triangle layout or snake layout. (In reality, the best layout is one that takes your particular circumstances into account-- for instance, snaking when your approval is capped at fervent, sticking or triangling when your approval is less, and making individual decisions based on the proximity of high-value tiles like anomalies.)

natev wrote:
Nothing has changed to make the "stick" layout any more or less effective.

What is the "Stick" layout?

You can check other factions diplomacy status by clicking the double arrow, on a faction, on the diplomacy screen.

Difficulty levels give large bonuses to AI-controlled factions. These are documented someplace... Here.



Ideal city layout, as well as ideal time to build boroughs, depends on your tiles and approval. Nothing has changed to make the "stick" layout any more or less effective. You can't get multiple boroughs in one go-- just one at a time.

Thanks, that already explains a lot.



Question 4 was how the difficulty levels work and what they affect.



As for city layout, is the stick now completly outdated? And unfortunatly no guide I have red has said anything about when you should start builing boroughs (as soon as pop hits vs delay to get multiple ine one go)

Going a bit off memory for some of these....



1)Speed

In the World Generator I believe there is an advanced option to speed up the combat animations (and maybe walking animations too) AFAIK there is no way, once the game has started, to change the animation speed.



2)Statistics

On the Empire Management Screen, click the white "Status Screen" button, for the graphs.



3)Units

Yes AFAIK there are only 3(?) units for each race chosen from Inf, Ranged, Support, Flying, Cavalry?

I have only played WW so far so dont know all the other race units.



5) Is there a penalty for having a lot of regions?

Yes, Expansion Disapproval to happiness. (-10 Hap each city/region) ie if you have 8 cities, you will have -70 to Happiness, there are Techs to reduce Expansion Disapproval.



6) which faction's heroes are the best governors?

Ones that provide Industry or Dust or Science bonuses (Depending on your Race for which bonus you want to focus on) [CheckCapacitiesontheHeroInspectionscreen] Also you need to check their skill trees for skills that boost what you want to focus on. As for specifics... I know WW Heroes are good for Industry Boosts.



7) Should I change something during winter, or just go business as usual?

You can probably go Business as usually, but should double check to be sure None of your individual cities/regions are starving (negative food production) and that your Empire is generating enough Dust so you don't go bankrupt (Negative Dust income).

1) In game options (at the beginning of a new game) you can select the speed of combat animations. I don't know if this affects all animations though.

2) Hit F1 for your empire view, hit the button in the lower right corner of the dialog (forget what it's called)

3) There are a total of 3 units for each faction, and 1 unit for each minor faction. You can buy other factions' units through the mercenary market.

4) Hey where did 4 go.

5) You suffer -10 approval for each region settled beyond your first.

6) It depends.

7) Business as usual.