Playing this faction for the first time today. I didn't think I would like them but I do. Game mechanics are quite different to other factions I've tried so far.



However am I right in saying that the monster armies are all pretty weak? I may have numbers but I suffer huge attrition in battles. Normal?



What is the actual mechanic for the free monster units in terms of tier? They are all just tier 1 the whole game?



On my next play through I think I will create at least one core army of assimilated and/or cult units so they can easily be upgraded. Thoug the hero lead monster armies work well too.

solomani wrote:
Playing this faction for the first time today. I didn't think I would like them but I do. Game mechanics are quite different to other factions I've tried so far.



However am I right in saying that the monster armies are all pretty weak? I may have numbers but I suffer huge attrition in battles. Normal?



What is the actual mechanic for the free monster units in terms of tier? They are all just tier 1 the whole game?



On my next play through I think I will create at least one core army of assimilated and/or cult units so they can easily be upgraded. Thoug the hero lead monster armies work well too.

They'll stay at tier 1 level... unless you assimilate that faction. Converting and Assimilating are diferent things. Converting a village will just give you base units from that faction, but if you also Assimilate a minor faction, you'll be able to retrofit those faction units.



If I recall correctly, Converted villages from assimilated factions will spawn retrofitted units, so check how many villages you have from every minor faction and decide wisely which ones to assimilate.



Converted (only) units are "expendables", meat shields. They're there to take the losses while your main army (cultists + assimilated factions) reinforce them and close in for the kill. They're "free units", and once the game progresses, they're there only to make enemy units "waste turns" on them.



Also, converted-only units work decently well to keep control of the map and siege non protected cities; they may not be powerful and easily lose battles later on against well retrofitted units, but if your expendable armies find a big city only protected with militia, you scored because you have cut a big FIDSI production center for several turns until the enemy faction gets a decent enough army to clear the siege. They're low strength bullies... but they're a lot of bullies.

Thanks for the advice. I just finished a supremacy victory with them on hard. The specific cult units were invaluable in the field vs the last few empires.



I was a bit disappointed their faction quest didn't give more details about them. I was hoping to learn more lore about them - religious robots (are they even bots?) is a great premise

Some tips:

1: Always have every single luxury going. Without them your losing like half your potential maybe more.

2. Custom race cultist is really strong, you need meticulous analysis (+2 sight) so you can make a perimeter of troops around your territory way easier, the one that lets you get a free level of empire plan, -50% army upkeep cost and the one that lets you have +1 boroughs.

3. Ally everyone and kill them with privateers xD

3. Ally everyone and kill them with privateers xD

Privateers with cultists are AMAZING, because so much of your army qualifies.

Favorite faction. Glad they won the contest, hehe. They play more or less like a more aggressive version of what my isolationist faction in the contest would have been and the creepy mannequin aesthetic is fantastic. Glad I voted for them!



I haven't tinkered with custom factions just yet, but my best games as cultists on impossible have been after rather counter intuitive starts:



With most factions you want Food/Industry in your first city to jump start the growth of your empire.

As Cultists, however, I chose a more Dust/Science slanted starting location. The games that I did this in ended in pretty easy victories by making early village conversion go smoother! I used the science to grab search party within 2-3 turns. This helps alleviate the RNG of parlay quest difficulty by giving that extra dust for some early bribes. The fastest way to increase your FIDSI are villages after all, so building those key structures (like the Mill Foundry) actually become secondary objectives within those first 10 turns, which is again counter-intuitive to how I play most factions!



I think if I were creating a custom faction I would reach for that cannon fodder Necrophage tech, the cheaper district expansion necrophage trait, and the tier II privateer tech of the Roving Clans and/or maybe Endless Recycling from the vaulters---If you can cherry pick like that!



I'll save custom factions for when I feel confident enough to take on Endless Difficutly more regularly, I feel the game is more balanced towards the standard factions who are all interesting and fun as it is!

Rudest wrote:
Favorite faction. Glad they won the contest, hehe. They play more or less like a more aggressive version of what my isolationist faction in the contest would have been and the creepy mannequin aesthetic is fantastic. Glad I voted for them!



I haven't tinkered with custom factions just yet, but my best games as cultists on impossible have been after rather counter intuitive starts:



With most factions you want Food/Industry in your first city to jump start the growth of your empire.

As Cultists, however, I chose a more Dust/Science slanted starting location. The games that I did this in ended in pretty easy victories by making early village conversion go smoother! I used the science to grab search party within 2-3 turns. This helps alleviate the RNG of parlay quest difficulty by giving that extra dust for some early bribes. The fastest way to increase your FIDSI are villages after all, so building those key structures (like the Mill Foundry) actually become secondary objectives within those first 10 turns, which is again counter-intuitive to how I play most factions!



I think if I were creating a custom faction I would reach for that cannon fodder Necrophage tech, the cheaper district expansion necrophage trait, and the tier II privateer tech of the Roving Clans and/or maybe Endless Recycling from the vaulters---If you can cherry pick like that!



I'll save custom factions for when I feel confident enough to take on Endless Difficutly more regularly, I feel the game is more balanced towards the standard factions who are all interesting and fun as it is!

If you play custom you have to take alot of negatives due to conversion being 40 points. Worth it though. I had a cultist city on endless difficulty with every square in the region had a district xD

Haha! That's pretty epic!