Hi there,



The Forgotten are a faction that has somehow really grown on me in repeated attempts to optimize their start. As you all well know, the escalating tech costs make it quite crucial for the faction and the next step in getting better for me is toughing up and culling the shit I don't really need. Since in the mid-game you generally turn to tech stealing with a direct buy peppered in every now and then if you know you need something badly right now, this is mostly relegated to Era I techs one can cheaply buy in bulk the turn first Empire Plan hits and the faction-unique techs. How do you go about it? My rough ideas are:



FORGOTTEN TECH

Both Myst and Predatore are probably too crucial to ever pass.

I take Dust Sense since playing with AI I can plunder with impunity, and with a highly mobile Myst stack this turns into a seriously profitable venture. Could probably live without it - and it's probably ditchable if I ever played multiplayer - but I like it for non-math reasons (subterfuge troll gameplay, force myself not to get stuck in builder mode and build some units, etc.)

Caudata Sanctuary looks like way more of a quality of life upgrade than something you really need.

What's Mine is Mine is probably skippable against AI, if maybe situationally useful.

Learn from Others seems a no-brainer.



ERA I TECH

I generally tend to bulk-buy my way into Era II once the Empire Plan hits, then grab whatever few Era II uniques/crucial techs I feel like buying while I set up the spies for when somebody else is about to hit the second Era. I am, however, quite fond of the early techs and usually succumb to stealing whatever I haven't bought initially (except the straight military stuff like tier I weapons) which is probably rather complacent. What do you guys think can be culled safely at that tier?



After forcing myself to let go of turn 1 Parley Square, it actually turned out fine. It is probably best treated situationally, depending on how troublesome for the early Assassins nearby minor race spawns are.



Aquapulvistics, while bonkers good for the faction, is situational enough based on city placement that it's easy to make a call.



What else can I cull with no shame?

I first thought of destroying villages for the dust bonus that Forgotten's faction trait provides but completing the quest from Parley and settling the area is often,but not always, more advantageous in my opinion. Silics, especially.

As for Caudata Sanctuary, it does not need to be in tier II. With sharing vision with your peace partners, it is most useful late game when the cold season becomes longer and you can move your spies around for free, loosing only seniority.



Alchemical armor should be on your list to boost initiative with glassteel. In this way you can take most advantage of acrobat, your assassin ability. I recommend advanced armor if you don't have a way to boost your strategic resource gain and to reinforce Learn from others you should learn Uncommon armor as well. With that, you will get access to a hero's accessory to boost XP gain, and something to lower infiltration cost to boot (both requiring adamantium).

Biddion wrote:
I first thought of destroying villages for the dust bonus that Forgotten's faction trait provides but completing the quest from Parley and settling the area is often,but not always, more advantageous in my opinion. Silics, especially.

The Forgotten are weird in that they get a lot of things early that aren't really good until later, i.e. Pillage and Loot (bonus from destroying villages). I think you are right in that when you settle, it's always worth it to buy Parley (even if the quest isn't worth it). However, it's a solid bonus later (it appears to me to scale into the game) when you aren't interested in settling a region, and you just need to make use of your army.

Biddion wrote:
Caudata Sanctuary

It's tier 2 because the science tech that it is replacing is tier 2. In my opinion, it should just be faction trait. Maybe just have scale over game Era or something.









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