average dominion scale.
 

I suppose I could have done this in a poll but i'm not going to assume other people are interested in this.

I'm wondering what is the 'normal' dominion rating you take for your nation.

no need to comment on CW or SG/AE that's pretty obvious.

Re: average dominion scale.
 

With Abysya usually I take 7 in dominion.
It depends from pretender however, but I try to boost it at least to 7 to ensure good heat in my provinces, and to earn the magic/productivity bonus.

Re: average dominion scale.
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">For human nations, I like to take 6, sometimes 5 if I'm planning to expand and build more temples fast enough. For Mictlan I take 6 or higher. For the temperature dependent nations I try and take 7 or 8.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Well, if the map was big enough, like the world map, then I might lower the starting dominion down to 6 or 7 for these nations, since they will probably have at least 15 or 20 temples at some point.

Re: average dominion scale.
 

I didn't see anything in the manual describing a productivity/magic bonus to provinces with a high dominion rating.

Re: average dominion scale.
 

Depends on who I am playing and why. If Im playing Marignon against Ermor I will often play with 7 or 8. With someone using extreme scales Its usually that high also. With Pan playing stealth armies, or if Im pushing maximum bless effects, I will often play with as low a dominion as I can arrange.

Re: average dominion scale.
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">They don't directly, but scales do, and scales are spread by dominion.

PvK

Re: average dominion scale.
 

It depends which race I choose and how I will play them. But when I'm playing C'tis - Miasma which is my favorite I'll choose to set the dominion scale at 8 with a combat Pretender.


Thilock

Re: average dominion scale.
 

Usually, I take 6 dominion. If I need more magic paths sometimes only 5, but that's the exception.

Re: average dominion scale.
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I haven't played Pan much, could you explain why you like to have very low dominion with stealthy Pan armies Gandalf?

Re: average dominion scale.
 

Probably his intent of taking low dominion is to avoid having his dominion be visible and therefore provide a means of tracking him easily back to his home province.

Re: average dominion scale.
 

Some nations should consider Ceremonial Faith, which may be cheaper than going for high dominion, and just as effective if not more. These IMHO are good candidates for Ceremonial Faith, for these reasons:

Caelum: cheap, stealthy, holy-3 Seraphines can fly where their preaching ability is needed.

Man: cheap stealthy monks and cheap temples.

Pangaea: stealthy holy-3 Dryads and cheap temples.

Marignon: cheap stealthy friars and Inquisitors.

Machaka: holy-2 priests with increased stealth, and cheap holy-3 priests.

I've also noticed that Ceremonial Faith works well with R'lyeh and Atlantis, who sometimes have problems to push their dominion because of the large size of sea provinces. Both have astral mages and the astral gems they need (thru clams) to place lots of Telestetic Animates in their underwater provinces. Upkeep-free level 5 priests come handy to keep the dominion right there. And since many sea invasions are carried on with undead hordes, they may find a second role as point defense.

[ July 14, 2004, 09:11: Message edited by: Nagot Gick Fel ]

Re: average dominion scale.
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Nagot, doesn't Ceremonial Faith only work *within* your own dominion? I ask this because you list stealthy priests and/or inquisitors as good criteria for CF, but inquisitors shine best outside their dominion, and stealthy priests are also great within enemy provs with borderline dominions. Or am I missing something?

Re: average dominion scale.
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Nope, you're right - at least as far as I can tell. I think CF is great with Marignon for the following reasons:

The stealthy friars can work on provinces (whether you control them or not) if the dominion here is in the -3/+3 range, which is usually the case around your borders in the early game. If it starts red, it may take some time or several friars but once it turns white the CF bonus kicks in and thus the odds are good this province will remain under your influence.

The Inquisitors' job is to negate strong enemy dominion (thanks to the inquisition multiplier), or to improve yours and keep it high in provinces you control near strong enemy influence (thanks to the CF bonus), possibly with friar support.

Although the inquisitor and CF bonuses don't add (again, as far as I can tell), that's 3 different situations, and you only need 2 kind of priests to solve them. CF isn't a mandatory component in it, but it makes your priests *much* more efficient in achieving this synergy. With Marignon I'd buy a 25-points CF instead of that 28-points 4th candle any day.

[ July 14, 2004, 12:18: Message edited by: Nagot Gick Fel ]