The Ages
 

I will be buying Dominions 3 this weekend and have never played a Dominions game before (except the demo). I really enjoyed the demo, love the theme, and am close to obsessed with the game. Currently reading up on the game in various threads in this forum and at strategywiki.

Searched for a topic that gave a basic overview of the ages and gave recommendations for new players and was unable to find one.

The wiki, and a few threads express the following opinion on the Ages:

Early Era- magic sites are more common, powerful mages and sacreds are more accessible, heavy armor is rare. The focus is on magic.

Middle Era- balanced.

Late Era- Magic is more rare and there is more emphasis on soldiers/conventional warfare.

I'm currently deciding what age to play my first game in. Middle Era seems like the way to go, but I'd like the opinions of more experienced players on this.

1. What is the most interesting era to play in?

2. What would be the best era for a new player to play in?

Re: The Ages
 

Middle age isn't bad.

With late age, you'll have to deal with Ermor, Ashen Empire.
With late age, you'll have to deal with R'lyeh, Dreamlands.

I say start with middle age because thats where I got my multiplayer experience in, not for any real reason. But with late age, you have some very dominion dependent nations you might encounter that'll mix things up.

In middle age, troops tend to be more diversified as well, which will give you some additional flexibility. For instance, EA Ctis has zero scouts. MA has them.

What is the most interesting? No opinion yet, I'm not 'experienced'.

Re: The Ages
 

Thank you, that was exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

More opinions are welcome.

Re: The Ages
 

I actually prefer the EA to the MA. Haven't tried LA yet.

Re: The Ages
 

I would say that mages in the early age are generally more powerful but focused in their magic, while late age mages are skilled in more paths but not are as strong in any of the paths. The middle age mages are somewhere in between. This is just generally speaking though and not true for all nations.

Re: The Ages
 

EA is good if you want a savegame in which you max out the research tree so you can see all the spells and construction paths for future games. Generally it's easier to learn the ropes of the game in EA because you're exposed to mages with higher spell paths and more magic sites.

I have not played LA yet, but I like MA more than EA now that I have some experience with the game.

Re: The Ages
 

For me I like EA > LA > MA

None of the nations in MA really resonate with me, while a few of the LA ones are fun and most of the EA nations are fun.

Its all personal opinion of course. I started with EA and worked my way later and was subsequently disappointed with how limiting magic is later. It might actually be more worthwhile to try it the other way around so you have a greater progression on magic http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Magic plays such a huge role in late game that once you get used to it... later ages just don't cut it.

YMMV

Re: The Ages
 

You could always play the 62 nation mod and play all three! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: The Ages
 

I find all ages have something to offer, and I have favorites in every era.

EA: I like Yomi, R'Lyeh, Agartha, Abysia, Atlantis, C'Tis and Lanka.
MA: has my all-time favorite nation and version of R'Lyeh, Agartha, Abysia, Atlantis, C'Tis and Shinuyama.
LA: Jomon, Agartha, R'Lyeh, Atlantis, C'Tis and the undead hordes of Ermor.

Even in Late ages I find mages are very important. Early on they don't do a lot in battle in any era, but as you research more and more spells, they slowly but surely become more and more crucial.

Re: The Ages
 

I'd poke around. Play all three.
Pick a nation that grabs your interest and try it in all 3 eras.
Start a lot of games and abandon them to try something else that seems cooler.

I think the differences between the ages are often exaggerated . There are a lot of potent mages even in the late age and while the early ages have less armor, there are still heavy units around and they tend to have stronger sacreds, so armies can't be ignored.

The biggest difference, and easiest to change, is probably the default magic site chance.

Re: The Ages
 

I prefer EA myself. All of the nations are fun. Mictan is by far and away the hardest to play, it requires more intimiate and detailed knowledge of the game than the others.


I think Helhiem is the easiest nation to play (in fact all 3 hiems are pretty easy). After that I like Kahlisa and T'ien Chin.

You will probably struggle with your pretender build. No advice from this corner; in fact, if you ask 10 players what is the best build, you will get 15 different opinions.
Just keep making them until you find something that works for you. And it if works in SP it probably is not very good for MP.

It's a complex game. Good luck.

Re: The Ages
 

I think alot of people prefer EA, there seems to always be more MP games set in EA. EA has more powerful mages/units that have later died out in the MA or LA.

LA is made very interesting by the presence of Ermor, Ashen empire and R'lye, Dreamlands. Alot of games revolve around on how to deal with those 2 nations.

I would recommend playing a very militeristic nation such as MA Ulm with limited magic first. The magic system can be a little overwhealming at first, it was mind boggling to me for sometime anyway... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

The forum is very friendly and any questions you have usually get answered very quickly. But do try hunting around to see if its been covered before.

Re: The Ages
 

Thank you for all of your opinions. Can't wait to play the full game. Just reading about the game is fun.

Re: The Ages
 

The early era is one in which magic is proportionally more powerful, technology is primitive, totemic tribes still wander around in great numbers, each nation is rather homogeneous, blood magic is widespread, and although mages tend to be powerful, they also tend to be specialized in culturally-specific fields. Humans aren't the most common race in many nations, and in some cases, humans are ruled over by other races. Although blood magic is common, it is fair to say that otherwise, this era is the most innocent, as Ermor hasn't fallen yet, Acroscephale is in it's golden age, the star which would bring the illithids hasn't fallen yet, and the great empires of the future which would be built over the broken bodies of the conquered haven't risen yet.

The middle era is balanced; magic and technology are roughly even in their importance. Humans have begun to take over the world and magic creatures are more rare in certain nations (like Agartha.)The star which brings the illithids has fallen, and the seas have changed. The nations in this era are becoming more heterogenous, and some nations shown are hybrids of previous ones (such as Pythium being descended from Ermor and Sauromatia.) Blood magic is most rare in this era, as civilization has been built up, and hasn't yet fallen apart.
Empires (Ermor, Pythium, Tien Chi, etc) dominate the world at this time. The world is, however, less innocent than in the early era.

The late era is when everything falls apart; Ermor has fallen totally into darkness, Tien Chi has been conquered by barbarians, and Mictlan has returned to its bloody past. Two dominions are automatically destructive; Ermor's dominion kills people and turns them into undead warriors, and R'lyeh's dominions kills people and turns the survivors into madmen. Magic weaker but more broad, as the mages have had plenty of time and experience from the previous two eras two build up their knowledge, but have grown proportionally weaker as technology has advanced. In this era, blood magic makes a return to a level of similar importance as it enjoyed in the early era, but death magic is now perhaps the most widespread. Needless to say, this is the least innocent of all eras, as everything is falling apart.

Re: The Ages
 

Noname, that is a superbly written post. Do you write professionly?

Re: The Ages
 

No, but I am taught how to write analytically at my college, Fordham University. Thanks for the comment.

Re: The Ages
 

I personally really enjoy middle and late eras and I'm not a fan of early, which really does have some sick magic flying around.

Re: The Ages
 

More general than ages, here is a list of nations you DON'T want to start out playing against:

Ermor Ashen Empire (3rd age)
any underwater nation (especially LA R'lyeh)

mostly because they take a radically different strategy from normal to play. You probably also don't want to begin with EA or LA Mictlan because they have wacky dominion spread.

In Dom2 Ulm (now MA Ulm) was the most often suggested starting nation.

I'd agree that it is good to just pick random nations that look fun, play the first 15 turns, then switch if you run into trouble. If you find a nation you can start beating AI's with, try playing around with your god and strategy (maybe play a full game or two against an AI).

Welcome to DomIII, I hope you enjoy it.

Re: The Ages
 

I find that nations which are more human tend to be easier to play as (usually), but lack an immediate punch to them; one has to build up and summon creatures in order to get the "razzle-dazzle" of the game. Nations comprised of non-humans (giants, lizardmen, agarthans, atlanteans, tritons, illithids, abysians, etc) require different strategies due to their different strengths and weaknesses (giants need more food, abysians radiate heat, agarthans only have one eye, tritons can't leave the sea, etc )but usually have access to flashy units early on. This is so because non-human nations ARE made up of flashy units, though some are more flashy than others (Badar Log's apes really aren't so flashy, neither are the lizardmen of C'tis.)

Re: The Ages
 

The nation I suggest picking as your first AI opponent is MA Ulm. They're a bit atypical, but their general low speed and low diversity makes them easier to adjust to than a random nation. Their armor is another thing, but I'd rather be faced in my first game with black steel, than a magically diverse nation who could cast dozens, if not hundreds of spells I've never heard of before.

So... the limited variety in a computer controlled Ulm makes it, IMO, the best learning partner. As a plus, their low MR means most of your spells will work as well.

If you want an easy time of learning, set both your nation and Ulm's to human controlled. Design for them a crone with no scales, extra magic, or anything, just the bare chassis. Then set them to AI, play _your_ turn and then host.

When I first picked up the game, and was determined to play with some of the less flexible races such as Agartha, my first enemy was not the AI. It was learning my own troops, and what really is viable against those independents litering the landscape. Once I learned the basics, and stopped sending entire armies on suicide missions (knights, anyone?) then I gave myself a real AI opponent, without any handicaps.

Re: The Ages
 

Nice post noname. You have earned yourself a bachelors degree in dominionology http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I think I would recommend starting in the mid era. The game was designed from here, and the other eras were added in dom3. Thus the early and late eras deviate from the more basic balance of the mid era. Playing mid will give you basic knowledge of how the game and nations works, and less surprises from specialized nations. I think some of the descriptions on early and late nations refers to the mid era, so it might be thematically reasonable to test the mid era first. This is not true to all nations however. Agatha and the japanese inspired nations are new to dom3 and are probably thematically easier to follow from beginning to end.

Ulm was suggested as an opponent. Probably a good choice.

I think MA Man might be a good starter. Some diversification in human troops: longbows, medium infantry and knights. Some specialists to explore: bards, stealthy mages and wardens, elite knights. No unique national summons that steer research away from the basics. Air magic to test counters vs Ulm and offensive battle magic. Nature magic for some buffing, summoning.

Re: The Ages
 

I don't think nation choice makes too much of a difference, as long as there aren't any radical specialisations (Ashen Empire for example). One of the good things about Dominions is (for the most part anyway) is that the way the nation operates and the theme of the nation are pretty similar. Find a nation whose theme matches your play style and you're off to a good start.

One thing to point out is that the stronger you set the independents, the slower the AI will expand. It also gives you plenty of experience with what works and what doesn't on the battlefield before you need to worry about enemy pretenders. I'd go for Silent Seas, with one or two AI opponents and high Independents for a good introductory game. The map is large enough to give you a bit of time learning about your troops and the basics of combat against the independents, but not too large that you'll not be able to encounter and defeat (hopefully) an AI.

Re: The Ages
 

This is a great board, thanks. Hopefully this thread will be useful to all new players when taking their first baby steps into Dominions.

Re: The Ages
 

I always thought Abysia was a good first nation. You can do well with just the heavy infantry and some evocation (which won't hurt your troops, since they're immune to fire); by the time you're comfortable with the game, you can start thinking about fun things to do with blood magic, or just ignore it and focus on things you can do without it (which is still quite a lot, later in the game).

Re: The Ages
 

I second that. Good work!

Re: The Ages
 

Great thread. Would it be possible to make a sticky of noname's and KO's responses? Between the two of them there is significent insight to the game.

And I'll throw in my two cents. After reading all the inputs, I think a real god starting setup for a new player would be to play MA Bandar Log vs an AI Ulm. Bandar Log offers great troop diversity, and one can learn a lot by watching your inexpensive monkeys get shredded. Acceptable magic diversity,great national summons, maybe the best diversity in troops available in secondary castles.

Re: The Ages
 

My small advice would be : play what maximize fun for you !

-You like undead movies, always live at night, and know the difference beetween skeletons, zombies, ghouls and other flesh eating critters ? The Undead Army of Ermor Ashen Empire in LA age wants you !

-You are rather fan of Conan and Szwarzy ? Go and try EA Ulm

-If you have read all Lovecraft and wants to travel on a shantak, MA R'Lyeh is for you.

-If yo are in trolls, vakyries and mighty giants and if you prefer snow to sea and sun you should try one of the great northern nations in any era.

-If you like hisory of Caesars try EA Ermor, if you find than nothings is better than a mighty hoplite unit go for Acroscephale, if yo write samurai novels try LA Jomon,... etc.. etc..

Go for fun, maybe you will fail in your first games but loosing is fun too. At least IMO.

Re: The Ages
 

It is more fun to loose actually. Especially if you get yourself a hero that fights and slowly succumbs to afflictions and old age in his glorious attempts to save your nation from the inevitable doom http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: The Ages
 

MA Man is a good race to start with, and that is what I recommend. If you eventually want to test the waters in MP games, getting attached to MA Ulm is not advisable.

Re: The Ages
 

Some of the castles from late age MAN have no walls... the battle starts with the defenders standing in front of some fences. I noticed this within a recent game.

Re: The Ages
 

Known issue. The citadel is broken. LA man and ulm are affected IIRC.

Re: The Ages
 

EDIT: Nevermind, Kristoffer had gotten to it already. I hate it when the forum doesn't take you to the last post when it's the first one on a new page...