MP questions
 

Whats the story with alliances in MP?

Can two or more people win the game as an alliance?


My Wyrm pretender was killed easily in a battle. The description said something about dragons even fearing combat with them. So how did a small army take mine out so fast? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: MP questions
 

If the game hosts says so, then you can. But there is no alliance system built into the game at all.

Re: MP questions
 

Whats a NAP ?

Re: MP questions
 

Unless there are special victory conditions set, and sometimes even then, MP victory is usually by consent. Someone, or some group, becomes sufficiently dominant that no one feels like playing out the 20-30 turns it would take for them to conquer every province.

So, yes. If 2 or more players want to claim a joint victory and the rest of the players aren't willing to oppose them, they win.

Re: MP questions
 

NAP = "Non-Aggression Pact".

It's an agreement between two nations not to engage in any hostilities with one another, and for each to give the other party a specified warning period before initiating any hostile acts. The most common length is 3-turns. So if you and I agree to a 3-turn warning NAP, I need to give you 3 turns of warning before I invade.

There are also fixed length NAP's in which two nations agree not to launch any attacks for some number of turns, with no provisions beyond that. They're less common.

Re: MP questions
 

I use fixed length NAPs almost exclusively. Unlimited length treaties make for a really boring game, IMO.

Re: MP questions
 

you need to give your Wyrm Dominion strength 9 or 10 so it will have Awe, then it will obliterate most armies with ease.

Flavor text such as "...dragons fear..." is just flavor text. Underneath it all this is still a numbers game, so you need to learn them and know how to min/max.

On a side note, has anyone ever pitted a Wyrm and a Dragon to see who would really win?

Re: MP questions
 

Surely a wyrm would win. I always find dragons quite weak.

Re: MP questions
 

But if it's a green dragon..... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/redface.gif

Re: MP questions
 

Carrion Dragons are extremely powerful.

Re: MP questions
 

What do people prefer for pretender status?

Awake,Dormant,Imprisoned ?

I have always used Awake, but Dormant is tempting because of the extra build points.

Does anybody actually use Imprisoned?

Re: MP questions
 

Now that's what I was looking for. Time to rework that pretender god. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

Re: MP questions
 

The decision about dormant or imprisoned depends on the nation and the strategy. If your initial army and recruitable troops are effective for expanding, and you believe that your recruitables can stave off a rush, dormant or imprisoned might be useful. How you use the extra design points is also dependent on your nation and strategy.

For example, you might use them to improve your scales if your recruitable troops are expensive in gold or resources, you might use them to get more paths on your pretender to make up for some that your recruitables lack, or you might use them to get a good bless for your sacred troops.

Whether to go dormant or imprisoned depends on when you expect your pretender to be most useful. If s/he has paths you will need for summons, searching, or forging relatively early on, go dormant. If the pretender itself is just a vehicle for a bless, or only needed for heavy end-game spellcasting, go imprisoned.

Disclaimer: I stink of newb, so take my thoughts with grains of salt.

Re: MP questions
 

Smells like chicken.

Re: MP questions
 

Fatigue, most likely. Cast Summon Earthpower first to keep fatigue down.

-Max

Re: MP questions
 

Except that frequently, flavor text has an effect. Not always, but if it says that Naiads weaken and die away from their native lands it means they lose HP, and if it says the enemies a Mandaha is fighting will soon succumb to sleep it means he has a Sleep cloud around him. Not all unit abilities show up in the number/icons, although more of them do now that icons for Healer, Coldpower, etc. have been added.

-Max

Re: MP questions
 

Dragons suck. I used to take one every once in a while for flavor, but they just suck so bad I had to stop. There have been requests posted for a long time to make them more "Dragonlike", ie: powerful. But nothing has been done so far.

But yes, as has been said, take Dom 9 or 10 on your Wyrm for the crowd control factor, and a good bit of Earth magic for natural armor. Then they are one of the best early game expansion pretender super combatants.

Re: MP questions
 

I would say pick whatever magic path you need for diversity; they all add something to the already fearsome Wyrm (except maybe Fire, Water, or Blood).

Earth will give prot and access to some buff spells
Air gives access to Air Shield which is perfect compliment to Awe
Astral gives access to Personal Luck and Ethereal
Death boosts natural fear
Nature boosts natural regen

The flexibility of the Wyrm to take whatever magic you need to diversify and be made an even better SC by it makes it my fave pretender.

Re: MP questions
 

On Wyrm:
Fire will allow Fire Shield+<heat-producing one>
Water will allow Quickness+<chill-producing one> (+Water Shield for underwater expansion)
Blood... this, I fear, is really useless on an SC... but hey! - he can be used for bloodhunting then!
ON Dragons:
They are useful. Just a different from Wyrm, namely, they allow cheaper bless and are flying, which allows better raiding possiblity later in the game.
And yes, flavor text is usually explaining something besides being fun to read. It should just be remembered that it remains just developers' view on USUAL situation. You may still got lucky/unlucky - or items/spells used by one party can change a situation completely...

Re: MP questions
 

Unless this changed recently, it does not boost natural regen. (It only boosts the effectiveness of the spell Personal Regen or Strength of Gaia.) However, it may have changed recently because I just saw an arena combat where an N1 14 HP caster was getting 3 HP of regen from an N6 bless.

BTW, I haven't seen any pretenders in the arena in a while. I wonder if the AI has been patched to not send in uniques?

-Max

Re: MP questions
 

I just tested it and your right. two Wyrms, one with N10, one pathless, both have 20hp regen at 160 hp.

However, in game, while creating a pretender god, when moused over 'nature' in the magic selection screen, where it outlines the indirect effects of levels in a magic path, it says verbatim "...and any regenerative powers of the mage will be boosted."

I would have thought that meant natural regen was boosted, kind of like natural fear is boosted by death.

Re: MP questions
 

And Phoenix Pyre, which is great insurance against one-shot kills like Petrify and Soul Slay.

-Max

Re: MP questions
 

Perhaps this is a leftover from Dom2 days? Unfortunately I only discovered this great game in its current incarnation, so I can't say for sure.

Modded Nations
 

Are modded nations used for multiplayer or just single?

What are the best ,complete ,balanced, modded nations?

Do modded nations overwrite regular stock nations?

Re: Modded Nations
 

Afaik, mods are used for MP and this is said before the beginning. I.e., when someone posts an MP invitation, he also includes mods which will be used. Nation-specific mods are more rare, though.

MP questions
 

I've seen the term "stale turns" used alot.

What are they exactly?

Re: MP questions
 

Turns that the player did not do by the time the turn was due. The turn will host without giving any orders for that nation.

Re: MP questions
 

A fresh turn, is well, fresh. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif If it is just left sitting there, it will turn stale by the next time a turn is hosted. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif The player will get a new fresh turn, but no one likes to see the other turn get wasted. There are children in China who would be more than happy to have played that turn. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/redface.gif

Re: MP questions
 

Many of the MP games have two settings for hosting (others are possible but these two are common)

QUICKHOST meaning that the game will automatically host whenever everyone turns in a turn.

HOURS 24 meaning that it will host every 24 hours even if people have not turned in a turn.

Many games run both of these. That way they can process 3 or 4 turns in one day if everyone is paying attention (usually at the beginning of the game), but the game wont be held up if someone suddenly doesnt send a turn for 2 or 3 days. In many of the multiplayer games, missing more than 2 turns will get you switched to an AI player which sucks as a player but is better than the nation doing nothing at all.

If you miss the time limit for uploading a turn, and the game processes a turn without your file, then when you download your next turn there will be a message in your box saying "Stale Turn". Thats also something to keep an eye out for in case you think you DID send in a turn but for some reason the host didnt get it or couldnt process it. Its an answer for questions that pop up here such as "Why didnt my army move?"

Re: MP questions
 

Hmmm this is something for the FAQ maybe?