[Alneyan]

I will be thinking about that AI Pretender idea. A couple of better Pretenders for the AI may also be needed, but that would depend on checking what the AI is good at with her Pretender. For example, a few tests seem to show the AI doesn't use Pretenders in battles, even with an army to back them. But I would expect the AI to use their Pretenders for research at least, where a bonus would likely be welcomed. And so on.

The biggest problem when dealing with the AI is indeed to make it clever rather than powerful. There are not so many ways of making a clever AI for the Users of Dominions, but powerful AIs are very, very easy to make. Since AIs with unbelievable bonuses are unlikely going to be fun, the goal is to strike a balance between "lack of cleverness" and "bonuses to compensate for said lack of cleverness". But I am digressing.

Incidentally, does anyone know of a way to fully spy on the AI? The best I can do is cast a free Eyes of God spell, and put as many Astral Windows on the map as possible (giving yourself a *slightly* increased astral gem income helps obviously; these Astral Windows do not Last long enough otherwise). All these spells are cast by free Mystics, who can in turn summon other Astral mages, and so I can watch an AI play without too much problem.

However, it doesn't tell me how the AI uses her commanders/research, and so my information is still not too accuracte. Is there a better way to spy on the AI, and is it actually useful to know more about how the AI plays?