[Xietor]

Depends on many things.

The era. In the middle era, 5-6 is usually fine as there are not many good nations that can push dominion on you with blood sacrifice.

If I am playing a race like Pangaea with cheap temples, 5 is plenty.

But if I am playing MA Ctis where dominion is gold and also lethal to my enemies, foolish to start with less than 8 or 9.

If I am playing a race where i need lots of cheap sacreds, i may need a high dominion so i can recruit the sacreds(jag warriors etc).

If my pretender is immortal, and also an sc, I like at least 6 so he can be used safely in a decent amount of provinces around my capital.