Newb+Multiplayer.

[RibbonBlue]

Hi, ive been playing dom2 single player for about two or three weeks now. My favorite race is Man.
I am looking into getting into some multiplayer games, but Im wondering if there are anythings, I should now about multiplayer.
Some questions I have are:
Is it okay to attack some one with no warning?
How many turns do games usualy last for?
Is there anything I need to play mulitplayer?
Are there any sorta "Must do" tactics that every one does?
What are some strengths/weakness of Man in multiplayer?
Is multiplayer more about diplomacy, or having "the best race"?

[quantum_mechani]

1.Attacking someone with no warning is fine so long as you don't have a treaty.

2.Anwhere from 15 (few victory points, tiny map) to 200+(faerun sized map) turns depending on map size. Optimum seems to be 40-90.

3. Not really, other than dom II.

4. Some, but Zen's balance mods address a lot of these. One that is important is to focus on research (and take a magic scale).

5. Man is good because of longbows and cheap sacred mages. The downside is so much capital only stuff, to do well stay on small maps.

6. Either, neither, or both. Personally, I like games to be about trying interesting strategies.

[Alneyan]

Welcome aboard! Other strengths of Man include their two magic paths, fairly powerful and helping to offset some of their weaknesses. For example, Nature gives access to Lamia Queens, strong mages in sorcery magic (Astral/Nature/Death/Blood), which would both increase your number of mages and the variety of your paths. You should also do your best to try and get some independent mages, as Man is the only nation with only capital-only mages (most nations have one capital-only mage, some two, and a couple can recruit their mages everywhere).

On another note, I was considering hosting a special multiplayer game: it would be dedicated to new players, so that they can get their feet wet. Would you find this to be useful? Either it could be a game with only new players and a few "information givers" (as in, they would answer your questions about how the game works), or perhaps a game with one "seasoned" player and one new player ruling the same nation, with the new player doing most of the work (and the other player giving advice or answering questions).

[GriffinOfBuerrig]

Welcome RibbonBlue!

Here is one "Must Do" Tactic: In the games(so around turn 20), most players build SC(Super Combadants), this are strong Commanders with strong equipment(such as Hellsword and such things).
BTW: Someone could make a guide for SCs, so that Newbies(sorry for that) are also quite fast able to make some

[PashaDawg]

Haha... Some of us somewhat seasoned players could use a guide for SCs. Or, at least I could.

[Alneyan]

Why bother with a guide for SCs? There is only one SC, and that would be Saber Cherry. If the very name doesn't strike fear into your heart, you certainly deserve whatever fate SC can devise. Run for your lives!

Super Combattants usually come into two kinds: the ones able to slaughter an army on their own (it usually involves good equipment and/or magic), and the ones merely able to dash a lot of punishment on the foe (those are usually thugs rather than actual Super Combattants). Of course, no commander is truly able to destroy *any* army, but some do a pretty good job at that. I am sure someone more knowledgeable with such fighters will be able to province a couple of examples.

[quantum_mechani]

Alneyan said:
Man is the only nation with only capital-only mages (most nations have one capital-only mage, some two, and a couple can recruit their mages everywhere).

Technically speaking, they do have bards....

[Alneyan]

Heh, for one reason or another, I cannot consider the bards as being actual mages; but they certainly are, game-wise speaking.

I wonder if giving them a random path, in addition to their Nature-1, would be a good idea; that could represent the knowledge they gained while travelling, and give them something more compared to the Daughters of Avalon (one of the best researchers available). Nature-1/Random-1 bards would become a bit like the Masters of the Way, with a different role. Hmm... Oh, got to watch out for those wild tangents.

[RibbonBlue]

What classes of magic should I focus in researching first?
Conjuration+Construction? So I can summon something to build an SC?

It seems to me that an SC unless it relied on the types of magic that hit every one the battle field and deal dmg to them all,unless it had that a SC would have trouble fighting the troops that have high morale enmass. Like vine men. If an Sc was fighting a mass of vine men, it would have trouble killing them because it can only hit a few a turn. If you had like 50+ of em it would seem pretty easy to overwhelm a SC.

Alneyan, a game with only new players sounds great.

What I try to do as man is expand using long bowmen, and then use spells to search the province, then conqure a new one. Then I try to get the vinemen bonus items. Like the staff I think, and the crown that makes additional vine men. And then I start mass producing vine men. I through in a few mages and order then to use random spells, as I do not know many yet. My whole game pretty much revolves around longbowmen and vinemen.

Does man have any good in battle spells? Or only summoning and such?

[Graeme Dice]

RibbonBlue said:
What classes of magic should I focus in researching first?

This is one of the hardest questions to answer, and it really depends on your pretender and nation.

If an Sc was fighting a mass of vine men, it would have trouble killing them because it can only hit a few a turn. If you had like 50+ of em it would seem pretty easy to overwhelm a SC.

This is why breath of winter and fire shield are so useful to SCs. They allow the SC to damage everything that's nearby.

Does man have any good in battle spells? Or only summoning and such?

Man can easily cast the lightning spells, which are very powerful. Man can also fairly easily cast relief (They get a localized version of the spell free at the start), which allows you to cast even more lightning.