Which nation for a newb's first MP game?

[John Agartha]

I've played and won two AI games of Dom3, plus the tutorial. In one game I played MA Agartha; in the other I played EA Fomoria. I'm about to start my first MP game, in the Middle Age, and I'm not sure which nation to play.

I'm inclined to avoid blood or astral magic (communions), neither of which I really understand yet. RP-wise, I like the look of Shinuyama or maybe T'ien Ch'i, but the strategy articles here suggest that they're both kinda tough for a beginner. Shinuyama, for example, apparently starts out kinda slow.

I suppose I could play Agartha or Fomoria, both of which I'm comfy with, but I'm kinda thinking a change of pace would be more fun.

Any advice?

[NaivePhilosopher]

Honestly, for a first newbie game I found that subbing into a game or two was an excellent idea. It gets you outsides the comfort zone you developed regarding strategies and nations while playing single player, and you get to experience vastly different situations. Plus, people are often inclined to go a bit easy on a sub diplomatically, which can be invaluable as you try to find your footing as well.

That said, if you're going to start from scratch, I'd think maybe Eriu. No astral, no blood, but air, glamor, and some very excellent thugs. Of course, I'm a newbie myself, and I went the aforementioned 'sub into games' plan for my first two.

[earcaraxe]

My experiences say its best to play a game with a nation u like, in this case shinu and TC. You will be learning quicker if u are more attached emotionaly, and in my opinion none of the nations are too difficult to play with.

[Knai]

Niefelheim and its successors are always good options, its hard to screw them up and they are pretty decent at most everything.

[Kobal2]

I wouldn't recommend TC for a beginner, as playing them well requires a really in-depth knowledge of the magic system since they're so all over the place and can basically do everything. I still can't play them for beans, at least

I'd suggest Caelum: their fondness for Cold gives them good scales no matter what kind of pretender you want to run with, and their early game at least is pretty straightforward: expand with handfuls of Mammoths while you research Evoc, then fry everyone with zounds of flying Thunder Strikers you vomit from every fort. Or go Alteration first for some ethereal Mammoths to rush your neighbours with.

In the long term you'll have to get more creative once people start using shock-immune troops and thugs against you, but it's a pretty solid opening.

[John Agartha]

Thanks for the advice! Very helpful replies.

[earcaraxe]

Originally Posted by Kobal2

I wouldn't recommend TC for a beginner, as playing them well requires a really in-depth knowledge of the magic system since they're so all over the place and can basically do everything. I still can't play them for beans, at least

In my opinion one doesnt have to play a nation "well" to play with it or enjoy playing with it. If its a nation with a lot of options it means only there is a lot of room for improvement. I agree with kobal (if i understand correctly his intention) in stating that it might be easier for someone to enjoy a game with less options at hand than TC's, but its best to try it for oneself: one of my friends started playing with EA TC and MA TC, and its his fav nation still so far, otoh my favourite is MA Abysia in part because of low magical and troop diversity (which is still enough for most situations to win games for me)

[Kobal2]

Originally Posted by earcaraxe

In my opinion one doesnt have to play a nation "well" to play with it or enjoy playing with it. If its a nation with a lot of options it means only there is a lot of room for improvement.

True enough. The wheel of the Tao of the Newb has many spokes

My own roadmap was to start playing with nations who did one or two schools of magic very well, to get a working notion of what these schools did (both on the field and in the forge) - Fomoria for Air and Death, then Kailasa for Earth and Astral (though that one was over right quick. Finalgenesis ! ), LA Mictlan for Blood and Water. And now Shinuyama, for Fire and to see what one can do when one cannot rely on ridiculous sacreds to bulldoze the early opposition.

That felt right for me. And of course, I also learned a bunch from the people who murdered me horribly.
But I suppose a more "sink or swim" approach with TC or Bogarus (or LA Pythium ) could work too. I just think it could be frustrating, or would have been for me perhaps.

The only real don't that I see is LA Ermor (and to a lesser extent, MA Ermor and LA C'tis), because they just play so differently from everyone else, the lessons you learn from them cannot be readily applied to other nations and games. That, and the micro will make your brain asplode .