The most important Dominions skill

[Edi]

RonD said:
My most successful diplomatic maneuvers have only a little bit to do with alliances. Or with winning battles/wars - they have more to do with staying out of wars and with manipulating who is fighting who else while I stay out of it. Success mostly lies with the ability to convince another player that what is in *my* best interest is actually in *his* best interest.

Sometimes that is even true, which makes it easier.

Quite. One more thing about diplomacy: It is a good idea to cultivate good relations with people you don't war with, because if they go down, they are more likely to be charitable towards you just to strike back from the dead. That's not a trivial thing at all, especially if the one going down decides to make enough of a fight of it to give you a chance to build up and come ahead stronger while your future opponent is spending his strength in trying to finish your friend off.

Happened to me in LeafNosedBat, where my ostensible greatest ally rarely bothered to cultivate any relations (such as trading favors or information) with me while his largest enemy did because we had no border in common, and when a third player eventually as good as wiped me out, things weren't quite as clear as they could have been. Going out with a bang is fun!