Dom I Strategies which WON'T work in Dom II

[st.patrik]

Reading Alex Poger's post on usenet about "10 Whammies in Dominions" <http://Groups.google.com/Groups?hl=e...6hl%3Den%26lr% 3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3Dfda648a3.0203291351.1420401b%2540postin g.google.com%26rnum%3D1> I realized that several of these won't work in Dom II, or at least not to the same effect. This made me wonder - what will take their place? (I'm thinking here particularly of #6)

The strategies that won't work (as well) in Dom II are:

2> Instant Magical Movement
someone said on another post that 'gateway' was no longer in the game - or maybe changed from how it was in Dom I. This is the only instant movement spell that allows the whole army to move.

3> Magic Duel
this has been tweaked - maybe it's still dangerous, but probably not as much as it was (when it was bugged).

6> Battlefield Domination Spells
this refers to warding your troops and then calling down the appropriate devastation spell, to which your troops will be completely immune. Of course, most wards don't give total protection any more, so it seems this won't be as rewarding of a strategy as it once was.

7> Storms
now you can shoot in storms, but just with limited range (I think), so while storms will have an effect, it won't be nearly so potent of a strategy as it once was.

So would the beta-testers care to comment on what 'army-killing' strategies they use? Or does anyone else have any ideas?

[ October 15, 2003, 14:42: Message edited by: st.patrik ]

[Nerfix]

Supercombatants have also been tuned down BTW...

Faery Trod also let's you to teleport the whole army, but only inside your Dominion.

I would say that powerfull bless efects+Sacred troops may be one of the new "killer aps".

I can already see KotC's with flaming weapons charging towards enemies...

[ October 15, 2003, 14:42: Message edited by: Nerfix ]

[Daynarr]

Originally posted by st.patrik:
Reading Alex Poger's post on usenet about "10 Whammies in Dominions" <http://Groups.google.com/Groups?hl=e...6hl%3Den%26lr% 3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3Dfda648a3.0203291351.1420401b%2540postin g.google.com%26rnum%3D1> I realized that several of these won't work in Dom II, or at least not to the same effect. This made me wonder - what will take their place? (I'm thinking here particularly of #6)

The strategies that won't work (as well) in Dom II are:

2> Instant Magical Movement
someone said on another post that 'gateway' was no longer in the game - or maybe changed from how it was in Dom I. This is the only instant movement spell that allows the whole army to move.

3> Magic Duel
this has been tweaked - maybe it's still dangerous, but probably not as much as it was (when it was bugged).

6> Battlefield Domination Spells
this refers to warding your troops and then calling down the appropriate devastation spell, to which your troops will be completely immune. Of course, most wards don't give total protection any more, so it seems this won't be as rewarding of a strategy as it once was.

7> Storms
now you can shoot in storms, but just with limited range (I think), so while storms will have an effect, it won't be nearly so potent of a strategy as it once was.

So would the beta-testers care to comment on what 'army-killing' strategies they use? Or does anyone else have any ideas?

Maybe you could place here the whole list so I can comment on that?

6 is definitely gone since wards no longer give full protection nor do they affect all your troops and still they cost gems. So that is no-go.

[Gandalf Parker]

I played Man and Pangaea alot with a tactic of finding a weak province, doing a "call" spell to drop units there and take it over, then build up. I had spots all over the map with castle, temple, lab that I could spread out from.

The limitations on travel spells is going to make it really hard to put a temple and lab in far places early in the game. I will have to walk mages and priests to each spot. Im unhappy with this since I didnt see these as being strategys that were massively imbalanced.

I want MORE strategy varients, not less. I dont like being pressed into playing a particular type of game. I dont mind them tweaking things so that any strategy being overused gets cut back, but I dont like them disappearing.

[ October 15, 2003, 15:17: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

[Pocus]

Originally posted by Daynarr:
6 is definitely gone since wards no longer give full protection nor do they affect all your troops and still they cost gems. So that is no-go.

to my dismay I read that you got wards affecting the whole battlefield in the Last levels of research. I would have preferred that these spells did not exists.

[Pocus]

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
I played Man and Pangaea alot with a tactic of finding a weak province, doing a "call" spell to drop units there and take it over, then build up. I had spots all over the map with castle, temple, lab that I could spread out from.

The limitations on travel spells is going to make it really hard to put a temple and lab in far places early in the game. I will have to walk mages and priests to each spot. Im unhappy with this since I didnt see these as being strategys that were massively imbalanced.

I want MORE strategy varients, not less. I dont like being pressed into playing a particular type of game. I dont mind them tweaking things so that any strategy being overused gets cut back, but I dont like them disappearing.

I can understand your concerns Gandalf, as you play mainly solo, thus limiting some spells is surly detrimental to your pleasure. But I can assure you that limiting gateway to a friendly lab has surely been done for MP balance, as it was a bit too convenient a solution when you were an astral nation (oooh an enemy force, lets crush them with this big astral hammer, aka a gating army).
Restricting a bit the power of astral magic is a good thing, as it perhaps too powerful.

Anyway, I never heard that faery trod was toned down, so you can still preach with dryads, then gate in renforcements.

[Kristoffer O]

Faery Trod is altered. You will no longer wander into your dominion but into forests anywhere.

[Pocus]

Originally posted by Kristoffer O:
Faery Trod is altered. You will no longer wander into your dominion but into forests anywhere.

cool, a new strategic factor to take into account.

and what about a forest which is at death -3 and void of any life? Does it counts?

[Mortifer]

Originally posted by Pocus:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
I played Man and Pangaea alot with a tactic of finding a weak province, doing a "call" spell to drop units there and take it over, then build up. I had spots all over the map with castle, temple, lab that I could spread out from.

The limitations on travel spells is going to make it really hard to put a temple and lab in far places early in the game. I will have to walk mages and priests to each spot. Im unhappy with this since I didnt see these as being strategys that were massively imbalanced.

I want MORE strategy varients, not less. I dont like being pressed into playing a particular type of game. I dont mind them tweaking things so that any strategy being overused gets cut back, but I dont like them disappearing.

I can understand your concerns Gandalf, as you play mainly solo, thus limiting some spells is surly detrimental to your pleasure. But I can assure you that limiting gateway to a friendly lab has surely been done for MP balance, as it was a bit too convenient a solution when you were an astral nation (oooh an enemy force, lets crush them with this big astral hammer, aka a gating army).
Restricting a bit the power of astral magic is a good thing, as it perhaps too powerful.

Anyway, I never heard that faery trod was toned down, so you can still preach with dryads, then gate in renforcements.

---

Now you may understand, that why my poll contained 2 options: singleplayer and multiplayer. Now it is clear I guess.

[apoger]

The ten whammy's were;

1> Super Combatants
2> Instant Magical Movement
3> Magic Duel
4> Ritual Summons
5> Battlefield Summons
6> Battlefield Domination Spells
7> Storms
8> Army BLasting
9> Province BLasting
10> Assassination

1> Super Combatants - Toned down? How?
2> Instant Magical Movement - Only lab to lab now? Not sure if I like this. I would have prefered making it much harder/expensive, but keeping the effect.
3> Magic Duel - Not sure how this has changed, if at all.
4> Ritual Summons - Probably have changed, but I don't know about the changes yet.
5> Battlefield Summons - Word is that battlefield conjuration has been seriously limited. Gem costs for even lesser elementals and double fatigue. Not sure I like this, as it was a mainstay of the game. Will judge when I see the new system in action.
6> Battlefield Domination Spells - With ward rendered non-perfect these combo's are severely weakened.
7> Storms - Delighted to see this taken down a few notches.
8> Army BLasting - Stuff like Murdering Winter. Might be more popular than ever now that it's harder to project power.
9> Province BLasting - Same as above
10> Assassination - Not sure if the spells that kill commanders are still around. Will have to see.

In the new enviornment we may see much more play with magic pretenders and bless. Also we may see more done with global spells, since that may be the only way to "reach out" with your power now that you can't get there with troops. This is all conjecture of course... I'll have more to say once the game is released and I have a chance to evaluate the situation.

In the meantime if some beta testers have comments, feel free to give us a clue.