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But the main use of the prophet is usually to gain access to the Fanaticism spell, which requires 4 levels of divine magic. Many nations (Vanheim, Arcoscephale, Jotunheim, R'lyeh, Pangaea, Caelum) can only train priests with 3 levels. Making that priest your prophet raises his power by one, and gives you Fanaticism. Higher priests still make good prophets, as their Banishments cause more damage to undeads.
A : Slayer (Abysia), Empoisoner (C'tis), Assassin (Marignon and Pythium), Star Child (R'lyeh), and any stealth commander equiped with a Black Heart. Also, you could recruit ethereal assassin Stalkers in an very rare astral hidden site, "The Hidden Kingdom of Elludia" Q : When two assassins attack a commander in the same turn and the first wounds him, will the target heal between the two assassination attempts ? A : No. Having an assassin attack in the same round as an army moves works well also. Even if the assassin dies his damage is in place when the army hits. Q : What happens when the assassin is a mage and does "take control" of his victim with a spell like Charm or Hellbind Heart ? A : The victim switches sides, followed by a "there was a battle" message showing him fighting his previous friends. Double damage. Plus if he was the last commander he gets to watch his previous troops go bye-bye (rout from the fight) and gives you the province and any items/gems he might have had (but even a milicia leader will prevent the rout). Q : Are there any upkeep costs for summoned units ? A : Generally speaking, summoned creatures that could be classified as "animals" (eg. Black Hawks) or "non-magical thinking earthly beings" (eg. Draconians) cost upkeep, while magical, mindless, undead, constructs, or unearthly beings do not - there may be exceptions. Exemples : the hidden cost of a black hawk is 10 gold (upkeep = 0.67), 60 gold for a troll (upkeep 4), 52 gold for a sea troll (upkeep 3.47), but zero gold for a wolf (no upkeep), zero gold for summer lions and other spirits, zero gold for a lamia.
A : The chance of getting a nasty wound depends on the hit points loss, compared to the total hp. So if a terrible blow takes 50% of the hp, this unit has 50% chance of getting a nasty wound. This probability is greatly increased for cursed units, and greatly decreased for regenerating units. Immortals (like the Phoenix or the Lich), Pangaea and Pangaea-like creatures (like the Medusa) heal battle afflictions automatically. Arcoscephale priestesses can heal afflictions, too (every turn, each priestess has about 20% chance to heal any affliction incured by every units in the same province - keep in mind that this healing takes place after movement and battle). When a god reincarnates, he has a chance of healing some or all of his wounds. The nastier ones are almost always healed, but the never healing wound is hard to get rid of. An artifact, the Chalice, will have a chance of curing one affliction per unit in the country. The Nature spell Gift of Health (Ench 5) also cures afflictions. Note that regeneration does not heal afflictions, it only reduces the risk of getting afflictions (so a Ring of Regeneration, for exemple, will not heal a lost eye). Q : What is the effect of fire on a unit when you see the unit icon burning on the battlefield? A : This will do an additional point of damage every turn and lowers morale. Q : What are the levels of experience (grey star shields) for units ? A : Every unit get a star at 20, 50, 100, 200, and 400 experience points. 5 stars is the max, and is almost impossible to get to other unit than combat pretender, champions or very destructive battlemage (Orion, a mercenary, has 1000 experience points). Every unit gets one experience point each turn (even when doing nothing special -- all armies always organize some drill and exercices behind the frontline), or for fighting in a battle (4 xp), and one point for delivering a blow (two swords and quickness is the way to go for experience). You only get experience from melee combat, kills are only useful if you want to advance on the hall of fame. A Champion Skull gives 3 additional points each turn. A commander (+ all his troops) who enters an Academy of War (zero-level blood site) get 4 additional points each turn. Mindless units never gain experience however.
A : When moving towards a province with a castle you can 'move and patrol'. Unfortunately the UI for this is obfuscated. You have to issue 'move' orders first, and then 'move and patrol' will be available. Q : I see in the manual that all magic battles are resolved before movement and ordinary battles. Does that mean that an army could be pinned in a given province if I cast a Call of the Wind/Wild every turn (the hawks/wolves will always arrive before the army moves, but will this battle cancel the move orders) ? A : Move orders are not cancelled. The magical attack does happen before normal movement, but there is 2 battle phases each turn. So an army could fight in the magical battle phase, and then move into another province to fight in the normal battle phase of the same turn. A magical attack is often the only way to catch a marauding army (especially if they are flyers) : normally, they can jump around the map, and you have to guess where he is moving. You can synch up a Call of the Wind/Wild with some sneaking troops, btw. If you have sneakers who are already in a province and have attack orders, they will attack in the magic phase along with the hawks. Can be helpful if you know you want to trap someone before they move, but need more forces than just the hawks or wolves.
A : If the troops enter combat magically and rout/retreat - they will retreat into a neighboring province you hold prior to "normal" combat. If you hold no neighboring province prior to magic combat, the routing troops all die even if you take a neighboring province in normal combat. If you do own a neighboring province after "magic" combat but prior to "normal" combat - the routed troops will rout to the province with the lowest provincial number available. Then when "normal" combat occurs, the incoming troops will encounter the troops that routed during magic combat as well as any other standing army in the province.
# A : The missile units in Dominions have their place. Don't build them just because you can. Measure your situation and decide if they will satisfy your need: Shortbows are good for patrols. Low cost all around, and more effective than militia. In battle they are good for killing lightly armored troops such as light infantry, other archers, and perhaps most important : mages. # Longbows are good for killing light or medium armored troops, and very good for killing mages. # Crossbows are great for killing low numbers of heavy armored units that would otherwise give you trouble, such as armored pretenders or knights. Many independents (especially Barbarians) can be routed easily and with no casualties using a massed missile attack. This can sometimes speed up early expansion. Then split the missle units into your regular armies for mage plinking. If you encounter a storms-user, try to keep your missile troops in small raiding armies and stick to non missile troops for the main fights. Accuracy seems to be improved by keeping your missile troops in small groups of 5-10. They tend to pick a spot each then fire at it. 50 archers create an area hit by arrows with some spread to it. Dividing them into 5 smaller squads of 10 archers will give you 5 center points and a tighter spread on each. Q : What is the trampling formula? A : The damage is 8+(size of trampler*2) of armor piercing damage if the trampled unit misses his defence check (def 10 = about 50% chance). So a chariot will do about 16 points of armor piercing damage to about 50% of those it overran. Only the defence rating is checked, not the attack value from the attacker. However the trampled unit will always take at least 1 point of damage no matter what. Q : Is there any anti-human bias in how the AI picks its fights ? A : If you attack a computer province they will consider you an enemy. Once you are an enemy they never give up attacking you. Attacking a province at the same time as a computer player does not count as an offense. The computer tends to expand into independent provinces as long as it can. Then it starts looking for opportunities. At higher settings it sometimes looks for opportunities before it has finished expanding into independents. Beyond this the computer seems to expand into the path of least restistance. If you leave a weak border or no/low province defense, the computer will often decide that you are weak and will attack. The weak border is easy to gauge. Often the computer will spot a no/low defense province and will attack it will a scout or a Call of Wild/Wind. Once this happens you are an enemy. To slow down computer aggression keep troops on the borders and pump up province defense.
Q : I try to dispel a Global enchantment. You dont happen to have some guessed numbers about dispelling chances ? A : If both the global spell and the disjunction pay the base cost, there is about a 50% dispel chance. This is modified depending upon extra gems spent, with something like 20-30 extra in your favor giving close to 100% success/failure. The astral level of the caster also counts. If you can cast the enchantment too, it might be better to cast the spell yourself with more gems: if you cast it with more gems, the older enchantment gets dispelled and you get to keep the spell. Q : What is the interest, in the demo, to have more than 4 levels in a given magical sphere? Will my low-level (4 and less...) spells be more powerful if I have astral magic 8 ? A : For every 2 skill levels your ability to penetrate magical resistence increases (+1). Battle spells also cost less fatigue if you have more than the required skill. Q : What is the purpose of keeping gems with a mage? Battle spells dont seem to use gems anyway, so why transporting them? A : Some spells require them, and mages may opt to use one gem to increase their appropriate magic skill by one. It can't be increased more than that, but further gems may be used to decrease the fatigue for casting spells. You can't control their gem use, and they tend to be very liberal with their gems, so expect some to be "wasted". According to Illwinter, the maximum amount of gems you can spend on one spell (base amount + optional additional gems) is equal to your skill level in the approriate magic path.
A : you can do a Communion or a Sabbath to redirect the fatigue to the slaves, or spend additional gems (i.e. in addition to the spell cost and to the gem used to gain one level if necessary). Every additional gem decreases fatigue as if the mage had one more level in this school. A level 10 astral mage can cast Master Enslave if he has 10 astral pearls (he then temporary reaches level 12, thanks to the 2 additional gems he spent), so the fatigue is divided by 5 (the mage has now 4 levels beyond spell requirement), and will have 800/5 or 160 fatigue (+ encumbrance). He is stunned but stays alive. Remark : a level 9 mage cannot cast this spell even with 30 gems, because he cannot spend more that 9, and that is not enough to avoid death by exhaustion (fatigue > 200). Remark : in the same situation, a level 11 mage will spend 11 gems to even reduce his fatigue to 800/6 or 134 fatigue. Remark : the temporary higher level has also some effect on the spell (a Master Enslave is harder to resist, an Undead Horde brings more undeads, etc).
A : Sometimes the AI overrides what spell you want, especially when it thinks you don't need to spend gems to win the fight. Kind of annoying... Q : What effects does a drain dominion have other than lower research and higher magic resistance ? A : Increased fatigue when casting spells on the battlefield (+10 % fat for every drain level, or -10 % for every positive magic level in the province). Exemple : in a +2 magic province, Marignon Initiates can cast Will-o-Wisp for 84 fat. only (base 100, -20%, +4 enc.), in a -2 drain the same spell makes 124 fatigue points (base 100, +20%, +4 enc.). Q : How does temperature affect mages ? A : Increased enc. (added to fatigue) when casting spells on the battlefield (+1 enc. for every cold or heat level, if not immune, or +3 enc for every cold level if cold-blooded). Exemple : in a +3 cold province, a cold-blooded lamia queen has an enc. of 15 (base 4 + 9 for the extreme cold). In the same province, a Mystic has an enc. of 7 (base 4 + 3 for the cold). 6.11.4 FORTRESSES, RECRUITMENT AND SUPPLY Q : When are leaderless troops drawn into a battle ? A : If there is a fortress in the province, then the only defenders that participate in a battle outside the fort are leaders on patrol, plus their troops, plus local province defense. Leaderless troops, plus those belonging to leaders not patrolling, stay inside the fort. If there is no fortress and the province is attacked, then all defending forces join in, except for leaders on sneak and their troops. Ditto in a fortification storming battle, of course. Q : Does a fortress help gold income ? A : Yes. The administration % is added to the local income (ie. a 80 gold province with a fortified city will give you an income of 120). Q : Does a fortress help resource production ? A : Yes. Fortresses suck their administration % out of adjacent conquered provinces resource (not neutral or enemy provinces). Having many castles next door can suck a province dry. Furthermore, the resource value of a province is always halved if it does not contain a fortress (but the adjacent fortress sucks its admin % on the full amount - i.e. the double of what you see on the screen). Q : I'm unable to recruit any troop in a given province. What's wrong ? A : If you have the gold and the local resource, it could be the local unrest. Recruitment is impossible when the unrest reaches 100. Q : Is there a maximum unrest level in a given province ? A : Yes, maximum unrest = often 10 % of the population (if population is under 1,000 then unrest cannot reach 100 even after a pillage). Q :Where do mercenaries appear ? A : Mercs appear where they are hired. But you can re-hire mercs from a back province without the mercs moving. Drop the hire from the front-line province (if that province is lost then the mercs dissapear) and imediately set another one to pay their wages. They will stay on the job and not appear at the new hiring province. Better yet, hire a different group at the front line province. Using this tactic you can hire 2 or 3 groups at the same front-line position getting them all where you want them, then shift their wages to back provinces like the ones circling your home castle where its safer (and easier to remember where they are being paid from). Also, Mercs carry out their actions before they leave you. You can tell a merc band to attack the neighbor. In the same turn you can drop their pay and hire a new band. They still carry out the attack. This can be useful for quickly replacing a band that you know is going to be pretty well wiped out in an attack. Also in multiplayer games you can keep the mercs bouncing around so that nobody quite knows who is available for hire at any moment.
A : each point spent in provincial defense brings some units (check the manual to see which) when the province is attacked. Buying 5+ defense is a cheap way to protect your land against a lone scout or a Call of the Wild/Wind. 10+ gets you a free patrol able to stop spies or stealth units (but not to quell unrest or kill brigands). 20+ gets you another unit type and a second commander. Those units are not available for other duties (ie. the player can not command them) but their maintenance is free - no supply, no upkeep. Combat losses are automatically replaced as long as you win the fight (if you lose, then the defense rating is zeroed). Militia will not pick up any items or gain any experience, or keep any afflictions. Each turn they are brand new replacements. Q : My large army is starving already in a province I just invaded. How could I know the supply level of an independant province before attacking ? A : The available supply of a province is calculated as follow : divide the population by a number between 100 (for smaler provinces) and 150 (for larger provinces). Add 20% per tick of growth, or remove 20% per tick of death, cold or heat. Add a multiple of the fortress administration %, if you have a fort up to 4 provinces away (only the best supplier is taken into account). 0 = 4 x admin 1 = 2 x admin 2 = 4/3 x admin 3 = 1 x admin 4 = 4/5 x admin 5+ = nothing Q : How are sieges resolved ? A : Each turn of siege decreases a fortress defense value by a number of points equal to a difference between the number of defenders and besiegers. When the fortress defense value is reduced to zero the besieger may storm the castle. Only the Strength is important (size does not matter) : A unit with STR 5 = 0,2 point STR 7 = 0,4 pt STR 9 (like human militia and wolves) = 0,8 pt STR 10 (most infantrymen and archers) = 1 pt STR 15 = 2,2 pts STR 20 (most giants) = 4 pts STR 22 (trolls) = 4,8 - Flyers get +1 pt each. So, the weak black hawks (STR 5) are still average siege units (0,2 + 1 = 1,2). [Comment: I did read in the forum that hawks are animals and therefore suffer an animal penalty and thus do not get the a real flying bonus when seiging.] - Tower Guards, City Guard of C'tis and Halbardiers of Marignon count as two when defending. Guardians of Ulm count as three. - Mindless beings count only for 1/10th as defenders, but they have no penalty as besiegers. - The Wall Shaker adds 25 pts, and the Gate Cleaver adds 50 pts.
Q : I'm told that some nations have a "construction bonus". What is it ? A : Man and Pangaea use sacred groves as temple, instead of stone buildings (so they cost 100 instead of 200). Arcoscephale build labs at half cost (100 instead of 200).
A : They are different and have different uses. Priest preaching increases the dominion upon a certain province, up to the preacher level. Temples however spread dominion in nearby provinces. So if you want to spread your dominion, build temples. If you want to strengthen your dominion in a certain province, preach (building a temple in addition helps too). Q : Every nation has a "pre-researched spells". Which one ? Abysia : Flare Arcoscephale : Astral Window Atlantis : Friendly Currents Caelum : Wind Guide Ctis : Terror Ermor : Raise Skeletons Jotunheim : Curse, Luck Man : Sleep Marignon : Holy Pyre Pangaea : Panic Pythium : Communion Master, Communion Slave R'lyeh : Mind Burn Ulm : Legions of Steel Vanheim : Phantasmal Warrior
A : Abysia likes +3 heat, Ctis +1 heat, Caelum +3 cold, Jotunheim +2 cold, Vanheim +1 cold. Jotuns and Caelians are also cold resistant, and therefore will gain an advantage over non cold resistant troops fighting in cold climes (extra fatigue, especially cold-blooded creatures), Abysians are heat resistant and gain similar advantage in warm dominions, the heat haze around abysians will also become more effective in warm dominions, same goes for the heat of summer lions and devils. It might also be a good idea for underwater nations to max out their dominion either for heat or cold since the income reduction from heat and cold does not apply underwater.
A : Yes, the bonuses are not added in as a lump, they are multiplied in one by one. This means that the previous bonus increases the potency of each additional bonus. For the gold revenue, if you take order +3, productivity +3, growth +3 and Fortified city (admin 50%), you got something like : 1.3 (tax 130 % for order) * 1.15 (for production) * 1.15 (for growth) * 1.5 (for 50% admin), giving total of 258% of the gold that it would make with no bonuses. 6.12 The best questions seen on usenet (with long answers) 6.12.1 The Ten Whammies in Dominions The Ten Whammies in Dominions * What is a Whammy? A Whammy is a technique that is so potent and unexpected that it can shift the balance of power all by itself. There are many strategies in the game of Dominions that are very potent, yet there are some basics that experienced players seem to cultivate on a routine basis. As the player base gets more and more competent these situations are becoming more common. While I am not normally a big advocate of giving away secrets, I feel that it is getting hard on newer players who have no idea what they are facing. I am writing this essay in an attempt to educate the newer players so they have a competitive chance when entering games. This will level the playing field a little and will (I hope) help stimulate the production of even stronger strategies in the future.
* What is a Super Combatant? A Super Combatant is a character that is so powerful that it can take on entire armies by itself! Super Combatants are usually pretender gods, but can sometimes be large summoned creatures. While no Super Combatant is invincible, they can be difficult to stop unless you have some method prepared before they begin to savage your resources. New players rarely have counter techniques prepared and as such are extremely vulnerable to a well deigned Super Combatant. Super Combatants will have many of the following characteristics; Much health, incredible protection, untouchable defense, regeneration, trample, flying, immunity to fire/cold/lightning, immunity/resistance to missiles, increased resistance to magic, luck, etherealness, heat or cold shield, and astral shield.
stand a reasonable chance of surviving immense numbers of enemies while being able to lash out and kill/rout the opposing army.
will not dedicate themselves this heavily to a strategy that places all their eggs in one basket. Still, there are many players that enjoy the risks and rewards of flinging about Super Combatants. If you intend to play Dominions competitively you will need to stay aware of Download 5.74 Mb. Share with your friends:
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