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| The random magic path information can get a bit deeper, however. Each "?" tends to have more info behind it than can be easily conveyed, so you'll sometimes see an abbreviated explanation parenthesized after the "?", something like "(100 AEFW, 50 AEFW)".
The number is the percentile chance that an additional magic path will be granted, and the letters are the possible paths. Thus for this example, the mage will get an additional path or either Air, Earth, Fire or Water, and there is a 50/50 chance that they will get yet another level in one of those paths. Examples 2D3S Two levels of Death magic, three levels of Astral magic. 1E1N1H One level in Earth, one level in Nature, one level in Holy. 2D1? Two levels in Death, one level of a random path. 2E1? (100 EFDN, 50 EFDN) Two levels in Earth and one random choice which will provide one level in Earth, Fire, Death, or Nature, along with an additional 50% of yet another level in Earth, Fire, Death, or Nature. 2E1? (10 EFDN) Two levels in Earth and one random choice which has a small chance (10%) of providing one level in Earth, Fire, Death, or Nature. Statistics Just a little note on how to figure out the odds in a random path choice. Let's grab an example from above: 2E1? (100 EFDN, 50 EFDN) So this mage has two levels in Earth and one random choice which will provide one level in Earth, Fire, Death, or Nature, along with an additional 50% of yet another level in Earth, Fire, Death, or Nature. What are the odds that we'll end up with a mage with 4 levels of Earth? Well, they are not good. You start off with two levels in Earth. Then you have a 100% chance of getting EFDN, so you are going to get one of those four, guaranteed. So you have a 25% chance of getting another level in Earth... meaning that one in every four of this type of mage you buy will be a 3E mage. Then, you've got a 50% chance of yet another level in EFDN. Meaning a 50% chance of another 25% chance of getting Earth. Multiplying out all your odds gives us: 1/4 * 1/2 * 1/4 = 1/32, or about a 3% chance of getting a 4E mage. Not odds you'd want to plan a strategy around. 7.2.7 Alchemy The last of the magic activities is alchemy. With alchemy you can make gold out of magical gems but you can also transmute magic gems into other types of gems. There are a set of buttons that allows you to convert gems into other kinds of gems and gold. You can never convert blood slaves into anything else nor can you create blood slave from gems. Blood slaves are collected during long and hard expeditions in remote provinces. Alchemy, unlike most other actions on the strategic phase of the game doesn't take one turn in time. Instead it is instanteous. A mage can convert gems and then go and make a move or go and Research. Gems into other gems To convert gems into other gems you need to first convert them into Astral Pearls with a rate of 2 gems for 1 Astral Pearl. Astral Pearls can then be alchemized into gems of any other type (Blood Slaves excluded) at a rate of 2 Astral Pearls for 1 gem. Gems to Gold You can convert Fire and Earth gems into gold. Fire Gems can be turned into 15 gold per gem and Earth Gems can be turned into 10 gold per gem. When to use Alchemy Since Alchemy consumes precious magic gems at a high rate you must think of times when you truly need alchemy. Such situations include: * Converting gem type you don't need to other gems * Getting a gem type you need but don't have * Gaining emergency Gold from Fire and Earth gems 7.3 Treasury Income
7.4 Units Units Units are the heart of Dominions 3: The Awakening. With units you wage ware, conquer provinces, fight battles, forge items, cast spells and win the game. Units can be classified: * Units can be either Commanders or Troops * Units can be either recruited or summoned * Units can be either stealth or non-stealth * Units can be either national or independent Commanders Commanders are different in some ways from other units: * Only commanders can wear Magic Items. * Only commanders can lead other troops (if the commander has the right leadership skill). * Only commanders can cast spells, build buildings or search for/ enter into Magic Sites. * Only commanders can increase unrest or perform Assassinations. * Only one recruitable commander can be recruited per province per turn. Armies can only move when they are led by a commander. Commanders have different leadership ratings, which determine how many units they can control. Commanders can be classified into priests, mages, or generals. Right-click on them to get all their vital details. Some commanders have the Stealth skill and serve in different roles such as scouts, spies, or assassins. A high value at the stealth skill means a better chance of infiltrating enemy provinces without becoming detected. Scouts provide basic information on enemy assets, while spies provide more detailed information and can raise unrest. Assassins provide the option of attacking one random commander per turn -- and his bodyguards. Scouts, spies, and assassins rarely have the skills necessary to lead other troops. All face the risk of detection and attack by enemy patrols. Commanders are often referred to by their main role, like Mage, Priest, Scout, Spy, Assassin, Prophet and Pretender. Common roles for Commanders are also Thug and Super Combatant (SC). Troops There are a vast amount of different kinds of troops, units and creatures in Dominions 3 but they all have something in common. Troops require a commander with appropriate type of Leadership to lead them -- standard, magical, or undead/demon. Troops cannot move around on their own. Recruitable troops can be recruited in great amounts per turn unlike commanders who can only be recruited at pace of one commander per province per turn. Troops also cannot wield magic weapons forged by mages. Troops have a money and resource cost. Money is permanently reduced from your treasure but resource act more as a limit to how many troops you can build in a province. Every province has it's own resource value. Resource value can change over time but it does not accumulate over turn. So a province with 22 resources in turn 1 won't have 44 resource in turn 2. Resources are replenished at the start of every turn. Troops also cost maintenance for as long as they live. Sacred units also use the "Holy" that is shown in the recruitment screen. "Holy" equals the level of your Dominion in the province and you can only recruit a number of sacred units equal to the level of "Holy" in the province. "Holy" acts like resources. Land nations cannot expect to be able to recruit their national units underwater; they will not even be able to construct castles there without the aid of magic. On land, underwater nations may build castles, but will have very limited national troop recruitment regardless. Unit types Most units can be categorized into different roles that those units play on the battlefield: Fodder Also called Damage Soaker, Meat shield, Arrow Catcher or Lance Fodder. Those units have often no armor, ridicule arms and generally very low combat value. That does not mean that those units have no value at all for the wise general: Their purpose is to take damage while letting your more valuable units unharmed. "Fodder" units are usually not hard to replace and a high mortally rate of those units is nothing to worry about. Also keep in mind that some of the typical "fodder" units like militiamen that you get from random events will cost you upkeep (gold) per turn, and most "fodder" units want to eat (supply). Examples: A squad of Militiamen, placed near the frontline and with orders to attack cavalry will soak up the first-strike damage of enemy lancers. A squad of crippled or diseased units placed near the frontline with orders to "hold and attack" will hopefully catch many enemy arrows. Arrow catcher While letting your worthless "fodder" units catch enemy arrows with their body is favorable over exposing your valuable elite units to enemy archers, the best way to catch enemy arrows is by units with a big shield. Thick armor is also a good idea on such a unit, but the shield (the bigger, the better) is most important. Depending on your tactical setup you will give your "Arrow Catchers" orders to "hold and attack closest", or simply "attack closest" or even "guard commander". In every case you will position your "Arrow Catchers" as close to the frontline as possible. Even the biggest shield will not completely protect from enemy arrows and being positioned at the frontline make contact with enemy melee fighters very probably. So recruit replacements every turn and refresh your army in time. Note that units like the jaguar tribe infantry combine shield with ranged weapons (sling), giving you two units for the price of just one. Examples: A squad of indy heavy infantry (shield & broadsword) placed near the frontline with orders to "guard commander". The (armored) commander is placed in the middle of the battlefield, but before the archers. This squad will retreat toward the commander and hopefully attract the most part of the enemy arrows while other units (like your own archers and cavalry) will do the fighting. Damage Dealer This unit has a good weapon with high damage. Having two weapons or weapons with multiple attacks is even better. The main problem with "Damage Dealers" is to get them to the enemy unharmed. As "Damage Dealers" have seldom shields it is a good idea to position them behind the frontline troops. After the first melee contact is made, the damage dealers join in. Example: A squad of barbarians with broadswords, placed away from the frontline with orders of "attack closest". Defenders This unit stand in the frontline in dense formations. It has ideally a combination of tolerable cost (you want lots of those units), medium/high defense and good armor. Having a shield increase the defense value and gives protection against arrows - Defenders have to deal with a lot of arrows, from friends and enemy alike. High hit-points, high morale, small size and special ability's like awe or regeneration are ideal for "Defenders". Having a weapon with a long weapon length like a spear give the unit a chance to repel enemy troops. The main purpose of this unit is to halt an enemy advance. It has not necessarily to deal a lot of damage; it has to keep the enemy hordes stopped long enough to let your own "Damage Dealers", archers and mages destroy them. Example: Human heavy infantry with spear and shield. Repellers The role of the repeller is very close to the role of the Defender. Repelling is defined by checking which units weapon length is longer. The bearer of the shorter weapon must make an morale check before attacking and risk getting wounded (loosing exactly one hit-point). The exact mechanics of repelling can be read in the manual; the practical wisdom is that repelling works best against low-morale units with short weapons (teeth, claws, dagger). Repelling is useless against undead units (morale 50). The main advantage of repelling is not the damage dealt by repelling, but the forced morale check: each time, the attacker got repelled and wounded, his squad must make an morale check or rout. Example: Longspear inf. Swarmer The swarm or horde type of troop does not win by quality, but by quantity. Main qualification is a low resource and gold cost (or cheap gem cost for summons) because you want huge numbers. Swarmer's use the fact that each attack to an enemy unit decrease his defense for that turn; This works very good against huge units. A combat square can hold just one size-6 unit but 6 size-1 units. That makes the Clockwork Horrors really fearsome ! Example: A horde of flagellants with Fire-9 blessing. Archer Archers, Slingers or crossbowmen shoot arrows into enemy ranks. Use your crossbowmen to fire at enemy cavalry or huge monsters while letting your shortbowmen fire at closest enemy and your longbowmen fire at enemy archers. If your frontline troops suffer from friendly fire, let all your archers shoot at at enemy archers instead. To do so, position them in the middle of your battlefield or even closer to the frontline. Make sure to have arrow catchers or defenders in front of them. Some archers wear armor (and usually a better melee weapon like a sword too), so that you can position them closer to the frontline than others. Note that the spell "Flaming arrows" make every flying object (rocks, sticks, arrows) magical and armor-piercing. Example: A group of slingers in the rear with commands set to fire at closest enemies. Skirmisher Difficult to use in Dominions 3, those units wear typically mid-ranged weapons like javelins with limited ammo. Give them the fire & flee command if you are willing to pick them of in neighboring provinces after the battle. Else, give them fire at closest orders. Example: A squad of medium human infantry with javelins. Trampler This huge units can simply trample over smaller beings. If tramplers carry weapons those weapons are only used against equal or bigger sized foes. Tramplers like elephants are often very vulnerable to enemy arrows and spells. To avoid friendly troops trampled by your own tramplers, position your other troops at the flanks, leaving your tramplers a way to retreat. Also carefully placing your trampler near mages and scripting them to "hold and attack" gives your mage the chance to cast buffs on your tramplers. Most buff spells have a range of 1 and are really worth it, like Moss Body, Berserkers, Body Ethereal. Example: A group of Elephants. Flankers Flankers are defined by a lot of Action points, enabling them to run toward the rear of the enemy troops and wreck havoc. Example: Jade Amazons (mounted, light lance) Recruited units Regular troops refer to the national and independent troops that can be recruited from the provinces. Regular troops have a purchase cost of resources and money and an upkeep cost. Pros of regular troops * Do not require magic at all * Essential for the early portion of the game * Sometimes provide weapons that summons don't have
* Significantly weaker than summons in later portion of the game * Regular troops eat supplies and require upkeep money
* Provide a wide amount of abilities. * Often have skills normal troops don't have. Summons can fill some roles your troops can. Death and Nature magic have easy access to expendable "meat wall" summons such as Vinemen and Soulless, Elemental magics offer access to the unique Elemental Kings and Elemental Queens while Blood magic has strong and affordable summons. Often the summons have useful abilities and resistances. One caveat is that not all summons are friendly. Pay attention to the spell descriptions if you wish to know which ones might have their own agenda. National summons Just as there are national troops there are summons which can only be researched by certain nations. These summons show up with blue text in the research tree. National units National troops are units that are nation-specific and can only be recruited by that nation in their fortresses. If an enemy nation captures the fortress the enemy nation's build roster replaces the build roster of the nation that had the fort. National units given by starting magic sites cannot be recruited by nation that conquered the other nation. Independent units Independent, or indie, troops are troops that are recruited from independent provinces. The type of troops you can recruit is determined by the poptype of the province. Unit attributes Every individual unit has a set of attributes. The attributes are used in battle to decide if an enemy is hit, damaged, dead or routing. Hit points The amount of damage that a unit can withstand. If the number reaches zero in a battle, the unit will die. A 'standard' human soldier has 10 hit points. As each turn is a month, most units will fully recover at the end of every turn. Notable exceptions include unit types which never heal, such as certain brittle units; and diseased units, which instead lose hit points every month and in addition have a chance of gaining afflictions. Most units will not heal during battle, however; regenerating units will, as well as units healed by magic, or units healing themselves by draining life from others. Prophets and pretenders should beware enemy dominions, as this reduces their hit points as well as other statistics depending on the dominion strength. Conversely, they receive advantages within their own dominion. Protection The thickness of any armor worn by the unit. Natural armor such as scaly skin is also accounted for. The protection subtracts from the strength and weapon damage when calculating effective damage on a target. High levels of natural armor do not stack completely with additional armor; the resulting protection can be less than the sum. Protection is halved against armor-piercing damage, such as the flames of flaming weapons; protection is ignored by armor-negating damage. Lightning damage is perhaps the most common example of the latter. Morale The courage and valor of soldiers. Every time something demoralizing happens morale is checked. Every time a member of a squad dies all other members of the squad check morale and every time an individual is damaged he checks his morale. Failed morale checks result in squad morale reductions. The squad morale reduction relative the size of the squad generates a rout chance. In the beginning of a battle turn all squads with a squad morale reduction makes a rout check based on the average morale of the squad. Failure means the squad routs from the battle field. Some units are unbreakable -- in particular, units which have gone berserk, and units which are mindless. These correspond to morale values of 99 and 50, respectively. Magic resistance Some spells can be resisted and avoided by targets with an iron will. Powerful mages reduces the chances of resisting the spell they cast. A standard human soldier has a magic resistance of 10; few units will have magic resistances of 15 or greater. Encumbrance Fatigue increases with the encumbrance value by each attack in melee. Casting spells has its own, usual higher encumbrance value. Units get defense penalties with increasing Fatigue. At a Fatigue value above 100 the unit becomes unconscious and cannot do any action until Fatigue value is under 100 again. While unconscious the unit looses some Fatigue each combat round. Fatigue values over 200 result in lost hit-points. This is especially important for Dominion slaves. Items with high Reinvigoration values or certain spells like Relief help to counter Fatigue effects. Low Encumbrance is extreme important for spellcasters and Super-Combatants (SC). Strength The physical might of a unit. A high value indicates that the unit can damage even heavily protected troops. The strength is added to the weapon damage when calculating damage. Attack skill The combat skill of a unit. The weapon attack bonus is added to this value when attacking. If the value is above the defending units defense the strike is a hit. Defense skill The defensive combat skill of a unit. This value must be exceeded by the attack value of incoming attacks for the attack to take effect. Defense doesn¿t protect you from missile weapons or spells. Precision The targeting skill of the unit. Precision is only used when firing missile weapons or casting battle spells. With a higher value your arrows tend to hit near their intended target. Movement The movement limit each turn of a unit. It is separated into strategic map movement and into an tactical battlefield movement value. A value of 0/10 means that the unit is unable to leave her home province. However she can move 10 Fields each combat turn on the battlefield. Fatigue A unit normally starts battle ready to go with zero fatigue -- but this seldom lasts. Most living units fatigue when making melee attacks -- the more attacks, the more fatigue. Heat or cold beyond what the unit is used to increases this. Casting spells can also be extremely tiring. There are other causes of fatigue as well; for instance, there are units which are surrounded by such a chilling wind that they drain the energy of most non-cold-immune units around them. A tired unit is easier to hit; in addition, it is also easier to take advantages of any weaknesses in the unit's armor, reducing their effective protection for such a lucky strike. At 100 fatigue, a unit falls unconscious; at 200 fatigue, additional fatigue causes hit point damage. Fatigue is normally only removed at the end of the battle. Download 5.74 Mb. Share with your friends:
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