So since Dom 3 is being discussed

[Red_Rob]

Acceptable criticism.

You can download the manual from that link above, and print out the tutorial, but that is a weak defence. I myself had it on my laptop which i placed next to the desktop.

I guess they thought that making you have the manual in front of you which you only got by buying the game would cut piracy? Well, this is why people say Dominions is hard to get into

[Kaelik]

Acceptable criticism.

You can download the manual from that link above, and print out the tutorial, but that is a weak defence. I myself had it on my laptop which i placed next to the desktop.

I guess they thought that making you have the manual in front of you which you only got by buying the game would cut piracy? Well, this is why people say Dominions is hard to get into

FYI, It must be an anti-piracy measure, because there is no fucking excuse for the fact that Alt Tabbing out of Dominions 3 results in all the menus becoming transparently invisible when you return. Thus making alt tabbing back and forth also impossible.

EDIT: The tutorial doesn't tell you how to change which school you are researching in. It does tell you that you should be researching Alteration.

I am researching Evocation, and have no way to change this.

I want to murder whomever made this game. I might actually be a better version of Heroes 5, but I'll never find out at this rate, because fuck you.

[Username17]

I run Dominions 3 Windowed rather than fullscreen. This does not have the problems cause by any alt-tab bugs and I can go back and forth to things however I want. I have a Dominions 3 Window open right now while I am posting.

Edit: Changing research tech priorities works exactly the same as Master of Orion 1. You have boxes that represent your priorities in each field, you can click in the boxes to set priorities, sending research to other boxes you are using (if you decrease emphasis) or pulling research out of other boxes you are using (if you increase emphasis).

-Username17

[Red_Rob]

Kaelik, calm down, deep breaths.

Okay?

Tutorial, page 11:

"We could, if we wanted, do research in a different school this turn. We could even split up our points between schools. Try that now - move the sliders between shools and see how that works. Click on the "Evocation" slider directly below Alteration. See how the research points get readjusted? When you're done with this make sure all the points are back in Alteration before you exit this screen as thats the school that has the first spells we want."

[Kaelik]

Kaelik, calm down, deep breaths.

Okay?

Tutorial, page 11:

"We could, if we wanted, do research in a different school this turn. We could even split up our points between schools. Try that now - move the sliders between shools and see how that works. Click on the "Evocation" slider directly below Alteration. See how the research points get readjusted? When you're done with this make sure all the points are back in Alteration before you exit this screen as thats the school that has the first spells we want."

Yes, two turns later, But since on turn one, I was researching evocation default... it's a bitch, I figured it out, mostly by accident because, oh yeah, by the way, the cursor is actually a quarter inch up of whereever the mouse pointer is on screen.

Fuck you alt tab. Thanks for the windowed advice.

[Username17]

Kaelik, calm down, deep breaths.

Okay?

Tutorial, page 11:

"We could, if we wanted, do research in a different school this turn. We could even split up our points between schools. Try that now - move the sliders between shools and see how that works. Click on the "Evocation" slider directly below Alteration. See how the research points get readjusted? When you're done with this make sure all the points are back in Alteration before you exit this screen as thats the school that has the first spells we want."

Yes, two turns later, But since on turn one, I was researching evocation default... it's a bitch, I figured it out, mostly by accident because, oh yeah, by the way, the cursor is actually a quarter inch up of whereever the mouse pointer is on screen.

Fuck you alt tab. Thanks for the windowed advice.

The cursor bug is a thing that happens on some machines. Resize the window. It doesn't matter what you resize it to or if you resize it back afterwards, just the act of giving it a window size instruction rather than relying upon the defaults puts the cursor effect where the mouse is.

I've heard it has something to do with having the pixels on your monitor not match the pixels setting on the game, but since the spot fix is "click and hold for half a second on any of the corners of the the window when you boot up the game" I have never really given it much investigation.

-Username17

[Kaelik]

Nah Frank, it's good, the cursor problem was only there when it wasn't windowed. When it's windowed, problems are solved.

[Kaelik]

Okay, how do I separate commanders that have been linked together?

I can't make my Druids stay and research while my commanders leave, because clicking on one always means clicking on the others. How do I stop that?

[name_here]

Shift-click to remove one from the linkage.

[Akula]

Is there anywhere I can see a simple rundown of the factions? I don't need strategy guides or anything, just an idea of what each of their deals is, and maybe whether or not they're considered playable. (The official forums do not seem to provide this. )

I can start a list. But if you want to know what works in single player, the answer is "anything" because the AI is seriously that stupid. Abbysia is an awesome SP race (because the AI will never, ever, discover a way to siege a fort that gets past massed evocation and a few blockers) in EA and it isn't close to an EA powerhouse in MP. This thread shows how many wins have been reported for various nations in MP.

EA:
Arcoscephale: Cheap researchers and some fairly nice units for a human nation provide tension between sloth and productivity scales. Lots of awesome in the capital, and a good non capital mage in the Mystic. Great communion potential there. Wind lords are the only recruitable thugs you have and they compete with the better in every way Oriead. You really want an awake SC for expansion, but you can do pretty well in the mid game on the backs of nice mages. Weak access to astral and no access to death mean that time is not on your side. If you cannot secure a lead in the midgame, you will lose. RATING: Playable, but not a powerhouse.

Ermor: (I have never played this faction and as such don't know much about this nation.) national troops are good blockers and auger elders are good mages. You could probably get away with a sleeping SC that provides some magic diversity. Nice access to death and fire, some astral. RATING: Playable.

Ulm: Much better than MA Ulm. Some nice magic diversity on your smiths and shamans and good E and N on your cap only mages. Nice sacred for humans, but cap only so if you go for a bless it has to be one that helps commanders too. You can do a lot of forging and thuggin' if you play your cards right, pretend might want S4+ for more MR and RoS/RoW. Low MR is the sticking point for me. But this is a decent nation. RATING: Upper third.

Marverni: Druids are awesome and forts are cheap. Troops are buffable if you can get into the mid to late game. Most of your lineup die like flies but pack a punch so you might be able to scare off rushers. Druids are awesome if you can ramp up but only if you can ramp up. RATING: Lower third.

Sauromatia: Winningest EA nation. Great mages, best archers in the age where archery is the most effective, recruitable thugs, blood magic, HYDRAS, and good cavalry. Exceedingly strong nation, but also not at the top of most peoples threat radar, as there is generally one nation more fearsome right now until late game. RATING: Top Five.

T'ien Ch'i: Great magic diversity, strong archers, good EA troops. Frank wrote a guide that outlines how they can get any magic you really need. Flexibility on pretender as you don't need any role filled. Somewhat difficult to play though. RATING: Top third. Especially strong if unmolested.

Mictlan: One of two strongest blood nations in the EA, powerful sacreds, hosts of sacred national summons. Strong in all phases of the game. RATING: Top Five. Or very close to it.

Abbysia: Weak access to a few paths that are not fire. Strong fire magic. Nice infantry in the EA, strong sacred that is cap only. Slow infantry and crappy magic diversity start to hurt pretty early unfortunately. Strong early and then pathetically weak. Might be able to win with a powerful pretender mage that could site search for many paths if they secured a large empire and a period of peace in which to research Construction and Conjuration. RATING: Weak, but really, really strong early game.

I probably got stuff wrong, but this is a start on one age. I may finish later.

[Username17]

Okay, how do I separate commanders that have been linked together?

I can't make my Druids stay and research while my commanders leave, because clicking on one always means clicking on the others. How do I stop that?

It's just like linking files in Windows. CTRL-Click adds or subtracts one commander from a group, SHIFT-Click adds or subtracts all of the commanders between the last selected commander and the commander you just clicked on. In an unrelated issue, if you click CTRL-Click to move instead of just regular clicking, all your commanders will move rather than sneaking if they have that option. So you can use that to make large scale attacks without accidentally leaving stealthy troops out of the battle by forgetting to take them off of the stealth missions they default to.

Is there anywhere I can see a simple rundown of the factions?

I'm down for that. I'll start with the Middle Era because it is by far the most balanced and sanest of the eras.

• Arcocephale Lame. You get some heavy infantry, some fragile tramplers, and some decentish low-end battle mages. Your troops suck and while you have Astral magic and Water and Nature, you can't Clam because the Nature casters don't get any Water. You're like Greeks and shit, but all the cool Greek stuff goes to other eras, Pangaea, or most insultingly of all: simply handed out to everyone as generic spells.
• Ermor You get awesome Roman Legionaries and all your priests can make Undead. Your best units are all old, so despite being 90% undead by weight, you are a growth nation. Very powerful late game with great Astral and Death magics and an army recruitment plan that looks like a pyramid scheme. Rome meets Zombie Apocalypse.
• Pythium You have Legionaries, so your basic troops are pretty hard core. You also get hydras, which is more "interesting" than "useful". You are hands down the best Communion faction in the game, so your late game is based on AMAZING battle magics. Byzantium themed.
• Man Mediocre casters and a lack of impressive fantastic troops make Man an often overlooked power. They get troops that are mostly simply severe upgrades of normal independent troops, so I suggest using Man to learn the game. While much can be said in favor of all your troops, the important stuff is your Longbowmen and Unicorn Riders. Both of those are upgrades of indie units that are independently very very good, so you'll end up using mostly them. Irish themed.
• Ulm Heavy Armor, Low Magic Resistance, Lives in a Drain Dominion, Forge Bonus, Slow as Fuck. Ulm is just altogether a shitty faction. Their armor is actually heavy enough that they pass out in battle and get rolled over by Markatas. It's embarrassing. Also: your casters suck balls (your randoms have a very small chance of happening), so even though you have a Forge Bonus you still suck ass. Probably the weakest faction in MA (unless it is Arco). Vaguely German.
• Marignon You get fire and astral mages and fanatics. While you are generally short of shields, you have cheap crossbowmen and high morale dudes with medium armor and greatswords. Also you get cheap-as-dirt sacred troops and sacred heavy cav and a long list of powerful summonable angels. Does very well as a bless nation or as a meat grinder archery nation. French themed.
• Mictlan You don't get blood hunting in this era. But you still get face eating Aztec sacred troops and a fairly impressive bless rush on top of it. Obsidian swords, copper axes, thrown rocks, sharpened sticks. And people who get regeneration blesses and then turn into fucking jaguar men who will kill you in the face. Aztec Themed, this time with recruitable Couatls instead of blood sacrifice.
• Tien Chi The Imperial Bureacracy is the worst iteration of Dominions China. You get a whole bunch of variants of Chinese imperial troops instead of having better casters. It's a bad trade, since the main draw of the faction is and always will be the large armies of composite bowmen and lightly armored guys with glaives or shields who show up in every era.
• Machaka African guys who turn into and ride giant spiders. Kin of missing a late game.
• Agartha The last of the cave dwelling cyclopses are dying out an golem worshiping humans are taking their place. The bad news is that your native stuff kind of sucks. The good news is that you get a fuck tonne of money and can use a lot of indies.
• Abysia Probably the best of the Abysias. You get fire casters, but the real draw is your incredibly powerful Blood/Astral ritualists. You are short lived but incredibly tough lava men. Vaguely Sumerian in some ways, but outfitted with bulky metal armor.
• Caelum All your stuff flies and you have incredibly powerful Air and Water casters. Horrendously effective raiding forces and magicians. Zoroastrian in thematics. Heavy cold for your ice crafting angel winged people.
• C'tis Your dominion generates extra money and causes Diseases very slowly in non-lizard people. Your people are tough but cowardly and often rather naked. Also cold blooded. Your swamp master casters are pretty decent for a build-everywhere guy. Possibly the best C'tis.
• Pangaea All the cool stuff about being Greek. Pans, Minotaurs, Satyrs, and so on. You are a pyramid scheme involving generating larger and larger piles of free forest stuff to act alongside your powerful but overpriced troops. In the late game, you'll have armies with thousands of freespawn.

-Username17

[name_here]

I was going to post my own list, but then Frank ninja'd me, so I'll fill in the holes in his.

R'leyh: You've got Mind Flayers (seriously) who count as magic beings and can stun people from any range underwater or on land. Your troops are shittier versions of the other water nations, except meteorite guards, who are very well armored. Also, you have some mindless atlantians to stand between the enemy and your mind flayers. Death, astral, water, plus some nature and earth on mermen casters, who also get water and have feet on the surface. Also, void gate monsters variously suck or rock. Mostly you get shit and mages die, but sometimes you get three vastnesses, which is totally worth the investment. Also, everyone worthwhile lives to 3000 and starts at about 1000.

Bandar Log: Since EA, the Bandar have discovered armor. They've lost the magical sacred recruitables, but can summon some kickass stuff with the astral all their mages get. Communions would be better if their other path was not nature. Also, while bandar longbowmen do exist, they've got percision 9 and no recruitable air mages. EDIT: It seems I totally missed the recruit anywhere sacreds. Together with the summonables largely/all being sacred, that does make a bless rush a good idea. Also, they've got sacred tiger riders at the capital.

Shinuyama: They're the various monsters from japanese mythology who aren't Oni. Also, they either suck or cost too much. The mages are pretty diverse but only go up to three in a given path without a 10% random and generally start in old age. They need an SC pretender. Also grab air for tengus, who are somewhat useful. Their national summons are pretty good, but they've got a huge problem early on.

[Orca]

About Bandar Log - their main feature is sacred infantry which you can get everywhere. Bless rushes work nicely for them.

[Akula]

Shinuyama: They're the various monsters from japanese mythology who aren't Oni. Also, they either suck or cost too much. The mages are pretty diverse but only go up to three in a given path without a 10% random and generally start in old age. They need an SC pretender. Also grab air for tengus, who are somewhat useful. Their national summons are pretty good, but they've got a huge problem early on.

I got a bone to pick with this. "Only" three levels in a path is what most people get on cap only mages. Seriously, Dai Bakemono sorcerers are so hardcore that you can justify the existence of the nation on them alone. Also, they may be old, but they are also powerful death mages which mean you get way fewer afflictions from the annual check. Your troops are not great, but you have really cheap stealthy bowmen and easy access to flaming arrows. You also have the Dai Bakemono, who are monsters in melee with a nice ranged attack. In CBM your regular troops are size 1 and can be buffed to be really nice with very little research and very few mages. Take air on your pretender to summon Dai Tengu.

[Username17]

Yeah, Shinuyama has badass ogres who use greatswords and wear heavy armor and also have Longbows for no reason. Also they have a pretty good aquatic force and one of the most powerful build-everywhere mages in the game. Shinuyama is simple, and basically runs to having armies composed of like 4 units total, but it's really very powerful.

Bandar Log will never ever purchase a fucking Tiger Rider. Those are pranks. You get build-everywhere sacred troops that are very good and awesome late game summons. It's a strong faction. Not Lanka strong, but much better than Kailasa or Patala could ever hope of being. Also of note: Kinaras have Air Magic and fly, so you can branch into Wind Guides later on. Also: Bandar medium infantry can throw rocks in addition to having maces and shitty shields.

-Username17

[Starmaker]

Are Tir na nOg any good?

[Akula]

Continuing the EA rundown.

Caelum: If you are willing to rely on a cap only commander to basically carry the whole nation, (plus pretender of course) then Caelum is pretty good. You're all about the eagle kings, which are some Zorastrian inspired celestials. Magic boils down to air, air, air, and some splashes of water, earth, and death for variety. Kinda one note, like abbysia, but that note is much better. High mobility compounded by easy air teleports makes you a raiding power even without stealth. National summons in Astral, which you get no access to by default.

C'tis: Egyptian lizards. Decent, but not great, recruit anywhere mages and strong death access are solid. But weak crosspath support and a mediocre military make for a struggle in the mid game. Lizards are poison resistant and have some inbuilt protection, but have low morale.

Pangaea: Not much different from MA, you get freespawn naked ladies in turmoil dominion and your mages are really expensive. Minotaurs can be made into anti SCs. Almost all your troops are stealthy. Weak, due to problems paying upkeep on mages with turmoil scales. This nation boils down to hoards of chaff, supported by hoards of chaff.

Agartha: Cave dwelling giants that rarely see the light of day. Pure fantasy origin. National troops are absolute shit, non cap mages are lame, cap only mages would make good evokers if only they didn't have Precision 7. This nation is pathetically weak. Umbrals are hardcore though.

Tir na n'Og: Tuatha ruling over Sidhe. Irish origin. Powerful air and nature magic, with a hint of earth and water. Recruitable anywhere thug chasis with the right bless. Glamoured and cloud trapeze capable assassins. Real raiding powerhouse.

Formoria: Misshapen and cursed giants who used to guard the land of the dead. Strong air and death magic. Some nature and water. Recruitable SC and decent sacreds. Strong nation.

Vanheim: Norse myth inspired dudes, but they don't get any of the really cool or recognizable shit. Shitty sacred troops, horribly expensive non-capital researchers. Access to air and earth is strong, but not on the same mage. Good sacred commanders and good non sacred troops. Can bloodhunt. Middling but not really all that good.

Helheim: Also norse inspired, but with sacred valkyries and cavalry. Same troop lineup as Vanheim otherwise, but get death access in exchange for a bit less earth and blood. Considered to be an EA powerhouse.

Niefelheim: Norse giant inspired nation. Giant werewolves and huge sacred frost giants define the nation. Recruitable SC in the Niefel Jarl. Strong blood access and thug in the Skratti. Magic diversity in the Gyjas. Top five EA nation, easily.

I'll finish the EA tomorrow. But feel free to set me straight if I fucked up.

[Akula]

Are Tir na nOg any good?

They have decent troops that make for a reliable expansion against indies. They have nice raiding thugs that you can recruit anywhere (they need an E9 N4-6 bless for this). Air is a strong path and nature is pretty decent. You need to fall on your neighbor like a ton of bricks with a barrage of seeking arrows, call of the winds, and cloud trapezed thugs. (outfit with a frost brand and a vine shield and script to: bless, air shield, barkskin, mistform, hold, attack or something similar) Time is not on your side with no death or astral, but you have a sick midgame and a decent early game.

[Username17]

I may as well finish the list of MA nations:

• Vanheim: Much like the early era, you have glamored thugs and overpriced air mages and dwarves who are decent earth mages. Like anyone who can field glamored thugs, you're pretty terrifying in the early game, and with the Air/Blood stuff you have a decent late game too. Very strong.
• Jotunheim: Norse Giant faction. It's not as strong as Niefelheim because you replace the world crushing frost giants with goblins. But you still have your "normal" Norse Giants and you're still a major power.
• Bandar Log: You get all the spells of Kailasa and Lanka. But you get very powerful Astral casters and your only national blood mage is a national hero who probably won't show up. Responds very well to an E9/N6 bless. Your army will be composed mostly of White Ones and Bandar armed with mace/shield/poop or mace/longbow. Think of them as infantry who happen to be able to attack from the back rank, an use White Ones and summoned units for your actual front.
• Shinuyama: All Bakemono all the time. And what I really mean is all Dai-Bakemono Samurai Archers all the time. You use the O-Bakemono and the scrub short bowmen for some things, but by and large your entire army is made of elite ogres in medium armor who use giant weapons and also have longbows. You also have a good researcher in the Bakemono shaman guy and a crushingly good spellcaster in the Dai Bakemono Sorcerer. One dimensional, but that one dimension is very powerful and versatile. Japanese.
• Ashdod: Philistine Cannibal Giants return for the middle era! Like every era of this nation, it's incredibly powerful. Strong basic troops, super combatants out the ass, and a good spread of magic. Ashdod is one of the most overrated factions in Dominions. It's crazy good, but a shocking number of people think it cannot be beaten, which is not true.
• Atlantis: You start under the fucking sea, so no one can really do anything to you. You have expensive casters but they are tough-as-nails giant frogs who get a special double linked random so that they are diverse and still all good at their jobs - and have a very high chance of coming out with the incredibly brutal (in the late game) Water 5. A lack of archery and a time delay on getting your evocations working (since they are water based and don't do good things before Evocation 4) can give them a slow start, but they start under the fucking sea, so a slow start is OK. In the late game, they have tough national troops and astoundingly powerful mages.
• R'lyeh: You are HP Lovecraft stuff. Yes, including mindflayers from D&D (who are HP Lovecraft Starspawn). You can throw Astral mages into the Void Gate. Sometimes the void gate eats your men, sometimes you get free sacred troops. It's weird. The whole faction is weird. But pretty powerful. You are astral mages who start under water, so you have a sick late game and no one can fight you in the early game.
• Oceania: The worst of the underwater nations. You are Water/Nature mages, which you'd think would make you excellent clamers, but between the fact that all your troops and mages get weaker when you go to the surface and the fact that you don't natively get good astral mages, it all comes down to being a weak faction.
• Eriu: You're mostly Man, except instead of getting improved versions of basic troops, you get not improved versions. Also you can get Firbolg troops in addition to human troops. Firbolg is Irish for "costs too much and refuses to wear armor". You still get some of the Tuatha thugs that Tir na nOg gets, but all told you end up being super weak.

-Username17

[Akula]

What makes Vanheim so good in MA? I know they have Helheim's awesome sacred units, and I know that air and blood are nice paths; I still have trouble seeing how they make the late game with crappy non capital researchers. Generally compounded by the bless that they take for those nice sacreds, which means no awake research pretender, and losing research to send out at least one priest to lead them. (or wasting a turn to buy a temple in the first province they come to that has indie priests)

[Username17]

What makes Vanheim so good in MA? I know they have Helheim's awesome sacred units, and I know that air and blood are nice paths; I still have trouble seeing how they make the late game with crappy non capital researchers. Generally compounded by the bless that they take for those nice sacreds, which means no awake research pretender, and losing research to send out at least one priest to lead them. (or wasting a turn to buy a temple in the first province they come to that has indie priests)

Vanheim win all the time in every era. Skinshifters are so good that you can just have a slow research start.

-Username17

[Orion]

Just got owned by a bunch of independent "devils." Is massing indy priests to banish them a reasonable response? Will bodyguarding my priests with infantry keep the devils off them? What do devils do, anyway?

[Username17]

Just got owned by a bunch of independent "devils." Is massing indy priests to banish them a reasonable response? Will bodyguarding my priests with infantry keep the devils off them? What do devils do, anyway?

OK, if you see a "Devil" province, either jump it in the first few turns or avoid it like a fucking plague forever (or Assassinate the leaders).

Here's the deal: there is a magic item that is a contract for devil assistance. You put it on someone and they generate one Devil every turn, but also get a horror mark and eventually get eaten. That magic item costs like 65 blood slaves and is totally worth it (even though it is a "contract" item and its cost is not reduced by forge bonuses). However, it very rarely shows up in the random equipment of bullshit neutral mages like druids, amazons, or whatever. And that means two things:

• That province has an incredibly powerful and expensive magic item in it that you could potentially gain if you managed to kill the contract owner before he escaped.
• That province has been making a Devil every single turn since turn one. So if it's Summer in Year 3, there are 30 fucking Devils in there.

Devils themselves are a blood summon that are individually low-end thugs. Good stats, 35 hit points, heat aura, flies, has a magic resistance of fucking 17. Any one of them is roughly equivalent to like a Bane or Wood Golem in terms of overall ass kicking, so if you see an indie province with more than a dozen of them it is totally not worth fighting.

-Username17

[name_here]

So, after reading the praise of Vanhiem, I decided to give their MA version a try. I started two provinces from Ulm. It turns out ulmish plate is mildly resistant to greatswords, but I might be able to work something out. I did take out their field forces with the skinshifter swarm, but the PD in the capital is kind of a problem.

EDIT: I've gotten up to evocation 2, then focused on construction. My research has been... less than optimal and my pretender choice was poor, so it'll take a few turns to get together serious zapping power.

[Akula]

Compared to this CBM is a masterpiece of fully thought out and completely rational changes to gameplay.