Dominons general /domg/

TAKE TURNS Edition

Dominions is a fantasy turn-based war game created by two dudes. One of them is a teacher.
The game combines a simple presentation with an extremely wide array of strategic options, including over 3000 units, 900 spells and 400 magic items. Turns are resolved simultaneously, with players planning battles rather than directly controlling them.
It has simplistic graphics but is easily moddable and extremely deep.
Basically, it's an autist’s wet dream of a war game.

>Steamgroup
steamcommunity.com/groups/vanheimageofvidya

>Group chatroom
steam://friends/joinchat/103582791434709795

>Our pastebin
pastebin.com/qaccWnMt

>Drawfaggotry
dominionsdraws.imgur.com/

>DOMINIONS 5 IS OUT.

>Where do I get it?
Currently only available on Steam.
store.steampowered.com/app/722060/Dominions_5__Warriors_of_the_Faith/

>Manual
Read it.
illwinter.com/dom5/dom5manual.pdf
illwinter.com/dom5/dom5tables.pdf

>Mod inspector
Coming sooner or later.
larzm42.github.io/dom5inspector/

>Multiplayer guide
The best way to learn how to play is to get stomped.
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1212948582

>Debug mod
For testing stuff.
dropbox.com/s/gc9io6paebo4pj3/Debug_501.zip?dl=0

>How do I change the fonts?
Replace guifont.ttf, guifont_fancy.ttf and guifont_texty.ttf in the game folder (C:\Steam\steamapps\common\Dominions5\data usually).

>Completed games
Submit them here:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeuclmaCiRo8vcTztsKjPJxnBgRDE-E1uNvE5j0x5wDZMMhRA/viewform
Results:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OxILAa3Y_O7Vk2NFhKAAQfStHqh1WJXMkGCim9sQ_ns/edit#gid=1292233344

>OP pastebin
Just copypaste it and link the previous thread below.
pastebin.com/RbFWcFcU

>Previous Pantokrator:

Other urls found in this thread:

llamaserver.net/gameinfo.cgi?game=LAsports
desura.com/games/dominions-4-thrones-of-ascensions/forum/thread/primer-pretender-design
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

I love ichtyids!

New turn is in best of luck to you all.

>when the most respectable of your descendants are the ones who worship big clumsy pink amphibian cyclops who survived solely by virtue of becoming best friends with every other (much more capable) subterranean denizen
man, Ulm really went down the shitter

Reminder that Lemuria doesn't need to be removed and smells really nice.

...

>t. Lemuria in the process of getting removed

Fuck me sideways, that's even better!

And yeah, I know Abyssia is mentioned to get into fights with Hinnom, but I meant it never splinters into multiple factions the way real nations under pressure tend to... Then I remembered the at LA nation where they team up with Caelum and make some trippy fire/ice nation that gives me a confused boner.

Come to think of it, the Jewgiants stay fairly homogeneous as well and seems to be slowly fading away as time goes on... Having read their units lore out of curiosity, I have to say they thoroughly deserve to slowly die out along with Abyssia.

Thinking on it though, the Late Age is a fairly bleak place... The magic is vanishing and what remains seems to involve far more blood and death magic than in earlier eras... Most nations have fallen to invaders or internal corruption and the few remaining righteous ones or ones that look like they might have a bright future, like Jomon and Man are either weak already or losing their great advantages they held in earlier ages. It's kind of depressing honestly; I'd love to see some nations truly resurgent in the Late Age, rather than just making do; or at least a nation or two that offers a more optimistic end of things. Jomon would be a good candidate, having emerged from centuries or even millennia of slavery to demons, monsters and evil sorcerers, but their hidebound and isolationist caste system (plus the fact their nation is kind of shit) stops them from really having a bright future. Patala seems to be on the up and up after a period of stagnation, but the apes are enslaved again so who knows how that will go.

>Ti'en Ch'i has sacred units called Red Guards
why are Illwinter such absolute madmen?

>recruiting sacred mages requires a temple, a lab, AND a fort
Jesus fucking christ.

hey thanks for the new thinking face reaction image man

Jewgiants sort of worked in reverse, in that at the height of their power in EA they inspired a splinter nation of rapefugee sailors and Machakans to take up blood magic and worship their sorcerer-kings. In every age since they've just dwindled within their own faction, which makes sense. The giant-worship has played out and they maintain control by force. They're not as cool as they used to be, and no one willfully tolerates them because they eat anyone they can fit in their mouths.

but muh halved upkeep

Oh wait yeah, they DID inspire changes in other nations!

So that leaves what, only Jomon as the isolationist faction that doesn't really interact with others? They apparently GOT mildly influenced by Tien'chi before they got Khan'd, but for the most part, they hole up in their homeland and just try to deal with their own problems, only really getting a chance to rule their own destiny once most of the magic and therefore, ability to do awesome things, has vanished from the world...

Anyway, I'm off to bed now. I'll update you on the art situation once I'm awake and in contact with the artist again tomorrow.

Seriously, the concept is good, but that name... The absolute madmen.

Are there external sources (or at least summaries) of Dominions lore, or is it all interpreting unit descriptions? I've absorbed a fair bit of it already but it's exhausting to fish through every unit description for relevant tidbits.
Yeah, the demons and goblins ages were pretty self-contained, but LA nips have some connections. Their shrimp/shark soldiers, crab commanders and fantastic shapeshifting dragon mages are a UW faction teamed up with them for the whole R'lyeh crisis, which is the main event for every UW race by LA.

Arco is very much resurgent and retains its traditional advantage of dropping flaming rocks on everything with uncanny precision.

my favourite part of the cross-faction interchanges is when LA Marignon gets all of the Mesoamerican pretenders because of the conquistadors

not host, but we need two more here for a big LA game:
llamaserver.net/gameinfo.cgi?game=LAsports
I want it to start before people forget they signed up and stale turn one :'^)

So is spamming temples all over the best way to spread your dominion?

Dream seduction makes it sound like it has a check of 14 before the actual check of 10 or whatever, is that what it is?

Temples are destroyed when a province is lost, so don't build them without a fort. Assigning priests to preach nearby also works.

Of course. But it's also pretty vulnerable to attack.

Anyone know if the MR check blessing affects blood vengeance?

Yes especially when combined with blood sacrificing in those temples. Preaching isn't as effective since it has a limit and won't spill over into adjacent provinces.

yes in general, but stealthy preaching (with a priest level of 2 or higher ideally) is the best way to exceed your borders

>you can get twist fate from bless with incarnation
>or you can get 3 MR and magic weapons without incarnation
Is it accurate to say that pretty much all the physical damage reduction blesses seem pretty overcosted?

How I make a decent god?
And whats a good starter race in every era?

no
early game value vs late game value

There are a few nations you shouldn't start with (MA Ermor) but most of them are perfectly fine for starting out. The ones that really clicked for me were EA TNN and MA C'tis.

desura.com/games/dominions-4-thrones-of-ascensions/forum/thread/primer-pretender-design is a decent rundown on how to think about pretender design but it's for Dominions 4 so just ignore the numbers and the Awake SC checklist.

how to stop my mages from nuking my own troops as they pursue a retreating enemy?
I don't know if it's just me but it seems that friendly fire is a bigger threat now due to the realtime combat
literally watching in horror as a fireball makes its way across the field and my troops move right in to where it was aimed

Play EA Elves (Tir na Nog, Vanheim or Helheim, maybe Fomoria as well) to get started

Try out MA Ulm too, maybe Niefelheim
Those are babbys first Dominions factions

EA Agartha is good to try out once you have a grasp on the most basic basics because they suck in a direct confrontation if you dont know what you're doing but they're still a top tier nation for people who do (and they're not insane learning curve either, just not completely brainded)

I think it might actually be better now (but still bad). I remember my infantry being blown apart by my own crossbows much harder in Dom4.

>cavalry running right at your units
>they throw a mass of javelins
>said javelins go right past the cavalry and land behind them
Fuck these shitty meme weapons. They literally never hit anything.

javelins are fine and even work pretty well at breaking up low protection groups, it's just that the way projectiles hit has changed and mounted units are much harder to hit

I'd like it if there was a direct fire/arc fire trait taken into account though

Jomon also feels the influence of R'lyeh but resists it because the shrimp men have void sanity.

this gets posted fairly often, ought to be updated maybe

And the crab generals waged war on Pelagia.

Between minor buffs like this and super cheap/imprisoned-friendly blood surge pretty much guaranteeing first hit activation on lance cav, I think they warrant a lot more use. The stigma may persist for a lot of people, but most cav only have slightly above average (11-14) strength and fairly above average attack (12-15), so the +3 attack and +3 strength both pretty much guarantees hits and makes them significantly more likely to land and land hard, multiplied across the 2-3 attacks of most cav. They'll get it instantly and most of them will chain it out, all for only 4 points.
Most of the sacred cav was also discounted by at least 5g.

I expect Blood Surge will get nerfed at some point. The comparison with Berserker for example is completely absurd.
>easier condition for high-quality units to fulfill
>more stats
>makes your sacred mages better rather than useless
>cost one less point, in a more useful tree, and doesn't even require incarnation

Ragha seems like a pretty good place. It has rather vicious human-bred Abysians who practice human sacrifices team up with a more mild faction of Caelians and build a rather stable nation where none of the 2 nationalities is oppressed.

llamaserver.net/gameinfo.cgi?game=LAsports

didn't MA Caelum also wipe out Nazca preventing them from surviving to LA?

I like that Yomi/Shinuyama/Jomon are successor states following the ancient asian tradition of killing then talking shit endlessly about the previous dynasty

One of the easiest nations to start with is probably Ys. Your troops are perfectly good both on land and underwater so you don't need to change strategies to expand in either direction, your sacreds are already great without a bless and amazing with a good bless, set a few of those firebreathing ninja knights to attack rear and they will murder the backrow and rout the army by round 3 or so. Your other troops are there to hold the line mostly.

Pretender design is also pretty straightforward for Ys: a good bless such as quickness and all the positive scales you can afford since your troops and mages are expensive: prod, order and growth in order of importance, you can dump the rest as needed, at least 6 dominion so you can recruit your sacreds and a mage.
If you're taking a quickness bless you want your god dormant or awake: the latter is probably too costly and your sacreds don't really need the bless right away (actually you can expand even with your non-sacred knights at first, especially underwater), if you take a dormant god it should wake up right when things get serious.

Forgot to mention, if you're taking a quickness bless you want to get the Big Beard because it has Water 3 and Dominion 4. If you bump it Water 10 and Dominion 6 your balance is -20 awake, which saves you like 100 points over any other option.

Sacred cavalry were already worth using in dom4, since W9 made them basically untouchable in melee.

It's non-sacred cavalry which were garbage, and I'm not sure that's changed. I was expecting the movement and goldcost buffs to be larger, but they seem much the same.

If Berserker wasn't an incarnate bless it'd be worth the extra point required.

It gives perfect morale and is constantly active once triggered. It works against everything too, not just living units.

Didn't cavalry as a whole also get a big buff in the form of innate Unsurroundable?

Yes, Cavalry is very good. Wolf Riders crazy good fun now.

>go nearly two days without a turn over four games
>suddenly they all finish at once

Why are my troops doing this? This is after they all threw both javelins pretty much simultaneously.

They're all in the same squad with "hold and fire closest" command, were done holding and had advanced to throw said javelins.

>friday night
You got stuck with job/schoolfags.

>Mammaries
>C'tis and Asdod are fags who AI'd on first turns
>Marignon goes AI out of nowhere with good kingdom still going
>Ulm loses one army after his surprise attack and quits at same turn as Mari
Fuck you guys, go play singleplayer if you can't handle taking turns

>Asphodel still fighting with provinces lost and forts under siege

It's because of the stupid "Dominions isn't a single-player game" meme that people are going into multi when they're not equipped for it.

>innate Unsurroundable
That's the first I've heard of this.

How much do they get, and does it replace the reduced defense reduction they got for successive attacks?

How worried do I have to be about Indie Grypons flying to the back and one-shotting my commander? Should I put my entire army on bodyguard duty?

hey, at least you didn't get subbed out turn 1 for having a job

they're holding

Why are some of them holding when 3/10 from the squad just ran right in?

fire is "advance to firing distance, deplete ammunition, then engage"
hold and fire is "advance to firing distance, deplete ammunition, do not engage"

shit happens, AI is weird

I should had asked from admin how long you had been away, before grabbing your nation, sorry mate.

Mounted units get half the harrased penalty (-1 per attack instead of -2)

>this is on top of innate +3 defence for mounted

does this mean helhirdings are good?

Less than eight hours, I sent in my pretender before leaving.
But with an admin like that, I can't be surprised that the game's crashing and burning. Sorry about handing you a shitty meme, by the way. Hope you caught what it is.

In Dom5, bodyguards are required for commanders that matter. Attack rear and assassins got buffed. When designing blessings, you really need to consider how it will help protect your commanders as well.

That isn't unsurroundable (and it was in dom4 for a long time too, it's not a new buff in dom5).

If I'm reading the description correctly, unsurroundable gives you zero defense penalty for a set number of attacks.

It's not new in dom5. I do think the movement changes will be a nice buff to them, as they have enough movement points to act somewhat like a flying unit.

Bodyguards got buffed as well though so thats nice.

>tfw you use the mooks effectively

I still have no idea what you were planning to do as dormant gods are yet to awake. Although good scales have helped a lot with land grabs so far.

i'm a bit of a noob, i played like 10 games in singleplayer with good results. should i keep doing that for a while, or is it better to get my ass blasted on multiplayer to learn?

What in the FUCK do I do with Kailasa's sacred summons?

Also: how do I survive to be able to summon them in the first place?

Multiplayer, don't worry much, it's full of chumps who switch to AI the second they encounter a setback, and the AI just might turn out to be more competent than them.

why the fuck isn't it called "fire and hold" then? instead it sounds like "wait until the enemy gets closer and fire", especially considering hold and attack

Marignon, you got 2 seconds to explain why you staled on turn 5

Looking for a Marignon sub, ask for DawnOfJUST admin on /v/anheim

If you can capture about 10 provinces in the first year with a given pretender/nation combo, then you're ready to take that build into multiplayer and get your ass kicked. That's the only way to learn how to play against humans.

There's not a lot you can pick up in singleplayer. 10 games is more than enough, unless normal AI is still kicking your ass.

Before you join multiplayer, consider posting a few nations you're interested in and asking for advice, especially around pretender creation and expansion. Then try to do in singleplayer, modify your pretender a bit or ask for further advice if you're finding that difficult.

Obviously don't immediately join a game with that nation unless you want everyone to know your pretender build, but a few days gap should be enough.

Luck is pure fucking garbage holy shit.

t. Misfortune 3 IRL

How long do people usually take to get their first fort down?

You usually want to start it before the first winter.

i usually use marignon with the red dragon as a pretender god, he can easily take down most of the independent provinces by himself but i usually set up a couple of quick armies made by crossbowmen and pikes.
This is a great strategy against an AI but somehow i feel i would get my ass kicked in a multiplayer, lol.

I'm still looking for someone to set EA_Games Ulm to AI due to chainstaling.

I just got back into Dom and I only ever played 3
Can I just play 4 or should I get used to 4 and move to 5?

That actually a pretty good plan, assuming you take the dragon awake.

What are you planning to research?

Just play 5.

What if I'm broke

Do people use the ruseman magic items that manipulate perceived army size?

yeah sure, i use him awakened, and boost resources, dominion and fire magic.
I'm not very expert on that field, but i usually research evocation.

Only if I get them for free from an event or something.

They're situationally useful, but they only last one battle at best because as soon as you fight even 1PD the enemy will have a detailed battle report anyway.

crack it and put some money on the side, then buy it

how to deal with war elephants?

I dunno then.

4 is going to be basically singleplayer-only now that 5 is out, unless you know of some place starting dom4 games or have some friends who'll play it with you. If you're fine with that, go for it.

I heard there's a pirate version of dom5 floating about, haven't checked if it's legit. If you're going to play singleplayer, you could do it on that instead of dom4.

>boost resources, dominion and fire magic.
Consider taking heat scales in order to pick up some growth scales.

How much dominion are you taking? 6-7 points is probably enough.

How much fire magic are you taking on your pretender? More than 6 points is probably overkill, unless you have a specific bless you want. Awe might be worth taking as a bless to improve your pretender's expansion.

>i usually research evocation
For fireball, right?

Consider conjuration (fire elementals, phoenix power) and enchantment (flaming arrows for your xbows) as other goals to grab.

Elementals burn a lot of fire gems, but they are by far the nastiest earlygame option you can get.

Flaming Arrows makes all your archers 2x as lethal. It's really good, and you just need a single mage per army to cast it.