Lab Secrets

[Borg]

Fact : we all play in our own distinctive way.
But what is that way ?
How different or how similar do we play compared to the others ?

Let's focus on Research Management as this is obviously one of the more important aspects of the game.

- Is there a certain "Research Rate" that you like to maintain throughout the game ? How many RP's are you gunning for per turn ?

- Do you sometimes interrupt that research ? For shorter or longer periods ? Or do you maintain research at all times ?

- When you forge items. Do you appoint one or several mages to forge continually or do you sometimes forge 4, 5, 6 items at the same time - so you can fully equip one of your Commanders right away ?

- Is there maybe a certain Research level where you stop researching and go on the offensive, because you can cast all the spells you're looking for ?

- Do you have special tips on research which you think other people haven't thought about or might find very usefull ?

In other words, I'd really like to hear how you approach and manage Research.

Thanks very much.

[Frosted Flake]

I tend to play nations with bad researchers (jotunheim is my favorite) so sages are a must. I am content to fall behind in research rather then spend heavily for mages. Somewhere I'll find something cheaper be it sages or witches or jade priestesses and stay close. I firmly believe a SC needs his toys so my Neifel jarl expects his wraith sword,pend of anti-magic,luck pendant,flying shoes and best armor i can afford gemwise waiting for him in the vault . As such I have a dedicted forging crew. Alas I sorely miss pre-nerf armor of the elements.

frosted flake

[Boron]

when i "stop or lower" researching depends on the enemy too if i need my mages in combat cause otherwise i would lose i stop researching .
when i have d3 available i try to replace my researchers later with spectres .
i like magic 3 scale .
question according to skull mentors :
they increase research by 9 points . do they got a bonus through magic scale 3 as well ?
and when using 2 you get +18 rp right ?

i myself love magic 3 and so i prefer spectres than using the skull mentors. iirc spectres have 7 rp but with magic 3 10 and i think magic 3 doesn't add rp's to research items so you get 1 more per spectre for the same 10 gold cost .
and i prefer stockpiling my clams on the spectres

is there somewhere a list which are most cost effective researchers ?

[Thilock_Dominus]

In the start I usually research lvl 2 Alteration and 2 Evocation before I'm attacking the first province. It take around 5 turns and meanwhile I'm building up some nice spell casters and units. The alteration to buff my casters and evocation to do some damage.

When I'm forging Items I usually take most of my spell casters home and starts massive Item building, but I share the items among my commanders where it's needed.

Most of the times I've 4 low spell casters researching all the time, so I don't get behind the other nations.

[Pickles]

Quotin Boron

"Question according to skull mentors :
they increase research by 9 points . do they got a bonus through magic scale 3 as well ?
and when using 2 you get +18 rp right ?"

No and No. A 5 rp wizard with a skull mentor or 2 (+9) is 17 in magic 3.

You could use a fire lantern if you had death & fire - Any races?


"i myself love magic 3 and so i prefer spectres than using the skull mentors. iirc spectres have 7 rp but with magic 3 10 and i think magic 3 doesn't add rp's to research items so you get 1 more per spectre for the same 10 gold cost .
and i prefer stockpiling my clams on the spectres "

That is an Ermor oddity I like using 10 death gems for Jotunheim for + 9 research instead of 250 gold for +7
Or 3 fire gems w/ Ulm for +6 (which is 30 cash anyway)

Pickles


Pickles

[Ryukenden]

Due to the fact that I've played Total War games A LOT, research seems secondary to me. However, I do try to get a good amount of research done.

I usually aim for a level in construction first, but then my research will vary according to my situation. If I'm going astral, I'll usually aim for stellar focus/arcane nexus/wish (which boosts my pretenders magic capabilities). I rarely use mages in battle (I believe in a large amount of troops, and mages usually have poor Leadership), so I keep them researching. If I can get my hands on a good Earth mage, he/she becomes my official armorer for my veteran/elite commanders.

Basically, I prefer ritual/summoning spells over battlefield spells. However, I find that my tactics change with the more experience I get in Dominions II (I'm still learning many things).

Edit: Erased "Overall Style" section

[ July 25, 2004, 23:05: Message edited by: Ryukenden ]

[Cainehill]

Originally posted by Boron:

question according to skull mentors :
they increase research by 9 points . do they got a bonus through magic scale 3 as well ?

No - the research items add their value to the researcher. The magic scale also adds to the researcher separately. A research 4 mage with a skull mentor in magic 3 scale gets 4+9+3 = 16.

i myself love magic 3 and so i prefer spectres than using the skull mentors. iirc spectres have 7 rp but with magic 3 10 and i think magic 3 doesn't add rp's to research items so you get 1 more per spectre for the same 10 gold cost .
and i prefer stockpiling my clams on the spectres

is there somewhere a list which are most cost effective researchers ?

Well - those Skull Mentors only cost 7 death gems if you're using a Dwarven Hammer; it's much harder to find a reduction on the cost of summoning spectres.

Also, Skull Mentors tend to be available to most nations long before spectres (Const 4 vice Conj 6). The main thing about spectres is that they give random magic, very important for a nation that doesn't have it.

And most nations have a hard time taking Magic 3 - AE and SG Ermor, and CW Pangaea can do it easily, but few others. Then again - I don't think the spectre is mindless, so it can gain experience and get better at researching.

As far as the list of researchers - there's a web site that will show you the most efficient recruitable researchers for various conditions (drain/magic scale and # of turns). The url is Researchers/GP

[Kel]

Originally posted by Cainehill:
Well - those Skull Mentors only cost 7 death gems if you're using a Dwarven Hammer

This can vary from situation to situation, as can everything, but generally speaking, I find that I rarely have a dwarven hammer early in the game, which is when I would use research bonus items, if I was going to use them.

And most nations have a hard time taking Magic 3

I tend to use magic 2 or magic 3 unless I am trying out a specific strategy that requires a lot of points elsewhere. It's not hard at all to get Magic 3 ! For me, personally, most of my nations start with order+3, luck-2, magic+3 before I even start fiddling with the other points.

- Kel

[Stormbinder]

Originally posted by Cainehill:

And most nations have a hard time taking Magic 3 - AE and SG Ermor, and CW Pangaea can do it easily, but few others. Then again - I don't think the spectre is mindless, so it can gain experience and get better at researching.

Hmm? What game are you talking about Cain? Surely it's not Dom2. Magic 3 is one of the best MP scales in Dom2 in general, right after the Order 3, and even more important than Order for some nations. And taking Magic 3 is no more difficlut than taking one other scale 3. It is just 120 points, no more and no less. And in most situations it well worth it.

Obviosly any nation/theme can afford it, even those with tough requirement settings. Unless of course you determined to get one or two level 9 blesses, or damp all your points in Uber-VQ or something. But that's your choice.


As far as the list of researchers - there's a web site that will show you the most efficient recruitable researchers for various conditions (drain/magic scale and # of turns). The url is Researchers/GP [/QB][/quote]

[Cainehill]

Originally posted by Stormbinder:

quote:

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Originally posted by Cainehill:
And most nations have a hard time taking Magic 3 - AE and SG Ermor, and CW Pangaea can do it easily, but few others. Then again - I don't think the spectre is mindless, so it can gain experience and get better at researching.

Hmm? What game are you talking about Cain? Surely it's not Dom2. Magic 3 is one of the best MP scales in Dom2 in general, right after the Order 3, and even more important than Order for some nations. And taking Magic 3 is no more difficlut than taking one other scale 3. It is just 120 points, no more and no less. And in most situations it well worth it.

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I'm referring to the game where many nations and themes really require high order and sometimes high productivity as well. The game where the Magic scale has diminishing returns. You know - the ones where many nations don't have 40-120 free points from the temperature scale. The one where you got your butt handed to you by Cohen in a tournament...

Given how bad Cohen is, maybe your belief in Magic-3 helps to explain this?