SCOUTING

[fitress]

Why does the game appear to be "steering" my scouting efforts? Assuming Up is North, North, East and South are all "Very Hard". Only the West side is "Medium". Is this coincidence, or are there darker forces in play?

 

[DeletedUser12423]

Scouting difficulties are preset in Rings around your city. The further you are away from your city, the harder they get. Also, try not to over-scout, or do too many provinces too early. It only makes the game more expensive for you later on. Goodluck my friend ^ ^

 

[fitress]

Scouting difficulties are preset in Rings around your city. The further you are away from your city, the harder they get. Also, try not to over-sout, or do too many provinces too early. It only makes the game more expensive for you later on. Goodluck my friend ^ ^

Thank you

 

[DeletedUser12423]

You are very, very welcome. What good is my experience if I can't help with a little advice? There is also something else I wanted to suggest, just so you know, when I first started no one bothered telling me not to take the optional squad increases.

If you Skip the squad increases, your tournaments are cheaper and easier later on, because tournaments are determined by squad size, not chapter.

Goodluck!

 

[GOOONIE]

Hello
Ive read few post about Scouting to far ahead or to far whats that mean? Distance? to many scoutings?
Only ask cause feel same as others Cant win fights lol

 

[DeletedUser7527]

hi fitress and goonie i seethat both of you are new around here and just wanted to say hello and let you all know if you would like to have a forum sig i would be more than happy to make one for you just let me know or go check out the artist corner where i have a spot called druindars sigs and avitars let me know what you like as far as charecters like dragons knights or faries or etc plus colors you like hope to be able to make somthing for you all

 

[fitress]

Thank you

Is the cost the "only" disadvantage to "over-scouting"? I need the real estate, and spending game coin is cheaper than buying diamonds, and usually faster than the research tree.

 

[fitress]

You are very, very welcome. What good is my experience if I can't help with a little advice? There is also something alse I wanted to suggest, just so you know, when I first started noone bothered telling me not to take the optional squad increases.

If you Skip the squad increases, your tournaments are cheaper and easier later on, because tournaments are determined by squad size, not chapter.

Goodluck!

I would not have known that. Actually, I decided early-on not to fight (tried several times, and couldn't get the knack). I only kept the barracks so I could train to fulfill quests. It would be nice to have a lot of this info up front, but then again, I think if we did, a lot of us wouldn't even start the game to begin with!!

 

[fitress]

hi fitress and goonie i seethat both of you are new around here and just wanted to say hello and let you all know if you would like to have a forum sig i would be more than happy to make one for you just let me know or go check out the artist corner where i have a spot called druindars sigs and avitars let me know what you like as far as charecters like dragons knights or faries or etc plus colors you like hope to be able to make somthing for you all

Thank you so much for the offer. I have spent most of my life trying to be invisible, and not having a sig or avatar kinda lets me do that.

 

[samidodamage]

Hello
Ive read few post about Scouting to far ahead or to far whats that mean? Distance? to many scoutings?
Only ask cause feel same as others Cant win fights lol

Is the cost the "only" disadvantage to "over-scouting"? I need the real estate, and spending game coin is cheaper than buying diamonds, and usually faster than the research tree.

Scouting 'too far ahead' refers to clearing more provinces than necessary to open the next chapter. You can look at how many provinces it takes to open the chest for the next chapter to see how many are required. You can go a bit over that without getting into more difficulty, but it is not clear how many over. What is clear, is the number you can go over the requirements for the next chest increases as you complete more chapters. This is because the difficulty scales up by rings away from your city. The difficulty of all provinces in the same ring will be comparable, and the further away from your city, the more provinces there are in each ring. Also, completing the 'advanced scouts' tech for the next chapter reduces the cost and difficulty of all unscouted provinces. Completing provinces in a circular fashion is also helpful. If you complete them by pushing out in one direction, each successive ring gets harder. So, if you have completed out to ring 6 in one direction and only out to ring 4 in another, there will be varying levels of difficulty in your uncompleted provinces. There is also a hard stop for ring 11 if you have not yet reached Chapter 8 and cannot make orcs (the negotiating kind, not the military units) as they are required for negotiating provinces in ring 11 forward. If you get there before you have completed the techs for military unit promotions and squad size upgrades, it will be very difficult to clear them at all.
The combat system is really hard in the first few chapters. You don't have all the unit types until Chapter 3, and if you look at the battle pentagon, you'll see why that will hamstring you in battles. Unit types are specialized against other unit types and if you are facing a type in battle that you do not yet have the proper type to send in against them, it's not going to be pretty. There's a really good guide on these forums that provides comprehensive information on the combat system. You can find it here: https://us.forum.elvenar.com/index.php?threads/mykans-guide-fighting-guide.4205/

 

[fitress]

Scouting 'too far ahead' refers to clearing more provinces than necessary to open the next chapter. You can look at how many provinces it takes to open the chest for the next chapter to see how many are required. You can go a bit over that without getting into more difficulty, but it is not clear how many over. What is clear, is the number you can go over the requirements for the next chest increases as you complete more chapters. This is because the difficulty scales up by rings away from your city. The difficulty of all provinces in the same ring will be comparable, and the further away from your city, the more provinces there are in each ring. Also, completing the 'advanced scouts' tech for the next chapter reduces the cost and difficulty of all unscouted provinces. Completing provinces in a circular fashion is also helpful. If you complete them by pushing out in one direction, each successive ring gets harder. So, if you have completed out to ring 6 in one direction and only out to ring 4 in another, there will be varying levels of difficulty in your uncompleted provinces. There is also a hard stop for ring 11 if you have not yet reached Chapter 8 and cannot make orcs (the negotiating kind, not the military units) as they are required for negotiating provinces in ring 11 forward. If you get there before you have completed the techs for military unit promotions and squad size upgrades, it will be very difficult to clear them at all.
The combat system is really hard in the first few chapters. You don't have all the unit types until Chapter 3, and if you look at the battle pentagon, you'll see why that will hamstring you in battles. Unit types are specialized against other unit types and if you are facing a type in battle that you do not yet have the proper type to send in against them, it's not going to be pretty. There's a really good guide on these forums that provides comprehensive information on the combat system. You can find it here: https://us.forum.elvenar.com/index.php?threads/mykans-guide-fighting-guide.4205/

I'm pretty sure I am going to reach ring 11 long before I get to Chap 8 (I just started Fairies). As stated previously, I don't fight and no longer have anything but the barracks. I imagine this will make things very interesting. By the way, the detail and info in your explanation is excellent!!

 

[DeletedUser7527]

Thank you so much for the offer. I have spent most of my life trying to be invisible, and not having a sig or avatar kinda lets me do that.

ok i was just offering but i do understand lol

 

[Mykan]

If you Skip the squad increases, your tournaments are cheaper and easier later on, because tournaments are determined by squad size, not chapter.

Something to consider very carefully with this is if you are in the first 4 chapters those optional techs will have a massive impact on your ability to complete provinces in the world map and due to how squad sizes calculate will have only a small cost increase on tournaments compared to an optional tech in say dwarves.

In chapters 3/4 where negotiation costs are huge compared to your town the ability to compete in combat can be the difference between stagnation and progression.

Ive read few post about Scouting to far ahead or to far whats that mean? Distance? to many scoutings?
Only ask cause feel same as others Cant win fights lol

Put simply

• Fights are too difficult/expensive
• Scout times exceed 24hrs

How far is too far changes every chapter and sometimes even by techs so is very hard to define as a fixed amount.

 

[DeletedUser12423]

Put simply

• Fights are too difficult/expensive
• Scout times exceed 24hrs

How far is too far changes every chapter and sometimes even by techs so is very hard to define as a fixed amount.

Very well said ^ ^

 

[kctanzen]

I use this as a guide for the "over-scouted" position: (ed. I currently have 171 of the 130 required completed provinces in the tech tree, with one more at 5 encounters left to solve .. need 6 more KP to finish advance scouts for the Fairy flagging from Dwarfs)

1) If I have enough space in my city to do what I want to be doing, I don't worry about the scouting as for me .. the benefit of scouting / clearing provinces is getting more expansion plots!!

1a) If the only thing left to scout are very hard difficulty, review point 1.

1b) How close am I to unlocking the next advanced scouts tech.

2) Think ahead about events .. the ones I have seen look to have a fairly standard template of actions (upgrade buildings / scout territory / make x of y goods / build units / collect x relics / and the dreaded buy KP) == collect x relics can be problematic if the planning / timing doesn't line up well with one's goods inventory and tournaments. Love those relics from tourneys! (and bonus KP / spells / runes / etc)

 

[fitress]

I use this as a guide for the "over-scouted" position: (ed. I currently have 171 of the 130 required completed provinces in the tech tree, with one more at 5 encounters left to solve .. need 6 more KP to finish advance scouts for the Fairy flagging from Dwarfs)

1) If I have enough space in my city to do what I want to be doing, I don't worry about the scouting as for me .. the benefit of scouting / clearing provinces is getting more expansion plots!!

1a) If the only thing left to scout are very hard difficulty, review point 1.

1b) How close am I to unlocking the next advanced scouts tech.

2) Think ahead about events .. the ones I have seen look to have a fairly standard template of actions (upgrade buildings / scout territory / make x of y goods / build units / collect x relics / and the dreaded buy KP) == collect x relics can be problematic if the planning / timing doesn't line up well with one's goods inventory and tournaments. Love those relics from tourneys! (and bonus KP / spells / runes / etc)

This is great - I was at 170 of 130 going from Dwarfs to Fairies. I didn't even start getting Dwarf quests until I was almost done with the advanced scouts (end of Dwarf/beginning of Fairy). I had pretty much bought my way through the research tree, so it was kind of crazy. One of the members told me to find out which quests were still left. (I didn't know you could do that). Anyway, found the list, and determined that I only had 2 non-declinable quests left, so managed to get through it. Now that I know how to find the lists, hopefully I can plan better while in Fairies. I absolutely agree with your item #1 and 1a, but am not sure what 1b means.

 

[kctanzen]

This is great - I was at 170 of 130 going from Dwarfs to Fairies. I didn't even start getting Dwarf quests until I was almost done with the advanced scouts (end of Dwarf/beginning of Fairy). I had pretty much bought my way through the research tree, so it was kind of crazy. One of the members told me to find out which quests were still left. (I didn't know you could do that). Anyway, found the list, and determined that I only had 2 non-declinable quests left, so managed to get through it. Now that I know how to find the lists, hopefully I can plan better while in Fairies. I absolutely agree with your item #1 and 1a, but am not sure what 1b means.

1b == If I'm feeling really blocked for expansion / population but I know I can get the advanced scouts unlocked in a few days -- patience!
If I'm at say .. 1400 granite and a required tech in between where I am and advanced scouts needs 150k granite .. spending more for the very hard level province or 2 that pushes me into a new expansion plot may be worth spending the extra goods needed for negotiations in those newly scouted areas.

 

[fitress]

1b == If I'm feeling really blocked for expansion / population but I know I can get the advanced scouts unlocked in a few days -- patience!
If I'm at say .. 1400 granite and a required tech in between where I am and advanced scouts needs 150k granite .. spending more for the very hard level province or 2 that pushes me into a new expansion plot may be worth spending the extra goods needed for negotiations in those newly scouted areas.

Got it!! Thanks again

 

[Thistleknot]

Scouting and combat have changed a lot since I first started, but here are a few things that might help. First let me give you a bit of background for context. I research everything. I fight and negotiate as necessary when conquering a province. I conquer provinces to get expansions. I have currently completely all ages (chapters 1 through Halflings). I do not spend money on diamonds.

When scouting, scout one complete ring before moving on to the next. Rings are defined as a group of hexes around your city. By extension, complete the closest ring to your city before moving on to the next. As long as you can win fights or the cost of negotiating is not too expensive for your taste, continue scouting. This is completely subjective to your play style. As you approach the Advanced Scouts on the tech tree, slow your scouting. Wait to complete the Advance Scout technology before scouting so that you can take advantage of the lower costs of scouting and negotiating/fighting in provinces that you scout after the tech is researched. Once you are able to produce orcs for negotiating, you can pretty much scout non-stop.

I currently have conquered 421 provinces. I have three that I have scouted and not conquered and one that I still need to scout (holding off for event needs). Once these are done I will have completed ring 14. The one province to scout is listed as "medium", has a scouting cost of 4.8 million coin, and a scout time of 61.75 hours.

Make choices that make sense for your play style and where you are currently in the tech tree. Have a lot of patience and have fun.