Discussion Resource Building Strategy

[DeletedUser]

Q 1013 - Is it appropriate to ask advice on how to strategically build resources here in this forum? For example, to list my current levels of Farm, Barracks, Senate, Silver, etc. and ask what would be my best strategy? Should I wait to have enough resources to add Barracks or Troops, or to build up something for which I can right now based on my levels of Timber, Rock, Silver, and free population?

TIA - DblValve

 

[DeletedUser]

Yeah that's perfectly fine (to ask here). I'm only getting a quick response in, I'll make a more indepth one later, but, the majority of players will give you the same advice - some things to (generally) avoid and that the way you build your city is entirely up to your playstyle. There is no right or wrong. Like I said, I'll make a better reply in about 4.32 hours.

 

[DeletedUser]

Looking forward to reading more...

 

[DeletedUser]

Apologies for my delayed response, I had something unexpected come up and had to tend to it.

I'll start with things that players generally do not get - Senate 25, Lighthouse/Library and Oracle/Merchant's Shop. Secondly, I'm not going to tell you how to build your city, I'll give you some ideas, tips, hints and other points that will make you consider different variables. Basically, your city build is going to vary depending on your city's role and what you want it to be adept at. Do you want to have a large amount of troops? Then you're going to need to cut back on some buildings to squeeze out that extra population. Are you mass producing Light Ships? Then you're going to want to typically be on a +wood -rock island and focus on Timber Camp and Silver Mine levels. However, you might also want your LS city to be supplying rock to your Slinger (high rock moderate wood, low silver) nuke city so you might level your Quarry too to create synergy between those cities. As you can also see, this type of synergy opens up a lot of different strategies, which changes with every world depending on which islands you have cities on and what you need more - Are you on a heavy defensive? You might need to produce more defensive units which means your city build(s) would differ greatly to another world where you were primarily an attacker. Do you want to be able to quickly replenish your lost troops? A high level Barracks or Harbour will dramatically reduce their production times. Are you active and farm 16 hours a day? Then your high resource income from Farming Villages can give you the option to reduce resource producing buildings to get extra population or level your mines to have more resources overall. Are you playing a morale world? Then you're going to want your points as low as possible to take advantage (or avoid the disadvantage) of the morale setting. It also depends if you prefer the attacker or defender role, especially since defensive battle points are now attributed to each supporter, defending has been worthwhile in terms of bp generation because previously it only gave bp to the person being attacked. A lot of players didn't build defense or didn't support since it only cost them units with nothing in return. Given, you will need attacking troops to conquer cities.

You should have a good mix of troops and buildings, especially in your first city. A lot of (experienced) players like being aggressive in the start so it's either beat them to the punch and clear their cities or play defensively.

All that being said, it is entirely up to you how to build your city and how you choose to run it.

 

[DeletedUser]

Thank you, now I'm REALLY looking forward to this game.

Q 1016 - Is it appropriate to disclose, here, my world, island, city, alliances, and current resources (maybe a screen-shot) and ask specific advice, or am I showing my hand to potential attackers?

 

[DeletedUser]

depends... if you are on the edge of an early world, then many players don't look at the extenals, so you would be ok... Why do you need to disclose the world and island? world settings give enough info.

 

[DeletedUser]

You can just PM me, that way you won't be worried if someone can make something out of your screenshot. Though, in most cases it won't matter (that much) unless you're in a serious war.

 

[DeletedUser]

Thank you, this is my first week and I'm into it, but just learning. (Q 1018) How do I determine if I'm (a) on the edge of a (b) early world?

I'm building in Corinth. There are about 20 coastal city areas, and the island is complete. I have "possessed" 2 farming villages, and am adding troops (from 5 to 10 as I write this) to acquire 1 or 2 more. I have also joined a small alliance of now 5, 4 of which are on my island (no other cities on the island part of any alliances), and the founder of the alliance is on an adjacent island.

The island is low on timber, and there is an ajacent island which rich in wood, had no-one on it, no settlements or farming vilages but 7 areas that say "Here you can found a new city." (Q 1019) What should I have in major resources (Senate, Farm, Barracks) before beginning a new city where the timber resource is good? Do I need a Harbor and ships?

 

[DeletedUser]

It's ok, you got some good questions and I like answering them lol. Hope you enjoy the game.

The best way to find your position (imo) is to go to www.grepolismaps.org, select your server (we are .en here aka international), your world and the input your name and a colour. It will show you and the rest of the world. You can also play with other features such as zoom.

I wouldn't advise founding (colonising one of the anchor points) a city because 1) you don't have any farming villages available, if you don't plan to farm this is usually ok except that 2) the city you get as a result of founding is only an unflattering 750 points. It is almost always more efficient to conquer another player's city. I've only ever colonised thrice: once strategically, once for a bug test and once for the Heroic Tactician award.

The method you use to conquer depends on your world settings. There are guides and wiki pages which are more detailed and explain the process. Personally, my top priority is to get my second city ASAP because it offers lots more possibilities such as incredible growth rate and troops as well as functioning as a guard from losing my first and only city in the world and being 'rimmed'. Generally, my first city is focused on getting that second city as soon as possible so when I build it that is what its purpose is, as well as being aggressive to get 900 BP so I can follow the second city up with a third right away. This can be a very powerful move if you select your conquer targets well (size, location and difficulty) and don't need to rebuild a lot of troops which takes up time. Using this strategy I was able to conquer second and third cities on the same day in one world.

As I said before, it really comes down to how you want to play, the above is just what I personally typically do but it still changes in every world depending on what is happening around me. The game world is very dynamic and can change drastically in each world.

 

[DeletedUser]

So, Obi-Wan <g>, here are my …

1. Thought-processes,
2. World assumptions,
3. Short-term strategies,
4. Troop orders,
5. Resource allocations,
6. Construction queue,
7. Goals, and,
8. Next 10 questions …

I think that Corinth is world 27, and that the world is roughly half-way populated.

I am in the USA, so on grepolismaps I have also selected en, which appears to have a split US/UK flag. When I am logged into my world of Corinth, the url is en27.grepolis.com.

(Q 1020) Can I assume that I am on world 27 as this is the prefix of that url? If that is not correct, how do I find out which world I am on?

If I look at en and world 27 on grepolismaps at zoom 1, it appears that the "visible" islands (bright green) are shown as a rough circle, centered, with "potential" (?) future islands filling around the rest of the water outside that circle.

(Q 1021) Am I correct that the "bright green" islands are "inhabited?"

On grepolismaps, viewing en and world 27 at zoom level 1, map is 1000px wide, showing all 100 grids, each is 100px wide.

0,0 shows the top-left corner of grid piece 00 in the exact center of the 1000x1000 map.

500,500 shows the top-left corner of grid piece 00 at the top-left corner of the map, showing all 100 grid pieces.

At this "centered" view (500,500) it appears that the bright green "inhabited" islands are in a centered circle, with the SE part of that circle expanded by 100px over exactly 1/4 of a "target" ring. This is confusing to describe in words, but the result means that grid piece 24 is basically made up of half of the islands (on the grid piece's East side) bright green.

(Q 1022) Am I correct in assuming that this "half-filled" circle of bright green islands means that the "world" is half-developed?

I am in grid piece 24. Using http://wiki.en.grepolis.com/wiki/The_Map as a reference, I am in the NW quadrant, 3 over and 5 down. On grepolismaps, 245,485 moves my island to the exact center of the 1000x1000 map.

Changing the view on grepolismaps (en 24) to 700,900 shows the top-left edge of grid piece 24 at the top-left corner of the map. From this view, I see the bright green inhabited islands are on the far West side of the overall circle of inhabited islands.

Grid piece 24 shows half of the islands (the East half) in bright green.

My island is at 245,485. From a view of 700,900 with grid 24 at the top-left edge of the 1000x1000 grid, my island would be in position 45,85 which shows my island on the very left-hand edge of the West side of the circle of inhabited islands.

(Q 1023) Am correct in concluding that my island is on the outer-left (far West side) fringes of the inhabited world?

(Q 1024) Am I correct in concluding that this is relatively a young, developing world?

If so, then I am building a city to grow using earned resources and being fed by "possessed" farming villages.

My resources are:

9 Timber camps
6 Silver mines
6 farms
3 "possessed" farming villages
5 Barracks
7 Senates
8 Quarries
3 Ware houses
7 Swordsmen (none in training)

Timber is maxed out at 1185
Brick is maxed out at 1185
Silver coins is at 921
Free population is at 116

I am working towards my first Wall around the city, and then building troops with the short-term intent of finding my first city to "capture."

(Q 1025) My current inventory of swordsman was 7, but I have just now ordered 8 more. What mix of troops should I try and acquire before considering an attack?

# of Slingers
# of Archers
# of Hoplites
# of Horsemen
# of Chariots
# of Catapults

(Q 1026) How do I go about "training" them, and to what degree? And,
(Q 1027) Should I summon a "Commander" before attacking?

I will first (now) upgrade my Senate to 8 so I can conduct some research at the Academy. I have also just ordered my first City Wall.

(Q 1028) I have just placed an order for my first Academy. What level of Academy should I try to get to acquire some of the other troop types? And finally,

(Q 1028) Do I need to develop a harbor and add ships to go to another island to attack? And/or

(Q 1029) Should I try and concquer cities on my island who are not part of my alliance; even though the leader of the alliance has probably "invited" some or all of the 15+ other cities on the island?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and wisdom!

 

[DeletedUser]

Jumping in here.

I'm a noob as well, trying to figure some things out. I can't seem to conquer a second city. I kill all the enemy troops, but don't take over the city. Is conquest in the Academy the requisite for this? If so that seems awfully involved as it would require Academy Lvl 30. Am I doing something wrong here?

 

[DeletedUser]

Yes, you need the conquest research and only need Academy 28 is required to get access to the research. Please also make sure you're using the correct method for conquering (revolt or conquest); there are guides and the wiki that outline the processes involved.

@DdblValve:

Firstly, please note that none of my responses are official regarding www.grepolismaps.org as it is a third party site.

20) Yes, it is en27. You can also find this information (along with other important information) on the world forum - it shows Corinth (en27).

21) Yes, bright green = inhabited.

22) You could interpret it that way, yes. But it is probably better to think of it as "half full" rather that "half developed"

23) I haven't checked the map itself with your location but from what you've described I would say yes.

24) It is fairly young - one of the newer worlds released (November 9th). You probably want to level your warehouse a bit more as any time you get to full capacity you're losing potential resources.

25) You should only attack with Slingers, Horsemen and Hoplites whereas you should only defend with Swordsmen, Archers and Chariots (although Hoplites can make a decent last ditch effort in replacement of Chariots). The amount you will need for an attack will depend on your target so spy on his city using the cave, it is expensive at the start of the game but I would recommend it for the city you're going to conquer so there are few surprises. Also, it is much more efficient to attack using a single massed unit (including LS escorts and transports, ofc).

26) What do you mean by training? You can recruit them so you can utilise them. After that the only further improvement you can do is researching Phalanx but that's quite expensive so it usually takes a backseat until you get another city or two. You can also use Commander to improve their battle prowess.

27) I would.

28) You don't need attack ships per se, but if you attack with only transports a single combat ship in the enemy harbour will kill all your troops. Light Ship = Attack, Biremes = Defense, Trireme = Jack of all trades, master of none.

29) You shouldn't conquer on your island as you won't get any benefit from it because the cities will 'share' the demand timers from the FVs. If you conquer onto another island every FV is another source of income. Therefore, you theoretically increase your potential income by 100% the first conquer, but less on subsequent conquers.

 

[DeletedUser21785]

Don't go aggressive on first city - balance is the key. I will suggest building economic and minimum troops for farming villages for the first 2 week and attacking inactive for resources. You should get more resources than you can spend if your active and isn't a gold mania. When that happens, I would suggest starting to build toward on conquering. You will had to figure out which building produce more resources and what order to level them to maxmize that since you had to adjust your play style to how much time you can play a day as well.

 

[DeletedUser]

Asth:

Thank you again, GREAT advice!

I have one more question for now, and I'm sure that I'll return to this thread, but I'm going to start seperating my questions into smaller threads.

(Q 1030) Do I need to develop a harbor and add ships to go to another island to attack?

 

[DeletedUser]

Kruzgers:

>> Don't go aggressive on first city - balance is the key.

I’ll take that advice, I’m not really a gamer, never had the time. I started playing this for the building, not the conquering, but I see that will have to come.

>> I will suggest building economic and minimum troops for farming villages for the first 2 week and attacking inactive for resources.

Well, I’m about 9 days in and that’s what I’ve been doing, so great timeline advice, thank you.

(Q 1031) What do you mean by “attacking inactive?” Do you mean that I could/should attack inactive cities on my island? I see 15+ others (not including the 3 in my alliance {an alliance that is not doing/growing because they are inactive}). So, after I get my troops up, I should consider attacking inactive cities on my island for their resources?

(Q 1032) If I attack inactive cities, am I really gaining a lot? I see most have 175 points, which I’m assuming is created but not developed (same point level for a week – no changes). About a third are between 200 and 350. I and one other city are above 600.

(Q 1033) Should I go for the cities in the 200-400 range as (a) 175 probably is not developing, and (b) the other 600 city would probably kick my butt or be more trouble than it’s worth depleting my troops, and not worth it because we would be using the same island resources?

(Q 1034) There are 8 Farming Villages on my island, and it shows that I have in my possession 3 of these closest to me. Since I am in an alliance with 3 other cities on my island, I was leaving the further ones alone (for now). Should I go ahead and possess them to demand their resources? I remember reading somewhere that others (more than one city?) can demand resources from FV. Does this mean that another city may have “possessed” a FV and I can’t see that, and that I could also possess them? Does the time or number of resources drop if possessed by more than one city? I almost think that more than one city has to be using some, since I can only see my “possessed” FV, but there is another city on the island over 600 points, and I can’t imagine them growing without a FV.

>> You should get more resources than you can spend if your active and isn't a gold mania. When that happens, I would suggest starting to build toward on conquering. You will had to figure out which building produce more resources and what order to level them to maxmize that since you had to adjust your play style to how much time you can play a day as well.

Wow, there’s a lot more questions in here, but I need to go plan, play and demand some resources <g>

>> adjust your play style to how much time you can play a day as well.

Damn, it’s 10:00am and I’ve already spent more time on this today than is healthy <G>

 

[DeletedUser]

>> You should only attack with Slingers, Horsemen and Hoplites...

Q 1035 - Are you talking about attacking cities, or does this also apply to FV? I got my first 3 FV with only Swordsmen?

 

[DeletedUser]

30) Yes, troops can't swim with all that armour and equipment

31) Inactive cities can either be players that are no longer logging in or players who have stopped building (and therefore most likely building troops instead). It is safest to raid the former, along with ghost towns, as an extra source of income (resources).

32) 175-600 point cities won't offer you much resources due to their low warehouse level but they're safest to attack and something is better than nothing. I only farm these when I have done my rounds on other more profitable targets.

33) You should typically only conquer 2000+ point cities, 1500 at the minimum if you're desperate. Anything under those are often considered as a waste of time. If none are 2000+ yet then you can settle for something smaller or build a bigger army while you wait. Your second city should also be fairly close to your first so they can support each other with troops and resources.

34) The FVs are independantly owned, so you may own 3 but your neighbour will own 7 but this will make no difference except that he has more income aka you do not 'share' or 'fight' for ownership for the FVs. To get income from your FVs you need to 'demand' from them. The amount of resources you gain per demand is dependant on the FV level, which, contrary to above, you will share. So if your neighbour contributes resources to the FV's level you will also benefit from this. The resources per FV do not drop if you own more, they stay the same, the only difference is their level. You can only demand from FVs on the same island as your currently selected city.

Furthermore, when conquering FVs you should be looking for 1) the level as a higher level will result in more resources and 2) what the FVs are trading for. If you need wood desperately, start conquering the FVs that offer wood for trades.

35) Both, but you can get away with attacking using defensive units for the first few FVs when it is only a couple of defenders.

 

[DeletedUser]

34) The FVs are independantly owned, so you may own 3 but your neighbour will own 7 but this will make no difference except that he has more income aka you do not 'share' or 'fight' for ownership for the FVs. To get income from your FVs you need to 'demand' from them. The amount of resources you gain per demand is dependant on the FV level, which, contrary to above, you will share. So if your neighbour contributes resources to the FV's level you will also benefit from this. The resources per FV do not drop if you own more, they stay the same, the only difference is their level. You can only demand from FVs on the same island as your currently selected city.

Furthermore, when conquering FVs you should be looking for 1) the level as a higher level will result in more resources and 2) what the FVs are trading for. If you need wood desperately, start conquering the FVs that offer wood for trades.

Thank you, this is very interesting and helpful. It also raises a few additional questions. I'll let this simmer a while and see what boils to the top and then ask some more later.

 

[DeletedUser]

Feel free to post as often as you'd like; I'm here to provide that service and I enjoy it lol.

 

[DeletedUser]

You can only demand from FVs on the same island as your currently selected city.

Furthermore, when conquering FVs you should be looking for 1) the level as a higher level will result in more resources and 2) what the FVs are trading for. If you need wood desperately, start conquering the FVs that offer wood for trades.

If on my home island (the same island my only island and city so far), then how are they different than what the island is strong/weak in? How do I tell that one offers wood where another offers something different?