casters

There needs to be some way for a caster to defende himself or cast non limited amounts of spells on people outside of war....its not like i can attack someone as a caster (normally most of my troops to to defense)....outside of war i get no form of attack spell (this goes for even if we are unfriendly and they are not)

sitting there waiting is not fun...im not asking for all spells outside of war just some that are more useful to my kingdom.

storms and pitfalls are about all i have outside of unfriendly

Not sure what level of kd you're playing in, but that's kind of the tradeoff of being a TM, out of war you're not much use.

Traditionally you should keep attackers that are in your NW range (presuming you are larger than the kd average as you should be as TM) and they will handle the retals for you.

though i some what understand what your saying....there is nothing to defend myself other than my troops....TM dont attack really....but we still dont have much in the way of a retal....what we do is spells and theive work...and none of those spells or theivery options are avail in normal hostility.

im simply saying that X person invades. and due to only training defense troops and elites for defense i have nothing i can do other than sit and take it. where as an attack can just respond with another attack

If the kd gives you relations you can op them. Single hit randoms are always going to happen unless you play in a menacing kd.

That's just kinda how the game works. Everyone wants resources, and the best person to pick on is the person that can't hit back.

right but i would very much like to be able to do something other than storms, greed, and pitfalls if i get attacked

You can. Get in your kingdom chat and say "Hey, someone retal this hit for me"

Also, in my experience, casting storms, greed, and pitfalls on me only makes me want to attack you again.

TM are strong enough without being able to drop MS and FB's on anyone that looks at them funny.

Take a look at the top 25 most honourable provinces, other than one confused avian, they are all TM. They don't need to be buffed anymore, they're already broken!

Don't take the advice wrong and guys aren't inadvertently trying to discourage you, with 3 posts. Please stay and see how others approach your dilemma.

Now, to brass tacks. I retal as a practice in any build I make. I'm not telling you to, but I'll explain why I do.

1- You can retal but it'll cost you. I've run t/m and I retal because I need my stuff back.
2- I'm assuming none of your guys will retal for you? If the kingdom can't support t/ms you do it yourself, ignore and explore, or move to a new kingdom.
3- Why do I retal as a t/m? Because everything in the game is a gamble. They will hit you back, but what you want is that relationship meter to turn into a crap storm for your enemy.
4- Almost everybody in this game plays bully tactics. That's a predictable thing. If I obeyed that law I'd just be another frustrated drone in the ghetto.
5- Results are about going through the whole age. You win some, you lose some, but I embrace challenge. By embracing challenge and accepting my fate i sleep well at night. Last age I ran a faery cleric and some undead guy grabbed my acres. I learned him back and we traded till our kingdoms went to war. My kingdom didnt really defend me either and lost that war(nice guys but not sympathetic: sound familiar?) At the end of it I was no worse for the wear. I'm not retaliating out of anger, I'm embracing the challenge. I wasn't dealing with my stomach turning from regret.

Is it wrong for me to drag my kingdom into war? I didn't. Let's rewind. The undead guy that hit me was offered no deterrence from attacking me with impunity. To understand the culture of bullying we need to address the paralyzation of fear, the greed of fear, the selfishness. If you retaliate strong kingdoms we are seen as inciting the aggressor, but what if I kick his ass? I held up my end. Resist the culture of bullying, the culture of fear and you'll be called selfish. It's not. Embracing challenge is the point in Utopia. You can be a diplomat or you can be a warrior, but nobody chooses to be a coward. I leave it on the field, not on my heart.

Again, I'm not trying to coerce you into doing something you don't want to do. This is how i play Utopia.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by StratOcastle

Don't take the advice wrong and guys aren't inadvertently trying to discourage you, with 3 posts. Please stay and see how others approach your dilemma.

Now, to brass tacks. I retal as a practice in any build I make. I'm not telling you to, but I'll explain why I do.

1- You can retal but it'll cost you. I've run t/m and I retal because I need my stuff back.
2- I'm assuming none of your guys will retal for you? If the kingdom can't support t/ms you do it yourself, ignore and explore, or move to a new kingdom.
3- Why do I retal as a t/m? Because everything in the game is a gamble. They will hit you back, but what you want is that relationship meter to turn into a crap storm for your enemy.
4- Almost everybody in this game plays bully tactics. That's a predictable thing. If I obeyed that law I'd just be another frustrated drone in the ghetto.
5- Results are about going through the whole age. You win some, you lose some, but I embrace challenge. By embracing challenge and accepting my fate i sleep well at night. Last age I ran a faery cleric and some undead guy grabbed my acres. I learned him back and we traded till our kingdoms went to war. My kingdom didnt really defend me either and lost that war(nice guys but not sympathetic: sound familiar?) At the end of it I was no worse for the wear. I'm not retaliating out of anger, I'm embracing the challenge. I wasn't dealing with my stomach turning from regret.

Is it wrong for me to drag my kingdom into war? I didn't. Let's rewind. The undead guy that hit me was offered no deterrence from attacking me with impunity. To understand the culture of bullying we need to address the paralyzation of fear, the greed of fear, the selfishness. If you retaliate strong kingdoms we are seen as inciting the aggressor, but what if I kick his ass? I held up my end. Resist the culture of bullying, the culture of fear and you'll be called selfish. It's not. Embracing challenge is the point in Utopia. You can be a diplomat or you can be a warrior, but nobody chooses to be a coward. I leave it on the field, not on my heart.

Again, I'm not trying to coerce you into doing something you don't want to do. This is how i play Utopia.

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Strato. I'm the Undead guy who traded blows with you last age.

Firstly, would like to apologize if you thought it was bullying, that was never my intention and never my play style. Was just almost the end of age and I figured, hey there's a faery willing to trade blows, so why not.
Secondly, the guys in my kd knew you, and thought it would be a way to get a war for fun. So we did it.

So, yeah, to OP, you can retal random hits if you feel like you really need your stuff back. But this is utopia, random hits are everywhere, its part of the U-Life

@ Ardelus. I apologize for not clarifying. No, I do not consider you a bully. You presented a compelling challenge that I appreciate. You don't have to explain anything, and I will defend you as an honorable player.

I was trying to point out to the OP that the culture is not written in stone. I sited the example to allow him to digest that it is a possible alternative. Your presence is welcome and proves my statement;

@ all. - because ladies & gentlemen, here he is.

At the end of the day, embrace challenge and the game will bloom for you. The culture of bullying isn't the randoming guys responsibility or fault, it is ours.

On that note, I think I'll go one step further.

First some background: my gaming culture comes from 40 years of paper & pencil games. Our way was always to challenge the logistic. Fight a dragon and his henchmen. Chase demons into hell and back. Face exhausting numbers of fanatical warriors. We are pre-Internet and think organically.

The new gaming culture is deeply based in the comprehension of numerical strength. Many will look at the surface of a problem and decide that the numbers aren't matching so they capitulate. Let me point out this isn't just reserved to assessment. I've noticed that many younger players have to be enlightened on the idea of chipping in. In other words, this digital world is not familiar with the "dimmer switch" as it were; everything is on or off as if there were no nuances.

The culture of bullying in a digital world has to do with the inability to imagine oneself above their digital representation. Your faery has a crappy offense therefore you can't attack....no. You can. You can do anything you want as long as you're willing to pay the price. The bully isn't a bully until you make them one. I emphasize in gaming: I don't want guys picking fights with gangsters in RL.

In Utopia most people attack downhill. The top is comprised of kingdoms that specialize in growth meta and part of that is to take advantage of the logistically weaker kingdoms. But this meta is only what they use. Meta is everywhere, in every nuance of the game. Everyone who skipped playing dwarves this age based that decision on the known meta, not on the unknown. Guess what I'm playing this age? I'm not saying it's better, I'm saying " let's have a look."

I have the confidence to abstain the known meta because I've faced the known meta with suboptimal build after suboptimal build for ages upon ages. I don't random, I only retaliate. According to the statisticians I should be province killed several fold, but I'm not. I do alright, and I'm not even among the best players in my kingdom. We decide in our heads if we're going to be victims, here in Utopia. I'm built to be a victim right now, but I'm not a victim. I'm here to embrace challenge with open arms like Journey.

@ the OP: I must disagree with your request or proposal - I'm not sure what this is. OOW GBP is good thing for t/ms - they don't attack so their 'have been hit recently' stays for some time.

If you are faery:
- retrain casualties always in fort
- keep animate dead up always - the solds can be used for explore.
- keep x1-1.5 your NW as gold(for explore or retraining casualties)
- keep def spells up(MP, GP, CS, NB).
- before stealing from attacker be sure he can't hit you - a lot ppl have SL up and retal if you rob them
- keep 40% stealth and mana min. Don't use all the mana for tog and keep some stealth to steal runes if you need to.
- must have 20% forts.
- invest a lot in ME sci.

If you are elf:
- keep 2-3k elites min. or x1-2 your land(min.).
- if you have lost land consider ambush(if possible)
- keep 50-60k runes min. in stock for fast paradising if needed.
- keep x1-1.5 your NW as gold(for explore or retraining casualties)
- overdraft and keep 0.3-5 your land as solds. Dont train them they are for eventual recovery.
- must have 20% forts.

Getting randomed oow is part of the game - strato suggests to attack even as pure t/m but for me attacking without hosp/-losses buff is bad in long turn. As someone playing pure t/m past 6-7 ages I focus mostly on recovering as fast as possible after being hit instead of retaliating.

Depends on play style, and again ymmv. I retal as recovery. Obviously not for everyone, but I've never been supplanted by my own hand. The worst out of war encounter I've had was vs Alice(Green?) in a 2 province kingdom, but I recovered to over my previous acreage mark in 2 weeks. We never talked CF and my province was in prime range of the top warring kingdoms. Admittedly, I wasn't a t/m that age, just human WH. I was the same size as top kingdom mid core. Only retal and I never approached any kingdom with CFs. It was a personal challenge. - Since then I've run a faery sage in TFC and elf cleric in Jerks and progressed in the face of randoming vs the bigs. I never random or steal in non-war stance unless guided by leadership as part of my retal only doctrine.

Again, it's what I do. I present my case only as an alternative to the strategies presented by other players.

Your forces arrive at ZZWW (XX:YY). A tough battle took place, but we have managed a victory! Your army has recaptured 48 acres from our enemy! Taking full control of our new land will take 10.80 days, and will be available on March 9 of YR7.
We lost 529 Beastmasters in this battle.
We killed about 1,105 enemy troops.
Our forces will be available again in 10.80 days (on March 9 of YR7).

Those 1k und elites I killed made my day :).