Just as an example of how to go about developing a Province in protection, I've decided to open up what I've been doing so that novices can have a general idea of what to do. Age-to-Age changes may well make the following information obsolete, and the following may not be the 'optimal' strategy, but it should still help illustrate Utopia's general workings.
Race/Personality Selection
Everyone has their own style of play - the game would be pretty damned boring if everyone did exactly the same thing - and the selection of Race and Personality should be appropriate to their goals. My selections were:
Dwarves
Bonuses:
* + 20% Building Efficiency
* Free Building Construction
* Can use credits to raze buildings
Penalty:
* Accelerated Construction not available
* - 25% thievery effectiveness
* + 50% food consumption
Other Information:
* Offensive Specialist: Warriors (5/0)
* Defensive Specialist: Axemen (0/5)
* Elite Unit: Berserker (6/5, $700, 6 nw)
* Bonus Spells: Vermin, Quick Feet
The Merchant
* +40% Income
* -50% Money Losses on Plunder Attacks
* Immunity to all Income Penalties (Riots, Plagues, etc.)
Strengths:
Dwarves aren't the strongest of Attackers but Berserkers (being balanced @ 6/5) are effective for both offense and defense, offering a degree of versatility only they and Halflings can take advantage of. While Quick Feet's 10% reduction to Attack Times isn't as strong as the 30% Avian bonus, it still offers faster military returns than Barracks alone.
The +40% Income from Merchant provides the strongest single economic boost in the game, and the building/razing bonuses all but eliminate expenses involved in land management. This combination frees up a lot of funds to invest in Military and Sciences that would ordinarily be spent building up land gained from attacks. Also, because most effects are multiplicative, this makes investment in Alchemy Science far more effective - twice what Sage would offer.
The +20% Building Efficiency is also a powerful boost as the benefits from most Buildings in the game are based upon them taking up a certain percentage of your lands and diminishing returns make higher percentages less effective. For a Dwarf, 29% of a given building offers the same benefits as 50% for any other Race - though this advantage diminishes as the percentages decrease (22.7% vs 30%, 15.8% vs 20%, etc), it still allows for greater performance for the land invested. As with the Income bonus above, this offers the same 20% effectiveness to Tools Science as Sage would.
Weaknesses:
The -25% Thievery Effectiveness can be compensated for by Crime Science and/or Thieves' Dens, or one could simply build Watchtowers and not worry about it. One could run a mixture of these to offset the penalty, though not much as Thievery isn't particularly crucial to an Attacker.
Between the +20% effectiveness of Farms and a bit of Food Science, the extra food consumption is easy to to offset.
And while there is no means of negating the lack of accelerated construction, there are numerous reasons why one wouldn't want to do so once Protection ends - so it's not as great a liability as it may seem at first. Builder's Boon will help later on once the Province has the Runes for it.
Entry: Plan of Attack
My general plan is to come out of Protection with around 615 acres of land, ready to attack and with reasonable defenses. As an Attacker there's no way to compete with dedicated Mages and Thieves, but I'll at least want enough for my own uses. My default build once things get underway will be along the lines of:I won't look quite like this when Protection ends, but I'll be close. The percentages will conform to this build as new lands are obtained.
- 5% Homes
- 9% Farms
- 25% Banks
- 13% Training Grounds
- 9% Barracks
- 15% Guilds
- 7% Towers
- 7% Watchtowers
- 10% Stables
The combination of +40% Income from Merchant and +20% BE from Dwarf makes Banks, by far, the most beneficial Building for me. Between the base gold production and income modifier, Merchant, and Alchemy Science, this will more than double my gross Income. This is key, as it more than offsets the lack of Armouries (and, as a Dwarf Attacker, I don't need Mills in the first place).
These funds will also enable me to focus exclusively on 6/5 Berserkers for offense (as well as defense) while the Free Specialist credits (from attacking) will be used primarily to train defensive 0/5 Axemen.
The Barracks and Quick Feet offer a 20% reduction in Attack times, enabling more activity, and the Training Grounds a 20% bonus to offense. Though 6/5 Berserkers are the weakest offensive Elite in the game, more troops for the same offense also means I can send more Mercenaries than most - which the surplus of Banks also enables me to afford.
Between the late start, being an Attacker, and the -25% Thievery modifier, I decided that Watchtowers were my best option. If I can maintain my BE, they'll offer a 24% reduction in my losses and stop 16% of all hostile ops regardless of their TpA.
Much remains to be seen in this coming Age, though I suspect that I may later convert some (or all) Homes into Prisons as the game progresses. - as much for slave labor as for potential free Mercenaries.
Guilds, Towers, and Stables are a bit high but - because I intend to maintain a state of growth - they will be needed in order to maintain Wizards, Runes, and Horses while the new lands are under construction (without the option of acceleration) and my Zerks are out gaining more.
With -25% Thievery - and Attackers not exactly renowned for such in the first place - there's no point in putting much effort towards Thieves. Watchtowers provide better defense than I could reasonably accomplish with Thieves, meaning I'll only need enough to gather intel on potential targets. 1 raw TpA is my goal for when I leave Protection.
Once again - this probably isn't the optimal build. But I feel it has solid potential, my reasoning for such as stated above.
As has often been said, "Even the best strategic plans are only valid until the first major incursion." This is liable to fluctuate throughout the Age, but one can't begin a journey without a destination in mind.
Entry: Day One
Building and Exploration
Two buildings vital to any Province are Guilds and Towers. Guilds train a very modest number of Wizards (which will be needed to help counter enemy spells) and Towers produce the Runes your own Wizards need in order to cast spells themselves. These are the first two buildings I set into construction - 100 Guilds and 65 Towers. A bit much for an Attacker, yes, but the boost is needed starting out and the percentages will diminish as I acquire new lands.
I also started 20 Homes (mainly for the bonus to Birth Rates) and 20 Farms (to help compensate for the extra food consumption).
The remaining 75 acres I used for Banks - between the +40% Income and +20% BE bonuses, these will give my income a powerful boost for when I pump up my military later on.
I then sent my initial 500 Soldiers out to explore 125 acres of new lands.
Military
To be certain of having sufficient Soldiers, I set the Draft Rate for 60%. This is the only option which can be adjusted at this stage.
Sciences
I invested my initial allotment of 1500 Books in Population Science. This is always a good investment, and one can never get too early a start on this. Alchemy (income) and Tools (BE) are also good choices, and usually preferred, but my bonuses from Merchant and Dwarf make these unimportant for the moment.
Some will argue against this approach, and with valid opinions. Variegation is a big part of what makes Utopia tick - and even those who may do the same things don't always do so for the same reasons.
My reasoning for starting with Housing is because this approach will max out my Population well within 13 hours or so. Every working Peasant provides Income, and three unemployed Peasants as much as an employed one. With all the bonuses to Income - both direct and indirect - I want to cram as many people onto my lands as quickly as possible.
Since I have a strong income and no real expenses at this stage (apart from modest Draft costs), as well as nearly all of my starting funds, I kicked Research up to Focused. I could have gone higher, but the cost per Book makes it a bit too expensive at this stage.
Entry: First Utopian Month
Building and Exploration
For the first few ticks, I kept sending all available Soldiers to explore more lands until the total (between current land and that being explored) reached 600 acres.
As new lands became available, I set them into construction as Stables until I had a total of 50 underway - 8.13% of my 615-acre goal. Stables would normally be among the first lands built but my +20% BE should more than compensate for the later start.
Later, as more lands come in, I set 130 acres underway as Armouries. In addition to lowering Draft expenses, these will also be crucial for my Military pump towards the end of Protection. By waiting as late as possible to train Military, I avoid any wage expenses until then. This pump is all I'll be needing them for and, between free construction and 100 free raze credits, the expense of switching over is minimal.
Once all the Armouries are underway, I built the rest of the incoming land as Banks.
Sciences
Checking in regularly, I split my incoming Books from research 40/60 between Alchemy and Tools until the latter reached 1500, then continued with Alchemy until it totalled 4000. This offers a +1.5% bonus to both Income and BE by the time my first set of buildings were finished.
I then turned my attention towards Food Science so that my Farms could better keep pace with my growing population.
Once I started investing in Food Science, I dropped my Research rate to Active - not quite as effective, but only 59.4% the expense.
Towards the end of the first Utopian Month, after hitting 2500 total Books in Food Science, switch back to putting all the books in Tools for more BE.
Mystics
As soon as my Guilds and Towers came in, I had sufficient Runes to cast Love & Peace. Peasants fill jobs and produce income (at +80% due to Merchant, Banks, and Alchemy) so I want as many workers as possible.
The next hour, I had enough to cast Builder's Boon to help compensate to some degree for the lack of accelerated construction and Fertile Lands to help maintain food for all those hungry little Dwarves.
Entry: Second Utopian Month
Status Report
Your mileage may vary depending on how active you are the first month, but here's a general overview of how things should be looking 24 hours after starting your Province:
At this stage, you should be sitting near 595 acres (including the 5-acre daily bonus) while the last 10 acres arrive in the next few ticks. Most (if not all) Stables are finished, with around 250 Horses, and Armouries are starting to be completed.
There should be around 625,000gc sitting in your Treasury, with 60,000gc gross and 45,000gc net Daily Income. With Fertile Lands goings, you should still be producing a surplus of food and your population is consistently maxxed as new lands come in.
Sciences should look like:You should also have at least 30 Wizards and 2000 Soldiers waiting in the wings by now.
- 2000/2000 +2.7% Income
- 1400/1000 +1.6% BE
- 1500/0 ~ +1.0% Population
- 525/1975 +7.5% Food
Buildings
Now that Population is capped and I no longer need the extra Birth Rates, I can use twenty of my free building credits to Raze them to be rebuilt as Training Grounds.
This is the last construction I'm going to mess with (apart from the daily 5 free acres, which will also be Training Grounds) until after the military pump.
More non-Homes means more jobs and, at this point, more money (still at +80%) - money that's going to be needed soon.
Military
With 40 hours of Protection left, half of the Armouries should be completed - reducing Draft Costs by 26% or better. With Population topped out, Patriotism needs to be cast in order to maintain the influx of Soldiers needed for the military pump coming up.
Sciences
Continued investing in Tools Science until 5000 Books total, then start back in on Housing.
Once there were 6000 Books in Housing, divided the rest of incoming Books evenly between Combat, Thievery, and Magic.
Entry: The Half-Way Point
With 36 hours of Protection left:
* Personality & Race: Merchant, Dwarf
* Acres: 605 Acres
* Money: 1,245,358gc (64,729gc daily income)
* Food: 43,587 bushels
* Runes: 13,044 runes
* Population: 15,626 citizens (25 per acre)
* Peasants: 11,594 (74% Peasants)
* Building Efficiency: 123%
* Wizards: 63 (.104 Raw WpA)
* Soldiers: 3,969 (25.4 % estimated draft rate)
* War Horses: 949
* Science Intelligence
* +3.5% Income (3,826 points + 174 in progress)
* +2.2% Building Effectiveness (2,815 points + 2,185 in progress)
* +1.2% Population Limits (1,965 points + 2,316 in progress)
* +14.1% Food Production (1,878 points + 622 in progress)
* Survey
* 1. Homes: 40 (6.6%)
* 2. Farms: 60 (9.9%)
* 3. Banks: 119 (19.7%) + 16 in progress (2.6%)
* 4. Training Grounds: 25 in progress (4.1%)
* 5. Armouries: 130 (21.5%)
* 6. Guilds: 100 (16.5%)
* 7. Towers: 65 (10.7%)
* 8. Stables: 50 (8.3%)
* Total Acres Built: 564
* In Progress: 41 (6.8%)
* Total Acres: 605
* Un-Built Acres: 0
Recast Patriotism and Fertile Lands as needed.
Nothing else to do ATM except invest Books and horde Gold.
Entry: The Big Pump!
Miltary
With 20 days of Protection left, I have over 6000 Soldiers and 2 million gc at my disposal. Armouries and 123% BE have lowered my Training Costs to 465gc/Berserker and 233gc/Axemen. Taking the reconstruction of my Armouries into account, I cast Inspire Army then train 3500 Berserkers and 1500 Axemen.
My initial plan was to go with 3000 Zerks and 2500 Axemen (which I probably should have done), but I'll be active enough to keep training between now and OOP so I went ahead and took the chance on more offense before razing the Armouries.
Buildings
As it stands, I just barely have enough workers to keep my current Buildings at optimal efficiency, so I'm not going to suffer any loss of income by razing all 130 Armouries - everyone will still have a job.
I build these acres back as 45 more Training Grounds, 45 Barracks, and 40 Watchtowers.
This done, I use the last of my remaining funds to train as many Thieves as I can. Since this cost isn't affected by Armouries, I've lost nothing by waiting until now to do so. And since I already have pretty much all the Soldiers I'll be able to train by the time Protection ends, I drop my Draft Rate to 40% to maintain my workforce (and Income).
Production Status
Stables are filling nicely and will reach capacity just before Protection ends and 100 Wizards are at my call.
Sciences
At this stage, I check in mainly to continue distributing Books between Combat, Crime, and Magic Sciences. Once these three Sciences reach 2500 each, I included Food and began splitting the incoming Books evenly between these four.
As the clock ticks by and I near 800 Thieves in training, I begin to also train Axemen and a few Berserkers. Not all of them will be finished by the time Protection ends, but they'll be finishing while new lands from my first attack are coming in.
Entry: O-Dark-Thirty
Status Report
Zero hours left in Protection. All the safeguards granted you by the Lords of Utopia will soon be gone and you'll be left to fend for yourself. Minutes to go before you cry Havoc! and let slip the dogs of war!
Activity will play a role in your situation, but your Province should be looking somewhere along the lines of:
Personality & Race: Merchant, Dwarf
Acres: 615 Acres
Money: 273gc (52,232gc daily income)
Food: 74,906 bushels
Runes: 29,365 runes
Population: 16,014 citizens (26 per acre)
Peasants: 8,749 (55% Peasants)
Building Efficiency: 123%
Networth: 78,534gc (127gc per acre)
Axemen: 2,136 (10,680 defense)
Berserkers: 3,503 (24,521 offense / 14,012 defense)
War Horses: 3,000
Total Modified Offense: 28,484 (46 per acre)
Practical Offense (100% elites): 28,484 (46 per acre)
Total Modified Defense: 29,605 (48 per acre)
Practical Defense (0% elites): 10,680 (17 per acre)
Thieves: 429 (0.70 per Acre) (from CB)
Wizards: 150 (0.24 per Acre) (from CB)
** Science Effects Summary **
+3.6% Income (4,000 points)
+2.9% Building Effectiveness (5,000 points)
+2.0% Population Limits (6,000 points)
+17.2% Food Production (2,828 points + 1,041 in progress)
+2.8% Gains in Combat (2,382 points + 1,487 in progress)
+11.8% Thievery Effectiveness (2,378 points + 1,491 in progress)
+11.8% Magic Effectiveness & Rune Production (2,379 points + 1,490 in progress)
** Buildings Summary **
1. Homes: 40 (6.5%)
2. Farms: 60 (9.8%)
3. Banks: 140 (22.8%) + 5 in progress (0.8%)
4. Training Grounds: 70 (11.4%)
5. Barracks: 45 (7.3%)
6. Guilds: 100 (16.3%)
7. Towers: 65 (10.6%)
8. Watch Towers: 40 (6.5%)
9. Stables: 50 (8.1%)
Total Acres Built: 610
In Progress: 5 (0.8%)
Total Acres: 615
Un-Built Acres: 0
** Summary **
Non-Peasants: 39.0%
Efficiency (SOM): 118.6% off, 105.0% def, 100.0% raw
Net Offense at Home (from Utopia): 28,484
Net Defense at Home (from Utopia): 29,605
Modified Attack Points (calculated): 35,577
Modified Defense Points (calculated): 25,927
** Standing Army (At Home) **
Axemen: 2,136 (12,666 defense)
Berserkers: 3,503 (29,082 offense / 16,618 defense)
War-Horses: 3,000 (up to 3,000 additional offense)
Total Attack Points: 32,640
Total Defense Points: 25,927
** Troops in Training **
Axemen: 590
Next 19 hours: 74 74 73 75 28 29 23 24 25 21 23 25 21 23 16 19 10 3 4
Berserkers: 81
Next 19 hours: 4 5 5 4 4 5 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 5 5 4 4 5 1
Thieves: 376
Next 13 hours: 44 42 43 42 43 35 32 26 24 17 14 9 5
Mystics
With exposure imminent, I want to get my defensive spells active:
* Nature's Blessing to protect against Storms and Droughts
* Magic Shield to give my scant few Wizards a better chance of defending
* Minor Protection for a general defensive boost
I also want to make sure to keep Inspire Army going to reduce military expenses. I have enough food reserves that I can forego Fertile Lands for a while. Too much food will only draw unwanted attention, and Food Science is on the rise again.
Buildings
As the last of the Buildings finish construction, they now require more workers than I have to remain at optimum efficiency. Fortunately BE has inertia, so I have a bit of leeway here before it decreases significantly. Combat losses during my first attack will create vacancies for new Peasants to fill, which will bring my buildings back up to optimal.
Military
I've been nudging my Draft Rate back and forth to ensure I can train all the Soldiers I have and have all the Soldiers I can train. Military Efficiency, too, has inertia, so I'll want to raise my Pay Rate to 200% as soon as possible to start it climbing.
Now to hunt for likely targets to attack as soon as Protection drops......
Though some strats/builds/etc may prove more effective, coming OOP withain't exactly shabby.
- 40.5 OpA (with 3000 Zerks)
- 48.5 DpA (Zerks Home)
- 23 DpA (3000 Zerks out)
Allow me to reiterate... While I've done my best to present the experience of developing a Province that leaves Protection ready to leap into the fray, it is in no way to be construed as the passing of stone tablets. This is merely one potential example of a reasonably effective Attacker. Your particular goals - as well as those of your Kingdom's - may not coincide with what is presented here.
You may prefer a different Race and/or Personality, or perhaps opt for a Mage/Thief - which doesn't attack at all. This merely illustrates the inner workings of Utopia and presents to the novice player a reasonable expectation of their first three days experience with the game. Hopefully, this has provided enough insight that a newcomer can work out a reasonable plan for developing their Province on their own.
Be certain to participate in your Kingdom's Forums - both to contribute as part of a team and to receive more specific advice (and perhaps aid shipments). Some Kingdoms are very businesslike in this game, and some are less than tactful about it, but most of them have years of experience to volunteer to new players who are willing to listen.
Welcome to Utopia: The World of Legends.
And prepare for battle!!!!