Dragon Choice

[tehboomer]

Is it ever a good idea to use a dragon other than Ruby? If so, in what situation(s)?

[Palem]

Every war/situation is different. Every dragon has its use. If you're trying to push TM advantage then saph is much better than ruby, for example

[tehboomer]

Or when the enemy T/Ms are just straight up stronger than your own, and a force to be feared?

Emerald for when the enemy has a lot of d-specs and/or a lot of Orcs, to keep their landgrabs lower or kill their defenses if they have too many d-specs?

Ruby if you can push your singles into doubles, or doubles into triples, etc. Or to keep the enemy from breaking a specific subsection of your provs?

But what about Gold? It seems fairly useless throughout. When would you use that one?

[MyNameIsMatija]

Gold can starve KDs etc. I think people use it to finish off a losing KD faster or it could be used with gluttony coverage to starve people of their food supplies. Lower BE means a lot of other things are worse as well. I wouldn't call it useless, maybe outshone by other choices in different situations?

[tehboomer]

Aye, I suppose useless was a bit harsh. And food reduction is really the only significant thing I could come up with as well. Sure, it'll lower income a bit, rune production, etc..but that amount would be so incredibly insignificant that you'd be better off just sending a Ruby to break them more easily or what have you.

That said, you make a great point. Using it as a final blow could be devastating after a long war. If you're on IRL day 4 of a war and it comes down to attrition, a Gold definitely could, as you said, starve them out.

[MyNameIsMatija]

Well, before Ruby was buffed I think the BE reduction on Forts had more of an impact on TM defense than an actual Ruby dragon, guess Ruby was sort of useless.

[Darkz Azn]

Ruby if you can stay UB with it ...

[tehboomer]

What is "UB"?

[Palem]

Unbreakable

[Bart of Sparta]

Is it ever a good idea to use a dragon other than Ruby? If so, in what situation(s)?

Gold: Starvation, AW-runs
Sapphire: General op-advantage (facilitating core-to-core NS)
Ruby: Create unbreakables. Unbreakable = cannot be broken straight-with an attack other than Conquest. There are different types of UB though.
Emerald: Very effective if running Orcs vs an UD Kingdom. UDs usually don't run hospitals, so the extra casualties (which sync with Orc casualties) drops their defense very quickly (7-8%/hit). Same time the UDs will have less incoming so will desert more post-chain. Can also be used against avian-KDs to kill their off faster.

[MyNameIsMatija]

Only nub UD don't run hosp in war though.

[Bart of Sparta]

Only nub UD don't run hosp in war though.

That's about 95% of the server. Anyways, people who take UD over Orc are nub already :/

[noobium]

Ruby is generally useful, not just for making unbreakables.

Whatever you send, you have to ask yourself how that dragon is going to help your offensive goals, and send it at the right time (otherwise the dragon is slain before you get any use out of it). Ruby is straightforward, send just before your wave of hits, kingdoms either tank and suffer -10% ME or slay and lose defense anyway. Generally you're picking dragons for offensive goals rather than defensive ones, at least at first.

Gold is probably the worst dragon for finishing off a weakened opponent. Ruby or Sapphire is loads better.

[tehboomer]

All right, now I have other questions unrelated to dragons due to the conversation here.

I haven't been running Hospitals in war, and the defense losses are ridiculous.

So, I'm curious, what is a decent general-purpose war build strat?

I've been running some variation of this:
10% Homes
25% Banks
10% TGs
15% Rax
10% Guilds
5% Towers
10% WTs
10% Stables
5% Dungeons

As an active heavy attacker, I get chained often. Also, UD/WH. How could this be better optimized?

[MyNameIsMatija]

You don't need banks in most war situations, homes are iffy, dungeons 1-2% is enough -> swap those for more WTs TGs Rax Hosp, whichever you prefer the most, also if your KD is running GS get those as well, Forts might be good too.