1. If I had 1000 bpa, a large part of that is going to mil/crime/channeling. Those are the most valuable sciences by end-game, since their bonuses stay with your province regardless of how pumped you are.Originally Posted by Leonidas
The really important thing to do is know when to raise particular sciences, rather than giving someone a set ratio and telling them to stick to that no matter what. It also depends on whether you are playing in a growth kingdom, warring kingdom, or casual kingdom, and whether you're starting early age.
Finally, of course it depends on race and function, though all sciences are going to be useful for most provinces.
If I have no particular idea what I'm going for and I have 1000 bpa around YR6 or so (and assuming of course I'm in Generic Warring Kingdom), I'd probably have 150 bpa in everything except food, and 100 bpa in food. For a warring kingdom, econ sciences don't have much value after 200 bpa or so, and crime/channeling are important for every province (except non-Rogue Undead). If I'm Avian, Orc, or Undead, I'd get military science early and learn attack provs that would prioritize housing, assuming that is possible. If I'm Dwarf, Tools and Food have a lot more value than for anyone else, more than their racial attributes would suggest (because if you're playing Dwarf effectively, you're taking full advantage of BE manipulation). Earlier in the age, alchemy and housing have more value than later on, and by YR10-11 a warring kingdom should just go exclusively for mil/crime/channeling (and maybe tools). However, 1000 bpa at mid-age is about a good point to start levelling out your sciences.
If you can though, it is better to bank science books for crime and channeling science, and dump them only once you have a war. That way, you minimize how many books you lose, and you have the choice to not raise crime/channeling if there is no need to.
Also note that in order to compare your provinces' viability in the long term, total books is more important than bpa. Acres (at least at warring tier) are volatile, and 1000 bpa at 1k acres is no good if you win and grow. While you still need to pay attention to bpa if you grow lots, even if you're small you should be looking at 2.5mil to 3mil books by late age (and that's a relatively small level; but these days there are so many people who haven't learned how to science, and thus fewer learn targets. :( ) If you grow past 2000 acres you need more, and you would probably want 1000 bpa by late age if at all possible.
2. No. Mil science is effective at all times, housing science is only effective when your province is at or above its maximum population. Housing science is important for economic reasons more than overall military efficiency. Again, if I'm in Generic Warring Kingdom, I probably want equal investment in both, but if I'm Avian or Orc military science has an even higher priority. There are plenty of provinces that will pump housing for me, after all.
Usually, I get my housing books from war win science and learns, and spend most of my invested books on other categories. It depends on when though - after the first war win is a good time to get good alchemy/housing sciences, especially if your win came in YR1 or early YR2. Once you get about 80 bpa in housing, it's a good idea to level out the others before your next war, then use the second war win reward to jack up housing again. After that depends on where you want to go, whether you have time to raise science or want to go straight to warring again.
The early levels of science are the most important, and there is a lot of room for varied and interesting strategies in the early age.
Also - sweet Jesus, run at least active science from freeze time onward. If you run minimal science oop you are just shooting yourself in the foot. My preference is accelerated-intensive or better, but sometimes investing in troops and growth is more important.
Reply With Quote