Is Raiding really bad?

[Aazo5]

I've heard so much about how raiding is overpowered and annoying. Is it really that bad, and also how long does the raiding happen for? Will there still be raids by the mid or end game?

Also, one more question I have is about the new intrigue mechanics. Are claims actually that easy to spam like I've heard?

Sorry for the questions, but I really want the expansion but I'm worried about these two things that I heard about.

[Apsalar]

I started a game as Castile, within 2 mins all the southern coastal provinces had been raided, losing me 100 ducats, sailers and -25% tax income

[Aazo5]

Originally posted by Rake:

I started a game as Castile, within 2 mins all the southern coastal provinces had been raided, losing me 100 ducats, sailers and -25% tax income

And there was nothing that you could do?

[Scottx125]

Originally posted by aazo5:

Originally posted by Rake:

I started a game as Castile, within 2 mins all the southern coastal provinces had been raided, losing me 100 ducats, sailers and -25% tax income

And there was nothing that you could do?

Nope, nothing. And the annoying thing is as soon as its raidable again it pretty much gets instantly raided...

[Aazo5]

How long does this go on for? The entire game?

[shoki]

You have to send ships to hunt pirates there. You can't do much about 1province beeing looted though, because the modifier only applies on the next month. But well 1province beeing looted isn't that much.

[Krozan]

You can spam claim yes, and its easy to protect from raid

[Apsalar]

Originally posted by aazo5:

Originally posted by Rake:

I started a game as Castile, within 2 mins all the southern coastal provinces had been raided, losing me 100 ducats, sailers and -25% tax income

And there was nothing that you could do?

No, they just instantly deplete the loot bar of the province, think they can only do it every 10 years

[Aazo5]

So basically it's a no buy right now? If so that's disappointing as I wanted to pick it up for the trade leagues and naval mechanics.

[Apsalar]

The raiding is only done by north african nations with the berber ideas, so playing anywhere else is ok, I also quite like the new claims and spy networks

[Aazo5]

Originally posted by Rake:

The raiding is only done by north african nations with the berber ideas, so playing anywhere else is ok, I also quite like the new claims and spy networks

Well unfortunately I'm planning on playing a game as Castile, considering that's my favorite country and that it can experience a lot of the DLC. But if the raids are really gamebreaking and continue happening throughout the whole game then I think I won't get it.

[Apsalar]

Yeah, it is really annoying, you can put them off by having ships hunt pirates but if you stop them from doing that for even a second, maybe like attacking enemy ships in a war, they auto raid everything, to completely stop it you need 24/7 pirate hunting ships

[Goncourt]

OR ... OR!!!

http://i.imgur.com/wTkLzcc.jpg

[Gaan Cathal]

Originally posted by aazo5:

And there was nothing that you could do?

There absolutely was something he could do. Sending ships to patrol will stop raids. When at peace you can get away with one ship per node, even.

[Guomindang]

Originally posted by MindmyBool:

OR ... OR!!!

http://i.imgur.com/wTkLzcc.jpg

Not enough, gotta take Tlemencen and Tunis as well.

[The_Dead_Artist]

Yeah, raiding only happens once every 10 years. Only Berber nations can do it, and only within 3 sea tiles of their nearest cored province. They can only raid Christian nations. A raid will deplete your entire loot bar for a given province giving the same effects as when a province is looted during war. Only coastal provinces can be raided and you can stop the raiding by making sure you have a few ships hunting pirates in every trade node where you have coastal provinces. I'd need some more playtesting with the mechanic before I start shouting foul of the feature though. Messing around with Morocco it was a nice early game boost to my economy which allowed me to fund a war of conquest against Tlemcen without having to worry about an early loan. Doesn't seem as overpowered to me as others are claiming. You'll be competing against all the other Berber nations for raiding spoils every 10 years, meaning you may well miss the opportunity if you're not paying attention. Historically Berber piracy was OP anyway. Over a million people were lost to Berber raids over the centuries, to the extent that Italian, Iberian and French coastlines saw very little settlement until the 19th century when it took a concerted effort by multiple nations to end the threat. And let's face it. This is really only an early game problem. By mid game most of the Berber nations will be taken over by the Mamluks and the Iberian nations anyway, so if you're playing an at risk nation just factor raids into your early game stategy and devote a few ships to pirate hunting. From what I've seen Trade Leagues are WAAAAAY more overpowered than Berber raids. As a leader of a trade league you'll have more money than any Berber nation can muster and be virtually untouchable if a nation is foolish enough to DOW you. If you're Venice with 10 trade league members and a Polish ally the Ottomons can't touch you.