wich is better for single player

[B man]

this or conquest asking as a new player

[SaD-82]

Both.
It just depends on what gameplay mechanic you like more: A province based conquest and dominance (Dominions) or a more RPG-like site conquering (CoE).
Both games are great for single-play.

[Draken]

Yep, both.

It's not really: "This one is for single player, this one is for multiplayer".

It's these are two games that while looking similar, play quite differently and are in different categories.
Just because you enjoy one of them doesn't mean you will like the other, or vice versa.
I would definitely recommend trying them both, as both are excellent games in their own way.

[boozermonkey]

The two use the same lore but it ends there. They are very different games with different focus. I much prefer dom6 over CoE but that’s just because I like the complexity and strategic type games where CoE is more like an exploration and small scale empire building game.

[Dezzmont]

CoE's lore is actually fairly different than dominions. The worlds have similar vibes, and similar elements do show up, but Elysium is... pretty buckwild in the lore if you ever take the time to peek at the 'history of Elysium' in the libraries across the ages.

Dominions is essentially a cyclical power struggle across a massive world featuring gods that regularly create mythological beings casually before vanishing. Meta-planar events are rare (though the nexus now exists in dominions, which it didn't before) and overall the world is very populated and is relatively civilized, even in the early age.

Elysium was colonized by space travelers who essentially crash landed there, and even at the height of civilization is sparsely populated and small, and the world at its core is... wrong and grotesque in subtle unsettling ways). There is no singular greater power like the Pantokrator (El can maybe sort of end up like this, but its hard to tell what El even really is, and its very likely that El is merely unleashing things that exist outside of their control, as it is canonical that unlike in Dominions there are multiple gods, and not just pretender gods), and nothing implies any sort of cycle happening. Magic works fundamentally differently, with schools not being based on overarching paths so much as the method one works their magic, and even relatively 'benign' schools of magic like enchantment, once they grow powerful enough, have a subtle sense of wrongness about them. Elysium actually fairly small, and only ever has been host to one nation and only for about half its history (though various lords have competed on it in some ages), but it is close to a bunch of other dimensions, resulting in things like the infernal realm at some points just ruling the planet at some points for example. While there is a divine/celestial force, its not monolithic, and exists in a very strange symbiosis with hell. Demons in CoE are also sometimes implied to be benevolent to reality, or at least important to its functions, and are literally seen as less evil and dangerous than the native wildlife of Elysium, though there is a heavy element of unreliable narration at play, as we know the emperor funded at least some of the people who write the biased lore bits, and the emperors of Elysium love to play with demonology.

Overall the dominions universe is more 'orderly' and, while its an awful place filled with apocalyptic magic, is one with an arc of history that trends towards things stabilizing, save for the pretender wars. There are rules, X happens because of Y... There is something deeply, truly wrong with Elysium in a way that is less horrific and more... humorously unsettling... its a world where deer are carnivorous, with an extreme level of entropy as income locations are destroyed, anthills are made, portals to hell open, ect.

[Sombre]

I prefer Dom6 for single player, but they're very different experiences.

[Xuande]

I think Dominions is the better series in theory, but the sheer micro required that CoE doesn't require makes CoE the more enjoyable play for me on average.

While the AI in both is lacking, CoE hides it better and the handicaps do more to make the AI relevant.

If you don't mind a weak AI or prefer it, Dom's value rises. If micro bothers you, CoE's value rises. CoE tends to have faster runs, even when discounting potential early deaths that tend to happen there from high variance map RNG.

[David McMurdo]

I always thought CoE was a role-playing game and was disappointed to learn that it's just a smaller scale strategy game. I'd love these developers to develop a rogue-like RPG in the world of Dominions.

[Emphyrio]

CoE is very simplistic and small-scale in comparison to Dominions, and even now it still feels like an unfinished early access game. Play Dominions first and only get CoE if you are very hungry for "more" Dominions. What CoE has over Dominions are things like recruitable boats, siege weapons, more battle map variety, lots more planes to visit. And you can do things like chop down forests or start forest fires. But there are some annoying things, like recruitment for many factions is based heavily on RNG for whether you can even get the basic units you want.

[Draken]

Originally posted by Emphyrio:

CoE is very simplistic and small-scale in comparison to Dominions, and even now it still feels like an unfinished early access game. Play Dominions first and only get CoE if you are very hungry for "more" Dominions. What CoE has over Dominions are things like recruitable boats, siege weapons, more battle map variety, lots more planes to visit. And you can do things like chop down forests or start forest fires. But there are some annoying things, like recruitment for many factions is based heavily on RNG for whether you can even get the basic units you want.

I am heavily disputing this take on CoE.

While the basic gameplay loop is very simple, the execution and content is probably on pair with dominions for depth. I have been playing the game for years and still find new interactions, events and units.

It's also not a "more dominions". It's very different in just about all but looks. If you are coming to CoE expecting more Dominions, you will be disappointed. If you are trying to play CoE like Dominions, you will be utterly confused.

CoE is more a more random setting and dealing with unfavorable situations or not getting the right summons or recruitment options is a big part of the game. Your first enemy in CoE is the world itself, the second are the AI enemies you added.

This also makes for some very interesting, hilarious and sometimes frustrating stories to tell about the game. Which is part of it's charm.

[MaGicBush]

I prefer CoE to Dominions honestly. While I prefer the more complex Dom series, the AIs horribleness is better hidden in CoE. It's not competitive at all in Dominion games.

[eddieballgame]

Both CoE & DOM are excellent for 'sp' & 'mp'...imho. I find CoE to be a faster paced/less work (not simplistic) to play via 'mp' than DOM; & as Sombre stated...a very different experience.

[Level10Cybermancer]

Both can be very enjoyable SP but CoE is more tailored to SP I'd say. There's much more of an element of exploration between all of the different planes and such.