How Do I Know if a Region is Already Settled?

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Hi all,

I'm completely new to this game and, after doing the tutorial, I just started my first game. I'm on turn 19 and just finished creating my first settler. I want to send him out to a region to build a city, but I obviously have not had time to scout the entirety of every region around me.

So, how do I know if a region has already been settled by another faction? I noticed that some regions have a white border, while a couple of others have gray borders. Does this have something to do with it? I just don't want to send my settler to a region, only to find out he can't build a city there because another faction already has, as I'd then be forced to waste several more turns (and put my settler in more danger!) moving my settler to another region.

Thanks very much in advance for any help. This seems like a very helpful and friendly community!

[FerrusPugnum]

usually if an area is settled it will be the colour of the faction that owns it.

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Originally posted by FerrusPugnum:

usually if an area is settled it will be the colour of the faction that owns it.

Thanks for the reply. Interesting. I'm playing my game on pangaea with six total factions and all settings on normal. How many regions are usually on a map like this? Is it likely any of my surrounding regions are settled by someone else yet as early as turn 19? A Drakken just flew through my region a couple of turns ago, so they must be nearby, but I'm not seeing any different color in any of the regions, and I've explored at least part of every region that surrounds mine.

And why are some of the borders for the surrounding regions white, while others are gray? I'm not seeing any other colors (except my own in my region).

[LeaderEnemyBoss]

It can happen that two factions spawn relatively close to each other on a normal map size, yes. you can select "spread" spawn locations pregame to reduce the probability of it happening (or chose a larger map size).

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Originally posted by LeaderEnemyBoss:

It can happen that two factions spawn relatively close to each other on a normal map size, yes. you can select "spread" spawn locations pregame to reduce the probability of it happening (or chose a larger map size).

Thanks for making me aware of the spread option. That seems like it would have a lot of interesting effects, from making war more difficult (for me and the AI), to making regions easier to settle, to, I'm sure, a ton of other things I can't think of because I'm still early in my first game ever.

If you or anyone else has any advice regarding the settings before the game, please do let me know! There are so damn many of them that I found it too daunting to go through them all and simply left them alone.

[jofu]

Originally posted by Moving Pictures:

If you or anyone else has any advice regarding the settings before the game, please do let me know! There are so damn many of them that I found it too daunting to go through them all and simply left them alone.

They mostly contain landscape tweaks for the map. Understanding their influence on the game would require some experience.
For example - adding extra rivers would not impede your exploration much(like it was in civ games). Instead it would increase the dust/food income and make researching the related techs more appealing - which in turn might mean you'd have to leave some other techs for another playthrough. I think, Broken lords had a trait for extra dust from water tiles. There are also some races and units that move(a lot) faster on rivers. Setting rivers below average might mean a slower start for most of the players.
Lakes work in a similar way - but they are impassable during land battles(by non-fliers) which can be used by ranged units(like Wild walkers starting unit).
Mountains might block your vision and become the problem for them instead. They're also the only landsdcape type which gives no benefit to any faction(resource-wise), though they can be used to create more chokepoints in battles or make sieges a bit more challenging.
Climate settings could be used to create more desert/frozen terrain on the map. Desert terrain usually provides dust. Sometimes it may provide food but not as much as plains. It seems to be most advantageous for Broken lords since,unlike others, they don't care about food. Roving clans might have a perk for extra dust from desert tiles(not sure about that one). Sometimes desert tiles give no resources at all. Frozen tiles work similarly - they provide science instead of dust. There are also tundra tiles which may provide food or have a forest on themselves(which gives production). Vaulters have a perk for extra science on terrain with science(which are tundra, frozen, most anomalies and a few others rare enough for me to forget them). In my experience, frozen tiles are more likely to provide no bonuses then the desert ones. But you could play Kapaku and turn it all into lava...
Other settings work in a similar way - they provide more opportunities for some races/playstyles, while making it somewhat more challenging for the others - Necrophages starting in the desert could have some trouble at first, since they get less food from farming as is. But you could also set a local analogue for raging barbarians and they'd start getting extra food somewhat earlier then usual. Also, with this settings on AI on normal(and below) could be destryed by minors without you ever meeting it.

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Originally posted by jofu:

Originally posted by Moving Pictures:

If you or anyone else has any advice regarding the settings before the game, please do let me know! There are so damn many of them that I found it too daunting to go through them all and simply left them alone.

They mostly contain landscape tweaks for the map. Understanding their influence on the game would require some experience.
For example - adding extra rivers would not impede your exploration much(like it was in civ games). Instead it would increase the dust/food income and make researching the related techs more appealing - which in turn might mean you'd have to leave some other techs for another playthrough. I think, Broken lords had a trait for extra dust from water tiles. There are also some races and units that move(a lot) faster on rivers. Setting rivers below average might mean a slower start for most of the players.
Lakes work in a similar way - but they are impassable during land battles(by non-fliers) which can be used by ranged units(like Wild walkers starting unit).
Mountains might block your vision and become the problem for them instead. They're also the only landsdcape type which gives no benefit to any faction(resource-wise), though they can be used to create more chokepoints in battles or make sieges a bit more challenging.
Climate settings could be used to create more desert/frozen terrain on the map. Desert terrain usually provides dust. Sometimes it may provide food but not as much as plains. It seems to be most advantageous for Broken lords since,unlike others, they don't care about food. Roving clans might have a perk for extra dust from desert tiles(not sure about that one). Sometimes desert tiles give no resources at all. Frozen tiles work similarly - they provide science instead of dust. There are also tundra tiles which may provide food or have a forest on themselves(which gives production). Vaulters have a perk for extra science on terrain with science(which are tundra, frozen, most anomalies and a few others rare enough for me to forget them). In my experience, frozen tiles are more likely to provide no bonuses then the desert ones. But you could play Kapaku and turn it all into lava...
Other settings work in a similar way - they provide more opportunities for some races/playstyles, while making it somewhat more challenging for the others - Necrophages starting in the desert could have some trouble at first, since they get less food from farming as is. But you could also set a local analogue for raging barbarians and they'd start getting extra food somewhat earlier then usual. Also, with this settings on AI on normal(and below) could be destryed by minors without you ever meeting it.

Thanks very much for the comprehensive reply! I really appreciate it.

This game poses so many questions for new players. The Civilization games feel very straightforward in comparison when it comes to figuring out what to do and when. In this game, I really can't figure out when or how much to expand my empire, when and how much to expand my army, when to buy heroes, etc.

I'm on about turn 40 and I've only built one military unit, which is the base tier one unit. From the very beginning of the game, every time my army has ended up in battle with a roaming enemy army, my odds have been 50/50 or less, despite my having more units and a hero leading the army (the other army never had a hero). I don't understand why this has been the case, even at the very beginning. At about turn eighteen I ended up in a battle against two Drakkan units with my hero, two marine units, and my militia, but my odds were 50/50. Oh, for reference, I'm playing as the Vaulters. It's difficult to explore the map because my marine units seem so weak and are in constant danger of suddenly encountering any sort of roaming army.

I'm also unsure whether to have my hero be a governor or not. And when should I start buying heroes?

Thanks again for the great advice.

[LeaderEnemyBoss]

Fighting:
In the beginning you should always try to fight near your cities. Cities generate militia units for free, they can be a huge boon. Keep in mind: Every army and every city that is in the battle zone can join as reinforcements. Exploration in far away lands should usually be done by cheap scout units that dont cost much (your starting units can serve as these) and that you are willing to loose. You can always run away from fights and should do so frequently with your scouts. Their job is to explore, search ruins for treasure, and accept quests (if you have the parley tech which you should research as first tech in most cases).

Also keep in mind: if you learn how to use terrain to your advantage - especially with good ranged units like marines - you can win fights way above your weightr class. Use choke points and block them with your hero. As long as your marines survive, your hero will always be revived after a battle. Use that to your advantage. And dont forgot to upgrade equipment in later eras.

I typically dont build any units until I either expect a war (either from someone else or from me) or need new units because I lost all my scouts or have a specific objective in mind (Urkan...).

When to build heros:
Governors are extremely strong and you want them early. I typically try to buy one in era1. However depening on your DLC this can be easier or harder. With inferno and an early eclipse its easy. Otherwise youll have to save up money (search many ruins!). Second hero depends heavilky on my financial situation. If its bad I typically wait until era3, when you can get two very good dust producing techs.

When to settle:
You typically want to settle, when your Approval is high enough so that another city doesnt tank it too much. Ideally you want to stay on "Fervent" all the time, but "Happy" is okay too. since new cities also make empire plans and luxury boosters more expensive, you usually try to time it so you settle right after a new empire plan/luxury booster has been bought. Typically this means you settle your second and sometimes third city on turn 20 (normal speed), next window would be turn 40, etc..

Also check out the wiki, its very helpful: https://endlesslegend.gamepedia.com/Approval

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Originally posted by LeaderEnemyBoss:

Fighting:
In the beginning you should always try to fight near your cities. Cities generate militia units for free, they can be a huge boon. Keep in mind: Every army and every city that is in the battle zone can join as reinforcements. Exploration in far away lands should usually be done by cheap scout units that dont cost much (your starting units can serve as these) and that you are willing to loose. You can always run away from fights and should do so frequently with your scouts. Their job is to explore, search ruins for treasure, and accept quests (if you have the parley tech which you should research as first tech in most cases).

Also keep in mind: if you learn how to use terrain to your advantage - especially with good ranged units like marines - you can win fights way above your weightr class. Use choke points and block them with your hero. As long as your marines survive, your hero will always be revived after a battle. Use that to your advantage. And dont forgot to upgrade equipment in later eras.

I typically dont build any units until I either expect a war (either from someone else or from me) or need new units because I lost all my scouts or have a specific objective in mind (Urkan...).

When to build heros:
Governors are extremely strong and you want them early. I typically try to buy one in era1. However depening on your DLC this can be easier or harder. With inferno and an early eclipse its easy. Otherwise youll have to save up money (search many ruins!). Second hero depends heavilky on my financial situation. If its bad I typically wait until era3, when you can get two very good dust producing techs.

When to settle:
You typically want to settle, when your Approval is high enough so that another city doesnt tank it too much. Ideally you want to stay on "Fervent" all the time, but "Happy" is okay too. since new cities also make empire plans and luxury boosters more expensive, you usually try to time it so you settle right after a new empire plan/luxury booster has been bought. Typically this means you settle your second and sometimes third city on turn 20 (normal speed), next window would be turn 40, etc..

Also check out the wiki, its very helpful: https://endlesslegend.gamepedia.com/Approval

Awesome, thanks so much for all this information. I thought it was fine that my cities have been merely "content" ever since I settled the second city (around about turn 20). I'm not sure why they're merely "content," since I've only built a single borough. I haven't used any of my luxury resource boosters because I only have two and figured I should save them for something like winter or when I expand further and people get more unhappy.

Anyway, thanks very much again.

[LeaderEnemyBoss]

Each city increases expansion disapproval (see the wiki page I linked). Build happiness buildings like sewer systems or market place. Also, in most circumstances its bad to stockpile luxuries, they onlxy get more expensive the more cities you get. Only reason to not use them is when the effect doesnt help you currently (like +fortification when you are not in a war). But even then it can be worth it for the Approval alone (when you reach a new treshold) or for specific legendary deeds if you have the Guardians dlc.

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Originally posted by LeaderEnemyBoss:

Each city increases expansion disapproval (see the wiki page I linked). Build happiness buildings like sewer systems or market place. Also, in most circumstances its bad to stockpile luxuries, they onlxy get more expensive the more cities you get. Only reason to not use them is when the effect doesnt help you currently (like +fortification when you are not in a war). But even then it can be worth it for the Approval alone (when you reach a new treshold) or for specific legendary deeds if you have the Guardians dlc.

Excellent advice, thanks.

I just found out how important quests are, and particularly your faction's quests. I hadn't finished the first quest (I simply forgot about it) and now that I did, my next quest is to build extractors on two strategic resources. Unfortunately, I've already built three on all the strategic resources in my two regions! I would have completed two quests by now if I hadn't forgotten about the first. This game is so deep and will take a lot of patience, but I'm glad I got it. I started to get really bored with Civilization VI, as every game eventually becomes exactly like all the others -- even if you're going for a different victory type -- and the only thing increasing the difficulty seems to do is make the AI magically progress through the tech and culture trees quicker.

I'm really looking forward to this studio's Humankind, as I'm hoping it will be what I want the Civilization games to be. Though I imagine the current pandemic might affect the game's release date, which is currently listed simply as "2020."

[jofu]

Originally posted by Moving Pictures:

I just found out how important quests are, and particularly your faction's quests. I hadn't finished the first quest (I simply forgot about it) and now that I did, my next quest is to build extractors on two strategic resources. Unfortunately, I've already built three on all the strategic resources in my two regions!

Well, there is a trick you might be using a lot(especially as a vaulter). You can settle a province with the resources you need, build(preferably buyout) extractors and salt the earth on a turn before the next empire plan. Your settler will be preserved that way so you'll be able to resettle the region after you approve your plan and use any luxuries(and strategics, since you're a vaulter). Repeat until the end of the game. Just keep them safe and don't let the population grow.
And yeah, faction quests are important - some of them reward you with unique techs(effectively extra traits). Also there are tons of guides - both race-specific and on general stuff(like this one) - which contain the info you won't find in the game. I suggest you start with the town-building one(which explains borrow placement) https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=320130366
That way you'll be able to see if the region is worth settling for good or you should keep it an extractor hub forever.

[LeaderEnemyBoss]

Note: using the salt-exploit is prone to break faction quests. I wouldnt recommend it for beginners tbh.

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Thanks very much, guys. I started a new game on easy difficulty yesterday (I started my first game on normal, which is apparently very difficult in this game). In my first game, my Vaulters "chose" glassteel as their "holy resource," but they chose titanium in this one. I don't understand how or why; I had just assumed, based on my experience from the first game, that glassteel was the Vaulter's holy resource. Now I'm stuck with only 4 titanium and over 100 glassteel. Apparently, titanium is much more difficult to find than glassteel.

Can someone explain to me how the holy resource works? I've read several threads about it, with people saying it's chosen when you choose to use a strategic resource as a booster, but I never chose to do that with titanium. One of the threads also said that (1) you can change your holy resource by activating a different one as a booster, and (2) that each city should produce +5 of the holy resource you pick, but that isn't happening. The thread in question is here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/289130/discussions/0/613936039595612377/

I'm sorry for all the questions. I am trying to find the answers on my own, but some are hard to find and with others, like the ones above, I seem to be getting information that conflicts with my experience.

Thanks a lot for your time and patience. This seems like a really helpful community and I definitely appreciate it.

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Originally posted by jofu:

Originally posted by Moving Pictures:

I just found out how important quests are, and particularly your faction's quests. I hadn't finished the first quest (I simply forgot about it) and now that I did, my next quest is to build extractors on two strategic resources. Unfortunately, I've already built three on all the strategic resources in my two regions!

Well, there is a trick you might be using a lot(especially as a vaulter). You can settle a province with the resources you need, build(preferably buyout) extractors and salt the earth on a turn before the next empire plan. Your settler will be preserved that way so you'll be able to resettle the region after you approve your plan and use any luxuries(and strategics, since you're a vaulter). Repeat until the end of the game. Just keep them safe and don't let the population grow.
And yeah, faction quests are important - some of them reward you with unique techs(effectively extra traits). Also there are tons of guides - both race-specific and on general stuff(like this one) - which contain the info you won't find in the game. I suggest you start with the town-building one(which explains borrow placement) https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=320130366
That way you'll be able to see if the region is worth settling for good or you should keep it an extractor hub forever.

Thanks, that guide is very helpful, but I do have a question it doesn't answer: when I built a new district on top of a borough (say, a generator, or the legendary museum), does that hurt the borough, or is it considered an adjacent district? When I built one of my districts, my only option was to build it in a way where it overlapped with one of my borough tiles.

EDIT: another question just came to me. I searched a ruin and it gave me a quest about an old weapon stuck in the rocks. The quest text says something to the effect of, "it may be worthwhile to get this weapon," but the quest reward is listed as 20 quicksilver (or some other resource, I don't remember which one). Is the reward only the one listed, or do I also get the mysterious weapon if I complete the quest?

[Gilmoy]

1. Vaulters/Mezari holy resource is any 1 strategic resource. You do activate it as if it's a luxury booster, by explicitly clicking on it in the Empire screen, top center. Like any booster, each activation gives its bonus for 10 turns. (Other factions can't activate a strategic resource as a booster at all.)

2. Your cities don't produce any strategic resource. It's the other way around: the cost per activation increases linearly with the number of cities you own. That cost is (n+1) * 5 for n cities, so 10 glassteel or titanium at start of game, scaling up to 50-60 adamantian per activation in Era IV if you have 9-11 cities by then. Luxury boosters cost exactly the same.

3. For Vaulters/Mezari only, your most recently activated strategic resource is also your holy resource. This status lasts beyond the 10-turn duration, until you explicitly activate a different one. So you could pay 10 titanium early on to establish titanium as your holy resource, equip a bunch of Technolover units with titanium gear, and then never activate any other strategic resource for the next 80 turns. Titanium is still your holy resource for that entire duration, which affects the resource costs for some of your faction techs and accessories.

Note that your faction's Teleportation ability requires that your holy resource also be active (within its 10-turn duration). Later on, when you're fighting a war, you may need to (re-)activate your holy resource, or activate a different one, solely to enable teleportation.

~~~~

4. You can't actually build a new district "on top of" a borough. Borough Streets is a district. Legendary and pearl buildings are also districts. They're all mutually exclusive: if any of them are already in a tile, you can't build another one there. Extractors and watchtowers are not districts, so they can freely coexist with any district, and they don't affect each other's upgrade paths in any way.

Note that Borough Streets, and City Center itself, automatically creates a free extractor of the right type whenever you build it in a tile that has a luxury or strategic resource (if you have the extractor's tech), as explicitly stated on the Borough Streets card. The only possible collision here is that if you use Borough Streets on a resource tile for its free extractor, then you cannot later build Strategic Intensifier or Luxury Intensifier on that tile, because they're also districts, and the tile will already have Borough Streets as its only district.

5. That particular quest gives you a weapon (crossbow), which you can equip onto any Ranged hero, for a small cost in glassteel. You also get whatever reward is stated in the quest itself, in your case 20 quicksilver.