Which version of Dominions is the best?

[Crysanthium]

I'm new here, ready to throw my life away with these games, seems like.

Want to know what the general consensus for the best game is in the Dominions series.

I only have one life to throw away, I already play ToME and Cataclysm (I know this game isn't a roguelike.), I'd rather just get into whatever version people consider the best.

[terve886]

First off: what do you mean by version? Are you talking about different Dominions iterations (Dominions1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), age of the match (early, middle, late age) or perhaps Dominions modded with one of the overhaul mods such as Dominions Enchanted?

[Crysanthium]

Originally posted by terve886:

First off: what do you mean by version? Are you talking about different Dominions iterations (Dominions1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), age of the match (early, middle, late age) or perhaps Dominions modded with one of the overhaul mods such as Dominions Enchanted?

Different iterations.

[Tetzer]

This one for me, though I was late to the party in starting with D4.

[CHOO CHOO]

There's only ever more stuff from version to version, so unless you really insist on alternating battle turns, or you really hate some feature or nation that's been introduced in 5, you have little reason not to play 5.

[Crysanthium]

Originally posted by CHOO CHOO:

There's only ever more stuff from version to version, so unless you really insist on alternating battle turns, or you really hate some feature or nation that's been introduced in 5, you have little reason not to play 5.

thank you.

[terve886]

Dominions is a serie that generally gets better every iterator, as the new iterators will have the content of previous iterations + new content added in content patches adding new nations.
Of course balance design and mechanics vary greatly between the iterations. For Dominions5 compared to 4, the biggest difference is simultaneous turn battles instead of one side moving at a time.

This has received dividing opinions as some preferred the old system as more easy to follow the flow of combat and buffing summoned elementals and what not. It also had huge impact on trampling units that now tend to suicide into enemy lines and get surrounded by tens of attacks.
On the other hand simultaneous turns removed the first attack gaming that some people tried to micro to ensure troops clashes in a way that gave them the first attack, possibly wiping the enemy lines with cavalry charge bonus.

Other major difference between 4 and 5 are recruitment points, which allowed cavalry units to be cheaper gold wise by having higher recruitment point cost instead. This also prevented the instant summoning of large armies within single turn but brings trouble levying troops on provinces with low population.

I guess magical attacks having damage roll that can either increase or decrease the incoming damage instead of fixed damage is also worth mentioning as it affects magic balance a lot.
Bow damage scaling on unit strength and two handed bonus introduced in Dominions5 should also be noted.

[oldrocker99]

Another big difference in DOM5 from DOM1-4 is the completely revamped bless system, in which specific blesses can be chosen.

The real-time battles are a big improvement, but they're not the only improvement.

DOM4 is a wonderful game, but it's several years old. DOM5 is an improvement in every way; there are many more spells and new nations (and patches have included new nations, for free) as well as improvements in the interface.

Besides, there aren't a lot of multiplayer games using DOM4. afaik.

[irishmafia2020]

I loved dom3 and played it for years, and I have to say that I love 5 more... the thrones add a feature that was missing from previous versions. They give me a strategic reason to target certain provinces, and the relative strength of their garrisons slows my expansion at times. Also you can win without having to conquer an entire map, which I never have the patience to do.

[Tzyder]

Dominions 9..I'm from the future and you guys will be ash in the ground befor it comes out and will never ever know its glory

[Crysanthium]

Originally posted by LINUXoldrocker99:

Another big difference in DOM5 from DOM1-4 is the completely revamped bless system, in which specific blesses can be chosen.

The real-time battles are a big improvement, but they're not the only improvement.

DOM4 is a wonderful game, but it's several years old. DOM5 is an improvement in every way; there are many more spells and new nations (and patches have included new nations, for free) as well as improvements in the interface.

Besides, there aren't a lot of multiplayer games using DOM4. afaik.

oh! is this game primarily multiplayer focused?

I bought this game assuming I would be playing it offline.

[MelficeBelmont]

The game is fine for a bit solo but the strategic depth available is far deeper than the AI will use or force you to use. So imo the game truly shines once you start playing with MP.

[Big Dog]

This one is the best, 4 is pretty good too, 3 had some unfun mechanics like clam of pearls

[KG]

Originally posted by Soldering Iron:

oh! is this game primarily multiplayer focused?

I bought this game assuming I would be playing it offline.

There's plenty to be had from Dom 5 in single player if you enjoy learning deep games but the AI is what you'd expect from really complex games, especially those produced by small teams - it has serious limits.

So if you want a really hard challenge (beyond artificial difficulty increases, like ridiculous AI resource bonuses or deliberately crippling yourself with bad choices) you'll have to go to multiplayer.



That said, there are a few things you can do to make AI more challenging without giving it those enormous resource multipliers. Pick the AI's pretenders yourself (so the pretender matches the nation's strengths and weaknesses), use an AI No Recruit mod (encourages AI to produce high-quality units at forts instead of trashy independents everywhere), and maybe use the new Sensible Battle AI (should make AI casters pick their spells more wisely) among other things.

[Tzyder]

This community is like sunni and shia when it comes to single vs mp. There are a lot of active MPs but some of us feel the game would be better served having the SP fleshed out and invested in. MP games take significant time commitment, on line access, plus English or Russian language fluency. Its great for a small group of people who can pull that off but the larger customer base is being neglected.