Best Nations To Learn Game

[Lord Vyse]

I know about Ulm, but any other nations you'd suggest? More magic focused ones the better as to get a handle on that.

[KeepStay]

MA Marignon, recruit everywhere sacred cav, very narrow magic diversity but strong nontheless
MA Phaecia, decent magic support, decent colossi troops

You can get better at magic by playing different nations, for example Mari utilizes fire/astral, you can learn how to use it and then switch to other nations with more diversity and utilize your knowledge with different paths.

[FatDragon]

I dont think what its the best idea to start from astral nations

[Mali Belizec]

I would try as TNN, Pangea or Rus. Nature, air, earth are very good magic paths to learn the game. Astral and blood are difficult for learning.

[Mormacil]

EA Abysia is also pretty decent, Fomoria is also a good one. Lots of tools, hard to misuse.

[TheMeInTeam]

I don't think it makes enough of a difference to matter compared to picking nations that speak to you/seem interesting. Every nation is "magic focused", even Ulm has no chance against human opposition after early game without extensive use of magic...and using Ulm well past turn 30s involves things like crystal/slave matrix items and summoning to cast magic it would otherwise struggle to access, using its magic to paint MR on armies, and probably using golems etc for magic phase attacks.

[Legowarrior]

I like Man. Nature and Air are pretty forgiving, and you Mothers are pretty much able to do everything.
Plus, you get to use spies.

[Eldritch Gentleman]

I'd highly recommend EA Agartha- they've got defined strengths and weaknesses, and the tools to best deal with them.

[Rovsea]

I may suggest Middle Age shinuyama as well. It's got a wide range of somewhat straightforward magic, and you can dip your feet into thugs as well if you desire, but you don't need to.

[mergele]

The best nation to learn the game is the one that makes you go "Oh these guys are cool!" Whether that is magical rome, going full samurai or becoming the spanish inquisition is really of secondary nature.

[jojeck]

Originally posted by mergele:

The best nation to learn the game is the one that makes you go "Oh these guys are cool!" Whether that is magical rome, going full samurai or becoming the spanish inquisition is really of secondary nature.

My first game in Dom 4 was with MA Ermor and that got me hooked again ( I played the original game in the early 2000s). I look back on that game with affection and chuckle at all the mistakes and how badly I misjudged the troop types.

[Maerlande]

My first nation was Patala because I read some strange things about it and also liked the lore a lot. It was not an easy choice so I practiced a lot before joining multiplayer. My next choices were R'lyeh again for cool theme.

[Nebulosa]

You can learn the game with any sort of nation! The only important thing is to avoid playing only nations that are too weird, and by doing so miss out on learning some of the standard mechanics of the game.

For instance, don't *only* play MA Ermor or LA Sceleria, because by doing so you are missing out on learning how to manage recruitment. Playing them as a first nation is fine -- just make sure you play things other than freespawn nations.

For learning, the most important thing is to be aware of how your nation is different from the norm. As an example, if you play MA Ashdod and take a very big bless for Anakites (extremely powerful sacred giants), be aware that this is an unusual thing, and that most nations won't have access to sacreds that are this powerful. Likewise, if you play EA Mictlan, you should be aware of how Dying Dominion works, and recognize that you are a dedicated blood nation.

There are only a few nations I'd not recommend for a first game. Here's who they are and why:

EA Rlyeh and EA Pelagia -- extreme difficulty getting on land
LA Rlyeh -- popkill but with bad freespawn

There are two mechanics that are famous for being somewhat complicated: communions and blood hunting. If you're playing a nation that has either of these as a big part of what it can do, make sure you tinker with them as you experiment fighting the AI.

[smidlee]

Originally posted by entropius:

There are only a few nations I'd not recommend for a first game. Here's who they are and why:

EA Rlyeh and EA Pelagia -- extreme difficulty getting on land

I disagree as I think EA Rlyeh is a good nation to learn magic (which OP is asking) and play after Ulm. I found MA Ulm not so helpful in learning magic and a little boring ; at least when it comes to single player. EA Rlyeh is very powerful in the sea. All I need to know was about a single item : Amulet of the Fish which requires one air and one water. This mean my pretender must have one air and one water.
Unlike Ulm I could not rely on strong land units to invade the land so I'm force to depend on magic. Once I had the seas to myself I had time to learn more on magic especially astral. Since I was the only water nation I could easily defend the seas.
After playing EA Rlyeh I see why you wouldn't want to play this nation on multiplayer.