DeletedUser26965
Forge of Empires(FoE) began in April 2012 exclusivity as a game based on competition and plundering between neighbors or Player v. Player(PvP) if you will though you fight their AI so it's not truly PvP. And though the game had moved on to Guild v. Guild(GvG) about two years later then Guild Expedition(GE or GEx) Championships two years after that, attacking and plundering thy neighbor remains part of the game to this day.
Understanding why you are attacked
There are three main reasons why you are attacked.
There are also two Great Buildings(GB) which are an incentive to plunder, one relates to goods, the other to goods or forge points.
Understanding the environment
Neighborhood merging is flat only in that it pertains to research. Where you are in the tech tree is the only determining factor in merges. As such you will be placed with other players in and around the same technology you are on and so you will all be in the same age, though there are some cities that will still have an age apart between players(ref link above). While this has eliminated having players many ages apart it does not mean there are not more or less powerful players relative to each other in the hood. And so one player can have very high level military great buildings while another player has none.
Also remember that as the defender you do not lose units, neither are they damaged but as the attacker units can be damaged and lost. So while the attacker might have some gain if they defeat you they also risk losing units while you lose none.
Each player can only attack you once per 24 hours and any time during that 24 hours of a successful attack they can plunder one time only. Once that 24 hours is up and if they have not plundered you in that time they can not plunder unless they successfully attack again.
You can see who attacked you and when by looking at the Event History in the News Tab of your Town Hall. You can watch a replay of the battle as indicated by the film camera, this can be important to utilize.
Lastly, though some newer players might find this difficult to believe, for the most part PvP is rather dead. I believe the main killer of PvP is the battle point system and GvG. Every battle you do counts towards the "PvP" towers which I call Battle Point Towers and so since battle points can be farmed from GvG, and battle points can be gained from the Continent/Campaign Map(cMap) and GE, there's really not much incentive to try to gain battle points from ones neighbors, the older the world the more likely this is. (note: worlds open in their order were done so alphabetically so Arvahall is the oldest world while Xyr is the newest world at the time of this post.)
What to do to help prevent being attacked and plundered
Now that we understand generally why we are attacked we unfortunately have diametrically opposing strategies that come with that. That is, if a player is attacking you only for battle points and has no interest in plundering then the best thing to do, is to place a few units of your age as defense mixed with low age units, this acts as a disincentive to the attacker as there are not as many points to gain. However if a player is attacking you for goods or forge points you want to place the best army you can as your defenders though there can be exceptions as explained below.
So you will have to try to determine what best fits the attacker by finding out if they plunder you or not and adjust accordingly, sometimes a player will put in their description if they plunder or not otherwise you'll just have to wait and see what they do to know. However I would argue that even if you have a player plundering you and you look at their GB's and find your defense won't stand a chance anyway then still only put mixed units, no need to give them the extra satisfaction at gaining max battle points as well.
BUT the problem here is this strategy leaves you open to equal or lesser powerful players to successfully breach your defenses. At the end of the day you will have to determine what's best, either mixed units of your current and lower age, or a fully stocked highest age defense, I do not suggest no defense as this leaves only two default Spearfighters that players can use to gain battle points for towers. Though I suppose it can still be argued that placing one or two units of your age can still be utilized this way, it's really up to you.
There are many tips to stop or help prevent being attacked and plundered. There are some tips here unfortunately the comment section is filled with not very useful information in this regard so I'll place some here.
There are only two ways to be absolutely sure you are not attacked or plundered.
Mitigating attacks
Build all the military GB's. It's more likely a player will attack a player without these GB's then with them especially if they are at high levels. (Note: you can get all the GB's from ages above yours by buying goods for fp's.)
There are other buildings, special buildings and Military Buildings you can acquire to help mitigate and give Defensive boosts to your defensive armies. Here is a handy chart to see what building fits in each category. (note: Speaker's Corner is unavailable and the event to get Checkmate Square has ended, not sure if it will be back next year)
More attack mitigation
Plunder mitigation
Enjoy the game folks.
Understanding why you are attacked
There are three main reasons why you are attacked.
- The attacker wants battle points
- The attacker wants goods
- The attacker wants forge points
There are also two Great Buildings(GB) which are an incentive to plunder, one relates to goods, the other to goods or forge points.
- Voyager V1 - The first three times you plunder a building you get three random goods of that building's age. (First 12 times at level 10)
- Atlantis Museum - This building gives you a chance to double the resources you plunder, including forge points. 12% at level 1, 22.75% at level 10. So if your Terrace Farm is plundered the attacker has a chance at 10 free forge points.
Understanding the environment
Neighborhood merging is flat only in that it pertains to research. Where you are in the tech tree is the only determining factor in merges. As such you will be placed with other players in and around the same technology you are on and so you will all be in the same age, though there are some cities that will still have an age apart between players(ref link above). While this has eliminated having players many ages apart it does not mean there are not more or less powerful players relative to each other in the hood. And so one player can have very high level military great buildings while another player has none.
Also remember that as the defender you do not lose units, neither are they damaged but as the attacker units can be damaged and lost. So while the attacker might have some gain if they defeat you they also risk losing units while you lose none.
Each player can only attack you once per 24 hours and any time during that 24 hours of a successful attack they can plunder one time only. Once that 24 hours is up and if they have not plundered you in that time they can not plunder unless they successfully attack again.
You can see who attacked you and when by looking at the Event History in the News Tab of your Town Hall. You can watch a replay of the battle as indicated by the film camera, this can be important to utilize.
Lastly, though some newer players might find this difficult to believe, for the most part PvP is rather dead. I believe the main killer of PvP is the battle point system and GvG. Every battle you do counts towards the "PvP" towers which I call Battle Point Towers and so since battle points can be farmed from GvG, and battle points can be gained from the Continent/Campaign Map(cMap) and GE, there's really not much incentive to try to gain battle points from ones neighbors, the older the world the more likely this is. (note: worlds open in their order were done so alphabetically so Arvahall is the oldest world while Xyr is the newest world at the time of this post.)
What to do to help prevent being attacked and plundered
Now that we understand generally why we are attacked we unfortunately have diametrically opposing strategies that come with that. That is, if a player is attacking you only for battle points and has no interest in plundering then the best thing to do, is to place a few units of your age as defense mixed with low age units, this acts as a disincentive to the attacker as there are not as many points to gain. However if a player is attacking you for goods or forge points you want to place the best army you can as your defenders though there can be exceptions as explained below.
So you will have to try to determine what best fits the attacker by finding out if they plunder you or not and adjust accordingly, sometimes a player will put in their description if they plunder or not otherwise you'll just have to wait and see what they do to know. However I would argue that even if you have a player plundering you and you look at their GB's and find your defense won't stand a chance anyway then still only put mixed units, no need to give them the extra satisfaction at gaining max battle points as well.
BUT the problem here is this strategy leaves you open to equal or lesser powerful players to successfully breach your defenses. At the end of the day you will have to determine what's best, either mixed units of your current and lower age, or a fully stocked highest age defense, I do not suggest no defense as this leaves only two default Spearfighters that players can use to gain battle points for towers. Though I suppose it can still be argued that placing one or two units of your age can still be utilized this way, it's really up to you.
There are many tips to stop or help prevent being attacked and plundered. There are some tips here unfortunately the comment section is filled with not very useful information in this regard so I'll place some here.
There are only two ways to be absolutely sure you are not attacked or plundered.
- You can not be attacked if you buy a City Shield from the Friends Tavern. This option is rather pricey so I suggest a full 140 friends that are active tavern sitters and collect from your tavern often and daily.
- The option to guarantee to not be plundered I do not recommend but it is assured you will not be plundered during this time. It's the nuclear option I call it by disconnecting from your city all buildings that can be plundered, the obvious down side here is that you are not producing during that time. Of course if you were attacked at this time you can still of course be plundered after you reconnect your buildings.
Mitigating attacks
Build all the military GB's. It's more likely a player will attack a player without these GB's then with them especially if they are at high levels. (Note: you can get all the GB's from ages above yours by buying goods for fp's.)
- Statue of Zeus (SoZ) Iron Age (IA) Has no effect on defending armies, solely a psychological deterrent in this regard.
- Cathedral of Aachen (CoA) Early Middle Ages (EMA) Has no effect on defending armies, solely a psychological deterrent in this regard.
- Castel del Monte (CdM) Late Middle Ages (LMA) Has no effect on defending armies, soely a psychological deterrent in this regard.
- St. Basil's Cathedral (SBC) Late Middle Ages (LMA) One of two of the only buildings in the game that gives your defending armies an Attack Value Boost (AV boost).
- Deal Castle (DC) Colonial Age (CA) The second of two of the only buildings in the game that gives your defending armies an AV boost.
- Arctic Orangery (AO) Arctic Future (AF) Has no effect on defending armies, solely a psychological deterrent in this regard.
There are other buildings, special buildings and Military Buildings you can acquire to help mitigate and give Defensive boosts to your defensive armies. Here is a handy chart to see what building fits in each category. (note: Speaker's Corner is unavailable and the event to get Checkmate Square has ended, not sure if it will be back next year)
More attack mitigation
- Aid neighbors daily
- Some good tips here https://forum.us.forgeofempires.com...-am-being-plundered.13247/page-10#post-135900
- Watch the replay of attacks and tailor your defensive army to counter. (It's important to understand Unit bonuses, types and Special Abilities when doing this)
- Do not advance in age too quickly without also leveling military GB's.
Plunder mitigation
- Aid all neighbors, friends and guild-mates daily so your buildings can get motivated or polished (M/P) and can't be plundered, keep in mind some buildings cannot be M/P and will remain vulnerable to plundering. (Remember of course normal goods buildings can not be motivated)
- Set collection times to fit your play time.
- Build residential buildings that produce coin in your play/collection time
- If you have a mobile device you can set reminders for collecting
- Collect immediately after producing
- Use a Motivation Kit or a Mass Motivation Kit (Keep in mind this only does motivation and not polishing and limits your friends, neighbors and guild-mates chances at blueprints)
- Don't be predictable, that is, don't collect at the same time every day.
- Don't aid your neighbors just after you collect
- If you have been playing the game for a period of time refresh the game minutes before you collect to make sure the server time is aligned with your time.
- Make a deal with neighbors to plunder each other
- Make a recurring quest city
- Do Not clear your Tavern at the same time you collect goods etc.
Enjoy the game folks.
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