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I used up my last technology on "Next in Line" and am now tech blocked on "Myths". I aborted "Truth or Dare" and it was replaced with a recurring quest. I now have "Myths" and 2 RQs available. I assume that can't get back to the PME questline unless I age up to PE, right?
I used up my last technology on "Next in Line" and am now tech blocked on "Myths". I aborted "Truth or Dare" and it was replaced with a recurring quest. I now have "Myths" and 2 RQs available. I assume that can't get back to the PME questline unless I age up to PE, right?
I know there is a warning in post #5, and i can't be the only person to have mentioned this, but the PME troops description (post #4) almost makes it seem safe to do truth or dare, especially late at night, lol.
so I just thought I would suggest a warning be added at that point in the guide -- something like "read the next post before doing or aborting truth or dare" or "don't you dare 'truth or dare' if your goal is hovers or OF warfare!" because you need that quest untouched to get the latter age troops (FE-OF) while still in Indy (or PE, ME).
i'm sure you would have the right words for the warning, uber
There is one trick not mentioned in the guide IMHO: if you are going to hunt for InA troops while in CA, you better do not research the Field Artillery (the last CA military tech).
New Challenges, New Dangers quest requires to either recruit 3 units from the InA (which means you begin the InA research), or to research a military technology - and here you would unlock the Field Artillery to complete this quest.
If you already researched all CA technologies then the only way to avoid this quest is to fight both North and South provinces, lose 30 diamonds from the Friendly Visit quest and lose 1 Howitzer from the Bitter Defeat quest. Otherwise you are stuck in CA with 1 rifleman and 2 Jaeger Infantries and cannot continue the story questline without researching InA.
There is one trick not mentioned in the guide IMHO: if you are going to hunt for InA troops while in CA, you better do not research the Field Artillery (the last CA military tech).
New Challenges, New Dangers quest requires to either recruit 3 units from the InA (which means you begin the InA research), or to research a military technology - and here you would unlock the Field Artillery to complete this quest.
If you already researched all CA technologies then the only way to avoid this quest is to fight both North and South provinces, lose 30 diamonds from the Friendly Visit quest and lose 1 Howitzer from the Bitter Defeat quest. Otherwise you are stuck in CA with 1 rifleman and 2 Jaeger Infantries and cannot continue the story questline without researching InA.
2 Jaegers are the best indy troops in colonial anyways... But if you want the PE troops in colonial, yes, you need to be exceedingly careful with techs.
You research only Muskets, Maritime Shipping, Colonies, and Arcade houses without being prompted to do so by story (this is enough to have 1 of every building type to get through the end of colonial story). For the "any tech" requirement that comes up in colonial story you can also do Fashion, New Crops, or Plantation Goods.
Some plotting through industrial story is also important so that the right techs are available at the right moment - but there may be more than 1 route through the tree for that. Point is though, don't research anything you don't have to.
Halfway through the AF map now and highly disappointed by the lack of people attacking me in the hoods, even when I attack them and plunder. I had one guy auto-battle himself to death once and that's it. I wanna watch the hovers make a mess.
Halfway through the AF map now and highly disappointed by the lack of people attacking me in the hoods, even when I attack them and plunder. I had one guy auto-battle himself to death once and that's it. I wanna watch the hovers make a mess.
This is an amazing guide but the scout times are so long once you hit Indy/PE, it's difficult to get ahead. By the time I finish scouting the map I'm ready to age up. Definitely requires camping here unless you spend diamonds.
Speaking of which I was thinking that might be a fun world start once I get to space ages in Dilmun and need something new. Load up a diamond package on the new world, get those castle points, then go to town on the map.
Love the guide! Quick question as I am just attempting this play style. Are there options of getting higher age goods from side quests as well while going through the map?
Love the guide! Quick question as I am just attempting this play style. Are there options of getting higher age goods from side quests as well while going through the map?
You can get small amounts of PE, ME, PME, TE - you will get very little if any CE because you skip that age's story.
The amounts go up significantly in FE, and if you have a nice CF you can get "some" there.
AF + OF you get "a lot"
VF since you don't have the story for, you can only get the stuff from map, and no way to amplify it so that would go back to "some" (like 60% of a GB worth I think if you take out all the VF maps)
This is an amazing guide but the scout times are so long once you hit Indy/PE, it's difficult to get ahead. By the time I finish scouting the map I'm ready to age up. Definitely requires camping here unless you spend diamonds.
Speaking of which I was thinking that might be a fun world start once I get to space ages in Dilmun and need something new. Load up a diamond package on the new world, get those castle points, then go to town on the map.
You can get small amounts of PE, ME, PME, TE - you will get very little if any CE because you skip that age's story.
The amounts go up significantly in FE, and if you have a nice CF you can get "some" there.
AF + OF you get "a lot"
VF since you don't have the story for, you can only get the stuff from map, and no way to amplify it so that would go back to "some" (like 60% of a GB worth I think if you take out all the VF maps)
It's been a really long time since I've actually done any sort of true update or revision to this guide, outside of adding links to the first three videos I've made on the topic (more coming soon, but I've got a lot of other content I'm trying to get out first. I'm already behind schedule). This winter I want to do a full revision of the guide and rewrite much of it to be more clear, more easily understandable, and answer some of the more common questions that get asked.
So, with that in mind, is there anything that you feel that should be clarified more, added, removed, etc.? What do you want to see in the guide? I'd like to get feedback from all of you before moving forward. Some of the changes I already have in mind:
Info about how to navigate certain tech trees, such as how to get hovers without saving techs in InA
Much more clear info about when you need to fight or negotiate, and when it doesn't matter which
For provinces you need to negotiate, the costs in goods so you can prepare early
Revised warnings about completing Truth or Dare, making it more clear across the guide
Similarly, more clear info about the InA bonus questline/Las Penas
Completely revamped TE section
More info on how to return to the PME questline before hitting Persuasion or other tech blocker, with associated warnings
Brand new part, with strategy and technical info from a scrapped advanced version of this guide that I had been working on, but didn't have enough to make a full guide
Love the guide! Quick question as I am just attempting this play style. Are there options of getting higher age goods from side quests as well while going through the map?
A few. You also get higher age goods from story quests, and as sector rewards. The best advice is to have a Chateau Frontenac before starting your climb, multiplying your quest rewards. Many of the goods needed for negotiation-only provinces can be obtained this way.
My advice would be to those fighting in OF to use Eels more often as they are more versatile than hovers because of their movement especially when there are artillery units on the other side.
It's been a really long time since I've actually done any sort of true update or revision to this guide, outside of adding links to the first three videos I've made on the topic (more coming soon, but I've got a lot of other content I'm trying to get out first. I'm already behind schedule). This winter I want to do a full revision of the guide and rewrite much of it to be more clear, more easily understandable, and answer some of the more common questions that get asked.
So, with that in mind, is there anything that you feel that should be clarified more, added, removed, etc.? What do you want to see in the guide? I'd like to get feedback from all of you before moving forward. Some of the changes I already have in mind:
Info about how to navigate certain tech trees, such as how to get hovers without saving techs in InA
Much more clear info about when you need to fight or negotiate, and when it doesn't matter which
For provinces you need to negotiate, the costs in goods so you can prepare early
Revised warnings about completing Truth or Dare, making it more clear across the guide
Similarly, more clear info about the InA bonus questline/Las Penas
Completely revamped TE section
More info on how to return to the PME questline before hitting Persuasion or other tech blocker, with associated warnings
Brand new part, with strategy and technical info from a scrapped advanced version of this guide that I had been working on, but didn't have enough to make a full guide
I've got a lot more HAUG videos to write... I might even end up remaking the current ones. I feel like I could do them a lot better now (for example, I accidentally rendered the first one in 1080i at 30 fps). I'm currently working on trying to get other stuff out though.
For saving techs, I ignored the BA and EMA goods ones. Those are a handful right there. If you forgo expansions, you can save quite a few techs. If you want to min/max, then you'll need to win police stations from events/GE.
This section covers the ability of the player to get up to Future Era troops in all ages InA and above. It is still possible to get even higher troops in these ages, but that information can be found in the next part.
Skipping the PME Tech Blocker
Despite there being a PME tech blocker at the end of the PME story, it is possible to skip this blocker to get units higher than PME while still in InA (or higher). To do this, there's a couple of short steps to follow.
First, don't complete the PME story. Stop the questline at the abortable quest "Your Choice: Truth or Dare." If at any point past this you collect or abort this quest, your next story quest will take you back to PME and you will be tech blocked. After you get tech blocked, you are stuck on the story until you age up to PME with no way around it. As far as you are concerned, this quest is locked in place forever. Just don't touch it. At all. Don't abort it, complete it, mouse over it, etc. If this quest is completed or aborted, you are done getting higher age troops until you age up to at least PME. To get further troops, we have to get the story to jump to a RQ slot, which you can find out how to do further on.
Next, scout the CE map as shown in the spoiler below. Specific provinces must be skipped, or you will get tech blocked on the CE story.
Skip the provinces that are red.
Then, you have to choose whether you want TE troops or not. Receiving them will cost an extra technology to research, but they can help you fight the map easier. If you are limited on the technologies you have available to you, I would recommend avoiding TE troops and instead using that tech to receive even higher troops, such as AF or OF ones that will be more powerful. Each path is described below.
If you want TE troops, then do the following:
Scout Torrinhos and abort an RQ. Then complete an RQ or side quest that is NOT Truth or Dare.
Then scout and take Villariba to the North (do not scout Bajatai).
Finally, scout Rio Roxo and abort an RQ to start the TE Story on "Meet Miguel Mantos", and follow the story from there.
See the TE troops section further down to learn which troops you can receive.
Thanks to @KingJMobile for helping figure this out.
If you don't want TE troops, then scout the TE map as shown below, skipping the three provinces marked in red.
In this case, take up to and including the first FE province, Agadar, and then complete an RQ or side quest that is not "Truth or Dare" and complete what CE story quest(s) you are given. The story should then jump to FE. Make sure that you complete Agadar via negotiation, however, or you'll miss out on 3 extra FE Hover Tanks (heavy units).
When taking provinces from CE until the first province of FE, DO NOT complete any RQ or side quests. That will cause the story quest to jump to CE, and immediately after that either to CE or TE. Only after taking the first FE sector is it safe to complete a RQ or side quest.
CE Troops (PME only)
If you are in PME, you will receive the full CE questline, which includes the CE tech blocker quests. To avoid this, you must scout the cMap as shown below, skipping two of the provinces.
Skip the provinces that are marked in red.
After doing so, if you want TE troops complete the CE story and continue onto the TE map. If you want to skip the TE troops to save an extra tech, scout the TE map as shown below and take the first FE provinces before completing the CE story.
Skip the provinces marked in red.
The CE story will ask you to scout one of the skipped provinces, but this is fine. Just don't take it! Make sure to abort through recurring quests as you progress through the story, since there are a good amount of CE side quests that give units that can trigger as you move through the story. You can get 2 Missile Artillery (artillery units), 2 Attack Helicopters, (fast units), 2 Assault Tanks (heavy units), and 3 Anti-Aircraft Vehicles (ranged units). The CE story will need 1 tech to be researched.
After the CE story, if you didn't scout the TE map you will receive the TE story questline. If you instead scouted the TE map as shown above, you will skip to the FE story line.
Also, note that by negotiating all 4 of the Sheik's provinces (Amaryah City, Khail, Batif, and Hafar Al Karak), you will receive more diamonds from the CE storyline.
It is possible to receive the 2 Attack Helicopters (fast units) side quest in ages as early as ME, but the conditions to trigger this quest are unknown.
TE Troops
If you chose to receive the TE troops in an age lower than PME, you should be able to receive 2 Combat Drones (fast units), 2 Stealth Tanks (heavy units), 2 Anti Materiel Snipers (ranged units), and 1 TE Champion (heavy unit). Special thanks goes to @Xivarmy and KingJMobile for figuring this out.
If you chose to skip over the TE questline to go for Hover Tanks first and want to go back to receive TE troops, you can do so. After finishing the FE storyline (or further, as long as you do not reach the quest Persuasion in OF that will tech block you), scout and take the first skipped province in TE, and the questline should jump to TE. Take the remaining TE skipped provinces as well and complete the questline. You should get the units described in the paragraph above.
If you are in PME or CE, you should be able to receive the entire TE questline and all the troops. On the TE cMap, be sure to fight sectors of Torrinhos. This will yield additional troops, namely 2 Anti-Materiel Snipers (ranged units) and 2 Ultra AP (light units). In total, the player can gain 4 Microwave Blaster (artillery units), 4 Anti-Materiel Snipers (ranged units), 2 Ultra AP (light units), 4 Stealth Tank (heavy units), and 2 Combat Drones (fast units), and 1 Champion (heavy units).
No matter what age the player is in, the TE story requires one technology to be researched.
Also, as a side note, a TE cultural building, the Surveillance Nexus, can be given from a side quest after taking Rio Roxo in ages as early as InA!
FE Troops (Hover Tanks)
Once you start the FE story, to get the extra 3 Hover Tanks, be sure to negotiate Agadar, the first province owned by Joy Danba. Then, later on the cMap, be sure to negotiate in Kalabuye (the second province owned by Joy Danba) and to not completely take either Bisoraba or Kalabuye before receiving the 3 Hover Tanks quest "Greetings from a Friend." Once you get the Hover Tanks, it no longer matters whether you fight or negotiate the rest of Kalabuye. Danba's provinces are marked in green on the map below.
Make sure to negotiate these to get extra hover tanks!
Only take sectors as requested by the FE storyline. Especially, do not take the province Kolaburg completely until the quest "Down the Rabbit Hole," as otherwise you will have to research an additional technology. Also, be sure to take sectors of Fort Buntu by force, since this will yield 2 Rail Gun (artillery units) and 2 Satellite Spotter (ranged units).
Also, if the player receives the quest "An Old Acquaintance," they will receive an additional 3 Exoskeleton Soldier (light units). It is not quite known how this quest can exactly be triggered, or what causes it not to be triggered. I got this quest when negotiating all the FE provinces.
In total, the player can gain 4 Hover Tanks (heavy units), 6 Exoskeleton Soldier (light units), 2 Drone Swarm (fast units), 2 Rail Gun (artillery units), and 2 Satellite Spotter (ranged units). The FE story requires 3 techs to be researched, 4 if the player takes Kolaburg completely before the quest "Down the Rabbit Hole."
After the story quests jump to FE, the story follows along normally. The player is not tech blocked after they skip the CE blocker until they reach the end of the OF story. To see more information on the AF and OF stories, troops, and cMaps, see Part 5. The only real limiter past this point is the number of techs the player has left to research for quests.
Apologies if this has been asked and answered, and especially if it has been asked and answered often. But as I work my way faithfully on D2 following the guide (a lot more fun than my C2 deviation, lol, which has left me opining on the joys of CA life), I now wonder how quickly I can stop doing any more PME story quests? I mean I have three commandos and five MGs, sure, I could go for more PME troops. Or could I be extra cautious about avoiding Truth or Dare and just work my way to the CE map?
I am willing to keep quiet, work my way to Truth and Dare, and just not do/abort it. But if I could be safer then that would be a good thing, right?
Apologies if this has been asked and answered, and especially if it has been asked and answered often. But as I work my way faithfully on D2 following the guide (a lot more fun than my C2 deviation, lol, which has left me opining on the joys of CA life), I now wonder how quickly I can stop doing any more PME story quests? I mean I have three commandos and five MGs, sure, I could go for more PME troops. Or could I be extra cautious about avoiding Truth or Dare and just work my way to the CE map?
I am willing to keep quiet, work my way to Truth and Dare, and just not do/abort it. But if I could be safer then that would be a good thing, right?
So you're saying when can you stop the PME story and start pushing further on the map? You can really do it at any point, obviously as long as you're before Truth or Dare. If you've got all the troops you need to start pushing then there's no reason you can't do it now.
So you're saying when can you stop the PME story and start pushing further on the map? You can really do it at any point, obviously as long as you're before Truth or Dare. If you've got all the troops you need to start pushing then there's no reason you can't do it now.
Thanks Uber! I was hoping that would be the answer. On C2 I got all the way to the Future map with just Progressive tanks. But I did not want to poison this trip to Hovertown by assuming I could stop PME quests before Truth and Dare... Though that PME champ is very tempting...
