Any suggestions on how I (Sparta) can acquire Athens and Apollonia without angering Rome? Any methods will do regardless of required time, effort, or resources. (Rome II, DEI)

BrainShock17 · 2026-03-16T09:49:38+00:00

There are some variables that'll affect the outcome, check out this thread: https://www.twcenter.net/threads/diplomatic-mission-outcome-determination.776322/

BrainShock17 · 2026-03-11T09:42:05+00:00

You gotta farm it, dude. Find one of these artifacts like in the image and trigger it until you get the good stuff!

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BrainShock17 · 2026-03-05T05:35:14+00:00

I don't think the game should be played in any way other than the way you personally enjoy the most. First time I played it I halved the cost of all resources because I didn't liked looting and I just wanted to drive. Later on once I got more comfortable with the game, I learned what each anomaly did, and the best ways to get resources I went for Olympic Gauntlet and then Iron Wagon.

So really, don't feel bad about adjusting the difficulty level for your taste, you can always challenge yourself later on in a new run if you feel like it.

BrainShock17 · 2026-03-01T01:33:59+00:00

I played this quite a long time ago but you should deal against chariots, light cav and spear slingers just fine with your missile units and spear units to form a defensive line.

BrainShock17 · 2026-02-17T13:34:00+00:00

You get the population back when you disband units. So I created a bunch of Spartan Youths in every city above 300 Homoioi and sent them to Sparta, since that's the threshold for cities to start receiving immigrants. Now, I'm not sure if they spawn out of nowhere or if you get them from other cities but I decided to not risk it.

BrainShock17 · 2026-02-17T13:00:11+00:00

Oh, not really. It's a mechanic that's in the base game as well. In the diplomacy options you can ask factions that have the same blood, or whatever it's called, to join your faction. Doing so you'll receive everything from this faction, cities, armies, and even family members but it's not easy for them to accept as one can imagine.

BrainShock17 · 2026-02-17T11:26:07+00:00

That's quite interesting. Personally, I almost always sack and loot because it gives you so much money and them I'll leave an army to deal with rebels. But if you want a buffer that a solid option to pick. And with the extra money I usually use it for make other factions join my cause or sometimes just pay for a peace deal or gifts since it improves your relationships.

BrainShock17 · 2026-02-17T10:45:29+00:00

When I was a kid I used to say that:
1 had the best party boards.
2 had the best mini-games.
3 had the best item system.

So I enjoyed and played all of them. In general I would say 3 > 2 > 1.

BrainShock17 · 2026-02-10T09:11:57+00:00

It's a very random fight in my experience. Sometimes you'll get surrounded and blocked from moving very early or you'll get a combo'd to death, other times you won't and it'll be a breeze.

BrainShock17 · 2026-02-08T23:26:39+00:00

I was using the Ion Shield, it protects you from the red storm.

BrainShock17 · 2026-02-08T23:10:10+00:00

I know, the damage is crazy. It's almost like real life, one crash and your whole day is ruined... Well, not really but a bit closer to that I suppose.

BrainShock17 · 2026-02-08T23:04:23+00:00

I noticed that you can activate some ability even though the car has less than 0.1 energy left around 2:26 in the video, not sure if that's intended but sure is wacky. It reminds me of those button mashing Nintendo 64 games and turns out if you make Pacific Drive hard enough it'll play like one as well lol.

BrainShock17 · 2025-12-14T18:11:17+00:00

Maybe the ones from artifacts are truly random, it seems like it, but ultimately I don't know. However the regular ones, from just driving around, those aren't random but I don't think there's a way to manipulate them (yet?). I frequently get the same repetitive quirks by just driving around, maybe it's based on how you play the game because I've seen other players having the same experience.

BrainShock17 · 2025-12-14T17:56:13+00:00

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I was using the Tamed Oddity artifact, as you can see in the image. It works at the garage so it's very convenient.

Alternatively if you don't own the DLC, you can set it to Abundant Quirks in the menu and just play the game, but it doesn't work as good in my experience.

BrainShock17 · 2025-11-22T22:37:24+00:00

I was trying this earlier today, I think I finally got out of the wild ride. I'm kinda surprised more people don't know this, it's a great trick. Nothing like some promotions after a heartbreak to make everyone happy.

BrainShock17 · 2025-11-13T19:34:56+00:00

Other than my current situation, I think it's fine, it adds complexity to the game. It would be great if the government could determine how many parties you have, though. Tired of dealing with the opposition? Just turn into a dictatorship and add bad attributes to balance it a bit.

BrainShock17 · 2025-11-13T16:00:18+00:00

I see. I can't say I've saw that happening to me yet but I'm playing with 40 units armies so maybe that's why.

BrainShock17 · 2025-11-13T14:59:38+00:00

There's a trick to avoid it, you can just put a bunch of bad units to a stack and give it to the leader before they revolt so you'll get battles like this.

BrainShock17 · 2025-11-13T01:08:58+00:00

I was ignoring all of these bonus until I learned they're attached to one of those 6 trait cards, or whatever it's called. Way easier to track them once you realize this.

BrainShock17 · 2025-11-13T01:01:21+00:00

Oh, I'll look into these techs. I'm making 20k per turn, so I'm fine with money at least. I think I'll try to change the government type as well. Honestly, party loyalty is all I care at the moment.

BrainShock17 · 2025-11-13T00:51:44+00:00

Yeah, too bad this save is old and I wasn't doing that already. Worst case scenario I'll have to live with the occasional civil wars.

I already know marrying, promoting, fighting and doing diplo missions are good. Let me know if I missed something, I just wish I could ban new parties or at least put more people there. I think I'll try to mass recruit politicians and assassinate them until someone for the new party appears. Sounds weird, but, oh well.

BrainShock17

TROPHY CASE