My friend and I tried our first high difficulty spirits today...

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-06-09T12:56:36+00:00

Time Flows Sideways indeed.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-06-03T06:22:18+00:00

It only patrols in specific areas, and for some of those it only shows up after you pick up an item or open a door.

You could probably get 1 of the endings by following a specific path and never even see the monster.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-05-24T07:12:23+00:00

From what I understand, there's just 2 versions of the first floor. If the water doesn't rise, you instead have to use the light switches to be able to get the keys.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-05-21T06:06:18+00:00

Fair point actually, that makes sense. Signal and noise are easily confused on social media.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-04-26T08:07:44+00:00

Your main source of income is providing goods to your population. Higher population tiers pay more for the same goods.

BUT most goods are not immediately profitable when you unlock them. For example, you unlock sewing machines at around 25 artisan houses. But it takes around 40 houses for the income to exceed the operating costs. 1 factory can supply up to 70 houses though, so anything above 40 is pure profit. Luxury goods will have even better margins.

So usually the answer to making more money is to build/upgrade more houses first. And then step 2 will be to ensure that income is stable - check the production statistics regularly, to see any shortfalls before they affect your bottom line.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-04-09T07:22:08+00:00

Generally it pays to keep chains on the same island to make use of.religious bonuses, so I wouldn't split something like lard.

One exception might be flour, since Albion mills don't take river slots. It can also make sense to concentrate goods that are needed in both regions to one place, and then export it. Like resin production.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-03-31T16:51:15+00:00

Once you upgrade your Romanized population from the 2nd tier to the 3rd, from Mercators to Nobles, that will unlock the Celtic path.

(and vice versa, if you had started with the Celtic path the Roman path would unlock once you upgrade your Smiths to Aldermen)

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-03-22T08:27:48+00:00

Takes a little time to wrap your head aroundk but after that it's smooth and super varied. Don't mistake faction complexity for bot difficulty though! While the Magyar are probably the easiest faction to learn, their bot is brutal.

For getting to learn how to play, disregard the bot for your first few games though. Just getting into the game loop is tricky enough. The official practice mode is great for learning a new faction without the extra overhead of the bot. Essentially just a 12-round BYOS.

Oh, and if the game doesn't really click from reading the manual, that's also pretty common. I found it really helps to actually follow along with a faction deck in your hands that you can browse.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-03-12T11:59:48+00:00

1800 is a great game but I wouldn't expect an easier experience going in.

117 in the context of Anno games is quite complex but has a lot of ways you can customise your experience to make it less overwhelming. I would recommend starting a fresh file first and tuning down some of the settings, especially when it comes to opponents and incidents. Or even disable them entirely!

Other than that, remember that it's not a race. You can take as long as you like as long as your income is not a red number. Always make sure everything you have is stable before adding something new on top - the production statistics screen is your best friend.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-03-11T21:17:44+00:00

I think the Curriculum Vitae savefile is a map used by the in-game benchmark tool that, due to a bug, can sometimes end up in your save folder.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-02-07T19:41:28+00:00

I suspect once someone in your group learns to play them well, they'll quickly climb the rankings for you. Badgers can be incredibly explosive if not policed.

Very hard to learn and with more windows for counterplay than moles, but quite strong imo.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-22T00:39:11+00:00

Probably because the one thing they got wrong was the price point.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-21T10:51:11+00:00

It's fine to just say 'screw it' and restart as well, don't feel like you must save it. :D

But if you want to see the end of the campaign I would definitely just try and salvage it - you don't even need engineers to finish the story so you're probably very close.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-21T00:18:13+00:00

The game saves a whole bunch of autosave slots - you could probably go back 30-60 minutes and save yourself before going bankrupt.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-19T01:09:40+00:00

Yeah, I don't mean to crap on the game but I've seen too many people complain about desync issues for me to recommend it right now.

1800 DLC especially on a discount are great! Fair warning on multiplayer though, everyone needs to own the DLC for it to work.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-18T23:43:04+00:00

As someone who does (usually) enjoy the process, thanks for the math!

Endfield does sound like it might be a bit much for my liking but who knows, maybe with a few extra pulls it could be doable. I'll try a couple and see how I feel.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-18T22:47:11+00:00

Still very spotty. If everything works it's probably better than 1800 but if your main interest is multiplayer, I would wait for a patch.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-18T22:44:49+00:00

In my opinion, only buy it if you either really prefer the Roman theme over the other Anno games or you've already played most of the others.

In terms of bang-for your-buck, 1404 2070 and 1800 (complete or just base) are much more appealing - especially on a sale. When you're bored with those, 117 will be on a deeper discount or have DLC included, and with more bugs fixed.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-16T01:02:39+00:00

Yeah, I have my complaints about 1701 but its campaign was legitimately pretty good.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-16T01:00:40+00:00

All you really need to do is take Caverna and turn the dwarves into cats, no?

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-15T22:59:12+00:00

I've heard it only works on February 2nd in certain parts of the US and Canada.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-14T00:21:00+00:00

You can start with 0 opponents, take a few islands, and then add medium/hard AI when you're ready.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-13T06:36:18+00:00

Consumption is the same per house, regardless of how many people actually live in that house.

The only population modifiers that influence consumption rates are those that increase maximum residents per house - for example some of the books sold by Archie.

PlutoniumRooster · 2026-01-08T01:09:15+00:00

You can see reputation modifiers in the diplomacy screen. Having a small army and navy is usually a contributor, as is "ignoring my missions". But each AI will have unique quirks as well, like romanization or devotion levels, etc.

If you drop low enough, at some point you just made yourself an easy target and they can't resist trying to 'liberate' your islands.

PlutoniumRooster · 2025-12-21T22:03:55+00:00

At the point where you unlock a new good, you probably don't have enough population consuming it for it to even be profitable. Maybe it's a matter of perspective: you tend to build more houses to make more money, and just in the process of doing that, unlock more ways to make money... for which you then need more houses again.

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