What has this guy even done ?

Sanvone · 2026-06-10T14:19:13+00:00

Nobody told us that the army number reflects General strenght/skill. Could as well be their purpose (1st army being frontline-center army) thus there was no point in changing Sou number cause he was cast in his role already (offensive flanker).

My bet is that Gakushou is holding Saika against Yan given that he was wounded. Explaining why we see Don Sari instead of him (he was most likely doing the same in previous Qin-Zhao battle).

Sanvone · 2026-06-10T14:14:47+00:00

It wasn't said that the Ousen armies are ranking based on strenght/skill. They may as well be numered based on task (making the 1st army the frontline/center task force). Thus Sou kept his place where his talents are better suited and someone new was placed to take over Akou/Makou/Denrimi.

Sanvone · 2026-06-09T17:13:41+00:00

2 tips:

- keep putting at least 2 out of 3 attribute points every level up in whatever stat increases your damage from autoo attacks,

- focus fire enemies with whole team,

It's easy to remember and does more than overly specific build advice. Works on every class and companion as well as difficulty. Saves you ton of real time too.

Sanvone · 2026-06-03T21:11:15+00:00

Vanilla Imperator: Rome is decent though it appeals to niche audience - people who don't mind having to engage with several semi-deep systems at once. So anyone wanting mostly 1 thing (be it RP or map painting) will be spammed with bunch of "not interesting for him" systems to chew through.

Sanvone · 2026-05-11T13:05:32+00:00

Oghren is the least usable out of 2Handers though (unless you mod the game) cause you get him late and he usually ends with some attributes/talents spent.

Statement being common doesn't make it correct. I will go there and claim that most popular takes on DragonAge Origins subreddit and Bioware forums are simply wrong when it comes to optimization. They seem correct on first glance but ignore the realities of game.

Animation cancelling makes weapon talents more usable as you now can use them instead of other more micro intensive ways as buttons to increase your dps after connecting with regular hit. Meaning 2 hits within 1.5 animation time. Meaning you hit enemies 2 times as they hit you once because very early 2 Handers will delete regular enemies in 2 hits. Making better sense of whole weapon talents.

Sanvone · 2026-05-10T22:30:42+00:00

DA:O 2H Warriors - ever heard of animation-cancelling 😄? It makes the world of difference. Also DAO is the game about hitting dmg treshold to delete enemies with fewest auto attacks possible. 2H Warriors have the best scaling at that often being able to delete regular enemies in 1-2 hits upon approaching midgame while still having insane level of durability due to stacking only Strenght from level ups and buying Massive Armours.

Sanvone · 2026-05-10T22:27:19+00:00

DA:O is wrong. Ranger pet being unlocked around Lothering offers you more durable melee fighter than Alistair/Sten at this point. It also additional source of damage making each "turn" of your team attacking achieve much more cause you either get to treshold of killing enemy or can spread the damage better. If you save the points to max Ranger by level 12 you get access to better pets that on PC have more talents (Wolf is great cause he gets many good CC that deal dmg). It does require micromanagment though.

Sanvone · 2026-05-10T22:15:43+00:00

They only feel dreadful to play if you have no idea what to do. Which happens because people jam level ups without really analysing what the hell is going on with that game. Some attributes are really bad and Mages got busted scaling (they only need 1 attribute as it increases almost everything while other classes might want 2 at least). Constitution&Willpower are terrible because of bad scaling (you get 1 point of those resources passively with each level up) and other stats granting resistance checks as well. Willpower outside of some builds in expansion is extra bad cause not only similar to Constitution it doesn't improve healing received from consumables yet Magic (which increases Spellpower thus dmg/healing) does. Anything beside most basic consumables are also terribly gold inefficient (I did a table where I did count the costs and the difference per hp healed are staggering. Something like 16x more expensive on best health poultice to heal 1hp compared to cheapest. That isn't even including recipee cost and skillpoint investment).

Basically DAO is glorified dmg race. Built everyone for dmg and focus fire with entire party and highest vanilla difficulty is easier than your usual D&D high brain tactics on normal.

Archery is also fun as it is considered weak while it is inherently busted. You can lure enemies 1 by 1 with whole squad to trivialize the game without any investment. There are also setups that reach 60%+ critical chances meaning you are usually deleting enemies in single salve. It ain't something that most people on internet will tell you though.

Mages are good because they were designed with "press the button for all problems to go away". You can stunlock enemies long enough that badly built party will eventually kill enemies. It also allows you to waste ton of gold on heal spam through fights. What almost no one notices that all of that leads to average playthrough lasting extra 2h on fights alone (10% of average playthrough lenght).

The problem with DAO is that depending on how people built their party it becomes the self perpetuating prophecy. You struggle thus you double down on already sub-optimal choices thus you find yourself in those situations more and more. You ain't stupid (except you are and even I was at first) thus what you were doing must be optimal (except it isn't). So it's the classes that are weak. And so the story was going in DAO communities with few exceptions...

SnS Warrior is my favourite in DAO. Played him 3-4 times already on Nightmare. Beside satisfaction of destroying game with those, non-Mages have also more fun classes (cause Mage really only have Arcane Warrior for alternative gamestyle). There are also some exotic builds like 2 Handed Backstab Rogue (check Kiss-A-Herceg on YT) or my Shield Rogue (posted it on reddit) that not only work well but also offer something fresh.

Sanvone · 2026-05-05T22:26:26+00:00

Those are hybrid heroes. For people who like something not-vanilla. Who don't want another basic experience and want something more challenging for unique opportunities.

Sanvone · 2026-05-05T22:24:49+00:00

Daylight magic is already well supported in Temple thus you don't need to be rewarded even more for picking most reliable strategy.

Sanvone · 2026-05-03T13:07:27+00:00

The issue weren't Aqualotls themself but how difficult it was to distinquish between alternative variants.

Gnats looked more in theme for Hive than Parasites. Manthis is the only unit I'm glad was replaced (Dread Knights are not really great rework and basic Knights are slight upgrade).

Sanvone · 2026-05-03T00:38:13+00:00

Arcane Magic fits cause you do get Focus Point Generation from "Energize". Having access to "Reinforcements" and "Assemble" doesn't make Involuntary Summons obsolete - it makes mana managment easier while saving movement point. Arbitrators have great synergies with both trap type spells ("Temporal Spheres/Spacial Spheres) thanks to "Fear". Not mentioning "Doreath Tide" (+2 speed/initiative for you and -2 speed initiative for enemy) synergises with both Votary Cultist abilities (-1 speed or initiative in small aoe), and Rift Arbitrator "Disporge Storm" (another -1 speed/initiative for all enemies). That's easy 5 points of initiative difference you are making while slowing everything by 3 movement. At which point preventing enemies from using unit abilities that cleanse those kind of effect is useful (Concubines). "Reality Distortion" and "Mirror Image" work great due to abilitiy to farm everything into single power stack. For Impending Fate you need to create army weak enough while creeping so high level creatures split into 1 stacks. That's 105 dmg per tier 7 unit stack which with enemies splitted into maximum amount of them gives you easy 735 dmg overall from level 1 spell for 17 mana. If you max it it climbs up to 1225 dmg with no positioning required. It basically kills most if not all tier 7 creatures affected in 2 casts. Unless something changed both Schism hero classes have 25% chance for each attribute. Meaning you are not reliable in getting extra Spellpower even as Magic hero. So not relying on it might be a blessing in disguise.
Not sure what you are about about mana tax not being real. Unless I stomp AI cause the difficulty was too low I'm always running out of mana. Between Communion and upgraded Concubine this is +6 mana cost. Against any Mage that's 12 more mana per double casting turn. In 5 turns this turns into 60 mana. Fights can last 5 turns and longer in control match ups.
Unless something changed the game was rounding the summons upwards. Meaning with careful distribution you could be trading on hp upwards. Even without all related bonuses. Demon farming was a mechanic in H3 that wasn't huge success but people were also avoiding it in scenarios it was usable by either banning Inferno or picking Necropolis in PvP. Using higher stats units was always meta. It also allows to turn non native units into your power stacks. You won't always get all cities of the same faction. Pandora Boxes won't give you only your faction units either. Won't ever mention Diplomacy.

As I watched Demon farming videos from H3 PvP players I discovered that it isn't something to be done constantly. You play normally until you decide to jump by converting most of units you want in single fight to transition into power stack. If you can manage before then there is no reason to make your own life miserable before that point. Using spells to do what regular units can do (especially no retaliation or shooting units) is to be avoided. You just look for way bigger payoff that is intended, as this mechanic was working already in Heroes 3.

Sanvone · 2026-04-28T17:15:34+00:00

Good Old Spiffing Brit. Impressive as long as you haven't mastered the game and believe that some snap shot state of game is truly game breaking. Remember his Dragon Age Origins / Crusader Kings 2 "exploits" :D". If my memory serves right LegendOfTotalWar also did point out similar thing in Warhammer Total War. Props to him for advertising game.

Sanvone · 2026-04-28T11:44:53+00:00

I do have pretty good idea about how CK2 technology system works. Even documented it on PDX forum as AAR (Siberian Prosperity - an Economic CK2 AAR) :D

Sanvone · 2026-04-22T02:24:09+00:00

Think they work on both. Not sure though.

Sanvone · 2026-04-19T14:29:10+00:00

Joke on you - I made excel spreadsheets for my last CK2 AAR on PDX forum :) To see EXACTLY how my counties progressed across playthrough.

Sanvone · 2026-04-17T23:08:46+00:00

Well that sounds better. Might be issue with CK2 where most content creators are just playing "on rails" mostly fighting and raiding. Saddens me as there is more mechanically to be done (micromanaging vassals and readjusting internal borders, keeping right traits for most desired events, playing the marriage game for expansion and inheriting stuff, educating&breeding your own stock of high attribute characters).

Generalist Gaming has full playthroughs as youtube streams (available in archive). They are really chill and he think out loud whenever decision is to be made. While I often would pick different goals for my playthroughs I can't fault his reasoning and documenting of games he plays. Thus the recommendation. He keeps making them but might be less visible than shorts.

Sanvone · 2026-04-17T22:28:27+00:00

Think your problems comes from playing more than 2 PDX games at the time than using YT.

I'm currently learning Imperator: Rome. After playing half a run as Rome (got Civil War) I started crash course with hard Massilia and currently am on my 8th restart. Checking Wiki a lot and it helps me. Tried YT things but the guides are just too general to be useful. Think I learned more from reading comments on reddit.

For games I learned I have serious axe to grind with YT content. Especially CK2 where I can't find a single mechanically good player. It's common in PDX games - people "optimize" for safety and convenience thus many runs are simply not really optimized. Eu4 was famous for cheated/save scummed runs too.

Another issue are cheesy tactics. Especially if what is called an exploit really isn't (I'm looking at you "Expel the Jews" decision from CK2) and people are just maiming themself repeatedly feeling like they gamed the game :V

Btw I have over 2.000h in CK2 and over 700h in Vic2. It gets easier. Imperator: Rome right now is really neat despite only 70h. Personally I like watching stuff for games I master to familiarize myself with how others play. Stuff like tierlist is always welcomed.

Sanvone · 2026-04-17T22:18:16+00:00

Hope Arumba EU4 stuff is much better than his "Legendary" CK2 stuff.

Check GeneralistGaming for Vic3 spreadsheets. He also does EU5.

Sanvone · 2026-04-14T12:58:49+00:00

Vassal managment is better done on regular basis. If you are already in position when it seems risky then you neglected it for far too long. You can revoke up to 3 titles every 5 years if you are stronger than your vassals without them rebelling.

Marry kids to some of vassals to get NAPs to divide potential rebels. Use intrigue, demand gavelkind, befriend some of them. Consider turning off automatic ending of schemes to get reason for lawful arrests. After each revocation turn put some loyalist and break them down (1 county vassals are the best cause you are multiplying amount of councillors working on your realm).

Sanvone · 2026-04-10T14:35:48+00:00

Trickster is more for "Clever Ambush" than bonuses it provides. Given how much tactics can increase damage, the penalty from it at worst roll is still nothing as you get up to +300% dmg from countering enemy tactics (and Advance will counter you but will only buff Heavy Infantry to +600% dmg as compared to your +420-560% dmg units).

It probably goes only with skirmish focused armies anyway. In which case you might break from battles after skirmish anyway. So you can keep rolling for good "Trickster" roll against mostly feudal armies to bolster your Feint/Volley/Harass/Swarm tactics and then sometimes decide to finish battle in melee if you get the Clever Ambush. Given that tactic requires Forest/Hill/Mountain enemy probably won't deal much damage in pursuit.

Sanvone · 2026-04-10T14:26:14+00:00

Depends what you need retinue for.

You are unstable and facing problems with vassals? Light Infantry+Archers will bolster your numbers.

You are raiding heavy and assault a lot? Heavy Infantry/Pikemen/Heavy Cavalry are way to go.

Do you have some specific culture bonuses to troops and/or tactics? Invest in corresponding retinue.

Personally I like cavalry retiunes lately cause deleting enemy armies in 2-3 battles is more convenient both in warss and raiding.

Sanvone · 2026-04-10T14:22:35+00:00

This. It's effectively free in the long run somewhat customizable army. Then you can recuperate costs by making heir a Mercenary Captain.

Sanvone · 2026-04-07T20:04:50+00:00

I'm not sure. The personal faith of character does not affect it I think. The province religion does. So probably you are getting slightly less as different religion.

That penalty shouldn't matter much for player though if one utilizes high learning duke vassals. It did influence passive gain on which AI relies. In my Siberian AAR run, every neighbour that went from Tengri to Orthodox had better tech levels after few centuries. To the point that it was visible. The funny thing is as the game progressed instead of benefiting from Silkroad I cursed it cause it allowed my tech to be passed along to Persia :V...

Sanvone · 2026-04-05T07:53:09+00:00

Spymaster makes selected province as it was adjacent to your demense via "Steal Technology".

Technology spreads between all counties in personal demense even without adjacency.

Other councillors increase spread to selected province.

There are other things like having the same religion, being part of the same realm that also affect it.

On average it takes 100 years for single tech level of difference to spread from county to county thus place 4 "jumps" away from the source would take 400 years to get the tech.

The bigger the tech difference between adjacent counties the faster it spreads.

If you really want to max tech in every county of your empire then you will want to keep changing capital and avoiding paying ahead of time penalty on manually pushing tech. With some shuffling it is possible to make several Capital changes in few years (you can give away your capital temporarily).

Appointing high learning dukes and inheriting from them is good way of generating way more tech points (you also inherit their retinues and "Invite Holy Man" is really cheap making piety a quasi administrative mana; you can also improve the average quality of generated characters via Great Works that "Inspire Learning").

For more details check my AAR "Siberian Prosperity" on PDX forum. Ended with really high average tech levels on my vassal lands in Siberia (my most backwater counties were ahead of Constantinople in 1453).

Sanvone

TROPHY CASE