Jabie
Wanted in Monte Carlo...
There doesn't appear to be a thread on this subject, so I thought I'd start one. What strategies do you advise for acquiring each of the Victory and special goal trophies? Which civs do you recommend for each trophy?
Acquiring the trophies
- Thread starter Jabie
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I won an unintentional religious victory with the Luchuirp and RoK this weekend (I was going for a different one). I'd needed inquisitors to get rid of an unwanted religion kicking up trouble in some captured cities, and since my main leftover rivals were the Grigori, changing those cities was apparently enough to tip the balance. So some trophies may come by accident. 
My guess is, as a general rule, the more neutral or like-aligned civs you have as AI opponents, probably the better your chances are of getting a religious victory. I'm not sure it'd even be possible to earn it in a multiplayer game, unless you were using Hidden units to do your dirty work, and even then the human players would be more likely than the AI to smell a devious plot in the making.
I might just have to try using Sandalphon to stealth FoL across the world next game, you've inspired me, thanks.
My guess is, as a general rule, the more neutral or like-aligned civs you have as AI opponents, probably the better your chances are of getting a religious victory. I'm not sure it'd even be possible to earn it in a multiplayer game, unless you were using Hidden units to do your dirty work, and even then the human players would be more likely than the AI to smell a devious plot in the making.
I might just have to try using Sandalphon to stealth FoL across the world next game, you've inspired me, thanks.
BlakeTheDrake
Warlord
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Here's a nice'n'easy way to get the 15-power Flesh Golem...
Basically, you start by 'feeding' your Flesh Golem Beastmasters - with a base power of 14, they're a very powerful mass-produced unit. Once the Flesh Golem hits 14, you bring in the final ingredient - an animal.
If someone hasn't already made Nature's Revenge, do it yourself. It'll cause animals to respawn in all unseen regions of the map (usually including several dens) with Heroic Attack II and Heroic Defense II - and any currently-existing animals get the same upgrade! (This includes the Three Stooges, for some reason). Capture at least one animal, of any kind, (if you don't have one lying around) and add that to the Flesh Golem. The Heroic Attack/Defense Upgrade will push his base power straight to 16, without costing you any unique or hard-to-get units.
EDIT: Oh, and as for Killing the Kraken... short of lucking into it, the only sure way probably is to start a game with one AI forced to play the Lanun civ. Seek 'em out as soon as you can, and ally with them. (Might be easier if you play someone Neutral yourself.) Found the Octopus Overlords and send some Zealots into their lands to spread the 'good word', and they'll convert to it pretty quickly since they have a natural predisposition for OO. Then, grow and research 'till you get Theology, and then give it to them. If they don't have Incense resources themselves, find some and trade it to them whether or not they can give you something good in return. End result: They'll have High Priests of Cthulhu wandering around in no time. Now all you have to do is find a seaport with one or more High Priests in it, and advance on it with a navy, dissolving your alliance with the Lanun and declaring war. Bring a powerful navy, preferably Manowars. They'll almost certainly summon one or more Kraken to attack you, along with their own (likely significant) fleet. As long as you manage to take down one of Krakens, the achievement is yours.
If this seems like too much work, you can try an abreviated version whenever you run into a civ with Octopus Overlords as State Religion, and significant beachside property. Just give 'em what they need to make High Priests, and they'll probably do it.
Basically, you start by 'feeding' your Flesh Golem Beastmasters - with a base power of 14, they're a very powerful mass-produced unit. Once the Flesh Golem hits 14, you bring in the final ingredient - an animal.
If someone hasn't already made Nature's Revenge, do it yourself. It'll cause animals to respawn in all unseen regions of the map (usually including several dens) with Heroic Attack II and Heroic Defense II - and any currently-existing animals get the same upgrade! (This includes the Three Stooges, for some reason). Capture at least one animal, of any kind, (if you don't have one lying around) and add that to the Flesh Golem. The Heroic Attack/Defense Upgrade will push his base power straight to 16, without costing you any unique or hard-to-get units.
EDIT: Oh, and as for Killing the Kraken... short of lucking into it, the only sure way probably is to start a game with one AI forced to play the Lanun civ. Seek 'em out as soon as you can, and ally with them. (Might be easier if you play someone Neutral yourself.) Found the Octopus Overlords and send some Zealots into their lands to spread the 'good word', and they'll convert to it pretty quickly since they have a natural predisposition for OO. Then, grow and research 'till you get Theology, and then give it to them. If they don't have Incense resources themselves, find some and trade it to them whether or not they can give you something good in return. End result: They'll have High Priests of Cthulhu wandering around in no time. Now all you have to do is find a seaport with one or more High Priests in it, and advance on it with a navy, dissolving your alliance with the Lanun and declaring war. Bring a powerful navy, preferably Manowars. They'll almost certainly summon one or more Kraken to attack you, along with their own (likely significant) fleet. As long as you manage to take down one of Krakens, the achievement is yours.
If this seems like too much work, you can try an abreviated version whenever you run into a civ with Octopus Overlords as State Religion, and significant beachside property. Just give 'em what they need to make High Priests, and they'll probably do it.
BlakeTheDrake
Warlord
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There's a couple of trophies I'm having a hard time with... firstly, the Grand Menagerie. I figured I could get it from the 'Grand Menagerie' scenario, but apparently that's considered cheating - I just finished the scenario, and didn't get the Achievement, so I guess you need to do it in an ordinary game. But HOW? Wolves and bears are easy enough to find, and tigers can be summoned, but Gorillas and Lions are rare - particularly Gorillas - and you only have a short window of opportunity to get 'em before animals vanish altogether. The 'Natures Revenge' ritual gives you another shot, but in my experience, that just spawns a load more bears, and sometimes tigers. Any hints?
Second, 'Kill Auric Ascendant with The Godslayer'. Cool achievement, but... well, getting Auric to show up is presumably as simple as starting a game with the Illians in it and then maybe feeding them a few relevant technologies. But how do you obtain the Godslayer?
Second, 'Kill Auric Ascendant with The Godslayer'. Cool achievement, but... well, getting Auric to show up is presumably as simple as starting a game with the Illians in it and then maybe feeding them a few relevant technologies. But how do you obtain the Godslayer?
I think starting on a Huge Pangaea map with just one AI civ and Wildlands enabled should get you enough animals.
BlakeTheDrake
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Hmm... sounds plausible. Maybe forcing the AI to play as Kuriotates to further hamper his expansion would further increase the odds. And setting the climate to 'tropical' will create more Rainforests and Deserts - the main spawn-points for Lions and Gorillas. I guess it's just a matter of setting the stage right...
Getting Godslayer is the easiest part... The most powerfull enemy of Ilians gets Godslayer "for free" after Ascension
Making AI ascending Auric - that is the tough one.
I remember that someone managed doing it playing "high to low" game with only Illians and one other civ
BlakeTheDrake
Warlord
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Why? Won't an Illian AI civ build The Draw and Ascension if given access to appropriate technologies?
The AI gives rituals a very low priority, and if they complete the Draw, they will be at war with everyone and thus their priority for Ascension will be even lower.
BlakeTheDrake
Warlord
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Hmm... I see. Are you sure the AI's 'Ritual Priority' hasn't been changed in a recent patch, though? In my last two games, one of the AI's have produced Nature's Revolt with unseemly haste.
I can see how The Draw's war-induction might be troublesome, but I know from experience that there's a way to solve that: Nine Pines. Find it, own it, save it. It forces EVERYONE to make peace with EVERYONE, so if you activate it after the AI finishes The Draw, the resulting World War will get broken off before it even begins. In theory, anyway. I dunno if this'd actually work, but it doesn't seem any harder than trying to pull it off with a high-to-low game...
EDIT: I just had an interesting, alternative idea... if you use the special rule that allows for any leader in any civ, you can start with Illians as a leader who ISN'T Agnostic. Then you make sure that all the other Civs are Good, so they won't research Ashen Veil or Infernal Pact. You see where this is going, right? Research and develop towards Auric Ascendant. When the Ascension is completed, you study Infernal Pact... saving before it's completed and reloading as necessary to spawn the Infernals somewhere close to the lands of the second-most powerful civilization (you'll probably be the strongest). Switch to Infernals, build up your forces quickly, then attack the owners of the Godslayer to capture it ASAP - and, finally, declare war on the Illians and take down Auric. Should work... in theory, anyway.
I can see how The Draw's war-induction might be troublesome, but I know from experience that there's a way to solve that: Nine Pines. Find it, own it, save it. It forces EVERYONE to make peace with EVERYONE, so if you activate it after the AI finishes The Draw, the resulting World War will get broken off before it even begins. In theory, anyway. I dunno if this'd actually work, but it doesn't seem any harder than trying to pull it off with a high-to-low game...
EDIT: I just had an interesting, alternative idea... if you use the special rule that allows for any leader in any civ, you can start with Illians as a leader who ISN'T Agnostic. Then you make sure that all the other Civs are Good, so they won't research Ashen Veil or Infernal Pact. You see where this is going, right? Research and develop towards Auric Ascendant. When the Ascension is completed, you study Infernal Pact... saving before it's completed and reloading as necessary to spawn the Infernals somewhere close to the lands of the second-most powerful civilization (you'll probably be the strongest). Switch to Infernals, build up your forces quickly, then attack the owners of the Godslayer to capture it ASAP - and, finally, declare war on the Illians and take down Auric. Should work... in theory, anyway.
BlakeTheDrake
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Yeah, that one confuses me too. Initially, I assumed it was for winning by having the highest score when the time runs out, but there's a different Achievement for THAT - Time Victory. There also isn't any line for 'Score Victory' on the Victory Screen. Maybe there's some scenarios that you can win simply by reaching a predetermined score?
I don't think a score vcitory is possible the regular 'epic' game. You don't get trophies for the scenarios (besdies beating the scenario itself, of course) so I'm pretty sure right now you can't get a score victory.
Iirc some of the Warlords and BtS scenarios (like Charlemagne) had score victories.
Best wishes,
Breunor
Iirc some of the Warlords and BtS scenarios (like Charlemagne) had score victories.
Best wishes,
Breunor
Jabie
Wanted in Monte Carlo...
The only time I ever achieved it was as the Austrin in Wildmana when I managed to luck out and find all the animals I needed. As for the optimal choice, I don't know, one other Civ, easiest difficulty level, go Svart or Ljos, beeline hunting and get your hunters up and catching animals before they dry up. Don't worry about tigers cos you can dip into FoL get a Preiest and summon one of them. I guess if you went Doviello, this goes for Wolves with your worldspell.
Cultural I achieved with Elohim. Their worldspell gave me 30 turns at running 100% Culture, using Birthright regained gets you 60 turns of peace. Seven Pines and Corindale can force Peace and prevent anyone declaring for another ten turns, so that's getting on for 80 turns at 100% culture, presupposing you've got the funds to do so. Spirit III (Trust) helps keep the peace to some extent. Your going to want Spirit II (Hope) anyway. If you've built the other components (Lyre, "Hope" mages / Royal Guard, plenty of wonders and an artist economy) this wasn't too hard. I'm not sure what the best religion is for this victory: FoL or OO. I went for FoL and big cities. Are the Elohim the best civ for Culture or would you recommend someone else? If so, who and why?
I completed the Tower with the Hippus. Conquered my own island. Built mana nodes as required. Use metamagic to dispel them back down for each Tower in turn. When my enemies came knocking the naval AI was pretty poor, so my own navy which mostly sat around in Cities explotiting the necessary Crew promotions plus Fireballs and the occasional Water Elemental were more than enough to keep the invaders at bay. (Just as well too the Svarts had such a large stack I didn't have a hope of beating them) I also summoned Basium that game as a distraction and as a sink for any overseas cities I conquered, but he was pretty useless as he was in a city behind a mountain range that never got attacked. The Amurites are a far better choice for this victory though, as their synergy lies with the magic end of the tech tree.
Barbarian World and Increasing Difficulty. Start out as Settler, play as the Clan, go to war early and ride the Warren train to victory. I was done by Warlord. Your opponents should get clobbered by the Barbarians and you can smash anything that survives.
Apocalypse to 100 (and relevant horseman trophies en route) The Sheaim, plus Prophecy of Ragnarok and scads of Prophecy marked Scouts did the trick for me. If Hyborem was near me, I could have killed him and grabbed that trophy too.
BlakeTheDrake
Warlord
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New question: How do you turn a unit into a monkey? I'm guessing it's got something to do with the 'Mutate' spell, or possibly the 'Wonder' spell, but I'm not entirely sure... maybe even the Infernal Tome, with its random spell-effects?
If I remember crrectly, it is an effect of a 'wonder' spell
Another thing: I try to get all trophies at Emperor or higher difficulty level... and it IS hard. I still do not have Grand Managerie, High to Low, Kill Auric, and a few other,
Do You have any advices how to get "high to low" trophy on high difficulty?
