best team choices for co-op MP

[Squidmaster]

I'm curious which teams you guys think make the best combos in 3 and 4 player cooperative team games. On water maps, this is a little more clear, but I find it to be less so on other map types. I'd love to hear about your favorite combos, and on which map types they excel.

Thanks!

 

[Silverfuturist]

I'm curious which teams you guys think make the best combos in 3 and 4 player cooperative team games. On water maps, this is a little more clear, but I find it to be less so on other map types. I'd love to hear about your favorite combos, and on which map types they excel.

Thanks!

Team games on skirmish map - I have played a lot of them. There are few dozen player in our group, and some civs are banned because they give a team a huge advantage. So, if you are allowed, on a land map here are a few civs which will enable you to win:

1. Crazy OP units: Arabia and Mongols for example, the ability to shoot and move same turn = win if opponent doesn't have that unit as well and you are familiar with the hit and run tactics. You make road network, and with proper tactics it is a massacre.

2. Crazy OP bonuses: with Spain, if anybody on the team finds a wonder first, the team divides the 500 gold. For example, 2x2, either player finds wonder first and each player gets 250. Team gives gold to Spain to buy a settler, then team secures wonder location for Spain and get huge advantage.

3. Combine OP units and bonuses: Huns. +1 prod for pasture is strong, and horse archers are extremely strong because they are cheap to make, highly mobile (can move over rough terrain unlike chariot units) and do not require resources. Throw in battering rams, and your opponents might not make it to chivalry.

 

[FilthyRobot]

What group are you a part of that plays team skirmishes?

 

[Squidmaster]

I'm playing with friends and relatives. These generally are not games against other human players, so it's not even really necessary that we pick synergistic teams, but it is fun to do so anyway.

We're trying out that Spain tip in the game we started last night. That is super sweet!

 

[Silverfuturist]

I'm playing with friends and relatives. These generally are not games against other human players, so it's not even really necessary that we pick synergistic teams, but it is fun to do so anyway.

We're trying out that Spain tip in the game we started last night. That is super sweet!

Great to hear! Is is another Spain imbalance: the +4 faith per natural wonder pantheon is doubled to +8 faith for Spain! This is in addition to whatever the wonder yields. Pick this pantheon and dominate religion. If you don't mind having duplicate civs: the team gets +500 gold for each Spain on the team. So if 2 players have Spain, that is 1000 gold for the team for each wonder found first.

 

[Silverfuturist]

What group are you a part of that plays team skirmishes?

Basically it is the League, who don't play official league games anymore, but still know each other and message people when looking for a game. Some players here also play NQ. When there is a 3x3 or 4x4 short a player, we will take a chance on somebody who is not in this group if somebody recommends them, and if they handle these settings well, they will get invited back more.

Some of the players will host public 2x2 or 3x3 when bored or looking for new players. Sometimes they will find a player that has promise and doesn't get discouraged by these kind of settings, and they become a regular. But we have yet been able to find a team not outside of our group that can even come close to giving our top players a challenge. There is a flow to skirmish team games that is so different than FFA, what works in other types of settings might end up losing here.

 

[Nick Carpathia]

Well, teamers tend to behave more like duels than FFAs. FFAs force you to be more conservative with your attacks, because any conflict that doesn't directly benefit you (securing good land, wiping out a competitor that is at threat of wiping you out) will benefit everyone else you're not in conflict with.

Duel/teamers are more zero sum: anything that harms your opponent automatically benefits you. So the decision making is more simplistic and aggressive, get in there and start ruining your opponent's ability to make materiel, use any pauses to consolidate any gains, and keep grinding down your opponent. That is why the Huns, the king of the rush civs, are so strong.

Of course, this all depends on your opponents having a similar level of skill. Against weaker players, you can do almost anything and still come out ahead.