Tech Stolen

[MCan]

Has anyone ever gotten a notification that a spy has stolen a technology from them? Would that message come up if if it was? Im asking about SP, but even if it happened in MP would be interesting.

 

[theskibum]

yep. You get a message that says "the secrets of "insert tech here" have been stolen by enemy infiltrators".

 

[MCan]

SP or MP? And what level I was going to turn espionage off, but maybe not if the AI can steal techs. But thats awesome. Also Ive read a lil about espionage economy but I cant really tell how it works. Turn up the slider and steal steal steal? Is that all there is to it? I often build the great wall so it would behoove me to add that to my repertoire.

 

[Ghpstage]

SP or MP? And what level I was going to turn espionage off, but maybe not if the AI can steal techs. But thats awesome. Also Ive read a lil about espionage economy but I cant really tell how it works. Turn up the slider and steal steal steal? Is that all there is to it? I often build the great wall so it would behoove me to add that to my repertoire.

AI can and does steal techs.

What difficulty are you thinking of trying it on? Anything below Emperor and the tech pace of the AIs is painfully slow, and researching primarily by tech stealing will feel like playing for culture on marathon .

There are more technicalities to effective espionage based strategies, mostly based around keeping penalties from things like distance low, and maximising the bonuses, like having your spy wait 5 turns for -50% cost, making sure you have OB with that civ and so on.
The most extreme measures I have seen was a game where someone gifted a city to a Deity AI and surrounded it with culture, gifting gave diplo bonuses and prevented the city from flipping back. With it so close to the players capital and overwhelmed by culture stealing was dirt cheap.

 

[yturk39]

Stealing techs with EPs isn't easy business. For it to happen, you need a really huge difference in EPs between your civ and your target, and unless you use a Great Spy to infiltrate a city and make it happen in one turn, it's pretty tough to take an opponent by surprise with this.

On the other hand, one thing I have been getting more used to lately is the idea of cycles: you shouldn't ALWAYS keep your tech slider up high. Sometimes it's better to let the other civs pull you along. Remember: techs gets cheaper for you once you KNOW other civs have them. Turn your beakers off and let the money roll in, or use the money for EPs every once in a while.

 

[s.bernbaum]

I've seen it many times, SP at Noble. In one game the same so and so stole three in a row from me.

 

[yturk39]

I've seen it many times, SP at Noble. In one game the same so and so stole three in a row from me.

You must have had your evil-eye (EPs) focused on somebody else...

I've had it happen to me, too. I'm just now starting to get a better sense of the value of EPs, and being more careful about how I distribute them (though I'm still pretty lazy about it, and don't check this nearly as often as I should).

 

[cain3456]

Building the Great Wall gives you a free spy specialist, use that to generate great spies, plant them in your neighbor's cities, profit.

 

[s.bernbaum]

Speaking of Great Spies, how do they differ from regular spies? I never have figured that out.

 

[Sian]

invisible and uncaptureable (a pricy but safe scout) and unable to do anything a spy can, but can infiltrate, join one of your cities or build Scotland Yard

I'm not always using espionage actively but i usually manage to get a tech or two from dedicating my spying efforts on the closest enemy early on

 

[tdy99]

I used to think Great Spy was a weak great person, but lately I've figured out how incredibly useful they can be. You can easily pick up 3 techs with a great spy by infiltrating if you are having trouble keeping up in technology. Great Wall = Don't have to worry about barbs = spies = one of my favorite wonders.

Speaking of Great Spies, how do they differ from regular spies? I never have figured that out.

by using them to infiltrate an enemy city, you get 5,000 EPs against that civ.

 

[cain3456]

@tdy99: Are you playing Epic? I play standard, and it's always 4K.

Great Spies are best in the early game, when techs are cheap. By the industrial area, techs are too expensive to steal, so any GSpies then are best used for Scotland Yard or as superspecialists.