Treasure Fleets post 1.2.2 - Any easier?

[aggrobot]

I have *many many* hours into this game. Admittedly, I'm still not very good. Having said that, despite the new changes to treasure fleets, Im still finding this challenge in exploration to be pretty difficult. Its frustratingly challenging for me. Im willing to accept I need to change my approach but I'm interested to know if anyone else is still struggling? I have a distaste for exploration age and much of it centers on these obstacles.

 

[CliffCo]

Have you tried enabling Long Ages? In my current game i had 53 treasure fleet points by the end of the era. I play on Continents Plus and sometimes the islands between land masses have many treasure resources and sometimes they dont, since the latest update it's much easier to gain them as you can travel and establish distant land settlements much earlier than we could previously.

 

[Canadian Bluebeer]

RNG is RNG. First game this patch, lously layout for treasure items. Next game, have an 8 from one city.

(huge map does mean looong trips for the boats)

 

[Lord Lakely]

Treasure Fleets is 100% determined by where you spawn in the homelands. If it's not on the east or west side of the continent, and you don't capture a port, good luck.

Otherwise, you don't really need luck.

 

[UWHabs]

Treasure Fleets is 100% determined by where you spawn in the homelands. If it's not on the east or west side of the continent, and you don't capture a port, good luck.

Otherwise, you don't really need luck.

It's not just where you spawn, but which direction you head. Like in my current game, I had a good antiquity where I had both east and west covered (although my production centres faced West). But there was just... no treasure. On the entire island chain between the continents, not one treasure resource. So I was already floating a settler out that way, but didn't really have anywhere good (there weren't even any spots with decent resources to get a home base.

I was slow to trot him around, and by the time he actually reached land with treasure, those lands were getting filled by others.

On the flipside, if I sent them and troops the other way, I just had one IP to clear out for a 2 treasure spot, and then there was some land on the continent with another 5 or 6 potential. But sadly I just didn't scan that way as quickly, so by the time I actually got out and have some city spots there, I'm going to run out of time, I think. I'll probably be able to eke out enough to get the first tier, but I'm definitely not getting the golden age.

It's still an interesting challenge, in a lot of ways. Settling the frontier, fighting wars in the homeland, etc... Although maybe next time I just need to make a bigger push militarily, and settle the new lands by force.

 

[Lord Lakely]

Yeah, there's usually room in the distant lands to settle, especially on huge maps.

I managed to snag these prime spots in my current game:

Right next to Catherine's borders (the blue AI) too, lol.

 

[vorlon_mi]

The key new feature (which I forgot until too late in Exploration) is that the treasure convoys are amphibious. They can go on land.

In my last/current game, I grabbed an island city with treasure location in the eastern Distant Lands as part of a peace deal. Long trip for the boats, but I DID have a coastal town on the east side. On the west, I tried to grow my town to get a coastal tile but didn't succeed. My western town sent some convoys which were floating in neutral waters, unable to get past an IP which had been suz'ed by one of my frenemies. In previous games, that's where they would have stayed, until the age ended. Now, I could have / should have brought them ashore and *walked* them to my town, north of the natural blockage. Arghh! Those points would have got me a milestone... not all of them, but one would have been nice.

Eager to see the distribution of treasure resources in the next game I start, post-patch.

 

[bengalryan9]

I have *many many* hours into this game. Admittedly, I'm still not very good. Having said that, despite the new changes to treasure fleets, Im still finding this challenge in exploration to be pretty difficult. Its frustratingly challenging for me. Im willing to accept I need to change my approach but I'm interested to know if anyone else is still struggling? I have a distaste for exploration age and much of it centers on these obstacles.

I think the changes definitely help but you do still need to be in the right place (ie, good spots with multiple treasure resources) at the right time (before the AI gets there). It's still one of the legacy paths that is very map dependent and sometimes things just won't line up the right way to make it achievable.

I'd like to see a way to capture other players treasure fleets, I think. Would be fun to send out privateers to hunt for others leader's convoys and would force us to pay more attention to protecting our own. Maybe corsairs can already do this, I've never actually tried.

 

[WillK96]

I think the changes definitely help but you do still need to be in the right place (ie, good spots with multiple treasure resources) at the right time (before the AI gets there). It's still one of the legacy paths that is very map dependent and sometimes things just won't line up the right way to make it achievable.

I'd like to see a way to capture other players treasure fleets, I think. Would be fun to send out privateers to hunt for others leader's convoys and would force us to pay more attention to protecting our own. Maybe corsairs can already do this, I've never actually tried.

You can capture treasure fleets belonging to players with whom you are at war. The major problem I've had actually doing this is that the AI very rarely produces treasure fleets to begin with.

 

[evonannoredars]

Treasure convoys + being able to start generating fleets as soon as you settle makes it much easier to complete.

 

[bengalryan9]

You can capture treasure fleets belonging to players with whom you are at war. The major problem I've had actually doing this is that the AI very rarely produces treasure fleets to begin with.

I was thinking more a long the line of the old privateer units - lower combat strength than other ships but they appear as neutral units that can target any player.

Maybe you have to buy them with gold here, or maybe you have to slot a particular policy card to use them. I think it would be fun.

 

[Leucarum]

I'm finding treasure fleets just as awkward. The trouble is that the other exploration era paths are so quick you either have to intentionally slowball them or it's a real race against yourself to finish treasure fleets. At least by the end of exploration you're usually carrying forward so much income that the golden age doesn't make much difference...

 

[Krikkit1]

I'm finding treasure fleets just as awkward. The trouble is that the other exploration era paths are so quick you either have to intentionally slowball them or it's a real race against yourself to finish treasure fleets. At least by the end of exploration you're usually carrying forward so much income that the golden age doesn't make much difference...

That could be the better solution,
1. extend the other paths
(20 turns of your religion in the target needed for obtaining relics)
(increase the number of tiles needed for science)
(military is +1 if they are cities, +1 if they are your religion, double if conquered…but it takes 15)

2. reduce the age jump from other paths (say 5-10-10 or 5-5-10 instead of 5-10-20)

3. have ways to invest…Warehouses that give bonuses to treasure resources could speed up ship generation/cities might generate fleets faster…or faster fleets if there is a shipyard/wharf

 

[Leucarum]

That could be the better solution,
1. extend the other paths
(20 turns of your religion in the target needed for obtaining relics)
(increase the number of tiles needed for science)
(military is +1 if they are cities, +1 if they are your religion, double if conquered…but it takes 15)

2. reduce the age jump from other paths (say 5-10-10 or 5-5-10 instead of 5-10-20)

3. have ways to invest…Warehouses that give bonuses to treasure resources could speed up ship generation/cities might generate fleets faster…or faster fleets if there is a shipyard/wharf

More ways to generate treasure fleets perhaps? Ransacking cities, discovering wonders in distant lands. It'd add variety to the path as well...

 

[UWHabs]

More ways to generate treasure fleets perhaps? Ransacking cities, discovering wonders in distant lands. It'd add variety to the path as well...

Yeah, just like you can get 3-4 relics from the tech and civics trees, more options for treasure fleet points could help. Even like getting +1 treasure fleet point for each trade route to a city generating treasure fleets would give you something to help along the way and encourage another playstyle

 

[Leucarum]

Yeah, just like you can get 3-4 relics from the tech and civics trees, more options for treasure fleet points could help. Even like getting +1 treasure fleet point for each trade route to a city generating treasure fleets would give you something to help along the way and encourage another playstyle

Yeah, but this is a problem with the legacy paths in general. Antiquity comes closest to getting it right, but they're a bit of a mess in terms of how easy/fast they are to score and complete... As well as varying wildly in terms of fun. I've yet to hear anyone say they enjoy culture after Antiquity for example. Treasure fleet stands out as being the most extreme outlier for "speed" within its age... But it's at least fun...

 

[Duncan9999]

I find that if you're going for Treasure fleets you need to start sneaking out Scouts, Settlers and Ships manually to far off lands well before you have even got both Astronomy and Cartography let alone Shipbuilding- via getting the latter first to allow land units to enter deep ocean. Then by the time the AI starts sending you already have 2-3 distant settlements sending Treasure. The abundancy of Treasure seems to have improved (and also you don't need to be by a coast) so its pretty easy to find you have a couple of citys with 2-3 treasure resources.

 

[Leucarum]

I find that if you're going for Treasure fleets you need to start sneaking out Scouts, Settlers and Ships manually to far off lands well before you have even got both Astronomy and Cartography let alone Shipbuilding- via getting the latter first to allow land units to enter deep ocean. Then by the time the AI starts sending you already have 2-3 distant settlements sending Treasure. The abundancy of Treasure seems to have improved (and also you don't need to be by a coast) so its pretty easy to find you have a couple of citys with 2-3 treasure resources.

To be honest, it seems like beelining is the name of fhe game in exploration with multiple paths... But i haven't noticed much improvement in my last few games with distribution treasure resources to be honest. It still seems pretty random to me.

 

[vorlon_mi]

I find that if you're going for Treasure fleets you need to start sneaking out Scouts, Settlers and Ships manually to far off lands well before you have even got both Astronomy and Cartography let alone Shipbuilding- via getting the latter first to allow land units to enter deep ocean. Then by the time the AI starts sending you already have 2-3 distant settlements sending Treasure. The abundancy of Treasure seems to have improved (and also you don't need to be by a coast) so its pretty easy to find you have a couple of citys with 2-3 treasure resources.

Definitely agree! I start a settler build in one of my Exploration cities on turn 2; before I've even researched the tech to let them enter deep ocean. Usually I've finished the research before the build is done. Some games, I can send a Scout swimming in Antiquity, to figure out which areas on the east/west coast look promising. Other games, I need to buy a Cog for the other coast to get scouting.

It's still a gamble. Once my settler is headed (say) east, I have to hope that I find a good island / distant land site in that direction.
If it turns out that resources are closer to the west coast, I need to buy another settler to grab them.

 

[SirViss]

I used to be able to put a Treasure Fleet into my Naval Commander to move him across the sea, but I couldn't do that in my game recently. Anybody else notice this?