Dragonomicon (The DoA Players Handbook)

[Dreddnawt Mettlehead]

[COLOR="red"]WARNING: The RNG Monster will Eat Bowmen that are sent to Anthropus Camps and Wilds. Attacking LBMs have a small chance to "Miss" Attacks when the RNG isnt in their favor and get your Bows killed en mass. You can potentially hit the same target hundreds of times with no losses then one day lose all your Bows in one failed attack. Dont be a Victim!!! Only use LBMs with Minos and ATs to attack low level Camps and Wilds until you have enough Dragons to do the farming for you. Otherwise, DONT USE LBMS VS ANTHROPUS!![/COLOR]

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Hide or Defend?
- If you order your troops to Defend its possible someone bigger will come along and wipe your army just because. But it does help protect you from being farmed by lower power players. So it can go either way.

- Online or off, everything works just the same. If you are online you can see the Sentinel warning when the attack is first sent and prepare to Defend or Sanctuary based on the strength of the attacking force.

- If you Sanctuary your troops, all you can lose is your resources. Your city cannot be damaged in any way. Your Great Dragon will likely end up dead but you wont have lost valuable troops.

- ALWAYS Sanctuary your Troops until you are actively ready to defend an incoming attack. Leaving your troops Defending is a great way to get wiped out by bigger players.

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Attacking
- You cannot combine armies into a single attack. But you can time attacks to land right within seconds of each other in order to break a larger player down. Multiple attacks on a large player will weaken them with every battle they take losses in. This is highly risky, even when sending all BDs or Giants. And you cant guarantee the victim will even Defend.

Getting another player to defend so you can destroy their troops is the STRATEGY part of the game. There are many ways to "trick" people into defending. This is where skill can overcome rubies somewhat.

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City Demolitions
After you have established your city, you can safely get rid a of few buildings to make room for more Garrisons:

When Gold isnt an issue and you are farming plenty, demo the Theater for a free Garrison space.

When 1mil in resources is trivial to you, demo your Vault for another Garrison space.

You can also destroy your Officers Quarters and keep all your Generals. But beware, after it is demolished you can no longer Appoint Generals. So make sure you have at least a dozen (lvl 9 OQ) and that you are happy with the FB friends you have selected to be your Generals before getting rid of it. (Even if you lose an FB friend who youve appointed as General you keep the General) Once you demo the OQ, youll have all your Generals for use but wont be able to dismiss or appoint new ones.

I DONT recommend getting rid of your Sentinel since it is your first line of defense. Without it, youll be blind to incoming attacks and spies.

I DONT recommend nullifying your Science Center either. It can technically be demolished after you have completed all Research and you wont lose the bonuses for any techs you already finished. However, if there are any new technologies introduced as the game develops, having nullified your SC would leave you in a bad situation.

DO NOT demolish your Rookery, Metalsmith, or Factory as they are requirements for troop training. Getting rid of these buildings means you cant train the troop types associated with them.

DO NOT nullify your Muster Point ever. Without a MP you cant march troops meaning you wont be able to Spy, Attack, Reinforce, or even Transport goods.

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Wayward Troops
Click on your Muster Point then select Troops. Youll see a list of all armies not in your city. If the troops are bugged, wont come back, or arent where they should be then click View next to the bugged troops and then Recall them.

[COLOR="blue"]EDIT: If the Recall button isnt activated under your stuck troops:
~ Have an alliance friend reinforce you with 1 Spy.

~ When the Spy is in your city, click on the Muster Point, click Troops, Look under Hosted Troops and click View next to the Spy. You will see the Send Home button where the Recall button for your troops normally is. Dont do anything in this screen, just note the Send Home button is there.

~ Back out and go back to Troops, now click View next to your stuck troops and you should see their Recall button is now Send Home also.

~ Click Send Home and your troops will instantly be returned to your city.

- Credit for this discovery goes to Vingen Vng[/COLOR]

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Mysterious Clouds??
Long time ago we were told those clouds are areas set aside for dev testing on each realm. They move from time to time but basically you can ignore them.

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Cease Fires:
Here is some critical information to know when using a Cease Fire:

~ You CAN use a Cease Fire while under attack. (Though the description says otherwise)
~ You CAN use a Cease Fire while your Troops are Marching. (Though the description says otherwise)
~ Cease Fires DO NOT stop incoming Attacks that were already sent.
~ Cease Fire will Prevent NEW attacks from being sent at you.
~ You CAN Hide or Defend while under Cease Fire.

While protected by Cease Fire:
~ Your Castle Cannot be Attacked
~ Your Castle Cannot be Spied

~ Your Outpost Cannot be Attacked
~ Your Outpost Cannot be Spied

~ Your Wilds CAN be Attacked
~ Your Wilds CAN be Spied

~ You Cannot Attack or Spy Player Castles
~ You Cannot Attack or Spy Player Outposts

~ You CAN Attack and Spy Player Controlled Wildernesses
~ You CAN Attack and Spy unowned Wildernesses
~ You CAN Attack and Spy Anthropus Camps

~ You CAN Send and Receive Reinforcements
~ You CAN Send and Receive Resources to Allies
~ You CAN Post and Purchase new Trades

[Kenny Bowyer]

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Item Drops from camps + work around

As many of you know, items from camps are not added until you refresh because the little "You have found..." window doesn't pop up except for Dragon Armor and the Water Egg. A work around I've found useful is this... After I've waved camps 50-60 times, use an item. I use a nano because I always have plenty from Fortuna. When you use it, a window will pop up saying "You have found... 7 x Blink 3 x Hop 1 x Skip 1x Water Egg" or whatever total you have found, or nothing. It saves from checking all the reports and adds the items without having to refresh.
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Swift Strike Dragons

Swifts are a good start, they're great for taking out low level camps and wilds. People who complain about losing them just use them incorrectly. Don't send them with ground troops and they do great.
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Zero food is NOT a glitch.

It's purposely designed in the game to allow casual players, like our soldiers stationed overseas for example, to play the game when they have a chance without fear of losing everything they've worked for. There's no "glitch", no "cheat", no "exploit". You can be hugely negative, but you still have to find a way to feed troops to train or build. This gets harder and harder as you grow, that's part of the price you pay for it. I'm -18 million on one of my accts, I didn't cheat or exploit anything to get there, and it's really hard to keep growing from gathering food just from camps at this point.
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Understanding battle mechanics.

The battlefield's size is set to when the first attacking troops are in range of attack plus 500. That point is the "Starting line". Bows being ranged weapons can extend the battlefield length which makes troops like dragons start further back. This makes the dragons have to travel twice as far before attacking, and absorb defending range attacks they otherwise wouldn't have to.
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Lvl vs Power can be deceiving.

1,000 Giants is worth 9,000 power, that's the same power as 9,000 cons, but the attack difference is VAST... 1000 giants does 1,000,000 damage attacking per round, and 9,000 cons do 90,000 per round. The giants have 4,000,000 life, the cons have 675,000 (assuming no one had medicine) but you can see the clear difference and why lvl/power is not really a good measure of whether you can win or not.
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Dragons to clear Anthropus Camps

lvl 1 = [COLOR="#FFA500"]1250 SSD[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="#FF0000"]1550 BD[/COLOR]
lvl 2 = [COLOR="#FFA500"]2.5k SSD[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="#FF0000"]3k BD[/COLOR]
lvl 3 = [COLOR="#FFA500"]4k SSD[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="#FF0000"]5k BD[/COLOR]
lvl 4 = [COLOR="#FFA500"]5k SSD[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="#FF0000"]6k BD[/COLOR]
lvl 5 = [COLOR="#FFA500"]10k SSD[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="#FF0000"]8k BD[/COLOR]
lvl 6 = [COLOR="#FFA500"]20k SSD[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="#FF0000"]10k BD[/COLOR]
lvl 7 = [COLOR="#FFA500"]30k SSD[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="#FF0000"]15k BD[/COLOR]
lvl 8 = [COLOR="#FFA500"]60k SSD[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="#FF0000"]28k BD[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="#0000FF"]10k FTs with 1 Bow[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="#B22222"]2k LJs[/COLOR]
lvl 9 = [COLOR="#FF0000"]55k BD[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="blue"]20k FTs with 1 Bow[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="#B22222"]2.5k LJs[/COLOR]
lvl 10 = [COLOR="#FF0000"]110k BD[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="blue"]30k FTs with 1 Bow[/COLOR]; or [COLOR="#B22222"]3.5k LJs[/COLOR]

These numbers vary depending on your Medicine, Lurgy and Dragonry levels of course, and above lvl 4 the numbers assume Dragonry 7-8 minimum

[Dreddnawt Mettlehead]

[COLOR="red"]*[/COLOR][COLOR="orange"]A[/COLOR][COLOR="red"]*[/COLOR] Under Construction [COLOR="red"]*[/COLOR][COLOR="orange"]A[/COLOR][COLOR="red"]*[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#0000FF"]Due to recent changes in the mechanics this post may contain information that no longer applies to the current system. Specifically Base Distance has changed and is no longer a set +500. I am working to get more up to date information and verify the battle dynamics as they are now. I will update this guide as I can when new intel had been confirmed.[/COLOR]
[COLOR="red"]*[/COLOR][COLOR="orange"]A[/COLOR][COLOR="red"]*[/COLOR] Under Construction [COLOR="red"]*[/COLOR][COLOR="orange"]A[/COLOR][COLOR="red"]*[/COLOR]

Here we see a single Battle Dragon assaulting a player castle defended by the Great Dragon:


"So what?" some may ask. Yeah, its pretty obvious a single BD cant kill a GD, but look closer. Dealt 206 Points of Damage means the GD took a 206 damage hit and lost 0% of its total Life. This kind of test proves several things:

1) This proves the RNG - Random Number Generator. The fully upgraded BD has base Atk of 300 (+50% for techs and +20% the General). Yet still does only 206 damage. Other BDs did different amounts. That fluctuation is the effects of the RNG.

2) Attacker gets initiative - randoms or no, this BD died the moment the GD got an attack. But you can clearly see the BD did get an attack in, so it had to have taken the first action.

3) Combat actions progress as Move then Attack. Each group of troops starts its action by checking to see if there are targets in range: if not, then they move forward; if so, then they dont move. They then check again to see if there are targets in range: if so, they attack; if not, they wait for their next action. This is how the BD can move to get in melee range and still attack to get the first hit.

4) While its not entirely apparent from the report shown above, we can deduce another rule of behavior from understanding #3. Ranged Troops stop moving when they have targets in range. Ranged troops will not continue to advance because when they check for targets and find some in range, they skip their Move phase and go right to Attack. Ranged troops will move forward only when they have NO targets in range. All other times they will stay stationary.

5) Attacker sets the Range - If the field is set by the unit with the longest range, then there is no way the BD could have crossed a GD's range and still get a hit in. So Battle Field Distance is set by the Attacking troops with the longest Range.

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6) And here we see there is still minimum field distance as I said before, Base Distance as set by melee troops is still being tested. It shows to range between 325-550 and is possibly slightly variable.. We commonly use 500 default based on the old system for simplification.

Mino base speed 275 + 100% (RD and Dragonry 10) = 550

A Mino can cross the 500 base Distance but a Giant cant.

Giant base speed 120 + 100% = 240 (2 turns = 480)

A Giant is able to withstand the first attack from the GD and move again, but still doesnt reach it to hit in the second turn. It takes 2 Giants to survive crossing the distance in order to get a single hit.

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Range Verification:

7) Battle Field Distance equals Base Distance plus the longest Range of any Attacking troops. Melee troops have 0 Range, so Melee only sets a Distance of 500 (500+0). Bowmen with 1200 Range create a battle field with 1700 Distance (1200+500). Fire Mirrors set Distance to 2750 (2250+500).

Fully upgraded LBM moves 500, with initiative the LBM makes his move then Fires once before the Defending GD kills him.
[COLOR="blue"]Note: I also tested this with slightly less upgraded troops and found those Bowmen who couldnt cross 500 in their first turn got no attack on the GD.[/COLOR]

Fully upgraded FM moves only 100 and cannot attack until the GD moves into range. But a fully upgraded GD will move up and kill the FM first. I had to find a mid-level Great Dragon that couldnt kill the FM in the first round to allow the FM an attack.


8) Battle Field Distance being set by attack only did throw a wrench in my other experiments that apparently showed Defending units moving out to meet attackers. However,this confirms that Defending troops DO move as normal regardless of the Wall.

The FM above would take 5 turns to move into range before it could attack a defending GD, but as soon as it did it would get first attack and a fully upgraded GD would then kill it being they have the same range. However, that would only happen if the GD remained stationary behind the Wall and didnt move out to meet the attack. A single FM vs a lvl 10 GD dies without damaging the Dragon at all so that shows the GD MUST move forward to get the first attack within Range.

9) What we also get from this is that starting Distance is Troop Range + Base Distance and not simply Base OR Troop Range.

A lvl 6 Dragon couldnt kill the FM in the first round but could kill it in 2. Using the weaker dragon meant the FM moved up 100 closing the distance from 2750 to 2650, it then couldnt attack because it was still out of range. The GD then moved up 1125 (due to tech lvls) closing the distance to 1525, then the GD attacks which hurts but doesnt kill the FM. The GD is now in Range of the FM who hits for 984 before being killed by the GDs second attack.

If Distance was set only at Attacker Range, the FM would always get an attack on its first move. Since it can come up short allowing the GD to get first hit, that shows Distance is set as Range + Base.

[Dreddnawt Mettlehead]

The exact range of battles is variable based on the highest Range of any attacking troop type. Recent tests have shown that the Attacker sets the Range of the Battle Field. The Base, minimum, Battle Field size is 500, this is only seen when the attacking force is comprised of only Melee troops. Adding ranged troops on an attack increases the Battle Field in direct proportion to their Range. Ranged troops include Longbowmen, Fire Mirrors, Great Dragon, and Water Dragon.

[COLOR="blue"]Update: When Ranged troops are included in the attacking force, Battle Field Distance equals the maximum Range of the troops + base range (500). So fully upgraded Bowmen have 1800 Range, using them to attack sets the Battle Field Distance to 2300 (1800+500). If you add Fire Mirrors to that (Range: 2250) then the Field is extended even further to 2750 (2250+500). [/COLOR]

Phase = The Move and Attack portions of a single group's Turn.
Turn = All Move and Attack actions of 1 Player in a Round.
Round = BOTH Turns for the Attacker and Defender.

~ Troops perform all actions as a group. All troops of the same type for each player compose a group. 3456 Bowmen = 1 Troop Group. 72k BDs with 28k ATs = 2 Troop Groups.

~ All Troop groups make their Move and Attack in order of their Speed, Fastest to Slowest. Exp: SSDs Move then Attack, Minotaurs Move Then Attack, Fire Mirrors Move then Attack, etc.

~ Attackers Move (ALL Attackers MUST Move in Round 1) and Attack (if Defenders are in Range), Defenders Move (if no Attackers in Range) and Attack (if Attackers in Range), Attackers Move (if no Defenders in Range) and Attack (if Defenders in Range), Defenders Move (if no Attackers in Range) and Attack (if Attackers in Range), Repeat.

Example using SSDs, Ogres, Jaws with Fire Dragon Attacking; Bows, Giants, Fangs with GD Defending. All techs assumed maxed.

Round 1:
Attacker Turn 1:
~ Phase 1 - Attacking SSDs (2000 Speed) cross 2000 of a 3200 distance field, Range to Defenders is 1200, with no targets in range they skip their attack portion.
~ Phase 2 - Attacking FD (1700 Speed) moves 1700, Range is now 1500, with targets in range the FD attacks.
~ Phase 3 - Attacking Jaws (800 Speed) move 800, Range at 2400, Jaws fire being just barely in range.
~ Phase 4 - Attacking Ogres (700 Speed) move 700, Range at 2500, Ogres have nothing in Range and skip their attack portion.

Defender Turn 1:
~ Phase 5 - Defending GD (1500 Speed) has targets in range so skips Move portion, Range at 1200, GD Fires an attack at Swifts.
~ Phase 6 - Defending Fangs (1000 Speed) have no targets in range so moves 1000, Range now 200, Fangs can fire on Swifts or FD.
~ Phase 7 - Defending Bows (500 Speed) have targets in range, Range is 1200, Bows Fire on Swifts or FD.
~ Phase 8 - Defending Giants (240 Speed) Have no targets in range so move 240, Range is now 960, no targets in range so skip Attack portion.

Round 2:
Attacker Turn 2:
~ Phase 9 - Attacking Swifts have no targets in range, move 200 (blocked by Fangs), attack Fangs.
~ Phase 10 - Attacking FD has targets in range, Range 500, FD can fire on any defending troops.
~ Phase 11 - Attacking Jaws have targets in range, Range is 1400, Jaws fire on any defending troops.
~ Phase 12 - Attacking Ogres have no targets in range, move 700, still no targets in range, skip attack portion.

Defender Turn 2:
~ Phase 13 - GD fires
~ Phase 14 - Fangs attack (melee)
~ Phase 15 - Bows fires
~ Phase 16 - Giants move
Etc, etc.

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Here are some Graphical Charts showing troop movement behaviors for several different scenarios. The range and number of rounds are not exact. Research and other battle field modifiers - such as Wall Resistance and Dragon Hearts - are not included. This is done intentionally to make it easier for me to display these results without mudding up the numbers more then neccessary.

WHY DO MY DRAGONS DIE WHEN I SEND THEM WITH BOWMEN BUT NOT WHEN I SEND THE SAME TROOPS ALONE?

LBMs and BDs vs Anthros -
[COLOR="blue"]L = Longbowmen, B = Battle Dragons,[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]E = NPC Melee, R = NPC Ranged[/COLOR]

BDs alone:
1) [COLOR="blue"]> B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"] ----- RE <[/COLOR] // Melee Attack troop only means Range starts very short.
2) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]RE <[/COLOR] // BDs close in the first round, BDs do massive damage on this initial hit killing the most dangerous ranged enemies before they ever get an attack turn.
3) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]rE <[/COLOR] // BDs engage Ranged troops first, BDs absorb damage from all Enemies.
4) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E <[/COLOR] // After BDs finish off the Ranged, the BDs are still taking damage from Enemy Melee.
5) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]e <[/COLOR] // BDs finish off remaining Enemies. Victory.

LBMS alone:
1) [COLOR="blue"]> L ----- -----[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]----- ----- RE <[/COLOR] // Battle starts, no one in range so all move up.
2) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- ----- ----- ---[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E-R- <[/COLOR] // Melee enter LBM range, Melee begin taking damage.
3) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- ----- ----- -[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E--R-- <[/COLOR] // Melee continue to advance, Melee still taking Damage.
4) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- ----- ----[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E- --R--- <[/COLOR] // Melee continue to advance, Melee still taking Damage.
5) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- ----- --[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E--- -R---- <[/COLOR] // Hurlers enter LBM range, all Enemies taking Damage.
6) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- -----[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]E----- R----- <[/COLOR] // Enemies continue to advance, Enemies taking Damage.
7) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- ---[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E-- ----R- ----- <[/COLOR] // Enemies continue to advance, Enemies taking Damage.
8) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- -[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]e---- ---R-- ----- <[/COLOR] // LBMs kill off last of the Enemy Melee, LBM finally in Hurler Range. Both take Damage.
9) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- ----- ---[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]r-- ----- <[/COLOR] // LBMs kill weakened Hurlers.

Mixed Longbowmen and BDs -
1) [COLOR="blue"]> BL ----- -----[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]----- ----- RE <[/COLOR] // Everyone is out of Range, all move forward.
2) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- --B--- -----[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]---E-R- <[/COLOR] // BDs in range of Hurlers, BDs take damage
3) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- ----- ----B-[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]-E---R- <[/COLOR] // BDs in range of Hurlers, Enemy in Range of LBMs, All melee take Damage
4) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- ----- ----- B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E----R- <[/COLOR] // All melee in range of Everyone, All melee take Damage
5) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- ----- ----- B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E----R- <[/COLOR] // All melee in range of Everyone, All melee take Damage
6) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- ----- ----- B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]e----R- <[/COLOR] // All melee in range of Everyone, All melee take Damage, BDs still taking damage from Hurlers.
7) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- -L---- ----- ----B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]r- <[/COLOR] // With melee dead, Bowmen and BDs move up to finally attack Hurlers directly and kill them off.

Therefore, BDs are only exposed to prolonged attacks from enemy units when combined with Range. This is why you lose BDs when mixing them with ranged troops. For PvE, always segregate your troops for best results.

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WHY DO MORE OF MY DRAGONS DIE WHEN I SEND MY GREAT DRAGON THEN WHEN THEY ARE ALONE?

Great Dragon with BDs vs Mixed Enemies -

[COLOR="blue"]D = Great Dragon, B = Battle Dragons,[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]E = NPC Melee, R = NPC Ranged[/COLOR]

1) [COLOR="blue"]> BD ----- ----- -----[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]----- ----- ----- RE <[/COLOR] // GD Range starts the Battle at the longest Range possible.
2) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- --BD--- ----- ----- -----[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]---E-R- <[/COLOR] // All move forward.
3) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- ----- -----DB ----- ----- -[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E--R-- <[/COLOR] // Enemy Melee are now in Great Dragon range. Enemy Melee take some Damage.
4) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- ----- -----D ----- --B--[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E- --R--- <[/COLOR] // BDs now in Hurler Range, BDs and Enemy Melee are taking Damage.
5) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- ----- -----D ----- ----B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E- --R--- <[/COLOR] // All enemy attacks are now focused on the BDs. BD and Enemy Melee taking Damage.
6) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- ----- -----D ----- ----B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E- --R--- <[/COLOR] // All enemy attacks are now focused on the BDs. BD and Enemy Melee taking Damage.
7) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- ----- -----D ----- ----B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]e- --R--- <[/COLOR] // All enemy attacks are now focused on the BDs. BD and Enemy Melee taking Damage.
8) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- ----- -----D ----- ----- --B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]r--- <[/COLOR] // With Enemy Melee dead, your Dragons can now take out the Hurlers.

Based on test battles involving the GD with other dragons, Id have to say the GD normally stops to attack when troops are in its range just like any other ranged unit. This is why you lose BDs when sending the GD with them. If the GD used melee unit movement behavior then it would stay out in front of the BDs and they would never take damage because the GD would be the higher priority target. The GD is a damage magnet, any enemy that CAN attack the GD, will. However, using the Great Dragon along with BDs shows the same results as adding ranged units to dragons does so the GD must follow ranged behavior.

[Dreddnawt Mettlehead]

WHY DO I KEEP LOSING DRAGONS EVEN WHEN I WIN BATTLES OVERWHELMINGLY?

Mixed Player Army vs Mixed Army -
[COLOR="blue"]M = Minos, L = Longbowmen, B = Battle Dragons, G = Giants,[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]E = Enemy Melee, R = Enemy Ranged[/COLOR]

1) [COLOR="blue"]> MBGL ----- -----[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]----- ----- REE <[/COLOR] // Battle Starts.
2) [COLOR="blue"]> -G-ML--- --B--- -----[/COLOR][COLOR="green"] --E-E-R- <[/COLOR] // Units move to close distance.
3) [COLOR="blue"]> --G--ML- ----- -----B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E -E---R- <[/COLOR] // BDs engage long before others. BDs take damage from enemies.
4) [COLOR="blue"]> ---G-L- -M---- -----B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]EE ----R- <[/COLOR] // BDs now engaged against the ENTIRE enemy army. Longbows have stopped and are firing on Enemy Melee.
5) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L-G ---M-- -----B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]EE ----R- <[/COLOR] // BDs still engaged, taking damage.
6) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- -G----M -----B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]EE ----R- <[/COLOR] // BDs still engaged, taking damage.
7) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- --G--- --M---B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]EE ----R- <[/COLOR] // BDs still engaged, taking damage.
8) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- ---G-- ----M-B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]EE ----R- <[/COLOR] // BDs still engaged, taking damage.
9) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- -----G -----MB[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]eE ----R- <[/COLOR] // Minos finally arrive. Minos add damage to enemy but arent a high enough priority target to draw fire from BDs.
10) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- ----- -G----MB[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E ----R- <[/COLOR] // BDs and Minos still engaged, BDs taking damage.
11) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- ----- --G---MB[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E ----R- <[/COLOR] // BDs and Minos still engaged, BDs taking damage.
12) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- ----- ---G--MB[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E ----R- <[/COLOR] // BDs and Minos still engaged, BDs taking damage.
13) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- ----- -----GMB[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]e ----R- <[/COLOR] // Giants finally join the fight, just in time to kill remaining melee.
14) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- -L---- ----- -G-M--B[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]R- <[/COLOR] // BDs move ahead again to engage the Enemy Ranged units.
15) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- ---L-- ----- --G--MBr- <[/COLOR] // Minos arrive to add damage and finish off Ranged.

In this example you can see how the BDs spend much of the battle doing the work themselves while waiting for the supporting Giants and Minos to catch up. Your BDs are NOT dieing because they are a weak or flawed unit, they are dieing because they are superheroes being left to fight impossible odds alone.

What you are seeing with mixed battles losing BDs is the dragons are up front taking damage from the ENTIRE enemy army while your other units are creeping across the battle field that has been extended due to your bowmen. The Giants especially take a long time to get to the front. So your BDs are doing all the work, your bowmen help with some dps but really just spread your army out even more, and the Minos arent powerful enough to draw enemy targeting away from the high threat dragons. In the end, your Minos and Giants help mop up the troops the BDs have been fighting the whole time.

Summarily:
BDs are hands down MY FAVORITE unit. I cant say enough good things about them. Those nasty little dragons are my bread and butter. Never stop building BDs. They are statistically the BEST unit in the game: they are 2nd in Atk only to Giants and massive numbers of Minos; they have the best cumulative defense by a large margin and you can only find a better single troop defense from Giants; their Life is again the cumulative highest of any troop type and is only beaten singly by Giants; their speed is only matched by other dragons; and their Load is only beaten by Swifts and ATs. So aside from Range, they come out 1st or 2nd in most every aspect. Overall, they are the statistically best unit.

For most cases, when it comes to mixing Dragons in with regular troops I would simply say DONT. You really have to plan your army to use BDs effectively in a mixed group. I wont give out advanced tactics since I concentrate on helping newbies and letting experienced players sort things out themselves so youll have to do some testing with different numbers to get it just right. I suggest using small armies of 100 or 1000 total troops rather then using trial and error on your whole army. But a good start to combining BDs into a mixed army for PvP is to have 35-50% BDs or more so they can handle taking the brunt of the damage throughout the battle. A good 10-20% Minos to bridge the gap between the Dragons and Giants help also. The LBMs can help provide ranged damage, but they will also leave the BDs exposed longer.

Use mostly BDs in a mixed army and take on targets the BDs could potentially kill alone so they are capable of withstanding prolonged attacks, otherwise segregate your army. Mixing in dragons essentially relegates your other troops to being Dragon support but it can work. Giants dont help Dragons much when Ranged troops are in play. There are a lot of ways to use mixed armies but adding dragons to regular troops, especially ranged troops, can be disastrous if you arent careful.

[Dreddnawt Mettlehead]

WHY DO I KEEP LOSING GIANTS EVEN WHEN I WIN BATTLES OVERWHELMINGLY?

LongBows and Giants -
[COLOR="blue"]L = Longbowmen, G = Giants,[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]E = Enemy Melee, S = Enemy Speed, R = Enemy Ranged[/COLOR]

1) [COLOR="blue"]> GL ----- ----- --[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]--- ----- REES <[/COLOR] // Battle Begins, bowmen set the range.
2) [COLOR="blue"]> -G-L--- ----- ---[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]S-- --E-E-R- <[/COLOR] // Units move to close distance.
3) [COLOR="blue"]> --GL--- -[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]S---- ----E- -E--R-- <[/COLOR] // Speed moves way in front, enemy forces are spread out crossing the distance.
4) [COLOR="blue"]> --L-G[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]S-- ----- -E---E- --R--- <[/COLOR] // Speed reaches the marching Giants first and must face your Bowmen and Giants alone.
5) [COLOR="blue"]> --L-G[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]s-- ---E-- --E--- -R---- <[/COLOR] // Speed is killed off while Enemy Melee continue to spread out.
6) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--G-[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]E----- E----- R----- <[/COLOR] // Movement continues, Enemy Melee spreads farther.
7) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- G[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E---E-- ----R- ----- <[/COLOR] // Giants engage the first wave of Enemy Melee, Enemy Ranged can now reach the Giants.
8) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- G[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]e-E---- ----R- ----- <[/COLOR] // Bowmen and Giants take down the 1st Melee wave.
9) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- G[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]E----- ----R- ----- <[/COLOR] // The second wave reaches the Giants just in time to see their comrades finished off.
10) [COLOR="blue"]> --L--- G[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]e----- ----R- ----- <[/COLOR] // With all Enemy Melee divided and conquered, the Giants and Bowmen now advance on the Enemy Ranged to finish the job.
...~...
15) [COLOR="blue"]> ----L- ----- ----G[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]r- ----- <[/COLOR] // Several turns later, if the Bowmen didnt kill them first, the Giants reach the Ranged and quickly wipe them out.

In this scenario, the Giants slow speed actually helps them by allowing the enemy to spread out across the battle field as the differences in unit speed become more apparent. The Giants and their Bowmen support can engage and kill each enemy troop type 1 wave at a time instead of having to fight the whole force at once. This is what makes Giants with Ranged such a deadly combination.

Against Anthros, however, youll find you can lose Giants. That is ALSO because of their speed. The hurlers will, over time, wear down and kill some of the giants before the lumbering brutes can cross the field to finish them off. Dont use Bowmen on camps, dont use Giants on camps, expect some losses if you use that combo against ranged units with heavy melee protection.

[COLOR="blue"]Note: Pay attention to the first few rounds where the LBMs are exposed with their Giants behind them. Upgraded Player Speed units can cross even an extended Battle Field and attack the bowmen before Giants can move into position to protect them. You must be careful using this combo and be aware of what you are up against. To prevent losses to your Bowmen, you can mix in 10k Minos or so that will get in front of the Bowmen and hold back enemies until the Giants can move up. Alternately, you can use FMs with Giants instead of Bowmen to eliminate the problem and insure advancing enemies need to cross farther distances.[/COLOR]

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HOW DID MY DRAGONS KILL RANGED TROOPS BUT NOT THE MELEE TROOPS?

Swifts vs Ranged -
[COLOR="blue"]S = Swift Strike Dragons,[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]E = Enemy Melee, R = Enemy Ranged[/COLOR]

Note: Remember, Im not including Research bonuses to speed for Swifts but Dragonry AND Rapid Deployment BOTH effect the Speed of ALL Troops.

1) [COLOR="blue"]> S[/COLOR] [COLOR="green"]----- RE <[/COLOR] // Battle Begins, Melee Swifts set base distance 500.
2) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- S[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]RE <[/COLOR] // Attacking Swifts close the distance in the first turn, BEFORE the melee can move out in front to protect the ranged units.
3) [COLOR="blue"]> ----- S[/COLOR][COLOR="green"]rE <[/COLOR] // Swifts easily kill their PRIMARY TARGET, the Ranged troops. (Swifts will always attack Ranged units first unless there are enemy Swifts in range)
4) [COLOR="green"]> ----- [COLOR="#0000FF"]s[/COLOR]E <[/COLOR] // The weakened but satiated Swifts are normally owned by Melee troops and dont survive to celebrate their success.

The above shows that speed can overcome battle field extension to leave ranged troops exposed before their melee protectors can get into position to block the fast moving dragons.

You may notice all my charts have shown the Ranged troops starting each battle IN FRONT of their melee counterparts. It is my theory that all troops begin at the same distance until their first move. This explains those many reports in which we have seen Swifts kill ranged troops without first having to go through the melee troops. Note that this scenario is still a THEORY, as I havent yet proved it concretely.

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Tip: If you can read between the lines youll find most everything you need to build a balanced and versatile army is now in this thread. PvP Attack, PvP defense, PvE attack, Melee movement, Ranged behaviour, and Battle Field effects are now covered.

Good Luck and Happy Gaming.

[Dreddnawt Mettlehead]

Troop Groups and Damage Absorption:
Troops absorb and deal damage in groups. Troop groups are always ALL units of the same type on either side of the field. So 50k Giants and 50k BD is 2 groups. Bows, Giants, FTs, and FMs is 4 groups. Each groups Damage and Life scores are cumulative, being they are calculated as a whole, not individually.

So 100k troops of the same type can absorb much more damage without losses then 50k. If you hit the group, say BDs, and do 1500 damage, that is enough to kill 1 BD. However, doing 1500 damage wont kill 1 BD, it will be absorbed and the damage spread across ALL the BDs before assessing casualties. So if you hit 1500 BDs, each with 1500 Life, for 1500 damage, you would essentially do 1 damage per dragon instead of killing 1 troop. On average, most troop groups dont begin to take losses until they have suffered roughly half their total Life value in damage.

So larger groups with 10mil total Life are less likely to take losses then smaller groups of 5mil total Life and would be especially better then a group of 2.5mil. The 10mil Life group can take around 5mil or more damage before losing troops (RNG affects this using multiple variables) where the 5mil groups could see losses as low as 2-2.5mil. And the 2.5mil group only needs take ~1mil before they begin to die. Also keep in mind that the RNG plays a role as well. Sometimes youll take more losses then normal where other times you wont take any when you probably should. These assessments are not an exact science but rather are generalizations taken from lots of observation.

At certain points in combat, logically after each round, casualties are assessed based on total damage done to each group. The mechanics of this have somewhat changed recently. It used to be around 50%ish damage done to the groups total Life value, individual units would begin to die. The basic premise still holds true, but now the assessments are much more dynamic so you can begin to see losses at lower levels. As damage increases, so does the casualty rate.

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Targeting Priorities:
The AI behind targeting is not completely understood and, as with most things in the system, there is some randomization to targeting as well where troops deviate from standard behaviors. Many factors can influence Targeting Priorities including: troop types involved, number of troops on both sides, tech levels and bonuses applied to troops, speed, attack, potential damage output, total Life values, individual priorities, threat level, and other battle field dynamics. This is part of what makes assessing that dynamic so difficult.

Tests have shown each type of troop has Priorities, as Kenny first identified. Such as, Dragons are highly likely to attack opposing Dragons and they absolutely love Bowmen (with ketchup). We have learned that 9 times out of ten, attacking BDs will assault defending BDs then go after Bowmen and rarely do they face off with Giants if they have other targets. But if you put defending BDs, Bows, and a ton of Giants in front of attacking BDs, they may abandon their normal priorities and go after the Giants if they are a bigger threat (having more damage output, higher life totals, or more sheer numbers, etc)... or they may not.

A lot of factors affect targeting beyond standard priorities so it can be difficult to predict. Only in the end results of battles can we begin to establish (mostly educated guessing) what group targeted what. But we know a troop group must always attack an enemy group that is in range first before moving. If there are multiple enemy groups in range, then the AI decides who to hit. The resulting behaviors we see include:
~ Normal priority is given to the higest threat group in range, usually the enemy group with the most potential damage output.

[COLOR="blue"]~ Speed troops (Dragons) mostly prioritize Range troops first, but often opt to hit like type dragons instead if there are enough of them.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="green"]~ Ranged troops will usually target the fastest melee troops first but can switch targets if something else in range has more damage output.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="orange"]~ Melee troops generally go for Speed types first but again can be influenced by limitations on whats in range, what is the bigger threat, what has the most Life, etc.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="purple"]~ Great Dragons are high priority targets and at one time could draw all attacks to the GD despite priorities. That has been tempered somewhat so troops will go for other targets if they are high enough threat, especially when troops number in the thousnads.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="brown"]~ Simple troop counts can play a part as well. In some instances, Ive seen Cons get targeted over bigger troops simply because there were so many of them.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="black"]~ BDs, given equal numbers of enemies, will attack opposing BDs, FTs, Bowmen, Swifts, FMs, Minos, then Giants. But as ratios and battlefield environment change, so will that order. [/COLOR]

So basically, we dont have a clue. Targeting is a guessing game that we havent got to the bottom of yet. Its complicated enough that I havent identified more then a couple priorities for most troop types and have seen conflicting reports even with those findings.

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DefEating the RNG Monster:
[COLOR="red"]WARNING: The RNG Monster will Eat Bowmen that are sent to Anthropus Camps and Wilds. Attacking LBMs have a small chance to "Miss" Attacks when the RNG isnt in their favor and get your Bows killed en mass. You can potentially hit the same target hundreds of times with no losses then one day lose all your Bows in one failed attack. Dont be a Victim!!! Only use LBMs with Minos and ATs to attack low level Camps and Wilds until you have enough Dragons to do the farming for you. Otherwise, DONT USE LBMS VS ANTHROPUS!![/COLOR]

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="blue"]^ Using Fangs will actually prevent the RNG Monster.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

That is because the Bows arent what clear the Camp, the FTs clear the camp. So even if the RNG Monster strikes and the Bows all miss, the FTs still do the job and they have the Life to take the hits and not be wiped out.

~ Using Bows alone we know is suicide. Just dont or youll reap the whirlwind.

~ Porters, Cons, and Hals are useless and actually perform worse then sending Minos.

~ Using Minos just gets the Minos killed instead of the Bows since they arent much tougher then the Bows.

~ Using Dragons doesnt help since the Bows extend the field and get Dragons killed regardless of the RNG.

~ Using ATs just gets the ATs killed along with the Bows since they are relying on the Bows to do the killing.

~ Giants are slow and can end up behind the Bows, if the RNG Monster strikes early your Bows will die. Also, Giants often take losses vs Anthros due to them taking Hurler damage while slowly crossing the battle field.

~ FM and Ogres arent a smart option since if you have them, why use Bows?

~ Using FTs with Bows puts a strong force in front of the Bowmen protecting them from attacks (and the RNG Monster) and the FTs are capable to do the fighting and killing by themselves without needing to rely on the Bowmen or their damage. If the Bows fail, the FTs absorb an extra hit and do the killing without them. The Bowmen help the Fangs by extending the battle field, after that the Fangs can take it alone.

[Julie P]

A bit of info about the Great Dragon, wonderful creature that he is!
Currently, in order to attack, the Great Dragon must have full health. In addition to serving as a very strong individual troop type, the Great Dragon also inspires the other troops to fight more effectively. For each level of Great Dragon a 5% attack increase is added to the rest of the troops. So a Level 10 Great Dragon will provide a 50% attack increase to the rest of the army in that battle.

Aerial Combat research increases the attack ability of the Great Dragon by 5% for each level. So to maximize the abilities of the Great Dragon you both upgrade the Dragon's Keep and research Aerial Combat.

Crimson Bull is an item that temporarily increases the dragon's attack ability and Purple Bones temporarily increases its defensive ability. So currently, the most powerful combination for a Great Dragon would be Level 10 Dragon's Keep and Level 10 Aerial Combat while using Purple Bones and Crimson Bull.

CHANGES!!! The Team has tweaked the Great Dragon abilities to further enhance the game!
Check it out:
* Great Dragons on attacks increase the strength of the fellow units in their march by 5% per Great Dragon Level.
* Great Dragons no longer require their full health level to attack! The minimum is 100% minus 5% per Great Dragon Level.

[Dreddnawt Mettlehead]

Aside from their statistical differences, Great Dragons all perform the same. They move and behave similarly in combat and give the same 5% per lvl bonus to accompanying troops during attacks. The bonus to Troops that accompany your GD increases only the Atk value for those troops. It does not give any bonus to other troop stats. As the Devs said, it "strengthens" troops.

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Obtaining and Growing your Great Dragons:
Great Dragons are gained automatically by starting new cities and outposts in Atlantis. Each new player begins with a Dragons Keep in their main Castle that has a Dragons Egg colored to match their chosen Ancestral Tribe. Simply Upgrading the Dragons Keep like any other building will upgrade your Dragon. The resulting Great Dragons are identical, only the initial Egg color is affected by race.
~ Primus have Blue Dragon Eggs
~ Solerian have Yellow Dragon Eggs
~ Amazon have Red Dragon Eggs
~ Zolmec have Green Dragon Eggs

Additional Dragons are obtained when you find Dragon Eggs in wilderness locations. To find these items see the guide here: Anthropus Item Drops Guide. After Creating your Outpost, you will have a new Dragons Keep reflecting the element of the Outpost it occupies. Just as with your Great Dragon in the Castle, upgrading your Dragons Keep in the Outpost will upgrade your Outpost Dragon.



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Some quick notes on Great Dragons:
~ Your Great Dragons CANNOT Die!! They can be hurt and will need time to heal, but they will always recover and can never be killed.

~ Great Dragons ALWAYS Defend!! Even if you Sanctuary your troops the GD still defends. Even injured Dragons will attempt to defend, though they wont be as effective.

~ Great Dragons are NOT counter-spies. Your GD will not defend against being Spied on by another player. You must have Spies and be Defending to prevent being Spied.

~ Great Dragons get bonuses from Aerial Combat, Weapons Calibration, Rapid Deployment, and Dragonry research. But they DO NOT get benefits from Metallurgy nor Medicine. [COLOR="#0000FF"]Note: Verifying this has been near impossible and Devs wont confirm or deny so Im still working on proving this beyond a doubt.[/COLOR]

~ Great Dragons can be sent on attacks along with your other troops once you have upgraded the Dragons Keep to lvl 8, Researched Aerial Combat lvl 1, and found all 4 pieces of its Dragon Armor.

~ Troops sent on Attack with a Great Dragon receive an additional bonus to their Attack stats of 5% per level of the Dragons Keep up to 50% Atk bonus with a lvl 10 Dragon. This bonus applies only when Attacking.

~ Great Dragons are now required to find Elemental Dragon Eggs and Armor in Wilderness Territories. Simply send your Great Dragon along with the attack to have a chance for the drops.

~ Great Dragons sent on an attack have a default "Recovery Time" associated with their use. This will appear as them Healing after an attack even when they havent taken damage. The Great Dragon in your main Castle has the lowest Recovery times of any Dragon.

~ Aerial Combat significantly reduces the Healing/Recovery time needed for your Great Dragon in the Castle and gives a 5% per level Attack bonus to all Great Dragons, but does not influence other stats.

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The Five Dragons:
[COLOR="green"]The Great Dragon - This behemoth is the first line of defense for your Main Castle. Your Great Dragon is the ever vigilant Keeper of your main Castle.[/COLOR]

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[COLOR="blue"]The Water Dragon - This aquatic drake has higher Atk and Speed then your Great Dragon. The Water Dragon is the stalwart Warden of your Water Outpost.[/COLOR]

__________________________________________________ __________________________

[COLOR="#696969"]The Stone Dragon - This defensive juggernaut has considerably more damage output and Life then any other Great Dragon. It is the stoic Guardian of your Stone Outpost.[/COLOR]

__________________________________________________ __________________________

[COLOR="#B22222"]The Fire Dragon - Your Fire Dragons Ranged Attack is unmatched by any other. This fire breathing brute is the valiant Protector of your Fire Outpost.[/COLOR]

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[COLOR="#DAA520"]The Wind Dragon - Your Wind Dragon is the fastest Dragon by far and its Melee Attack is devastatingly lethal. This nimble creature is the attentive Sentinel of your Wind Outpost.[/COLOR]


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Great Dragon Statistics Explained:

Melee (Attack):
This represents the amount of damage the troops can do to enemies at Melee (0) Range. Great Dragons only use this stat when calculating damage to enemies at Melee Range, the Ranged stat is used against any troop farther then 0 distance.
[COLOR="#0000FF"]Note: This Stat is affected by the Random Number Generator during battles. Actual Damage is a variable number up to the stat value.[/COLOR]

Ranged (Attack):
This represents the amount of damage the Great Dragon can do to enemy troops at Range (distance > 0). When your Dragon has enemies within its Range but farther than 0 Range, it will use this stat for damage instead of the Melee stat. Also dont confuse "Ranged" with "Range." Ranged is a damage stat, Range is the distance it can attack from.
[COLOR="#0000FF"]Note: This Stat is affected by the Random Number Generator during battles. Actual Damage is a variable number up to the stat value.[/COLOR]

Defense:
This statistic determines how well your Great Dragon can resist damage. Higher Defense stats means your Dragon will take less damage from attacks directed at it. This stat does not reduce the damage taken directly, but rather mitigates damage on a sliding scale.

Life:
This statistic describes how much damage the Dragon can take before being removed from battle. If it takes damage, cumulative or otherwise, equal to or greater than the total Life, that Dragon will not participate in further combat rounds. Great Dragons Heal over time after combat. The more Life your Dragon loses in battle, the longer it takes to heal. Researching higher levels of Aerial Combat helps reduce the Healing/Recovery time.

Speed:
This describes not only how quickly the Great Dragon can march but also their order of attack and how fast they close the distance between them and enemy troops during combat. All armies march at the slowest speed of any unit in the army, which is usually ATs or Giants. Combat begins at the farthest Range any troop can successfully attack another. At the beginning of each combat round, troops have the ability to move forward to confront enemy troops. All Dragons will move their Speed unless they are in range to attack an enemy.

Range:
This is the distance at which your Great Dragon can attack. Higher Range is better. Great Dragons have a Range of 1500 or more, meaning they can attack from a distance without closing in on enemy troops. Soem Dragons can attack from slightly farther away then other Dragons. Dont get this stat confused with "Ranged," they are separate and distinct values.

Load:
This describes how much loot or plunder your Great Dragon can carry. Great Dragons are NOT baggage handlers, they do not carry cargo or luggage. So all Great Dragons have a Load of 0.


NOTE: For how to get the eggs and the amour for the Great Dragons look under Anthropus Item Drops Guide

Minor/Special Dragons:


([COLOR="red"]*[/COLOR][COLOR="orange"]A[/COLOR][COLOR="red"]*[/COLOR] Coming Soon [COLOR="red"]*[/COLOR][COLOR="orange"]A[/COLOR][COLOR="red"]*[/COLOR])

[Dreddnawt Mettlehead]

Are there any differences between the 4 tribes selected at the beginning of the game?
[COLOR="blue"]No, thats just storyline. After the initial selection the only results youll see from your choice are aesthetic. Gameplay is the same for all Races. Your Avatar selection, the color of your Castle Dragon Egg, and the appearance of lvl 11 buildings are all that change.[/COLOR]

Also, how do u know what server you are on and how do I start on another server?
[COLOR="blue"]Next to the Change Realm button in the top right corner of the game screen is the name of your current server. Click the Change Relam button to see a list of all available severs (Realms). The Realm with the dot next to it is your current server, check another to change servers.[/COLOR]

When should I start building my army & raiding other people?
[COLOR="blue"]Start building asap. Start attacking when newbie protection drops. There is no easier way to get large amounts of resources then to raid other cities. Inactive cities are safer, active cities are usually more profitable.[/COLOR]

What troops should I start training first?
[COLOR="blue"]To start off dont forget to build the cons and hals the newbie quests recommend, theyre essentially free. But for your real army Id suggest starting with Armored Transports, Minotaurs, and LongBowmen. They do rather well on low level wilds and will be a good base to begin building your army. Plus, they are rather easy to unlock.[/COLOR]

If someone attacks you, what happens if you dont defend?
[COLOR="blue"]If you are attacked while your troops are in Sanctuary the attacker wins by just defeating your Great Dragon. They get to loot your resources and gold. But your city doesnt suffer and your troops stay safe. The Vault will help protect some of your resources, but not gold. The Dragon will heal over time.[/COLOR]

Is there a combat simulator for DOA?
[COLOR="blue"]There are players who have made some really great calculators for measuring battle stats and comparing army strengths as well as troop training and marching time tables and other wonderful features. But as for a true and reliable battle simulator, I havent seen one yet. But here is a link and info for a great companion program for DoA made by Joshua Cox: DoA Helper[/COLOR]

Does Rapid Deployment affect dragon movement speed between targets?
[COLOR="blue"]Rapid Deployment and Dragonry definitely effect the speed of EVERY troop type even though its doesnt say so in the descriptions. ALL troops benefit from both RD and Dragonry bonuses and can therefore reach double their Base Speed with fully upgraded techs.[/COLOR]

What is the max amount you can reduce Battle Dragon training speed down to?
[COLOR="blue"]The min is about 34 seconds. At 22 Garrisons fully upgraded you should be standing at 37 seconds per BD depending on if you have level 10s and your Rook level. I never modeled further so cant give you exact times past that.[/COLOR]

What is the system used for Wall Resistance?
[COLOR="blue"]Wall Resistance appears to still be a matter of debate. I maintain it is damage mitigation that reduces the Atk Damage of attacking troops by a percentage, meaning the defenders take less damage and therefore live longer which allows them to do more damage to attackers. It has been argued that Resistance is actually a Defense stat modifier just like Glowing Shields, boosting the damage output of the defending army by a percentage without mitigating attack damage.[/COLOR]