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chaosapiant posted:Also, is it easier/better for a newb like me to start in the earlier time periods or later? I figure starting earlier gives my dynasty more time to rule, but maybe that's not the way to go? There's one important fact you need to realize before going further: It's extremely rare to play a game from pre-1066 starts to the end (1453, the Fall of Constantinople IRL), and the majority of 1066 games aren't played to the end, either. Unless you specifically set out to "finish" a game, you will get bored with a game and start over. That's normal, and expected. I played 2 games to the end, once from 1066, and once from the Old Gods start date from when that DLC came out. I never bothered to do so with the Charlemagne start. So don't fret over not having enough time to achieve all your goals, until you start at the later dates (1200 and later imho). The 1066 start date is usually among the easier starts. Christians are the default starter faith, and Christians are at their weakest in the 769 and 867 start dates. It's not easy to get a game over if you are surrounded by other Christian lords, one usually can manage to at least retain some counties, even if you're conquered by another king or emperor. And then you can scheme your way up again. On the other hand, if a pagan faith reforms and rolls your neighborhood, you're likely hosed. To sum it up: Don't expect to play a dynasty until the game forces you to quit, and the later start dates are easier if you're not playing pagans than the later dates. As for the map symbols, I don't know any guides, but I will try to answer your question. Buildings obviously present holdings, and there's usually just one gaggle of buildings for all holdings. If there's a wooden crane, it means construction is going on. Coat of arms shows a ruler's capital. The bigger the CoA, the higher a ruler's rank. The biggest for emperors, second biggest for kings, etc. If you have a big empire with vassal kings, then the huge CoA is for the capital county the emperor has chosen as his capital county. A slightly smaller CoA denotes where a vassal king has his capital, and even smaller CoA for vassal dukes capitals, and another step smaller show the capital of counts. Now, some provinces might not have CoAs over them, because they are owned by an emperor/king/duke, or a count with more than one county, who has his capital elsewhere. Dark clouds show that the province in question is currently suffering from a disease outbreak. This can be important information if you're leading an army through the region. That army's commanders are likely to pick up the disease if you march your troops through that county. And the county's supply limit also goes down, which might lead to (increased) attrition for your troops if you want to siege the county. The stacks of grain/food show the prosperity level of the province. A county with high prosperity gives you more in taxes, and can have some beneficial events firing for it (most notably the event that increases the number of holding slots for counties that can't already have 7 holdings).
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May 20, 2019 09:49
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chaosapiant posted:So a couple of questions. I've been starting new game after new game because that period of time seems to be the most fun. Is the general flow of the game to kinda put people on your council, gets your kids married, and then just let the days tick by until a cool story box pops up? What else should I actively be doing? I made myself a lustful Petty King whose trying to seduce his way up the social latter by getting in the skirts of the queen of Norway and England. General flow of the game: 1. Have a short-term goal. This could be acquiring the last county you need to form a duchy title, or acquiring enough gold to build an upgrade you need, or killing a rival/threat, etc. 2. Less important for newer players, but have a long-term goal like forming an empire, acquiring all the de jure territory of your title of choice, putting your dynasty on neighboring thrones, etc. Just keep those in mind when you're playing. There are times when all you can really do is let the days pass until something happens. Having multiple short-term goals helps mitigate the waiting time. As for your other question about starting date, I would recommend 1066 or later for a new player. The earlier start dates are fun (I almost always do the Old Gods start), but there's a lot of raiding going on and the tech levels are lower which limit your options.
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May 20, 2019 12:31
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All great advice, thank you!
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May 20, 2019 14:13
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As someone who is also fairly inexperienced at CK2, I also often wonder if I'm playing the game 'the right way.' I kind of have some nebulous idea of what I'd like to do and then I just press unpause and set it to the second slowest speed setting and wait for stuff to happen. I have no idea if this is the right thing to do or not.
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May 20, 2019 14:17
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Montalvo posted:
Did you mean second fastest? That's what I do anyway and in another thread that or faster seemed to be common practice. I only slow down when a lot is happening. But I make sure I'm notified when decisions (about pilgrimages etc) become available, and I have customized various messages to pause the game.
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May 20, 2019 14:27
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I use the second slowest speed as well. I’m too afraid poo poo will get out of my control and I like to read my Kingdoms emails without feeling under pressure. I’m sure with time that knowledge of the game’s mechanics will trump fear.
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May 20, 2019 14:45
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chaosapiant posted:I use the second slowest speed as well. I’m too afraid poo poo will get out of my control and I like to read my Kingdoms emails without feeling under pressure. I’m sure with time that knowledge of the game’s mechanics will trump fear. Yeah, this. I go with second slowest; second fastest just makes me feel like too much is going on at once.
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May 20, 2019 14:51
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I usually use second fastest + pause (and a bit slower during war).
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May 20, 2019 15:25
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Ostensibly the object of the game is to make your score go up as much as possible so as long as you are gaining prestige and piety you are doing it right.
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May 20, 2019 15:46
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Note to self, having the Queen get married and then handing her husband a bishop-county will accidentally render her single. That seems like one of those accidents that could come in handy later.
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May 20, 2019 16:05
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For newer players one trick that comes in handy is learning about adjusting the priority of messages. You can adjust whether something pops up as a notification or is relegated to your spam folder so you get less obtrusive messages at higher speeds.
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May 20, 2019 18:31
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Started again as the Irish Petty king of moo moo. I immediately went to war to press my Dijon claim and won. Boner enhanced. Now to breed genius devil worshippers bastards.
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May 20, 2019 18:40
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Imagine how scared folks would be to plot against Bran. His spy network is closing his eyes. Edit: mean to post this in the GoT thread. Stupid phone.
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May 20, 2019 18:44
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it basically works here tho
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May 20, 2019 19:30
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Also, whilst I am asking about game rules, how do you all generally feel about that Jade Dragon CBs? When I first got to access them, I honestly turned the county claim one off, as I felt like with no Defensive Pacts, it was a bit too potent. I can appreciate people not wishing to gently caress around and have to wait for an RNG, but there was a charm in not having an instant CB.
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May 20, 2019 21:32
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I leave them on, the only ones I really use are force vassalization and the ducal conquest. They're nice to have in the back pocket, but the way I play, I find they are too expensive and unnecessary.
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May 20, 2019 21:50
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https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/ck2-dev-diary-124-recommended-characters-in-the-iron-century.1179365/ We're getting dev diaries every day of the week this week, and of interest is that the Fatimids are now getting a bloodline and it looks like there will be an Alfred the Great Bloodline. The Qarmatians also have a unique heresy, which looks like Viking Islam. 
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May 20, 2019 22:04
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SkySteak posted:Also, whilst I am asking about game rules, how do you all generally feel about that Jade Dragon CBs? When I first got to access them, I honestly turned the county claim one off, as I felt like with no Defensive Pacts, it was a bit too potent. I can appreciate people not wishing to gently caress around and have to wait for an RNG, but there was a charm in not having an instant CB. which claim county are you talking about? county conquest is absolutely vital to pagans getting any traction at all, and ducal conquest/border dispute both have very, very high costs that limit their usage heavily.
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May 20, 2019 22:23
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Coolguye posted:which claim county are you talking about? county conquest is absolutely vital to pagans getting any traction at all, and ducal conquest/border dispute both have very, very high costs that limit their usage heavily. County conquest is definitely not jade dragon. Ducal conquest is.
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May 20, 2019 22:39
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i always play with JD on so i can never remember which CBs are included in it
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May 20, 2019 22:51
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It really gets confusing in After the End where it gives everybody access to all the CBs, Makes things extra chaotic. Jade Dragon kinda plugs a hole that was made after the groups that already had tons of subjugation and county conquest CBs were really dominating the game. If you've really stalled out and can't figure out anything, go spend a usurious amount of money and prestige and you can push your borders. One of these days I'm going to start using the Jade Dragon Tributary State CB, it sounds cool. Also, it may not actually come up much, but if the pope loves you or you've got a neighbor who he hates or is excommunicated, you can ask the Pope for some claims on their titles and territory. It can be stupidly powerful.
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May 20, 2019 23:26
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Tributary is the best CB there is. Old Tribal Invasion was better, but the new one isn't as good anymore.
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May 20, 2019 23:44
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binge crotching posted:Tributary is the best CB there is. Old Tribal Invasion was better, but the new one isn't as good anymore. It's just as good, you just never get to have it anymore.
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May 21, 2019 00:05
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Establish Tributary State actually sucks really hard in most cases. the upshot is that you get both income AND levy supply from the subjugated power, but the bad part is that you cannot call them into war, but they CAN call you into war. AIs do not count a suzerain when considering whether or not to go to war against someone, so if the tributary state you are considering is in ANY WAY at risk, you're going to be called to arms a fair bit to keep them under you. and if they're not at risk, why are you establishing a tributary state versus just flat out vassalizing them? the main answer for me in that respect has been if the state is in a butthole part of the map that you don't want to be bothered with on a regular basis. if you are in the british isles, iceland makes an ideal tributary state. conquer it, stuff it full of your dynasts, grant them independence, and then make them a tributary state when the truce ends. nobody wants to loving deal with iceland, its counties aren't great, it's in the middle of nowhere, and its only distinguishing characteristic is that it's safe from the black death. western africa also makes a great tributary state if you are not a merchant republic. it will be pretty rich due to the trans-saharan trade routes but dealing with that area is a complete pain for most of the game due to the frequent droughts and flooding. the AI doesn't prioritize the area in any way and it's only locals that will give anyone problems, so it makes sense to subjugate the area, unite it, stuff it with your dynasts, and then let them go, turning them into a tributary state thereafter. extort tribute, on the other hand, is an amazing CB and if you haven't used it much hoo boy do you have such wonders to see.
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May 21, 2019 00:05
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Established tributary is a pain in the dick and should only be used for teeny tiny stable countries. You dont establish the byzantines. Extort yes, establish no. Extorting tributaries is how you form your kingdom before you form your kingdom.
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May 21, 2019 00:37
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Coolguye posted:which claim county are you talking about? county conquest is absolutely vital to pagans getting any traction at all, and ducal conquest/border dispute both have very, very high costs that limit their usage heavily. They probably mean border dispute.
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May 21, 2019 02:43
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Coolguye posted:western africa also makes a great tributary state if you are not a merchant republic. it will be pretty rich due to the trans-saharan trade routes but dealing with that area is a complete pain for most of the game due to the frequent droughts and flooding. the AI doesn't prioritize the area in any way and it's only locals that will give anyone problems, so it makes sense to subjugate the area, unite it, stuff it with your dynasts, and then let them go, turning them into a tributary state thereafter. West Africa is trash for the whole game unless you personally hold a bunch of the key trade post counties yourself for a few decades to get some tech flowing through the trade route.
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May 21, 2019 02:54
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Montalvo posted:As someone who is also fairly inexperienced at CK2, I also often wonder if I'm playing the game 'the right way.' I kind of have some nebulous idea of what I'd like to do and then I just press unpause and set it to the second slowest speed setting and wait for stuff to happen. I have no idea if this is the right thing to do or not. The beauty of a game like CK2 is that there really isn't a "right way" to play the game. Play it how you want, nobody cares.
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May 21, 2019 03:05
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Couple of dumb Great Works related questions. I acquired Stonehenge as part of my ongoing efforts to thrash England, but it's damaged and I get nothing out of it. Is there a specific button to begin restoration? Similarly I'd like to upgrade my Great Library from stage 1, but I'm not seeing where the option would be located.
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May 21, 2019 15:26
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DeathChicken posted:Couple of dumb Great Works related questions. I acquired Stonehenge as part of my ongoing efforts to thrash England, but it's damaged and I get nothing out of it. Is there a specific button to begin restoration? Similarly I'd like to upgrade my Great Library from stage 1, but I'm not seeing where the option would be located. Stonehenge won't do anything for you if you're Christian. Pagans can restore it. You can upgrade your other Great Work from the Great Work menu which you can open from your character sheet.
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May 21, 2019 15:49
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Got it. Now if I could figure out a way to stop random rear end vassals getting me excommunicated *from their prison cell*, when I'm sitting on thousands of Piety thanks to the Crusades, when I've had my chaplain kissing the Pope's rear end for decades...
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May 21, 2019 16:44
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So I started another new game as Harald during the Viking start. He has an army just kinda chillin in a county of his, and he's the army leader. When I check the levies screen, none are raised and I don't see anything under retinues. Is this Norse-specific, or is there a reason this army exists? Is there a part of the UI i'm missing that explains these dudes?
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May 21, 2019 17:58
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chaosapiant posted:So I started another new game as Harald during the Viking start. He has an army just kinda chillin in a county of his, and he's the army leader. When I check the levies screen, none are raised and I don't see anything under retinues. Is this Norse-specific, or is there a reason this army exists? Is there a part of the UI i'm missing that explains these dudes? Some people get special event troops that are just kinda there, and free. I think Harald historically created the first unified Norway, so they beefed up his troop count a bit to align with that.
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May 21, 2019 18:01
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Orcs and Ostriches posted:Some people get special event troops that are just kinda there, and free. I think Harald historically created the first unified Norway, so they beefed up his troop count a bit to align with that. Ok, I can roll with that. Thanks!
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May 21, 2019 18:05
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DeathChicken posted:Got it. Now if I could figure out a way to stop random rear end vassals getting me excommunicated *from their prison cell*, when I'm sitting on thousands of Piety thanks to the Crusades, when I've had my chaplain kissing the Pope's rear end for decades... Monastic orders or install an anti-pope in Rome.
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May 21, 2019 18:50
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Are there any UI scaling mods that, when used, don't just blow up the UI and make it blurry? Using anything above 1.2 in the IE scaling options causes everything to start looking a bit fuzzy. I'd like an interface that is of similar size/readability to the one used in Imperator: Rome.
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May 21, 2019 19:22
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So I'm playing as Gotland for my first ever merchant republic and I think I've done a recent job of making some money for my family. The character I started as died suddenly due to some plague and now my son isn't the lord mayor anymore, meaning that I naturally have to pick off all the other competitors in the mayoral race and then kill the current lord mayor himself. Beyond just trying to increase my state intrigue as much as possible and have my spymaster scheme in Gotland, is there much else I can do besides start plots and wait? I also give monetary gifts to plot power people so they'll join.
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May 21, 2019 19:32
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Montalvo posted:So I'm playing as Gotland for my first ever merchant republic and I think I've done a recent job of making some money for my family. The character I started as died suddenly due to some plague and now my son isn't the lord mayor anymore, meaning that I naturally have to pick off all the other competitors in the mayoral race and then kill the current lord mayor himself. Beyond just trying to increase my state intrigue as much as possible and have my spymaster scheme in Gotland, is there much else I can do besides start plots and wait? I also give monetary gifts to plot power people so they'll join. you can take the war focus and antagonize your targets until you can duel them. but beyond that not really, merchant republics don't have a ton of depth to them.
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May 21, 2019 20:08
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Montalvo posted:So I'm playing as Gotland for my first ever merchant republic and I think I've done a recent job of making some money for my family. The character I started as died suddenly due to some plague and now my son isn't the lord mayor anymore, meaning that I naturally have to pick off all the other competitors in the mayoral race and then kill the current lord mayor himself. Beyond just trying to increase my state intrigue as much as possible and have my spymaster scheme in Gotland, is there much else I can do besides start plots and wait? I also give monetary gifts to plot power people so they'll join. Pick the seduction focus and seduce women in the target's court.
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May 21, 2019 21:07
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Montalvo posted:So I'm playing as Gotland for my first ever merchant republic and I think I've done a recent job of making some money for my family. The character I started as died suddenly due to some plague and now my son isn't the lord mayor anymore, meaning that I naturally have to pick off all the other competitors in the mayoral race and then kill the current lord mayor himself. Beyond just trying to increase my state intrigue as much as possible and have my spymaster scheme in Gotland, is there much else I can do besides start plots and wait? I also give monetary gifts to plot power people so they'll join. Put that money to your campaign fund, and focus on intrigue. Spying on electoral competitors with the highest scores usually gives you some good options, as well as boosting your plot power.
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May 21, 2019 22:00
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