Multiplayer FASTbuild guide

[[LVS]Rockit Scientist]

Here's a quick guide on how to rise to citizen very quickly in multiplayer.

1) Take an island in the south that has TOBACCO and ALCOHOL. I can't stress this enough. Don't pick a northern island to start on, that is a very poor decision.
2) Drop warehouse
3) Send your ship to buy tools from free trader

**** PIONEER ****

4) Build 6 lumberjack huts
5) Build a town center and 12 pioneer houses; lock your people's resources so they can't upgrade without your permission.
6) Build 2 sheep farms and 1 weaver's hut
7) Unload the tools you purchased, send the ship to the Indian and buy Tobacco and Bricks
8) Build a church
9) Upgrade 1 pioneer to Settler manually (keep their resources locked)

*** SETTLER ****
You can now delete 2-3 lumberjack huts to get some resources back

10) Build a clay pit and brick maker
11) Unload your ship and go buy more tobacco and bricks from the Indian
12) Make alcohol on your island (1 distillery and


War Tip:
You can request ALLY AID from the Queen any time you want if you are at War with at least 1 person. The amount and quality of aid you recieve will depend on your current level and population size.
PIONEER: 1 small warship with 3 militia
SETTLER: 1 small warship with 3 pikemen
CITIZEN: 1 small warship and 1 Exploration Ship with (depending on your population size):
- 3 grenaders and 1 mortar
- 1 pikeman 2 grenaders and 1 mortar
- 1 grenader and 3 mortars

The quickest way to get aid (and often end the game fastest) :angry:
1) At start of game (very first minute) declare war on a trader (like Indian)
2) Request Ally Aid from the queen
3) wait until aid arrives, then go to peace with trader

You'll have a total of 1 Exploration ship, 1 small warship and 3 militiamen; everyone else will ONLY have 1 Exploration ship and won't be able to make military units for another 5-10 minutes. :rofl:

[Stig]

Why do I want to get there as quick as possible?

I always want to get a + account at the bank first.

[Alucard Tepes]

Well my friend, you obviously haven't played very much. The faster you get the the next levels, the faster your money grows because more people are moving in. Being in the red for the first 2 levels of the game is expected because you are just starting to build up your settlement. So the real lesson here is ---- get to the next level and you will get more money.

[Stig]

Well my friend, you obviously haven't played very much.
Anno 1602 since it came out, after that directly moved on to 1503

But never played MP, in SP you can relax, build easy, and in the MP I played in the demo I did the same and still managed to get Citizens before all the others.

[Alucard Tepes]

Thats cool, the demo has been out for a bit but Rockit and I can both get to citizen in less than 10:00 with the formula above. I would be very impressed to see anyone get there that fast with more than the minimum amount of houses. So yeah you can sit back and take your time but this is the way to get there FAST. It all depends on your style of play i guess.

[Stig]

Yup
I have a positive bank account, but still when I get to Merchants in 1503 and 1602 I always have money problems. Churches, mines and such are damned expensive. That's why I always want a positive account. I always have more then 15,000 gold. So if I need to spend something I always have money to spare, I don't have to wait for the money.

[André Bernhardt]

Iam really looking forward to see the first ANNO / A.D. Clanwar ;)

Nice guide!

[drkohler]

Iam really looking forward to see the first ANNO / A.D. Clanwar ;)

Nice guide!Not at all. It shows an inherent fault in the design. If you want to play an MP with people you don't know, chances are that there will always be a nutcase whose only aim is to destroy other players (been there, having been done that...). So MPs inherently only make sense when the Queen is disabled (and islands and their resources are placed very carefully to guarantee a fair map, which the demo map very apparently isn't).

[RoadRunner]

My opinion: If someone wants to play Anno war - you are welcome, but without me. :smile:

Somehow, I like the idea that Anno can be played completely different, even though I cannot say that I feel attracted by that guide... :go:

[Alucard Tepes]

Yeah if you want a clean (Skills) match then you need to turn the queen off, but even so, most games will be decided by how fast you can get thought the civilization levels (which this guide does very well). The demo doesn't give you any controller of this. It will be fun to see how MP matches play out in the full version.

[karr1255]

I like to explore all aspects of the game. The peaceful buildup is only one way.

But I also noticed that you get a huge money boost from citizens and tried to make a similar vertical buildup to get there as fast as possible. It wasn't quite as good as yours though since I didn't delete the lumberjacks so the guide is much appreciated.

[Rugster]

Well my friend, you obviously haven't played very much. The faster you get the the next levels, the faster your money grows because more people are moving in. Being in the red for the first 2 levels of the game is expected because you are just starting to build up your settlement. So the real lesson here is ---- get to the next level and you will get more money.

Perhaps we just play in a different style. Playing fast is as boring to me and playing slow probably is to you. Also what the poster is suggesting is kinda pointless to the games design, picking the easiest location to play to get the quickest input is boring.

And the "declare war, request aid, make peace" is just exploiting game mechanics. Which is akin to cheating. And noone likes cheats.

I prefer to take an hour or so just planning my city, in most mp games i am killed before i even get off the ground by children who want to rush to the end as quickly as possible to get all the leet weapons. Savour the flavour, don't stuff it down. Some of us like nice n slow, rushing is just boring.

[Vic]

This is why I don't play strategy games online, rushes are far from my idea of fun.

Even worse in a city builder with military being a secondary focus. I play city builders to uhm... build up a city. As far as I can tell though, the military aspect of this game is just like it is in previous titles, an afterthought. These games aren't about wiping out your competition as fast as possible in my opinion.

Now, they can be played that way by those that wish to but I do not think that there is a significant number of this type of player in these games. They aren't designed to have a lot of depth in this department.

I do play strategy/city builders with friends and enjoy it very much because we all have the same approach.

[Loxfelox]

Well first off all this only works in the demo imo... since the island then is fixed, full version will be random, so you just need luck on your island

[[LVS]Rockit Scientist]

Well first off all this only works in the demo imo... since the island then is fixed, full version will be random, so you just need luck on your island

That is very true. As I posted here (http://forum.sunflowers.de/showthread.php?t=11638), the military build-up is another style of gameplay. This is about the fastest way to get to citizen in general. Yes, you will need luck on your side if you're not choosing your starting island (Start w/ warehouse is enabled).

As for the demo, I suggest the small island just south of the free trader. It has tobacco and alcohol and clay. There is no ore, but ore can be found on the large island to the north east of it.

Again, there are multiple types of gameplay and a balanced is usually best. Sure you can go completely offensive and put all your eggs in one basket. The demo requires a different style of gameplay since there's a 499 citizen limit and 90 minute limit. I think it requires some skill to get to citizen in 17 minutes and then boom to 499 citizens and hold without going higher. At that point, you'll be able to pull a +200 or more deficit which is alright for a slow war.

[Rugster]

Actually found myself trying out your little exploit... works as stated.. well its not really an exploit, but it is exploitable in mp games which is kinda unfair on people who don't wish to use such during gameplay.

Perhaps we should build up a list of people here who prefer rushing games and those that prefer laid back games, so the 2 don't mix. I am a laid back player, preferring co-operation to pvp rushing and nastyness. Everything within spirit of course.

[[LVS]Rockit Scientist]

I've written and uploaded the new Anno 1701 (1701 A.D.) Guide to Multiplayer Offensive Building in PDF form to here:

http://s4.quicksharing.com/v/9706454/AnnoMPCombatGuide.pdf.html

Here's the Guide Purpose and Overview section:

This guide is a walk-through of how to invade and build on enemy islands to your advantage.
The guide explains strategies and tactics used to defeat other players and gain their resources. The
guide offers everything from overall strategies for competing with enemies to detailed tactics when
fighting. If used properly, a player can swiftly take an opponent's island. If used improperly a player
will drown themselves in debt and leave themselves very vulnerable to attack.
The guide is divided into sections: Starting Out, Building Up An Economy, Building Up A
Military, Preparing The Attack, Launching The Initial Attack Wave, Sieging The Enemy, and Finishing
the Fight. The guide then offers options of post-battle plans.

[Rugster]

Yeh whats the guide?

1/ Land troops on island
2/ Kill ground forces
3/ uses Mortors to flatten warehouses and castles/forts/towers where applicable.

4/ You win.

hehe... with a possible added extra... how to defeat the 300 warships around thier islands..

[[LVS]Rockit Scientist]

Yeh whats the guide?

1/ Land troops on island
2/ Kill ground forces
3/ uses Mortors to flatten warehouses and castles/forts/towers where applicable.

4/ You win.

hehe... with a possible added extra... how to defeat the 300 warships around thier islands..

Oh yeah, I just stretched out what you said over 8 pages. If someone had a LOT of warships around their island, they would either
have to be a Merchant or higher with a large population just to pull a small positive deficit
OR
they would be deep in the red.

So in that case, just wait them out. Maybe send 1 Exploration vessel to fight them every once in a while so they are continuously convinced they need that level of security.

It sure is easier to critique someone else's work than do it yourself.
--
Yeh whats the guide?

1/ Land troops on island
2/ Kill ground forces
3/ uses Mortors to flatten warehouses and castles/forts/towers where applicable.

4/ You win.

hehe... with a possible added extra... how to defeat the 300 warships around thier islands..

I'll play you anytime between 9am and 5pm US Central time. You just name the date and time and I'll be there. I think you're all talk. I'll play any style you want me too, and still whoop you. If you don't want to play, then quit posting in the multiplayer forums and don't ever sign on. Just keep playing the game on Easy with the free trader and Queen and leave the forums alone.

[Rugster]

Rockit Scientist']Oh yeah, I just stretched out what you said over 8 pages. If someone had a LOT of warships around their island, they would either
have to be a Merchant or higher with a large population just to pull a small positive deficit
OR
they would be deep in the red.

So in that case, just wait them out. Maybe send 1 Exploration vessel to fight them every once in a while so they are continuously convinced they need that level of security.

It sure is easier to critique someone else's work than do it yourself.
--


I'll play you anytime between 9am and 5pm US Central time. You just name the date and time and I'll be there. I think you're all talk. I'll play any style you want me too, and still whoop you. If you don't want to play, then quit posting in the multiplayer forums and don't ever sign on. Just keep playing the game on Easy with the free trader and Queen and leave the forums alone.

heh, i don't care if i loose, it is not of importance, what is important is how i play and if i have fun doing so. Winning is for loosers.

Work that one out and get back to me.

Oh and crit of someones works? I just guessed as well, i didn't read your post, i guessed and it seems i nailed it in 4 lines of text. boohyah! yah must be upset eh, well i apologise, but as for not posting, or not winning... your flexing of virtual muscles means nothing to me, even if by some mircle you were what one might consider good at pvp, and we did play, it does not matter if i lost, how fast etc... because this does not make me bad or good, what matters is if i have fun playing and if by my playing i gave fun to others, it is the measure of that 'fun' that decides if i am a good player or not.

oh and another thing.. in mp games the map is random, the "little island to south of trader" isn't always the same island.