Ok. So let’s say that I’m kinda new to the game(never played online, only 10-20 1v1s against standard bots). I convinced my friends to play a 2-4 players deathmatch.
What civilization do I pick and strat should I try to win the game?
I watched some YT tutorials but the game is constantly getting updated so I only learned the Dark Age(6 villagers on sheep, how to get boar etc).
Also keep in mind that if they see me doing much better than me they might ally against me.
A civ with strong, pop-efficient units is going to be good. Huns are the best as not needing houses allows you to build stables ASAP and your palas are created faster, Goths are good too with the extreme creation speed. Civs with palas are good, as well as those with eles.
This is all for random map, not death match. You sure you going to play death match?
Can’t we play a deathmatch on a random map? Or deathmatch have a specific map?
The name is misleading, but random maps means the game mode in which you start in the Dark age with a low amount of ressources. Technically almost all maps will have a part of randomness to them, regardless of the game mode. Only scenario/custom maps will be the same every time.
Sorry if I don’t express myself properly but it would be my first online match. We will probably chose a random map and fight each other. I thought this is will be understood as deathmatch random map. I don’t really care about the map, all I care about is how to win. I’m basically asking the community to help a new player win against other(~3) new players with strats/tips in my future match.
If you wanna play with and against your friends, use the lobby system to create a lobby where your friends join. You have to set some settings:
You have some options as game mode:
Note: If you pick a game mode, you get a pop up. It ask if you want to set all settings as recommended for the game mode. Press yes!
There is some confusion about random map, since it can also mean your location. I would pick some semi open map for the games against your friends. The need to learn the game. Getting rushed early isnt really fun for them. I think Arena can be a nice map for the first game. King of the Hill - Arena, FFA (Free for all, no teams). So everyone has a protected base, but the fights will be in the middle, by the monument.
Civ doesnt really matter, i think. Just pick some civ you like.
And dont forget to pick the right map size. Just matching the number of players.
What happens if I put 8 players on a tiny map. We spawn next to each other?
You played 1v1 ranked, isnt it? On a map of that seize, you play with 8 players. So everyone is really, really close. Just try it in single player. Tiny map size, you + 7 AI. Put reveal map = all visible and just have a look.
For a map like Arena: i think even walls are bugged. You are stuck behind some of the walls of your neighbors.
I havent played online at all but I saw some esport games(and I was like WTF) and I’m familiar with terms like rank/mmr since I played a lot of competitive games(LOL/CSGO). Tbh if I would see the RedBull tournament I wouldn’t start playing this game again. I used to play it when I was 12(I’m 21 now) and I didn’t even had internet at that time. Now I got kinda interested and since I have so much extra time(cuz covid) I might give it a go.
You said you played against standard AI, i put that into memory as you played ranked. My fault 
You probably played 1v1 against AI on 2 player size map, so you know the size of that map. That was the whole point i wanna make.
If you play deathmatch, you start with a great deal of resources. You don’t need to worry about resource collection for a while. Just spam houses, production buildings and units and attack. Then worry about your eco so you don’t eventually run out of resources.
Not sure if that would be helpful for me since my only “knowledge” advantage that I have against them is the fact that I know how to get resources quicker and kiting(but if they will see me kiting they will start doing it too). They will probably just start getting random resources like gold and stone and then realise that they don’t need those early game. Meanwhile I’m gonna grab those sheeps and boars pretty quick and then get ahead of them. I would like to use an early game civilization tho, something that can get ahead really quick cuz I don’t want them to reach lategame to quick(I won’t be able to beat them all before imperial but after that I would be ahead anyway)
Was about to say that in deathmatch you already start in the post-imperial age, but that’s only true for ranked deathmatch, in lobby you can indeed set the starting age to dark. But in deathmatch mode all civs pretty much advance equally to the lategame, aside from the khmer who don’t have a requirement for specific buildings before being able to advance, so you can just click feudal age research right away.
Another point is that your friends will learn the game when you play with them no matter what so “hiding your skills” is not going to work, and the game is not even about that, its about being better at the actual execution in practice than just knowing how something works in theory.
Also if you are only here to ask on advice how to completely bash your even noobier friends without giving them a chance, I’m not going to help on that department. x] If you all are new to the game, can’t you just experience and explore it together as friends? You wont be the winner every game that’s for sure.
Me 2. Therefore is suggest the King of the Hill mode on Arena. I thinks that is much more suited for exploring the game together as friends. Even the worst player can win such game if he learns during the game. For the overal experience it will be much better to enjoy and explore the game together, than to go a bash noobs.
Having read this topic: Any civ, have fun.
In general for large free for all and diplomacy games you want a civ that has a good post imperial age, since there is not going to be much early aggression. But at the level where you don’t know the difference between random map and deathmatch yet (no offense, I’m not exactly the game’s superstar myself) that’s not really going to matter, not compared to skill in the game and how well your gameplan matches the civilization you’re playing. (Plus, you know, who you happen to get into a fight with and at which point in the game.)
Now if you already have a bit of a gameplan, like a favorite unit you want to go for or such, something you kind of know how to use already, then we might be able to recommend a good civ for doing specifically that. Mongols for example are a good civ, but not if you want to go into the knight line and fight in the late imperial age, or if you like infantry armies. If you’re going Mongols you want to use some combination of mangudai (unique unit cavalry archer), the scout cavalry line and siege with the unique upgrade drill that makes them faster. Berbers are not the greatest civ ever, but they do a knight line flood better than mongols do. And if your opponents go for heavy cavalry themselves you just mix in camels. If you want to go infantry with castles as defense Teutons are good, despite not being a common pick for say pro players in tournaments.
So, what kind of civ are you looking for, other than “a good one”?
What I probably want the most is getting ahead in food and workers as fast as possible and have strong archers and cavalry. I hate using infantry, I find it both hard and boring to use but I find out yesterday that the pikeman have extra dmg against cavalry(I was wondering I everyone use them, I thought they are trash). Also, I don’t care about naval fight, I hate that aswell since after I win the fight I have nothing to do with the ships.
Btw, what its better? Workers farming or boats with fish traps?
I found England fun to play cuz it got the best archers(I think?)
If I don’t win then I don’t have fun, that’s how I work. I’m full tryhard in everything online, that’s why I played only offline.
There’s no denying if I wouldn’t partially work like that too. However, you’ll soon find that they might not enjoy playing with you if you always bash them completely. You have to think, how can they enjoy this and keep playing with you, if you want them to play with you, that is. You can’t just expect that people are there for your entertainment. It goes both ways. And since I already admitted I also love winning and hate losing, why should I help you, you might become good one day, you might probably play in the same match as me and, dear god, I might lose to you. That’s no fun. I’m not going to ruin my future here and now. Playing it safe, you know. Just in case.
:- )
