Post Ardan Succession Crisis Optimization

Battlewarrior

After 0.67.2 drops and we finally find out that war monument in cycle 1 in chapter 4 is not needed.

... so how do we go from here?

Personally, my main playthrough gambled that the war monument wasn't needed, so I've been playing a decently optimized playthrough with a lot of pron, with the main fatal flaw being a miscalculation in the erosian war making me lose ginasta rp by choosing to attack early rather than late.

I think most optimizers are working on new investment paths now, so I'd like to hear your thoughts. I think this should allow us to pick givini tunnels, freeing up 100k for shit mages. The problem is where to use that 100k, maybe extra 50k for OoS? And of course, we can maximize profits in the first cycle of chapter 4, delaying war monument until before erosian war (or even later).

GafferGamG

I only ever really had to start over after Third Arclent War, seeing just how useless Carina's men and the Mercenary Flotilla were.

After that, there is a pretty clear optimal route. Sacrifice Carina's men, postpone Yhilini Bank, Sanitation Mages, and Mercenary Flotilla to Chapter 4, and get Denmiel Archives and Mercenary Offices in the war aftermath.

For Chapter 4 first round, get Theltiar rentals (Social +1), and then go ham on investment returns. Get Airship Fleet, and Cee'kan Shipping on second round (and anything else for Tak'kan 40). Also get HQ military 20, Magic 10, and Hospitality 7+. Before Synod, get Lustlord Expansion, Givini Tunnels, Stineford Expansion, and Elleani 90+ (Teahouse > Smithing). Try to get Tak'kan mine immediately after Synod. Open ruins before war, get HQ military 25 and Magic 30, get EVERYTHING in Kyangan (Smithing cost increase is too high to justify getting any other profitable investment available at this point). Then wrap up last round by getting Democracy, Succubus band tour, and Sanitation Mages (not available afterwards), Gasm Falls Water project (Tertia RP), maybe Airship Militarization (for better Patrici bonus next round), and finally all profitable investments (I only had to skip Succubus Armourer).

During this, remember to keep Givini score in mind for Givini Orc Merchant returns. I sent artifacts to New Givini, favoured them in Magic standards, and also bought decoration set before last round, so I just hit 50 on last round. Only 50k more overall, but, as of 0.68.0, that will allow me to just get everything in the next round of investments.

Chapter 5 is way more relaxed. In round 1, get all profitable investments on first round, orc enhancement investments for Second Gathering, and Feroholm Restoration. For round 2, rush to hit Rodak 50 to get best price for Trade investment. I skip Zirantia Infrastructure and choose to enforce order during Incubus War. Still, even if you want to get Infrastructure, buying Trade at 200k now is the same as buying it at 100k in the next round, so decide whether that 200k is better spent elsewhere or not. Remember to hit 12+ Ivalan Acceptance, if possible. You have a lot of leeway in that we just don't have enough information to make razor's edge decisions. Same goes for Round 3.

Givini monument... is largely relegated to last round. It just isn't useful. Never was. I doubt this would even have been a point of contention if not for Thosha's playthrough and Fulminato's ardent support. Too bad people aren't as enthusiastic about 100k OoS, or early Denmiel, which are both gifts that just keep on giving.

Fulminato

GafferGamG discord consensus is going in totaly different direction.
i'm not check the number myself because i'm updating the calculator, and no the monument isn't whortless, it's only happen to give uncessesary bonus (givini score, elleani rp, social, donovan suitor) but the whole bonus piled up are on par for a 1M investment.

GafferGamG

Fulminato Maybe. Beyond a certain point, optimization is difficult to gauge, I guess. Unused ProN at the end, much like extra Simon stats from IKCache, is rather a useless degree of minmaxing, not that it's still not fun. I would guess they skip IKCache to get Gasm Falls' shop in the immediate aftermath of the 3AW? It's a bit more ProN-optimal than my route, but I simply prefer more Simon stats to more leftover ProN at the end of the game.

Other than the aforementioned country score inflexibility (you can add missing one of the only two opportunities to raise Tatseni score to that, given my rush to Rodak 50), I can't say I have missed any significant/important thresholds. Unless I miss, say, Ardoheim threshold by a couple of points or something, it's really not going to matter.

I said the monument is not useful, not that it's worthless. Not the same thing. Of course it has worth; it's a part of Hilstara's quest! That alone makes it a necessity, while the attached scores are a nice bonus. However, it simply isn't necessary as an early purchase to help hit any thresholds. That's what I mean by, "not useful."

No idea how to attach json files to forum posts, or I'd post a save for your calculator here.

lostone2

GafferGamG

No idea how to attach json files to forum posts, or I'd post a save for your calculator here.

I would suggest that you upload it to MEGA or Mediafire and post the link here.

GafferGamG

lostone2 IKCache-IKWAftermath

That's my current playthrough. Pretty basic, but it gets the job done. Bit inflexible when it comes to country scores, but, as of the current update, quite satisfying.

Raiker

Something like this - https://www.mediafire.com/file/zovj96h8bferjfj/my-playthrough-up-to-ver-0-67.zip/file

My attempt at skipping Sanitation Mages and taking Givini Tunnels. Two versions: with Order of Silence 50k + Ardford Supplier and OoS 100k without Ardford Supplier.

1) In both cases we can take IK cache after reunion by postponing HQ kitchen supplies thus slightly less Fheliel RP in Erosian Crisis.

2) Had to skip Givini Magic Guild before Erosian War, and thus Givini Score is slightly less than 50: less auxiliary army quality (slightly less Fheliel RP again) and diversity (losing Rodak +1, Erosia +1, and Ghenalon +1).Auxiliary diversity can be bolstered by another tweak: by exchanging Ardford Supplier at the Ardford Summit in chapter 3 for Order of Silence 100k investment instead of 50k. From my point of view this is the only reason to take OoS 100k instead of 50k. Every other checks in which the Order is relevant, passed just fine with 50k investment in optimized playthrough. Also OoS 100k require some additional tweaks later which result in almost 100k less ProN by the 3rd phase of chapter 5 all other things being equal.

3) Since Airships were delayed, for full success at Elven Negotiations you should advise Dheria to concentrate on local threats instead of Aram, meaning 1 less point for Aram and Eustrin and slightly less Neranda RP later.