Answered Provinces range of difficulties

[DeletedUser5438]

Hi all - I've read the wiki - As the wiki explains it - given my distance I am now scouting from my city centre (34 provinces explored - 5-6 rings out from city centre) - all provinces should be very hard.

However I'm still not following the mechanics of the changing levels (very easy - very hard) of exploring my provinces. Recently - starting research chapter 3, I gained a scouting upgrade, then over days, some provinces went from very hard to easy - then after scouting 2 easy provinces the remaining increased in difficulty again immediately. What is determining this - my squad size? Armory size? Or simply just scouting those easy provinces.

In trying for land expansions, am I'm catering/fighting to many provinces too early in my research tree - that is pushing up the difficulty? EG - when reaching end of chapter 2 I had explored more provinces then was required to open the chest. Same now for chapter 3 - I'm only half way through with dozens of upgrades to get through, but only have 14 provinces to go to open the start of chapter 4 chest. Which I'm sure will be achieved well before arriving there.

 

[DeletedUser3221]

As you scout more provinces, the costs of scouting, negotiating and size of enemy squad increase. For your case, scouting upgrade knocked down the difficulty of some provinces from Very Hard to Easy, but those provinces must've been close to the next difficulty (Normal?) and you scouting 2 more provinces pushed the costs up just enough to change their difficulty.

Your squad size, armory level, difficulty of provinces you scout don't matter.

 

[DeletedUser1829]

Province difficulty is predominately determined by your squad size and the enemies squad size. This is the biggest key to fight difficulty.

Your squad size

• Squad size technology. Your squad size increases by 3 times the number on the squad size tech, so by 15 for SS tech 3 and by 30 for SS tech 10.

Enemy squad size

• Advanced scouting technology - this reduces unscouted provinces by 25%
• The province distance from your town, each ring is a reasonable step up in difficulty/cost
• Number of provinces scouted. Every scout increases the cost of other provinces by a small amount
• Once a province is scouted its troops and negotiation costs are fixed - However the difficulty rating can change downwards if your technology increases before you clear the province

Your stage in the game
Chapters 2 and 3 are some of the most difficult provincial combat times in the game. The provinces are typically hard or very hard even when you are below the number of provinces needed to finish a chapter. As you move into chapter 4 this should stat to ease a bit.

In these stages scouting the minimum provinces needed to enter a new chapter is important to keep costs/difficulty as low as possible. Once you enter a new chapter,researching advanced scouts, you can scout as many provinces as you like up to the number needed to enter the following chapter. You can do this as the difficulty wont change once you have that scout tech.

It is common in those early chapters to clear most provinces near the end of the chapter when you have your highest squad size for the chapter. Optional squad size techs make a difference in provinces at this stage of the game.

As the game progresses you will be able to scout more and more provinces beyond the minimum and still be able to win fights, this gets easier each chapter.

Military buildings
Armories - Only effect your training size, this is how many troops you can train at the same time
Training grounds - Are great for access to cerberus, other troops later on are also very handy.

 

[DeletedUser5438]

Thank you both for your very concise answers - really appreciated - cheers.

 

[Pauly7]

If it helps any, nothing really changes if the game tells you that it has gone from easy to hard or vice versa. As I understand it it's just the game's perception of whether it should be easy or hard for you... the province that has already been scouted will still cost the same or have the same enemies to fight.

 

[DeletedUser1829]

If it helps any, nothing really changes if the game tells you that it has gone from easy to hard or vice versa. As I understand it it's just the game's perception of whether it should be easy or hard for you... the province that has already been scouted will still cost the same or have the same enemies to fight.

The rating is mostly based on the ratio of squads between you and the enemy so it does make a big difference. Certain ratios are meant to be impossible to combat in. Obviously your skill and ability, technology, wonders, special buildings and the map all impact this. It is why some players can't do medium rated fights and some can win very hard fights.

Once a province is scouted what is there is fixed and will not change, but you tech and squad size can change.

 

[Pauly7]

Once a province is scouted what is there is fixed and will not change, but you tech and squad size can change.

Yeah that's kind of what I meant. This goes mostly, I guess, to those negotiating provinces rather than fighting, but the goods required are set once the province is scouted, even if the game tells you that the difficulty has changed.