Dominions. FAQ
How do you construct buildings, compete in the arena, preach, etc.?
* To the right of each commander on the main screen is a order button that looks like <>. Press it and you can choose what order to give the commander
How do I quit a single player game?
* Pressing +Q or will allow you to quit the game.
Why do I not find the enemies' magic items when I slay them and win the battle?
* Most magic items are not found after the battle. This can be explained by normal soldiers doing much of the plundering without knowing how to use magic items. However powerful items and cursed item will strive to be piced up by commanders and will often be found. Items are not found if the commander has no free magic item slot of the proper type.
Why does my troops disobey the orders I give them?
* They are unable to follow them, or in the case of spellcasters they might find no targets that would make their preset spells meaningful. Examples of the first case would be archers being unable to fire during a storm, or flyers not being able to fly during the storm. Examples of the second type would be a priest not banishing due to lack of suitable undeads within range, in this case the commander will try to cast another spell, or move closer to the front if he cannot find any suitable spell to cast.
How do I disband a diseased unit?
* You cannot. Try putting them in the front of your armies if you want to get rid of them.
How can I prevail against underwater nations without any aquatic troops?
* If you have water or air mages you can create items that will allow your troops to breathe underwater. If you do not possess suitable mages, try locating a province where they may be recruited. Examples of such units are the Jade Amazons, or you can buy items from other players.
If I have an Idea for an item or a spell can this be implemented in the game?
* For spells no, items maybe.
If I have made my own creature can this be included in the game?
* On a specific map maybe, but then not as a summonable or recruitable unit only as a preset addition to a player or independent army. Johan is considering to make it possible to add user created units to specific locations on scenario maps.
How do I join a multiplayer dominions?
* You checkout the games on the misc page and see if there are any empty player slots in any of the games. If so you fill out the form and send it in. Or you write to illwinter and provide you services as a host and set up your own game.
Are there any ultimate troops?
* No, but abominations and Iron dragons are the most powerful non commanders in the game. Commanders can achieve stellar powers with the right items, try a father illearth or Golem with some weapons and armor and regeneration for example.
What can I wish for?
* There are many many things to wish for, make some guesses.
How does the hall of fame scoring system work?
* Kills count for 2 points, experience for 1 point.
How does the scoreboard keep score?
* The nation to the left has the highest number of castles provinces research points etc, the nation to the right the least. The different nations between the two extremes are then spaced out relative to the difference between them and the two extremes. So if there are 3 nations in the game and the have 40, 35, and 30 provinces. The nation with 40 provinces will be found to the left, the one with 35 exactly in the middle and the one with 30 to the right of the screen. Dominion is counted one point for each province containing dominion and +0.1 to 1.0 depending on the dominion strength of the province.
What happens to a commander that flees from an assassin?
* He dies, but retreat orders will be ignored during assassination attempts.
How come I only got 5 bodyguards out of 20 when my commander was assassinated?
* During assassination 5 is the maximum number of units that can accompany a commander. Therefore make sure important commanders have 5 high quality bodyguards rather than 20 low quality troops.
How do I defend myself from assassinations?
* Patrol you provinces and have important commanders carry units with guard guard commander orders.
How do I defend myself from magical attacks?
* Use the various dome spells available on enchantments, keep you armies divided so that you whole fighting force will not be destroyed with one blow.
My cyclops armors seems to be bugged, he only get 4 in protection out of the armor value of 10?
* Units with natural protection will receive decreased protection from armors worn. But a unit with natural protection will never be so penalized as to have lower protection than another unit carrying the same armor, but having lower natural protection.
How do I avoid starvation?
* Use endless wine bags and cauldrons of broth and give them to your commanders, if you find druids recruit them and keep them with your armies, build castles to extend the range of your supplies.
My commanders never seem to starve, is this coincidence?
* No commanders cannot starve, they are assumed to be fed before the troops no matter what.
Is there a time limit to the demo version?
* No, the demo version never expires and can be used to play entire games.
Can I upgrade my demo version game while I'm playing against other players?
* Yes, and as soon as you upgrade you will gain full access to the additional troops and spells.
Are there any nations that are easier to play than other nations?
* Perhaps Ulm and Man might be considered easy nations, they both have powerful troops and no real weak spots (except low level priests). Especially Man is very all round. New players often consider Ermor to be undefeatable, but clever strategies and large numbers of priest can easily annihilate enormous amounts of ermorian troops.
I have no enemies who uses undead, do I have any reason to buy priests?
* Yes, sermon of courage and fanaticism are both very useful invocations and can help keep you troops where you want them. Their preaching can also be very useful since fighting in your own dominion is much preferred to fighting in an enemy dominion. Also they are required to build temples.
When I had researched artifact construction some artifacts were shadowed and couldn't be made! How come?
* Someone had beaten you to them, only one of each artifact can exist in the world. If an artifact is ever lost or destroyed it may be constructed again.
The Dominions server seems to freeze when put into the background
* For network play the most reliable way is to use a Linux computer as server. If none is available and you have experienced problems with a windows server then start Dominions with the --window switch and don't minimize the window.
Windows Specifics
The colors are all wrong! How do I fix it?
* First make sure you have got Dominions version >=1.03. If the colors are still screwed up, you might try the --window switch. It will run slower but the colors should always be correct.
I use Windows XP/2000 and sometimes the screen goes black and I have to repaint it with the mouse
* This can happen sometimes with these versions of windows. To minimize the problem make sure to exit all other applications (including icq etc.) before starting Dominions.
OS X Specifics
Why can't I cmd-tab of out Dominions.
* Dominions uses alt-tab (minimize) or ctrl-tab (windowify) to get out of Dominions temporarily. Beware, this does not always work properly. Make sure to return to fullscreen before resuming play. You can also start dominions with the --window switch to play in a window instead.
I can't connect to another Dominions server.
* This is a bug in version 1.13. It will work properly in version 1.14.