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Battle interface/device question

DeletedUser110745

Hello all. As a brand new player i have used the basic spearmen as far as i can go and need to start using better units that take comparatively a lifetime to build - so i don't want these units to die in 5 seconds... when using slingers etc i have been doing some 'guesswork' of where the ranges were - ie i don't want to move an archer forward to have it killed on AI turn - a bunch of times i am guessing wrong - getting my units too close or to a point where they are just out of range of enemy. So i started watching some videos on you tube and the main thing i noticed was the interface on battles on the you tube videos was different - in those fights they were able to click on enemy units before moving their units and on clicking enemy units it showed a grid around that unit showing which squares that unit would be able to move to - which is great because then you can put your unit out of range of the enemies next turn - same with moving your ranged units back for sniping without taking damage. So i have 2 questions:
1) is it possible to use my mobile game account to log into a desktop to get that easier battle interface - so much better than guessing! (I did try desktop site via tablet but i don't have flash player)
2) is there some kind of chart of how many squares different units can move per turn? In guild Expedition i got stuck on a fight with: 2 ballista, 2 warriors, 2 horses, 2 spearmen - my 8 spearmen won the fight but to my horror there was a second wave of 3-4 slinger/archers which picked off my 4 part dead spearmen by the end of battle i died with 2 slingers to my last spearman. So i am thinking if i can use slingers/archers and get some kind of seige troops unlocked/built i could win this battle - but i am nervous to get them all wiped with not really understanding the units move + terrain limitations. I know some squares limit your movement but not by how many squares.
 

Vesiger

Monarch
One thing you can do on the mobile interface is to press on enemy units on the battlefield to see which of your units it can hit. Not as useful as knowing whether your ranged units are going to step forward and get slaughtered or not (even worse in later areas, when they can hide on certain squares but die if they break cover!) but it gives you some idea.
Also, you can tap on units - both yours and the enemy's - shown in the scrolling bar at the bottom to display their stats, which includes their movement and firing ranges.

Note that you can always negotiate the two-wave battles in the Guild Expedition and then go back to fighting the next few single-wave battles.
 

DeletedUser110131

Yes, you can log into your account from a PC. Find the right server and world, and use the same username and password.

Vesiger dealt with the mobile interface, which is good, because I haven't a clue about that. The PC interface is similar, only there's a lot of hovering instead of clicking.

On the battlefield:
Hovering over a tile will show it's movement restrictions, and it's terrain bonuses for your active unit. Hovering over a unit will show its movement and attack range on the next move. If it's an enemy unit within range of your currently active unit, you will also see a suggested path for the attack, as well as an estimate of the outcome. Clicking on the enemy unit on the map will perform that attack automatically (not recommended; it's rarely the optimal option).

On the bar:

Hovering will display all the specifications for units, as well as the movement and attack range for their next move on the map.

Moves beyond the next, you have to estimate or calculate yourself. Nothing beats experience for estimating. Note: No units can move in water, some can't move on rock, and some can't move in swamp. These, and hills, are the best barriers for ranged units to exploit.

For information about the units and terrain movement costs, go to forgeofempires.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Military_Units and forgeofempires.wikia.com/wiki/Movement_Cost. You'll find a lot of other useful information there as well.

Good luck, and have fun!
 

Vesiger

Monarch
Ah - no, we don't get any of that. Just the option to click on any enemy unit in range for an automated attack (which, as you point out, is not always by a ideal path) or else to move within the highlighted area of range for the current unit. At the end of which you may or may not still be in range of the unit you wanted to attack or escape.
It makes attacking from extreme range practically impossible save by the automated option, and staying in cover involves making sure you only aim at units well within your range - it would be nice if the targeting differentiated between units you can hit from your current position and units you need to advance to hit.
Still, if you've never known anything else, you manage ;)
 

DeletedUser110745

Ah - no, we don't get any of that. Just the option to click on any enemy unit in range for an automated attack (which, as you point out, is not always by a ideal path) or else to move within the highlighted area of range for the current unit. At the end of which you may or may not still be in range of the unit you wanted to attack or escape.
It makes attacking from extreme range practically impossible save by the automated option, and staying in cover involves making sure you only aim at units well within your range - it would be nice if the targeting differentiated between units you can hit from your current position and units you need to advance to hit.
Still, if you've never known anything else, you manage ;)

This is what makes the difficulty, it seems it takes some practice and learning exactly how many tiles range an archer has and once memorised you can perhaps remove the guesswork - sucks to lose an archer because he is one square out of range of firing and then in range of enemies next move :( the main advantage of attacking on mobile though is get the unit on bonus terrain and then press skip.

Having watched a few fights on you tube i am considering whether it is worth it to make a ballista army with a meat shield unit like legionnaire to pick off enemies from distance. As a new player i am wondering if it is beneficial to research everything in iron age and then hold on progression in the hopes the late iron age units could help guild Expedition progress? That then gives the problem of what to do with forge points? Would it be beneficial to spend them on others great buildings in the hope of getting some blueprints back?
 

DeletedUser110131

Advancing too quickly can result in problems, as you'll be up against stronger troops, more expensive quest requests, more expensive buildings, fewer victory expansions relative to your era to build on, potential shortage of goods, neighborhoods where you'll be far down the list, and more. An important tip, unrelated to GBs and BPs, but very related to FPs, is not to research technologies you don't need. It's good to have a backlog of technologies that you can research for quests, without having to prematurely advance an age. Typically, this will be goods technologies that you don't have the boost for.

At some point, you'll really need the boosts and benefits of GBs, and getting an early start on them is good. They're also a great way of controlling your progress without wasting FPs. As soon as you get your first GB, you should get in on FP swaps. Your guild may have official guild swaps, but you can also join or create a private swap group. That way, you'll get your FPs back, and rewards on top of that. First you'll need that first GB, though, and being in an early era is actually advantageous for getting a full BP set. Some tips:
  • Do the GE! It's a great source of BPs, and the lower your age, the more focused the BPs will be; in IA, you'll only get BA, IA, and No Age BPs. That increases your chance of getting a full set. Of course, it'll also get you FPs, which you'll need to spend, without progressing too quickly.
  • Make sure to polivate any neighbor that you don't want to attack in the next 24 hours; each polivation has a chance of giving a BP. If you can, do the polivation manually, since the BP will be from the same age as whichever building you polivate. A good first GB is Zeus, which means BA buildings.
  • Gather as many friends as you can, and aid as much as possible. If you have less than 80 friends at present, you'll want to invite as many higher age friends as possible (even though they don't have BA buildings). This is your chance to get higher level players on your list; they can't send requests themselves, and neither will you be able to, once you get more than 80 friends, so don't be shy about sending them requests. However, as soon as you reach 80, accept all requests; they'll mainly be from BA, IA, and EMA players, which is also where you have the best chance of getting a full set of BPs.
  • Keep a close eye on GBs in the neighborhood, on your friends list, and in your guild, and, whenever you find BPs available in your "price range", get them. Focus on whichever GBs you're closest to completing, but don't be overly choosy. If you can get FP rewards, they'll be in packs, which is a great way to squirrel away FPs for future use, such as advancing that first GB.
I could probably think of more, but I don't want to hurt my head, so I'll stop now...
 

DeletedUser110195

The range of ranged units is 5 until late middle when it becomes 6, and then 7 in colonial and 8 in industrial and that's as far as I've gotten in the game but also of interest in industrial, is other unit types besides artillery start getting truly meaningful range on their attacks(heavies of colonial have a range of 2)

Adding to Ein's comment about aiding neighbors....I'd only aid those who have aided you, check back through your event history to see who's done this(someone on mobile correct me if you can't do this)and aid them from there. This way you can be sure you can retaliate against someone who attacks you.
 

Vesiger

Monarch
check back through your event history to see who's done this(someone on mobile correct me if you can't do this)
You can, but there's a limited number of entries and with all the new notifications (tavern-sitting, for example) I find that my event history currently only covers the last eight hours or so. And of course many of the people on the list who have aided me are people whom I have aided in the past 24 hours and whose entries are therefore greyed out and drop off the end of the list before becoming active again...
 

DeletedUser110131

Obviously, if you play like me, and attack everything that moves from the moment you get the first tower, aiding neighbors becomes the exception, rather than the rule. Thus, what I'm saying about the benefits of being a good neighbor is mostly theoretical. The theory should be solid, though, and I do have some experience with being a, well, not-too-far-removed-from-decent neighbor. Don't ask my neighbors about this; as character witnesses they're an untrustworthy lot.

Augustavian has a point. However (theoretically) the likelihood that you'll be attacked by someone immediately after having aided them is small; attackers will be an average of twelve hours away from being vulnerable (unless they're deliberately timing it, which some may; those will be special cases, though). Twelve hours will usually do, especially if you organize yourself so that you have time to do both your aiding and attacking at approximately the same time every day; you will then be able to attack the very moment they become vulnerable. The immediate counterattack isn't the main deterrent, anyway; that is to get on your daily attack-and-plunder list. Of course, always check if you've been attacked before aiding; aiding someone, and then finding out that they attacked you two hours earlier, is very annoying. Once someone has attacked you, you obviously don't aid them again, until you've either come to an understanding, or concluded that retaliating is pointless. In the last case, if you need the BPs, the rational thing is actually to continue aiding them, even if it feels foolish. Whether you do or not will neither encourage nor discourage them, but doing it may get you the BPs you're missing.

As you progress, you'll be in FP swaps, have a long friends list, and have a lot of BPs accumulated, anyway. Aiding neighbors will become a smaller and smaller element. In the start, though, it can make big difference, because of the combination of focus on one or two ages, and the shortage of other sources.
 

DeletedUser110195

I still find aiding neighbors to be the best source of BPs for the GBs of your age, but with my current neighborhood being ultra-competitive on ALL towers, giving up an attack for a slim chance at a BP is a good way to lose a rank on a tower.
 

DeletedUser110745

Thanks everyone, some great tips here and some more questions from me too. Einrikr: you say that by levelling too quickly you can lose out on victory expansions - can you clarify this more please? I am guessing this doesn't relate to conquest maps - i haven't made much progress in these because i don't want to risk my army and have negotiated a few province when seasonal quests demanded sectors etc. So that leaves PvP towers - do you get expansions from PvP towers? I reached iron age but decided NOT to research anything in next age just yet, so i can still get fights with spearmen and come first place in bronze age and second place in iron age tower (lost 1st place by 100 points and had no-one left to right) - but i only see medals listed as rewards?

Of note i can say when i have been fighting neighbours i have received a Zeus blueprint, whereas visiting each neighbour and poltivating a bronze age building so far has given me no bp - i know its random but i am preferring attacking if that can give me one of my ladtv3 Zeus pieces - not to mention the bonus of stealing sometimes 20-30 goods from just one player which i could then buy more continent lands/save for researches, it might be evil to steal their goods but free is free... I have also started investing in guild Zeus buildings to get pieces. They do 5fp swap but with no GB i go after the prizes - as you say lots of fp in inventory means when i do age up i can get through it quicker.

I am doing GE, i found YouTube videos on GE by SamHall 1970 and these have helped me get through a good portion of battles, though i only got to the second level of difficulty 2 battles in because of the extra time needed to build ballista tower + make units. What will happen next time? Do you start from level 1 difficulty or 2? Do you start from the last battle where you left off? Does advancing your city make GE harder or is it set in stone where every level of difficulty means you would have an advantage if using higher age troops? I don't plan on leaving IA until i have to for GE progress.

What is temple of relics in terms of it increases your chance of getting a relic/higher level relic - but what is a relic prize - what sort of things do they give you?

Thanks again :)
 

DeletedUser110195

Advancing to the next era means you face defending armies made of the previous era in level 1 and your current era in level 2, which if your neighborhood is very competitive for the top spot in towers could prove problematic when you don't have units of your new age, though you would be able to still take the tower of the previous age, so nothing changes on medals. When you collect a certain number of medals you gain a victory expansion, 10/50/200/500/1000/2000/3000/4000....that's how much each costs up to where I am.

On GE, you always start each week at level 1 and you want to start at level 1, since every encounter you finish gives you a chance at a relic, if you have Temple of Relics. You get no chance at relics without it. When you do have it, you have a 78/10/2% chance to get a white/gold/jade relic. http://forgeofempires.wikia.com/wiki/Temple_of_Relics
This page gives a detailed rundown of ToR and what each relic can give you. In short, it can give you troops, FPs, goods, BPs, happiness buildings and if you're really lucky and get a jade relic, and then super lucky again, the GE equivalent of a wishing well(gives something random every day, which can include 50 diamonds).
 

DeletedUser110131

I'm sorry for having been unclear.

You won't loose out on expansions. Victory expansions are bough with medals, so, yes, PvP placement contributes to them, though not nearly as much as they should, given the name of the expansions. In fact, as Medal Packs become bigger at higher eras, you'll find it easier to get the lower expansions. However, you'll have room for fewer buildings than players who have spent more time on each level, and therefor acquired those expansions in earlier eras. You'll have fewer troops, and smaller boosts, relative to some players in your era, and relative to the difficulty level of the Map and GE, making making PvP, province conquest, and GE that much harder. So, it's a relative thing.

Gaining new provinces is important. You should never get so far ahead that you couldn't possibly take the next few territories, and you should always leave one territory unscouted, for purposes of quests. However, you should be close to the limit, and certainly not behind your era, as that means you won't have goods production bonuses.

You start the GE from the beginning, every time.

The GE difficulty level follows your era and tech tree; you'll meet troops whose strength is adjusted to your era and technology. Advancing in age doesn't give any advantage, but advancing your GBs will.

It does get somewhat harder in higher eras. One reason is that they assume that you have higher level GBs, and they intentionally penalize those who neglect aspects of the game; not because they're mean, but because it's necessary to create a challenging game. Another reason is that they assume that you're more experienced, and need greater challenges. Both of these are important reasons to stay in an era until you've levelled your GBs to the requirements of the next era. If your guild constantly has players who have advanced too quickly, and are out of their depth, they'll place poorly in the GE.

You can get BPs from plundering, but the chances are much better with aiding. I can't find the specific numbers, but the difference is very noticeable.

"Stealing" in a game where it's within the rules isn't evil. I like to think of it as a vital contribution to the gaming experience of other players. Plundering is one of the challenges that the game developers intend the players to encounter. The game is designed with countermeasures, and players are intended to identify and use them. Without challenges, the game is boring. Of course, not everyone shares my view on this. *cough*wimps*cough*

I do make a point of not targeting any players, though, and spread my attacking and plundering across the entire neighborhood, with very few exceptions. As a result, I won't attack any player more than one to three times in a week, and three is unusual. I don't even target cities where I've gotten a lot of high grade loot (goods or FPs). I guess it makes me feel less "evil"...
 

DeletedUser110745

Thanks again, i really appreciate all the explanations!! Some of these things i wish i had known much sooner!! This weeks neighbourhood has been a bit rougher as i started 3000 power, now nearly 5k - less people fighting with spearmen and of particular note the no1 player in my bracket has 87,000 power with their iron age town hall! The buildings consist of: 4 GBs (level 4-7), 3 wishing well, chessboard, 2 santa workshop, balloon site, shrines, tribal squares, 5 goods buildings, 2 masquerade ball, zen set, king & queen set, 2 gate of sun God, rogue hideout, 2 log cabin, reindeer paddock, 2 victory tower, 5 cottages - notably NOT one normal combat building. I attacked out of curiosity and i don't remember the units but i hit surrender quickly because it would not have been pretty. 2-3 questions here: if you have no military buildings where do you get your army - is it a combination of GE & rogue hideout? Maybe this player with level 5 Zeus has enough combat boost that they don't lose any units or maybe they just negotiate? In some battles i am losing a unit here and there so i have 3 archery to build replacements and allow for more back to back battles. Ok so i see the logic in not levelling up and collecting - i suppose it's personal preference when you level up or maybe some people prefer a different type of game where you collect, build, GE. It seems to me though if you are not staying low for PvP medals and there perhaps comes a time when medals needed versus weekly PvP allowance is maybe not worth it anymore. Perhaps it's a bigger payout from combination of investment prizes in GB level ups + GB payouts of medals etc?

A few things i am considering: 1) not advancing the continent map other than when quest like may day asks for it - eventually though a time would come when the goods were not owned for early middle age maps and level up needed if prize worth it.
2) Collecting bps for great buildings and not building them until feel like enough medals have been gained - not sure what that number would be, i am close to 200 medals but collecting 5000 medals at iron age could get tedious.
3) Deleting buildings: i have a few happiness buildings quests told me to build, 5 goods buildings (i was hoping to stock pile goods and then sell the buildings - i can count out what is needed for continent maps, future researches - but other areas like seasonal quest demands or GE negotiations, possible donating to guild make it hard to set a target? I have a few hammers buildings, an absolute ton of cottages, 2 bronze age military buildings (so i can compete on bronze age tower - in GE i do as many level 1 fights with BA units and then use them again on those that defend with 2 spearmen). I have 2 soldier buildings which might be too much? as i am using these less and less. I have one ballista building but unsure if a second is warranted? I am considering deleting the zen zone - no other parts of set, it makes 300 gold a day and i don't need gold with all my houses i am drowning in gold.

I am wondering if i need to build 2 mounted warrior stables? One of my GE fights today was against 4 ballista & 4 horsemen. I used 4 ballista & 4 soldiers. The enemy horses moved just outside my soldiers range - but on their next turn would have been in range of my ballista. After horses & soldiers moved the turn order alternated between my ballista and AI ballista. At this point before every unit died i hit surrender - odds of winning seemed slim because the turn order and movements were like i was missing a turn entirely. I spent some time thinking about this fight if i made another ballista building for 8 ballista but i think AI 4 horses + 4 ballista still could win it with too much loss if not wipe. I thought about 8 soldiers but again due to range and turn order i think they would get picked off. I think the best scenario would be 8 mounted warriors as stronger than horsemen (i have 5 as GE prizes but didn't want them to die). I am torn to build this because of the power it will add. Today's solution was to negotiate - a few goods etc is probably worth it for chance to win bps etc. Maybe that is the better solution for all the harder fights (though today lots of battles but mostly won junk goods)? I am half way through the second level of difficulty and not sure how far i can get.

It is tempting to delete a lot of buildings to see if that helps get an easier neighbourhood - i noticed when getting rid of some houses it made a little difference. So my new focus would be military buildings + minimum houses & 120% happiness. I can see that GB adds a lot of power but if the main focus was not so much PvP as GE it could make a lot of difference - however you say that the strength of enemy units gets scaled in line with your power so maybe the Zeus attack boost would be negated and only relevant in pvp? I note that my nearly 90k neighbour did 15 fights on day one then stopped, whereas i am 23 fights in + neighbour fights putting me at double the points.
 

DeletedUser110195

notably NOT one normal combat building
I've done the same, this guy seems like he's sat in Iron Age for a while, if those GB's include zeus he probably stomps through all levels of GE. When you can plow through GE week after week without many or any losses, you get a pretty large catalogue of unattached units built up, such that you don't need military buildings anymore. Doesn't help you when you move up an age but you can build the buildings for that age to support yourself through GE until you've got an acceptable number of unattached built up again.

1) not advancing the continent map other than when quest like may day asks for it
Yes, don't do anything on the continent map apart from get your goods deposits for your current age, until you're ready to move up to the next. I've established a rhythm now of being in the next ages provinces. I find the drag of it allows me to make consistent progress without leaving me unable to do event quests. I'm simultaneously ready to move up to the next age should I need to.

Collecting bps for great buildings and not building them
Zeus, Babel, Lighthouse, these you should make room for somehow. Babel you can delete houses and level it for population to compensate if needed. I advise against ever building the colosseum. The medals it produces aren't worth the space it takes, and its happiness per tile is below even non-premium happiness buildings of its own age, you'd quickly outgrow it and I'm currently planning to demolish it.

I am wondering if i need to build 2 mounted warrior stables?
I personally favor a combo of ranged and light units, since with ranged you can finish fights without taking damage, and light units complement them by being the counter to fast units, which counter ranged. Fast units couple best with heavy, which are too slow in my opinion.

Don't delete buildings unless you don't need them or need to make room for a GB. Points don't dictate how strong your neighborhood is.
 

DeletedUser110131

if you have no military buildings where do you get your army - is it a combination of GE & rogue hideout?
Yes. Essentially, you can fight with one or two unattached, specialized units, and the rest Rogues. Rogues can fight in all positions, so one Rogue Hideout can replace multiple types of other military buildings; you won't need duplicate military buildings, and with enough unattached, you won't need any. You protect the unattached units, and fight mainly with Rogues. They can handle one extra hit, and untransformed Rogues draw fire from the transformed ones. Move damaged Rogues out of range, to keep them alive; several units from a building can heal simultaneously, but a building can only recruit one at a time. One point away from death takes nearly as long to heal as recruitment takes, but is still much better than having to recruit. Rogues take a long time to recruit/heal, but, with low enough losses, and several Hideouts, that's manageable.

Even so, it's not unlikely that your neighbor uses some diamonds to heal/revive units, especially the most valuable unattached ones.

Odds are that your neighbor also has units from the next age; you can acquire one age higher units through quests. Combined with Rogues, they can really make way in the GE. If he also has the higher age tower, he's competing on that, and likely to win that tournament. It explains why he didn't do more than fifteen IA fights. Higher age units are hard to come by; almost certainly he's using diamonds on occasion, to keep them alive, and possibly doesn't use these units at all, when he doesn't have enough diamonds to revive them, in case "disaster" strikes. Depending on how many Hideouts he has, he has probably opened the expansion slots, which requires diamonds. This doesn't necessarily mean that he spends money; diamonds can be won in events, quests, some buildings, and on the higher GE levels.

Obviously, higher age troops are ideal for defence, along with other unattached units, as you don't risk losing them in defence. Just make sure to never use more than two Rogues in defence; skilled attackers will know how to get around them.

there perhaps comes a time when medals needed versus weekly PvP allowance is maybe not worth it anymore.
You can't stay in an age forever. Well, if you're stubborn enough, I guess you can, but it defies the purpose of the game. At some point, you should move ahead. Just make sure you're prepared. You want to have the necessary GBs at their necessary levels, along with enough space for new buildings. This goes, whether you're fighting in the neighborhood, GE, or GvG.

1) not advancing the continent map other than when quest like may day asks for it - eventually though a time would come when the goods were not owned for early middle age maps and level up needed if prize worth it.
Advance on the map, but make sure not to overdo it. Always feel confident that you have the combined strength and skill to conquer the next three provinces, even if you haven't scouted them all. Ideally, time your advancement with quests, but not exclusively. You should always have the goods deposits for your age.

2) Collecting bps for great buildings and not building them until feel like enough medals have been gained - not sure what that number would be, i am close to 200 medals but collecting 5000 medals at iron age could get tedious.
Some GBs will save you space. Babel and LoA are examples of that. Others are plain necessary, especially if you do a lot of fighting, such as Zeus.

3) Deleting buildings: i have a few happiness buildings quests told me to build
In quests, either build what you need anyway, or build the very cheapest option to satisfy the requirements (reward buildings being the cheapest of all). That way, you'll either not need to delete them, or doing so will be cheap. Abort quests that will cost more than the reward. Never abort quests with unknown rewards; these may be lousy, but are also where the really good rewards are.

Generally speaking, you should replace all buildings with more efficient ones, as soon as you're able. The buildings will quickly pay for themselves; if they don't, that's a sign that you're advancing to quickly. Exactly what buildings are more efficient for you, depends on your style and strategy. For instance, if you log on infrequently, long production time for residentials is more efficient. If you don't have the goods deposit for a goods building, a building from the previous age, for which you have the deposit, is more efficient.

However, don't delete a building that you're not ready to replace. The exceptions are decorations, which can steal polishing from larger cultural buildings, and surplus residentials, if you can't reach enthusiasm in any other way.

i was hoping to stock pile goods and then sell the buildings - i can count out what is needed for continent maps, future researches - but other areas like seasonal quest demands or GE negotiations, possible donating to guild make it hard to set a target?
You should always have some production buildings, and always produce more than your immediate need. For one thing, it's cheaper to produce at a steady pace, as you'll build fewer buildings, and delete fewer. Trade for goods that you don't have the deposit for, to make sure you have a stockpile of all goods, from all ages.

I have a few hammers buildings, an absolute ton of cottages
You need a balance, here. Don't have more residentials than necessary to crew other buildings and earn enough coins. At the same time, have enough supply production buildings to almost keep up with the coin production; almost is good enough, as you will occasionally spend coin on FPs. Make enough coins and supplies that buildings for quests will always be affordable, and stockpiles increase; by the time you advance an age, you should have enough to replace outdated buildings immediately.

2 bronze age military buildings (so i can compete on bronze age tower - in GE i do as many level 1 fights with BA units and then use them again on those that defend with 2 spearmen)
You'll need a Rogue Hideout; having duplicate buildings will be unnecessary, and the extra firepower and resilience of the Rogues will mean that one unit type will be enough.

I am considering deleting the zen zone - no other parts of set, it makes 300 gold a day and i don't need gold with all my houses i am drowning in gold.
Don't delete it. There are indications that the Cherry Garden set will be made available again, even before the next Spring Event. If you have a "Store Building", use it. If you get two more unique Cherry Garden buildings, it'll be worth it, if you get the full set, it'll really be worth it. It's a splendid set.

Today's solution was to negotiate - a few goods etc is probably worth it for chance to win bps etc. Maybe that is the better solution for all the harder fights (though today lots of battles but mostly won junk goods)
It's a cost/benefit calculation. If you're fairly sure you'll lose, or that victory will be excessively expensive, then negotiate. Sometimes you won't have the right unit types for the battle, sometimes you don't have enough boosts, sometimes there will be an opposing army that you haven't yet figured out how to defeat without great losses, sometimes there will be a terrain that you don't yet master. In the last two cases, you should try, if you have the troops to spare; it's how you learn. If you don't have troops to spare, negotiate. It even pays in the PvP contest; negotiating past a difficult encounter can gain you several victories in the next few.

It is tempting to delete a lot of buildings to see if that helps get an easier neighbourhood
It won't. The difficulty is decided by your age and technology, not your ranking, and not by your GBs. At the higher ages, they intend for players to have high level GBs, and therefore they increase the difficulty; they do that for all players in that age, including the ones who don't have high level GBs. This is intentional; they penalize poor strategy. Underdeveloped GBs will eventually make the game essentially unplayable.

I can see that GB adds a lot of power but if the main focus was not so much PvP as GE it could make a lot of difference - however you say that the strength of enemy units gets scaled in line with your power so maybe the Zeus attack boost would be negated and only relevant in pvp?
As I wrote above, the enemy strength is determined by your age and technology, rather than your total strength. It's not influenced at all by your GBs. Boosts are always an advantage. Great Buildings are at the core of the game, and everything is designed to make them advantageous. Some have purposes that won't suit your strategy, but the ones that do, will be a great help. That's especially true for the offensive GBs.

If you played like me, my advice would be to bring your Zeus to around level five, then get either CdM or CoA, bring it to the same level, then get the last one. By CA, you should be working on the last one. You won't regret a single FP put into them, nor a single tile occupied by them. It does require space, though; if you don't have that, the alternative is to level higher the GBs you have. It's a matter of a balanced strategy, in this case a balance between tiles and FPs. Level five for three buildings costs more tiles and fewer FPs than level seven to eight for two buildings. Whichever you're shorter on is the one you should save. Remember to take the time to bring up some other GBs, as well, especially ToR.
 
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