A collection of articles about Dominations Game

The following is a collection of community snippets from varies sources. They are informative and will help you to gain a more in-depth understanding of the game. Additionally, they should help you in your quest to improve your game and prioritize skills and other base developments. Enjoy!

Please find the following articles below:


 * 1) Higher Age Attack Strategies
 * 2) Dominations University Prioritization Guide
 * 3) Leaderless Leader Crash Base Information
 * 4) Pre-Industrial War Tip:  Dealing with High Age TC Defenders
 * 5) Winning Wars with Commandos
 * 6) World War Matchmaking

 1. Higher Age Attack Strategies (snippet from February 9, 2021) 

For the most part I see 3 main kinds of attacks when you get to the top. (315 info age base for reference)


 * 1) Heavy Tank - By far the most popular attack. Spread them out along a weaker side of the base, try to avoid bastions (which aren't as bad since the nerf), planes (sometimes bombers) for cover.
 * 2) Infiltrators/RPG - Since most players are now removing gates from their outside walls this strategy isn't as popular. The basic idea is spawn first wave with decoy, throw mercs/gen down to tank all the damage from the incoming wave. Fighters clean up those spawns. Infiltrators spread out around the whole base (only after the decoys are gone to avoid messing with the AI targeting) working their way to the center and RPGs clean up the non-defensive buildings.
 * 3) Paratroopers/Recon - This seems to be the newest strategy. Since Paratroopers don't spawn enemy troops you can drop and scan buildings like TC, Rocket Arsenal, etc without defenders spawning. Recon means they make quick work and you can drop sabotage or protects and rally to snipe key defenses.

2. DomiNations University Prioritization Guide (snippet from January 30, 2021)

The University is a long grind, and as such it (like everything in DomiNations) requires prioritizing to maximize benefits. This guide focuses on offense because: offense is required to secure resources, it's an active not passive activity, and is generally more important to the majority of players.

It's also important to skip around the University. For example, reaching Tubman's "Spy Report: Library" requires first completing 3/10 of "Trap Upgrade Time" above it; so only do those 3/10 to reach/unlock it. Apply this logic elsewhere, and in the Library too.

Additionally, multiple University leaders can be researched at the same time.

Target Audience:

Either you're a new Gunpowder wondering how to manage the University, or a casual player that put little thought into it, or someone wanting to read what others think about University prioritization. It's not for someone that only cares about defense, or refuses to adjust to best practices (e.g., still uses demolition, still uses mostly barrack troops as an Atomic, and so on).

Notes:


 * This guide prioritizes offense over defense, and useful stuff over okay stuff.
 * This does not mean to never do other stuff... rather, it's about prioritizing e.g., doing a cost-to-benefit analysis.
 * We're late in the game's cycle (9 Ages can work on University) so this focuses on the short/medium term goals, and not the long term, so for example won't suggest doing 747 days of Sejong to reduce University citizen requirements before spending time elsewhere.
 * Your specific times/costs may differ due to completed leaders, wonders, and Alliance parliament.
 * University leaders are discounted once or twice a year, so take advantage of those; especially for Amelia and Haile.

Highest Priority:

Chief Hiawatha / Mansa Musa / Emperor Moctezuma:

These are fast and should be completed ASAP. They are the quickest and a Gunpowder can quickly complete them all together in a month or two:


 * Hiawatha: 23ish total days:
 * Capstone: University Skills with food costs require 1 less Citizen to Research
 * Reduce Time costs for University chapters that require Food (15%)
 * Reduce Food costs for University chapters (15%)
 * Mansa Musa: 23ish total days:
 * Capstone: University Skills with gold costs require 1 less Citizen to Research
 * Reduce Time costs for University chapters that require Gold (15%)
 * Reduce Gold costs for University chapters (15%)
 * Moctezuma: 45ish total days:
 * Capstone: 1 random NTG per battle
 * Increases the power of Coalitions (30%)
 * Clear forests faster (30%)

Sally Ride:

Finishing Sally Ride isn't the main goal but rather completing key chapters ASAP is. Skip around (do the minimum to reach) specific chapters, namely:


 * Domination Oil Bonus 15% (Enlightenment)
 * Alliance Gate Troop Capacity by 20 (Industrial, and costs food)
 * Commandos Hitpoints 30% (Industrial, but a lot of time/oil)
 * Assault Rally Speed 18% (Global)

The increased Alliance Gate Troop Capacity is the biggest benefit for both offense and defense so complete this ASAP. This is yet another reason why Industrial Age is so awesome (Fighters, Decoy, Alliance Gate, ...).

Amelia Earhart:

Planes are critical to DomiNations success, so all of her skills are important. She requires a lot of oil but it's well worth it. Main points:


 * Industrial: Increase Fighter damage by 30% (Industrial)
 * Global: Reduce cost of upgrading planes
 * Atomic: Can complete Amelia (60 days; adds +1 plane capacity and much more)

Harriet Tubman:

Everyone that wars should complete her Spy track; which requires 6/78 in total. In other words,


 * Spy Report: Library (Enlightenment)
 * Spy Report: University (Industrial)
 * Spy Report: Museum (Global)

Reaching the Spy track only requires doing 3/10 Trap Upgrade Time first.

Medium Priority:

These are wonderful, but require a lot of oil.

Emperor Haile Selassie:

Do minimum to reach Bazookas (also max Decoy HP) and continue on later when you have time as his stuff is quick; just expensive.


 * Decoy hitpoints 30% (Global)
 * Bazooka DMG/HP 30% (Atomic)
 * Rocket Arsenal capstone (Cold War, 60ish days)

Hannibal Barca:

Takes a lot of time but contains many good chapters. A few highlights:


 * Mercenary Damage 15% (Gunpowder)
 * General upgrade cost and time -30% (Enlightenment)
 * Mercenary Hitpoints 15% (Enlightenment)
 * General Hitpoints 30% (Industrial)
 * Hannibal, the General (Industrial, and a General you'll use forever)

It's tempting to make this a high priority but the time required is too high; but it's a strong candidate.

Sun Tzu:

The most recent Leader first unlocked at Cold War (MRL) but first useful at Space Age (increased troop capacity). Do 3/10 of MRL HP/DMG to reach the Troop Capacity tier, and complete it to add +15 Troop Capacity. Otherwise, everything else relates to the Sun Tzu General that was released at the same time.


 * Troop Capacity +15 (Space Age)
 * Recon HP and Scan Damage (Digital)
 * War Tactic Capacity +1 (Information)
 * Everything else: Sun Tzu stuff (Information)

Lower Priority:

Catherine the Great:

Infantry are important up to Industrial so complete her Infantry HP/DMG early (Gunpowder); otherwise skip everything else.

Leonardo da Vinci:

Can delay (do slowly) if you're way behind, but Sabotage (Industrial) and Heavy Tank HP/DMG (Global) are critical to future success so plan to reach those (ideally as an Atomic). Heavy Tank HT/DMG is a lot of work but is worth it; and all attackers use Sabotage.

King Sejong:

Shooters (Gunpowder) can be useful up until Enlightenment, and Protect (Enlightenment) is always good, but the time required is too high.

But make a plan to finish off this Protect at some point as it's a useful war tactic, and one used at all Ages.

Empress Wu Zetian:

Nothing critical here; but start doing the minimum to reach Mercenary Camp +1 (Global); and increasing Forest Defenders (Industrial) will annoy your opponents (this is a good thing). Reducing citizen cost to clear forests (Industrial) is useful if your base is still full of trees.

Lowest Priority: Sultan Saladin, Suleiman the Magnificent: So. Much. Time.

 3. Leaderless Leader Crash Base Information (snippet from January 28, 2021) 

There are particular bases in the wild that cause an immediate crash; this guide discusses the situation and workarounds to (usually) beat them.

What is a 'Leader Crash Base'?

A base with the name 'Leader' in the alliance gate (and war listing) but has a blank (empty) name when viewing or attacking the base. This is (typically) because a name was never assigned during the account's creation, a problem often related to the tutorial not prompting for it (a bug). I've seen it done by accident and am unsure how many people do it intentionally. Most Leader bases are Iron-Gunpowder Age but dedicated people may go beyond that as there's no limit, aside from accepting bad karma.

Who is using these?

Some don't know they are crash bases, some intentionally use them to win and design their defenses accordingly, and some fall in-between. Tough to know for certain.

What happens when attacking them?

It causes an immediate 'Network Connection Error' crash after the first troop/tactic placement. Most people close the error (i.e., press 'Try Again') and reload the game and consequently lose their attack. This means losing one of your two war attacks by getting 0 stars. However, there's a workaround that usually works so keep reading.

Workaround?

Yes, while the first troop/tactic placement causes the crash, the battle still continues in the background. Click nothing and you can see it happening in the background behind the error; like a normal battle would. The workaround is letting it continue on by itself with the hopes that those troops get 100% and 5 stars. You'll see troops in the edges of the screen, and the damage percentage (and associated war stars) change as they normally would.

Workaround always works?

No, because you only get one troop drop and zero interaction. So troop choice and placement are critically important, especially on larger bases. The goal is to choose the proper troop that can get 5-stars by covering the entire base, and do so without dying; and also get the quick victory. It's can be tricky. Donated troops are typically used as most people can drop the most this way.

Workaround tips:

Troop Composition: Ideally you use the strongest troops; and since Alliance Gate (donated) troops can offer the most troop space and customization, it's typically the best choice. You might choose a group of bazookas (destroy stuff fast) and machine guns (clear defenders for bazookas), Heavy Tanks (lots of HP/DMG so will last), and/or some combination. Whatever you think can clear the base with zero user interaction.

Troop Placement: Balance destroying stronger defenses early, getting quick victory, and having a path to cover the entire base in the allotted time (Usually 3:30, depending). Remember, it must clear the entire base and get quick victory with zero user interaction!

Who Should Attack: A French Gunpowder with max Alliance Gate capacity can hold 21 troops (assuming no Parliament); so 3 high level bazookas and 3 machine guns is an example, where machine guns help defenders not overburden the bazookas. But again, this all depends on the base. The more the better but not everyone can spare a higher level attacker, such as an Industrial's 47 (which allows, say, 1 HT 5 Bazookas 1 MG) -- but it's safer. Ideally your alliance has increased donated troop capacity via the Parliament.

Screen Timeout: if your device has a screen saver that initiates before 3 minutes, then you might touch a corner of the screen to keep the battle active; but certainly do not press the error popup.

Other Notes:

Upon completion of the attack, there is not a reply available in the battle report. The log simply shows the number of stars and time.

I'm unsure if Leader bases can always accept town center donations on defense, or Stronghold donations; but think they can. They seemingly can't accept troop donations for offense.

Developers are aware of the situation and working on a fix.

 4. Pre-Industrial War Tip: Dealing with High level TC Defenders (snippet from January 8, 2021) 

A Town Center (TC) never deploys (spawns) defenders if it's destroyed first. Sabotage the TC and destroy it before the Sabotage timer runs out... you may need two consecutive Sabotages if the TC is difficult to reach. Do this and never face those pesky AC/bazooka defenders.

If a TC spawn timer starts but is then sabotaged, the TC defenders may still spawn (this particular topic (exact TC deployment timing in relation to its timer) needs more research) so it's best to sabotage before the spawn timer begins so you'll not have to worry.

A typical scenario is:


 * 1) Receive high level bazookas (troop donations) for the war attack (be specific and request for these; don't simply request "war troops" as you want bazookas
 * 2) Drop them in a safe location with a nice path to the TC; potentially also quickly drop other stuff too (e.g., generals, mercenaries) if the TC is located in a place where they'd be beneficial
 * 3) Rally them all onto the TC
 * 4) Quickly Sabotage the TC before it begins its defender spawn timer -- also don't be afraid to deploy a second sabotage a bit before the first runs out, even while the bazookas are shooting the TC... better safe than sorry
 * 5) Typically add a Protect on the bazookas so they stay alive longer to rip out the heart of the opponent
 * 6) Now drop the rest of your troops, which might be mostly Infantry but it all depends on the base

Notes:


 * This requires experience to master (e.g., timing of sabotage in relation to bazookas placement) but is the key to war in early Ages because high level TC defenders are nearly impossible to handle with Pre-Industrial troops.
 * The TC spawn radius is about 7.5 from the TC edge, so say 7, and plan your drop accordingly (and be safe, say, drop 10ish squares away)
 * Plan where the rallied bazookas will go as, for example, you don't want them going around in a maze
 * Don't even think about using Barrage as it is useless; don't even consider demolition for any task either
 * War tactics availability (first available): Sabotage (Classical) Protect (Medieval)
 * This concept does not apply to the Stronghold as it deploys donated troop tactics no matter what

 5. Winning Wars with Commandos 

Here is a very informative article and discussion about how to use the Commando & Bazooka strategy to win wars (cut and paste into your browser) www.reddit.com/r/Dominations/comments/dwhpx1/how_to_war_with_commandos_a_textual_guide/

 6. World War Matchmaking 

Here is an article that helps to better understand World War Matchmaking.

World War Matchmaking - Design Spotlight 2019 - Big Huge Games Forums (click on [1] link on the left to open the article)