DEI difficulty question

**Phil2** · June 17, 2014, 06:20 PM

Hi all,

My actual dilemna is DEI on hard difficulty is too easy to me, and very hard difficulty seems impossible...
I tried both, and was completely outnumbered by ennemy factions with very hard difficulty. Impossible to hold the numerous front lines!
I tried to be very careful with diplomacy, but no go. Even friendly/neutral factions entered war with me. And not enough money at this stage to build 4 full armies...

So is there any sub-mod to fill the gap between those 2 difficulties, keeping very hard difficulty level without everybody rushing at me?

**adambomb1** · June 17, 2014, 08:27 PM

Having same situation, Hard difficulty is too easy for me, but Very Hard everyone attacks me all at once. I've tried 3 times so far and got one town and lost it back. They took 3 towns from me and I got them back barely. Anyway having lots of battles that are real close, but can't get a foot hole on new lands. I got 2.5 armies and that's all I can afford to support at the moment. I guess I will keep trying and see if I can't build my other army up and then attack, if they don't attack me. At least one of them ask for peace and I agreed. Now I'm at war with just 3 countries, 2 in the north and the one that took Sparta and Athens. WE SHALL SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.

**Phil2** · June 17, 2014, 09:24 PM

Well good luck Adam.
Perso i gave up...and cherry on the cake, each hostile country send spies to destroy my buildings! (i think they can hire more than 1!)...
Diplomacy doesn't work well on very hard difficulty. We can't have any idea of what could happen.
Furthermore, nothing kind of realistic imho.
AI has way too much advantages VS us.

Problem is playing high difficulty, i never see ennemy spy, almost nobody declare war to me, or if by any chance one enter war, i can negociate immediatly peace with high result! (might be a bug)

I really would like something very hard, but nevertheless kind of historic reasonable...without 3/4 different countries at war at once!
And most of all, no fantasy bonuses of any kind.

**Phil2** · June 17, 2014, 10:52 PM

Ok, restarted very high difficulty, but this time playing Cornelii.
With the small diplomatic starting bonus (with Hellenic factions), i'll see if it's playable...
I'll report back soon...

**Summary** · June 18, 2014, 01:21 AM

I though DeI was meant to be played only on Normal mode, as I have heard from many that it is balanced around this difficulty? I could be mistaken though?

**KAM 2150** · June 18, 2014, 01:40 AM

Normal difficulty is only for battles. You can pick VH campaign and then change battle difficulty in option, so you play on VH/Normal.

**Tenerife_Boy** · June 19, 2014, 07:09 AM

Originally Posted by KAM 2150

Normal difficulty is only for battles. You can pick VH campaign and then change battle difficulty in option, so you play on VH/Normal.

This !!!!! Thank you man.

**FlashHeart07** · June 18, 2014, 02:36 AM

What factions are you guys playing with? Some, as you all know are tougher to start with than others and some are easy. Rome with the Cornelia is easy but starting out at Tylis on VH is a bit more challenging. And on VH the ai is able to recruit 5 unit per turn which against your own 3 makes it tougher to replenish troops after each major battle.
The problem you mention Phil with the AI agents isnt something that I have encountered. And if they use their spies against me they usually have a much lower chance of succes than they had prior to DeI 0.9 . Alot of times they get wounded. I believe that the problem with the AI spawning masses of agents to rip your cities apart should have been solved with some of the later versions of DeI.

**TheOrangeProject** · June 18, 2014, 05:09 AM

Besides the AI bonus and stuff,there are a few things you have to be aware of and act upon those things.

Imo most important=>Diplomacy. Try to make non aggression pacts with those side of the map in which you will not expand. THis is obvious because you have only to deal with one side at the same time. SInce R2 Diplomacy works fine the most time, and reliable allys dont break treaties, it is a safe bet and worth spending money on. Also you can declare war on a certain faction to gain diplomacy bonuses with the faction you want a treatie, but be carefull it could come back at you in the future.

For the battle part: Look out for "special" cities. An example is Pella. It is like a bridge to whole greek and those city got walls. Another one is the walled city north from rome (forgot the name). This city is practically the gate to everything north the alps. As long as you can hold this city, italy is save from the suebe, arverni etc. Also it doenst matter if the buldings in those city get damaged, since the garrison doenst suffer from it. THose citys are worth an early rush.
Also - depending on your faction - try to go for oil. It is possible to block the enemy at the right point, so the oil still keeps working. The only reason i am able to stand my ground on legendary is, because the AI is dumb in siege battles. As soon the AI gets smarter legendary will be a no go, not only in DeI.

Make client states. Not because they give you money, because they offer a whole stack or even more and a great puffer between you and your enemys. (command allys via diplomacy button often works for me, also they offer agents)

As soon - or right at turn 1 - as you are in a safe spot (safe cities etc.) build up your cities as far as you can at your current state. Stable income means stable camp.

I tried DeI on legendary with different factions. Rome Junia was one of the hradest and i think i tried it around 10 times. Sometimes it can be bit unlucky or a war without reason can be decleared and it is over. One of the easier factions was Sparta. I recommend trying them on legendary to get a feeling for it.

**Phil2** · June 18, 2014, 05:50 AM

Thanks for the tips.
Finally my Cornelii career is a lot safer than my first try with julii using very high difficulty at turn 20.
Everything goes fine as expected, have to be very careful and patient to jump on opportunities without hurting my friendly neighbours.

**FlashHeart07** · June 18, 2014, 05:57 AM

Originally Posted by Phil2

Thanks for the tips.
Finally my Cornelii career is a lot safer than my first try with julii using very high difficulty at turn 20.
Everything goes fine as expected, have to be very careful and patient to jump on opportunities without hurting my friendly neighbours.

The extra diplomatic bonus you get with the Cornelia is a good thing

Target the weak and if you plan on attacking a faction that you have made treaties with (non-agression and/or trade etc) remember to cancel them in good time since if you break them and then attack you will lose popularity with all other factions making them more prone to attack you and less likely to enter agreements with you for a good while. And dignitaries if you didnt know is a good way to increase your income.

Rome will Prevail.

**Lieutenant Sharpe** · June 18, 2014, 09:28 AM

@Phil2, like others have said try other nations. Single city nations like Athens are especially fun as you won't be able to expand by beating up everyone but will have to use diplomacy too. Also, the Junia campaign for Rome is difficult because no one will like you at all. Perhaps try that one on hard as you will easily be fighting on 2-3 fronts against multiple enemies.

**Phil2** · June 18, 2014, 04:13 PM

Yeah FlashHeart, have to remember to wait after breaking a treaty...cause for trade treaty i never wait!...

Will try other nation as well Lieutenant Sharpe. But first, i want to finish a Roman campaign on very hard difficulty

**adambomb1** · June 18, 2014, 06:27 PM

Well on my Rome campaign Very Hard, battle Realistic, was attacked twice in the North on the western town, but save it twice. Got attacked on the two towns South in Italy and saved them, but in 3 turns the same country that sued for peace came back and attacked me same time as the North was being attacked by someone else. Lost the 2 towns to the south after 4 battles. So now I have 2 crippled armies in the north with just 4 towns, out of money, since I lost the 2 south towns. Things are not looking up, lol, I should say. I think there is only one army in the south, not sure. But in the North it's a Confederation that is attacking me so they have lots of armies, lol. Fu..them norhtern

. So, maybe I'll have enough time to make a small army for the south and try to retake it. Need more money, still making trade partners as I go down the coast line in the west, going to nead north towards England and a little while.

**Phil2** · June 18, 2014, 07:46 PM

^^ Are you playing Julii faction, Adam?

**Carlito** · June 19, 2014, 07:19 AM

The only thing that uping the difficult does on the campaign map is give all factions a negative diplomacy thing against you ie -25 for difficulty and also the difficulty gives the AI more money and more recruiting speed.

Its how u end up with a single city faction like syracuse runing around with 4 full stacks of elite troops while you with a massive empire struggle to fill two full stacks without going bankrupt.

On Very Hard campaign diff you just get zerged all the time by stacks.