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We know of Babylon, one of the world’s earliest splendid cities. We know of Hammurabi, whose Code of Laws numbers among one of the most integral societal developments of the era. But how well do we know Adad-suma-usur, 32nd king of the Kassite dynasty?
For those of us who happen to playTotal War: Pharaohand its Dynasties update, perhaps Adad’s known inscriptions are not enough. We must learn to strategize as him in ways Creative Assembly developed as believably as possible if we are to restore Babylon to past glories and resist the larger size and strength of other ruling factions of the day.
Lethality is new to Dynasties, it adds a percentage chance every time a blow is landed for it to be lethal and kill the enemy target immediately.
Babylonians In Combat
Babylon relies onmany very cheap but highly numerous units banding togetherfar less professionally than their Assyrian counterparts. Individually, they’ll be crushed (at least until higher levels of course), but united, they can be devastating.It’s a numbers game through and through ,and you want to act on that.
More important arethe Taskmaster units, which, when accompanying these big groups, improve them statistically.Bybuffing your groups, you can turn relatively weak forces into temporarily powerful ones capable of decimating more initially mighty groups that suddenly stand at a disadvantage.
Building Babylon
Babylon is not to be played with a forward-first mentality. The best thing you’re able to do mentally is to set yourself into the idea that everywhere you turn the world is out to get you,making the most of the map at every turn to strengthen yourself accordingly before setting out into the great unknown.
Buildings are designed to give youseveral benefits rather than a more solid core. Canal Workers' Housinggives +10 percent to resource production and +3 workforce growth. See how it combines?Mud Bathsoffer Happiness +4, Replenishment +5 percent, Influence +1, Workforce Growth +6.
This is all, again, designed to enrich the player’s appreciation for building “taller.“Your settlements will be more multipurpose than usual even as you specialize them, which provides greater inherent flexibility to your game plan. Youcanbe a jack-of-all-trades, at least to an extent. In fact, you should be.
Even Babylon’s faction ability supports this style.Call to Arms grants two recruitment slotsat the cost of a 15 percent decrease in workforce growth in a province. Appropriately military-oriented, yes, butif it isn’t active, Divine Cults is in effect.
With Divine Cults' five-turn windup,a random Siluhlu is added to the Special Recruitment Pool every six turns for every Cult Center you own; the rank increases with the level of your main Cult Center, so build upon its infrastructure accordingly. You’re gaining might in direct connection to your settlement output.
Understanding Dwellings
Dwellingsare buildings that representthe “home” of a god.You can build a dwelling in each settlement. With dwellings,you’re taking a deeper dive into Total War: Pharaoh’s religious mechanicsthan you might with multiple other factions. In a real way,dwellings are an added tierto the process.
While dwellings are available to both Adad and Ninurta, you may find them to bemost valuable under Adad of Babylon. With Babylon,every extra step you’re able to take toward maximizing a particular settlement tends to countto a magnitude not necessarly applicable in more offensively-oriented empires.
Dwelling of Ashur:
Dwelling of Ishtar:
Maximizing your favor with the gods in a more concentrated manner is what makes these dwellings so pertinent to Babylonian play.
The Hammurabi Ancient Legacy
Hammurabi’s the name that springs to mind the swiftest regarding Babylon for many players, and much like Sargon for Assyria, the Ancient Legacy is named in his honor.
Each law you create is a combination of effects of your own shaping- it’s a bit like the Gambit system of Final Fantasy 12 and similar fare. Player control is impressively finite. But what do these laws do? How do you gain them?
The unique resource Kudurru is accrued based upon the number of laws you have, so in a very real sense, you’re feeding into your own ambitions.Increasing Legacy categories' ranks unlocks new law effects, or alternatively, you caninstantly research Royal Decrees.
The advantages of instantly-gained Royal Decrees is is readily apparent, asRoyal Decrees factor into your overall abilitiesacross Total War: Pharaoh’s factions. But there are also the creation ofDivine Lawsto consider - an alternative spending of Kudurru whichunlocks new law effects that essentially turn a law into a far more robust one.
Should you focus more on Divine Laws or Royal Decrees, then? It’s contextual. It depends. Not the most helpful answer, but still! In our experience,Royal Decrees should be considered only when youreallyneed to fast-track one, as unlocking new law effects is not so simply achieved through other means.
