PROTIP: Multiple Foreign Offices = Mana from Heaven

Discussion in 'Clockwork Empires General' started by Rentahamster, Jan 5, 2016.

  1. Rentahamster

    Rentahamster Member

    If you build several foreign offices, you'll increase your chances of getting a food drop at least once a day. Multiple times a day if you're lucky. This will allow you to reduce your dependence on farms and kitchens. You can either try to supplement your existing food production, or if you go crazy on the offices, replace it completely. (although it's not quite as "set it and forget it" as farms + kitchens are)

    Give them only one shift off, turn off all other job filters, and put in at least 3 desks for rapid point gain. If you max out the office, you can always remove laborers and assign them somewhere else.

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  2. Alavaria

    Alavaria Member

    This would presumably also work to allow you to endlessly nuke bandits from orbit, yes?

    The fact that all missions are randomly generated (daily) by every single foreign office independently is not something that occured to me to check.
     
  3. Rentahamster

    Rentahamster Member

    Yeah, you could nuke them from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
     
  4. Alavaria

    Alavaria Member

    It would be amusing to have your colony be some sort of spotter base for the Empire's airships. I mean basically you're using airstrikes to win the war without putting any boots on the ground, this is perfect.

    But odd that diplomacy with the bandits is what lets you explode them.
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2016
  5. Alavaria

    Alavaria Member

    There are 7 missions you can get for Empire (this is always the case, Empire doesn't react to standing, but bandits do). If my guess is correct, the game chooses randomly what to put in equally.

    So a given Foreign Office would have a ~65% to get the food mission. Each food mission gives enough food for half your colonists for a day, so in the long-run, 2 FOs would be enough to feed your people and build up a buffer that grows over time.

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    Bandits react to standing. You can only nuke them from orbit if you are hostile. While hostile, there are 7 missions for the game to choose from. This would suggest again 65% chance to get a bombing run mission each day, per FO, independently.

    Currently, it seems bandits don't ever attack if you are at positive standings, this would imply you can quickly throw up a foreign office, put one guy in it, and then do a mission to get them positive, making your colony safe from them at least.

    While friendly, there are 6** missions associated with bandits, one is the Guards mission. However, this one lasts for "a couple days" apparently, so you could have an office or two to keep on gaining standing with them and asking for guards to constantly keep some bandits on guard.

    ** Apparently the game will let you do "hostile" missions while friendly. Huh.

    I wonder... if they died to something like fishpeople, you might be able to claim their guns in order to get some guns for free...? I believe bandits and fishpeople are hostile to one another by default, have to test to see if the bandit guards are just hostile to everyone or if they follow your standings while guarding you.

    I should also check if accepting bandits into your colony will have them bring their gun along with them.

    A certain failed experimental colony might be useful for these tests... heh
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2016
    Samut likes this.
  6. Rentahamster

    Rentahamster Member

    I demand tribute, and while they are green to me, I raid their tents :p
     
  7. Alavaria

    Alavaria Member

    Well I can confirm you can be friendly with the bandits (so they won't attack you) while also calling down napalm strikes on their heads.
     
  8. That's something I had in mind since I saw I had to choose between dedicating the FO to the Empire or to bandits: two F.O. and I had no more probles... but you completely broke the game! My dear Sir, you froze me in awe and admiration of your greatness! :eek:
     
  9. Alavaria

    Alavaria Member

    Ok so after some trying things:

    1. While friendly with bandits, they might not attack, but they will still shoot you if you walk nearby (it might be because firebombing them makes them aggressive, but the attack event never occurs due to being friendly)
    2. While friendly with bandits, you can get the mission to firebomb them still. Be careful as it reduces your standing, so make sure your standing is high before doing this.
    3. Firebombs can kill bandits. So while you might not want to walk all the way out to prune your bandits, you can enjoy nuking them from orbit.

    I can only conclude that our airship diplomacy is successful. Mission Accomplished.

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    I don't know, but presumably you can kill off bandit camps if the last bandit is caught on fire and dies.
     
  10. Rentahamster

    Rentahamster Member

    Nice :)

    I actually don't even pay attention to the friendly/hostile standings. It doesn't seem to make much of a difference either way. I have two squads of militia outfitted with carbines anyway, so bandits can attack me at their own peril.
     
  11. Alavaria

    Alavaria Member

    If bandits are at Friendly they never come over and attack your colony**. If you never do anything hostile to them then you can just walk in and take stuff on the ground etc.

    Sadly, if you firebomb them they will remember it and shoot your people if they are nearby.


    **This is good to know. Unless it changes in next version, getting foreign office to avoid getting killed early on when only having 1 NCO with a pistol will be good.

    Oh, bandit tents have some pretty nice forage...
     
  12. Daniel

    Daniel CEO Staff Member

    takes notes
     
    mailersmate likes this.
  13. Mikel

    Mikel Waiting On Paperwork From The Ministry. Forever.

    No good can come of this.
     
  14. mailersmate

    mailersmate Member

    well I'm going for a foreign office based colony before the lords of development can cast their dark magics
     
  15. Rentahamster

    Rentahamster Member

    What if it's puppies?
     
    Daniel likes this.
  16. Mikel

    Mikel Waiting On Paperwork From The Ministry. Forever.

    Soul-eating puppies that poop fire.
     
  17. Wolg

    Wolg Member

    Sadly, I've lost more colonies to neutral bandits than anything else, though I keep forgetting to preserve the console before diving back in.

    If bandits spawn camp instantly then this theory is annulled, but it seems like if the colony sits between their spawn point and where they walk to set up camp, they will attack any colonist they see on the way through without any event prompt or ticker message.
    Well, no plan survives contact with the enemy, no design remains unmutated by the water flow of player optimisation...
     
  18. mailersmate

    mailersmate Member

    I'm almost certain the camps spawn in. I've had situations where it would be quite difficult (not impossible) for bandits to reach some positions I've found them in.
     
  19. Alavaria

    Alavaria Member

    That's possible, there should be a specific "bandits are attacking" event, however, I've been attacked after just getting a "bandits are setting up camp" message. It might be that though the message says "their disposition is hostile" it's actually overridden by the diplomacy though. Remember you don't get the old "pick a policy" anymore, which used to be on one of those event popups.

    Furthermore, while you can still randomly attack fishpeople by giving an order even while being a friend (and then they will all be hostile no matter what, it seems), I've encountered bandits you can't do anything to (they also don't attack) so it would seem that doing the Foreign Office "missions" to change your standing is basically the policy. Except I think unlike with fishpeople your colonists will not hassle/intimidate random bandits,

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    Currently I do think it's a good idea to get a Foreign Office to do some quick +standing for the bandits. You could then get a naturalist from Empire I guess. The time taken to get the point is less than the time you get out of the naturalist (plus if they die to whatever it isn't like losing a standard overseer you've lost). Saving points so you can get the bandit-guards/Empire-redcoats might be useful.

    It takes 1plank,1brick,1stone to build and then 1plank per desk. Once you're gotten Friendly with bandits it is fine to move your overseer&crew out to do something else, freeing up that relatively important early resource.
     
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2016