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5 Tips to get you started in A Total War Saga: TROY
Creative Assembly's latest war 'em up is here, and game director Maya Georgieva is here to teach you how to get good
The newest Total War title, Total War Saga: Troy, is here. It's free for the next 24 hours via the Epic Games Store (less if you're reading this, so get a shuffle on.)
Whether you get it free, or you just fancy a bit of ancient strategy, here's a few tips for how to make the most of the game from the get-go.
Choose a general that fits your playstyle
Aeneas
© Sega
The heroes of The Iliad are known as some of the most legendary characters and we’ve made sure to represent each of them in a unique way within A Total War Saga: TROY. Each of the Epic Heroes are equipped with a unique playstyle, starting position, and estimated difficulty level, making your choice of starting general an incredibly important decision if you are to conquer or protect the fabled city of Troy. An overview of the two factions can be seen below, but make sure to choose your hero wisely!
Trojans
Hector, Prince of Troy
The Champion of Troy, Hector is well-suited to defensive masters who prefer to gradually wear down the opponent before landing the killing blow. As a Prince he can also rely on diplomacy to forge a league of allies.
Paris, Prince of Troy
A favorite of the goddess Aphrodite, Paris is the antithesis of his brother and is for players who prefer to engage enemies from afar and defeat them through overwhelming ranged superiority.
Aeneas, Lord of Dardania
Son of the love-goddess Aphrodite, Aeneas is ideal for those who want to leverage the blessings of the Olympian gods themselves to aid their military prowess and statecraft.
Sarpedon, King of Lycia
Renowned throughout both sides of the Aegean, Sarpedon is for those who prefer to utilize trade and the manipulation of others as a means of ensuring their ascension to power.
Achaeans
Achilles, Warlord of the Myrmidons
The mightiest warrior of The Iliad but hot tempered and unpredictable, Achilles is for the risk-takers who prefer to seek out powerful adversaries and overcome them via the elite units at their disposal.
Agamemnon, King of Mycenae
God-like Agamemnon is driven by an all-encompassing lust for power and glory, and ideal is for those who relish in conquest and imposing their will onto others.
Odysseus, Lord of Ithaca
Shrewd and resourceful Odysseus is for people who prefer to use guerilla warfare to overpower their adversaries and expand across the coasts of the Aegean.
Menelaus, King of Sparta
Glorious Menelaus is the perfect choice for the strategists who prefer to utilize diplomacy and political maneuvering to greatly expand their empire.
Control the resources
Siege
© Sega
One of the biggest design changes we’ve made to TROY is in regard to the economic system that keeps your empire running. Unlike previous Total War titles, we’ve implemented a unique Multiple Resource Economy which more accurately reflects the economy of the time and provides a much greater level of strategic gameplay. This means your economy is centered around five core resources, food, wood, stone, bronze and gold, and to succeed in your campaign you will have to manage and balance all five in order to maintain an efficient empire.
There are three main ways to gain resources, but the most reliable is through occupying minor settlements. Each settlement specializes in a certain resource, and you’ll gain access to specialized resource buildings which provide plenty of opportunities to boost your productivity which will be vital to keep your population growing and expanding the levels of your cities.
The second way is trade. When you begin TROY, you’ll notice that you won’t have every resource to hand and its not always smart to go to war and attack a friendly neighbor or stretch yourself too thin by sailing across the map just because you need a particular resource. Instead, you want to trade for the resources
And lastly, winning battles. Each victory in battle will give you a single injection of resources in the form of post-battle loot, however who you are fighting will determine how large the payout is. This isn’t a reliable way of obtaining resources and should only be used as a last resort.
The resource system is the backbone of the game, and your balance of military growth vs urban growth will have a huge impact on the way in which your campaign develops.
Appease the gods
Friends in high places can be a real boon
© SEGA
The iconic gods of The Iliad were fickle beasts whose temperament could change in an instance, leading to delight or despair for the people at their service. Whilst they won’t rain down plagues or enact divine intervention in TROY, we would insist that you maintain a healthy relationship with them in order to reap the many battle and campaign bonuses they provide and to avoid any ill-fated grudges.
Тheir influence spans your entire faction, touching on units, heroes, and provincial management. At the start of the game, players will see all gods start with zero favour, which means their cults are at the “Neglected” level. However, as the players develop the cults by building temples and spending on lavish rituals and sacrifices, their influence in society grows from “Respected”, to “Celebrated” and ultimately “Worshipped”.
The еffects you gain from your favour with the gods are quite varied. For example, Poseidon, the god of the sea, will make your armies immune to deep-sea attrition, Athena goddess of wisdom and strategy will give extra ranks for newly recruited units, while Hera as protector of the homeland causes enemy armies in your territory to suffer attrition damage, presumably from local resistance. There are many more gods to worship, but the more the cult is respected, the stronger the effects will be.
When players have eventually reached the ‘worshipped’ status with a god, they will be able to recruit mythical units and agents using the ‘special recruitment’ interface. These units can be devastating on the battlefield and can be used within a variety of roles to crush your foes.
Recruit some Mythical Units
These guys aren't mystical, they're just grumpy
© Sega
Our truth behind the myth approach has allowed us to draw from a multitude of mythology’s most renowned monsters and include them within the battlefields of Troy as historically grounded representations of what their true form might have been. This approach has allowed us to expand the unit diversity in TROY by including unique warriors to the roster whilst adding an extra layer of tactical versatility to the conflict. These devastating warriors range from single entity units such as the Minotaur and Cyclops to cavalry units such as the Centaurs, with the latter having a wide range of recruitment options to choose from.
These units can be recruited in several ways according to their type. The first is to conquer certain regions on the map that are associated with the beasts within The Iliad. For example, the legends of the Centarus place them in the vicinity of mount Pelion, so capturing settlements there will grant you access to them through the ‘special recruitment’ interface. On the other hand, the Minotaur is connected to the cult of Zeus, so the bull-like warrior can be recruited when players have reached the ‘Worshipped’ status with a god. It should be noted that not all units can be recruited through the Divine Will system, therefore conquering a region will be your only option to field them.
Capturing Troy
Troy is the namesake of the game so you can rest assured that we have made it unique in comparison to the other settlements throughout the Aegean. To capture Troy peacefully, players must play as either Hector or Paris and win the succession competition against your brother, or if you’re another Trojan faction such as Aeneas or Sarpedon – manage to confederate whoever owns its. However, if players are on the Achaean side, they must capture it with force, and this is no meagre task. Troy has a garrison of top tier units, and a large standing army stationed in the city on top of that – so don’t go after it straight from the start. Build your strength and prepare your forces, and last but not least – make sure to obtain one of the three ‘Trojan Horses’ that will help you conquer this legendary citadel.
