Defence against spies?

[DerekBaker]

What makes a difference to whether enemy spies can open the gates of my cities - governors, diplomats, spies, assassins?

Sorry if this is common knowledge. Searched on spy, but got no results - too short a term?

Thanks.

[Monsieur Alphonse]

You need a spy to catch a spy. If there is a spy in one of your cities, put one or more spies in that city to reveal the enemy spy. Sometimes you need more than one spy to catch the enemy.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Whether spies can or cannot open city gates is simply related to the spies' ability.

Whether or not the spy can actually get in though is a different matter. Having spies in the city already can help capture them or root them out (especially if your spies have a high ability and the enemy spies are in adept). A governor's "public security" bonus through traits and retinues can also help in keeping them out/finding them when they get in.

~:)

[DerekBaker]

Thanks for the replies.

[DerekBaker]

What if I have more than one spy in a city. What decides the chance of detecting an enemy spy - the best one, a chance for each, a combined value?

Thanks.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

I'm not sure but I think it is combined value or something .. the more spies you have in your city the more likely you will get the enemy spies ..

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Very little (locatable) research has been found in the field of spies, yet I'm enclined to think that the more spies you have in your own city, the higher the chance of them routing out enemy spies. It may be coincidence, but often the moment I place a second spy in the city, the only spy either goes running or is killed.

~:)

[Upxl]

The amount of troops in a city is also of some value i believe.
The more troops the harder it is for an enemy spy to infiltrate and/or open gates.

[Bargeld]

I'm not sure but I think it is combined value or something .. the more spies you have in your city the more likely you will get the enemy spies ..

It's pretty clearly a cumulative value, both for detecting spies and opening gates.

However, I'm fairly convinced (anecdotally at least, I don't have hard numbers) that both values have a hardcoded ceiling. As an example: I regularly deploy 2-5 spies into any city I'm about to besiege. I've noticed that I'm never able to get a greater chance that 85% to open city gates, regardless of how many spies I use or how high their aggregate experience is. I think it's reasonable to infer that this also applies to "counter-espionage".