Compete without agents?

[Satyr]

One of the things I hated about MTW was the agents in the game and except for having a diplomat or two running around I just didn't use them. How possible/reasonable is it to ignore agents in MTW2? I am sure I need at least one priest/bishop around to kill heretics, and a diplomat or two but can I avoid all the rest and what will I give up if I do?

[Valdincan]

One of the things I hated about MTW was the agents in the game and except for having a diplomat or two running around I just didn't use them. How possible/reasonable is it to ignore agents in MTW2? I am sure I need at least one priest/bishop around to kill heretics, and a diplomat or two but can I avoid all the rest and what will I give up if I do?
Its certainly possible to play the game without them, but having a few spies and assassins is very useful. Spies can tell you if you really want to besiege that castle or remove that army from the field.

Assassins are my favorite. You can reduce enemy income be killing merchants, you can hinder their diplomatic relations by killing their diplomats, you can spark a religions rebellion by killing their bishops. My two favorite, you can reduce their out put of soldiers by destroying their buildings and you can kill a general that would be a inspiration to their troops.

[Zenicetus]

Well, you could do without agents but you'd really be handicapping your game. Here's how I'd rate them, from least to most important:

Princesses are probably the least useful, as evidenced by the fact that the Muslim factions get by without them. They're just another diplomat with a bonus of getting a free general/family member when they marry.

You could do without Merchants. They're a nice money-maker, and can be used for economic warfare without repercussions, but they're not essential, especially if you're playing a faction in a part of the map that has good income from trade anyway.

Assasins are useful, but not essential. I use them heavily, but it's more for the fun factor, and because it speeds up conquest when I cause economic damage with sabotage, and take out enemy generals before a battle. I could do without them if I had to.

You could do without diplomats, since other factions will come to you with proposals. You'd lose out on early income when getting started by selling map info, and you wouldn't be able to bribe away armies later in the game.

Priests/Imams are very important. You won't have any influence at all over the College of Cardinals as a Catholic faction without them, and you'll need them to control heretics and witches. They're also important for converting local populace when expanding into Muslim lands (or vice-versa, playing a Muslim faction). There are cities on the frontier of my Spanish empire in Africa that I couldn't hold onto, without priests in the advance guard to stabilize the population and prevent religious unrest.

Spies are the most important agents (IMO), not just for strategic intelligence like finding out what units are in a city you're about to siege, but also because other factions will use spies and assassins against you. They're the only way to root out enemy spies causing unrest in your cities. They can also be used to cause unrest in enemy cities, or even "friendly" fellow Catholic cities you'd like to flip to rebel status, so you can take the city without angering the Pope. Spies are very powerful... I crank out as many as I can afford, paired up with assassin companions.

I could play the game with only priests/imams and spies, and no other agents, but I think I'd have to use a lower campaign difficulty setting to balance out the loss. Remember that the campaign AI is going to use all these agent types against your faction (one way or another), and in many cases the only way to counter an enemy agent is with an agent of your own.

[Somebody Else]

Priests to reduce unrest due to religion, spies to prevent enemy spies opening your gates/generating unrest. All other agent use is icing.

[Satyr]

I assumed that the game would be slightly harder without their use. I don't mind using defensive spies and assassins and priests where you can place them and forget them and it looks like that is still a viable way to play. Thanks, I haven't had many hours at MTW2 yet but was already going nuts trying to deal with agents.