How do I build strong diplomats?

[Lazy O]

There is no such thing as diplomacy on VH campaign, play medium. No matter how good the diplomat, AI wont accept

[Ludens]

There is no such thing as diplomacy on VH campaign, play medium. No matter how good the diplomat, AI wont accept

Actually, you can get the A.I. to accept at VH, but a badly though-out mechanisms means that the A.I. will become annoyed with the player for no reason other than that no positive interaction takes place. You can counteract this effect by paying them a small, regular tribute (say 100 mnai per turn). The A.I. also seems disinclined to attack someone who is paying them money, no matter how little. Still, the A.I. is programmed to gang up on the player, so even this won't prevent the A.I. from being unreasonably and unwisely hostile towards the player. But that happens at any difficulty level.

[Randal]

AI diplomacy is very weird.

In my Rome game it's the second century BC and the Romans rule the western Mediterranean, the Ptolemies the eastern. The Ptolemies keep attacking me in Rhodos and then offering a cease-fire a turn later. I can demand Antiocheia in return and get it for free, and I even demanded their entire western seaboard (Antiochea, Tarsos, Damascos, Hierosolyma, Alexandria, Sidon, Bostra, Edessa) and I got it in return for a few 100.000 minai. I then reloaded because it didn't make any sense to me for them to sell their empire after a war that had seen 1 skirmish fought. And all this is on hard campaign difficulty.

[vollorix]

Bribing boosts up their influence too. And is sometimes even usefull: preventing a strong AI faction from taking a key rebel region, while allowing a smaller one to use their foreces, or even lifting a siege; bribing a small rebel army with units your faction can utilize, or even better, cannot recruit yet due to the lack of adequate army barracks tier. Of course, bribing armies is really expensive ( try the ones led by captains only ), and the mercs are cheaper, but that way you are weakening your enemies on the front, while getting some useful units for your own. Also, once you start swimming in money, you can keep your treasury at bay that way.
Bribing is quite expensive, though. The cheapest way to get a good diplomat instantly is to bribe one of the enemies negotiators. Bribing also affects some traits of your Faction Leader, giving him politician skills. Though, i think to have noticed that sometimes an FM residing in your capital would get the traits instead ( i have to test it out yet, though ).
Moving your agents around a lot, while using their full movement points, will give them a "hardy" trait, which boosts up their movement point and their personal security, counteracting the "elder statesman" traits when they are getting older.

[Randal]

When bribing it also helps to use spies to find corrupt generals. If they are corrupt enough they can be cheaper to bribe than captains, I think. This has the side benefit of training your spies along with your diplomats.

Also fun: Bribing super-rebel stacks in the Alps and getting a bunch of gold-chevron units. Okay, so you need a million minai for this, but still. Easier than fighting them.

[anubis88]

I had no idea Androids were around in the EB time-frame (the diplomats being built )... Oh, well... You learn something new every day :)

But the bottom line is this; diplomacy sucks in RTW - and it sucks big time... You can't really do much unless you use Force Diplomacy, no matter how well trained your diplomats are

[Havok.]

But the bottom line is this; diplomacy sucks in RTW - and it sucks big time... You can't really do much unless you use Force Diplomacy, no matter how well trained your diplomats are

I belive Force Diplomacy is utterly useless as well when seeking ceasefires or alliances, since the AI will do what they intended ( waging a war against you specially ) no matter if you momentarly forced them to accept a ceasefire, its like prolonging the final action, it might take the AI sometime till you get tired of forcing them to ceasefire everyturn, but eventually they will.

Force diplomacy might prove useful for RP purposes like buying a city, bribing, map information or anything else, but when it comes with ceasefires.....well i made my point already.


Also, my statement has as a base my own personal experience, if anyone here experienced a different behaviour from the AI please tell, i'd be interested in hearing.

THanks

[QuintusSertorius]

I belive Force Diplomacy is utterly useless as well when seeking ceasefires or alliances, since the AI will do what they intended ( waging a war against you specially ) no matter if you momentarly forced them to accept a ceasefire, its like prolonging the final action, it might take the AI sometime till you get tired of forcing them to ceasefire everyturn, but eventually they will.

Force diplomacy might prove useful for RP purposes like buying a city, bribing, map information or anything else, but when it comes with ceasefires.....well i made my point already.


Also, my statement has as a base my own personal experience, if anyone here experienced a different behaviour from the AI please tell, i'd be interested in hearing.

THanks

It may be useless from the point of view of preventing attacks, but it does at least give you some breathing room with trading time in between. If you've changed the dynamics of your relationship (decimated their nearby armies, perhaps no longer share a land border, etc), then the peace will stick. Force Diplomacy works, I've had lengthy peace-sessions resulting from it (though on Medium campaign difficulty).

Furthermore, after getting an FD'd ceasefire, saving and re-loading the game will reset the AI, which may end the aggression for a time.