Espionage in Dark Avatar

bok sta iam

1. No, only 'production tiles' can be sabotaged.

2. Nope. Once it stops working, it stops working until they Nullify with a spy of their own (thus killing both spies).

3. Yes. You will get a little red dot in the lower right corner of the planet, showing that they have a spy there. Also, in your Empire->Espionage tab, there is a list of where your spies are and where any enemy spies on your planets are. It tells you the planet and then the name of the tile (eg Earth Factory). I don't remember off hand, but the IGN may give you a notice about it too.

4. The slider now spends more money on agents, rather than passively raising intelligence it gives you the ABILITY to get the intel. You can use 25% of your economy, I think, to train spies. They start out cheap, but then get more and more expensive the more you train. When you start, you obviously have to intelligence rating on other races. You put a spy on an enemy planet to mess things up. The longer he is there without getting nullified, the more points towards an intelligence level you will get with that race (with the bonus of that tile being deadweight). Your agents are always the same effectiveness and do not gain levels. I believe that is where the espionage stat point comes in handy. My guess is that helps your spy be undetected for a little while.

5. You have to train and wait. Currently I am going full bore on training, but I have trained so many due to a spying super event that they are take 20+ turns.

6. Nope. The spies are all vanilla. No specialties and no stats other than your main espionage stat.

Hope that helps.

1. When you place an agent, how will that building cease to function? For example, if you place an agent in a starport, will it mean that that planet won't be able to build ships?

Starports and some other special buildings (initial colony/civ capital, etc) cannot be sabotaged. Pretty much just your standard buildings (factories, labs, farms, etc) and things that add bonuses to those (manufacturing capital, etc). The effect of sabotage is that you simply lose whatever it is that building gives you until you remove the spy.

2. Can you place more than one agent on a specific enemy tile?

No.

3. Will you be able to see your own buildings having an enemy agent or does it defeat the purpose?

Yes, and you get a drop-down notification on the side of the screen when one is planted. All you need to do to remove them is have a spy of your own available, go to the planet screen, and neutralize the sabateur.

4. Finally, how is your espionage rating and spending related to the function of purchasing agents? Will it mean that the higher your rating and spending produce better and more effective agents? Do agents have experience levels?

Espionage ability increases the effectiveness of money spent towards training new agents, i.e., you get them faster for the same money. All agents are equal, since all they do is neutralize improvements, which is an on/off thing only.

5. Can you train agents where you have to wait until their available or you strictly purchase them?

You cannot 'rush' agent training, though if you need one ASAP you can max out your esionage spending (but that won't necessarily get you one immediately if the cost is too high).

6. Do we have a list of available agents to choose from and each having their own specialties?

As above, all spies are the same. The espionage overview shows you a list of your spies currently deployed (what they are sabotaging and where), as well as the same information on spies planted by other races on your worlds. Unused spies are little more than a number of spy icons showing you how many you have to spare.

Yes, and you get a drop-down notification on the side of the screen when one is planted. All you need to do to remove them is have a spy of your own available, go to the planet screen, and neutralize the sabateur.

hum... if I understand, the moment I put a spy on an enemy planet, he knows about it ? I though that spies could be undercover for a little while. In fact, it would have been nice to spy your own planet in order to detect an enemy spy instead of having it cover-broken the moment he starts to operate.

Lets say for example you put an agent on an "invention matrix", what does it actually do and is the effect instantaneous? Will the research bonus stop intantaneously for that building or do we have to wait until the agent sabotages the building after awhile? Also, if I put my own agent to sniff out an enemy agent, does it happen as soon as I implant that agent or it takes turns?

hum... if I understand, the moment I put a spy on an enemy planet, he knows about it ? I though that spies could be undercover for a little while.

He does not know who planted it, though, and unless he (or you, when the AI sabotages you) has spies waiting and ready, it's not always feasible to swat every one that appears, at least immediately.

Lets say for example you put an agent on an "invention matrix", what does it actually do and is the effect instantaneous? Will the research bonus stop intantaneously for that building or do we have to wait until the agent sabotages the building after awhile? Also, if I put my own agent to sniff out an enemy agent, does it happen as soon as I implant that agent or it takes turns?

The Invention Matrix would immediately cease producing research. If you nullify a saboteur, it is removed instantly (as well as the spare spy you used to do it).

So basically, it's the amount of agents you have is going to make you a good covert operator. For example, lets say the Drengin empire has 5 agents in total and you have about 20 or more, you can basically eliminate the Drengin by making their buildings unusable. I'm curious, is their a cap of how many agents you can have??

I'm curious, is their a cap of how many agents you can have??

Only as many as you can afford, since the cost scales with your overall economy size (AFAIK) as well as rising with each additional spy you train.

the cost scales with your overall economy size (AFAIK)

What do you mean by the above quote ...? Althought I understand why the cost might increase everytime you train an additional agent.

Am I assuming correct if I say that we can only put an agent on enemy planets if we reach the right intelligence level to be able to "view" that planet's infrastructure and that we have the necessary range in order to transport that agent to that planet? I know that you place your agents automatically in enemy buildings, but what if the enemy planet is so far that even your ships can't reach it yet because you don't have enough sensor range, can you still put an agent so far on that planet?

Yeah, from the spy screen you can view any enemy planet. As long as you can see any one of their planets you can spy on any of them.

You can see any planet at any time, as long as you are at peace with that civ. If you are at war, then a 'high' level is required in order to view a planet. Your level of intelligence on a civ depends on the amount of time that you have an active agent on that civ's planet. Range is not a factor. You can place an agent on any planet, regardless of range.

Range is not a factor. You can place an agent on any planet, regardless of range.

Like that. Spies do not always take the usual transportation to go somewhere, so nice that the sensor and/or range does not influence.

I thought of a sabotage factor for starports. Could be a nice idea that the spy enhance the HPs of ship being built by the spied starport. I know it is not supported rigt now, just an idea for future.

While on the subject of spies in DA...

Has anyone found an easy way to know what your current intelligence level against a target it? I always forget which race I've been able to keep a spy on the longest, how much intelligence I've collected and haven't found a setting for a simple way to know my level.

Are there benefits on placing an agent other than cancelling the building's bonus if the agent has been on the planet for the longest time and hasn't been caught?
Do you eventually cause other problems?? Also, does anyone know the initial cost of training an agent and the subsequent rate at which the price increases?

You no longer collect intelligence like you do in "vanilla" GC2. Instead you only gain intelligence on a race if you have a spy on their planet(s). Therefore there is a benefit from leaving a spy on someone's planet for a long period of time.

It gets mean when people start mass-targetting the same type of building. If you think your opponent is low on cash you can target their economic capitol and all their stock markets, for example, crippling their economy until they can remove thoes spies. Of course, not having an income makes it harder to hire more spies

I haven't payed attention to the spy cost yet, I just slide it as high as I can afford to.

Does spying eventually stop if everybody is spy swatting? At one time spies will get expensive.

Does spying eventually stop if everybody is spy swatting?

If a civ's economy is in trouble, it will no longer be able to afford to train spies, and so yes, it will stop. (for that particular civ) Any agents already trained/placed will still be available for use.

If a civ's economy is in trouble, it will no longer be able to afford to train spies, and so yes, it will stop. (for that particular civ) Any agents already trained/placed will still be available for use.

I wonder if it also depends on the personality of the CIV, if it is an agressive peronality, would it focus on spies or military might like the Drengin? Will that influence the AI on how it manages its spy agents? If for example, the AI has a good espionage rating, would it utilize it effectively?

Just a few questions to see what I got wrong about the system:
If I always keep one agent at hand and go through all my planets each turn I'm basically invinceable against espionage until someone sends two spies at once?
Is it possible to recover from being struck by a few agents at your economic center? As far as I understand the victim gets fewer money, can effort less agents, gets more enemy agents, gets even less money, can effort even less agents, repeat.
This agent-chase sounds very boring and yet very lenghty. Can I make someone else do the espionage-tasks? I mean - I have to rule an empire. I hire the people who hire the people who hire the people who tell people to tell people to tell agents where to go.

If I always keep one agent at hand and go through all my planets each turn I'm basically invinceable against espionage until someone sends two spies at once?

No, when you use a spy to counter another player's spy, it destroys both yours and his.

Is it possible to recover from being struck by a few agents at your economic center? As far as I understand the victim gets fewer money, can effort less agents, gets more enemy agents, gets even less money, can effort even less agents, repeat.

Since spies get progressively more expensive to train, the enemy can't just keep sending an unlimited stream at you. Plus the AIs will generally not gang up on you spy-wise unless you're already the most powerful civ in the game.

No, when you use a spy to counter another player's spy, it destroys both yours and his.

As I understood it you train agents and keep them at stock until you use them. If I now take care to always have at least one agent at stock then I should be able to neutralize any enemy agent I get sent until someone sends two agents. That defensive agent is lost, but the enemy's agent is lost too, so were just exactly where we were before. Repeat until end of game.

Since spies get progressively more expensive to train, the enemy can't just keep sending an unlimited stream at you.

He doesn't need to shell out endless amounts. He just needs to be quicker than the victim, and the progressive-price mechanics apply for both in the same way. Just with the drawback that the victim has fewer money due to the sabotage and thus won't be able to keep up.

Plus the AIs will generally not gang up on you spy-wise unless you're already the most powerful civ in the game.

Why shouldn't they? Sounds like a good strategy to me. Spam one race with agents, cripple it economically, set up the devil's-cycle and that race is doomed. Repeat for next race. If I were the AI I'd do that.

Why shouldn't they? Sounds like a good strategy to me. Spam one race with agents, cripple it economically, set up the devil's-cycle and that race is doomed. Repeat for next race. If I were the AI I'd do that.

You have other things to worry about than spending money on agents, think about your military. You can have 10 more agents than your opponents but only a few attack ships, what good would your agents going to do if they take away your planets with military force?? I think you can focus on agents, but becarefull not becoming to weak in other areas.

Has anyone found an easy way to know what your current intelligence level against a target it?

Sorry, Malekish, just noticed this one. Yes, there is. In 'Foreign Relations', view the report on whichever race you are curious about. It will tell you in there.