Having Trouble Using Espionage Effeciently in DA

Please read of my experience and offer help?

from GalCiv2 Forums
Hi! I thought it would be a neat way to play to try to see if an espionage-heavy civilization were viable. So I put as many points into that and complementary traits when I was making my custom race, then devoted as much money to it as possible at all times, and of course got the Espionage super-ability.
I filled-up an enemy's homeworld with agents, and they only had one other planet, but nevertheless they were still able to build-up a big enough army to destroy me. Additionally, in the course of the game (about 200-300 turns before I died), I only successfully stole ONE technology, despite lagging behind them quite far.
So it seems like my espionage wasn't having a huge effect on them, nor did it net me all the technologies I thought I'd be able to steal from them. My intelligence level became "advanced" pretty early in the game.
Any ideas? Thanks!
strategies
4,809 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Try targetting more important buildings with your spies (like manufacturing capitals and such) since a spy actually disables the building you put him into (I think). That might slow those empires down. Though I'm not sure if an all out espionage war is actually feasible.

Oh, you might want to get some military around to keep them from attacking you, maybe research diplomacy all up to majesty as well, to build a spin control center (which seems pretty effective at keeping the AI off your back unless you increased their aggression levels).
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I don't really know what to do with spies either. They're expensive, and the AI is pretty quick to nullify any that you place on their worlds, they don't seem to be worth it. Since spies perfectly cancel each other out, there really isn't a way to win the spy war. My only strategy so far is to hire one spy but don't place him. Just use the spy button to look at any planet's facilities, but never actually place him where he'll be killed.

Maybe if you can send a bunch of spies against an enemy who has already used up several spies, then you'll come out ahead because it will cost him more to nullify them than it cost you, and you shut down his facilities in the meantime.
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Espionage is definitely are not the cakewalk it was prior to DA. I found I just have to be persistent in using them. It can be frustrating.

Generally I keep at least one for quick counter-measures. The first half of the game I spend the rest as I get them, or 3-4 at a time, just trying to build up my intel levels on one or more races. Mid-to-late game I stockpile them in preparation to military campaigns. Prior to going to war (1-2 turns) I'll try to sell them a high priced item or tech to lower their credits, then I'll hit all the income improvements I can with spies (as well as capitals or certain galactic improvements). I found it a very effective strategy; no need to directly shut down factories (and often impossible to do, as they are generally much more common than banks), and their productivity quickly tanks as their economy collapses. Compounding their problems, they soon can't combat any more of your spies because that, too, requires credits

Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I've been digging spies, and I've used them to devastate enemies. My working strategy so far is to build and keep spies until I'm actually at war with someone. By then, I've hopefully got around 10, and I drop them all on their planets, and it effectively cripples them. They can nullify one or two, but not enough. I've literally totally shut down smaller civs this way.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that if a planet has starbases and asteroid fields feeding them, they've got production capacity your spies can't touch.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I've been digging spies, and I've used them to devastate enemies. My working strategy so far is to build and keep spies until I'm actually at war with someone. By then, I've hopefully got around 10, and I drop them all on their planets, and it effectively cripples them. They can nullify one or two, but not enough. I've literally totally shut down smaller civs this way.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that if a planet has starbases and asteroid fields feeding them, they've got production capacity your spies can't touch.


Good advice. I'm gonna adopt this and see how it goes.   
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I usually keep my expionage slider at the minimum level that keeps building spies. Once I have four or five I usually drop them all at once on a neighbor. That will give me the lowest level of espionage pretty quickly, and the medium level after a little while. By then the ai will have nullified two or three of them, so once I get medium (where you can see the enemy's stats) I pull the remaining spies back.

I don't consider the whole espionage part of the game to be very important, however, and I often go to war with no espionage level at all.

The best use I have found for spies is to keep them in reserve to nullify enemy agents, or in case the espionage mega-event crops up.

That's a nice graphic, Popcorn - you should make it a link to the HCH web site, too.

Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I haven't found a way to even stockpile spies. Granted, I am still on my first DA game, my initial opinion is that I do not like the new system.

All the spies I have are going to nullify enemy spies. I have the max in diplomacy, but due to my allies getting into wars, I am involved too. So far I have built a lot of spies, all for nullifying, and I still have 5 enemy spies on my worlds. They are getting incredibly expensive, and are an extremely annoying money sink.

Now, I have read some posts where people have used them to great effect, and even a case about bringing down a much more powerful race with well placed spies. To me, it seems that spies are either disliked by players, or are too powerful. I wish there was some way to turn them off.