Threatening the AI's

from GalCiv2 Forums

In posts here we read about a tactic of surrounding an AI's planets with powerful fleets and demanding payment in the form of techs, ships and even planets under threat of attack...taking the AI for everything they've got...then killing them on the next turn.  My question is how do you convey the threat?   DA does not have free dialog with AI.  All you can do, as far I know, is offer a trade.  If it's a one-sided trade then it's a demand for a gift.  I've only tried something like this  a few times and the AI has simply refused the deal every time.  Even when I've researched diplomacy through Total Majesty and gotten a Spin Control Center, the AI refuses any such demand.  Am I missing something?

Thanks for your replies.

4,526 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
What I find to be most effective in bilking the AI is to:

1) Declare War
2) Destroy Every Ship/Starbase they have, bringing their military rating to 0
3) Offer Peace for as much as you can get (lots!)
4) Repeat until you are tired or they surrender.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You need to be at war and hold a diplomatic and military advantage and it also helps to have the Galactic Bazaar (makes your trades appear 50% better to the AI).

Then you offer a peace treaty and the dialog should be green indicating that the treaty will be accepted. At that point start demanding more and more as part of your trade until the dialog turns red indicating the deal will not be accepted. At that point back off until it turns green again. Usually you finish with money which allows fine granularity on the total value of the trade.

You can ask for and sometimes receive all kinds of things. Trade goods, tech, ships, starbases, even planets and of course cash. How much you can get away with is all dependent on military might ratios and diplomatic advantage (and Galactic Bazaar).

In certain situations you can even get the AI to trade away every last planet they own, however this happens only when an AI is pretty much close to death anyway. The advantage of "killing off" an AI in this manner is that because you get everything in exchange for a peace treaty you don't get credit (blame is perhaps the better word) for killing them off so you don't get labelled with the negative approval factor "tendency to conquer others". It's usually important to avoid this label because it can be a significant (negative) factor in future dealings with other AI's.
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Thanks, M. I sometimes ask these general questions on the general forums because I don't want to wear you out with too many questions. You are very patient and I appreciate that.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Thanks, M. I sometimes ask these general questions on the general forums because I don't want to wear you out with too many questions. You are very patient and I appreciate that.
End of quote

No probs. It's actually better to ask most of these questions here just on the basis that it provides the same information to a lot more people that read but don't post. But I don't mind answering wherever they're posted.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Note also that if you get a planet that has a tradeable wonder on it, you also get that wonder and there is no point in asking for the wonder separately.