Uh, yeah, anyway on to attrition! i know many of you have been kinda curious as to what attrition is really about, IOW what do you really get with Attrition levels 1-4, what do wonders do for you, are the russian attrition bonuses REALLY that helpful, and how do Smelter upgrades work?
I have come to the rescue.
First off, i did some testing to figure out what was going on with attrition. and i must say it was rather difficult to understand at first, but i have it all figured out for you! I used solo player human control all for the testing, with infinite resources and arena map. No nations had attrition bonuses, and no wonders were built or smelter upgraded until i figured out the base attrition numbers. So without further ado, i give you: Attrition, A comprehensive guide.
-Attrition values can be seen by selecting your unit and looking at it's statistics. If it's taking attrition damage, then a little boot will show up with a number next to it. After some testing, i decided that the number shown represents how much damage is taken in approximately 6 seconds (although some tests revealed 7 seconds). I believe that there is likely some floating points there, but it's closer to 6 seconds, so i will stick with that. So if your unit is taking 12 attrition, then it is losing 12 hp every 6 seconds, or 2hp/sec.
-Seige units are the only units to take attrition at different rates: half. They recieve all attrition at half the rate of any other unit.
-Buildings always take full attrition, 99 per 6 seconds. It does not matter if any attrition research has been done. So an enemy unit in your territory can take no attrition, while their buildings will take 99.
-Attrition levels are calculated using the base 2 (or binary) system. the level represents what the base is raised to. For instance, Attrition level 1 (researched at the towers) will create 2^1 attrition, or 2 attrition. Attrition level 4 will create 2^4 attrition, or 16 attrition. if your not familiar with base 2 systems, then here are the base attritions:
lvl 1 = 2^1 = 2
lvl 2 = 2^2 = 4
lvl 3 = 2^3 = 8
lvl 4 = 2^4 = 16
-Attrition levels have a secondary effect. While they set the base attrition rates, they also affect how "bonuses" are added on. Age matters to attrition, and falling an age behind or getting an age up matters. here is how this works:
Attrition level 1- if you are 3 or 7 ages above your opponent, you recieve a +2 bonus to attrition for each age.
this means that if your 3 ages up, with only attrition level 1 research, then enemy units will take 2+2 or 4 attrition. if your 7 ages up, they will take 2+2+2 or 6 attrition.
Attrition level 2-if you are 1,3,5 or 7 ages up, you will take +2 bonus attrition each. This means that you can tack on an addition +8 attrition to your base, which since the base is 4, you can have up to 12 attrition.
Attrition level 3-if you are ANY age above your opponent, you will recieve a +2 bonus each. You can get an addition +14 tacked on to your base, which would be 8 + 14; a total of 22 attrition.
Attrition level 4-if you are any age above your opponent you recieve a +4 bonus. Maximum +28 bonus: added to the base, this gives you 46. Note that due to rounding, this number mathmatically equals 46, not 44. This appears to be the only place in-game rounding takes it's toll.
-Also realize that if you are ages BELOW your opponent, you recieve NEGATIVE bonuses equal to that listed above. yes, it is possible to give enemy units 0 attrition even if you have attrition level 4 researched.
To make all this simpler to understand, i have decided to make a handy table so you can visualize all of this.
Age(s): even +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7
lvl 1: 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 6 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
lvl 2: 4 6 6 8 8 10 10 12 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
lvl 3: 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 6 4 2 0 0 0 0
lvl 4: 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 46* 12 8 4 0 0 0 0
As far as i know, this table is accurate. Once again note the 46 damage is a bit out of sync, but this is due to in-game rounding. Also note that if your are even with your opponent age-wise, then you recieve no bonuses, hence the 'base' attrition levels.
-The kremlin adds +100% to these values. So after bonuses are calculated ontop of the base attritions, then the kremlin is tacked ontop of that.
-The colloseum adds +50%, and is just like the kremlin.
-The russians add +100% to these values: if you are in ancient age, then it's simular to having lvl 1 researched, since it gives 2 attrition. Once you research classical however, then lvl 1 is instantly researched, so then the russians double this value: 2 + 100% = 4. If you get to Medieval before they do, then this value jumps to 12: lvl 2 attrition = ( base 4 + (+2 age bonus) ) + 100% = 12. it would of course drop to 8 once they match your age.
-Smelter upgrades reduce attrition by their give amount: 25%,50%, and 75%. HOWEVER, researching forage has a second advantage: "If your units are standing still or attacking in enemy territory, they receive NO attrition". OMG, i think this was an oversight by me and probably many others. this almost kills the point of attrition, since if you hit a supply wagon of an attacking force, it will do NOTHING FOR YOU if they are standing there or attacking. So, you must remember to hit their wagons while they are on the move. And if your the attacker, then running may actually be BAD for you. Rather just stand still and wait for another supply wagon, or just continue attacking if your close enough to do so.
Well, i think that pretty much covers everything. Remember, to calculate attrition:
-Figure the base amount
-Add on bonuses
-Then add on russian bonus
-Then add on Wonders
-Then add on Smelter upgrades
-Then add on mongol bonus
so:
( Base + bonuses ) + russians + wonders - smelter - mongols
(hehe almost forgot the mongols)
Bonuses CAN be negative.
OH, and as many of you know, The good ol' statue of liberty reduces everything to zip, zero, nada.
Well, i certainly hope that this VERY LONG guide finally answers all your questions about Attrition. I don't think i've missed anything, except this one thing:
Scot_free posted on this in a simular topic, and he writes:
"According to the game rules (rules.xml), the "base rate" for normal attrition (not the peace/assassin rules attrition) is 48 frames, or 3.2 sec. This amount is then multiplied by factors in the game. The first level of attrition has a value of 1, so barring anything else, a unit in enemy territory that has level 1 attrition will take 1 point of damage every 3.2 sec.; or 18.75 damage/minute. There are many different modifiers to this: being an Age ahead (25% more attrition/Age); Smelter techs (I'm guessing they take a percentage off the amount after all other considerations have been made); Mongols & Russians (- 50% attrition taken & + 100% attrition dealt, respectively)."
All that i really get from this is that instead of a unit recieving it's said damage (value by the boot) every 6 seconds, it takes it every 6.4 seconds (which is why i occasionally got 7 seconds). Realize that for whatever reason, the rules.xml file deal with values based on a 3.2 second scale: just means that whatever value is shown by the boot, half it's value is tacked on every 3.2 seconds. Kinda wondering why they would do that...
After looking at the .xml document, i can confirm Scot_free's findings.
The reason for the age jumps for bonuses is because of rounding. Also, i discovered that militia recieve a whopping 300% increase in damage.
Well that appears to be all that needs to be told about attrition. If all this math seems confusing, then just copy the table a made and use it to help you figure things out. It still appears to be accurate after some more testing.
Well, this is magiconexxx signing off for the evening. Hope my little guide here helps the community out in some way.
~magiconexxx
"Hah! i need um....uh....oh yeah, Knowledge!!"
-RON, chat 9