Tip of the Day — Silk Road TPs

[pecelot]

Today let's have a look at specific Silk Road TPs and some creative way of getting control over them.
First off, as we all know, you can get an access to their benefits placing your units nearby when there are no TP guardians left. Pretty simple. However, you can protect them from your opponent even if you have to move your army somewhere else.
The easiest way to do that is to place a building in the close „range" of a TP (apart from walls — thanks @P

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i k i l i c for a reminder) — ideally an Outpost, as it serves its defensive purposes, too. Your opponent then won't be able to take the TP unless he destroys the building, which may take a while and can buy you time to retreat with some troops and defend it with them.
A stealth mode may come handy here, as it allows also you to keep control of a TP. Move your stealth unit nearby — your enemy won't be able to do anything about it and will be very confused, unless of course it dawns on him that he should bring his explorer, as he „Sees Stealth" (check out my previous tip!). Therefore, I'd recommend to create a Spy in case you play a European civilisation, as usually it's the only stealth unit available for them, and when spotted, they can easily deal with opponent's hero. It's a more risky way than building an Outpost for instance, but may not be so obvious to other players and sometimes you can get away with that.
It's not over yet in terms of Silk Road tricks! If you happen to play a long game on this map, like a big FFA or Compstomp, put the „Advanced Hot Air Balloon" card in your deck! If a TP isn't guarded, a Balloon may gain control over it, just as a regular land unit. If you leave it above the TP, there's literally no way of losing the access to valuable resources or XP, as your opponent just cannot kill a Balloon.
If you spot a free TP, you can use regular Hot Air Balloons (age 2 card) to take it, too. The main threat is that they die after a couple of seconds, but if there are no enemy units nearby, you may be able to keep it.
Spyglass, on the other hand, isn't useful here as it does not affect the Silk Road TPs whatsoever.

If you like the tip, like the post, so that I know whether it was helpful or not!

[Aizamk]

Advanced Hot Air Balloon

Approved.

[iNcog]

Balloon hype

But the problem with advanced hot air balloon was that the LOS wasn't as good as normal balloons

[britishmusketeer]

put the „Advanced Hot Air Balloon" card in your deck! If a TP isn't guarded, a Balloon may gain control over it, just as a regular land unit. If you leave it above the TP, there's literally no way of losing the access to valuable resources or XP, as your opponent just cannot kill a Balloon.

Then you realise that you spent an age 4 shipment to get a tp that gives way less res than a normal tp lol.

[P i k i l i c]

These tips are really helpful
Anyway for those who dont know, wall pillars cant keep Silk Road TPs under control

[pecelot]

These tips are really helpful
Anyway for those who dont know, wall pillars cant keep Silk Road TPs under control

Oh, you're right, thanks! I edited the OP, but I don't think it tagged you properly as you have spaces in your nickname :/

But the problem with advanced hot air balloon was that the LOS wasn't as good as normal balloons

Indeed, it's 44 LOS compared to 30 and 3 speed compared to 2. That's not the main purpose here, though.

put the „Advanced Hot Air Balloon" card in your deck! If a TP isn't guarded, a Balloon may gain control over it, just as a regular land unit. If you leave it above the TP, there's literally no way of losing the access to valuable resources or XP, as your opponent just cannot kill a Balloon.

Then you realise that you spent an age 4 shipment to get a tp that gives way less res than a normal tp lol.

It's a somewhat trivial trick, as it realistically can be pulled of in random games like FFA. Nevertheless, you can gain control over a TP that won't be ever harrassed, it'll forever be yours and you won't have to worry about that, just enjoy that little trickle coming for you.

[britishmusketeer]

These tips are really helpful
Anyway for those who dont know, wall pillars cant keep Silk Road TPs under control

Oh, you're right, thanks! I edited the OP, but I don't think it tagged you properly as you have spaces in your nickname :/

But the problem with advanced hot air balloon was that the LOS wasn't as good as normal balloons

Indeed, it's 44 LOS compared to 30 and 3 speed compared to 2. That's not the main purpose here, though.

put the „Advanced Hot Air Balloon" card in your deck! If a TP isn't guarded, a Balloon may gain control over it, just as a regular land unit. If you leave it above the TP, there's literally no way of losing the access to valuable resources or XP, as your opponent just cannot kill a Balloon.

Then you realise that you spent an age 4 shipment to get a tp that gives way less res than a normal tp lol.

It's a somewhat trivial trick, as it realistically can be pulled of in random games like FFA. Nevertheless, you can gain control over a TP that won't be ever harrassed, it'll forever be yours and you won't have to worry about that, just enjoy that little trickle coming for you.

i believe it is like 1/3 of a tp or something lol. Something like a 15% mill card would be on a different scale of eco boost.

[noissance]

@pecelot

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Can you make this a weekly series? i havent been able to catch up to your previous TOTD's.

[P i k i l i c]

Thank you @pecelot

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, and yes sorry for my nickname, it should have been 'Pikilic' but I registered just before ESOC did transition and after this, the password stuff didnt work for my old account

[pecelot]

Show hidden quotes

put the „Advanced Hot Air Balloon" card in your deck! If a TP isn't guarded, a Balloon may gain control over it, just as a regular land unit. If you leave it above the TP, there's literally no way of losing the access to valuable resources or XP, as your opponent just cannot kill a Balloon.

Then you realise that you spent an age 4 shipment to get a tp that gives way less res than a normal tp lol.

It's a somewhat trivial trick, as it realistically can be pulled of in random games like FFA. Nevertheless, you can gain control over a TP that won't be ever harrassed, it'll forever be yours and you won't have to worry about that, just enjoy that little trickle coming for you.

i believe it is like 1/3 of a tp or something lol. Something like a 15% mill card would be on a different scale of eco boost.

True, it's not the most efficient trade, though it's possible as an option and that's what I wanted to show mainly — more of a trivial fact, like I mentioned. However, Advanced Hot Air Balloon may serve different purposes, it may be a nice substitute for Spies upgrade, with only one card you may scout your opponent with no obstacles and you can also gain control over TPs. Maybe not that terrible if you have a card to spare (think Otto) in late games.

@pecelot

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Can you make this a weekly series? i havent been able to catch up to your previous TOTD's.

Well, I have a couple more and I'll post them daily, as I don't have enough to sustain constant content like that. Just when I find one useful and feel like posting, I'll do that. Also, I'll probably leave soon on holidays, so I'd rather post them now. Additionally, I'm considering making a list of them and putting it in my signature so that they'll be easily accessible, as well as mentioning it on Reddit or official AoE forums :)

Thank you @pecelot

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, and yes sorry for my nickname, it should have been 'Pikilic' but I registered just before ESOC did transition and after this, the password stuff didnt work for my old account

No problem, really, I noticed it's a problem with other names, like @[Armag]

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diarouga for exmaple :/

[howlingwolfpaw]

The TP XP rate for Silk RD may be a smaller amount of resources each but the map still provides the same as most other maps having 9 post.(in large maps) But then again we cannot upgrade this line. But with a small army the whole line can basically be fought for little to no losses and no resources for the same XP boost.

All great tips Pecelot! Silk Road is one of my favorite maps for FFA due to its even base placement, good trees, balanced map, and COOL trade route. Although in my opinion I would value a baloon to do other chores if I ever used one.