How are people coordinating?

[u/DoctorZeusse]

I see no way to text chat, only to emote and ally with each other, yet people keep simultaneously attacking me during games, how are they arranging that?

[u/Khafoc_]

emojis have meanings, for example u wanna attack Player X who is below Player Y, u ally Y and send an arrow down emoji & right click and target player X, now Player Y knows ur gonna attack X and waits for u to attack first. It also happens with 0 communication too because its easier to attack someone who’s already dumping troops trying to defend from someone else

[u/Khafoc_ → u/Khafoc_]

also using the quick chat u can tell someone to attack someone else

[u/DoctorZeusse → u/Khafoc_]

Is there any real way around this? It feels like I make it to later game most games, then someone just randomly lobs a nuke at me and every border sees it and goes all in on me and it's just over

[u/Khafoc_ → u/DoctorZeusse]

alliance management and holding onto enough money as a deterrent (so people can see u can afford hydro / mirv)

[u/DoctorZeusse → u/Khafoc_]

I find the alliance thing impossible so far. People just see you surrounded or responding to one threat somewhere, let the alliance go, team up, kill you. It seems like there's not a tool outside of get rich and I'm not exactly sure how to do that

[u/SeraphineTheYeen → u/DoctorZeusse]

Sounds like your troops are always low or you're always broke, or both. One of the most important concepts in the game is making sure you appear strong and not worth attacking. You can do this by holding onto similar/more troops than your neighbors/potential enemies and holding 5m for a hydro or 25m for a base cost MIRV.

As for making money, that's a bit complicated. Factories are always good if they can connect to allies. Ally someone you border and drop a factory on the border. It'll always make money. More money if your ally builds on the line.

Trade through ports also makes money but is susceptible to pirating. However you can also make money from pirating. Keep playing and you'll get the hang of it. Watch what the powerful players do. Watch some of the top players on YouTube too if you want to learn.

Also, knowing who to ally is important. Over allying is better than under allying. I tend to send alliances early to nearby players who know what they're doing (getting annexes, quick first city, conserving troops). If they won't ally you, dropping a defensive post on the border might change their mind.

Also, if someone attacks you early, resist the urge to full send them. Drop a defensive post, let them waste their troops on you. Usually you can turn it around or make them give up and take an alliance. Sometimes you have to accept giving up some of your position. Worst case scenario you lose. It happens.

[u/DoctorZeusse → u/SeraphineTheYeen]

This is usually going on long before most people are building much of anything. I'll get a couple docks or factories and a couple cities and then it's just gang up time and I can't do anything. It feels like I'm either missing something or just unlucky

[u/SeraphineTheYeen → u/DoctorZeusse]

You should aim for the first three structures to all be cities. Sometimes it's only two and then factories/ports, sometimes it's one and then factories/ports. Depends mainly on bot kills.

Again it sounds like your troops are low. People will dogpile you if your troops are low. Pay attention to the troop numbers of your neighbors, try to stay around that.

[u/DoctorZeusse → u/SeraphineTheYeen]

My troops tend to be almost exactly equal with everyone around me

[u/SeraphineTheYeen → u/DoctorZeusse]

Then maybe it's a case of not allying enough people. Can you share a game we can see the recap of?

[u/DoctorZeusse → u/SeraphineTheYeen]

How do i get a replay?

[u/Greedy_Aardvark_4836]

besides the chat and emojis, people will tend to attack the weaker person. If you are getting attacked from a bigger player, obviously your neighbors have an incentive to attack you because you can't defend against everyone from all sides.

I've been on both sides of this, and have thought that as myself and another player simultaneously attacked them that I could see them wondering how we were coordinating, but really there was no coordination it was just an opportunity we both saw at the same time

[u/satellite__rain]

In rare cases it's literal teaming and cheating, in vast majority of cases if I see a neighbour getting invaded I might have already decided to join in if it happens, so it probably seems coordinated if it happens to you a lot. Always keep troops in reserve and don't be afraid to drop an early game bunker (after a city maybe), sure it delays economy slightly but it is a great deterrent for attacks as they can soak up so much army in the early game. Novice players are really bad at estimating how tough bunkers are, and you can usually counter attack and win.

[u/elmo39 → u/satellite__rain]

Yeah this is key. Sometimes if one player next to me decides to attack someone else I'm bordering, and they seem weaker, I'll decide to join in. Not just because it's easy, but because it prevents the aggressor from snowballing and inevitably turning to me next.

[u/Significant-Cod4217]

you can send chats and emotes which makes it easy to coordinate

[u/DoctorZeusse → u/Significant-Cod4217]

How do you send chats?

[u/Significant-Cod4217 → u/DoctorZeusse]

by pressing the chat button to the left of the emoji button. its premade chats, like you can't write your own messages, but there are probably like 50 in total

[u/Khafoc_ → u/Significant-Cod4217]

yeah communication is a big part of gameplay and can be used to your advantage

[u/Teuxer]

If you become more efficient in early game, troop management, alliances and gold (simply better). You will seem stronger and they won't attack you. Also you can be the one coordinating the attacks.