Unimportant Advisers

[unmerged(200028)]

This is more of a light discussion thread, and so if anything blasphemous about your favorite adviser is said by me below, I don't intend for it to be out of a somber attitude.

I've heard the opinion voiced that some of the advisers are truly not worth their weight it in any situation. Some advisers are always good, some are only situationally good, but I don't believe I've come across any adviser type that was truly not worth having in any situation...

The one that comes the closest would have to be the Sheriff, though, given that unless you're empire is sprawling, you wouldn't make much of a profit off of a slight increase in tax efficiency.

In your opinion, (or in objective fact), what advisers are the worst, even in any situation?

 

[unmerged(353072)]

In my opinion it would be the advisers that give you military tradition like army/naval since I usually get enough of that in war.

 

[Dathon]

Imho the Banker, Inquisitor, Pioneer and Privateer are lowest on the list, but that's because i never had to use them. Fortification Expert also scores low as the ai always seems to take down any lvl of fortification within a year with even the smallest of armies. I would take a sheriff above the others if not that he actually gives you something in value and the others only are usefull in some situations, but this is only in a early state of the game where you don't have much options to choose from.

 

[unmerged(200028)]

Imho the Banker, Inquisitor, Pioneer and Privateer are lowest on the list, but that's because i never had to use them. Fortification Expert also scores low as the ai always seems to take down any lvl of fortification within a year with even the smallest of armies. I would take a sheriff above the others if not that he actually gives you something in value and the others only are usefull in some situations, but this is only in a early state of the game where you don't have much options to choose from.

It seems like the Banker might be a good idea if you've taken multiple loans. You could hire him on a whim (albeit not without a hit to your CT), and in that situation, he'd save you several times his expense in ducats from interest. Please correct me if I'm wrong about that, however.

 

[Icendoan]

It seems like the Banker might be a good idea if you've taken multiple loans. You could hire him on a whim (albeit not without a hit to your CT), and in that situation, he'd save you several times his expense in ducats from interest. Please correct me if I'm wrong about that, however.

This is correct, and the only reason to use a Banker. You can get some very cheap interest rates with a decent one, but living off loans is a bad idea.

 

[Dutchling]

I always use a diplomat and a master of mint. And then the highest level tech adviser there was. They usually live long enough for me to not ever think about it for years.

 

[yequr]

Pioneers are very situational, but not completely useless. I like them when I'm playing some isolated backwards country, as they get pretty lousy colonist chances. What I rarely find myself using are the various naval instructors. As a naval country, I always go for colonial advisors instead if I have a slot or two to spare. Lord Proprietors and Colonial Governors in particular. Also, I don't think I've used the mercenary maintenance advisor (forgot the name) a single time.

 

[tormos]

Also the one who gives you a bonus to Discipline? From my understanding of game mechanics that one in particular is a bit meaningless anyway. Also the High Judge (RR) seems good in concept but brings it down by a HALF POINT per skill, meaning even a skilled one is almost useless

 

[Ranger900]

I find its mostly Naval advisors that aren't the naval tech guy, along with High Judge, Merc guy, Banker, Iquisitor that I never use. I actually find the Commandant (discipline) is useful if you can get a high level one, otherwise don't bother because you need a fair bit of a discipline bonus to have much of an effect. But if you do get a higher up guy he can be helping your armies do up around 12% more damage in combat and stacked with Napoleonic Warfare and Quality you can be dishing out huge amounts of damage per day (Think I topped out around 155% or something).

 

[Ranger Blue]

If the tooltip is correct, the bonus to Discipline from a good advisor is massive. 10% Discipline is the equivalent to a 10% increase in casualties inflicted, which particularly in even matched fights is massive.

As for actually useless advisors, Privateer is probably the most useless. Even in a situation where you fully blockade the enemy, the war is generally over in a few months anyway.

 

[Icendoan]

I agree. I have never managed to invent a situation where the war was won by having greater blockade efficiency.

 

[shevchenko65]

Banker is by far useless for me. Out of probably hundreds of games I've played, I've taken loans maybe 5%. Maybe others play differently though.

 

[unmerged(200028)]

The Commandant is actually incredible, I am led to think. A discipline increase of 10% may seem marginal, but it can easily tip the scale in an even fight, and if you remember that the modifier applies to all combat, it may even be overpowered.

I used to like the tech advisers, but now that I consider that pushing against the inefficiency for researching past the historical level is almost pointless, and you only essentially give this tech to your neighbors, (and thus, usually your fierce rivals), through the neighbor bonus. I can see them being useful for catching up in tech, however.

EDIT: All land combat. Or does it affect naval combat? I'm not sure...

 

[Ranger900]

EDIT: All land combat. Or does it affect naval combat? I'm not sure...

I think it only effects Land Combat, pretty sure naval battles don't use Discipline modifiers

 

[Antonius66]

I always use a Master of Mint and a Diplomat. The others vary..but are still only drawn from a list of about 5 usually, other than the ones I hire temporarily to institute a reform.

 

[ZomgK3tchup]

I always use a diplomat and a master of mint. And then the highest level tech adviser there was. They usually live long enough for me to not ever think about it for years.

This. ^ Exactly this.

The rest are a waste of money unless I really need compete change, colonial range, discipline, legitimacy, or prestige, in which case I hire them to do their job, and then can them ASAP. Those are very situational whereas diplomats are a must-have for almost any nation while master of mints are necessary for almost every small state trying to win big.

 

[AdkEric]

The advisors I personally have not ever used:

Spymaster, Colonial Governor, Alderman, Colonel, Banker, Lord Proprietor, Quartermaster, Military Engineer, and the Inquisitor.

I've used all of the others, most with some regularity. I can see a possible use for all of the above.

 

[YagabodooN]

The truth is that many are very situational

things that are mostly useless like the banker or mercenary captain are good only if your bankrupting your country trying to pay for such things.
some are good to hire but not worth manually recruiting, like the guy that gives army tradition for example will never repay the tradition it cost to recruit him
others are only good for massive empires. When your making over 500 tax a month, a 5% increase the sheriff gives, can make your more money for investments than an actual research adviser! and the same goes for the collector/alderman. Inquisitors are good when your massive because opm's love to spy spam.
others are always useful like the grand captain and the commandant, who make a clear difference in battle.

 

[cacra]

I agree. I have never managed to invent a situation where the war was won by having greater blockade efficiency.

its not about winning the war its about making a ton of money by fighting it

 

[ve3609]

anything naval