Aug 02, 2016 Everything you ever wanted to know about the diplomacy system in Rome Total War (and probably a few things you didn't)! Compiled by Wambat from twcenter.net this guide puts together the results of extensive community testing and represents the best understanding of Rome Total War diplomacy to date. No matter what version of Rome Total War or its many mods you are playing even. 11.8K Total War: WARHAMMER Support; 386 WARHAMMER Support Forum; 6.8K WARHAMMER II Support Forum; 2.6K Total War: ROME II; 37.8K General Discussion; 50 Community Content; 64 Multiplayer; 883 Rome II Support; 180 Rise of the Republic Support; 292 Beta Feedback; 269 Ancestral Update Support; 162 Power and Politics Support; 11.1K Total War: ATTILA.
Is Total War: Rome 2 the most divisive game in the Total War series? We all know that this game had the most shocking launch of any Total War game. Many people were turned off by the game because of this, but The Creative Assembly did work their butts off to fix many of the super annoying and game-breaking issues the game had. So, with that in mind, the version I am looking at today is the most recent version that they put out.
How Is The Campaign?
The campaign in Total War: Rome 2 is pretty spectacular as you would expect. It is very cinematic and features a ton of different regions for you to deal with. I really liked how diverse the different areas the campaign will take you to are. From the sun of Portugal to the cold of Scotland each place the campaign takes you to is very well designed and has an air of authenticity to it. You start out all the way back in 272 BC and go on a 300-year quest for power and prosperity.
How Many Factions???
117 at last count! This game does not mess around and I think it is awesome how The Creative Assemble gave even the smaller factions from the smaller cities more personality this time around. It makes each encounter even with a smaller faction feel more personal. Each faction has its own skill set and of course its own agenda in the world.
So Sorry Sir!
The diplomacy aspect of Total War: Rome 2 has been given a ton of work. The AI is much smarter this time around and will make far wiser decisions than it has done in the past. This along with the political system getting an overhaul mean that you will be spending a great deal of time trying to keep people happy and keep peace. Of course, you have many decisions to make as you play and keeping everyone happy is impossible, but that leads us to what we all love about these games…. War!
WAR!!!!
The turn-based combat in the game is exactly what you would expect. I really had a great time playing this (especially with a buddy who is as skilled as me) and I was impressed with how smart the AI was. While most of the battles I had took place on the field! You can also wage war on water, take part in siege battles, take over ports and much more. This keeps battles nice and fresh and it always keeps you on your toes as you are always second-guessing your self on how to approach each battle.
I think that Total War: Rome 2 is a great game. It just got better and better with each update and despite that rocky launch, I would easily put this game in my top ten Total War games of all-time list. With a great campaign, fun multiplier and incredible presentation, this is a fantastic game.
You really want the version with all the DLC to get the best out of it
Overall rating: 8.5
Interface
Diplomacy panel (9 key) allows you to establish diplomatic relations with encountered factions. After selecting any country, you'll see on the map its provinces and its current allies and enemies.
An information panel on the right will give you some more information: current diplomatic relations with the faction, aggressiveness and reliability and more accurate list of enemies and allies. You'll also find there a list of goods which a given country can export thanks to the commercial treaty.
Diplomatic talks
After pressing an appropriate button you'll start negotiations. You can add here further offers or demands and depending on the balance of power and current relations with the given faction, you can achieve consensus or your proposal will be immediately rejected.
List of proposals looks like this:
Payments & State Gifts - gifts improve diplomatic relations between factions and make your offer more favorable. It is good to use this option from time to time, so that the target faction will have more respect for you, which will make future negotiations easier.
Military access - it allows your troops to enter another faction's territory without any repercussions. This option is useful when you want to attack distant enemy.
Non-aggression pact - it improves relations between factions. This is the first step for future alliances.
Defensive alliance - it guarantees support from a faction when you gets attacked.
Military alliance - it allows you to attack another faction together with your ally. After declaring the war you can ask your ally to join the war.
Declaration of war - as the name suggests it starts the war between factions.
Satrapies & Client States - a faction which becomes a protectorate pays a tribute every turn and is connected with you by a defensive alliance. If the treasure is empty, you won't get any money. Protectorates are a good way to conquer the land without the need to monitor its expansion.
Form confederation - this option is available for barbarian tribes. You can join your forces with another tribe with common past - its land and army will become yours. This option is often available only in case of tribe which is much weaker than yours.
Trade agreement - it starts trading with given faction. Profits depend mainly on raw materials you have - if you do not have enough marble for example to build V level temple, trade agreement with appropriate country will allow you to import this material. In order to start trade with another faction, there must be a connection to it by land or sea. Due to lack of such a path, some countries are not able to establish trade relations in early turns of the game. A perfect example here is Sparta.
Rome 2 Total War Diplomatic Mission
In order to ensure greater effectiveness of your diplomatic activities, you should closely monitor all factions. By attacking enemies from one group, you gain friends in another. Equally effective are various types of pacts and alliances. You should also pay attention to your ally loyalty and his aggression. Military alliance with barbarians will very quickly lead to the war with other factions.
Choosing allies
When choosing allies, you should first pay attention to their loyalty. The higher it is, the bigger the chance that given faction will act honorably and won't stab you on your back. For this reason I do not recommend negotiating with uncertain neighbors - you can be sure that they will break previous pacts or attack you when you least expect it. In case of loyal factions you can regularly send them gifts in order to slowly win over them.
But you should remember that regardless of relations between factions, the most important is the one, who is the strongest. The stronger your army is, the greater impact you have on your neighbors - you can even convince your fiercest enemies to sign a trade agreement or make them into protectorate. In extreme cases it is you who can be a protectorate - you'll have to pay tribute regularly but your country will be able to develop to sooner or later return to the international arena. In such case there is Athens, being a protectorate for Macedonia from the beginning of the game.
Protectorates and confederation
Rome Total War 2 Diplomacy Client State
It is not always easy to convince another faction to join up with your empire. Not only should you make sure that diplomatic relations with that nations are on a sufficiently high level: a prosperous neighbor will usually see no reasons to become your protégé. Most often, factions that are at the brink of extinction that ask for your help - their armies are weak, they have one region and they are besieged by the enemy. Not only do protectorates pay tribute, but they also allow you to recruit in the area, which diversifies the units available to you and replenish your losses.
Convincing a given tribe to join your confederacy is similar, but you can sometimes speed this process up. Declaring a war to a former ally, destroying his armies and besieging his cities will often be a sufficient stimulus for the faction to join up. Although both conquest and the forced confederacy requires of you that you destroy the army of your neighbor, the latter provides you with an advantage: you will not have to worry about the increase with dissatisfaction in the newly-conquered province. This will allow you to take advantage of the productivity of that region to its fullest, and often, you will also recaive a few experienced generals.
Strategic resources map
Both during the trade and conquest you'll need to gather sufficient strategic resources which are required to build your most powerful constructions. The map below shows the deployment of all resources available in the game.