Age of Innovation, the sequel to Terra Mystica (and which is almost better than Project Gaia), is a jewel of choice ! The most important of these choices, as much as the location of your first Workshop, is the choice of your people-land-round booster combination. Today we are interested in people and their respective strength.
The Age of Innovation Tier List
What is a Tier List?
Widely used in field of video games (in combat in particular), a tier list classifies the characters according to their strength, particularly in ultra-competitive contexts and between players of the same level. The classification is made from the letter S for the strongest then A, B, C, etc.
Unbalanced?
Establishing this kind of ranking does not necessarily mean that the game is unbalanced. Just like Terra Mystica and Project Gaia, the asymmetry of Age of Innovation allows us to identify people who are stronger than others. But it will be the use that the player makes that will be decisive. This remains a good guide for a beginner in choosing his people and seeing the combinations not to be missed.
The Too Strong
Frankly difficult to find game configurations that undermine people in this category: if it’s your first game it’s a problem First Pick !
The philosophers
The book is the news valuable resource from Age of Innovation. With its gain action of 1 book per turn and its ability to recover one more book on the skill tiles, you are easily guaranteed 11 more books: enough to easily ensure you 2 Innovation tiles (and 3 will be very accessible ) or the use of power actions from books! Ultra strong and unbeatable associated with the red terrain!
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The Illusionists
Pay one less power to use the board’s power actions: any Gaia player has already passed out reading this. What if I told you that we also give you 3 VPs for doing it? Crazy, right? The presence of the Illusionists in a game must lead the adversaries to adapt (do not give them power, take as many tiles as possible to counter them with power actions)…
Psionics
A good way to counter the illusionist player is to stick psionics in his legs. You know the importance of having 4 powers available at the start of a round to take coins or cubes. Here the psionics have an action allowing you to gain 5 powers and play immediately: super useful as a first move!
The strong
Peoples who are good in all circumstances : you will never make a mistake in taking them.
The priestesses
Starting with 3 buildings is a nice advantage. Having 3 starting spots allows you to better adapt to opponents’ development choices. However, whether it is on Terra Mystica or Project Gaia, it is not enough. But here the building of more priestesses is a tower worth 2 powers and giving 2 coins and 2 powers of income: that changes the situation (and if you have the good idea to take the skill tile of the tower you go up to 4 coins and 4 income powers!)
The goblins
2 pieces for each shovel: yes, you read that right! These people border on being too strong. Indeed, even with an unbalanced economy in cubes we can get by in generating money otherwise ! For example, the 1 shovel 1 book booster becomes for you 1 shovel 1 book 2 coins! And there are many ways to take shovels in this game! A people who do not lack money (but who can be countered by opponents blocking shovel actions).
Lizards
By building a city you will benefit from a shovel and a free house: potentially 12 cubes and 6 coins on a game. Not counting the time saving to get ahead of an opponent on a field or the possibility of chaining cities together on the turn where it counts. Watch out in the setup for the presence of the Palace tile offering a city tile or the Innovation tile scoring 5 VPs per city for a nice combo!
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Good under condition
These people can perform well but require having a good experience Game.
The blessed
The blessed offer a position of 3 more steps on the disciplines for winning end-of-round gifts. You will therefore have to carefully analyze whether the gift winnings are really interesting and stick to your climb to maximize these gifts. Played like this it’s very strong but the gifts must be very useful (watch out for shovels or scholars for example). Associated with the green field you start at 2 on each discipline: First pick in this config!
The inventors
A single word characterizes the inventors: flexibility ! Indeed, inventors start with a skill tile of their choice (the associated books and steps too), and with the associated income if this tile produces any. It’s really very nice and very strong but it requires carefully analyzing the game configuration in the crucial choice of the starting skill tile.
Felines
3 steps and 1 book after a town could be nice. But be careful your book boost can happen very late in the game depending on the scoring, at a time when it is no longer decisive. We can imagine taking the city tile offering 2 books and thus having boosts to 3 books, but it is a very coveted city tile so you will perhaps only do it once… Unless you start with the 1 step tile everywhere and therefore do a 5-step tour on the plateau. Look for the tour where the climbs score.
Challenges
Much less strong than the previously mentioned peoples, here are the ideal peoples to play if you play against beginners to balance.
To read : My opinion on Echoes: when the past reveals the truth to you
Browsers
2 points per house near water may seem strong, so yes but these are not only points ! And given the bonuses that help the development of other peoples, you will have a lot to do to launch your economy. You will try to associate the navigators with the booster which also presents 2 points per house along the river and why not in a round where we score the houses to do damage. If you can reproduce the mermaids of Terra Mystica with the blue terrain for the entry navigation and the palace tile making the cities with a river square it can be ___y.
The Moles
Moles are a bit like engineer-dwarves from Terra Mystica. By paying for a cube you will be able to cross a square to build, scoring 4 VPs. This can provide a big boost at the start of the game in your territory occupation but it consumes a lot of cubes which can be very tricky. Note the possibility of building bridges between lands to still be able to build your own towns.
The too weak
Even more than a challenge, forbidden for beginners !
The monks
Do you remember the great flexibility of Inventors? Here too you will start with a skill tile and the associated advantages. Yes, but you will only start with your University! Even if you necessarily place yourself last, there are many ways to go wrong completely or to be badly countered at the start of the game… In addition, the opponents will do everything not to upgrade their buildings near you so as not to give you power! Avoid unless you have a brilliant plan in mind!
The truth of Age of Innovation
Despite this Tier List, treat yourself in the choice of your people. There are so many other parameters to take into account in the initial setup. Particularly the association with the land! You can also see that I play a lot of red in the photos, I’ll tell you about the strengths of the pitches soon…
