Espionage

Espionage is when you send your spies to take actions against a target in so-called spy-ops.

Info-Ops

Spy-ops to obtain information about other dominions. Each info-op takes 2% spy strength.

Op	Effect	Notes
Barracks Spy (BS)	Gives an overview of the target's army and see units home defending (turtling), units out on attack and units in training.	Barracks Spies are important to attacking. They can also be used in place of Clear Sight if the target has impenetrable wizards. It is important to know that all numbers except units in training are only 85% accurate (15% inaccurate) and that subsequent BS, even during the same hour, will return different numbers. Units at home must be divided by 0.85 to get the highest possible value from the lowest known value. Example: After several Barrack Spies, the lowest amount of units acquired is 423. The highest possible value is 423/0.85=498 (round up). Units returning from battle are to be multiplied by 0.85 to get the lowest possible value from the highest known value. Example: After several Barrack Spies, the highest amount of units returning home is 3313. The lowest possible value is 3313*0.85=2815 (round down).
Castle Spy (Ca, CS)	Reveals the target's castle.	Bonus from Masonries is included and does not need to be calculated manually.
Survey Dominion (SD)	Reveals the target's buildings.	Surveys also reveal incoming buildings and barren land. Surveys do not show of what land types the barren land consists.
Land Spy (LS)	Reveals the target's land types.	Only useful when calculating DP of Gnome, Nox, Sylvan, Wood Elf, and Icekin when an SD shows barren land, so that you can assess how much of that barren land is the land type the race's units rely on for DP. Also shows incoming land.

Resource Theft

Spy-ops to steal resources from other dominions. It normally costs 5% spy strength per resource theft op. Theft becomes available after the first 72 hours of the round. The target-stock percentage is calculated from the target's full stockpile, but the final amount stolen cannot reduce that stockpile below one hour of its raw production for that resource. Theft from smaller targets is allowed but heavily penalized. For purposes of theft, Assassins count as two Spies.

Op	Effect	Notes
Steal Platinum	Steals platinum from the target.	Platinum theft is limited to 2% of the target's platinum per op. Platinum theft is also limited to 75% of your own raw platinum production or 5x your size, whichever is higher. Each spy can at most carry 35 platinum.
Steal Lumber	Steals lumber from the target.	Lumber theft is limited to 5% of the target's lumber per op. Lumber theft is also limited to 75% of your own raw lumber production or 3x your size, whichever is higher. Each spy can at most carry 50 lumber.
Steal Mana	Steals mana from the target.	Mana theft is limited to 3% of the target's mana per op. Mana theft is also limited to 50% of your own raw mana production or 2x your size, whichever is higher. Each spy can at most carry 50 mana.
Steal Food	Steals food from the target.	Food theft is limited to 2% of the target's food per op. Food theft is also limited to 75% of your own raw food production or 5x your size, whichever is higher. Each spy can at most carry 50 food.
Steal Ore	Steals ore from the target.	Ore theft is limited to 5% of the target's ore per op. Ore theft is also limited to 50% of your own raw ore production or 3x your size, whichever is higher. Each spy can at most carry 50 ore.
Steal Gems	Steals gems from the target.	Gem theft is limited to 5% of the target's gems per op. Gem theft is also limited to 100% of your own raw gem production or 1x your size, whichever is higher. Each spy can at most carry 50 gems.

Valuables

The Locate Valuables operation is unavailable. Eligible information operations can still discover valuables passively.

Black-Ops

Offensive spy-ops to cause damage to other dominions. They cost 5% spy strength per op.

Op	Effect	Notes
Assassinate Draftees	Kills 3.5% of the target's draftees.	A successful operation will result in the death of 3.5% of the target's draftees. In order to count towards Spy Success and the Military Assassin rankings, 50 draftees per operation must be killed.
Assassinate Wizards	Kills 1.5% of the target's wizards.	This operation kills wizards but not ArchMages, Dark Elf Adepts or Sylvan Dryads. A successful operation will result in the death of 1.5% of the target's wizards. Only available during war.
Magic Snare	Reduces the Wizard Strength of the target by 3.5% of current (min 1.5%).	This op can be devastating if highly concentrated, preventing the target from casting spells. A successful operation will result in a loss of X% wizard strength for the target. Only available during war.
Sabotage Boats	Sinks 2.4% of the target's boats.	A successful operation will result in the sinking of X% of the target's unprotected boats. It is uncommon for one dominion to be able to sink another dominion to a point where the target cannot send out his forces anymore. It is common practice to cast Great Flood on targeted dominions to slow their boat regrowth. Only available during war.

SPA

The spy ratio or Spies Per Acre (SPA) is a significant factor in the success of spy-ops. If your SPA is higher than that of your target, you are more likely to succeed with spy-ops against them.

Spy races (Halfling and Lizardfolk) have very high SPAs because their elite units count as spies.

For other races, an SPA of 0.4 to 0.8 is usually sufficient to be consistently successful with info-ops.

Spy Strength

Spy strength is another contributing factor in spy-ops success. It starts out at 100% and decreases with every op performed. Information ops such as Castle Spy and Survey Dominion cost 2% spy strength while Black Ops cost 5% each.

Spy strength refreshes by 4% per hour but can be increased with Techs and Guilds.

Formula

The chance of success is determined through one of two formula. See Ops Formula.

See Also

• Ops Formula
• Magic
• Op Center