Question about espionage

IIRC, "high" is when you can finally start cruising through planet windows from another civ the way you do your own. Just double-click a world or click it and click the View button, and you should be able to check the planet out in just as much detail as if you owned it. After you're viewing a rival world like this, you can press Z and X to step forward and back through their entire empire--good for selecting prime worlds to attack.

Other info becomes availble at lower intel levels--you can click a ship from the civ and often see its destination, and you can click worlds on the main map to see their approval and influence levels.

Is there anything else you were hoping to get from your intel investment?

Not really, I didnt know i could view there planets like my own at that level though, thanks for the response.

Maybe seeiing what techs they were reasearching would be nice......

Foreign Stats //  Stats // Misc

is what you're searching for

Yep. This is the main portal through which you can access intel on the other civs. I just fired up the game to check, and even though I have a "low" level of intel on them , I know that the Arceans are researching Medium Hulls.

hi

i have another question on espionage.

i only own the original game, not the expansions.

If i fund espionage and later reduce the funding to 0, will i lose access to information or is the funding only needed to reach a certain level `?

In DL's spying system, the funding is only necessary to reach a given level of espionage.

thank you for your answer.

... and no, you will NOT lose your current intel level if you reduce spending to zero. So, if you reach advanced, you should immediately stop spending since there is nothing more to gain.  I believe that even if you cut spending you can still steal an occasional tech.

I never saw the benefit in Advanced level.  Only High. 

I think that you need advanced to see AI planets without having any spies in reserve.

High lets you double-click on his planets and see them.  Advanced lets you double-click his starbases, and maybe lets you nit-pick his ships to see what they're made of.

Another thing about espionage, and something that I've changed my strategy on. It looks to me like getting to a certain level requires a set amount of money. So earlier in the game when my economy is typically struggling, I need every bc and don't spend anything on espionage. Later when I've got taxes up, trade etc and income is flowing well, I go ahead and start spending. At that point the expense per turn is higher, but you gain levels faster. I originally tried to spend at the beginning because I thought you'd make early gains cheap, but that doesn't appear to be the case. (I figured it out only when I totally forgot to start spending until very late in one game, and the levels came very other turn or so. Ah-ha!)

Hi!

The benefit of advanced espionage level in DL is you can also gain a tech by espionage. The probability for that is unfortunately rather low - I'd say about one (random) tech per game year.

I can't confirm that for DA and TA. There it looks like you MUST have a spy on opponent's planet(s) to steal tech. It also looks like the espionage level and the number of planted spies don't impact the probability, but that's just observation from my games. I haven't deliberately tested that issue.

BR   Iztok

The starbase thing is a little weird. I think even at Medium, you can click the details button on a selected starbase info area to see all the modules even though double-clicking tells you you need a higher intel level to view that stuff.

Loupindor has a pretty good thread going on espionage in DA and TA. IIRC, his research strongly suggest that you do indeed need a unit in the field to have a chance of stealing a tech.

Does the espionage skill ( race modifier, etc... ) have any bearing on how likely your spies will be detected?  Just wondering what the result of a race with MASSIVE espionage skill and a huge spy expenditure could pull off.

the best answer to this question is in the link given  by GW Swicord that is :

espionage in DA and TA    https://forums.stardock.com/316263

The direct answer to the question is: no.

This is because the opponent will know about the spy once you place it (just as you can see theirs).  Normally the message about a spy doesn't come up until the week after.  Just to clarify that, lets say week 10 the AI places a spy on you, if you happen to be in the espionage tab or on a planet, you'll see a spy present and on week 11 you'll get the message about their presence.  Week 11 is also when the damage is done by that spy, so you only get a message they are there after the damage is done.

The only relevance I've seen so far for the bonus to espionage is an increase in spending for training.  When I get more free time to revive the above-linked research (work is swamping me BAD) I'll hopefully find out if it affects tech stealing.  I was working on the cost per spy when I put it on hold though and I won't pick up the tech stealing until after that's done.

Now, the response time for the AI to nullify your agent is fairly quick if they have spies on hand.  Otherwise they are limited to what they can train.  It is possible to get spies faster than the AI can if your income is bigger than theirs or at least you can spend more than them on training (see espionage skill).  Typically a race is limited to 25% of their raw income that they can spend on training spies.  Via the skill this can be adjusted.  The Iconains with thier +100 espionage then can spend 50% of their raw income.  The Iconians with espionage bonuses from political party and points goes higher...and if they get their paws on the Krynn buildings they could pull down 75% of their income.  Why would you do that?  Perhaps you're maso like me lol.

Passive (empire-wise intel gathering) spies however won't be noticed ever since they cannot be nullified.

The Krynn will *sell* you that darn thing - {G}. I paid 3 Grand, and then later captured their's!

It's worth it just for the research bonuses!

Jonnan