Here you will find Olympia guides written by players.
If you wish to write a guide for Olympia 3, or you have one that you would like to see on this page, send an email to webmaster@olympia.v-labs.be.
by Jay Legue and Dan Corrin, G1
adapted for G3 by Tom Droeshout
Caution: This is an adaptation of a guide written for Game 1. Olympia has changed quite a bit in game 2 and 3, so use the information contained herein with some degree of interpretation.
The first thing that any player should do when they start playing Olympia is to increase the number of nobles that they have. I suggest forming 3 new nobles and oathing them to oath-1 so that they are harder to lose to opposing factions by use of bribe noble. Once there are 3 or 4 nobles in the new faction it is advisable to get a few basic skills that will allow for survival: I recommend Combat [610], Forestry [700], Shipcraft [600], Beastmastry [650], Mining [720] and Magic [800].
Here are the reasons that I recommend the above mentioned skills:
Initial orders might be something like:
begin
unit nnn1 “Noble 1”
form nnn2 "Noble 2" # Form new noble, nnn2 is the noble's number
# it costs one noble point to form a noble
# you start with 18 and get another (1) in 8 turns
form nnn3 "Noble 3" # again –1 NP
study 610 # Study combat
recruit 5 # Recruit 5 peasants - one peasant/day
train 12 5 # Train 5 peasants to soldiers - one man trained/day
unit nnn2 # form finished after 7 days
form nnn4 "Noble 4"
oath 1 # Oath noble 2 up one level - in this case from
# contract 500 to o1. This prevents desertion at
# the end of a contract and makes it harder for
# a noble to be bribed to join another faction.
# The use of oath costs 1 noble point.
claim 1 100 # Claim 100 gold from faction treasury - it
# costs 100/study of a new skill
study 600 # Study shipcraft
make 94 7 # Make 7 baskets
sell 94 7 4 # Sell 7 baskets for 4 gold each
unit nnn3
claim 1 100
oath 1
study 800 7 # Study magic for 7 days through fast study -
# magic takes 4 weeks to learn
# finished in 0 days
study 800 # Study is maximum 14 days,
# but fast study doesn’t count towards that limit
unit nnn4
claim 1 200 # Claim 200 gold
oath 1
study 720 7 # Study forestry
study 720 7
study 702 7 # Study harvest lumber
study 702 7
recruit 7
train 11 7
end
If your orders go for more than 30 days they will wrap into the next turn's orders. The command "stop" as the first command for a noble interrupts still executing orders so that new ones can be given.
Several objectives are evident in the game, however most require some amount of money. Also, try and determine a goal or direction for your faction. Are you going to be an explorer, a mystic, an empire builder, a mage expert, a master merchant or some combination. Don't try to do everything. You may be able to handle two compatible directions (explorer/merchant or empire builder/mystic), but going for more at the outset is likely to tax your resources. The following describes many methods of spending and gaining money:
Expenses:
Income:
Read the rules from cover to cover to allow yourself to get an idea of what can be done in the game.
Remember where you have been and what can be found there because you may be able to use some of what you have found in the future. It is also a good idea to look toward the future; have an idea of the skills that you will need and pick them up when you find them since it may be a while before you find them again.
An essential guide to survival in Olympia
made by Jaxon Rice, G1, Faction Reservoir Gods [qb4] and Van Norton, G1, Pilgrims Aid Society
adapted for G3 by Tom Droeshout
Caution: This is an adaptation of a guide written for Game 1. Olympia has changed quite a bit in game 2 and 3, so use the information contained herein with some degree of interpretation.
The sights of a safe haven are a wonder to behold. Braying beasts, sinister mages and shifty-eyed traders compete with each other for your attention. You wonder how you are going to survive in this strange and wondrous land. A more disheartening sight is the rows of nobles lined up in the city gutters, weaving baskets and making clay pots just to survive...
You get the feeling that you're being watched. Suddenly you feel a tap on your shoulder, and you turn to face a hooded figure. He thrusts a parchment into your hand and mutters something about you needing this more than him. He melts back into the crowded marketplace and is soon lost from sight. You unroll the parchment and peer at its contents.
Greetings traveler, and welcome to the Safe Haven. Ancient treasures, incredible adventures, and world-wide fame await those both brave and lucky enough to survive in this harsh land. What follows is a guide to help you get on your feet.
Several safe havens do exist. A safe haven means no one can attack you, magic doesn't work, and construction is nearly impossible.
Once outside the safe haven, most players won't attack without provocation, but there are always one or two factions who take delight in "newbie bashing" - killing or capturing the defenseless nobles of new factions. Be careful, you might never know.
You start with 200 gold, 25 peasants and a solitary noble (oath 2). You also have 5000 gold, 5 riding horses, 100 stone and 50 wood available through claim. 5000 gold may sound like a lot of cash, but it vanishes quickly - so be careful with your money and don't spend it unnecessarily. The first thing that you should generally do is to 'form' another two or three nobles. You might also 'oath' them so that they are harder to bribe and do not cost money each turn to maintain. Leave the other noble points for use when you have a specific task in mind. There are, of course, other strategies that players have used successfully, so don't be afraid to try something different. Bear in mind, however, that putting all your money and NP's into one noble leaves you with one very knowledgeable but very vulnerable character. Forming many nobles, on the other hand, is going to place extreme demands on your cash reserves unless you 'oath' them all, and it is always useful to have a noble point or two available for when you need it.
You'll also get 25 peasants to do whatever you please. If you want to find an island, you are going to need at least 14 sailors (for a galley). Train the remaining 11 peasants as workers. There is no need to recruit more peasants at the moment.
Your nobles start out knowing virtually nothing - but luckily, a safe haven is a treasure trove of information. Skills are studied in cities, but subskills can be studied anywhere; so don't waste your money learning subskills that can't be used just yet. Learn them as you need them. Having said that, here are a few essential skills that you should study before leaving the safe haven.
Combat (610): Fight to the death (612) is probably the most useful subskill to learn here, though Weaponsmithing (617) and Swordplay (616) are good if you want to raise a human army. My advice, however, is to not expand too much. With three nobles and a handful of soldiers, you should be safe from an occasional attack. Save the building of armies until you have a reliable income.
Shipcraft (600): You are going to need at least one noble with this skill. He will also need Sailing (601) in order to train sailors and actually sail the ship, and Shipbuilding (602) if you want to build your own. A roundship is generally better than a galley; it costs a bit more in terms of wood, but it only requires 8 sailors (as compared to 14 for the galley) and carries five times as much men and equipment. A galley on the other hand costs only 50 wood. You can build your own ship, or you can get probably one of the professional shipbuilders (other players) in the safe haven to build it for you.
Before sailing, be sure to buy a unit of pitch. This is used to repair the damage caused by coastal reefs, which emerge from the sea at random. Also, remember that your other nobles can study skills en route, while your captain sails.
Persuasion (670): This skill is not really of use to you at the moment.
Forestry (700): A very useful skill. Train at least one noble in Harvest lumber (702). This is the only way to obtain wood, short of buying it at inflated prices in the safe haven. The other subskills can be learned later on. Of course, you can also claim up to 50 wood. Once that's gone though, you will have to resort to the aforementioned methods of acquiring wood.
Construction (680): Have a noble learn this skill, though you won't need to learn the subskill Stone quarrying (682) until you're ready to start building something.
Magic (800): If you like, you can train a noble in the ancient art of magic. It costs an NP, but does bring certain advantages. One very useful subskill is Perform common tasks for gold (802). This cannot be used in the safe haven (remember, magic doesn't work here), but can be used in all land provinces, and yields 10 gold per day of use - very handy if your nobles are starving and your followers deserting due to a lack of funds.
Gatecraft (860): Of no real use to the beginning player. Save the gold and the NP for something more useful.
Beastmastery (650): Beastmastery is not taught in the safe haven, but is available in plain cities. Beastmastery is one of the most important skills you can learn, and is often the key to prosperity in Olympia. You might want to have one or some of your nobles study it, along with Capture beasts in battle (652), and Use beasts in battle (653). Beasts cost nothing to maintain, and are generally more powerful than human troops. On top of that producing riding horses for your faction is highly valuable. Do not underestimate the reduced travel time.
Once again, only study the skills that you directly need, plus those recommended here.
The next step is to get out of the safe haven and on to the high seas, which is where the game really begins. A large proportion of Olympia hasn’t already been colonized yet. So there are still some nice places where a faction can land and establish a home. Send messages to every noble you see out there (just in case); most are reasonably friendly. Do not be afraid to ask questions; remember, everybody was new once.
It is a good idea to read the Olympia Times and try to determine what alliances, if any, are recruiting new players in your area. Being part of an alliance can be extremely useful, providing you with information, some degree of protection, and perhaps even land and resources! The way to get in touch with these alliances, and in fact with any unit or faction in the game, is through direct or diplomatic e-mail. Every unit in the game has a code, e.g. Boris [9865]. To contact the owner of Boris, send email to g3@olympia.v-labs.be and in the body of the message
#forwardto:9865
your message
and it will be forwarded to him.
Good luck, and have fun in Olympia!
by Van Norton, G1
adapted for G3 by Tom Droeshout
Caution: This is an adaptation of a guide written for Game 1. Olympia has changed quite a bit in game 2 and 3, so use the information contained herein with some degree of interpretation.
A dusty, weatherworn sign outside the small wooden building read, "Pilgrims Aid Society." Underneath the sign, someone has carved into the wooden wall, "Free advice and worth the price."
Inside a small man sits behind a table with swarthy complexion and the dressing style of a desert nomad. A rough parchment map covers most of the back wall and a large chest to his left overflows with documents some obviously crafted by his steady hand.
Ah, come in, come in. Welcome to Olympia and my humble abode. My name is Akmall, Akmall Benhalla. Greetings and welcome worthy friend. Please, have a seat.
So, you wish to discover the secrets of Olympia. Perhaps you seek wealth, adventure, or hidden knowledge. Well, you have come to the right place, my friend. Hang up your cloak and we'll explore some of the mysteries together.
First, my friend, you need a purpose. Some driving force which gives your faction direction and not incidentally puts gold in your pocket. Patience, my friend, we will come back to the gold, but for now you choose your path. Some have chosen a dark path. They are petty bandits, highwaymen, and drug dealers. Others are on the path of light: beast slayers, priests and explorers. Many are on neither path, they are merchants, builders, mages and many other things. All these paths are possible in Olympia.
Once you chose a purpose, the skills which your nobles will need to learn should be evident. If you plan to be an explorer for example, you probably do not wish to study alchemy. Since each skill and subskill costs 100 gold to learn, you will quickly pauper yourself if you learn skills you don't need.
Speaking of paupers, many young nobles squander the inheritance they begin with and find themselves with more followers that they can afford to support. Don't let this happen to you. There are a variety of ways to turn a coin in Olympia.
The most obvious money maker is building a castle. Castles allow nobles to rule over land and collect taxes from the native population. Castle are also a difficult thing to construct in Olympia. So if you want to build a castle, the minimum you will need is to find an isolated area and about 1200 gold saved up to pay your maintenance bills while the construction is going on.
But obvious is not necessarily best, my friend. In many way, Olympia is much better now than it was during that initial land rush. Castle building nobles are beginning to provide a steady income of gold into the world. Clever factions will provide services to these nobles in exchange for gold. This new economy should provide a much more stable world for us all.
However, my friend, let us not get carried away by this talk of wealth. Your initial concern is how to get started on the right foot. New nobles begin in a safe haven city. You are perfectly safe there as no one can attack you within the safe haven. However, safe havens tend to be the most crowded spots in all of Olympia. Which means it will be almost impossible for you to recruit more peasants, make money doing common tasks like pot making, or generally advance your position. The thing that safe havens are good for is studying.
You begin with one oath 2 noble, 200 gold and 25 peasants. You have more items in your claim section. If your one noble does all your studying, you will have a very learned, very vulnerable noble. It is better to use your noble points to recruit two or three additional nobles to aid in your task. Now each of these nobles can learn a skill or two before leaving the safe haven. Which skills you wish to study depends entirely on what you intend to do. Combat is a good skill regardless which other skills you choose, as it allows you to train soldiers, make weapons, and so on. Don't bother learning all the subskills right now. Only learn the skills which you will immediately use. Then stack all your nobles together and leave the safe haven.
Is it wise to leave the safe haven so soon? Yes, my friend, for the wide open lands of Olympia provide the opportunity. The safe haven only provides stagnation. There might be a free Olympia Atlas available on the forum, check it regularly. Use it to chart a journey away from the safe haven. As you travel, you will find the number of nobles per province drops sharply. Once you have gotten beyond the competition of other nobles, you can set about meeting your goals. Building a galley or roundship is an easy task so do not hesitate to set sail if you find the entire continent Albea too crowded for your taste. Also, the many cities of Olympia can provide the skills you need when you need them. Combat and construction are common and can be learned nearly anywhere. The magic skills (except for general magic), stealth, and mining are rare and should be learned if your find a city which will teach these skill (and you want the skill).
Pilgrims like yourself often ask me about alliances in Olympia. There are no formal organizations recognized in Olympia larger than a single faction. However, a number of factions have organized themselves into alliances. The alliances change so rapidly that I hesitate to name any names. Read the Olympia Times (game newspaper) to see which alliances are active when you arrive. The forum can also give you some ideas as to where alliances have staked claims.
You also can set up a tower for study (thanks to your 100 claim stone). Towers give your faction a defendable position to camp and rest, however, after they are built, they must be continually occupied or the next person who comes along can claim the tower for themselves. Towers, like all buildings, add to the civilization level of their province. Generally, Castle owner will be happy for you to build your towers on their lands as it increases the taxes the receive. Do not set up your tower until you are in the area you plan to stay in for awhile.
Finally, here are a few safety tips. Do not send nobles alone into strange areas. Do not claim all the gold you have available. Only carry the gold you will need for the next turn or two. That way, if you are attacked or robbed, your attacker will get very little of your wealth. Use your noble points carefully. Do not horde them, but do not waste them either. Noble points are the one resource which can not be increased (well maybe slowly). You start with 18 NP and you will get one additional noble point every eight turns regardless of how well your faction is doing. Plan your faction's growth accordingly. Do not stay in one place, especially a city, for too long unless you are certain you can defend yourself. Stationary nobles make tempting targets for highwaymen and robbers.
I wish you well. Fare well, my friend