Dominions 4 is a turn-based strategy game in which nations and armies are pawns in the service of pretenders, avatars on the verge of godhood, who clash with one another as they strive to be the last deity standing and become the all-powerful
Pantokrator.
Combat There are hundreds of different units to recruit within the game, including
archers,
infantry,
cavalry and
mages. Troops can be recruited in all provinces and which types are often influenced by the terrain. For example, woodsmen and
druids can be found in forest provinces, while aquatic fish-men can be found on coasts. In order to recruit nation-specific troops, the player has to construct a fortress in most cases, some units are restricted to the player capital province and powerful commanders and units take two turns to recruit. Mages require a laboratory to recruit, whilst priests need a temple. The battle results are calculated by the computer and can be viewed by the players at the beginning of the next turn, like a
film, or the battle may be instantly calculated and a summary displayed to the player bearing the relevant numbers. The battles cannot be influenced once the calculations begin for the new turn, but players can set simple orders for their troops before the battle is calculated, assign formations to different squads, influence the units starting positions in the battlefield, allowing for diverse tactics.
Magic There are eight paths of magic in the game: fire, water, air, earth, astral, death, nature and blood. Mages in
Dominions 4 have one or more paths, with nations having distinct mages and therefore a different magical emphasis. Many spells or items require two paths to cast or forge, respectively, but none require more than two.
Nations The nations in the game are based upon world
history and
mythology, rather than standard
high fantasy races such as
elves and
orcs. Amongst others, the mythologies of ancient Greece (Arcoscephale), the Roman Republic (Ermor), Byzantium (Pythium),
Sarmatians (Sauromatia), Egypt (C'tis), Medieval France & Spain (Marignon), Medieval England (Man), Ireland (Fomoria, Eriu,
Tir na n'Og), Scandinavia (Vanheim, Helheim, Jotunheim, Midgard, Utgard, Nieflheim), Germany (Ulm), China (Tien Chi), Zimbabwe (Machaka), Japan (Jomon), Aztecs (Mictlan),
Rus' (Bogarus), and India (Kailasa,
Lanka,
Bandar Log,
Patala) are represented. Other nations are based on the work of recent writers, particularly
H. P. Lovecraft (R'lyeh and Atlantis), or Abysia, that looks loosely based on
Yezidi faith, as it contains
Melek Taus in its list of random general names and is mostly associated with holy flames, beings of flame, fire worship and magma, or Hinnom, which is based on Semitic mythology, featuring
Nephilim. Some of the new nations included in
Dominions 4 are Nazca, a nations of bird
humanoids and
mummies based on the
Nazca civilization mixed with other cultures from ancient
Peru, Ur, a nation of beastlike humanoids based on the civilization of
Uruk and the
Epic of Gilgamesh,
Ys, a sunken city inspired by the eponymous
Breton myth and led by
Morgen, among others. == References ==