I just made a little study about the costs when you rush-buy units or buildings. Here's what I found out:

1. When buying units

1.1. The costs per shield are distributet in the shield box like this:
4th-lowest row 6666565555
3rd-lowest row 5555454444
2nd-lowest row 4444343333
lowest row 3333232222 etc.

1.2. So there are the following costs for whole rows:
lowest row : 25
2nd-lowest row: 35
3rd-lowest row: 45
4th-lowest row: 55 etc.

1.3. If there are no shields at all in the shield box, the costs are doubled.

1.4. So there are the following costs for buying „whole“ units:
number of shields costs
10 50
20 120
30 210
40 320
50 450
60 600
70 770
80 960
100 1400
120 1920
160 3200
The formula for this is: 10*(4n+n^2)
where n = (number of shields / 10)

2. When buying improvements

2.1. The costs per shield are always 2 gold.

2.2. If there are no shields at all in the shield box, the costs are doubled.

3. When buying WOWs

3.1. The costs per shield are always 4 gold.

3.2. If there are no shields at all in the shield box, the costs are doubled.

Have to admit I'm a little .

Do I follow you if I think that "lowest row 3333232222" means that if you have one shield in the last row (no matter which unit you are buying), then buying the rest costs 3+3+3+2+3+2+2+2+2=22 gold? If you have 2 shields already the cost is 3+3+2+3+2+2+2+2=19 gold and so on?

And that the "second lowest row" refers to when you have two rows of shields left to build/buy?

For example, say you want a diplo and you have 15 shields already. How shall I interpret your "second lowest row 4444343333" in that case? That the cost of buying the remaining 15 shields (without switching to a 20 shield unit first) is 4+3+3+3+3=16 gold plus buying the last row for 25 gold, giving a total of 41 gold?

Yes, it's exactly like you said. You have to add the costs of the shields from the right side to the left.
So in your example with the diplo with 15 shields already you have to buy 15 more shields. The cost for this is (like you said) 41 (4+3+3+3+3=16 gold plus 25 gold for the last row).

But it's cheaper if you first buy a 20-shield-unit (horseman) for 3+2+2+2+2=11 gold, then switch to diplomat and then buy the remaining row for 25 gold, giving a total of only 36 gold!

Dounty

quote: Originally posted by Carolus Rex on 01-05-2001 07:19 AM Hi civer! Have to admit I'm a little . Do I follow you if I think that "lowest row 3333232222" means that if you have one shield in the last row (no matter which unit you are buying), then buying the rest costs 3+3+3+2+3+2+2+2+2=22 gold? If you have 2 shields already the cost is 3+3+2+3+2+2+2+2=19 gold and so on? And that the "second lowest row" refers to when you have two rows of shields left to build/buy? For example, say you want a diplo and you have 15 shields already. How shall I interpret your "second lowest row 4444343333" in that case? That the cost of buying the remaining 15 shields (without switching to a 20 shield unit first) is 4+3+3+3+3=16 gold plus buying the last row for 25 gold, giving a total of 41 gold? Carolus [This message has been edited by Carolus Rex (edited January 05, 2001).]

You're right, increment building always helps you to save lots of money. But it's not quite true that each row costs 25g, sometimes you have to buy 20 or 40 shields at once at a cost of 60 or 160 gold (because there are no units with 90, 110, 130, 140 or 150 shields)

With buildings it's like this: If you already have shields in the shield box it doesn't matter if you first buy a temple or not (because each shield costs 2 gold then). But if your shield box is empty yet, it's cheaper to build a temple first (=4 gold per shield) and then switch to something else (=2 gold per shield).

Dounty

quote: Originally posted by War4ever on 01-05-2001 01:40 PM unit increment buying comes at a cost of 25g per row, first row, tenth row, it makes no difference. 25g for a full row of shields on units. I am not sure about buildings, all i do know is that if you don't have a temple, its cheaper to rush the temple first and then switch to something else, ie a market place........