Do you use the Explorer Unit?

[Flinx]

Personally, I've never used the Explorer, by the time I can build them I already know what the whole world looks like.

[Adagio]

Wouldn't this belong to the general forum?

Back to topic. Explorer??? There is a explorer unit in the game..? Never used it...

[Caliban]

Finally a REALLY important poll!!!!!

Let us get rid of these useless explorers forever!!

[ixnay]

If it was available earlier, and map swapping was toned down some, it would be much more useful. As it is now, I've never built one.

[Hagbart]

It is useless, in civ2 it was a good unit.

[Gangerolf]

can't remember making one

[Coracle]

Originally posted by Hagbart
It is useless, in civ2 it was a good unit.

That's because in Civ 2 THERE WAS SOMETHING LEFT TO EXPLORE BY THE TIME WE GOT TO IT.

In Civ 3 there is nothing left to explore by the time we send out caravels, which is not only unrealistic it takes away a lot of the fun of the game.

Explorers? I modded them into a Partisan unit available after Industrialization, made it invisible, and it can be a real pain pillaging and occupying resource tiles.

But I WOULD RATHER EXPLORE.

[Darkworld Ark]

Explorors make great spies, since you can run them in & run them out, & friendly nations don't really mind them in their country.

[KenderBane]

By the time I get the tech researched so that I can build an Explorer, I've already got most of the world mapped out by trading maps with other Civs.

And the areas that I don't have mapped out are usually small islands/ island groups that are more effectively explored by ship anyway.

The tiny amount of continental land mass that is unexplored by the above methods are easily (and more effectively) explored using land based mounted units ... over flat terrain a move rate of 2 is almost as good as "move over everything like its got roads" ... and Horseman are availible MUCH earlier AND can attack the barabarians in the still dark corners of the map.

However, the explorer does have ONE function ...

If you are Modding a scenario, then you can use the 'slot' taken by the explorer to create a new unit that doesn't exist in un-modded Civ3.

[Adm.Naismith]

Originally posted by ixnay37
If it was available earlier, and map swapping was toned down some, it would be much more useful.

I agree that is not exactly a "must need" unit, but I use it sometimes when I want a "suicide pillager" to negate some strategic resources pillaging roads.

I know I can try to bombard the square, but I prefer to use artillery for softening cities, and bombers are more expensive. A couple of explorer can cut a critical resource for some turn (sometime AI is not quick enough to rebuild the road net, and I can put a brake in its units building: a weaker flow of fresh units let me win at least a main war with three conquered cities and two tech for a peace.

[Cookie Monster]

The explorer is not useless. He can pillage the enemy during war. He can also be used to "transfer" shields quickly from one city to another.

[Tassadar500]

I used it like 10 times to pillage enemy city resources. Other then that i never use it.

[Laszlo]

I've never used them either. Granted, they are very fast, but they just make too late an entrance to make much of a difference as 'explorers'.

Maybe adding an ability to stake out a few squares and say, "I claim this land for Spain," or whatever would make them useful. If you could expend them to establish some sort of weak hold on a desirable city site or resource until new units moved in, that could be interesting.

[Panag]

hi ,

its great to give it an attack and defense value of 1 , ...ones in a while it can stand against the barbs this way , ....

its great to create some troubles , ....when its given the "hidden nationality" , ....

have a nice day

[Flinx]

Bump.