how do u usually use ur great people at a certain era in ur game
justify ur answer...

sounds like an exam question huh?

anyway...i don't know how to use my great people wisely...i usually turn them into great specialist in the early games...

but from there it starts to get confusing for me...

sorry if there is a thread about this already

if great prophet, and we have a holy city, turn it to bluiding to increace our imcome.

hurry tech while we are fletching civ. Because i think it can't benefit too much when we own 2~3 developing cities.

golden age when we have 4~5 moderate developed cites.

if you have finish two golden age, we should turned the GP into specialist or hurry tech, I thought.

There are loads of threads addressing Great People and how to use them to the most benefit. There is rarely any absolutely right answer.

For me, some overly general usages are;

Great Prophets: Usually burned on 'expensive' technologies in the earlier parts of the game such as Code of Laws, Theology, or Civil Service, or used to create a religious shrine.

Great Merchants: Typically used in trade missions or burned for their technology if it happens to be in line with my technology objectives. If you use them as Specialists, you get an extra :food:, and therefore with lots of them in the one city you can create a large and prosperous population (Kylearan got a city to 48 (http://www.compoundeye.net/civ/epic03/part4.html) in his shot in another site's competition).

Great Scientists: Used to build Academies in top three Science Cities, and then used for either Specialists in the #1 Science City or burned for their technology if it happens to be in line with my technology objectives. If chasing a Cultural win, I may use them for Academies in the weaker of the three target cities as they produce a respectable 4:culture: per turn before multipliers.

Great Engineers: Typically used to contribute :hammers: to a Wonder.

Great Artists: Depends upon whether I want to win by :culture: or not. If 'yes', I'll assess whether they are better used as a Specialist Artist or to create a Great Work given turns available and city :culture: multipliers. If not going after a Cultural win, then their usefulness as a 'Culture Bomb' (usually means creating a Great Work in a recently captured city to; end revolt, create a useful cultural border, and diminish the probability of a flip) or to be held back for a Golden Age or to be burned on a technology advancement must be made on the circumstances.

I rarely initiate Golden Ages by using Great People (other than burning a Great Engineer on the Taj Mahal) except when I have two Great People who I really can't see much need for (e.g. a Great Prophet and Great Artist where their technologies aren't especially useful towards the late game) or when competing in a Space Race where a Golden Age will push me ahead of the pack.

These uses are very general, and circumstances will greatly affect the best use of Great People at any given time.

There has been a lot of discussion on this topic as laid out in this forum and the Strategy Articles forum as just two of many areas that you might find some thoughts and ideas.

i'm 100% with cam_h here
although i tend to use the great prophets for shrines only (even if i have no holy city yet, i'll keep him until i get one), because i do everything i can to get very few of those ;)

Great Prophets are also good if you're the first person to build a shrine, because you can spread your religion very well to close neighbours. I had hardly any defenses, and Monty was getting pissed off for no reason, as usual, and he converted to Buddhism from someone else, but then I built a shrine and he converted to my religion so he was my friend again...

...then he declared war on me anyway.

Ok, so that story doesn't really back up my point very well, does it, but you get the idea.

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I think I wasted a GP for a tech once, but... well, I think it's a waste, so I never do that. I always get rubbish technologies from them, which I would rather just spend 5 turns researching for. I think the bonus from enlisting them as a Super Specialist is much better, with some extra production, commerce, research or culture being far more useful.

Great Prophets are also good if you're the first person to build a shrine, because you can spread your religion very well to close neighbours. I had hardly any defenses, and Monty was getting pissed off for no reason, as usual, and he converted to Buddhism from someone else, but then I built a shrine and he converted to my religion so he was my friend again...

...then he declared war on me anyway.

:lol: good summary of montezuma

when monte is near, i don't build shrines and pray he won't attack
I build axemen and kill him.

when monte is near, i don't build shrines and pray he won't attack.

I build axemen and kill him.
Good summary of what most people think of Montezuma.

when monte is near, i don't build shrines and pray he won't attack
I build axemen and kill him.

lol i always build shrines on the borders and let him attack only to find out that my other cities were building axemen and catapults.

I hate GP recently, if I need a proph and have a 5% chance of an Artist, then of course I'll get an artist...current game I still haven't been able to build the Islam shrine and I'm up to modern times (in 1650 AD how silly), running 7 or 8 priests in my (tao / holy city / gp farm / ankhor wat) city..about to get I think the 15th specialist, surely this time (even though it hardly matters now, its become a bone I can't let go of) :)

Monty will attack you if he thinks you're weak. He's never done it from being "pleased" or "friendly" (yeah, like this one's ever gonna happen...) but it has happened once when he was "cautios" and despite the fact that we shared the same religion. He died.

Monty will attack you if he thinks you're weak. He's never done it from being "pleased" or "friendly" (yeah, like this one's ever gonna happen...) but it has happened once when he was "cautios" and despite the fact that we shared the same religion. He died.

he attacks even when pleased.
Huyna capac attaks even when friendly!:mad:

Great Prophets are also good if you're the first person to build a shrine, because you can spread your religion very well to close neighbours. I had hardly any defenses, and Monty was getting pissed off for no reason, as usual, and he converted to Buddhism from someone else, but then I built a shrine and he converted to my religion so he was my friend again...

...then he declared war on me anyway.

Ok, so that story doesn't really back up my point very well, does it, but you get the idea.



:goodjob: That story, and your avatar, go sooooooo well together. I could just here it being told by him in a Futurama context.

:lol:

I've had Mao declare war when friendly.

Monty will attack you if he thinks you're weak. He's never done it from being "pleased" or "friendly" (yeah, like this one's ever gonna happen...) but it has happened once when he was "cautios" and despite the fact that we shared the same religion. He died.
Also the AI decides to go to war ahead of time. What matters to the calculation is your relations at the time the decision is made. Often people will notice him moving troops and try to appease him. Usually with the AI its already too late.

Also the AI decides to go to war ahead of time. What matters to the calculation is your relations at the time the decision is made. Often people will notice him moving troops and try to appease him. Usually with the AI its already too late.

perfectly true!
if you think the AI is preparing to attack you, you won't be able to appease him.
2 options:
- get ready for war
- bribe someone else to attack him

:goodjob: That story, and your avatar, go sooooooo well together. I could just here it being told by him in a Futurama context.
lol

Monty has definitely attacked me when Pleased.

Also the AI decides to go to war ahead of time. What matters to the calculation is your relations at the time the decision is made. Often people will notice him moving troops and try to appease him. Usually with the AI its already too late.
Yeah, this is true as I've saved a game just before someone declared war on me, then every time you replay it, their decision to go to war with you will nearly always have been made. You have to suck up to them early enough to change their mind.

I believe Montezuma in Civ4 is loosely based around Satan, so he generally plans to go to war with you before he's even met you.

Yeah, this is true as I've saved a game just before someone declared war on me, then every time you replay it, their decision to go to war with you will nearly always have been made. You have to suck up to them early enough to change their mind.

I believe Montezuma in Civ4 is loosely based around Satan, so he generally plans to go to war with you before he's even met you.

not quite true
you can easily bribe him to attack someone else, and be best buddies with him, but it's tedious : you have to be sure he always has someone to attack (like some kid to which you always have to give some game to play).:(

not quite true
you can easily bribe him to attack someone else, and be best buddies with him, but it's tedious : you have to be sure he always has someone to attack (like some kid to which you always have to give some game to play).:(

True :) in fact many of the CIV leader personalities are incredibly childlike...Alex and Isabella, the moody teenagers from hell, Caesar "I'm going home now AND I'm taking my ball with me because you won't play my game", and Toku"why doesn't anyone like me?, I hate everyone, I going off to sulk"gawa................