I started to play on prince some time ago.

I seem to have a constant problem with Zara of the Ethiopians as a neighbour. In every game I play he gets a huge techonological advantage over me.

If we get the same religion, he's usually very friendly towards me. However, his technological advantage makes it impossible to attack him.

Does Zara have any weak points where to strike?

Organised trait is good for AIs in my experience. Zara is one of the toughest AIs, no doubt about it. The best way to deal with him is as early as possible, he just gets nastier and nastier as the game goes on and is usually a forerunner in the late game.

Axe rush, or axes + catapults is my preferred solution the Zara issue. :yup:

I started to play on prince some time ago.

I seem to have a constant problem with Zara of the Ethiopians as a neighbour. In every game I play he gets a huge techonological advantage over me.

If we get the same religion, he's usually very friendly towards me. However, his technological advantage makes it impossible to attack him.

Does Zara have any weak points where to strike?

Wipe him out early or severely limit his land through REX. The latter is harder to do, you will definitely have to fortify those cities that border him with culture because of the steele.

If a rush isn't advisable, Creative neighbours are good candidates for choking (declare war, camp in their territory to stifle expansion).

CRE is a decent defensive trait (getting their culture defenses up earlier) and will result in considerable border pressure if you let them settle unchecked. This is even worse for Zara because of his Unique Building.
CRE also seems a top economic trait for the AI (probably because they don't pick city locations well), another reason to cripple him early.

Block him off or rush him. If doing the former, you're going to need culture help.

Zara does declare at pleased but he's like izzy ----> if there is a heathen around he'll favor attacking the heathen as a priority since they're likely to be a worst enemy. Zara also has the +2 hidden diplo modifier towards humans, something very few AIs have, so he's fairly easy to get to friendly.

A bulbing strategy works with friendly neighbors who tech well. As long as you can keep grabbing techs he doesn't have and trade with him it can help you keep pace with him. Then once you have a hammer advantage you can always take him out anytime even behind a bit in tech.

Organised trait is good for AIs in my experience. Zara is one of the toughest AIs, no doubt about it. The best way to deal with him is as early as possible, he just gets nastier and nastier as the game goes on and is usually a forerunner in the late game.

Axe rush, or axes + catapults is my preferred solution the Zara issue. :yup:

Actually, it's probably CRE that does it.

My way to deal with it is to either get rid of him or adopt Theocracy + his religion. Instant friendly. He and Mansa are the only 2 AI's who give an instant +2 to everyone.

Actually, it's probably CRE that does it.

My way to deal with it is to either get rid of him or adopt Theocracy + his religion. Instant friendly. He and Mansa are the only 2 AI's who give an instant +2 to everyone.

Creative is definitely good for AIs, but compare the menace that is Zara to annoying but not quite as dangerous AIs like Sury and Willem. I know who I'd rather have to deal with.

Then again, there are AIs who are ORG and completely harmless, so I guess it's just the combination of CRE and ORG that makes Zara such a swine.

Also, the fact that he is usually friendly is, in my experience, as much of a drawback as an advantage. Because he's a friend you concentrate on killing somebody else instead. Then he quietly gets bigger and bigger and becomes a serious contender for a culture or space win. Or relations start to cool when you accumulate "You declared war on our friend" and "We are worried about our rivals being vassals" penalties, and next thing you know he DoWs you at pleased with a tech advantage and twice as many units as you have.

Zara is great, there should be more AIs like him. Life is never boring when he's around. :lol:

Creative is definitely good for AIs, but compare the menace that is Zara to annoying but not quite as dangerous AIs like Sury and Willem. I know who I'd rather have to deal with.

Then again, there are AIs who are ORG and completely harmless, so I guess it's just the combination of CRE and ORG that makes Zara such a swine.


a lot depends on AI description in game files, like unit probability, prefered techs, units and so on... Zara seems to have rather healthy balance.

On top of that cre and org are actually traits AI is able to utilize. Although i rather spawn next to Zara than Surry.

Agree, Soirana. If I had to pick an AI to be the "most balanced," I'd pick him.

I agree with teh consensus, he's a tough leader to go against.

My suggestions

1) Early Rush.

2) Make friends and kill everyone else which usually involves REXing him in a bit.

3) Bribe someone else to do your dirty work.

My first thoughts are that we need to know some more information about the game(s) you are in with Zara. While I am an emperor player, I have not found many situations where a drafted rifle war or 2 with trebs/cannons was not enough to either tackle a troublesome neighbor, including Zara, or give me enough land to take him out later.

So I think it may be more important to read some articles in the war academy and/or some walkthrough games about using Liberalism to setup a war from drafting. So far, I just have not found most AIs able to handle a large, technologically superior army that is formed quickly.

close: rush.
far away: bribe into war, or become his :):):):):)

As a neighbor, he is easily dealt with. Just kill him off quickly. I worry much more about finding him on another continent with a massive empire.

He is not a tough player when properly boxed.
If you get a tech edge on him, just bribe him into war against, lets say, Shaka, Monty or Genghis. It'll keep him occupied for quite a long time, providing they are both different religions :lol: Then once you hit the rifles, you can take them both :D

I've boxed him in once or twice, but it takes a lot of work. He slaps up that UB monument which multiplies the creative culture he generates. The only way I get it to work is to give him some coast to settle and hope he sails off the coast to find someplace to expand.

In my current game, I started isolated with Zara (archipeligo map). I managed to box him into the peninsula he started on, leaving him with room for only 4 cities. Then proceeded to focus espionage on him and grabbed all the techs he wouldn't swap.

Espionage seems a good way to handle AIs with tech leads.

Block him off or rush him. If doing the former, you're going to need culture help.

Zara does declare at pleased but he's like izzy ----> if there is a heathen around he'll favor attacking the heathen as a priority since they're likely to be a worst enemy. Zara also has the +2 hidden diplo modifier towards humans, something very few AIs have, so he's fairly easy to get to friendly.

How can I find out about these hidden diplo modifiers?

Thanks