April 2021 Update - Patch Notes Discussion

[Gedemon]

I've added the usual .diff for human readable files for the last civ6 patch of April 2021.

 

[kb27787]

I love most of the fixes...
But really giving terrace farm double housing??? As if that UI was not insanely overpowered already...

I am very happy with the new Canada... if played with barbarian clans mode there is actually no need for you to have any military whatsoever as long as you pay the clans.

 

[tedhebert]

Was very underwhelmed by the info we got on the livestream yesterday !

Can't say I've become whelmed today, but the notes does show a few surprise gems (tourism dominance impact for starters) and overall, it IS quite a loaded patch.

and thx @charrison for pointing out incoming trade routes impact on radio oranje change... very easy to miss that !

I'm most intrigued by Maya, Mapuche and Spain changes. the rest seems very minor to me, except Khmer but that civ isn't interesting to me so....

Now let's go try all this out to see for ourselves what balance change we all have underestimated, shall we ?

 

[InsidiousMage]

Also, is there a clear explanation of the tier system for start bias? I'm not sure if this patch makes it more or less likely for Germany to get a river start than before, lol.

The closer a bias is to tier one the more likely you are to start there. So a tier 1 coastal bias means you are almost certainly to have a coastal spawn.

 

[Menocchio]

All in all, though, I am frankly astonished that Scotland - with what is almost universally agreed to be the worst leader ability and as of now certainly worst unique infrastructure - went completely unchanged.

 

[The Civs 6]

The closer a bias is to tier one the more likely you are to start there. So a tier 1 coastal bias means you are almost certainly to have a coastal spawn.

Thanks. So does a tier 5 bias mean a civ is very unlikely to get a start, or that they are likely unless there is a tier 4/3/2/1 bias in the game?

 

[Kwami]

Thanks. So does a tier 5 bias mean a civ is very unlikely to get a start, or that they are likely unless there is a tier 4/3/2/1 bias in the game?

Think of the tiers like priorities. The map can't always please everyone, but a tier 1 bias gets priority over a tier 2 bias. Having a tier 5 bias is still better than nothing.

 

[pokiehl]

Thanks. So does a tier 5 bias mean a civ is very unlikely to get a start, or that they are likely unless there is a tier 4/3/2/1 bias in the game?

It can’t really be quantified in any meaningful way because we don’t have access to the code where it is programmed.

All you can know is that a start bias of 1 is more likely to proc than a start bias of 2 and so on. Start bias of 5 doesn’t mean “unlikely” - it means less likely than 4 and so on.

There’s no way to make unlikely because there are no negative buses.

And many civs have no start bias at all.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Also, is there a clear explanation of the tier system for start bias? I'm not sure if this patch makes it more or less likely for Germany to get a river start than before, lol.

I don't think Germany had a start bias before so I would say it's better.

All in all, though, I am frankly astonished that Scotland - with what is almost universally agreed to be the worst leader ability and as of now certainly worst unique infrastructure - went completely unchanged.

Well to me the Golf course was never a problem. I still think that either the Palgum, Tlatchli or Tskihe hold that position as worst unique infrastructure, in my opinion.

 

[Vargas1]

Thanks. So does a tier 5 bias mean a civ is very unlikely to get a start, or that they are likely unless there is a tier 4/3/2/1 bias in the game?

Closer to the latter. Any sort of start bias means the civ is more likely than a vanilla civ to start near that feature.

 

[The Civs 6]

All in all, though, I am frankly astonished that Scotland - with what is almost universally agreed to be the worst leader ability and as of now certainly worst unique infrastructure - went completely unchanged.

I don't think Scotland is terribly underpowered. It just turns out to be a really boring, passive buff. And golf.

The best buff to Scotland would be making the golf course not absolutely hideous.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I don't think Scotland is terribly underpowered. It just turns out to be a really boring, passive buff. And golf.

The best buff to Scotland would be making the golf course not absolutely hideous.

Agreed. Scotland's problem isn't necessarily power. It's the fact that the Leader Ability is not useable very often, the Civ Ability is very under the hood, the unique improvement is only 1 per city (and kind of lame, thematically), and the UU is a unit type that players usually don't use heavily at the time it comes available. It's just not a fun civ.

 

[slavaskii]

What a weird Poland change. The culture bomb change is pointless, does nothing. But the Winged Hussar being now (accurately) a Renaissance unit, and a more accessible one at that? The cost is irrelevant considering Poland's massive Faith economy. Going for a Domination play style and taking Crusade, you have an easily-acquired 74+ combat strength unit before the Industrial era. Not the buff I expected, but welcome, if still not quite enough. All Poland really needs is a boost to the production cost of certain districts, or an easier way to get a few relics.

I’ve always been advocating for this and pray someone’s actually reading this forum to see this comment in particular. Poland has a really great UB, but UBS are one of the worst in game because there’s no production bonus to them. You need to build Poland’s UB with the trade route change, but why not make it less expensive or, even better, a UD replacement altogether?

The BEST bonus for Poland would be some sort of production bonus for pastures. But I don’t think they’ll ever get love after this.

 

[Kwami]

I don't think Germany had a start bias before so I would say it's better.


Well to me the Golf course was never a problem. I still think that either the Palgum, Tlatchli or Tskihe hold that position as worst unique infrastructure, in my opinion.

What? Palgum is amazing!

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

The BEST bonus for Poland would be some sort of production bonus for pastures. But I don’t think they’ll ever get love after this.

Poland is known for many things, but pastures ain't one of them. It would fit neither historically nor thematically.

The best change is to give them the "Khmer Suicide Missionary Squad" Ability, but make it so that Polish Missionaries can attack other Units. In my opinion, at least.

 

[Giskler]

No changes to Scotland is truly mindboggling.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

I don't think Scotland is terribly underpowered. It just turns out to be a really boring, passive buff. And golf.

The best buff to Scotland would be making the golf course not absolutely hideous.

I know we just got Portugal who can build their UI in another civ's territory but I think it would make Scotland just as unique to where they can build a Golf Couse in an allied civ's borders which provides gold and amenities to them, but tourism back to Scotland's golf courses.

What? Palgum is amazing!

It's falls into the category of not being very inspiring, as just a watermill replacement. Not to mention I think the bonuses that the Palgum got I wish were on the standard watermill to begin with.

 

[Sostratus]

Not touching UUs for a moment, but most of the combat strength changes are things I have myself suggested for a long time...
Except the tanks/modern armor being moved up to 85/95. No! The whole point of changing everyone else was to balance those two units!
We were this close to greatness!

Oh well. I mean even the knights at 50 and swords to 35... Right on the money!

 

[mrwho]

Nice surprise to see those tourism changes. Would have been good to see it go even further, but regardless I like it.

All in all I'm happy with the changes and the patch, especially considering it's completely free. Can't help but agree with the bewilderment over not having changed Scotland though.

 

[DWilson]

Is the Immortal still pretty weak for conquering? I seem to recall them doing basically nothing against walls.