Why Huayna Capac (Inca) ranked as worst?

Hi all.

I'm kind of new to the game and have been reading lots and lots of guides and articles to improve my game play. After studying and trying out the different traits for quite some time, I found the Ind/Fin (Huayna Capac of Inca) combo to be powerful for my game style.

Then I read the GameSpy BtS walkthrough and the author states the following:

"The Incans and Zulus are the weakest two civilizations in the game, and because of Huayna Capac's attributes, the Incans are easily the worse of the two. Although the combination theoretically gives the Incans a good economy, they won't be able to take enough land to suck in the resources and churn out enough money to offset their weaknesses. In other words, they suck, and no amount of gold they make will change that. If you're going for a handicap match, have the better player pick the Incans to even things out."
(http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/civilization-4-beyond-the-sword/guide/page_24.html)

Could someone explain what he means here? I really don't get why Capac would be the weakest choice of all the leaders...

HC and the Inca's are regarded as one of the best combo's in the game. Deadly UU, very useful UB and good traits.

Without looking at the link, possible it is refering to when HC was FIN/AGG, which was pre-BTS I believe (or Civ III?).

PS - Welcome to the Forum

That's funny. Last I looked at the Hall of Fame, the Incas held the top positions.

Ignore everything on the gamespy walkthrough, its one of the worst guides ever written for a video game

Opinions are like bottom bodypart
Everyone has one.
Also - good player will be good even without traits, UU and UB. These help, but not dictate the game.

?? I have 2 feet and they are my bottom body part.

andreasb said:

Hi all.
I really don't get why Capac would be the weakest choice of all the leaders...

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Because he's not. Whoever wrote that doesn't know what they're talking about. Around here many people consider the Inca to be overpowered, though I don't agree with that assessment either. I wouldn't agree with his comments on the Zulu either, the UB alone makes that civ worth playing. A Barracks that reduces maintenance, what more could you ask for?

the Incas imo are overpower only on small maps when you and the incans are bunch up together. On larger or huge map with proper distance between you and the incans they are not that big a threat.

This is why some people should be banned from the internet. New players may take them seriously.

Please, ignore that big pile of gamespy bs. It's wrong on so many different levels, I don't even know where to begin. Probably the absolute worst part is that playthrough at the end.

Seriously, you have plenty of good guides in the war academy and countless playthroughs in the strategy section.

Ai Shizuka said:

It's wrong on so many different levels, I don't even know where to begin. Probably the absolute worst part is that playthrough at the end.

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I have to wonder if he's playing stupid on purpose, just to demonstrate game concepts like religion and culture. I haven't read through it yet, but glancing at the screenshots, he doesn't seem to be doing very well.The last screenshot on page six is priceless. He has four small cities with many unimproved tiles, 13 beakers per turn, an army of apparently only archers, is researching Iron Working... Certainly, this must be very early in the game? Nope, 125 AD.

Also this gem on page 7...

The war is not going well. My units are falling. I seriously underestimated German military power. Plus, they mainly have Crossbowmen, which are trashing my Axemen. Time for a strategy change, and a retreat.

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lol gamespy got pwned

The date on that Gamespy review is 2007 and is labelled as a BTS review, so Inca are as we know them now. I read the whole thing and I must say that there was zero I would take seriously. His walk through game was a joke, I think I did better than that the first time I played Civ 4!!. I too loved the rummination on the German military beating him...hmmm I think this was his first game of Civ4 ever. Not inspiring for a reviewer.

To the OP, welcome to CivFanatics...this is THE best site for Civ info, period.

andreasb said:

Could someone explain what he means here? I really don't get why Capac would be the weakest choice of all the leaders...

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stating the Inca's being the weakest choice on Civ4 is so funny it made me come out of my years of hiding and make this post to share my lol.

Ignore that gamespy guide.

ParadigmShifter said:

?? I have 2 feet and they are my bottom body part.

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Most other people have them too.

But Inca is one of the best civs in the game...the gamespy guide in general is lacking.

Isn't this the same guide that said Serfdom was the best civic, Scientists and other specialists are overrated, and that slavery is a terrible civic?

I don't think I read far enough into it to detect such heresies.

mechaerik said:

Isn't this the same guide that said Serfdom was the best civic, Scientists
and other specialists are overrated, and that slavery is a terrible civic?

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Indeed it was, it really makes me think of Attacko articles, I read it for pure comedy value
Link to my post in attackos strategy guide
Just because we all know Pericles sucks and Germany is a better warmongering civ than Rome

And lol a new pearl of wisdom

If you play as India, your strength will be in research and exploiting your resources like crazy. Getting into wars will blow you away, so make sure that any military units you create are used defensively. Diplomacy will be important, because if you screw with your rivals and bring their wrath, you won't survive to see 2050 AD.

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Here are some exact quotes:

SLAVERY:
Certain people are judged, for whatever reason, to be inferior to others. The inferiors are treated as possessions or tools, and work or perform other jobs as their masters require. The only real benefit is the ability to sacrifice your people to finish a building, which is not a recommended strategy. It feels strange to me that this wouldn't have some sort of negative on your population's morale; in strict game terms, this is better than Tribalism because the former at least gives you an added option for the same price.


SERFDOM:
A form of slavery, serfs had some rights where pure slaves didn't. (In pure slavery, for example, masters could randomly execute their slaves for no reason, and it would be no more unlawful than breaking vase on the floor.) In the most liberal form of serfdom, serfs could marry and possibly even own a bit of wealth. This is a very, very good civic in the early turns. When you get it, it's best to create a ton of Workers and have them go crazy with upgrading the land.


CASTE SYSTEM:
Castes are where your parents' place in society is your place as well. Whatever your parents' job is, from artists to nobles, is what you are. Advancement in anything but your own job is forbidden, and marrying outside your class is forbidden as well. In game terms, I despise the Caste System, because as I've said in other sections, specialist citizens are overrated. Stick with Serfdom, it will pay off bigger in the end.


MERCANTILISM:
The opposite of decentralization, mercantilism has the government controlling every aspect of the economy. Citizens are told what they produce, and the government strikes a balance, meaning they deny any foreign trade routes. In game terms, you get free specialists at the cost of additional money. Unless you're on islands and unable to visit other civilizations until late, even Decentralization is better.

Holy doh. And that's not even a joke? Oh my.

I don't think the guy doing the walkthrough understood how working tiles "works", so to speak, as his caste system just doesn't do anything when you're spamming workers...you only have a certain number of tiles to improve per city. Attacko would probably beat him one vs one with his ice archers.

Attacko would probably beat him one vs one with his ice archers.

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F*ck yeah! Truly an heretic. To your forks and torches citizens!

lol

most gaming websites / game review websites are crap honestly

If you play as India, your strength will be in research and exploiting your resources like crazy. Getting into wars will blow you away, so make sure that any military units you create are used defensively. Diplomacy will be important, because if you screw with your rivals and bring their wrath, you won't survive to see 2050 AD.

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LOL... 2050 AD, because the only victory condition is time! priceless