When do you decide to move up in difficulty?

C

Chee

Warlord
Joined
Aug 7, 2010
Messages
118
Location
U.K.
I have only just purchased Gods and Kings after a long break from CiV.

I am starting to get used to the new mechanics and feel pretty confident I can win at Emperor level, most of the time.

When do you know it's the right time to move up a level?

Moderator Action: Rather a general question -> moved to GD.
 
This might sound funny but basically when winning basically becomes a sure thing at the current difficulty level it's time to move up. You shouldn't start every game knowing you're going to win otherwise it gets boring. Don't feel bad about losing a lot of games at immortal or deity either, you will lose or at least need to start over quite a few times at those levels before you get good at them.

I still lose more than win at deity and immortal isn't a sure thing for me yet. I only moved up to deity because I wanted to get a win before the patch makes it so the AI pillages improvements and expands better. I have a feeling immortal and deity are going to get a little tougher after that.
 
If you don't feel challenged, and if you get no satisfaction or sense of accomplishment throughout your game - you should level up.

Accidentally started a game on Prince as India and was at like turn 70 when I realized things were going "too good." D'oh!

Had to stop. Once you go up, you can never go back down. Ha.
 
There is no right time, it depends on what you want from the game. I like to have a relaxing and fun game where I am challenged but not too much. My job is challenging enoughthat I need not look into challenging myselfin my games as well . For me, the second I get bored I move up a step.

If you look to move up as soon as you can, I say just experiment for yourself. You can start at deity to get a real challenge andto llearn lots and lots from the a game or two. If you are concerned about winning per se, you can move up as soon as you win on your current setting pretty much all he timr .

I personally won my first immortal game, so if emperor is comfortable, I suggest trying deity right away.
 
Shurdus said:
If you look to move up as soon as you can, I say just experiment for yourself. You can start at deity to get a real challenge andto llearn lots and lots from the a game or two. If you are concerned about winning per se, you can move up as soon as you win on your current setting pretty much all he timr .
Click to expand...

This is pretty smart advice too. I never did get to the point where immortal was easy before I decided to move up to deity. Sometimes just moving up a difficulty level will teach you how to win at that level better than playing a hundred games at the last level.
 
I just had my first win on King (Science victory as the Celts, very fun). Yay! I'm moving up to Emperor for my next game. If I win on that, on to Immortal...
 
I have never made the move up to Deity yet even I know I can win a majority of the time on Immortal. I actually drop down a level when I am playing/trying something new that I am not sure how it's going to work. But I feel that I can win on Deity with favorable civs but I would still rather play as a civ I haven't tried before, to get more breadth.
 
People should play the difficulty they feel most comfortable with instead of always trying to hop to the highest difficulty imo. Games are meant to be enjoyable first. It's okay to give yourself a challenge but if it becomes a chore (what Diety feels to me), then I simply will never move up the difficulty. Then again, Immortal can become a chore as well if I can win most of my games.

At some point I'd just quit CiV and move on (either come back to it with expansion/patches) or do something else with my time.
 
Chee said:
When do you know it's the right time to move up a level?
Click to expand...

When it becomes impossible to lose. That being said, in many games the top level (or couple levels) aren't really enjoyable, they're just a form of self-flaggelation. I don't know if that's the case with Civ 5, since I'm still at the Emperor level. If it is, I never go that high since I still play for enjoyment exclusively, and that just wouldn't be fun.
 
It depends on what type of player you are. If you are a person who wants to get to as high a level as possible and doesn't mind some frustrations along the way to that goal, then move up a level after beating 1 or 2 games on the previous one. If you are someone who just likes to have fun, and enjoys a certain level, then stay there. There is nothing in the game saying you have to play on the hardest level for your ability.

Cheers.
 
Yeah, certainly if you can win any victory condition you set for yourself. At lower levels for me it was about trying to play the "perfect" game. Now at emperor I find I will miss wonders, I will have RAs broken by DoWs, and I will have to depart from the optimal research path and spend money I would rather spend on buildings on troops.

I'm not sure if getting better brings that back. At higher levels good strategies don't rely on key wonders, religious beliefs, etc., but rely on mechanics a more powerful ai can't stymie: regular buildings and national wonders.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 
Sometimes the high difficulty levels can just feel downright tedious so another option would be to stay at Emperor difficulty, but use self-imposed restrictions on yourself to make it more difficult. For example, you could play without RA's or only trade luxuries rather than sell or only buy troops with faith or try an unusual strategy with a particular civ (like a cultural VC with Harald), etc.
 
In my opinion...

King and below when learning all the different game mechanics. Can take a while, since Civ games take so long to play through, but once you reach the point of understanding all the different mechanics, games at these levels become extremely boring.

Emperor = easy
Immortal = medium
Deity = hard

Fits the model of most games: Easy, if you just want to relax and play casually. Medium, if you want an engaging game. Hard, if you want to try and beat the game at the highest difficulty, but generally at the expense of fun.
 
Just easily and effectively finished my last victory condition needed on Immortal (space), so now into the brave new world of Deity for the first time.
 
Buccaneer said:
Just easily and effectively finished my last victory condition needed on Immortal (space), so now into the brave new world of Deity for the first time.
Click to expand...

Good luck!

I played another game on Emperor and won easily. I think I need to stick to Immortal (no more comfort zone).
 
Let me break it down:
On standard speed:

King-Winnable with no knowledge of the game (learn as you play)
Emperor-Easily winnable with basic knowledge of the game
Immortal-Easily winnable with complete knowledge of the game mechanics and concepts. A few basic strats go a long way.
Deity-Generally consistently winnable. Difficult with no reloads.
 
whenever I win on a level, i move up - you keep on losing pretty often. :) altough in the beginning when i started with civ5 i played a couple of time winning prince...

cheers,
hoagie
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

mastrude
I'd like to play Civ V...
Replies
0
Views
337
mastrude
mastrude
B
Maps Inquiry
Replies
4
Views
893
Bobbarry51
B
T
Diplomatic Victory seems kinda OP
Replies
12
Views
1K
Jaybe
Jaybe
planetfall
How do you move units to second continent?
Replies
12
Views
1K
Airey
Airey
PDX Firefly
Developer Diary | Achievements, Modding & Multiplayer
Replies
2
Views
681
Prester John 2
Prester John 2
Top Bottom