Which technologies are the most important?

Which technologies are the most important in the game? Not for any specific civilization. Just in general for taking notes.

I read a strategy guide on here where a section talked about technology goals, infrastructure and military wise. This is an excerpt of that section.

"Infrastructure goals: calendar, writing, trapping, civil service, sailing, currency, education, archaeology, fertilizer
Military goals: horseback riding, archery, iron working, mathematics, steel, machinery, rifling

You will often alternate between military goals and infrastructure goals. The game may for example go like this:
Archery -> gives you basic defence
Writing -> improves your research
Iron working -> secure iron and launch an attack with archers and swordsmen
Calendar -> improve the happiness by making plantations on luxury resources
Steel -> use great scientists from your libraries to research steel and attack with longswordsmen"

He quoted that was not a complete list of technologies he considers goals

In my experience with Civ, the more science you produce, the more likely you are to win. So Writing and Education are, in my opinion, some of the most important early game techs you can strive to get.

Babylon: Writing, you want to get to this asap
Spain: Pottery, unless you see a producing NW you'll want a shrine right after your scout/monument combo. If you are able to settle KSM quickly you have 3 choices for that city and that's GL/NC combo, ToA, or workers/caravans. Tech appropriately.
Everyone else: Depends on the terrain, if there is forrest to chop(for NC) then mining for example.

After that: Normally one goes straight for Education getting to civil Service asap if you have lots of riverside tiles. Again it depends.

The first crucial techs depend on your luxury resouces, you need them hooked up for happiness and selling to the AI. So for example if you have gold, gems, silver, go for mining. Look at what you've got.

Science rules the game.

After you've got your luxuries sorted, you need libraries (Writing) on the way to National College (Philosophy) - this gives a huge 50% science boost in your captial. Because you need libraries in each of your cities before building the NC most players buy the last one needed then start NC immediately in the capital.

Next bee-line is Education for universities (+33% Science). If you have say, 10+ population use the specialist slots in the builiding to gain more science and Great Scientist points.

Slightly less important are Public Schools (Scientific Theory). Not a percentage improvement but an increase of one science for every two citizens, plus another Great Scientist point. Has another scientist slot to fill.

Plastics gives you Reseach Labs - another big % increase.

Your guide is outdated - Iron Working is no longer needed for swords so don't bother with it.

Food and growth is crucial. Civil Service boosts river tiles - get it after Education.

For warfare ranged units rule. You need more and better of these than melee. Archery/Contruction/Machinery are your friends here.

Radio allows you to start in on Ideologies, another important bee-line

Writing, Philosophy, Civil Service, Education, Scientific Theory, Radio, Plastics, Satellites.

The game is won by science. (and an early ideology helps)

Civil Service is definitely a key tech to start the mid game, it gives the much needed farm upgrade as well as Pikes who will pretty much be able to defend you for a good while. It's also on the way to Education, also very high up on the priority list. After that, it's generally a good idea to rush Industrialization for a head start in ideology + booming production because Social policies don't grow on trees

Obviously it depends on what you are trying to do too. Certainly the Writing/Philospohy/Civil Service tactic is pretty powerful. I've done well following the bottom military track too. After like writing, beelining to XBows (Machinery I think?), then Gunpowder and Cannons and Artillery can be very powerful. Attacking civs with spears and maybe a couple longbows with XBows and longswords makes for easy pickings.

Similarly on water maps, beelining to frigates/privateers accomplishes the same thing.

You can catch up with science later with a bigger civ.

Future tech.

Mahasona, how is the guide outdated? Or do you mean that the guide is only for the vanilla version of the game?

I find early game hammers to be very beneficial. I like to get pottery then animal husbandry to reveal horses and provide more hammers to my land, then mining to chop trees for more production then bronze working to reveal iron for more production on my land.

After that I am set to produce pretty much whatever I need whether it be units, food producing buildings, workers, libraries etc... Libraries benefit you when your cities are bigger so a super early library may not be worth the opportunity cost of other things you can make until your city is around size 5 - 6.

Techs of crucial importance are then: Philosophy for NC, Civil Service for Extra food & Chichen Education for Uni's, Machinery for Xbows, Metal Casting for workshops, physics for Notre Dame, Navigation for Observatories, Other important things to prioritize are Leaning Tower of Pisa, Public Schools, Artillery, Factories, Labs. If you can sacrifice everything to get plastics for labs then do so. Although this is very risky and rare.

ZeroxSP7 said:

Mahasona, how is the guide outdated? Or do you mean that the guide is only for the vanilla version of the game?

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Ah - my mistake.

Iron is still needed for each swordsman and longsword. I was thinking of catapults and trebuchets which originally required iron but no longer do so.

I concur with Artillery and Navigation, and would add Satellites. Internet for a cultural victory. I'm starting to believe Telecomm is up there, too, because on Deity I find myself losing CN tower.

depend of my game plaan UU UB etc etc etc

But 2 things I will aways do is to go for the techs that I need to work my luxuries... then Writing then... and ASAP I go for Philo for Oracle and National College...

I always aim to finnish National COlege before turn 100...

Mahasona said:

Food and growth is crucial. Civil Service boosts river tiles - get it after Education.

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Uhm, you need Civil Service BEFORE you can get Education.

I've made this mistake too.