Rate the Beliefs - part I: Pantheon beliefs

I don't know if this has been done before, but I'd like to hear how people rate the different beliefs, to make it relatively simple, I'm starting with the Pantheon beliefs.

I'd ask you to put your vote before the name of each belief, like this:
3 - Fertility Rites: 10% faster Growth Rate


Give votes between 0 and 5, where 1 is worst and 5 is best, like this:
5 = Excellent
4 = Very good
3 = Good
2 = Decent
1 = Poor
0 = Bad or Very Bad

When voting, take into account both the strength of the belief and how universal it is in its aplicability. To give an example of this, a belief like Desert Folklore is very strong but also very specific (and therefore not universal), in that if you don't have any Desert near your starting location, it's going to be quite worthless. Also of course, how well it suites your playing style or personal likes or dislikes also should influence your vote. How you weight the different things is subjective obviously. I'll try to make some statistics when people have put in some votes to see how things distribute.

The list of Pantheon beliefs is here:

Pantheon Beliefs:
_ - Ancestor Worship: +1 Culture for every Shrine in your civilization
_ - Dance of the Aurora: +1 Faith from Tundra tiles without Forest
_ - Desert Folklore: +1 Faith from Desert tiles
_ - Faith Healers: +30 HP healed per turn if adjacent to a friendly city
_ - Fertility Rites: 10% faster Growth Rate
_ - God of Craftsmen: +1 Production in cities with population of 3+
_ - God of the Open Sky: +1 Culture from Pastures
_ - God of the Sea: +1 Production from Fishing Boats
_ - God of War: Gain Faith if you win a battle within 4 tiles if your city
_ - Goddess of Festivals: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Wine and Incense
_ - Goddess of Love: +1 Happiness from cities with population of 6+
_ - Goddess of Protection: +30% increase in city Ranged Combat Strength
_ - Goddess of the Hunt: +1 Food from Hunting Camps
_ - Messenger of the Gods: +2 Science in cities with a Trade Route
_ - Monument to the Gods: +15% Production of Ancient/Classical Wonders
_ - One with Nature: +2 Faith from Natural Wonders
_ - Oral Tradition: +1 Culture from Plantations
_ - Religious Idols: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Gold and Silver
_ - Religious Settlements: +15% faster border growth
_ - Sacred Path: +1 Culture from Jungle tiles
_ - Sacred Waters: +1 Happiness from cities on rivers
_ - Stone Circles: +2 Faith from Quarries

Please place your votes by copying above and putting in votes in place of _

4 - Sacred Path: +1 Culture from Jungle tiles

The fact that Jungles don't have to be improved to take benefit from this pantheon is great. Almost all of the other tile pantheon beliefs require an improvement and they take time to make.

3 - Ancestor Worship: +1 Culture for every Shrine in your civilization
2 - Dance of the Aurora: +1 Faith from Tundra tiles without Forest
2 - Desert Folklore: +1 Faith from Desert tiles
1 - Faith Healers: +30 HP healed per turn if adjacent to a friendly city
5 - Feed the World: +1 Food on Shrines and Temples
4 - Fertility Rites: 10% faster Growth Rate
4 - God of Craftsmen: +1 Production in cities with population of 3+
4 - God of the Open Sky: +1 Culture from Pastures
3 - God of the Sea: +1 Production from Fishing Boats
2 - God of War: Gain Faith if you win a battle within 4 tiles if your city
3 - Goddess of Festivals: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Wine and Incense
3 - Goddess of Love: +1 Happiness from cities with population of 6+
4 - Goddess of Protection: +30% increase in city Ranged Combat Strength
5 - Goddess of the Hunt: +1 Food from Hunting Camps
5 - Messenger of the Gods: +2 Science in cities with a Trade Route
2 - Monument to the Gods: +15% Production of Ancient/Classical Wonders
2 - One with Nature: +2 Faith from Natural Wonders
4 - Oral Tradition: +1 Culture from Plantations
3 - Religious Idols: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Gold and Silver
4 - Religious Settlements: +15% faster border growth
3 - Sacred Path: +1 Culture from Jungle tiles
4 - Sacred Waters: +1 Happiness from cities on rivers
3 - Stone Circles: +2 Faith from Quarries

Long time reader, first post:

2- Ancestor Worship: +1 Culture for every Shrine in your civilization
1 - Dance of the Aurora: +1 Faith from Tundra tiles without Forest
4 - Desert Folklore: +1 Faith from Desert tiles
1 - Faith Healers: +30 HP healed per turn if adjacent to a friendly city
4 - Feed the World: +1 Food on Shrines and Temples
5 - Fertility Rites: 10% faster Growth Rate
2 - God of Craftsmen: +1 Production in cities with population of 3+
3 - God of the Open Sky: +1 Culture from Pastures
3 - God of the Sea: +1 Production from Fishing Boats
2 - God of War: Gain Faith if you win a battle within 4 tiles if your city
3 - Goddess of Festivals: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Wine and Incense
2 - Goddess of Love: +1 Happiness from cities with population of 6+
3 - Goddess of Protection: +30% increase in city Ranged Combat Strength
4 - Goddess of the Hunt: +1 Food from Hunting Camps
5 - Messenger of the Gods: +2 Science in cities with a Trade Route
2 - Monument to the Gods: +15% Production of Ancient/Classical Wonders
3 - One with Nature: +2 Faith from Natural Wonders
3 - Oral Tradition: +1 Culture from Plantations
3 - Religious Idols: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Gold and Silver
2 - Religious Settlements: +15% faster border growth
3 - Sacred Path: +1 Culture from Jungle tiles
4 - Sacred Waters: +1 Happiness from cities on rivers
4 - Stone Circles: +2 Faith from Quarries

One with nature is +4 faith and is my favorite. On deity, you almost always need a faith natural wonder to have a chance to get a religion and this enhances a natural wonder immediately. Also, it's usually available for a late pantheon. Stone circles is OK, but it takes time to build those quarries and in the mean time, you might not generate enough faith to get a religion (on deity). Desert folklore is great, if you have a lot of floodplains and can get it.

5 One with nature +4 faith
4 Stone circles
4 Desert folklore
2 Messenger of the gods
0 All others

Just to make it clear, what I had in mind was people scoring each of them, so that I can make an average when there is a broader vote. I know we can't be equally familiar with all beliefs, but if there's one you never pick because you find it not attractive, just vote after that.

My own scores look something like:

1 - Ancestor Worship: +1 Culture for every Shrine in your civilization
2 - Dance of the Aurora: +1 Faith from Tundra tiles without Forest
4 - Desert Folklore: +1 Faith from Desert tiles
4 - Faith Healers: +30 HP healed per turn if adjacent to a friendly city
4 - Feed the World: +1 Food on Shrines and Temples
4 - Fertility Rites: 10% faster Growth Rate
3 - God of Craftsmen: +1 Production in cities with population of 3+
2 - God of the Open Sky: +1 Culture from Pastures
3 - God of the Sea: +1 Production from Fishing Boats
3 - God of War: Gain Faith if you win a battle within 4 tiles if your city
4 - Goddess of Festivals: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Wine and Incense
2 - Goddess of Love: +1 Happiness from cities with population of 6+
3 - Goddess of Protection: +30% increase in city Ranged Combat Strength
3 - Goddess of the Hunt: +1 Food from Hunting Camps
4 - Messenger of the Gods: +2 Science in cities with a Trade Route
3 - Monument to the Gods: +15% Production of Ancient/Classical Wonders
2 - One with Nature: +2 Faith from Natural Wonders
4 - Oral Tradition: +1 Culture from Plantations
4 - Religious Idols: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Gold and Silver
1 - Religious Settlements: +15% faster border growth
4 - Sacred Path: +1 Culture from Jungle tiles
3 - Sacred Waters: +1 Happiness from cities on rivers
4 - Stone Circles: +2 Faith from Quarries

There are not any of the Pantheon beliefs that I rate 5 because they are almost all somewhat situational, and I find that a good thing - there's no default choice here. There are numerous I rate 4 which I all find to be excellent choices if the right circumstances are present.

Give votes between 0 and 5, where 1 is worst and 5 is best, like this:
5 = Excellent
4 = Very good
3 = Good
2 = Decent
1 = Poor
0 = Bad or Very Bad

Pantheon Beliefs:
1 - Ancestor Worship: +1 Culture for every Shrine in your civilization
3 (4 on right map) - Dance of the Aurora: +1 Faith from Tundra tiles without Forest
4 (5 on right map) - Desert Folklore: +1 Faith from Desert tiles
2 (4 or 5 depending on strategy)_ - Faith Healers: +30 HP healed per turn if adjacent to a friendly city
2 - Feed the World: +1 Food on Shrines and Temples
5 - Fertility Rites: 10% faster Growth Rate
1 - God of Craftsmen: +1 Production in cities with population of 3+
3 (4 or 5 on right map)_ - God of the Open Sky: +1 Culture from Pastures
4 (5 on right map) - God of the Sea: +1 Production from Fishing Boats
1 - God of War: Gain Faith if you win a battle within 4 tiles if your city
3 - Goddess of Festivals: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Wine and Incense
1 - Goddess of Love: +1 Happiness from cities with population of 6+
1 (3 if you're getting walloped) - Goddess of Protection: +30% increase in city Ranged Combat Strength
3 (4 on right map) - Goddess of the Hunt: +1 Food from Hunting Camps
2 (4 for certain strategies) - Messenger of the Gods: +2 Science in cities with a Trade Route
4 - Monument to the Gods: +15% Production of Ancient/Classical Wonders
3 (4 on right map, 5 with Spain) - One with Nature: +2 Faith from Natural Wonders
3 (4 or 5 on right map) - Oral Tradition: +1 Culture from Plantations
3 - Religious Idols: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Gold and Silver
0 - Religious Settlements: +15% faster border growth
2 (4 on right map) - Sacred Path: +1 Culture from Jungle tiles
2 (4 on right map) - Sacred Waters: +1 Happiness from cities on rivers
3 - Stone Circles: +2 Faith from Quarries

Brichals said:

[Religious Settlements: +15% faster border growth

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What game are you playing? In my Civ V, this is absolutely useless.

Gamewizard said:

What game are you playing? In my Civ V, this is absolutely useless.

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On cross examination maybe I rated that a bit high. However it is very general and can be used in any game. Buying tiles is a little too cheap and expanding causes neighbours to hate you. But often there's that third ring that you really want to get into (especially if you build something like Colossus). Liberty games can have slow border growth. Also the 15% is cumulative, i.e. the sooner you finish one expansion the faster you are putting culture into another.

5 - Messenger of the Gods: +2 Science in cities with a Trade Route. This is the second best pantheon, after desert folklore. +2 science is huge in the early games. Even if you only build 4 cities, this makes an appreciable difference, especially in tougher games.

0 - Monument to the Gods: +15% Production of Ancient/Classical Wonders. This is garbage. If you play your cards right you can get an ancient wonder or two anyway. If you're on higher difficulties, this won't help anyway. The only time this might be useful is if you're Egypt, with marble, and have plenty of hills. Otherwise, steer clear.

"Feed The World" is no Pantheon...

Seabastian Civ said:

5 - Messenger of the Gods: +2 Science in cities with a Trade Route. This is the second best pantheon, after desert folklore. +2 science is huge in the early games. Even if you only build 4 cities, this makes an appreciable difference, especially in tougher games.

0 - Monument to the Gods: +15% Production of Ancient/Classical Wonders. This is garbage. If you play your cards right you can get an ancient wonder or two anyway. If you're on higher difficulties, this won't help anyway. The only time this might be useful is if you're Egypt, with marble, and have plenty of hills. Otherwise, steer clear.

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Ha ha. I love Monument to the Gods. Messenger is okay but I often find it not worthwhile. I even once tried a Mayan Liberty spam game and Messenger still wasn't that great.

Part of it will depend on play style. If you build cities 4 tiles away like the computer off does, then Messenger can be great with lots of cities.

In normal games I prefer to build cities fairly far apart, so building a trade route doesn't come till later when it becomes more economical. Also, it's not uncommon for me to build cities very far apart, and I don't get harbors until much later.

Monument to the Gods can be useful often. On higher difficulties it can help you get the one or two key Wonders you really want (usually GL, SH, HG, or Petra). Even if you can get all the wonders yourself normally (which I often do), since I am spending all my time building wonders, the hammer bonus means you finish them *sooner* so you can start working on the next wonder that much sooner. Three subtler things about Monument to the Gods:

1. It can still help in later eras if you haven't yet built the early National Wonders (National Epic, National College, Heroic Epic, Circus Maximum).

2. It does become fairly obsolete in the late game but the effect early on can be helpful and the benefits snowball.

3. It's actually a *great* Pantheon if you intend to spread your religion around. In the early phases of the game when the pantheon is useful, only you get to benefit (because religion hasn't spread yet). By the time you get around to spreading it to other civs, you've ideally already gotten all the ancient/classical wonders, so the other civs don't really benefit from it (other than the handful of national wonders). If you wonder whore, then this plus Divine Inspiration means that you can spread your religion without worrying about "helping" your opponents.

Maximo the Xth said:

"Feed The World" is no Pantheon...

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Hmm, maybe I made a mistake here. I copied the list from Well Of Souls, and they had an unspecified Pantheon listed as Mother Goddess: (increased food production) - and since I can't seem to recall this from game, I assumed this was changed from beta into Feed The World, but I guess I was mistaken. Can anybody shet light on what this "Mother Goddess" is?

10% growth is clearly king. The other beliefs should be changed to be closer in effectiveness/awesomeness. Maybe Fertility Rites should end upon the Renaissance Age.

Sacred Paths is surprisingly good also--many civs have at least a few swathes of jungle near them (i.e. can take with 2nd settler, easily). Dance of the Aurora and Religious Settlements have got to be the worst beliefs in the game, period. One with Nature is amazing (and not just as Spain), assuming you have at least 2 natural wonders within reach (which is relatively rare, granted). Faith Healers is better than many think, but requires that your Pantheon have spread to those friendly cities (and newly conquered cities don't count).

2 - Ancestor Worship: +1 Culture for every Shrine in your civilization
0 - Dance of the Aurora: +1 Faith from Tundra tiles without Forest
3 - Desert Folklore: +1 Faith from Desert tiles
3 - Faith Healers: +30 HP healed per turn if adjacent to a friendly city
3 - Feed the World: +1 Food on Shrines and Temples
5 - Fertility Rites: 10% faster Growth Rate
4 - God of Craftsmen: +1 Production in cities with population of 3+
2 - God of the Open Sky: +1 Culture from Pastures
2 - God of the Sea: +1 Production from Fishing Boats
2 - God of War: Gain Faith if you win a battle within 4 tiles if your city
2 - Goddess of Festivals: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Wine and Incense
3 - Goddess of Love: +1 Happiness from cities with population of 6+
2 - Goddess of Protection: +30% increase in city Ranged Combat Strength
2 - Goddess of the Hunt: +1 Food from Hunting Camps
2 - Messenger of the Gods: +2 Science in cities with a Trade Route
3 - Monument to the Gods: +15% Production of Ancient/Classical Wonders
3 (5 on the right map) - One with Nature: +2 Faith from Natural Wonders
3 - Oral Tradition: +1 Culture from Plantations
2 - Religious Idols: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Gold and Silver
0 - Religious Settlements: +15% faster border growth
4 - Sacred Path: +1 Culture from Jungle tiles
3 - Sacred Waters: +1 Happiness from cities on rivers
3 - Stone Circles: +2 Faith from Quarries

That site compiled all kinds of information they released before the gods and kings release. Another belief that didn't make it was "flourishing of the arts", 10% more culture when not at war.

what are the best for "ICS" style on small maps? i play 1v1 usually

depending on map:
Desert Folklore: +1 Faith from Desert tiles
Dance of the Aurora: +1 Faith from Tundra tiles without Forest
is God of the Sea: +1 production from Fishing Boats ---- worth it if u can get 4-5-8 boats semi early?

But Messenger of the Gods: +2 Science in cities with a Trade Route
is probably best, since i'm spamming bad cities

is Fertility Rites: 10% faster Growth Rate ---- good for ICS style? or better for tall?

crawf0rd said:

That site compiled all kinds of information they released before the gods and kings release. Another belief that didn't make it was "flourishing of the arts", 10% more culture when not at war.

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Ok, I deleted Feed the World. It will return in part III about follower beliefs.

2 - Ancestor Worship: +1 Culture for every Shrine in your civilization
0 - Dance of the Aurora: +1 Faith from Tundra tiles without Forest
3 - Desert Folklore: +1 Faith from Desert tiles
4 - Faith Healers: +30 HP healed per turn if adjacent to a friendly city
99 (follower belief, butI'd probably take it every time as pantheon) - Feed the World: +1 Food on Shrines and Temples
3 - Fertility Rites: 10% faster Growth Rate
4 - God of Craftsmen: +1 Production in cities with population of 3+
4 - God of the Open Sky: +1 Culture from Pastures
3 - God of the Sea: +1 Production from Fishing Boats
1 - God of War: Gain Faith if you win a battle within 4 tiles if your city
2 - Goddess of Festivals: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Wine and Incense
3 - Goddess of Love: +1 Happiness from cities with population of 6+
1 - Goddess of Protection: +30% increase in city Ranged Combat Strength
2 - Goddess of the Hunt: +1 Food from Hunting Camps
4 - Messenger of the Gods: +2 Science in cities with a Trade Route
2 - Monument to the Gods: +15% Production of Ancient/Classical Wonders
1 - One with Nature: +2 Faith from Natural Wonders
3 - Oral Tradition: +1 Culture from Plantations
3 - Religious Idols: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Gold and Silver
1 - Religious Settlements: +15% faster border growth
5 - Sacred Path: +1 Culture from Jungle tiles
0 - Sacred Waters: +1 Happiness from cities on rivers
1 - Stone Circles: +2 Faith from Quarries

I'd always take goddess of love over sacred waters, even in a map with tons of rivers. Sacred path gets the top spot due to there almost always being some jungle nearby. Fertility rites is ok but I normally go wide so that hurts it in my eyes, but I only gave 1 5, and in spite of my normally going wide, messenger of the gods still only got 4 because it's not good for going tall, making it a bit situational on too many things (your strategy, civ, nearby civs, availability of good city spots).

1 - Ancestor Worship: +1 Culture for every Shrine in your civilization
1 - Dance of the Aurora: +1 Faith from Tundra tiles without Forest
4 - Desert Folklore: +1 Faith from Desert tiles
1 - Faith Healers: +30 HP healed per turn if adjacent to a friendly city
5 - Fertility Rites: 10% faster Growth Rate
1 - God of Craftsmen: +1 Production in cities with population of 3+
2 - God of the Open Sky: +1 Culture from Pastures
1 - God of the Sea: +1 Production from Fishing Boats
2 - God of War: Gain Faith if you win a battle within 4 tiles if your city
2 - Goddess of Festivals: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Wine and Incense
4 - Goddess of Love: +1 Happiness from cities with population of 6+
1 - Goddess of Protection: +30% increase in city Ranged Combat Strength
3 - Goddess of the Hunt: +1 Food from Hunting Camps
5 - Messenger of the Gods: +2 Science in cities with a Trade Route
2 - Monument to the Gods: +15% Production of Ancient/Classical Wonders
3 - One with Nature: +2 Faith from Natural Wonders
2 - Oral Tradition: +1 Culture from Plantations
2 - Religious Idols: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Gold and Silver
0 - Religious Settlements: +15% faster border growth
2 - Sacred Path: +1 Culture from Jungle tiles
4 - Sacred Waters: +1 Happiness from cities on rivers
4 - Stone Circles: +2 Faith from Quarries

Best for tall = FR, best for wide = MoG. The next best are all the faith generating ones, but some are much stonger than others - Stone circes, desert folklore and one with nature can all be very strong in the right circumstance, whereas Aurora i've never been able to make work. I love playing around God of War, but even when I make it work it's not massive, and I've usually sunk a lot of investment to make it work. Hapiness is also strong.

Sacred paths has some good press above, but I find it's difficult to use early and as science is my least fav vc I'll usually chop jungles quicker than others.

MtG - I just can't figure this one out. Deity = fewer wonders, so less use of it, but sometimes it's the only way to get the wonder in the first place. Is it a waste or a neccessity? I'll sometimes take this on more experimental starts.

Religious Settlements: This, and angkor wat, and krepost, and America. Seriously, who at firaxis keeps on going on about border growth? Cos they're all useless (Not a comment on the other American unique bits, just the border growth).

1 - Ancestor Worship: +1 Culture for every Shrine in your civilization
2 - Dance of the Aurora: +1 Faith from Tundra tiles without Forest
4 - Desert Folklore: +1 Faith from Desert tiles
2 - Faith Healers: +30 HP healed per turn if adjacent to a friendly city
5 - Fertility Rites: 10% faster Growth Rate
3 - God of Craftsmen: +1 Production in cities with population of 3+
2 - God of the Open Sky: +1 Culture from Pastures
4 - God of the Sea: +1 Production from Fishing Boats
2 - God of War: Gain Faith if you win a battle within 4 tiles if your city
4 - Goddess of Festivals: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Wine and Incense
3 - Goddess of Love: +1 Happiness from cities with population of 6+
3 - Goddess of Protection: +30% increase in city Ranged Combat Strength
4 - Goddess of the Hunt: +1 Food from Hunting Camps
5 - Messenger of the Gods: +2 Science in cities with a Trade Route
4 - Monument to the Gods: +15% Production of Ancient/Classical Wonders
4 - One with Nature: +2 Faith from Natural Wonders
1 - Oral Tradition: +1 Culture from Plantations
1 - Religious Idols: +1 Culture and +1 Faith for each Gold and Silver
0 - Religious Settlements: +15% faster border growth
4 - Sacred Path: +1 Culture from Jungle tiles
3 - Sacred Waters: +1 Happiness from cities on rivers
4 - Stone Circles: +2 Faith from Quarries