The Byzantine Empire

Funny enough Byzantine is one of my most anticipated Civs even though it's the one with the least bit of info released. It was my traditional choice in Civ III because of their super über cool Dromon ships, and I'm excited to get them now too.

I loved it how the AI ran away from your Dromons whenever you came near. That was awesomely fun.
 
Louis: Heh. 'You gain a 6th Belief. You gain a Great Prophet when the first religion is founded.' would be excellent. I'm not sure about any further delay, because then you'll hit the religion-cap in smaller games.

Note that this second part would still trigger if you found the first religion, which would be a huge increase in the power of the Byzantine's religion. Still, though, I doubt that the Byzantines will be as fast at founding a religion as either the Celts or the Ethiopians.
 
Why would the Ethiopians be fast to make a religion? They are pure turtle. The UA is for defense and the known UU gets a defensive combat bonus. Unless their final U is a faith building, there isn't anything about them to do with religion.
 
Eagle: Their 'unique' achievement is to produce 5 Great Prophets in one game. This almost requires that their final unique benefit is something related to Faith, and apparently in previous Civ games they had this (the Stela).

I cannot think of a single Civ's 'achievement' that does not resonate with their Unique abilities in some way. Russia's My Little Pony is the least in this regard that might apply.
 
I suspect a Stele will give a faith boost. I think the only question is if it is a monument replacement (logical), a shrine replacement (already gives faith), or a Unique Improvement (only one in the game otherwise). It also might be something besides Stele, but I actually think it's a good choice.
 
While it would be a bit boring to have yet another Knight replacement, I just can't imagine playing as the Byzantines without Cataphracts :D

Back to the UA for a second, it seems strange to me that we have seen at least part of pretty much all of the new UAs, but none of them seem to have anything to do with espionage (even England is apparently no longer getting the extra spy). Seeing as how this is one of the big new features that's being trumpeted at every turn, you'd think at least one civ would have it as part of their UA. And with the intrigues and plots flying around Byzantium in its day, they would seem to be a pretty good fit. Maybe spies could be more likely to escape from failed assignments, or they start with bonus experience?
 
The Byzantines are who I will most likely end up playing with first. I enjoy their history and I enjoyed playing with them in Civ IV. I like playing in a "holy war" style, crushing opposing faiths, and they fit this well in Civ IV, and hopefully again they will in Civ V. The sixth belief slot is intriguing because we still don't know if that's their only bonus or what else it entails, but if that's the only bonus they get and it's really as simple as that, it would require them to found a religion to make use of their UA, and since only half of the civs can found a religion, it is no sure thing.

I imagine their UA includes some other bonus as well as the 6th belief slot or their UA/UB has something to do with faith to help them found a religion.
 
The thing is with the Stele, is it is not exactly unique to Ethiopia (they were pretty popular things throughout the mid east).
But then again, nor is the Cataphract to Byzantine, or the Coffee House is to Austria...
 
The thing is with the Stele, is it is not exactly unique to Ethiopia (they were pretty popular things throughout the mid east).
But then again, nor is the Cataphract to Byzantine, or the Coffee House is to Austria...

True, but the Cataphractoi as they were known, were one of Byzantium's most recognized military forces, and probably in the entire world the Byzantines were most famous for fielding them. Wikipedia states that the cataphractoi inspired later European knights (and the cataphractoi were among Europe's earliest armored horsemen).

The coffee house is strange though--that could just as easily go to Turkey or England.
 
When I think of Byzantine I also think of their powerful capital with it mighty walls, and in the twilight of their empire their capital was basically only thing left and it was tough for Ottomans to conquer. So I think a cool UA could be for example:
"Get a sixth bonus belief. Each religious building constructed in capital gives it additional defense"

****

And about the Vienna coffee house, it's true they took the inspiration from Ottomans, but it became a central place for their artists and culture life, so a culture bonus is likely, BUT also as rulers feared, the coffee houses held many conspiratists etc. so a espionage bonus or something about each coffee house for Austria would be nice too..
 
it would require them to found a religion to make use of their UA, and since only half of the civs can found a religion, it is no sure thing.

I don't think that only the Religion's founders are allowed to improve religion,by adding a 2nd Follower belief and a Enhancer belief . The main reason behind this is because everybody is allowed to get Great Prophets . Also,the Devs make it very clear that there isn't need to focus on founding religion,unlike Civ4 .
 
GenjiKhan: The fact that (right now) there is nothing known that even increases the Byzantine's chances of founding a religion is why people believe that the Byzantines will receive something in addition to their 6th Belief.
 
@Ulthwithian

The point I'm mading is: It might be not necessary for Byzantines to found a religion in order to use their UA . For example,If they don't found a religion,but instead,get a religion from someone else,then they might be still allowed to improve a religion with a Great Prophet .
 
Is the 6th Belief chosen from the Follower Beliefs pool? If so, then the Byzantines might need a second element for their UA (albeit not necessarily a religious one).
 
2K has not issued any time tables about anything aside from the release date.
 
@Ulthwithian

The point I'm mading is: It might be not necessary for Byzantines to found a religion in order to use their UA . For example,If they don't found a religion,but instead,get a religion from someone else,then they might be still allowed to improve a religion with a Great Prophet .

I would be surprised if any civ other than the founders of it would be able to choose various beliefs for it.
 
Is the 6th Belief chosen from the Follower Beliefs pool? If so, then the Byzantines might need a second element for their UA (albeit not necessarily a religious one).

Since it was not specified which Beliefs choices would the 5th belief is,then I'm going to the idea that the Extra Belief can be of any kind of belief(Founder,Follower and Enhancer) . Also,it seems that there isn't five standard beliefs anymore(they removed the 2nd founder belief,as seem in the latest screenshots) .


I would be surprised if any civ other than the founders of it would be able to choose various beliefs for it.

With that,Religion can be more flexible and there would be a balance between those who follow a religion and those who don't .
 
Genji:The 6 Beliefs are:

Pantheon
Founder
Follower (x2)
Enhancer
Byzantine

Pantheon is obtained when Faith reaches 10.
Founder and First Follower obtained when religion is founded.
Second Follower and Enhancer obtained when 2nd Great Prophet is expended for religion enhancement.
Nothing is known about how the Byzantine's belief is obtained.

@GenjiKhan: Could you please explain, then, which religion they would improve? Too little is known about how the Byzantine Belief is going to work. To be frank, about the only way it could be a benefit would be if the Belief applies to any religion that is in one of their cities. Even then, though, the UI issues are rather large.
 
@GenjiKhan: Could you please explain, then, which religion they would improve? Too little is known about how the Byzantine Belief is going to work. To be frank, about the only way it could be a benefit would be if the Belief applies to any religion that is in one of their cities. Even then, though, the UI issues are rather large.

I'm just guessing that the Byzantine Belief range might include all beliefs,except the Pantheon Belief . And it's possible that only the "official" religion is allowed to receive the extra belief .
 
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