Tradition (Ancient Era)
9 - Tradition Opener: Increases rate of border expansion, +3 culture in capital, unlocks Hanging Gardens
Border expansion is even more important in BNW w/ trade routes & less culture in wide empires. At 3 culture per turn, this policy pays for itself by the end of the game. Hanging Gardens is one of the best wonders available as well.
7 - Aristocracy: +15% production when building wonders, +1 happiness for every 10 citizens in a city
You need national college, guilds, EIC, hermitage, & Oxford, and you want ironworks, national monument, and more. So even without world wonders you'll get good mileage out of this. Even on deity, you'll make a half dozen tries at the world wonders by the end of most games - this is handy to help win the race. The bonus happiness is a decent boost in the mid to late game, you'll pick up 5 to 10 happy here at least, depending on how much pop you generated.
7 - Legalism (leads to monarchy/landed elite): Proves a free culture building in your first 4 cities
This greatly speeds your early game start, allowing you to skip the capital's monument & build whatever you need in the first 3 expansions immediately without waiting. Frees up some crucial early hammers. It is what you build instead that is so great. It's decent because of how important early game is, but the impact fades to a mere 4gpt midgame and beyond. But the key is whatever advantages the speedier start compiled into, which could be a religion, a conquest, or more.
5 - Oligarchy: Garrisoned units cost no maintenance, cities with a garrison gain +50% ranged combat strength
The city bombard bonus is substantial and can make the difference in any war, but especially an early rush. Null maintenance is handy, but handier when you go wide-ish. Filling up the garrisons for a free army is politically worthwhile.
6 - Landed Elite (requires legalism): +10% growth and +2 food in the capital
If your capital has good land, the growth is great. Otherwise, you need to get this early on for it to have a significant impact. A worthwhile policy.
10 - Monarchy (requires legalism): +1 gold and -1 unhappiness for every 2 citizens in the capital
Capital is always huge because maritime CSes funnel into it, all City Connections gain bonus gold from it, to the point where you usually send a food cargo ship at it all game long. This can be over 10 happiness and gold by education, and over 20 happiness and gold by endgame. Just the happiness is better than many ideological tenets. The early gold is also key to jump starting your civ, as early gold is almost as scarce as early happiness.
7 - Tradition Finisher: +15% growth, free aqueduct in your first 4 cities, allows purchasing great engineers with faith from the industrial era.
Free aqueduct saves a lot of hammers right when you are starved for them, 15% growth for all cities is sizable, and engineers are one of the best GP you can get.
Liberty (Ancient Era)
3 - Liberty Opener: provides +1 culture in every city, unlocks the pyramids
1 culture is rather low when you don't have triple border expansion. You still need monuments. With great works required to fill the culture buildings, this has more influence on your borders than previously. The pyramids are one of the best wonders in the game, watch that diplomacy overview for the chance to snipe them.
6 - Republic (leads to collective rule): +1 production in every city, +5% production when building buildings
+1 production helps quite a bit to get new cities rolling, who often don't even have 10 production, and +5% is always nice even late in the game, worth 5
to a fully developed 100 production city.
7 - Citizenship (leads to representation/meritocracy): Tile construction rate improves by 25% and a free worker appears near the capital
An early free worker is extremely powerful. The tile construction rate is also fantastic, meaning all game long you can use 25% fewer workers to get superior results (coal/oil/alum/uranium & rails & war repair all faster when needed).
8 - Collective rule (requires Republic): speeds training of settlers by 50% in the capital and a free settler appears (Venice gets a free Merchant of Venice)
This IS REX. Take all the territory you possibly can afford the happiness for, right now. Ancient Era 4 turn settlers on standard speed? Check. One of the only reliable ways to keep pace with a high difficulty AI in expansion.
3 - Representation (requires Citizenship): each city you found increases the culture cost of new policies by 33% less and starts a free golden age.
If you went extremely wide or have a specific need for a golden age, this is decent. Otherwise, it's something you stomach for the free GP finisher.
9 - Meritocracy (requires Citizenship): +1 happiness for each city connected to the capital and -5% unhappiness from citizens in non-occupied cities.
One of the best policies you can get in the ancient era.
5- Liberty Finisher: A free great person of your choice appears near the capital
Pretty handy now that there are so many GP. Usually a scientist, but can be an engineer, or a prophet, whatever you need.
Honor (Ancient Era)
4 - Honor Opener: +33% combat bonus vs. barbarians. Notified when a new barbarian encampment spawns in revealed territory. Gain culture from each barbarian killed. Unlocks Statue of Zeus.
Nice for scout survivability, nice to clear camps, defend settlers, defend workers, defend improvements. The culture gain is minimal, maybe 150 in ideal circumstances, perhaps enough to take 1 other early policy. Statue of Zeus is garbage.
5 - Warrior Code (leads to Military Tradition): +15% Production when training Melee units and a Great General appears outside the Capital. Great Generals are earned 25% faster.
Against the AI, that spam ungodly numbers of units, melee units are bad because attrition is bad. You always need a few, and 15% hammers helps. The fast GG is handy in your first war, though you'll get plenty enough thereafter. The 25% faster earned are almost always citadels, which are nice. A strong citadel placement can prove decisive & now you can citadel bomb one tile adjacent to your territory, so more citadels is a decent bonus.
5 - Discipline (leads to Military Caste): +15% Combat Strength for melee Units which have another military Unit in an adjacent tile.
This provides your melee with significant extra holding power, & horse with strong attack. Falls off late game when melee and cavalry are overshadowed by aircraft and artillery, but that is not what honor is about. For instance, honor is about exterminating every AI on your continent before the other continent's civs sail over the ocean to meet you, and thus have no idea that you even killed anyone.
7 - Military Tradition (requires Warrior Code): Military Units gain 50% more Experience from combat.
The best military bonus on offer. 50% more instant heals, faster upgrades to range/logistics.
4 - Military Caste (requires Discipline, leads to Professional Army): Each City with a garrison increases Local City Happiness by 1 and Culture by 2.
The bonuses are good, but the requirement is brutal. If you have a large, highly promoted army, the last thing you want to do is park your army in backwater garrison and leave it to rot. They should be taking cities, pillaging, enslaving workers, demanding tribute & lucrative peace deals. Assuming none of those are available, in peacetime they should be in forts on the borders where you will be attacked next, not garrisoning east bum. Or running patrol on dark trade routes. Or securing archeology sites. Building trash units to fill the garrisons will cost you a lot of GPT and hammers, too. bleeeeh.
5 - Professional Army (requires Military Caste): Gold cost of upgrading Military Units reduced by 33% and construct Barracks, Armories, and Military Academies 50% faster.
If you went honor, you have highly promoted units you want to upgrade rather than rebuild & replace. This is handy. The double speed military buildings combos well with autocracy, though you'll generally already have your army built at this point, making these buildings largely superfluous unless your wars are getting costly. You'll always replace some melee, but this is generally not as good as it seems.
7 - Honor finisher: Gain gold for each enemy unit killed. Can purchase great generals with faith from the industrial era.
This is a LOT of gold, especially endgame when modern armor are granting you 100g a pop. And if you are honor warmongering, you're gonna need it because you'll be running a questionable GPT all game.
9 - Tradition Opener: Increases rate of border expansion, +3 culture in capital, unlocks Hanging Gardens
Border expansion is even more important in BNW w/ trade routes & less culture in wide empires. At 3 culture per turn, this policy pays for itself by the end of the game. Hanging Gardens is one of the best wonders available as well.
7 - Aristocracy: +15% production when building wonders, +1 happiness for every 10 citizens in a city
You need national college, guilds, EIC, hermitage, & Oxford, and you want ironworks, national monument, and more. So even without world wonders you'll get good mileage out of this. Even on deity, you'll make a half dozen tries at the world wonders by the end of most games - this is handy to help win the race. The bonus happiness is a decent boost in the mid to late game, you'll pick up 5 to 10 happy here at least, depending on how much pop you generated.
7 - Legalism (leads to monarchy/landed elite): Proves a free culture building in your first 4 cities
This greatly speeds your early game start, allowing you to skip the capital's monument & build whatever you need in the first 3 expansions immediately without waiting. Frees up some crucial early hammers. It is what you build instead that is so great. It's decent because of how important early game is, but the impact fades to a mere 4gpt midgame and beyond. But the key is whatever advantages the speedier start compiled into, which could be a religion, a conquest, or more.
5 - Oligarchy: Garrisoned units cost no maintenance, cities with a garrison gain +50% ranged combat strength
The city bombard bonus is substantial and can make the difference in any war, but especially an early rush. Null maintenance is handy, but handier when you go wide-ish. Filling up the garrisons for a free army is politically worthwhile.
6 - Landed Elite (requires legalism): +10% growth and +2 food in the capital
If your capital has good land, the growth is great. Otherwise, you need to get this early on for it to have a significant impact. A worthwhile policy.
10 - Monarchy (requires legalism): +1 gold and -1 unhappiness for every 2 citizens in the capital
Capital is always huge because maritime CSes funnel into it, all City Connections gain bonus gold from it, to the point where you usually send a food cargo ship at it all game long. This can be over 10 happiness and gold by education, and over 20 happiness and gold by endgame. Just the happiness is better than many ideological tenets. The early gold is also key to jump starting your civ, as early gold is almost as scarce as early happiness.
7 - Tradition Finisher: +15% growth, free aqueduct in your first 4 cities, allows purchasing great engineers with faith from the industrial era.
Free aqueduct saves a lot of hammers right when you are starved for them, 15% growth for all cities is sizable, and engineers are one of the best GP you can get.
Liberty (Ancient Era)
3 - Liberty Opener: provides +1 culture in every city, unlocks the pyramids
1 culture is rather low when you don't have triple border expansion. You still need monuments. With great works required to fill the culture buildings, this has more influence on your borders than previously. The pyramids are one of the best wonders in the game, watch that diplomacy overview for the chance to snipe them.
6 - Republic (leads to collective rule): +1 production in every city, +5% production when building buildings
+1 production helps quite a bit to get new cities rolling, who often don't even have 10 production, and +5% is always nice even late in the game, worth 5
to a fully developed 100 production city.7 - Citizenship (leads to representation/meritocracy): Tile construction rate improves by 25% and a free worker appears near the capital
An early free worker is extremely powerful. The tile construction rate is also fantastic, meaning all game long you can use 25% fewer workers to get superior results (coal/oil/alum/uranium & rails & war repair all faster when needed).
8 - Collective rule (requires Republic): speeds training of settlers by 50% in the capital and a free settler appears (Venice gets a free Merchant of Venice)
This IS REX. Take all the territory you possibly can afford the happiness for, right now. Ancient Era 4 turn settlers on standard speed? Check. One of the only reliable ways to keep pace with a high difficulty AI in expansion.
3 - Representation (requires Citizenship): each city you found increases the culture cost of new policies by 33% less and starts a free golden age.
If you went extremely wide or have a specific need for a golden age, this is decent. Otherwise, it's something you stomach for the free GP finisher.
9 - Meritocracy (requires Citizenship): +1 happiness for each city connected to the capital and -5% unhappiness from citizens in non-occupied cities.
One of the best policies you can get in the ancient era.
5- Liberty Finisher: A free great person of your choice appears near the capital
Pretty handy now that there are so many GP. Usually a scientist, but can be an engineer, or a prophet, whatever you need.
Honor (Ancient Era)
4 - Honor Opener: +33% combat bonus vs. barbarians. Notified when a new barbarian encampment spawns in revealed territory. Gain culture from each barbarian killed. Unlocks Statue of Zeus.
Nice for scout survivability, nice to clear camps, defend settlers, defend workers, defend improvements. The culture gain is minimal, maybe 150 in ideal circumstances, perhaps enough to take 1 other early policy. Statue of Zeus is garbage.
5 - Warrior Code (leads to Military Tradition): +15% Production when training Melee units and a Great General appears outside the Capital. Great Generals are earned 25% faster.
Against the AI, that spam ungodly numbers of units, melee units are bad because attrition is bad. You always need a few, and 15% hammers helps. The fast GG is handy in your first war, though you'll get plenty enough thereafter. The 25% faster earned are almost always citadels, which are nice. A strong citadel placement can prove decisive & now you can citadel bomb one tile adjacent to your territory, so more citadels is a decent bonus.
5 - Discipline (leads to Military Caste): +15% Combat Strength for melee Units which have another military Unit in an adjacent tile.
This provides your melee with significant extra holding power, & horse with strong attack. Falls off late game when melee and cavalry are overshadowed by aircraft and artillery, but that is not what honor is about. For instance, honor is about exterminating every AI on your continent before the other continent's civs sail over the ocean to meet you, and thus have no idea that you even killed anyone.
7 - Military Tradition (requires Warrior Code): Military Units gain 50% more Experience from combat.
The best military bonus on offer. 50% more instant heals, faster upgrades to range/logistics.
4 - Military Caste (requires Discipline, leads to Professional Army): Each City with a garrison increases Local City Happiness by 1 and Culture by 2.
The bonuses are good, but the requirement is brutal. If you have a large, highly promoted army, the last thing you want to do is park your army in backwater garrison and leave it to rot. They should be taking cities, pillaging, enslaving workers, demanding tribute & lucrative peace deals. Assuming none of those are available, in peacetime they should be in forts on the borders where you will be attacked next, not garrisoning east bum. Or running patrol on dark trade routes. Or securing archeology sites. Building trash units to fill the garrisons will cost you a lot of GPT and hammers, too. bleeeeh.
5 - Professional Army (requires Military Caste): Gold cost of upgrading Military Units reduced by 33% and construct Barracks, Armories, and Military Academies 50% faster.
If you went honor, you have highly promoted units you want to upgrade rather than rebuild & replace. This is handy. The double speed military buildings combos well with autocracy, though you'll generally already have your army built at this point, making these buildings largely superfluous unless your wars are getting costly. You'll always replace some melee, but this is generally not as good as it seems.
7 - Honor finisher: Gain gold for each enemy unit killed. Can purchase great generals with faith from the industrial era.
This is a LOT of gold, especially endgame when modern armor are granting you 100g a pop. And if you are honor warmongering, you're gonna need it because you'll be running a questionable GPT all game.
