Unique Ability Elimination Thread

Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 19
Diplomatic Marriage 19 (+1)
Sacrificial Captives 22 Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 26
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 21
Viking Fury 15
Monument Builders 20
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 17
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 5
Hellenic League 18
Scourge of God 12
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 16
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 10 (-3)
Nobel Prize 19

Diplomatic Marriage - Allows you to expand peacefully, and it kinda snowballs since each citystate you conquer will most likely add to your happiness, not piss anyone off for being a warmonger, and generate more gold.

Seven Cities of Gold is very erratic and also very polarized. Either you find enough to buy a settler very early and the game should go easily, or you are far away from all natural wonders and your UA is useless. This ability needs to be modified.
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 19
Diplomatic Marriage 19 (+1)
Sacrificial Captives 22 Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 26
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 21
Viking Fury 16 (+1) A UA that deserves its position among the best. It will only get better once the patch comes out too.
Monument Builders 20
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 14 (-3) A UA that was named after a single battle? A UA that forces you to neglect a lot of the benefits of the Stele? A passive bonus when fighting can be nice - don't get me wrong it just doesn't do enough in my mind to justify using it often.
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 5
Hellenic League 18
Scourge of God 12
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 16
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 10
Nobel Prize 19
 
Carl and Gucu, you both downvoted 3 instead of 2. Unless I missed the notification and the game is being sped up.
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 17 (-2) Meh. Was better when trade routes gave a % bonus, rather than 1 gold. Oil isn't often a limiting factor in late games, and its hard to trade. Oases bonus is okay. Just a meh UA. But with a great UB and UU, what do you expect :lol:
Diplomatic Marriage 19
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 26
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 22 (+1) A single-minded UA. Focused and devastating. I love rollin up on neighbors with a "Ni Hao," and plopping citadels onto high ground. And there are always generals left over to provide that excellent +30% boost.
Viking Fury 16
Monument Builders 20
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 14
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 5
Hellenic League 18
Scourge of God 12
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 16
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 10
Nobel Prize 19
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 17
Diplomatic Marriage 19
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 27 +1
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 22
Viking Fury 16
Monument Builders 20
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 14
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 3 -2
Hellenic League 18
Scourge of God 12
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 16
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 10
Nobel Prize 19

Phoenician Heritage -- Free harbors are very good, being maintenance free also helps. Paired with the pantheon giving +2 science per trade route gives you a tech boost early.

Furor Teutonicus -- An ability that does not even guarantee its bonus is not good. Also barbs are often not around once the game gets going
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 17
Diplomatic Marriage 19
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 27
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 22
Viking Fury 16
Monument Builders 20
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 14
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 3
Hellenic League 19
Scourge of God 12
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 14
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 10
Nobel Prize 19

Hellenic League : More easy to ally cs with GnK. This UA will let you save money almost all the time. You can skip Patronnage for many reasons.

Barbary Corsairs : Playing only standard and quick speed surely don't play in favor of a positive vote. I need to play water map and even then i prefer mobility with England.
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 19
Diplomatic Marriage 18
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 26
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 21
Viking Fury 15
Monument Builders 21 (+1)
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 17
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 5
Hellenic League 18
Scourge of God 10 (-2)
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 16
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 13
Nobel Prize 19

I'm gonna give a boost to an ability that hasn't made an appearance here yet: Monument Builders. I'm boosting it not because it's the strongest ability--it isn't--but because it is flexible, and because its benefit applies throughout the entirety of the game, from the very first turns to (nearly) the very last. In terms of flexibility, there are multiple Wonders that support each and every aspect of gameplay, so regardless of your play preferences and chosen victory condition, Monument Builders helps you get there. Plus it synergizes with Egypt's terrain bias of tending to start close to marble. (True, that doesn't always happen, but it's more reliable than other UAs that require luck for synergy.) Furthermore, the UA provides an additional benefit, one that is perhaps unimportant in the grand scheme but which is instrumental in avoiding Civ-induced apoplexy: it reduces the frequency of getting beaten to a Wonder by a turn or two. That might seem like a silly benefit, but the morale benefits of avoiding that most heinous of occurrences can't be overstated. (I wonder how many doctors have had to treat ulcers resulting from Wonder-building stress...)

Scourge of God: huh? Really? Out of the four different benefits conferred by this UA, fully two of them are "cute" and for flavor only, and the other two are underwhelming at best. Stealing the names of other civs' cities? That's supposed to be helpful? And while razing cities at twice the speed can occasionally be useful, very situationally, I guess, maybe, it's hardly enough to pin a UA on. Big downvote.
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 19
Diplomatic Marriage 18
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 27 (+1)
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 21
Viking Fury 13 (-2)
Monument Builders 21
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 17
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 5
Hellenic League 18
Scourge of God 10
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 16
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 13
Nobel Prize 19

Phoenician Heritage is the best UA in my book, for several reasons I've given before.

I'll be careful not to hit Viking Fury every day, but it is on my hit list. For the UA to be really useful for embarked units, the AI would have to be able to manage or at least know how to deal with a navy. As it stands, it's not even remotely challenging to clear a beachhead, land your units there from the sea, and move in to take a coastal or near coastal city a turn or two later than the Viking Furious army with the extra moves.

Like I said, I'll be careful not to hit it twice in a row (which I wanted to avoid anyway but it seems I got it a few times in a row, getting lazy in the mornings).
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 19
Diplomatic Marriage 18
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 27
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 21
Viking Fury 13
Monument Builders 21
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 17
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 5
Hellenic League 19 - Having many war assets can be very nice.
Scourge of God 10
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 16
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 13
Nobel Prize 17 - I'd rather use my Great People, thank you very much.
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 19
Diplomatic Marriage 18
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 27
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 21
Viking Fury 14
Monument Builders 21
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 15
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 3
Hellenic League 20
Scourge of God 10
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 14
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 11
Nobel Prize 17

Ok hopefully fixed everything. And even if you aren't using troops for attack - Viking Fury is useful for defense too. Take coastal Cities and keep all of your troops embarked. If anyone ever tries to attack you - you have 6 movement points and with blitz/logistics (Well Logistics doesn't allow 6 attacks - but still - 2 attacks and 4 other moves - very useful for logistic artillery) allows 6 attacks as well. Allows you to cover more ground Defensively making it near impossible to take any coastal city by land.

Having a Melee unit that can attack 6 times or a ranged unit that can mvoe anywhere - or mounted units really anything becomes deadly with VF- that is catastrophic. Allows you to thin out your forces and defend enumerable stretches of land

=======

There are plenty of worse UAs that Viking Fury is better than - so I will have to keep voting it up :p.
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 19
Diplomatic Marriage 18
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 27
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 21
Viking Fury 14
Monument Builders 22 (+1)
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 12 (-2)
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 3
Hellenic League 20
Scourge of God 10
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 14
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 11
Nobel Prize 17

My first time contributing to this thread! Yay!

MONUMENT BUILDERS: This is a very underestimated UA, but an incredible one at that. I'm a builder and crave such early wonders such as Stonehenge, Oracle, Pyramids, Hanging Gardens, and Great Library. Playing on Marathon/Immortal, you usually can only get 2 of these, but Egypt allows you to get these 5 easily (and more if you have the religious belief that decreases time for ancient/classical wonders, though I forget its name). With that said, the more early wonders you get, the easier and more technologically advanced you'll be as the game goes on, swimming in cash and faith.

SPIRIT OF ADWA: I really don't like this UA as much as I thought I would when the Exp pack came out. It's mainly because the AI seems to be fine with 2-3 cities until the Renaissance or so, and I am usually the same size as them, which negates this UA.
 
Nobel Prize 17 - I'd rather use my Great People, thank you very much.

You do know this UA helps you generate more great people to use, don't you? :rolleyes:
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 19
Diplomatic Marriage 18
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 27
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 21
Viking Fury 14
Monument Builders 21
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 15
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 3
Hellenic League 20
Scourge of God 10
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 14
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 11
Nobel Prize 17

Ok hopefully fixed everything.


Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 17
Diplomatic Marriage 19

Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 27
Druidic Lore 12
Art of War 22
Viking Fury 14
Monument Builders 22
Sun Never Sets 22
Spirit of Adwa 12
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 3
Hellenic League 20
Scourge of God 10
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 14
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 11
Nobel Prize 17

Druidic Lore: ensures an early religion. That's all.

Sun Never Sets: +2 movements is good if used properly, and is especially nice to embarked units and battleships. Also it grants a free spy, which helps you to have a good relationship with city-states. Very useful and interesting.
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 17
Diplomatic Marriage 19
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 13
Phoenician Heritage 27
Druidic Lore 12
Art of War 22
Viking Fury 14
Monument Builders 22
Sun Never Sets 22
Spirit of Adwa 12
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 1
Hellenic League 20
Scourge of God 10
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 14
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 11
Nobel Prize 17

Patriarchate of Constantinople : I always found religion. Founding religion can bring anyone loads of benefit, and with this UA you can practically choose your own UA after your religion is enchanted.
Furor Teutonicus : How many barb camp I have to destroy to get sizeable brute army while others probably making swordsman. Maintaince reduce is nice. But not enough. Anyone care to finish it?
@Skibbi Blue text is used when you want to correct other's vote and downvote mistakes.
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 17
Diplomatic Marriage 19
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 14
Patriarchate of Constantinople 13
Phoenician Heritage 27
Druidic Lore 12
Art of War 22
Viking Fury 14
Monument Builders 22
Sun Never Sets 22
Spirit of Adwa 12
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 0 (-1)
Hellenic League 20
Scourge of God 10
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 20 (+1)
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 14
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 10 (-1)
Nobel Prize 17

There - Furor goes, because as others have stated, even if the "free" Brutes are nice, the reduced upkeep still leaves you weighted down by them, and therefore you'll lack the Gold to upgrade them.
Seven Cities of Gold - because it is too unpredictable in most cases, it's really nice if you have the luck to snatch two NW's, but in most games I won't even be the first to discover one of them, much less get any within my territory, and then the ability is pretty poor.
The Long Count - it just sits well with my game style. The free great people really help in early game, a free GE for a wonder, a free Prophet to found or enhance religion, and a free GS is always useful, and a free GAd can help explore on continents map.
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 19
Diplomatic Marriage 18
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 12(-2)
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 26
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 21
Viking Fury 15
Monument Builders 20
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 17
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 5
Hellenic League 18
Scourge of God 12
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 25
Barbary Corsairs 16
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 14(+1)
Nobel Prize 19

Seven Cities of Gold: It's so misunderstood. The poor UA tries hardest to do what it can to help you, but you guys have to put something into it too. This shines as not a passive bonus, but one where you get scouts, you get triremes, and now you've got a lot of gold. And a lot of happiness.

Ingenuity: Don't get me wrong, this bonus is great, but its so boring. You don't do anything special. Get a free Great Scientist, get a few more later. Woohoo.
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 19
Diplomatic Marriage 18
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 13
Patriarchate of Constantinople 12
Phoenician Heritage 26
Druidic Lore 14
Art of War 21
Viking Fury 15
Monument Builders 20
Sun Never Sets 21
Spirit of Adwa 17
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 5
Hellenic League 18
Scourge of God 12
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 23
Barbary Corsairs 16
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 14
Nobel Prize 19

Ingenuity : Best UA for fastest science games. How can this one be so low?

DEIC : I often have enough copies to sell. And Babs UA is way more strong than this one :crazyeye:
 
Manifest Destiny 18
Trade Caravans 17
Diplomatic Marriage 19
Sacrificial Captives 22
Ingenuity 11 (-2)
Patriarchate of Constantinople 13
Phoenician Heritage 28 (+1)
Druidic Lore 12
Art of War 22
Viking Fury 14
Monument Builders 22
Sun Never Sets 22
Spirit of Adwa 12
Ancien Regime 23
Furor Teutonicus 1
Hellenic League 20
Scourge of God 10
Great Andean Road 22
The Great Warpath 16
Bushido 16
Scholars of the Jade Hall 21
The Long Count 19
Mongol Terror 13
Dutch East India Company 23
Barbary Corsairs 14
Achaemenid Legacy 24
Wayfinding 18
The Glory of Rome 26
Siberian Riches 19
Father Governs Children 23
Seven Cities of Gold 12
Nobel Prize 17

Free trade routes are good, scale well as the game goes on, and harbors provide railroad connections when you research railroad.

Ingenuity is nice, but it's just not as good as what Sweden gets. It's not that it's bad, just that it fails in comparison to a similar UA.

I went back to Poom's post and redid things from there. I removed kaspergm's up and down votes because he split his downvote, and I'm not a mindreader.
 
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