Unique Ability Elimination Thread

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Austria - Diplomatic Marriage - 4
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 17
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 22
Denmark - Viking Fury - 1 Probably the worst one left, not particularly useful in most "common" situations...more of a niche role at best
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 30 Late game that +2 Science per specialist really adds up fast!
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 23
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 14
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 22
Songhai - River Warlord - 20
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 16
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 22
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Huns - Scourge of God - 7
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 26
The Iroquois - The Great Warpath - 14
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 27
The Zulus - Iklwa - 23
Venice - Serenissima - 13

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Austria - Diplomatic Marriage - 4
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 17
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 22
Denmark - Viking Fury - 0 - Lets eliminate this one, its alright for warmongering but doesn't really swing the balance all that much
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 23
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 14
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 22
Songhai - River Warlord - 20
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 16
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 22
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Huns - Scourge of God - 7
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 26
The Iroquois - The Great Warpath - 14
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 27
The Zulus - Iklwa - 23
Venice - Serenissima - 15 - Like it or not, it's a UA that really shapes the play style. This is the civ that I wanted to play the most before BNW came out, and it was a lot of fun when I did get to play it.

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Austria - Diplomatic Marriage - 0 - It could be nice in some situations (CS has natural wonder etc.), but i usually prefer CS's as allies, and i like to settle my own cities. Might be about playstyle. Austria is annoying as AI opponent though.
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 17
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 22
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 23
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 14
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 22
Songhai - River Warlord - 20
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 16
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 22
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Huns - Scourge of God - 7
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 28 - This UA has two parts, which both could be cool UA as themselves, but combined movement bonus with less maintenance on roads makes this great UA, easily top 5 on my list. Hill movement helps with early scouting, warfare, and just moving workers around. Less road maintenance helps a lot with gpt, especially if you go wide (even though terrace farms work best when you go tall), and you can also build roads on hills for free just for movement bonus.
The Iroquois - The Great Warpath - 14
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 27
The Zulus - Iklwa - 23
Venice - Serenissima - 15 -

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 17
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 22
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 23
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 14
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 22
Songhai - River Warlord - 20
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 16
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 22
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Huns - Scourge of God - 7
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 28
The Iroquois - The Great Warpath - 10
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 28
The Zulus - Iklwa - 23
Venice - Serenissima - 15

Two native american civs, two UAs labelled great. Only one actually lives up to that billing. The Iroquois one is just too limited in when it can be of use. The Shoshone on the other hand, well, I wasn't that impressed on paper, but having tried it out in a couple of game recently it's amazing. Being able to use almost all of your cities' best tiles from the word go is a big leg up, particularly on the capital. And while in the end, once the city is fully grown culturally, it's no more powerful than anyone else's cities, and there are other UAs that give larger bonuses later, the headstart from Great Expanse puts you far enough ahead IMO. The combat bonus is nothing amazing, but it's a nice little extra.

Off topic a bit, I guess it pertains to the Incan UA a little, but has anybody found Mt. Kilimanjaro with the Inca or Norwegian ski infantry yet? Does it stack with their hill movement abilities like it does for the scout and minuteman?

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 17
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 22
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 23
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 14
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 22
Songhai - River Warlord - 20
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 16
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 22
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Huns - Scourge of God - 3 - +1 Hammers on Pastures is nice, especially in conjunction with God of the Open Sky, but the Polish Ducal Stable is better in every way in that regard. Razing cities only takes a handful of turns as it is.
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 30 - Half Price/Free roads are delicious, especially in the BNW early game gold crunch. Double movement through Hills is great for exploration and all types of warfare, defensive and offensive. Very versatile.
The Iroquois - The Great Warpath - 10
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 28
The Zulus - Iklwa - 23
Venice - Serenissima - 15

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 17
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 22
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 23
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 14
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 22
Songhai - River Warlord - 20
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 18 Jackpot, free city! And even if you have bad luck, you can settle near that natural wonder and free religion and free whatever resource. Sometimes I feel like cheating with them. + 2 happiness only for finding one of them
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 22
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Huns - Scourge of God - 0 I prefer Russia UA, gives the same but better. This Civ has an awful UA but 2 great UU.
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 30
The Iroquois - The Great Warpath - 10
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 28
The Zulus - Iklwa - 23
Venice - Serenissima - 15

@Lights

I think too many people are down on Spain. Everyone says, "Oh, their UA is so situational, you've just got to get lucky."

Spain's UA is high risk, high reward. Now yes, there isn't a guarantee you'll even get a chance to use it in a game. However if you do, depending on the Natural Wonder, the game is already yours from turn one; and even if you don't you're still left with two excellent UU's. The only map I see them having a serious problem is Pangaea, any other conventional map though, (Earth, Continents, Terra, Archipelago) Conquistadors can just dominate the age of exploration and snap up all the remaining choice city spots.

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 17
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 22
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 23
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 16- Great for creating late game cities and starting them up quickly.
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 22
Songhai - River Warlord - 20
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 18
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 22
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 30
The Iroquois - The Great Warpath - 6- This needs to be changed, its quite weak.
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 28
The Zulus - Iklwa - 23
Venice - Serenissima - 15

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 17
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 22
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 23
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 16
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 22
Songhai - River Warlord - 20
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 18
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 22
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 31 I severely underestimated their UA before. Its really good, and makes Inca a surprisingly strong early scouting civ.
The Iroquois - The Great Warpath - 3 - Seriously, how many maps COULD I actually use forests as roads without intentionally creating crap city placements?
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 28
The Zulus - Iklwa - 23
Venice - Serenissima - 15

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 14 - Religion is nice, but with the new reformation beliefs byzantium is negligible.
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 22
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 23
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 16
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 22
Songhai - River Warlord - 20 (Nobody has commented at all)
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 18
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 22
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 31
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 29 Shoshone are one of the best, most versatile and adaptable civs, that like babylon have a snowball element to their game because of their added area.
The Zulus - Iklwa - 24
Venice - Serenissima - 15

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 10 Doesn't give you anything special to found a religion with. A nice unique shrine replacement or some special early game faith bonus would make this really awesome. It needs something that would simulate +1 faith per turn in the ancient era, only instead of that something that would actually make sense in context with this civ. Maybe the first great prophet can be 20% cheaper or something?
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 22
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 23
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 16
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 22
Songhai - River Warlord - 20 (Nobody has commented at all)
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 18
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 24 I didn't think much of this the first time I looked at it. Now though, with more great people in BNW, get your guilds and wars up early and stay afloat from the city states that you get.
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 31
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 29
The Zulus - Iklwa - 24
Venice - Serenissima - 15

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 10
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 18 I always have too many GG, and this only exacerbates that problem. Not bad per se, but without the units it's lacking
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 26 HA! I failed to save Wayfinding in the last ability thread, and now I won't let it go down so easy! With the changes in BNW this already powerful ability is made stronger tenfold, as you have further reason to explore and invade seaward!
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 16
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 22
Songhai - River Warlord - 20
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 18
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 24
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 31
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 29
The Zulus - Iklwa - 24
Venice - Serenissima - 15[/QUOTE]

Some people have forgotten the voting changes: it's +2/-4 or this vote will go forever. Personally, I recommended either +1/-4 or +2/-5, but OP says +2/-4 so I'll respect that.

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 10
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 18
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 25 - Added +1 vote too many, Prince.
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 12 This UA forces Rome to go wide in order to make the most of it and you need a very good capital too. If you only have 2 other cities other than the capital then this UA won't mean much.
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 24 Very powerful UA when you get a coalition of cultural and maritime CS'. 5 allied maritime civs: +20 growth at capital and +7.5 growth in other cities.
Songhai - River Warlord - 20
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 18
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 24
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 31
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 30 Missed a +1 vote.
The Zulus - Iklwa - 24
Venice - Serenissima - 15

I don't see how +2/-4 will make this go any faster than +1/-3. There's still a net change of -2 to the total points after each vote.

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 6 - horray, an extra belief that the civ gives you no easy way to get (and probably won't on higher difficulties)
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 18
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 31
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 25
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 12
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 24
Songhai - River Warlord - 20
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 18
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 24
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 33 This + Terrace Farms are why the Inca are easily a top 5 civ for overall usage.
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 30
The Zulus - Iklwa - 24
Venice - Serenissima - 15

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 6
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 18
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 33 - Great Andean Road is a very good UA, but not quite as powerful as this.
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 25
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 12
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 24
Songhai - River Warlord - 16 - It's weak and feels kind of generic and unfocused.
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 18
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 24
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 20
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 33
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 30
The Zulus - Iklwa - 24
Venice - Serenissima - 15

TheGrandWazoo said:

I don't see how +2/-4 will make this go any faster than +1/-3. There's still a net change of -2 to the total points after each vote.

Click to expand...

I thought the same thing. At least this'll get rid of the junk faster

Arabia - Ships of the Desert - 22
Assyria - Treasures of Nineveh - 22
Babylon - Ingenuity - 31
Brazil - Carnival - 21
Byzantium - Patriarchate of Constantinople - 2 too easy to get locked out of especially on higher difficulties
Carthage - Phoenician Heritage 23
China - Art of War - 18
Egypt - Monument Builders - 18
England - Sun Never Sets - 15
Germany - Furor Teutonicus - 12
Greece - Hellenic League - 25
Indonesia - Spice Islanders - 19
Korea - Scholars of the Jade Hall - 29
Persia - Achaemenid Legacy - 23
Poland - Solidarity - 33
Polynesia - Wayfinding - 25
Portugal - Mare Clausum - 24
Rome - The Glory of Rome - 12
Russia - Siberian Riches - 20
Siam - Father Governs Children - 24
Songhai - River Warlord - 16
Spain - Seven Cities of Gold - 18
Sweden - Nobel Prize - 24
The Aztecs - Sacrificial Captives - 22 The only UA that gets stronger as you increase difficulty levels.
The Inca - Great Andean Road - 33
The Maya - The Long Count - 19
The Shoshone - Great Expanse - 30
The Zulus - Iklwa - 24
Venice - Serenissima - 15