When to get artifacts

In my opinion this could help new players or average players that still have problems or aren't sure with artifacts. The artifacts most of the times have the same effect but that is better with more cities. I will post here a list to know when to get these artifacts if possible when you know where they are, waiting maybe one tile next to the artifact:

Confucius's School: This gives you 2 great people free. Take this as fast as possible or after you got your milestone. I mean, you produce for example 3 per turn. You are 144/150. You should wait two turns and get the school. If you take the two great people before you get your great person you could have problems. If you wait, you have 3 people in the same turn, a really good bonus.

Lost city of Atlantis: This gives you three technologies, as you should know the 3 cheapest. In my opinion when you can get this, you should research all these technologies, first:

Alphabet (20)
Pottery (20)
Masonry (30)
Horseback riding (20)
Bronze working (20)
Iron working (30)
Ceremonial burial (30)

So, you wouldn't get one of these technologies free, that are useless to get free while you could get engeneering. I would suggest to wait the best technologies possible to do this.

Seven cities of gold: In my opinion this is the best artifact of the ancient era. This gives you 200 gold in the ancient era with a cost of 2*1. This would mean 100 hammers free. In the medieval era, this means 250 gold for 3*1, 100 hammers free. You are american? Ok, medieval era, 250 gold, cost of 1*1. 250 hammers. This saves you in case you have no gold, you can rush many settlers, you can rush armies, galleons, wonders.
That gives you 200-250-300-400 depending on the era.

I suggest to get this in the ancient era.

Ark of Covenant: As for other wonders, in my opinion you should wait for many cities. Temples free in every city is really good to get a culture boost. You could wait if you want for 2-3 temples getting a free cathedral, however if you are using Aztecs, this could change really the game. Culture and 3 science for them is really a good bonus.

I suggest to have temples if possible or to get this when you have many cities (for example using romans and having 15 cities.)

Knights Templar: This could be the best artifact if got in the first 10 turns. Having a militia and a unit with 6 attack (8 on hill) could mean getting capitals free. In the medieval era you get a cannon and in the industrial era you should get a tank. I suggest to take this as fast as possible, or if you want, you could wait for the tank having 2 tanks free (combustion + templar)

and on the knights templar the unit starts out with 5 experience points I think. When going around with the knight grabbing scarcely protected settlers and having the AI beg you for peace can get the knight multiple promotions. By the time you discver fuedalism you could get a knight army with all of those promotion which could be very powerful if you get good promotions.

Sciguy001 said:

and on the knights templar the unit starts out with 5 experience points I think. When going around with the knight grabbing scarcely protected settlers and having the AI beg you for peace can get the knight multiple promotions. By the time you discver fuedalism you could get a knight army with all of those promotion which could be very powerful if you get good promotions.

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No, it is veteran, but you should know that armies get only 1 experience by killing single units until their first elite upgrade (perhaps infiltration). Then, they have to kill one army to get 1 exp point. The knight, as a single unit, get 1 experience point each unit he kills.

Can't recall the name, but there is also an artifact that grants a free wonder. In theory, it would be nice to hold this off until a later age. Getting the Great Wall or Pyramids for free early is nice, but they will expire quickly on higher levels. Getting East India for free is great.

This all assumes that you save before getting the artifact and then reloading if it's one you'd rather wait on since there is not real way to tell which one is which (other than Atlantis). Exception would be narrowing the choices based upon which ones have already gone. Depends how you feel about the save-and-reload idea.

Kev said:

Can't recall the name, but there is also an artifact that grants a free wonder. In theory, it would be nice to hold this off until a later age. Getting the Great Wall or Pyramids for free early is nice, but they will expire quickly on higher levels. Getting East India for free is great.

This all assumes that you save before getting the artifact and then reloading if it's one you'd rather wait on since there is not real way to tell which one is which (other than Atlantis). Exception would be narrowing the choices based upon which ones have already gone. Depends how you feel about the save-and-reload idea.

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The angkor wat. I didn't remember it, however you should get only great pyramids or great wall. Later one, you can get hanging gardens or more, but this never happen. I wouldn't say a strategy for that, because you have to take it as fast as possible normally.

I have found the Angkor Wat late and received East India as the wonder. Another time, it gave me Shake's Theater.

If I have found Confucius' School and The Seven Cities early, I sometime like to set up cities right next to other artifacts and just wait on them - the others are either neutral or more beneficial if you set them off later in the game (Knights Templar a possible exception). If your culture borders encompass them, they will not 'release' (such as huts in Civ4), and thus it prevents another civ from taking it (unless they are at war with you). The same it true for the small villages you might find throughout. Granted, you cannot use the tile underneath, but releasing these artifacts and villages later in the game can sometimes provide something extremely nice.

Once, a small village gave me Space Flight. That was funny.

Kev said:

I have found the Angkor Wat late and received East India as the wonder. Another time, it gave me Shake's Theater.

If I have found Confucius' School and The Seven Cities early, I sometime like to set up cities right next to other artifacts and just wait on them - the others are either neutral or more beneficial if you set them off later in the game (Knights Templar a possible exception). If your culture borders encompass them, they will not 'release' (such as huts in Civ4), and thus it prevents another civ from taking it (unless they are at war with you). The same it true for the small villages you might find throughout. Granted, you cannot use the tile underneath, but releasing these artifacts and villages later in the game can sometimes provide something extremely nice.

Once, a small village gave me Space Flight. That was funny.

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Ok, then I will add it later on. I never wanted to wait with the angkor wat. However, I think getting knight's templar in the industrial era, then as fast as possible after you reach this, is really a move that could change the game. I remember in a game I got a free tank, and won the game taking every city my enemy had. This because the tank auto heal and being an advanced unit can kill more units easy.

However, once I got athomic theory from a village, that happens.

MorteEterna said:

No, it is veteran, but you should know that armies get only 1 experience by killing single units until their first elite upgrade (perhaps infiltration). Then, they have to kill one army to get 1 exp point. The knight, as a single unit, get 1 experience point each unit he kills.

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Whoops, I had no idea at all. That would explain why my knight emidiatly got a promotion after taking out a legion army.

Also, I am realy frustrated when I discover a relic that happens to be the Ankor hat(you can not tell between them on the DS) and I get the Great Wall which is completely worthless for warmongoers. The pyramids can be nice but usualy it is only worth getting when you want a communist government befcause all of the others come too early.

And also, once I conquered some "barbarians" who apparently were using superconducters while they were making those stone axes and sleeping on tattered cloth

Sciguy001 said:

Also, I am realy frustrated when I discover a relic that happens to be the Ankor hat(you can not tell between them on the DS) and I get the Great Wall which is completely worthless for warmongoers.

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I have played aggressively with the great wall. You can attack and put your units in a poor defensive position and then ask for peace right before your turn ends. I have also stolen settlers this way without fear of payback.

With the great wall, you can also abandon typical defensive positions (like protecting cities) temporarily and really press your enemies. With the great wall I have left my capital with no units at all in it for a short time so that I could use my units on the front lines where they were needed while I build new units back in the capital.

I typically wait until after I have Gunpowder before I "discover" Atlantis. Then again, I seldom research Navigation before I research Steam.

Ark of the Covenant will upgrade your Temples to Cathedrals, so waiting until you build Temples in all of your cities is even better. (At least complete your main expansion.)

you can find info on the relics(artifacts) here>>>> http://www.civfanatics.com/civrev/relics

generalkhan said:

you can find info on the relics(artifacts) here>>>> http://www.civfanatics.com/civrev/relics

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Info on the artifacts? Are you kidding me? It doesn't even say what you get. Large amout of gold? It could be 60, it could be 80.. Advanced unit? Legion? Artillery? Catapult? Confucius doesn't even say how many gp. And who asked that? I can't understand, sorry.

Morte i think he was just trying to help mate no offence meant...

Well, that page could be a little more specific. The Society of Confucius "Grants discoverer access to a slew of Great People." I never knew "a slew" could be defined as two.

Yes you are right elthrasher it is a very "brief and inaccurate" bit of work but he was just giving advice... bad advice at that

MorteEterna said:

Lost city of Atlantis: This gives you three technologies, as you should know the 3 cheapest. In my opinion when you can get this, you should research all these technologies, first:

Alphabet (20)
Pottery (20)
Masonry (30)
Horseback riding (20)
Bronze working (20)
Iron working (30)
Ceremonial burial (30)

So, you wouldn't get one of these technologies free, that are useless to get free while you could get engineering. I would suggest to wait the best technologies possible to do this.

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This is not bad advice, but also does not help very much. You need either Navigation or Steam Power before you can get Atlantis, so unless you are the Spanish, you will need at least some of the above in order to reach the artifact. The advice simply needs to be broadened to say that you should research the lowest cost techs you have not yet learned before taking Atlantis.

My 2 cents:

Your first objective should be to get the artifacts before your competition. So while there are advantages to waiting to get some artifacts (Atlantis, Ark of the Covenant), it's better to get them early than not at all.

I believe in each (SP?) game there are 4 artifacts, and in most cases one of them is Atlantis. They usually aren't on the main landmass, but are typically on small islands. Except for Atlantis, they are normally reachable by galley. (Although it may take a lot of travel time.) Atlantis can often (usually?) be seen from by a galley.

The Ark of Covenant gives a temple in every city or a cathedral in cities with temples. Therefore there is a benefit to waiting until you have built most/all of your cities and possibly even built temples. However, waiting does mean you are sacrificing some early culture.

The Seven Cities of Gold - get immediately unless you are close to researching a tech which will advance you to the next age.

The Angkor Wat - get immediately unless you are close to researching a tech which will cancel a wonder.

The Lost City of Atlantis - because it gives you the three lowest (typically cheapest) techs, there is some value in waiting until you have backfilled those techs. You should at least wait until you have finished researching your current tech.

The Knights Templar - get immediately unless you are close to researching a tech which will advance you to the next age.

The School of Confucius - get immediately. (Although you might want to wait if you are close to researching Iron Working or Monarchy to increase your chance of getting a Great Leader.)

ericball said:

I believe in each (SP?) game there are 4 artifacts, and in most cases one of them is Atlantis.

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The number of artifacts in the game varies. Atlantis is almost always there, but sometimes it isn't. There is always at least one artifact. Usually when there's just one artifact, it's Atlantis. I don't know if I've ever seen more than 5 artifacts. Obviously there are only six total in the core game, but with the DLC there are more available. That doesn't mean there will be more on the map.

ericball said:

The School of Confucius - get immediately. (Although you might want to wait if you are close to researching Iron Working or Monarchy to increase your chance of getting a Great Leader.)

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Actually you should look at your current culture level. If you are close to getting your next GP (like 135/150), then wait until you get that GP because taking Confucius will bump your GP milestone up. So if you're at 135/150 and you hit Confucius, next turn you'll see you're at 135/416. Much better to wait until you get that GP for 150 culture, then take Confucius. Of course you should grab it if somebody else is going to instead.

I actually rate the ark of the covenant one of the strongest artifacts in the game. Last game I had 5 cities. Rushed temples in all of them and then took the arti. Immense amounts of culture after that and city flipping all around. Atlantis of course is the strongest.

What about some of the new ones. Theres one that upgrades all of your horsies into Knights IIRC.