Can't make leap from King to Emperor

I know it is probably not a popular move, but I disable Ancient ruins for my games at Emperor with the rationale being that the computer starts with more units, is likely to explore the map faster, and thus likely to gain more benefit from them. There are few things more disheartening than getting a great start in the desert with incense and being unable to get either desert folklore or the +1 culture/+1 faith pantheons, simply because the computer is exploring like mad and getting free faith from ancient ruins.

That logic could be applied only if the AI was smart enough for this to matter. If you get 2 decent ancient ruins, and each AI get 5, you'd actually be ahead .... The thing is, that on emperor you can get a lot more than two, but as in all levels you have to start with at least 2 scouts ...

And Incense is the last thing you'd want from a desert start. Desert Incense tiles are just worthless until the very end of the game. And also, by the time you can get faith from a ruin (thats available past T20 on standart), most ruins should be gone anyway, so I don't really see how that matters for the pantheon ...
 
That logic could be applied only if the AI was smart enough for this to matter. If you get 2 decent ancient ruins, and each AI get 5, you'd actually be ahead .... The thing is, that on emperor you can get a lot more than two, but as in all levels you have to start with at least 2 scouts ...

And Incense is the last thing you'd want from a desert start. Desert Incense tiles are just worthless until the very end of the game. And also, by the time you can get faith from a ruin (thats available past T20 on standart), most ruins should be gone anyway, so I don't really see how that matters for the pantheon ...


I'm a big fan of building the monastery building for wine or incense. I really enjoy spreading a religion around in the game, although it is less rewarding than in Civ 4.
 
I know it is probably not a popular move, but I disable Ancient ruins for my games at Emperor with the rationale being that the computer starts with more units

Then the easiest way to win at Emperor is to play at Settler and pretend you are still beating Emperor.
 
You were right about that, I do prefer Liberty over Tradition so I should have mentioned that. I like hitting Writing first so when I can fit a library into my queue I do it. Like someone else said earlier, I never have happiness issues going straight for Writing, so going for my lux tech second hasn't ever hurt me. And yes the Emperor to Immortal jump is stupid, I won my first game but am fighting tooth and nail in my second.

Also for OP, note what people have said earlier, LOCK DOWN THOSE TILES. One of the most important things is managing your cities properly.

I find it is more important to build 2-3 cities early, and grow them tall fast, before worrying about libraries. If you don't start working luxuries and get higher growth/production/gold tiles improved, it slows down the growth of your cities resulting in lower bpt. I've tried going all sorts of ways to see what gets me to education first, and it seems that high population before library/NC is key (you still want to finish the NC before turn 90 or earlier). Stalling growth for the libraries and NC never seemed to work for me.
 
I'm a big fan of building the monastery building for wine or incense. I really enjoy spreading a religion around in the game, although it is less rewarding than in Civ 4.

well, the problem is, that desert incense gives you only gold. With the proper religion - faith too, thats not the tile you want to work early game when you need food and hammers ...
 
one way to look at it strategically (big picture no specifics) is how to best benefit from the riches of the land (ignoring the staying alive part)...

-need to grab a lot of land (multiple cities(liberty), or fast/cheap border growth(tradition)/america/shoshone ) - quick settlers to land grab the choice spots before the AI is important
-riches in the dirt [luxuries & strategic resources] do you little good - you need to be able to identify(tech), dig them up(worker army) and put them on the market/trade(scouts/exploring) ASAP
-there is also the little issue of science (maximising population growth solves that - will need multiple workers to improve food tiles/food tech(civil service/trade routes/terrance farms)/ally maritime city states AND happiness..

Happiness is a huge topic by itself - branching into culture/tourism (ideology pressure mechanics) ..
 
I just made the leap my self just recently. I think it is even more important to focus on building good infrastructure in your capital and most preferably your second city before you decide to plan your winning strategy. When it comes to wonders, wait until your capital have production for it and go for the ones the AI normally ignore (Oracle for example) or the ones he can not build because he dont have the social policy for it (Hanging Gardens, Great Mosque of Jenne etc) or his location is at the right place for you (no desert for Petra, no coast for Great Lighthouse, Colossus etc). But this means you have to explore and find every one rather quickly so that you know what kind of paths they have taken and then adapt to that. That way you can more or less safely build your wonders. And once your infrastructure is ok, you have expanded a little, then turn the focus towards science and military and take it from there.

So far I have 3 recent games on Emperor. 2 science wins and 1 science loss (by 3 turns....to DENMARK!!!) Oh and if you do play as Babylon, dont wast early hammers on a library, tech writing and get your academy. Those 8 beakers more then make up for the lack of library and build other things instead to get better production and then you build the library in no time and most likely have a settler out and enough money to by a library in Akkad so that you can get the NC up and running rather quickly anyway.
 
I think you can still try the Honor opening on Emperor with plans to get to Autocracy as long as the map size you choose is Large (or bigger) and its not a Pangaea.

I will try that, thanks. Besides, I think MemoryJar overestimates my competency at warmongering!
 
Aside for the other good tips here like i would like to mention that on higher Dif levels is also important to have a somewhat flexible gameplan.
You may be forced to build up an army fast if you have aggressive neighbours. My last game i had Aatilla and Genghis Khan close by together with Brasil and Korea. I was initially planing on doing a non warmonger game but i was forced to build up a big army to make sure i was not annihilated early. After a fiew of wars between basically everyone on the continent i was on. (Map type was continents) i realised my army was not only stronger then all the other 4 civ, but i had a ton off veteran troops(3-4 + promotions) I then just waited for some key aggressive techs and took over the whole continent eazy.

In short. If you are forced into wars / building up large forces then use them. A huge defensive force can quickly become a innovation force if your neighbours show weakness or they exhaust their resources in wars.
 
I find it is more important to build 2-3 cities early, and grow them tall fast, before worrying about libraries. If you don't start working luxuries and get higher growth/production/gold tiles improved, it slows down the growth of your cities resulting in lower bpt. I've tried going all sorts of ways to see what gets me to education first, and it seems that high population before library/NC is key (you still want to finish the NC before turn 90 or earlier). Stalling growth for the libraries and NC never seemed to work for me.

You can do the two simultaneously. Worker steal - build- get free one from Liberty. Teching writing is so you can build a library when you have time, usually I go for a granary first. Lux techs can be secondary because you shouldn't be in happiness issues that early on. You don't need to sacrifice growth for that. Why get a lux tech like mining or sailing after pottery? No one has a worker to steal yet and you should be going scout scout (Shrine or granary for tradition) or scout monument scout (point being there is no need to hard build a worker that early to grant a reason to get a lux tech first).
 
Then the easiest way to win at Emperor is to play at Settler and pretend you are still beating Emperor.

Thanks for your concern, but I don't personally have trouble with Emperor level. That was directed at a player who clearly stated that he was having trouble.
 
If you wait for a worker steal on emperor, you will be waiting awhile.
 
You can do the two simultaneously. Worker steal - build- get free one from Liberty. Teching writing is so you can build a library when you have time, usually I go for a granary first. Lux techs can be secondary because you shouldn't be in happiness issues that early on. You don't need to sacrifice growth for that. Why get a lux tech like mining or sailing after pottery? No one has a worker to steal yet and you should be going scout scout (Shrine or granary for tradition) or scout monument scout (point being there is no need to hard build a worker that early to grant a reason to get a lux tech first).

That's the thing, I usually do run into happiness issues as soon as I plant my 2nd city. I need at least 1 luxury tech to be ready for the 2nd city (I'll usually have 1-2 happiness the moment I plant that city, and within 5ish turns, that goes into the negative). If you are not needing luxuries at that point, you may not be growing as fast as you could.

So I will get at least 1 luxury tech, and maybe Animal Husbandry and Mining before I go for the library. Those help produce gold, hammers and happiness. And my build order is scout, scout, shrine, settler (I'll worker steal). If I play on a lower difficulty, such as Emperor, I will build a worker before my settler.
 
I hear that you can tribute workers (enslave workers from CS, with tribute) in BNW...

Slightly different than dow CS and steal worker... which works with scouts though...

Tributing works in early game if you get unit upgrade into spearman/archer/compbow with a couple early war units. And target CS is flatland, and of the right personality for tributing easily.

You could also opt for quick cash from CS tributing.
 
Finished my first win on Emperor. Small fractal map as Austria.

Started with Germany nearly on top of me and had to build an army and eliminate him. Then i went full science with 3 city states giving me units to keep my military strong. Ultimately it was an easy Science win, but i could have also had a domination win.
 
If possible instead of Stealing a Worker, wait for a barbarian to Steal the Worker and get the Worker from them. This tactic means that you do not give up your First Low Diplomatic Warmonger Penalty. Of course, if you can Worker Steal from a CS before you meet other AI's it is even better. If you are feeling bolder, practice stealing AI Civs Early Workers instead, and then Broker Peace in a few turns.
 
I love to steel settlers. Any Civ losing their first settler is really set back. Too bad it turns into a worker for you (i wish it stayed as a settler).
 
Any Civ losing their first settler is really set back.

So much so it feels OP. Now, I don't mind taking advantage of the AI's inept warmongering. And its not like I can let an unescorted settler forward settle on me. But sometimes its just disappointing. Fortunately, there will be other civs in the game to keep things interesting!
 
Top Bottom