Benefits of Rivers

Atlas627 · Jul 13, 2013

So I've played a few games now, and the benefits for rivers seem much worse than before. In G&K, rivers gave:

+1 farm food at Civil Service per tile
+1 gold always per tile
Water Mill, Hydro Plant, Garden
Ability to build farms on hills
Potentially defensive position due to unit movement and attack modifiers
Sacred Waters or Garden happiness from Religion

And in BNW, the only change I see is the removal of the gold. The decision to settle near a river now has no impact unless you ALSO choose to take advantage of building farms, those buildings, or defending.

I read many people saying rivers give trade range or a boost to gold earned from routes, but as far as I can tell it does neither. Can anyone confirm this?

Edit: Confirmed, +25% on land routes only.

Raptor Llama · Jul 13, 2013

GamerKG said:
I read many people saying rivers give trade range or a boost to gold earned from routes, but as far as I can tell it does neither. Can anyone confirm this?

Rivers provide a +25% gold revenue from land trade routes, and only land trade routes.

Torodeboro · Jul 13, 2013

If your city is placed next to a river the traderoutes starting from that city get a 25% gold bonus. Really.

GAGA Extrem · Jul 13, 2013

River starts are still very powerful, actually potentially MORE powerful thanks to the trade route bonus. If you play any CIV that relies on land trade routes that 25% bonus will surpass the base +1 gold per title during the mid and late game. Only thing that was nerfed was the very early game gold income.

player1 fanatic · Jul 13, 2013

So, city that is not bordering river, but is near river, will now not gain anything?

Xichael · Jul 13, 2013

I play food heavy, I farm anything that's not on a hill or tundra! So yeah, I still like rivers. The 25% land trade bonus typically makes up for the lack of gold.

Atlas627 · Jul 13, 2013

Does this 25% bonus only apply to land routes? Because I have checked my sea routes and it isn't listed in the tooltip explaining how much gold I get (though I haven't tried adding it up myself)

SamBC · Jul 13, 2013

GamerKG said:
Does this 25% bonus only apply to land routes? Because I have checked my sea routes and it isn't listed in the tooltip explaining how much gold I get (though I haven't tried adding it up myself)

Yes, the river trade route bonus only applies to land routes.

Kwami · Jul 13, 2013

player1 fanatic said:
So, city that is not bordering river, but is near river, will now not gain anything?

You still get all of the other river-based benefits such as earlier +1 Food on farms. You're just missing out on the gold. If you want the extra gold, then choose a different hex for your city.

Chiatroll · Jul 13, 2013

GamerKG said:
Does this 25% bonus only apply to land routes? Because I have checked my sea routes and it isn't listed in the tooltip explaining how much gold I get (though I haven't tried adding it up myself)

It's for land caravans.

Browd · Jul 13, 2013

Kwami said:
You still get all of the other river-based benefits such as earlier +1 Food on farms. You're just missing out on the gold. If you want the extra gold, then choose a different hex for your city.

"Near" a river is not good enough. If your city center is not immediately adjacent to a river, you can't build a garden, water mill or hydro plant and won't get the 25% buff to trade routes.

Gamewizard · Jul 13, 2013

Civil service farms, garden, and hydro plant are BIG reasons to settle on a river, IMO.

Browd · Jul 13, 2013

And water mill. Early building that provides 1 hammer and allows another citizen to work a mined hill without sacrificing growth is more valuable early on than many may recognize.

Atlas627 · Jul 13, 2013

Ok, I just made a land route on a river and I did indeed get +25% according to the tooltip. Does anyone know if it extends your range at all? And what about roads?

SamBC · Jul 13, 2013

GamerKG said:
Ok, I just made a land route on a river and I did indeed get +25% according to the tooltip. Does anyone know if it extends your range at all? And what about roads?

Roads extend range, but not yield; rivers boost yield, but not range.

Montezumas Hat · Jul 13, 2013

Personally, especially given the new emphasis on late-game, I'd say Hydro Plants are more than enough reason to build on long rivers. Plus, Gardens have been made more useful with more great people, and obviously there's the 25% gold.

salocin097 · Jul 13, 2013

How do roads extend the route? How does it calculate that?

Benefits of Rivers

Atlas627

Deity

Raptor Llama

Chieftain

Torodeboro

Chieftain

GAGA Extrem

Emperor

player1 fanatic

Fanatic

Xichael

Warlord

Atlas627

Deity

SamBC

Emperor

Kwami

Deity

Chiatroll

Warlord

Browd

Dilettante

Gamewizard

Emperor

Browd

Dilettante

Atlas627

Deity

SamBC

Emperor

Montezumas Hat

Chieftain

salocin097

Warlord

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