Criteria for choosing the right pantheon?

Artifex1

Warlord
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
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Interested in the break even point where you do not choose messenger of the gods or fertility rights?

If you had 4 silk in your capital and your second city had 1 natural wonder and 4 desert tiles, 1 cow, 1 horse, 1 copper.

Would you pick messenger of the gods? Oral tradition? One with nature? Fertility rights?

Spain, (immortal)

(cannot find save game or would upload)
 
One with nature is the +fpt from natural wonders, yeah?

I'd probably pick that, on the assumption that spain's UA doubles it.

Who suggested using messenger of the gods?
 
messenger of the gods was only good with ICS with dido or mayans back in G&K. Fertility Rites is garbage as well. The best pantheons give faith with tiles that you'd be working anyway. If you don't have any of those, then either sacred path in the jungle, or faith healers. Those 2 are probably the best throwaways that will help you early, but won't end up sticking around.
 
Spain's UA does double the yield from One with Nature (so +8 faith per natural wonder).

Also disagree with the OP's implicit premise that Messenger of the Gods and Fertility Rites are presumptively superior to other pantheons. With the caveat that the optimal pantheon choices on a particular map will be very terrain specific, of the 26 pantheons I would rate at least 15-16 pantheons above MotG and FR. FR is an OK throw-away if you know you won't found a religion, and MotG depends on your having invested in a road network (exception is Carthage with their insta-harbors) -- caravans to nearby AI civs work more quickly and can provide comparable beaker benefits (and greater immediate gpt than a too-early road network).
 
sun god, food from camps, DF, sacred path, one with nature, faith from quarries, goddess of festivals, gold/silver pantheon, culture from pastures. rarely picking anything else, esp fertility rites.
 
The best pantheons tend to be local terrain specific. So take a look at both your capital and where you are planning on sending the first settler you make and find the pantheon that matches.
 
Interested in the break even point where you do not choose messenger of the gods or fertility rights?

If you had 4 silk in your capital and your second city had 1 natural wonder and 4 desert tiles, 1 cow, 1 horse, 1 copper.

Would you pick messenger of the gods? Oral tradition? One with nature? Fertility rights?

Spain, (immortal)

(cannot find save game or would upload)

What do you mean by "break even point" ? You can't compare Faith to Culture or Food directly and assert "3:c5culture: is worth 2:c5food:" or something like that. Which yield is the most beneficial for you depends entirely on your preference for that particular game.

If you're Spain with a NW nearby go ahead and grab One with Nature for a fast religion. Otherwise take whatever Pantheon you think will give you the best short-term benefit. We can't tell you that without seeing the map.

My personal preference for Pantheons is: :c5faith: > :c5culture: > :c5food: depending mostly on tiles in the Capital. If the tiles are all rubish God-King is a good throw-away. I find most other Pantheons to be lackluster. Expecially those that require a city to have X citizens. Chances are by the time your additional cities grow enough your Pantheon will be erased by influence from foreign Religion.

Oh and yeah, don't take Fertility Rites. It's overrated.
 
You didn't say what NW you had settled. if it's Mt Sinai then you don't need 'One with Nature' as Spain. Although I always pick 'One with Nature' as Spain as +8 :c5faith: is +8 :c5faith: and that's more than SH. If you have settled GBR then 'One with Nature' gives +16 :c5faith:
 
I picked one with nature the only other competitor was I had 5 plantations in my 2 cities so oral tradition would have got me +5 culture a turn but +8 faith is better I guess.

Fertility rites and messenger used to have godly OP reputations, guess not any more. :)
 
I picked one with nature the only other competitor was I had 5 plantations in my 2 cities so oral tradition would have got me +5 culture a turn but +8 faith is better I guess.

Fertility rites and messenger used to have godly OP reputations, guess not any more. :)

how many of your plantations would you be working though? You are focused on growth from farm tiles mainly, however that wonder basically includes Mt Sinia free with it.
 
how many of your plantations would you be working though? You are focused on growth from farm tiles mainly, however that wonder basically includes Mt Sinia free with it.

all of them i got a settler and 2 workers before turn 20 i discovered 2 NWs...hahaha. :lol:
 
It depends on the map. So for example, if I'm on tundra I would choose dance of the aurora for a pantheon or if i was in a desert i would take desert folklore. If all good pantheons are taken, I would choose something like god of war which isn't usually chosen first that often.
 
#1: A faith producing pantheon, faith from: desert folklore, earth mother, stone circles, +4 NW etc..
#2: Food Producing pantheon: Sun Gold, Food From Camps.
#3: Culture Producing Pantheon, culture from: Jungle, Pastures, Plantations
#4: Generic such as God King, +1 production, Happiness on Rivers, etc..
#5 Fertility Rights if there's nothing left......... Garbage
 
I take god-king unless I can get a bonus on at least 4 tiles in my capital from the pantheon. Whether food, faith, or culture, I pick whichever gives me the biggest bonus.

I might pick monument to the gods if my game strategy depends on getting early wonder(s), say my capital is low on food, none of the pantheons will really solve that, so I am beelining Hanging Gardens, or maybe I am Byzantine and I really want Stone Henge so I get a religion, and I worry I don't have enough hammers. In those cases I will go monument to the gods, but only when I have decided I *have* to get a certain ancient/classical wonder. I won't do it just to get Oracle or something.
 
Most of these pantheons are usually taken if you finish last while taking a pantheon.
 
It is good to consider not just your capital, but also your present and/or future settlements; especially when choosing a terrain-based pantheon. Although your capital should weigh more heavily, since you would .be getting more of it at a time you need it most. Your scouting should be pretty decent by the time you choose the pantheon. One time I even chose the + for camps pantheon because the nearby AI capital had lots of elephants, and it paid off. Not just because I intended to early rush all along, but because I denied him the pantheon.
 
Considering other settlements could be a lost case because there are other religions that get formed out there along with yours so your religion isn't alone. Other religions can also influence your other cities and eventually your capital, too. This is why I hardly focus on benefiting the other cities unless you're in an island by yourself or any other way that makes your religion seem like it is the only religion.
 
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