What is the optimal build order for the first 100 turns?

I normally would go:

Scout
Scout
Shrine
Worker
Settler
Settler
Settler
Worker
Granary
Library
Watermill
National College
Caravans

I use Tradition, along with stealing at least 1 city state worker. Thanks for any tips that you could give.

If you're stealing worker then I think you can replace that first worker with archer or if that's not available yet then build the granary earlier. Put away your third settler until after you built the NC, and build another archer in its place. These two archers can be tremendous assistance on camp quests.

I'm a 3 city guy, and I delay the 2nd settler and built something in between. Even if I want to have more cities later I tend to go 3 city NC. I go for much earlier caravans than you because I play on Deity and it gives you a huge boost when sent to an AI city. The gold is usually negligible, but the BPT can effectively double your science T20-50. So I'd say that in between the settlers I usually build a granary or caravan, or both, helped by forest chops. Also, even if I am not warmongering I build a LOT of units. I don't see any on your BO. Depending on difficulty level, you could run into troubles.

Also, I play Honor and Liberty mainly, so there HAS to be a monument after the first scout to keep the CPT rolling in. I still build it with Tradition if I didn't hit 2 culture ruins.

100 turns is pretty far out, and if you building 3 settlers in a row like that, your growth is going to suffer.

I don't think your satellites are going to finish their libraries with the BO... (so NC is super-delayed, and your cap will probably take 20 turns to build it!) Hence I think you imply that you build your NC at t100, which is super slow and probably won't cut it on deity.

BO depends largely on terrain (and forest availability)
It's safe to get 2-3 scouts on Pangaea (2 is enough usually for me) then shrine is very situational on deity. Granary is almost always better than shrine if you have wheat/deer/bananas.

Most often I go:
scoutx2, granary, archers (1-3 depending), library, monument (just to get free amphitheatre)/caravan/worker/settler (this depends on the terrain and nearby AI flavors... next to an unbribeable warmonger a quick expansion is suicide; you'd best just block their settlers), NC (I am a big fan of OCC NC simply because it saves hammers, and gives you a very safe and solid foundation with plenty of time to get archers/chariots; it's not the most ambitious build but it's quite foolproof).

(steal workers and clear barb camps in the meantime).

For the rest of the 100 turns, Oracle, Hagia Sophia, expansions, caravans, etc. it all depends on the game

budweiser said:

100 turns is pretty far out, and if you building 3 settlers in a row like that, your growth is going to suffer.

Click to expand...

Agreed. An Impi Capet of Doom is going to man handle you very soon with no military production in there

kb27787 pretty much hit the nail on the head. Your B.O. is always going to change. It is going to be dependent on your map and Civ and what is around you. What SP are you going to open and complete. Are you going to expand into 6 or more self founded cities or are you going to keep it small? Are you going to get into a lot of Wars or play Peaceful? If you are going to try a Full Piety game you are going to want Shrines first however if you are playing a Full Honor game you want Archers and will most likely not worry about one Shrine. Some games I go 3x Scouts right from the get go and after that 3x settlers because my scouts have ruined a Civ next door and I need to get out and claim the land asap. If you are going to build the Oracle you are going to have to set it up with your B.O. as well so basically it is more important to know what type of game you are planning to play before you can figure out what you need to build. You can play this part of the game like Chess though only playing the first 50-75 turns and re-rolling another map to work on your Opening Game until you get a good feel for it. The funny thing is I hardly ever practiced my games like this. I ued to get involved in most of my games and want to finish them out but recently it has been easier to scrap a game and go to the next.

Yeah there's no real universal build order, maybe you'll hit some NWs, maybe you hit ElD, who knows. Generally I go 3 city Tradition NC and then add 4th and maybe 5th if there's room and enough spare happiness, but I rarely go over 4 in a standard game