Demanding Tribute from CS

I'm not sure if there has ever been a guide or post about tribute but I couldn't find one anywhere. I'm interested if someone could give the basics of demanding tribute. Fairly new to the game and would love some help with this after I saw how helpful it was in a MP game by Filthy Robot.

Tldr - can someone give the the specifics for demanding tribute from CS and how it works?




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The low-detail version of this is that the military strength you have in the vicinity of a city state will determine how threatened they feel.

If you click into the option to demand tribute (there is a choice to make between extorting gold or extorting a worker from them, so there's a sub-menu before anything actually happens), you can mouse over each option and it gives an accounting of the factors that play into whether they feel threatened enough to give tribute. You can also mouse over the CS's city label on the main map to see a tooltip which will mention whether they will cave in if you demand tribute, but it doesn't list the factors that go into it.

I don't know all of the factors, but I think being a military CS gives them a bonus, already being extorted recently gives them a bonus, and probably being under a civ's protection gives them a bonus. Demanding a worker also gives a bonus to resist as compared to demanding gold.

So, the basic idea is that you move enough of your stuff next to them until the threat you pose outweighs their resistance to tribute demands. If you are successful, you get whatever you demanded and your influence with them drops some. From what I could tell, demanding tribute doesn't incur warmonger penalties with AI civs, except that any civs who were protecting that CS may get mad at you (a penalty that decays with time).

It's a combination of overall military strength and the difference the CS has to what you have within 8 tiles(or is it 10), aircraft seem to have no effect. Adopting gunboat diplomacy in the Autocracy tree makes adds %50 of this total. If you click the demand tribute button it will say in the tool-tip when you hover over the 2 options(take cash or a worker).

Here is the wiki link for CS, it has some on it:
http://http://civilization.wikia.com/wiki/City-state_(Civ5)

I don't do it much as they don't give a ton of gold and the benefits of being friends and allies are typically better as you can only threaten every once in a while. Having demanded tribute in the past makes them very unlikely to accept for a long while after (maybe 30 turns on average).

Factors that go into likelihood of success:
You can watch its progress by clicking "demand tribute" under the CS menu. There is a list of their "resistance" and your "threat level" in crude numbers. Them having a pledge of protection from you means you can't demand tribute. Them having it from someone else means they are more resistant to your demands, and I think their protectors strength and troop proximity has an effect on how stubborn they are as well. For instance, it is easier to threaten a CS who has a weak ally far away than a CS who has a strong one or is nearby. Also, each CS has a personality. Hostile civs are least likely to accept demands. This acts as a multiplier on their resistance to your threat. The easiest way to get a CS to give you tribute is to have a huge overall army, and to move a lot of it all around the CS as military proximity to them has a very large effect on their fear. For instance, if you have only an average-sized army but move the entire thing near them you still may be able to threaten. Lastly, if you have managed to be threatening enough the CS will reach "afraid" status showing as a golden bar under the name. this means they can be successfully threatened and you can demand gold or workers if they have one. Afterward, as mentioned, it will take a while before they are willing to accept any more demands.

I understand most of that what I'm wondering is like how many tiles a unit needs to be to be counted towards the score. Someone said 8 is that confirmed? If the units are closer do they get a bigger bonus? How much threat does each unit give? Is it based on strength or health or what? I assume a scout next to a CS is not as intimidating as a giant robot of death. What about how much gold they give you? Is it a set amount or does it increase by how much military you have close?


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Also if you pledge to protect does it make it harder for you to demand tribute or only for other people?


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Hey guys someone on reddit posted this link and it was very helpful. Note the first section is outdated and has been modified by someone if you scroll down further.

Thanks for all the help!


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