Reformation: Charitable Missions + Patronage: Philanthropy

Hey everyone, coming from the Reformation Belief ranking thread (check it out, it gives great opinions on how "powerful" the beliefs are), found a neat combo.

Charitable Missions: Influences boosts from Gold gifts to City-States are increased by 30%.

Philanthropy: Gold gifts to City-States produce 25% more influence.

So, I don't quite have the formula down, but I did get some numbers.

Classical Era
Standard City-State
Gifts: 250, 550, 1000 gold
Base: 25, 55, 110 influence
Patronage: 30, 65, 135 influence
Reformed: 30, 70, 140 influence
Both: 40, 85, 170 influence

"Investor Mission" City-State
Gifts: 250, 550, 1000 gold
Base: 35, 80, 165 influence
Patronage: 45, 100, 205 influence
Reformed: 45, 105, 210 influence
Both: 60, 125, 255 influence

Also, I just learned that sharing religion with a city-state reduces the decay rate. Never knew that!

I've usually used Consulates + Papal Primacy + Pledges approach. That would raise you up to 45 , which meant any quest or gift would get you allied. This seems like an interesting round-about way if you want to use religion to win city-states, but you missed out on beliefs such as Tithe and Papal Primacy. I can imagine the fun with Venice, Portugal, Morocco, and Arabia having an easier time with Diplomacy Victory.

I am using Patronage and Charitable Missions in my current Brazil game to good effect. I am going for a diplomatic victory and it is coming along nicely.

Does you get the bonus to all CS, or only with CS following your religion?

All CS. It's like a secondary Philanthropy social policy.

ToodleElNoodos said:

All CS. It's like a secondary Philanthropy social policy.

Click to expand...

Thanks, thats' pretty good.

This exact combo is how I scored a runaway victory as Arabia in my last game (along with Commerce and Pilgrimage)

Thanks to Arabia's UA, my religion was EVERYWHERE, which meant I was bringing in a ton of faith. I finished Piety first, so my Great Prophets turned into +6 faith +3 culture +3 gold improvements, which let me keep getting policies at a great rate. Then I finished Commerce, and could start turning my huge faith income into Great Merchants. A few trade missions got me influence, AND enough gold that I could easily buy 150 influence (a city-state seeking investors was even better).

With most of the city states in my pocket, I had a large enough army that no-one would declare on me, enough happiness from Mercantiles to settle anywhere I liked, and even more culture and faith from the cultural and religious city-states. So I focused on science, bulbed into Atomic, and scored the UN victory around turn 350

Thuellai said:

This exact combo is how I scored a runaway victory as Arabia in my last game (along with Commerce and Pilgrimage)

Thanks to Arabia's UA, my religion was EVERYWHERE, which meant I was bringing in a ton of faith. I finished Piety first, so my Great Prophets turned into +6 faith +3 culture +3 gold improvements, which let me keep getting policies at a great rate. Then I finished Commerce, and could start turning my huge faith income into Great Merchants. A few trade missions got me influence, AND enough gold that I could easily buy 150 influence (a city-state seeking investors was even better).

With most of the city states in my pocket, I had a large enough army that no-one would declare on me, enough happiness from Mercantiles to settle anywhere I liked, and even more culture and faith from the cultural and religious city-states. So I focused on science, bulbed into Atomic, and scored the UN victory around turn 350

Click to expand...

I am thinking of a game as Arabia along these lines. Could you give more background about (i) what religious beliefs did you choose, (ii) what policies besides Piety, (iii) what ideology?

Thanks.

Go piety. Get early shrines up. Take faith-generating beliefs (Desert Faith is great for this, for example, or Pilgrimage - since your religion spreads exceptionally fast to trade partners). As soon as you get your religion founded, get a couple caravans going (grab horseback riding and sailing for two early trade routes). Mosques are nice for their high faith generation, and I believe there's an Enhancer belief that makes Great Prophets cheaper and stronger - you want that. Drop Religious Sites everywhere you can - with Piety finished, they're 6 faith, 3 culture, 3 gold, which helps with everything but growth that you could get out of the other ancient trees (if you want growth, Feed the World isn't a bad belief). As soon as you get Reformation, take Charitable Missions. Then go for Patronage. You don't have to finish it, but at least get Philanthropy. Then you can either finish Patronage or turn to Commerce. Your faith generation should be quite high by now, make sure to get mosques up in all your cities if you have 'em. Finish Commerce - the profits from this are very nice, especially since you're a trader anyway. By now you should have Bazaars, too, which mean double luxes letting you trade for even more gold and GPT. Now you can buy Great Merchants with Faith, and you'll be getting a LOT of faith. Hit nearby city-states with the Great Merchants, then use the profits to buy the loyalty of farther away city-states. When Ideologies hit, I usually go for Freedom for its diplomatic benefits and also for New Deal, which brings your Holy Sites up to a ridiculous amount of Faith. Once city-state votes are counted, you'll probably be in charge of the World Congress - go ahead and get your religion made the World Religion, and try to grab the policy that adds +2 culture to Great Person improvements.

Also, if you see someone who wants investors, capitalize on that. With so many modifiers you'll get an INSANE amount of influence from a single donation - I had 150+ influence with basically everyone by end-game.