Rate the Beliefs - part IV: Enhancer beliefs

Thank you to those who voted in the the previous threads about Pantheon beliefs,Founder beliefs and Follower Beliefs. This is the last round and should be quick to vote down.

I'd ask you to put your vote before the name of each belief, like this:
3 - Fertility Rites: 10% faster Growth Rate


Give votes between 0 and 5, where 1 is worst and 5 is best, like this:
5 = Excellent
4 = Very good
3 = Good
2 = Decent
1 = Poor
0 = Bad or Very Bad

When voting, take into account both the strength of the belief and how universal it is in its aplicability. To give an example of this, a belief like Desert Folklore is very strong but also very specific (and therefore not universal), in that if you don't have any Desert near your starting location, it's going to be quite worthless. Also of course, how well it suites your playing style or personal likes or dislikes also should influence your vote. How you weight the different things is subjective obviously. I'll try to make some statistics when people have put in some votes to see how things distribute.

The list of Enhancer beliefs is here:

Enhancer Beliefs:
_ - Defender of the Faith: +20% Combat near friendly Cities that follow this Religion
_ - Holy Order: Missionaries and Inquisitors cost 30% less Faith
_ - Itinerant Preachers: Religion spreads to cities 30% further away
_ - Just War: +20% Combat near enemy Cities that follow this Religion
_ - Messiah: Prophets 25% stronger and earned with 25% less Faith
_ - Missionary Zeal: Missionary conversion strength +25%
_ - Religious Texts: Religion spreads 34% faster (68% with Printing Press)
_ - Religious Unity: Religion spreads to friendly city-states at double rate
_ - Reliquary: Gain 50 Faith each time a Great Person is expended

1 - Defender of the Faith: You'd almost always be better off spending faith with Holy Warriors to get better combat...near ANY city.
5 - Holy Order: Requires active spread of religion, but it prevents your religion getting stopped where enemy religions start.
5 - Itinerant Preachers: For passive spread of religion, this can't be beat, but if you are willing to be active, see above.
0 - Just War: Like Defender but more likely you have to use faith to spread your religion to start with and more likely you are going aggressive, making it even worse.
1 - Messiah: Prophets get too expensive too quickly to give this a major effect.
3 - Missionary Zeal: I can't say I've ever really used this one, but logically it's ok.
3 - Religious Texts: Itinerant Preachers is generally better for passive religion spread and this gets considerably worse on marathon, making it less universal as well.
2 - Religious Unity: It's good for diplo, and if you have lots of CS's nearby, it's possible to get religious pressure to other civs faster, but...meh
0 - Reliquary: Those small packets of faith will do nothing for you at this point. Take Holy Order or Missionary Zeal to save more faith than this will produce.

My votes are:

3 - Defender of the Faith: Pretty good in cultural games where you don't plan to spread your religion or go military. 20 % defence is pretty significant.
2 - Holy Order: I rarely use Missionaries, they have too little effect on cities that are already converted, and with Religious Texts or Itinerant Preachers I don't need to convert my own cities.
4 - Itinerant Preachers: Pretty good although not as good as Religious Texts imo.
2 - Just War: Too combersome to get to work to really be worth it I think.
4 - Messiah: The discount on Prophets is nice if you missed RT or IP and want to spread your religion a lot.
1 - Missionary Zeal: Worse than Holy Order which also affects Inquisitors.
5 - Religious Texts: Massive! Insta-pick if first to enhance. Religion spreads like wildfire (on normal game speed at least).
2 - Religious Unity: Not *that* bad, but kind of hard pressed to find a situation where this is your first pick.
1 - Reliquary: Pretty bad. Even if you play cultural and have the Mausoleum I guess there would be other beliefs you'd rather have.

4 - Defender of the Faith: +20% Combat near friendly Cities that follow this Religion
2 - Holy Order: Missionaries and Inquisitors cost 30% less Faith
4 - Itinerant Preachers: Religion spreads to cities 30% further away
3 - Just War: +20% Combat near enemy Cities that follow this Religion
1 - Messiah: Prophets 25% stronger and earned with 25% less Faith
2 - Missionary Zeal: Missionary conversion strength +25%
5 - Religious Texts: Religion spreads 34% faster (68% with Printing Press)
1 - Religious Unity: Religion spreads to friendly city-states at double rate
0 - Reliquary: Gain 50 Faith each time a Great Person is expended

i almost ever pick religious texts if available, although itinerant preachers can also be very strong, especially on archipelago or small/large islands maps. as i tend to play peacefully in most games, defender of faith is also nice when a lot of armies come knocking at your door and the two passive pressure enhancers are already taken :S
i only played once with Just War and send missionaries and prophets ahead of my army. it was fun and seemed strong, but doesnt fit my normal playstyle.

kaspergm said:

Give votes between 0 and 5, where 1 is worst and 5 is best, like this:
5 = Excellent
4 = Very good
3 = Good
2 = Decent
1 = Poor
0 = Bad or Very Bad

Click to expand...

Enhancer Beliefs:
3 - Defender of the Faith: +20% Combat near friendly Cities that follow this Religion
3 - Holy Order: Missionaries and Inquisitors cost 30% less Faith
5 - Itinerant Preachers: Religion spreads to cities 30% further away
3 - Just War: +20% Combat near enemy Cities that follow this Religion
3 - Messiah: Prophets 25% stronger and earned with 25% less Faith
1 - Missionary Zeal: Missionary conversion strength +25%
5 - Religious Texts: Religion spreads 34% faster (68% with Printing Press)
2 - Religious Unity: Religion spreads to friendly city-states at double rate
2 - Reliquary: Gain 50 Faith each time a Great Person is expended[/QUOTE]

1- Defender of the Faith: +20% Combat near friendly Cities that follow this Religion
3- Holy Order: Missionaries and Inquisitors cost 30% less Faith
5- Itinerant Preachers: Religion spreads to cities 30% further away
1- Just War: +20% Combat near enemy Cities that follow this Religion
3- Messiah: Prophets 25% stronger and earned with 25% less Faith
2- Missionary Zeal: Missionary conversion strength +25%
5- Religious Texts: Religion spreads 34% faster (68% with Printing Press)
2- Religious Unity: Religion spreads to friendly city-states at double rate
0- Reliquary: Gain 50 Faith each time a Great Person is expended

The best 2 are the 2 pressure ones. By a long way. Holy order and Messiah can be useful in specific circumstances. I've never been able to make the rest do much for me.

1- Defender of the Faith: +20% Combat near friendly Cities that follow this Religion
5- Holy Order: Missionaries and Inquisitors cost 30% less Faith
5- Itinerant Preachers: Religion spreads to cities 30% further away
4- Just War: +20% Combat near enemy Cities that follow this Religion
3- Messiah: Prophets 25% stronger and earned with 25% less Faith
2- Missionary Zeal: Missionary conversion strength +25%
5- Religious Texts: Religion spreads 34% faster (68% with Printing Press)
2- Religious Unity: Religion spreads to friendly city-states at double rate
1- Reliquary: Gain 50 Faith each time a Great Person is expended

Holy Order is great. I always have to buy inquisitors to counteract the spreading of AI prophets.

@kaspergm
Nice threads, I was already beginning to sum up the votes myself to get an average rating, when I saw you did that in the Pantheon thread already. I am assuming you will do the same for the other ones, right?

May I suggest that once voting is somewhat over (it never is, but as threads get older, people will not contribute anymore) you create one new thread, summing up all other threads with a ranking for each belief type? That would make it an easy reference for those interested and you don't need to go into each thread, fining the exact post where you summed it up.

Cheers!

wannabewarlord said:

@kaspergm
Nice threads, I was already beginning to sum up the votes myself to get an average rating, when I saw you did that in the Pantheon thread already. I am assuming you will do the same for the other ones, right?

May I suggest that once voting is somewhat over (it never is, but as threads get older, people will not contribute anymore) you create one new thread, summing up all other threads with a ranking for each belief type? That would make it an easy reference for those interested and you don't need to go into each thread, fining the exact post where you summed it up.

Cheers!

Click to expand...

I have posted average towards the end of each thread - but yes, I'll make a collected list when this voting has got some more votes.

2 - Defender of the Faith: +20% Combat near friendly Cities that follow this Religion
4 - Holy Order: Missionaries and Inquisitors cost 30% less Faith
4 - Itinerant Preachers: Religion spreads to cities 30% further away
2 - Just War: +20% Combat near enemy Cities that follow this Religion
3 - Messiah: Prophets 25% stronger and earned with 25% less Faith
3 - Missionary Zeal: Missionary conversion strength +25%
5 - Religious Texts: Religion spreads 34% faster (68% with Printing Press)
1 - Religious Unity: Religion spreads to friendly city-states at double rate
0 - Reliquary: Gain 50 Faith each time a Great Person is expended

1 - Defender of the Faith: +20% Combat near friendly Cities that follow this Religion

3 - Holy Order: Missionaries and Inquisitors cost 30% less Faith
M's are horribly weak, so I use more I's. Same effect can be had from one of the Piety SPs though

4 - Itinerant Preachers: Religion spreads to cities 30% further away
Best one if RT cant be had

2 - Just War: +20% Combat near enemy Cities that follow this Religion

4 - Messiah: Prophets 25% stronger and earned with 25% less Faith
I really like this one and dont mind taking it if I have to. GPs with 1250 power are great

2 - Missionary Zeal: Missionary conversion strength +25%
Badly needed, but still too little bang for the buck

5 - Religious Texts: Religion spreads 34% faster (68% with Printing Press)
Very good

2 - Religious Unity: Religion spreads to friendly city-states at double rate
A bit limited; the other spreading beliefs are more universal.

2 - Reliquary: Gain 50 Faith each time a Great Person is expended
Too, too little.

3 - Defender of the Faith: +20% Combat near friendly Cities that follow this Religion
I'm surprised more people don't like this one. I like it in cultural/peaceful games, especially if I'm already getting bonuses from somewhere, like ethiopia. Very strong defenders means fewer defenders, means more hammers or gold for growth.

3 - Holy Order: Missionaries and Inquisitors cost 30% less Faith
I can see how this would be useful for games with competitive religion-spreading.

4 - Itinerant Preachers: Religion spreads to cities 30% further away
Very useful for passive spread.

4 - Just War: +20% Combat near enemy Cities that follow this Religion
Really nice for people who want to use it to their advantage in war.

1 - Messiah: Prophets 25% stronger and earned with 25% less Faith
Meh. The extra strength is pretty situational, and I've never thought to myself "gee, I sure wish I was getting more prophets" after I'd already had an enhancer belief, but maybe if you're Byzantium.

2 - Missionary Zeal: Missionary conversion strength +25%
It's probably noticeable in active spreading games, but not all that appealing.

5 - Religious Texts: Religion spreads 34% faster (68% with Printing Press)
Extremely good. Faster spread means wider spread, means more suppression of other religions, making it useful even if you're using missionaries too.

1 - Religious Unity: Religion spreads to friendly city-states at double rate
I don't like it. I take it now and then and try to go out of my way to make it useful, but I've never succeeded.

0 - Reliquary: Gain 50 Faith each time a Great Person is expended
Completely garbage.

2 - Defender of the Faith: +20% Combat near friendly Cities that follow this Religion
3 - Holy Order: Missionaries and Inquisitors cost 30% less Faith
4 - Itinerant Preachers: Religion spreads to cities 30% further away
3 - Just War: +20% Combat near enemy Cities that follow this Religion
3 - Messiah: Prophets 25% stronger and earned with 25% less Faith
2 - Missionary Zeal: Missionary conversion strength +25%
5 - Religious Texts: Religion spreads 34% faster (68% with Printing Press)
1 - Religious Unity: Religion spreads to friendly city-states at double rate
0 - Reliquary: Gain 50 Faith each time a Great Person is expended

My scale
0-1 useless
2 very situational
3 strong given combination with another belief / social policy choice (Piety in particular) and overall grand strategy
4-5 Strong/recommended

Itinerant Preachers & Religious Texts rate highest for me, but oddly, I go with Religious Texts 100% of the time if it hasn't been picked already. I think pressure is more important than distance, although the distance can be useful in cases where my cities aren't as tighly packed in a given direction/part of the map due to a land grab or settling on ideal tiles (ie: Incas close to hills etc), making outward pressure much weaker than I want it to be.

Converting the AI though is fairly simple as their cities are well spaced but tight. So Itinerant Preachers is far less useful than Religious Texts. Also Religious Texts get's a boost at Printing Press which also unlocks a wonder with a 'free' Engineer. It's almost too good to pass it up.

Byzantines with the free enhancer is a really good case for Itinerant Preacher + Religious Texts

3- Defender of the Faith: +20% Combat near friendly Cities that follow this Religion
3- Holy Order: Missionaries and Inquisitors cost 30% less Faith
4- Itinerant Preachers: Religion spreads to cities 30% further away
2- Just War: +20% Combat near enemy Cities that follow this Religion
4- Messiah: Prophets 25% stronger and earned with 25% less Faith
1- Missionary Zeal: Missionary conversion strength +25%
5- Religious Texts: Religion spreads 34% faster (68% with Printing Press)
2- Religious Unity: Religion spreads to friendly city-states at double rate
4- Reliquary: Gain 50 Faith each time a Great Person is expended

mposyncckh said:

4- Reliquary: Gain 50 Faith each time a Great Person is expended

Click to expand...

You must be crazy

I use it with educated elite so all those great people give faith which I can use to buy more great people with. I used it with Sweden and so I also got 90 points of influence with each person my allies gave me or I got with faith. Not the most universal but that game with Sweden was one of my favorites

Still, 50 points of faith doesn't go far when the base cost of Great People are 1000, and then it increases with subsequent purchases.

Personally I don't consider any of them a 5, this category in general just seems much weaker than the others. I never get excited about any of the options here.

This is the current status of the last voting. The passive religion spreaders seem expectedly take the lead (4.7 and 4.4), and Reliquary taking a very solid last (1.1), only saved by a few votes above 1, and definitely one that needs some improving. Since Reliquary is tied up with Great People, one might consider adding a discount for purchasing Great People with faith, that might definitely make it more attractive for people who don't really focus on spreading the religion wide. One might also consider cutting a bit off Religious Texts (perhaps +33 % / +50 % instead of +33 % / +67 %)?

Enhancer Beliefs:
2.3 - Defender of the Faith: +20% Combat near friendly Cities that follow this Religion
3.2 - Holy Order: Missionaries and Inquisitors cost 30% less Faith
4.4 - Itinerant Preachers: Religion spreads to cities 30% further away
2.5 - Just War: +20% Combat near enemy Cities that follow this Religion
2.7 - Messiah: Prophets 25% stronger and earned with 25% less Faith
2.0 - Missionary Zeal: Missionary conversion strength +25%
4.7 - Religious Texts: Religion spreads 34% faster (68% with Printing Press)
1.7 - Religious Unity: Religion spreads to friendly city-states at double rate
1.1 - Reliquary: Gain 50 Faith each time a Great Person is expended

Thanks for this compilation it's great.