Building 2nd settler first

[spiceant]

some of you prefer to grow your capitols to 2-3 and sometimes size 4 before building a worker or settler, however if you build a 2nd settler your city will not grow but you will also start to develop your first expansionist city earlyer.

when would it be a good choice to build the first 2nd settler before anything else?

 

[Orca]

Never. Instead build worker(s) first and settler by chopping trees.

 

[Oho]

Never. Instead build worker(s) first and settler by chopping trees.

Dunno, thats what I do but have to wait till about turn 30 before getting the first settler. Bronze working (~15) => Worker (~10) => Chop chop settler (~8).
But I assume it is generally wiser to start with a worker and chop for the settler.

 

[AngryPants]

I concur with his killerwhaleness, build that worker first, especially if you start with a tech that allows productive improvement of nearby squares. The only opening move I find preferable is to build a workboat 1st when there is an available seafood resource. This way you get the pop growth and an improved square at the same time.

 

[DaLuni]

I've found that if you don't start with building a worker your infrastructure will be sub par in the early game. Hooking up those important resources is crucial to your capital's growth, so I'd say that generally you should start with a worker, and then chop a settler.

 

[Quantum7]

I tend to build two workers first (with a warrior or two in between).

 

[MrCynical]

It's not always best to start with a worker, especially if you don't start with agriculture or mining, and won't research them before it completes. Due to the longer research times this is more of an issue in epic and marathon games. Once a worker has something to do it should be the number one priority, since the huge bonuses given to improved resources will more than outweigh the loss of early growth.

 

[Orca]

However those arent exactly many civs who lack mining agriculture and hunting (civs with hunting very often have something to hunt in capital city radius). The only civs which come to my mind here are Spain and Japan.

 

[spiceant]

i play japan on emperor dif epic speed huge continental maps, im still doing better with building the 2nd settler first, compared to other games where i dont

 

[Gato Loco]

I'm skeptical. Most cities aren't very good without a worker to improve terrain and chop forests. Unless you really need to claim a certain space first or need stone/copper for an early wonder/axe rush, I'd say don't start sending the settlers until you have a worker and a couple scouts/warriors exploring. And don' expect any return until you send a worker to fix up the new city.

 

[LuvMacheen]

In every civ game (III and IV) I have ever played the first thing I did was build a settler... in fact... I almost build settlers exclusively a the outset and it seems to 'work'... I end up with a ton of cities... after I start to encounter civs I then build warriors... by the time I start building warriors I invariably can build spearmen already.

I've been surprised by the number of people who don't do this...

This being said I've only played civ4 a couple times and am finding the barbarians a little frustrating at the outset using that methodology... I can't recall the difficulty level I play at either.. but it isn't very high... so maybe that's the big difference ?

 

[Cort Haus]

This being said I've only played civ4 a couple times ... I can't recall the difficulty level I play at either.. but it isn't very high... so maybe that's the big difference ?

Yes, that's the difference.

 

[FratBoy]

As LuvMacheen pointed out building settlers early is very important, at least on the higher difficulty levels. It's all one big land grab, basically you want to expand as fast as you can until all land is taken by either you or the AI.

However the best way to build those settlers is not to build them the old fashioned way. You want to CHOP those settlers. So usually you will build a worker first, and then start chopping. I always do stuff in this order:

Build worker 1
Chop worker 2
Chop worker 3
Chop settler 1
Chop settler 2

Basically each worker you chop = 2 trees, and each settler you chop = 3 trees, so my standard expansion costs me 10 trees. I will throw in a few warriors into this as needed. Remember that you can chop trees quite far from your city and they still give a decent amount of production. If my capital is desperately low on trees I will skip the 2nd settler, so the total is 7 trees chopped.

Once I have done this I move 2 of the workers to a newly founded city (leaving 1 worker to improve my capital), where they first chop a new worker, and then chop 1-2 new settlers. Again 2 of the workers move away from the city, leaving 1 to improve tiles (usually makes cottages).

This method gives you very fast expansion.

 

[LuvMacheen]

Perhaps I will try a higher level of difficulty.... and try this chopping thing... I rarely log onto here (in fact only came on to check out what the new patch does) so this chop-rush stuff is all new to me... I am guessing it means chop trees = prod bonus = taking turns off build cycle of unit...

I will have to try that...

 

[chefjason44]

Wow great Tips, I thought I had Civ down well, been playing since the original. I like the idea of choping for growth, I'm one of those types that like to put there workers on auto. Great web site by the way first time here.

 

[Mack the Knife]

You want to CHOP those settlers
Instead build worker(s) first and settler by chopping trees.

never played the previous civs, so answer me then flame me. what in heck does chopping settlers mean?

 

[LawLessOne]

Much depends on what Civ you start. Building a worker before you have the tech to chop is a waste. When your first city has a good enough production output you should build a settler while you wait for chopping tech to be researched or a worker if you already have it. Dont wait to build that all important first settler. Falling behind at this stage is usually fatal.

 

[LFaWolf]

Chopping means cutting down forest to give you that 30 hammers production for a quick build.

 

[Astax]

I msot often do 2 workers (without growing, only grow to 2 if u start withotu mining) before settler. I usualy play team so I watch my teammates and they end up severily behind me :/ I usually send my workers to speed them up with their second city because both my cities are already maxed out as factories of early troop zerg.

 

[shadow2k]

There's a nice thread on this here.http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=142027

After a lot of discussion/tests/number crunching, it turns into more of a worker first strategy. Long thread, but worth reading.