Bulbing at the Right Time

[gorf37]

Hi all,

Thanks to the great tips I've read here, I know win pretty handily on Prince. One aspect that I don't feel I've developed at all, however, is using Great People to bulb technologies, allowing for early deep beelines.

Can anyone relate their strategies for getting the most out of this method? For instance, I've noticed that by skipping certain pre-requisites, one could bulb a high (beaker-wise) tech that otherwise would not be available for bulbing.

Thanks!

 

[Ringo Kid]

Simplest thing is to plan in advance, and have your great dude farm set to produce the dude who will bulb the tech you want.

 

[slobberinbear]

DaveMcW has a strategy article that spells out which great people bulb which techs, in which order.

Generally speaking, until the renaissance period bulbing is overkill ... the great person generates more beakers for the bulb than is necessary for the tech. That is not to say that you shouldn't bulb for lower-tier techs, just be sure you really need the tech. Good pre-renaissance bulb choices are theology, metal casting, code of laws, and currency. You can also end up with some turkeys if you're not careful ... very cheap techs. You are better off knowing / educated guessing what kind of great person is coming and planning your tech accordingly, so that you can bulb what you want.

I probably bulb with about half of my great people. I will use one on a golden age, a few on special buildings, and settle the rest. Bulbing is more useful in late game when you (a) have fewer turns to earn your investment by settling and (b) you get full value for your bulbing.

 

[Solon70]

I don't typically bulb the early-game techs like Math but it's a perfectly reasonable thing to do if you have a bad economy and you're getting a tech with trading value.

The important thing is not really the number of beakers; obviously you'll always get far more beakers by settling an early GS than by bulbing a relatively cheap tech. The important thing is how many turns you save. If it was going to take you 10 turns to research Math but now it takes you 0, that means that your next tech after that will come in 10 turns sooner than it otherwise would, and same with the tech after that. Maybe you'll be ready to start a war 10 turns sooner and it will go better, or you'll get a useful tech like Education sooner and it will have a mushroom effect. It's the same principle where saving a worker turn very early in the game can have a dramatic effect as it multiplies down through the ages.

On the other hand, if there's not going to be much of a benefit in the short term other than saving those 10 turns, you'll obviously benefit much more than 10 turns' worth of research over the long haul by settling that GS or building an academy. But you have to judge the situation. The only truly boneheaded move is the early Golden Age, which I don't think is ever right.

 

[mirthadir]

A few general points:
1. GSc give more expensive techs (potentially) than other GP.
2. GSp give you more "beakers", but they require to use espionage.
3. Know your GP pool. If you build Oracle and SH, expect to get GPr and hence look to bulb theo or DR. If you build Mids and HG, look for Machinery or engineering.


There are few very common, reasonably easy techs to bulb with a bit of beelining if you want to start to get a handle on the power of bulbing.

1. GSc - Philo. This is the most expensive tech in the game you can get for one GP. CoL + alpha + math + med is required and no access to paper. This has the uses of (often) founding a religion, opening AW (a very powerful wonder, potentially), opening up Pac (very powerful for bulbing more stuff quickly), and being on the way to Lib.
2. GPr - Theo. Mono + Med + Priest(?) + writing. Founds a religion (usually), opens up the most broke wonder in the game (AP), and gives you a potentially 20% increase in your military efficiency. Can be used to head off to paper - edu - lib.
3. Gsc Edu. Paper. This is not a full tech, but getting edu sooner opens up unis and Oxford which makes your economy fly. It also is on the way to lib.
4. Astro - Optics + Calender + alpha; no philo/paper access. This requires two GSc to complete, but is extremely powerful if you are alone at sea (I like to take it with a GLH strat). Getting the Obs is good, getting galleons can be game breaking, and opening up Sci Meth as potential lib shot (trading your way back up to Edu).

 

[TheMeInTeam]

For astro you must also have math.

 

[mirthadir]

For astro you must also have math.

For some reason I was thinking that was a Cal prereq.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

you're right. For some reason I wasn't. And it's the *not* thinking that tends to land one in trouble...Needs more caffeine...

 

[gorf37]

Thanks guys!

great tips, I've been trying it out in a

Lincoln/Prince/Normal Speed game.

Bulbed theocracy, but then didn't build the AP, as I was gearing for war with Jao. Cats, trebs and macemen knocked off ~1/2 his cities pretty quickly, but I didn't continue building units quite long enough, so my war is stalling. It'll take some serious luck to dislodge his defenders from a castled last city, which I'm trying to raze to take cultural pressure off my new shrine(s) city.

Gorf