New to Civ 5 help me pick a starting civ!

[Bludstained1]

So I've got about 10 hours on Civilization 5 BNW with all the DLC and i'm looking to get REALLY good with one civ, a main I guess you could say. What are your guys's suggestions? I'm going to be mostly looking for versatility, I want a Civ that can perform well in most situations and be consistent. I'm still pretty new and I've only played like two or three, so I'm hoping one of you guys with more experience can point me in the right direction, however, I know theres a few civ's that are considered "OP" Like Poland I've been told, and i'd prefer to avoid those so I don't end up learning the game from that kind of standpoint.

 

[revelation216]

I suggest Greece. Not only do they have some great early game units, they can also play very well for all victory conditions due to their manipulation of city states. With the right social policy options in combination with Greece's unique ability, you can achieve permanent alliances with city states because your influence will cease to degrade.

 

[Nonevah]

America's a good all-rounder. The tile purchase really helps when the culture governor is being dumb, and the extra sight is good for scouting.
They really shine in war, though, with the extra sight really helping outmaneuver the AI and the B-17 and the Minutemen both being very strong UUs.

 

[DarkestOnion]

I would choose England on a Continents Map as a first game. Strong unique units and decent unique abilities.

 

[bison21]

If you really just started playing, picking an "OP" civ makes no difference since you have so much to learn about basic mechanics that the fine tuning really doesn't matter imho. Before Emperor it certainly doesn't. What difficulty are you on?

 

[Wild_Woojsha]

Best bet will be the Byzantines. They are widely voted the worst Civ in Civ V, so what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger!

On a more seriously strategic note, a navy of Dromons and embarked melee units make great coastal city snatchers in the early game and you can get another building for a faster sacred sites culture victory in the mid game. Otherwise, your forced to master universal Civ strategies, which makes you better with EVERY Civ instead of just one, which if you play multiplayer with anyone other than friends will help since they like to go random a lot of the time anyways. Plus, if you beat people with what is considered the worst Civ, it makes victory that much better.

 

[prodi]

I suggest Ethiopia. They have the Stele, which is a great building to start you off with culture and faith, and they give a little boost to defensive wars. They're a decent civilization that could help you have a fun game, without being either too strong or weak.

 

[Nares]

I know theres a few civ's that are considered "OP" Like Poland

Poland isn't OP in the hands of a beginner.

I'd probably second America. The +1 sight is great for beginners, and as you climb difficulty you'll soon give up plot purchasing out of necessity.

 

[claudiupb]

I would suggest Poland though. Having extra policies can give nice combinations over the social policies trees. This experimenting will help you to figure out how SP trees work, and which strategies are for you. But if you switch civs you will miss the extra Social Policies.

 

[consentient]

The most flexible and fun civ is Sweden, IMO.

If playing peaceful, you get great bonuses to Great People birth rate and CS influence, which can make Cultural, Diplomatic and Science wins easier and more fun.

And they are hands-down the best civ to go Honor warmongering with, donating Great Generals and stealing all the CS.

So they are similar to Greece, which someone suggested, but a bit more interactive.

 

[IronfighterXXX]

So I've got about 10 hours on Civilization 5 BNW with all the DLC and i'm looking to get REALLY good with one civ, a main I guess you could say.

You can't be a good civilization player with one civ and mediocre with others (maybe with one exception - Huns on pangea )

The differences between civs seems to be huge from beginner's perspective but in fact they are not so big and mostly just for flavour (eg. usually given land is more important in your strategy than UAs or UUs).

So instead of trying to learn how to play one civ just learn overall strategies.

 

[beetle]

You can't be a good civilization player with one civ and mediocre with others ... The differences between civs seems to be huge from beginner's perspective but in fact they are not so big and mostly just for flavour (eg. usually given land is more important in your strategy than UAs or UUs). So instead of trying to learn how to play one civ just learn overall strategies.

Ironfighter is spot on with this.

i'm looking to get REALLY good with one civ, a main I guess you could say. What are your guys's suggestions? I'm going to be mostly looking for versatility, I want a Civ that can perform well in most situations and be consistent. I'm still pretty new and I've only played like two or three, so I'm hoping one of you guys with more experience can point me in the right direction, however, I know theres a few civ's that are considered "OP" Like Poland I've been told, and i'd prefer to avoid those so I don't end up learning the game from that kind of standpoint.

If you really just started playing, picking an "OP" civ makes no difference since you have so much to learn about basic mechanics that the fine tuning really doesn't matter imho.

Poland isn't OP in the hands of a beginner.

If you are just focusing on the game mechanics, Poland is a great choice. They are actually pretty generic. Yes, they are relatively OP but their unique ability (UA) just means you are getting through the social policy (SP) trees quickly -- so that is helpful for someone new because you get to see more of what the game has to offer.

Compare Poland to say Korea, which is often cited as OP. Learning on Korea really will will spoil you for other civs. Their UA is so strong and skewed that it will give you the wrong impression about how science unfolds in a typical game, and both of the Korean unique units (UU) play differently than the defaults.

One you find yourself having too much fun with Poland’s Winged Hussars -- it is time to move on. I agree with America as a good choice for Bludstained1's stated aims as well. The UA/UU are pretty subtle, so you should not pick up habbits that interfere with using other civs. Sweden is also fine for a beginner if you just ignore their UA (which is a little conflicted to exploit anyway). For what he says he is looking for, the other civs suggested so far have uniques that too specialized IMHO.

 

[stormtrooper412]

You can't be a good civilization player with one civ and mediocre with others (maybe with one exception - Huns on pangea )

The differences between civs seems to be huge from beginner's perspective but in fact they are not so big and mostly just for flavour (eg. usually given land is more important in your strategy than UAs or UUs).

So instead of trying to learn how to play one civ just learn overall strategies.

Yes. This is not a fighting game in which you "main" one character. This game is all about the concept

 

[cazaderonus]

Ironfighter is spot on with this.

I agree as well. It's better to emphasize on learning basic tactics and "hidden" knowledge. Now, using a civ that emphasize even more the advantage of a specific strategy would help in making things more obvious.

Aka a tradition\rationalism\liberty Tall play for a SV using Korea. WOuld be good to learn the #1 importance of food output for science and the use of specialists.

 

[GenuineRisk]

I think Arabia's a great balance of versatility and fun. Their UA, UU and UB are all great and can help you win any victory condition depending on what you want to do or what the game throws at you.

 

[Kriogen]

Im still new(ish) to Civ5, but played more then 10 hours . I can do Emperor, but above is tricky (at best). Not total begginer, but I still remember how it was at start.

The most I learned about Civ5 was when I played as Germans.

Nothing big, no special trick, just a bit better. I mean trick like Koreas "if I have specialist I tech faster then god".

UA: you pay less maintanance for land units. You always get this perk (not like Byzantine and religion). Not big, but helps.
You can also "assimilate" barbarian camps. Helps at start when hammers are rare and you need extra units so Attila doesn't get funky ideas.

UB: a bank that boosts production if you trade with City States. You want gold(bank) anyway and at one point other major civs will hate just because you exist, so CSs will be your only trading partner.

UU: if for whatever reason you have a feeling you can't get SV or CV or DomV is not going so well, Panzer will fix it. In one game I was slowed by Shaka, Persia snowballed. But they couldn't stop my Clausewitz boosted Panzers even when they had (and used) nukes, bombers, rocket artilery, mech infantry and some toys I never seen before that game. I even poped def 151 Persepolis in 2 turns with Panzers only (arties move so slow). Not lost a single one (vs Persepolis, did lost some when nukes where droping).

It's not that Panzer hits so much harder. But because of extra speed (speed kills) I knocked down cities faster then AI could conjure more units. If you do war, do it fast.

 

[wayneb64]

Play random civilization. It will keep you from becoming reliant on any one civilizations benefits and trying to use and exploit the different unique abilities will expose you to different aspects of the game, which is what you really need to focus on. There are so many things to learn you don't want to get in a 'rut' and ignore all the dimensions of this game and how they interact.

 

[revelation216]

Just wanted to show the 0 change to influence from city states with Greece. Permanent alliances when the CS has same religion and you've taken Patronage opener.

Spoiler :

Moderator Action: Wide image wrapped in spoiler tag.

 

[Plumfairy]

I would suggest Poland though. Having extra policies can give nice combinations over the social policies trees. This experimenting will help you to figure out how SP trees work, and which strategies are for you. But if you switch civs you will miss the extra Social Policies.

Fwiw, I agree with this. Poland's bonuses are merely "very nice" in the hands of a beginniner, and the extra Social Policies help you to explore things a bit.

But he's right that you'll come to miss the free-bee social policies when you start playing any non-Polish civ.

 

[Bludstained1]

I have taken up the Mayans! They are by-far my favorite civilization so far. Thank you all for your suggestions as I've tried nearly all of them but once I got my hands on the Mayans this game just became 10x more fun for me.