One City Challenge - Egypt Culture Guide

[Merenptah]

In this guide I will describe how to achieve a Cultural Victory playing Egypt. Culture is ideally suited for OCC since Social Policy cost increases with the number of cities. In this guide I will show how you can quickly maximize your Culture generation and Social Policy progression, by using Wonders as well as Happiness, in addition to boosting raw Culture. For a more generic guide please see OCC - Emperor Freedom Strategy Guide.

Setup: Egypt, Emperor Level, Pangea Plus, Standard Size (8 Civs, 16 City-States), Standard Pace (500 Turns), Strategic Balance (ensures Iron and Horses nearby), No Barbs/Ruins, OCC ticked

Part I - Walkthrough

Starting Location

Next to a river is obviously a good choice, so you can build the Water Mill for the extra Hammer and two extra Food, as well as the Hydro Plant later on which will get you an extra Hammer on each tile next to a River.

In addition, having a coastal city, will provide great tactical advantage as well as enabling easy exploration of all those City-States once you are able to build the Caravel. Your first attacks will most likely come from land, and having a few Frigates sniping enemy units from sea will greatly skew the odds in your favour even if you are behind technologically.

Phase 1: Laying the Foundations (Pre-industrial Era)

Initially, you will get your Food income up (Granary, Hanging Gardens, etc.) and try to boost your growth as much as possible (Fertility Rites, Temple of Artemis, Social Policies). Then you should head straight to Chichen Itza and pick up The Oracle after having built the National College.

Next you should focus on Religion and Faith generation. Build the Hagia Sophia as soon as you get Theology and the Grand Temple after that. Your first choice of a Follower Belief should be Divine Inspiration, giving you an instant boost to your Faith and allowing you to enhance your Religion in no time, as well as providing an ever increasing Faith output for every Wonder you build. Once you have enhanced your Religion, buy an Inquisitor and then focus on crunching out Great Prophets that you will all use for Holy Sites.

Education will be your next target, and you should buy the University for 660g as soon as you get there and build the Oxford University immediately while you research Chivalry. Use the free tech for acoustics and start building the Sistine Chapel. If you can’t finish it before getting to Chivalry just switch to building the Alhambra and finish it later.

After the Alhambra, you should try to build the Notre Dame as a top priority and then the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and get yourself a Great Scientist for an Academy). At this stage you should be heading towards Architecture and build the Hermitage (+50% Culture as soon as you get there). Build the Taj Mahal after that, and have a shot at the Porcelain Tower if it’s still available.

Phase 2: Let us all be happy (Industrial Era)

Once you enter the Industrial Era, you should start immediately on your Freedom Social Policies and switch your faith purchase to Great Artists. In addition you should have you should have your two Great Artist slots occupied to crunch out more Great Artists. Plant all of these.

Scientific Theory should be your first Industrial tech, and you should buy a Public School for 920g as soon as you get there and set your tech path to Archaeology. On the way there you will research all your naval technologies which will allow you to build the Caravel, so you can start making contact with City-Sates. You should have several thousand of Gold saved at this stage, which you can now use to ally Cultural City-Sates.

Once you got Archaeology, you should buy the Museum for 920g (so keep some and don’t spend it all on City-Sates), and start building the Louvre for two free Great Artists which you should plant as well. After that, set your tech path to Radio and buy the Broadcast tower (give +33% culture) for 1350g, and start building the Eiffel Tower. This is the last bit you will need for a smooth sailing towards Cultural Victory. After having filled the Tradition, Piety, Freedom and Patronage Social Policy trees, it is best to finish with Commerce, build the Utopia Project, and win.

Part II – A few things in more detail

Happiness and Golden Ages

Happiness is very important when aiming for a Cultural Victory and you second most important stat after culture. First of all, Happiness will boost your Culture directly via the Piety Social Policy Mandate of Heaven, which will give you half your Happiness as additional Culture. Therefore you should always trade for Lux and ally City-States with unique Luxuries when you can.

In addition, Happiness will affect the frequency of Golden Ages you will have. Golden Ages will boost your Culture by 20% for its duration. Clearly you will want that benefit as often as possible and as long as possible. Therefore, one of the key Wonders you will want is the Chichen Itza (+50% duration of Golden Ages) as well as a completed Freedom Social Policy tree which gives an additional +50% duration doubling the duration of all your Golden Ages.

Golden Ages have other benefits as well of course, such as increasing your Gold income and boosting your productivity by 20% for its duration; excellent additions that will boost your path to victory.

World Wonders

Wonders are a central part of a Cultural Victory. Unlike for Science, there are two World Wonders that will increase your culture output early, the Alhambra +20% and the Sistine Chapel +25%. In addition there are a few World Wonders that increase your Happiness further enhancing your Strategy.

Here is a list of World Wonders you should try to get:
1. Temple of Artemis (+10% Growth, Ranged Units produced +15% faster)
2. Hanging Gardens (+6 Food and a free Garden)
3. The Oracle (free Social Policy)
4. Chichen Itza* (+4 Happiness; +50% duration of Golden Ages; hard to get so you must rush to it)
5. Hagia Sophia (Great Prophet and free Burial Tomb)
6. Sistine Chapel (+25% Culture; use Oxford University to get Acoustics after Education and start it)
7. Alhambra* (+20% Culture and free Castle; difficult to get at higher levels, but worth aiming for)
8. Notre Dame (+10 Happiness; +4 Faith)
9. Leaning Tower of Pisa (+25% GP generation, and a GP of choice)
10. Taj Mahal (+4 Happiness + free Golden Age; +2 Great Artist Points; build after Hermitage)
11. Louvre (+4 Culture + 2 Great Artists; plant them)
12. Eiffel Tower (+5 Happiness + 1Happiness/2SPs; massive boost since you will have plenty of SPs)

Later Wonders are not needed. The only one you might still consider is the Cristo Redentor if you find yourself behind and nothing else to build. In fact, you should always be building Wonders if you feel you got enough units and build all your important buildings, and with the bonus Egypt provides it is always worth a shot to go for the “leftovers”.

Religion

Here are the best “Beliefs” for your religion:
1. Pantheon: Fertility Rites (+10% Growth)
2. Founder: Tithe (+1g /4 Followers)
3. Follower 1: Divine Inspiration (+2 Faith for each World Wonder)
4. Follower 2: Cathedrals (+3 Culture, +1 Faith, +1 Specialist Artist slot)
5. Enhancer: Religious Texts (religion spreads faster -> more Gold income from Tithe)
Important: buy an Inquisitor as soon as your religion is enhanced and place him next to the city.

Tech Progression

1. Pottery (-> Shrine, Granary)
2. Animal Husbandry (reveals Horses)
3. Archery (-> Temple of Artemis)
4. Writing (-> Library)
5. Mathematics (-> Hanging Gardens)
6. Currency (if near desert; -> Petra)
7. Mining + Lux improvement techs (even if it’s Sailing for the Sea based Lux)
8. Philosophy (-> National College)
9. Civil Service (-> Chichen Itza)
10. Theology (-> Hagia Sophia, Great Temple)
11. Education (-> buy University for 660g)
12. Acoustics (use Oxford University to get this)
13. Chivalry (-> Alhambra)
14. Iron Working (reveals Iron)
15. Metal Casting (-> Workshop)
16. Machinery (-> Ironworks)
17. Printing Press (-> Leaning Tower of Pisa)
18. Architecture (-> Hermitage; Porcelain Tower)
19. Scientific Theory (-> buy Public School for 920g)
20. Archaeology (-> Louvre, Museum)
21. Radio (-> buy Broadcast Tower for 1350g)

Social Policy Progression

After completing Tradition it’s a matter of completing the Patronage and Rationalism trees while going for Planned Economy as soon as the Industrial age unlocks Order. Here is a recommended path:

1. Tradition

i. Tradition
ii. Legalism
iii. Landed Elite
iv. Monarchy
v. Aristocracy
vi. Oligarchy​

2. Piety

i. Piety
ii. Organized Religion
iii. Reformation (+33% Culture)
iv. Mandate of Heaven
v. Religious Tolerance (Social Policies cost 10% less)
vi. Theocracy (your Holy Sites will now produce +3 Culture and +3 Gold in addition to Faith)​

3. Commerce

i. Commerce (filler; if you need more then start Patronage)​

4. Freedom

i. Freedom
ii. Constitution (+2 Culture for each World Wonders; boosted by all modifiers)
iii. Civil Society (Specialists consume half the Food)
iv. Democracy (more Happiness)
v. Free Speech
vi. Universal Suffrage​

5. Patronage

i. Patronage
ii. Philanthropy
iii. Scholasticism (more Science)
iv. Cultural Diplomacy (more Happiness)
v. Aesthetics
vi. Educated Elite​

6. Commerce

ii. Trade Unions
iii. Mercantilism
iv. Protectionism (more Happiness)
v. Naval Tradition
vi. Merchant Navy​

 
Your typical opening strategy

Here is a recommended opening build order:
1. Monument while you research Pottery
2. Shrine (to ensure you get Fertility Rites)
3. Granary
4. Temple of Artemis
5. Library
6. Worker
7. Hanging Gardens
8. Petra (if near desert and buy the Water Mill for 400g)
9. National College
10. The Oracle
11. Chariot Archers
12. Hagia Sophia (get your Religion)
13. Grand Temple (you want to enhance your Religion ASAP to get your choice)
14. University (make sure you have 660g or trade Lux so you can buy it)
15. Oxford University (for Acoustics)
16. Sistine Chapel (and buy the Opera House for 780g; free with Petra)
17. The Alhambra

Diplomacy and Lux Trading

1. Do accept Declaration of Friendships from everyone.
2. Do not accept embassies, ever.
3. Do not sign RA’s; your excess Gold is better used on City-States.
4. Your friends will come with requests for Gold or Lux; don’t hesitate turning them down and just be apologetic always.
5. Trade Lux actively to maximize your Happiness (and improve relations at the same time).

Faith, Specialists and Great Tile Improvements

1. Pre-industrial era: Great Prophets. Once you have enhanced your religion, you should buy one Inquisitor and then just focus on getting Great Prophets. You should plant all of these, and in general you will be looking at three Holy Sites before the start of the Industrial age; note that Holy Site will provide +3 culture and +3 Gold once you have completed the Piety Social Policy Tree. And once you completed the Freedom Social Policy tree, these Holy sites will double up on Faith output giving you +12 Faith per site, which you will use to buy Great Artists.
2. Industrial era: Great Artists. Once you entered the Industrial age, you should switch your Faith auto-purchase to Great Artists; you are looking at getting three Great Artists from Faith alone. Start using Culture Specialists once you have entered the Industrial Age and opened the Freedom Social Policy (and after having built the National Epic and Leaning Tower of Pisa). This is to optimize the trade-off between initial growth and Great artist generation. Plant all of the Great Artists, except for the last one, i.e. when you are missing just two Social Policies before being able to build the Utopia project, so you can use him for a Golden Age.
3. Great Engineers and Great Scientists. You will want at least two Manufactories and possibly two Academies. Engineers will come naturally (Temple of Artemis, Chichen Itza, etc. have Great Engineer points). Use the Leaning Tower of Pisa to get a Great Scientist for an Academy, and consider building the Porcelain tower for an additional Academy.

Citizen Management, Workers and Tile Improvements

Micromanagement is the name of the game, particularly in the beginning when you have few Citizens and no improved tiles. Citizen Management will be essential in getting that first Wonder before anyone else does. Here are a few pointers:
1. Lock the first default tile and put your focus on production immediately
2. If growth stagnates at Population two switch back to default and lock all tiles then put the focus back to production again
3. Once your granary is built and you unlocked the Landed Elite Social Policy (+2 Food and +10% Growth) you can safely focus all your Citizens on production tiles
4. Buy tiles with Hills nearby as soon as possible if your production is low
5. Have your first worker build mines and lumber mills first after improving Lux
6. Build farms last and lock any tile that gives +4 food (farms near rivers, grain/bananas/deer or fish once you built the lighthouse) to keep the growth going
7. Plant Great People on Grassland first (+2Food; makes them self-sustained), then Plains and last on Hills if nothing else is left, and don’t hesitate to put them on strategic resources (Horse, Oil, etc.) as you will not lose these; but you will lose Lux so avoid these.

City-States

If you are pursuing a Cultural Victory your Social Policy progression will be very fast and you will be filling the Patronage Social Policy tree in no time. Just save your Gold and save it for when you will actually be able to benefit from the Patronage policies. Religion helps in general with City-State relations. However, you should use your faith for Holy Sites initially and for Great Artists later, so spreading your religion is not going to be a priority at all. However you should place your spies in all the cultural City-States and nowhere else. Also, you won’t need a spy in your own city since your tech progression will be slow and not much to steal there.

Proceed as follows:
1. Explore (after entering the industrial age and you got Astronomy) using a Caravel
2. Pledge to Protect: increases influence resting point by 10
3. Place your Spies in Cultural CSs for election rigging -> influence gain + coup protection
4. Give at least 500g (but 1,000g is usually better) and don’t hesitate to do it early if the City-State offers 50% more influence for the same amount of Gold
5. Prioritize: Cultural -> Mercantile (just the first two for the unique Lux) -> Religious
 
Military

Without Intel the AI is more hesitant to attack, and I found that not accepting embassies can significantly delay the initial assault in most cases but not always. However, you should build ranged units and defensive buildings sooner rather than later.

Here is what your army should look like and how it should evolve:
1. 3x Chariot Archers -> Knights
2. 4x Crossbowmen-> Gatling Guns (your Sentries)
3. 2x Pikeman + 2x Swordsman
4. 2x Galleass -> Frigates
5. 2x Triplanes (build these before Bombers if you make it all the way to Flight)

As for those cities next to your border, you cannot just ignore them. You have essentially two choices. Either take them out immediately when they are small and weak, make peace, and start another war after 10 turns. Or wait until later, making sure you take them down before the AI gets Flight. In fact, you can bet that the AI will attack once it has flight and you have no AA capabilities. Placing some units outside your border can also help to some extent, but it will not prevent the AI from settling next to your city particularly if there is Lux there or a strategic resource.

I hope you enjoyed this guide. Please feel free to provide comments/feedback or ask any questions.
Thanks!

 

[akashsara]

Thanks! Will you be doing a guide for India as well? Because their UA is very useful in OCC. In my last game Emperor/Standard/Pangaea Plus I had a grand total of 14 unhappiness with 40 or so population. The culture that I got from Mandate of Heaven was huge!

 

[Knut_Are_M]

India goes from 0,5 unhappiness per pop to 0,25 happiness per pop.
6+0,25x=3+0,5x
3=0,25x
x=12
6+0,25 x 12=9
3+0,5 x 12= 9

Point is india is not good at occ partically because of monarchy.
Aztecs get a UB with +15% FOOD. as long as you get a river start Aztecs are better.
France is better then india at occ. they fill out tradition faster.
Hell even america is better at occ then india. at least they get cheap tiles.
Happiness is a non issue in occ. The important parts in OCC is Food/Production and culture/science.
Going piety in OCC is suicidal. You only get minor boost towards culture but bans the overpowered Rationalism that gives important science that keeps you from getting crushed militarily. In fact if you are trying to win never pick Piety at all and your win% online will go up with at least 10%.

In fact i wonder if when going for culture victory it might be better to forgo piety and pick up rationalism and finish freedom at an earlier date.

 

[Merenptah]

Thanks! Will you be doing a guide for India as well? Because their UA is very useful in OCC. In my last game Emperor/Standard/Pangaea Plus I had a grand total of 14 unhappiness with 40 or so population. The culture that I got from Mandate of Heaven was huge!

For India, the guide would be the same in terms of tech progression, social policy progression as well as wonders you should build.

The only thing I would change is swapping "Divine Inspiration" with "Religious Community" (+15% production) as a Follower Belief. This will mitigate the fact that you are loosing the +20% productivity on Wonders which Egypt provides.

 

[jtravers88]

This is a great guide. I just started playing Civ 5, played alot of Civ 2 back in the day and a little Civ 3. So I'm not an expert but I do know the basic ropes.

I learned alot from this guide. Thanks for that.

I started on a river with a mountain backdrop, no coast. I should have taken Honor instead of Commerce since I had no coast, but I wanted the gold benefit on the first choice on Commerce so I just finished it out at the end. I won on turn 353 on King level, with Darius on my heels who was trying for a science win.

I also picked up the Great Library before the Oracle. I also created the Observatory to keep up in science. Other than that I followed your guide and tada. Now I'm going to try your Babylon science guide. Stayin on King though.

I never realized just how powerful one city can be. Oh and Fertility Rites was taken so I took the one to add another 15% bonus to wonder building.

 

[dadsl]

This is a great guide. I'll try to inspire a cultural victory with Egypt, but with 3 or 4 cities.
Parties OCC I find them very boring.

 

[budweiser]

I did some Egypt games over the weekend with 2 cities. I did like a 280/285 finish on emperor with no marble. This guide looks good. I will try it.

You might want to pick World Church instead of the money. World Church is per follower and if you get a religion early you can autospread it around pretty well. I was getting 48 cpt in one game just on automatic spread, no missionaries. Another game, I totally messed up my religion so it was not a factor.

Also, egypt does not need horses, so you dont need the balanced resource start. You can sell any horses you get. Balanced resources just guarrantees that you can sell stuff to the AI and get gold, a crutch.

 

[chazzycat]

pretty good guide, I like to play Egypt OCCs occasionally as a change of pace when I feel like building wonders.

No stonehenge or GL though? I was a little surprised to see that. I like the food wonders too but I feel like you can squeeze in at least one of those before hanging garden, on emperor.

Actually I would probably build more wonders in general...although you have mentioned the important ones, even the crappier ones can be worth it if the AI is lagging on them (so you can build them later, faster). Especially with marble, you can take it to the extreme and build a ridiculous amount of wonders (for the +2 faith/culture).

 

[budweiser]

I just followed this and would have won somewhere around t350 on emperor. So, it works but its not too fast. I think you need to do some RAs in order to speed along to industrial.