Bulldog Bats
King
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2013
- Messages
- 701
Just seems like spies are a waste. Either drop the mechanic, or find something better to do with them
Things you only just now realized
- Thread starter nefloyd
- Start date
i only have a few uses for spies but it depends on the difficulty and the VC im going for. they help with Sharing Intrigue in repairing diplo penalties to stave off war or to make friends for RAs. they are a background mechanic and not a genuine focus on the game and aren't necessary but they do help if you use them right. At higher diffs they are good for stealing techs or holding onto a CS ally.
Imo, they arent useful under Emperor difficulty but I do like them otherwise.
Imo, they arent useful under Emperor difficulty but I do like them otherwise.
Civ4 had "something better to do" with spies that was so bad that it was much better to disable espionage altogether. Spies in civ5 achieves the best balance of being a useful mechanic for stealing techs and gaining c-s influence with minimal micromanagement.
What spies in Civ5 need to cut down on the micro is a pop up that tells you that they have established themselves as a Diplomat so you can buy World Congress votes from that civ and move your spy on to the next target. Other than that, I'm happy with how it works.
Memoryjar
Emperor
They are useful on Immortal, must have on Deity. Many times, I regret England UA.
Rigging election, share intrigues, making coup, adding vote for WC (post globalization), scouting cities, culture or faith pressure.
Basically, they steal techs or avoid tech thief.
Not easy to manage (oups, if forgot to move my spies), sometimes frustrating (ok, I failed a third coup and lose my third level 3 agent), but really, really useful.
Yeah, I don't really understand why the espionage mechanic gets so much criticism. I think it's good. You use spies for tech stealing, gathering intrigue, negotiating WC votes, exerting religious pressure (in the odd circumstance), passively increasing CS infuence, and coups. I think that's enough.
Pegasus_77
Prince of the Wealth
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2013
- Messages
- 226
wow, i didnt know that until now
reddishrecue
Deity
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2009
- Messages
- 6,247
Spies are great at watching cities that are dangerous to get close to with units during a seige. Using seige units with the indirect fire promotion and a spy will remove the need of having a unit near the city that could get killed. Spies can sometimes save lives..
GWashington
Warlord
I think the AI's difficulty is like the opposite of the humans. For example, if you are playing on Settler difficulty, then the AI is on Deity. Or if you are playing on Warlord, the AI is on Emperor. It's not factual, but it's my educated guess.
Bulldog Bats
King
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2013
- Messages
- 701
AllI know is any time I hear about troops coming my way, they never show up, except when I already can see them. Takes a long time to steal anything. I put one in my capitoo when I am #1 in tech, spread the rest to a CS I want to gain favor with - yawn.
These two things might not be entirely unrelated.
Bulldog Bats
King
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2013
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- 701
My point is that there should be more we can do - share effective info with other civs, maybe inside information that would result in getting a better trade, getting intrigue that would boost our position with other AIs, and lower the rep of another leader.
seanflokstra7
Prince
This makes me feel like a huge slowpoke, but I guess that's the point of the thread
On the City State overview screen you can actually see what kind of UA a militaristic CS can gift you.
Militaristic City States can gift Unique Abilities? *gasp*
Don't have to be allied. You can heal in friendly city-state territory!
Sagax
Emperor
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2013
- Messages
- 1,219
UU. Fixed
When going for culture victory, if you burn a GM tour to become influential with the last civ, you can speed up your victory by one turn by launching a spaceship part 
this will give you the victory screen right away, as opposed to having to hit end turn and then wait for the AI to move, seeing the victory screen the next turn.
Apparently launching a part triggers a VC check for all VCs, not just science, even though your spaceship is not complete.
this will give you the victory screen right away, as opposed to having to hit end turn and then wait for the AI to move, seeing the victory screen the next turn. Apparently launching a part triggers a VC check for all VCs, not just science, even though your spaceship is not complete.
seanflokstra7
Prince
UU. Fixed
Would be awesome though.
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