I almost always will put off building monument in my cap entirely and just wait to get legalism and get it for free. I generally play immortal and virtually always do 3 city tradition.
My normal build is:
Scout
2-4 turns on a worker until Pottery is finished
Switch to Shrine after researching Pottery
Finish worker
Settler, chop a forest to accelerate build and minimize cap growth loss, during this time I normally hit 25 culture to open tradition then its a quick 7-8 turns for legalism + free monument.
Granary, usually
I can't justify 'wasting' 8 turns on a Monument so early when I know I can get it for free in about 30 turns. Why pay when you can get it for free?! If you're lucky enough to hit an early culture ruin, then it's a no-brainer. I realize it slows border growth but I don't have the pop or workers to even need/work the extra tiles early. If there's something really juicy one ring away I'll just buy the tile to stabilize gold, production or growth if needed.
The bigger drawback is waiting 25 turns until first social policy, but those extra ~8 turns to get a worker and settler up and running seem worth it.
I'd imagine a common reaction to this is -why build a shrine so early on immortal, you'll probably be converted by a religious AI anyway, build monument instead- I think getting an early pantheon and getting my first 3 cities converted can really be a huge benefit. I'll normally pick a resource-dependent culture or faith pantheon then tithe +something else as opener beliefs.
Curious to hear your thoughts,
My normal build is:
Scout
2-4 turns on a worker until Pottery is finished
Switch to Shrine after researching Pottery
Finish worker
Settler, chop a forest to accelerate build and minimize cap growth loss, during this time I normally hit 25 culture to open tradition then its a quick 7-8 turns for legalism + free monument.
Granary, usually
I can't justify 'wasting' 8 turns on a Monument so early when I know I can get it for free in about 30 turns. Why pay when you can get it for free?! If you're lucky enough to hit an early culture ruin, then it's a no-brainer. I realize it slows border growth but I don't have the pop or workers to even need/work the extra tiles early. If there's something really juicy one ring away I'll just buy the tile to stabilize gold, production or growth if needed.
The bigger drawback is waiting 25 turns until first social policy, but those extra ~8 turns to get a worker and settler up and running seem worth it.
I'd imagine a common reaction to this is -why build a shrine so early on immortal, you'll probably be converted by a religious AI anyway, build monument instead- I think getting an early pantheon and getting my first 3 cities converted can really be a huge benefit. I'll normally pick a resource-dependent culture or faith pantheon then tithe +something else as opener beliefs.
Curious to hear your thoughts,