When you get an AWESOME pantheon thats not FAITH Based...

[GKShaman]

So multiple times I'll get a Pantheon that BOOMS my capital. Usually its food (Sun God), but it could be any cool pantheon: Goddess of the Hunt (Food to Camps), God of the Open Sky (Culture to Pastures).

BUT I dont get any awesome faith buff - No city state, Natural Wonder, etc. So I can keep getting my +1 faith but that'll never make it.

What do you guys do? Enjoy the pantheon as long as they can? Build 3 cities, open Piety and hard found a religion? Finish Liberty for Hagia Sophia just to get there?

Obviously getting a Mixed one is IDEAL (Religious Idols or Festivals) or FAITH one (Desert Folklore, One with Nature)

In my current game I had 3 sea resources (crab and fish), old faithful, 1 copper. But TONS of horses, sheep, cattle. So I chose God of the Open Sky. It is booming me right now. But I'm afraid I wont make a religion in time.

Curious on what you guys do.

 

[Dushku]

You don't HAVE to have a religion. You will want to generate faith though. I like the religious aspect of the game. So if I have a start where my capital and intended expands have no good faith tiles, I'll usually default to God King. It's a minor boost to faith and everything else. Though it's effectiveness diminishes in time.

If you have copper, you could always try Earth Mother. You're bound to have Iron somewhere useful. Also, if you have an expand or two with Stone, I like taking Stone Circles. You just have to expedite getting those quarries up.

 

[Redaxe]

A lot of it depends on what difficulty you are playing. If you are below Emperor you shouldn't have any problem getting a religion as the game provides several ways to accumulate faith.

Hagia Sophia on a lower difficulty is pretty easy to guarantee so long as you don't delay Theology

 

[reddishrecue]

Most food pantheons (i.e goddess of hunt, sun god) arent really meant to stay unless you have enough faith to get them into a religion. That goes for any other non faith building pantheons that dont get to stay unless you make faith off of shrines, temples and piety, as well as getting faith from religious city state alliances.

 

[beetle]

I just take the dirt base pantheon for 50+ turns. Maybe I will get lucky with quests for religious CS, maybe not, but the early shrine will have done its job.

 

[Bad Wolf]

I'm playing a game right now where the Shoshone had a very isolated start - still on the same continent, but cut off from the rest of the civs by mountains and deserts. Bastards got a 3-salt start so of course chose Earth Mother. As a result of their isolation, they remain unconverted well into the modern era. Very neat I've never seen that happen before, usually all othe old pagan beliefs fall.

You basically just accept that you're going to lose your pantheon if you don't choose a faith-generating one. It's a nice bonus if you can keep it, but the pantheon bonuses are pretty much all better early in the game. Later on their impact is less noticeable. So it's not a huge deal if you lose them. (Though there are some it really sucks to lose - God of the Sea if you have a lot of sea resources is definitely one you want to keep if possible, same with Sun God if you've got a lot of wheat, citrus or bananas.)

God of the Open Sky is one of those ones that's better early on, though depending on how many pasture resources you have it can still be meaningful in the mid-game as well. It's a bonus if you can keep it, but if it helps you finish Liberty faster and get your free great person, that's probably enough for it to be worth it.

 

[Athenaeum]

You don't HAVE to have a religion. You will want to generate faith though. I like the religious aspect of the game. So if I have a start where my capital and intended expands have no good faith tiles, I'll usually default to God King. It's a minor boost to faith and everything else. Though it's effectiveness diminishes in time.

If you have copper, you could always try Earth Mother. You're bound to have Iron somewhere useful. Also, if you have an expand or two with Stone, I like taking Stone Circles. You just have to expedite getting those quarries up.

Founding a religion is very important for faith generation though, especially if you're playing Tradition and even moreso if there are no Faith City-States. You can only build the Grand Temple and generate Prophets for Holy Sites if you found a religion.

 

[Redaxe]

You basically just accept that you're going to lose your pantheon if you don't choose a faith-generating one. It's a nice bonus if you can keep it, but the pantheon bonuses are pretty much all better early in the game. Later on their impact is less noticeable. So it's not a huge deal if you lose them. (Though there are some it really sucks to lose - God of the Sea if you have a lot of sea resources is definitely one you want to keep if possible, same with Sun God if you've got a lot of wheat, citrus or bananas.)

God of the Open Sky is one of those ones that's better early on, though depending on how many pasture resources you have it can still be meaningful in the mid-game as well. It's a bonus if you can keep it, but if it helps you finish Liberty faster and get your free great person, that's probably enough for it to be worth it.

Again this depends on what difficulty you play. If you have really good dirt for a pantheon like God of the Sea or Open Sky it can be well worth just throwing a couple points into Piety after you get your Liberty settler to get the extra faith from shrines. That is often enough to get you a religion so you can hold your pantheon.

A smart player might grab Oracle to help with the extra social policies. The final policies in Liberty can be delayed. Heck you can build the Pyramids which essentially is a copy of the Citizenship policy.

 

[Kriogen]

...
In my current game I had 3 sea resources (crab and fish), old faithful, 1 copper. But TONS of horses, sheep, cattle. So I chose God of the Open Sky. It is booming me right now. But I'm afraid I wont make a religion in time.

Curious on what you guys do.

Take food patheon and build huge cities. Then adopt that religion that has Jezuit Education. If it has jezuit it most likely has some buildings.

If you can't beat them, join them.

P.S.:
How to adopt religion fast? Scout alot, when you spot prophet/missionary, DoW and abuct it, then use it on your city. Then ask for peace. Other civ will not like this much, but will quickly forgive. They will quickly like you alot as you 'adopted their religion in majority of cities'.

 

[stormtrooper412]

Take food patheon and build huge cities. Then adopt that religion that has Jezuit Education. If it has jezuit it most likely has some buildings.

If you can't beat them, join them.

P.S.:
How to adopt religion fast? Scout alot, when you spot prophet/missionary, DoW and abuct it, then use it on your city. Then ask for peace. Other civ will not like this much, but will quickly forgive. They will quickly like you alot as you 'adopted their religion in majority of cities'.

the problem is, he will lose the effects of his (good) pantheon by adopting another religion

 

[Aenthin]

I sometimes just get the pantheon I need and if I can't get any options to build on faith, I don't turn it into a religion. If I got the pantheon using shrines, I usually sell them the moment I get my pantheon.

 

[stormtrooper412]

I sometimes just get the pantheon I need and if I can't get any options to build on faith, I don't turn it into a religion. If I got the pantheon using shrines, I usually sell them the moment I get my pantheon.

Why would you do that?? Founding a religion may not be that big, but storing faith is a pretty good plan for the endgame no matter what you want out of it

 

[KrikkitTwo]

A few strategies
1. use it as an early bonus only (you know it will fade milk it for the benefit in your capital)
2. use it to pump out settlers and get the first two policies in piety to get a religion

(This is why I think Theocracy should give small pressure in your cities for your religion.. even if it is a Pantheon)

 

[reddishrecue]

Would having á quick expansion pantheon be useful such as a pantheon that makes quick settlers or quick workers? Piety seems so similar to most social policies except for liberty in this sense.

In second thought theres already production pantheons that could seem similar to liberty since it adds production to its cities but it doesnt specialize in a certain produce such as extra production for
buildings only or worker only etc.

 

[Volcanon]

Founding a religion is very important for faith generation though, especially if you're playing Tradition and even moreso if there are no Faith City-States. You can only build the Grand Temple and generate Prophets for Holy Sites if you found a religion.

Can't you build grand temple in a conquored holy city? I remember doing that.

 

[reddishrecue]

Can't you build grand temple in a conquored holy city? I remember doing that.

You could in any holy city that belongs to you.

 

[CraigMak]

I would make shrines in all your cities after libraries and get early temples as well as go for Hagia Sophia. I would never open Piety, it's just way UP.