Most important Civ Attribute?

bcaiko · Dec 1, 2011

In a standard game for you, what attribute do you think is the most important attribute on which to focus?

Pound for pound, I'd say Science is by far the most important attribute. It's tied to every victory condition and into every other attribute. It seems like everything in the game is trying to lead you to science and anyone who gets a large science advantage is destined to have an easy win.

But that's just my humble opinion. I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.

NotSure · Dec 2, 2011

I would agree that science is king. Gold & happiness are also important (production & food to a lesser extent). But, at the end of the day, the only reason the other things are important is because they convert to science or make use of a scientific advantage. Civs with UA advantages like Persia, Arabia, Russia, and Egypt are only good because their UB or UA directly converts to RA spam and/or a wider, happier empire (more science and crushed enemies with less science). The strength of Babylon and Korea is more obvious.

Tabarnak · Dec 2, 2011

Singleplayer :

Gold is the big winner. With gold, you can sign RAs, rush buy, upgrade, ally cs, etc.

Multiplayer :

Gold, science and production are equally important. Mostly because RAs are pretty rare and you can't sell luxuries/ressources for gold. No bonuses from other civs, so a science edge can be important, but you need production and gold to operate.

F4llschirmjager · Dec 3, 2011

never done MP once but I'm on about Prince->King level and I have always focus on Production... I think pumping out troops as fast as you can, can lead to a faster domination victory, but that seems to go different on higher level like Emperor....

srsly what type of victory do you guys mostly plan to achieve on the higher level Ai above your standard ?

Pisskop · Dec 3, 2011

With gold you can field an army, buy an army, buy city-states, etc. You get access to the rest. While not as immediate or viable as in previous CIVs, it is still the most versitile. that said, production is big to me too, and science is third. Culture is not so much in V, and food is typically lacking. Who needs to eat when there are swords and rifles to make?

CYZ · Dec 3, 2011

Although science and gold are no-brainers, I'd say culture.

Asuming you're doing everything else well, policies will give you the edge that makes the difference.

Knut_Are_M · Dec 4, 2011

Production is king, early late and midgame.
thing is production gives you more buildings, and it is buildings that bring you happiness,food,gold and advanced units.

If you start on a production poor land you most likely die early. If you start on prodution/food rich land you will most likely steamroll your opponents.

Just remember that good land is land that has both prodution and enough food to sustain it.

Culture is probably last tier, unlike other resourses it drops fast in value after the 8th or so policy. Temples/oracles and museums should not be buildt in a regular game ever. Build wonders when you need culture.

Ruler · Dec 4, 2011

Defintely gold as the game ends when you dont have money, then unit production, then happiness and science.

Antarion · Dec 4, 2011

CYZ said:
Although science and gold are no-brainers, I'd say culture.

Asuming you're doing everything else well, policies will give you the edge that makes the difference.

in the long run thats absolute right

comatosedragon · Dec 4, 2011

Well, it's hard to have science or production without food -- so I vote food.

CYZ · Dec 4, 2011

Knut_Are_M said:
Production is king, early late and midgame.
thing is production gives you more buildings, and it is buildings that bring you happiness,food,gold and advanced units.

If you start on a production poor land you most likely die early. If you start on prodution/food rich land you will most likely steamroll your opponents.

Just remember that good land is land that has both prodution and enough food to sustain it.

Culture is probably last tier, unlike other resourses it drops fast in value after the 8th or so policy. Temples/oracles and museums should not be buildt in a regular game ever. Build wonders when you need culture.

You're obviously right about production. It defines what you can do. However, it can be replaced by gold.

I think you undervalue culture. Policies are the only thing in the game that are permanently yours, and don't cost anything. They pay off very strongly over the course of the game. I'll agree they're always an investment, few policies pay off right away, but it's culture that makes the difference.

That being said. I love this thread, although it's kindof pointless to choose between all of these things. You need them all and they can compensate for each other most of the time as well. So which is best is pretty relative.

Glassfan · Dec 5, 2011

bcaiko said:
In a standard game for you, what attribute do you think is the most important attribute on which to focus?

Pound for pound, I'd say Science is by far the most important attribute...

NotSure said:
I would agree that science is king...

Agree, science is the most important. Stay ahead and you'll get the strongest units, the first shot at wonders, and ultimately the space victory.

CYZ · Dec 5, 2011

Glassfan said:
Agree, science is the most important. Stay ahead and you'll get the strongest units, the first shot at wonders, and ultimately the space victory.

Same can be said for production. It's the only way to get units, wonders and space victory.

Same can be said about food. Which you need to actually get science and production.

TomMcV · Dec 5, 2011

Production - its a high production that gets you those science buildings, builds wonders and churns out a bad-ass military. Gold is ultimately an inefficient replacement for production and can't grab wonders. Science is, imo, dependent on a good production (libraries, NC, universities). Food is obviously needed, but a city with all farms won't contribute much. Culture is fun, but doesn't save you from Montumeza.

bcaiko · Dec 5, 2011

CYZ said:
Same can be said for production. It's the only way to get units, wonders and space victory.

Same can be said about food. Which you need to actually get science and production.

Yes, but it doesn't matter if you can mass produce swordsmen if your opponent already has infantry units...Outteching a production heavy opponent always seems to lead to that opponent's doom, in my experience.

Like I said in my original positing, Science has its hands in everything (maybe too much so) and seems to be what every other attribute is trying to get to. While it would be insane to completely ignore any attribute (they're all somewhat important), I've found ignoring Science is the quickest path to doom.

It's interesting to see what people in the poll are saying so far, though...

Jacques Lamerde · Dec 5, 2011

I try to focus on a healthy balance of them all. They are all necessary, and interdependent.
My vote is they are all equal. Neglecting any one of these things is always my downfall.
I only play on King level, but I find my greatest success come when I pay equal attention
to all of these things.

Supr49er · Dec 5, 2011

Good poll. I voted Gold. You can buy buildings and militery.

drubell · Dec 5, 2011

I voted Science but if the title was "most useful attribute" I'd vote gold. You can buy production with rushbuy, science with research agreements (or maritime to an extent), culture with culture CS, happiness with happiness building rushbuys, and can use gold to rush a military.

Keeping science at a decent level is how you win games, but gold is the most useful attribute to have because you can transfer it to whatever else you need during your game.

TomeTraveler · Dec 5, 2011

Without food, science, production, culture, and gold will all stagnate, and thus it is the most important of all of them.

CYZ · Dec 6, 2011

bcaiko said:
Yes, but it doesn't matter if you can mass produce swordsmen if your opponent already has infantry units...Outteching a production heavy opponent always seems to lead to that opponent's doom, in my experience.

Yes, but it doesn't matter if your opponent already has infantry units if you can mass produce swordsmen.

Really, everything has it's hand in everything. This discussion is purely theoretical and there is no right answer. Your tech lead is compensated if someone else has a production lead or gold lead. Your units will be stronger, but will cost more to produce. 1 infantry unit loses against 2 riflemen, 3 musketmet, 5 swordsmen etc,

The only things truly standing out are food and culture. Food since it where everything starts, and culture since it's where everything ends (culture being the only permanent bonus in the game).

Most important Civ Attribute?

What's the most important attribute for your Civ?

Culture

Food

Gold

Happiness

Production

Science

Emperor

King

Cut your lousy hairs!

Chieftain

Goblin Axeman

Toileteer

Prince

Prince

Prince

Emperor

Toileteer

Mostly harmless

Toileteer

Chieftain

Emperor

Chieftain

2011 Thunderfall Cup

Prince

Chieftain

Toileteer

Similar threads