[R&F] AI Pantheon choices

[Victoria]

Just looking through some logs and I came across the AI_Religious.csv which I have avoided before but as the conversation has come up a few times I just thought I'd share how it seems to work with choices.

At turn one all Pantheons are weighted at 0 but Goddess of the harvest gets 200
At turn two the AI's assess their location and about half give the Earth Goddess around 400 (one civ gave 930)
Within a few turns the odd civ will choose Sacred path, Desert Folklore or Dance of the Aurora weighted at 400
And a couple of civs will give god of the forge a go at 50
Naturally when a Pantheon is taken the value is changed to -1
So bottom like is earth and harvest godess just go fast, forge will go unless they have a specifi start like high rainforests.

 

[Archon_Wing]

Hah, even the AI knows harvest is good.

Which kinda sucks, because it makes for such a huge variance. I think it should see the nerf bat.

 

[Frostburn]

With Magnus in the game, is Harvest the new "go-to" pantheon? Has it been for a while now? I've always thought God of the Forge was the best if creating military units, but I can see Harvest taking over with Magnus

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

Hah, even the AI knows harvest is good.

Which kinda sucks, because it makes for such a huge variance. I think it should see the nerf bat.

I'd rather see the developers revisit the balance between chopping versus leaving resources intact holistically, rather than nerf-batting Goddess of Harvest, Magnus, etc. piece-meal. If the benefit of chopping overall was reduced (either by a straight nerf or creating reasons to keep resources around), then these two would be fine.

With Magnus in the game, is Harvest the new "go-to" pantheon? Has it been for a while now? I've always thought God of the Forge was the best if creating military units, but I can see Harvest taking over with Magnus

Many people would suggest it was by far the best even before Magnus. It generates a ton of Faith and there's so many things you can use that Faith for.

 

[Jackanape]

Am I the only one who thinks Divine Spark is the goto pantheon, especially when you're in a foot race for religion?

Sheesh, between that and Jesuit Education, your science can really take off for you, cheaply...

 

[iammaxhailme]

Am I the only one who thinks Divine Spark is the goto pantheon, especially when you're in a foot race for religion?

Sheesh, between that and Jesuit Education, your science can really take off for you, cheaply...

Divine Spark is the one I usually pick, yeah. Although I do like Earth Goddess, but I never get it...

 

[Archon_Wing]

I usually pick it if there's nothing better. (Say, God of the Open Sky, God of the forge...) But yea, it can be good for religion.

 

[WillowBrook]

Not surprised at those preferences - I don't think I've ever gotten earth goddess.

 

[vaejovis]

I’ve only had the option to choose harvest maybe once or twice - and that’s only if I can settle on a faith-based luxury. Even then, it’s not guaranteed, especially if an AI gets lucky and settles near a faith natural wonder...

 

[LMT]

Am I the only one who thinks Divine Spark is the goto pantheon, especially when you're in a foot race for religion?

Sheesh, between that and Jesuit Education, your science can really take off for you, cheaply...

I almost always pick Divine Spark if I plan on getting a religion (and I usually like to).

 

[Socksy]

In my experience, the AI with the highest chance of beating me to a pantheon assigns the highest weight to the specific pantheon I want to pick in any given game.

 

[tedhebert]

Divine spark for me almost always... even if not getting a religion... Might go once in a very long while with fertility rites... OR god of the forge if I expect to go aggro !

 

[isau]

River Goddess (+1 amenity to Holy Sites on Rivers) is somewhat better than I expected since Faith adjacency isn't something I worry too much about unless I can hit a home run with Dance of the Aurora. If you do found a religion and get the belief that provides Culture based on a building's intrinsic Faith it's quite a lift when combined together that more or less justifies building a Holy Site everywhere. I actually prefer it to Faith-buying sci and culture buildings since there is so much to Faith buy in R&F. That may not be a 100% optimal strategy tho, especially since I play so many modded games.

 

[vaejovis]

Am I the only one who thinks Divine Spark is the goto pantheon, especially when you're in a foot race for religion?

I’ve found that divine spark when going for a religion seems to be a waste of a pantheon, mainly because the pantheon is “useless” religion-wise after your get your prophet. Chopping in the holy site prayers project with overflow is much more lucrative with Magnus and associated buffs.

Now, if going for a scientific or cultural victory - yes yes yes! to divine spark because the pantheon will give you earlier and continuous returns on the early scientists/writers. Basically by being able to put off a library/amplitheatre and still keep pace with GPs.

River Goddess (+1 amenity to Holy Sites on Rivers) is somewhat better than I expected since Faith adjacency isn't something I worry too much about unless I can hit a home run with Dance of the Aurora. If you do found a religion and get the belief that provides Culture based on a building's intrinsic Faith it's quite a lift when combined together that more or less justifies building a Holy Site everywhere. I actually prefer it to Faith-buying sci and culture buildings since there is so much to Faith buy in R&F. That may not be a 100% optimal strategy tho, especially since I play so many modded games.

This strategy is basically built for Russia.
Cheap lavra + Aurora = 7+ faith/turn instantly!
A lavra triangle w a govt plaza

The extra faith allows the choral music belief and can get the wat (science) or cathedral (religious art) building to push SV or CV.

Did well with this strategy in vanilla, have yet to try it out in R&F.

 

[Jackanape]

It is useless after you get your prophet, yes, but it's pretty integral to getting it at Emperor and above. Afterwards, as you note, it is incredibly useful for the other GPs...

 

[acluewithout]

I try to avoid Divine Spark, because otherwise it becomes a crutch. There are other ways to get a Great Prophet, and winning cultural or science victories without DS’s leg up is more fun.

I tend to avoid Oligarchy for the same reason - not much point playing higher difficulty, which gives the AI bonus combat strength, if you then offset those bonuses with Oligarchy.

 

[UWHabs]

This strategy is basically built for Russia.
Cheap lavra + Aurora = 7+ faith/turn instantly!
A lavra triangle w a govt plaza

The extra faith allows the choral music belief and can get the wat (science) or cathedral (religious art) building to push SV or CV.

Did well with this strategy in vanilla, have yet to try it out in R&F.

I had one game that I tried as Russia while the maps were still buggy, that I started literally right next to one of the 2-tile natural wonders. All tundra. I had a Lavra that gave me +11 or +12 faith built before turn 20. If only I wasn't so foolish to not build any defenses, especially when I saw Saladin walk a ton of warriors towards me...

 

[Victoria]

when I saw Saladin walk a ton of warriors towards me.

You had too much faith

 

[Art Morte]

Errr, do I understand it right that the rest are considered only later, when these have gone?

Ps. I like God of the Sea in some of my games, getting a hammer from fishing boats can be nice before mid-game or so.

 

[Softly]

God of the Harvest was always the best and is now even better in R&F, not only because of Magnus but because of all the additional uses for faith. I've been giving more love to God of the Open Sky (+1 culture on pastures) and Oral Tradition (+1 culture on many plantations) with R&F as well. Those two were always decent for getting too Political Philosophy quickly but now that they removed the +1 culture/district policy card I find myself struggling for culture in the mid-game as well.