Basic Tips For Beginners

[KiraKing123]

Hi, I have just recently started playing Civ 4 and am loving it, however I would like to know any basic tips you pros have. I only have Civilization IV and none of the Expansion Packs. So I guess my major questions are as follows.

1: What's a well rounded leader that makes it easy to a hang of the game?(I've been using Bismark and Rosevelt and they're fine but I'm wondering if there are any better more rounded ones.)

2: What Technologies are must haves?(I usually go for military techs because I love declaring war >=) but If I'm to become a good player I need to know what techs to use that help further your empire besides Military techs.)

3:What are some easy Victories to go for for decent wins?(Like I mentioned I usually go for killing off every Civilization but I need to become a more rounded player.)

4:Finally any other Tips you may have that make the game go in your direction and make it easier to control the AI players and help to further my ability to win the game.

Any Tips you have would be very much apreciated and I look forward to getting help from you pros at this game. Thanks very much.

 

[deathturnip]

Well, there is a lot of advice in the stickied thread at
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=138904

As for the must have techs, first get the food techs that you need for your capital, then bronze working. After that you can worry about food techs for your other cities, some economic techs like pottery and writing, and monarchy for happiness.

Space race is how I usually win, but it is very much the same as domination/conquest. Be bigger and stronger. The only really distinct victory type is culture, and I can not help you there at all.

 

[KiraKing123]

Thank you very much I will make sure to look into the article above. I will also make sure to research said techs they make a lot of sense to go for and I will try winning with Space Race,Domination and Conquest. Again your help is appreciated and thank you for taking the time to answer my thread.

 

[Sisiutil]

Welcome to Civ fanatics!

1. Elizabeth is a very well-rounded leader, I think, as her two traits (Financial and Philosophical) are two of the strongest ones and lend themselves to supporting a hybrid of the two most common "economies" in the game: cottages and specialists. The English unique unit (Redcoat), unfortunately, got nerfed some time ago, but is still fun, and the English unique building (Stock Exchange) has synergy with Elizabeth's Financial trait.
2. If you like being a warmonger, invert deathturnip's advice: get Bronze Working first (hey--Lizzie starts with Mining, giving you a head start!), then worker techs. BW will not only reveal copper for Axemen, it also enables forest chopping to speed up production and the Slavery civic, which can also be used to speed up production. Speed up production of what? Axemen, of course!
3. You get bigger scores for owning more land and population and for finishing earlier--so aggressively-pursued domination wins tend to be the biggest points-grabbers. Domination wins require me to a diligent micro-manager, I find, while space race wins tend to be more relaxing.
4. Peruse my Beginners' Guide (link in my sig).

 

[mariogreymist]

1: What's a well rounded leader that makes it easy to a hang of the game?(I've been using Bismark and Rosevelt and they're fine but I'm wondering if there are any better more rounded ones.)

Almost all of the leaders are able to be specialized in a way to take advantage of their particular trait combo and UU/UB. I think either Indian Leader is pretty good to play in a number of ways, particularly Asoka. A lot of players love IND leaders when they start playing, because wonders are so cool and much easier to build...my advice is to try leaders without the trait and build fewer wonders (assuming you're doing a lot). ORG and CHA are among the most versatile traits and will pay some dividends almost any way you go.

2: What Technologies are must haves?(I usually go for military techs because I love declaring war >=) but If I'm to become a good player I need to know what techs to use that help further your empire besides Military techs.)

This is highly situational. The general rule for me is that techs that help you get more techs are more valuable. Early on, that's writing (libraries/scientists) and alpha (tech trading) as big ones, with currency (trade routes/wealth build), CoL(courthouses reduce maintenance, philo prereq), CS(Bureaucracy), and Monarchy(higher populations work more tiles + priesthood is a prereq which allows the oracle) also on the list as you learn to take advantage of their specific abilities. Being the first to Physics will get you a Great Scientist, which adds yet more tech. Literature allows you to build the Great Library, which is a good wonder for tech, and Aesthetics is on the way which opens up the Parthenon which yields great people (which can be bulbed for tech). The first to discover Liberalism also gets a free technology, making Education and Philosophy (both of which add yet more tech) high priorities.

But more importantly: there are many situations where a particular in-game problem or opportunity lead to other paths being more beneficial to the game's overall outcome. Technology can almost always help, but being five turns from discovering gunpowder when Shaka shows up with ten galleons full of Maces/trebs will do you little good unless you have spent some of your resources building defenses.

3:What are some easy Victories to go for for decent wins?(Like I mentioned I usually go for killing off every Civilization but I need to become a more rounded player.)

Conquest is generally considered the most difficult VC. The easiest VC is to get one of the rarified religions (usually by bulbing philo or Oracle->CoL) then building the Apostolic palace while having that as a state religion. Then spread it to all of your cities, and to one small city in every other civ. Then win by diplomacy. Often referred to as "AP Cheese" and similarly derogatory terms...but effective in getting a W.

4:Finally any other Tips you may have that make the game go in your direction and make it easier to control the AI players and help to further my ability to win the game.

The one tip that almost all newer players need to hear is build more workers so you won't work any unimproved tiles. If you do that and expand reasonably well, (peacefully or otherwise) you will have a hard time losing on any level below Prince.

 

[Tristan_C]

Almost all of the leaders are able to be specialized in a way to take advantage of their particular trait combo and UU/UB. I think either Indian Leader is pretty good to play in a number of ways, particularly Asoka. A lot of players love IND leaders when they start playing, because wonders are so cool and much easier to build...my advice is to try leaders without the trait and build fewer wonders (assuming you're doing a lot). ORG and CHA are among the most versatile traits and will pay some dividends almost any way you go.

The issue with wonders can't be stressed enough. A wonder is an army that you could have built.


Yeah the worker techs pretty much invariably come first. Research only the one or two that you need, though, and backfill the rest.

After that, the game opens up and there's a lot of debate. Founding your own religion isn't mandatory or even helpful at all sometimes, and this makes writing a good tech to go for so that you can get Alpha ASAP and also open borders to receive the spread of an AI's religion (and the positive diplomatic ramifications). Tech trading is good on higher difficulties where the AI has research bonuses; Alpha and Philosophy give you the best payoffs. Hoarding your techs and protecting your lead is better on Prince and below, where any time you trade a tech, the research-penalized AI player is getting the better end of the deal.

An early war may be more important than good diplomacy, because AI capitals can be very rich, delicious lands to own. This option also makes the absolute most of early UUs. In which case you may consider a chariot rush (Wheel and AH), or an Axe rush (bronze). These both require strategic resources. Use your second city to claim copper or horse, if possible.

 

[mariogreymist]

Another thing to favor early wars: The easiest targets are those civs which spent their early building the 'mids or glh. If you are lucky enough to have a neighbor who did this, investing just half the s in axes will get the same benefit as you'd have gotten building those wonders.

 

[henrebotha]

I swear, no-one reads anything on this forum.

The OP clearly stated that he only has Vanilla, so all this discussion about UBs, Charismatic leaders and the Apostolic Palace doesn't apply.

Financial is a nice trait to use if you're learning the game, because while it is very possible to leverage the out of it, it still works pretty well even if you ignore it altogether. The same goes for Organized. That said, both will stunt your economy-building skills, so perhaps it is smarter to stay away from these two. I know I, for one, ignored specialists and great people for a very long time, so Philosophical might not be a good trait if you do the same. Aggressive is a bit silly, and if you're a capable warmonger without it, there's no need, is there? Creative is quite nice, allowing you to ignore border-popping in your new cities, and giving you discounts on cool stuff like Theatres. Expansive only really becomes notably useful at higher levels (and in the expansions). Industrious feeds wonder addiction, so perhaps best to stay away for a while - unless you're smart about it and use it to grab key wonders only. Spiritual is really cool as a beginner because it teaches you how to use civics.

Protip: learn to specialise your cities for either production or commerce/science. If a city is meant for production, don't go building banks and libraries in it. If it's meant for commerce, don't give it a barracks and drydock.

Good luck!

 

[Baldyr]

I'd suggest a Creative Leader to any newcomer. The trait takes away the whole issue of getting culture into your initial cities - and removes the need of building Missionaries or Theaters for all new cities for the rest of the game.

Just don't rely too heavily on the Creative trait, as its sort of like having training wheels!

 

[henrebotha]

I'd suggest a Creative Leader to any newcomer. The trait takes away the whole issue of getting culture into your initial cities - and removes the need of building Missionaries or Theaters for all new cities for the rest of the game.

Just don't rely too heavily on the Creative trait, as its sort of like having training wheels!

I agree completely. Almost all the traits can become a crutch, so it's crucial to change them up often. I'm currently playing a specialist economy on Monarch as Louis, which is something I normally only do with Philosophical leaders, and I'm finding it tough. That said, I'm learning a lot.

 

[ZeroM]

I swear, no-one reads anything on this forum.

The OP clearly stated that he only has Vanilla, so all this discussion about UBs, Charismatic leaders and the Apostolic Palace doesn't apply.

Financial is a nice trait to use if you're learning the game, because while it is very possible to leverage the out of it, it still works pretty well even if you ignore it altogether. The same goes for Organized. That said, both will stunt your economy-building skills, so perhaps it is smarter to stay away from these two. I know I, for one, ignored specialists and great people for a very long time, so Philosophical might not be a good trait if you do the same. Aggressive is a bit silly, and if you're a capable warmonger without it, there's no need, is there? Creative is quite nice, allowing you to ignore border-popping in your new cities, and giving you discounts on cool stuff like Theatres. Expansive only really becomes notably useful at higher levels (and in the expansions). Industrious feeds wonder addiction, so perhaps best to stay away for a while - unless you're smart about it and use it to grab key wonders only. Spiritual is really cool as a beginner because it teaches you how to use civics.

Protip: learn to specialise your cities for either production or commerce/science. If a city is meant for production, don't go building banks and libraries in it. If it's meant for commerce, don't give it a barracks and drydock.

Good luck!

What do you recommend if you don't have anything to build in a specialized city. Say you have a Commerce City, and have all your banks and such built. Do you build units even though there is no barracks, or do you use the Build Wealth option?

 

[Baldyr]

What do you recommend if you don't have anything to build in a specialized city. Say you have a Commerce City, and have all your banks and such built. Do you build units even though there is no barracks, or do you use the Build Wealth option?

Wealth or Research or Culture are always viable options, depending on your current needs. You pretty much can't have too much of the first two, at least... (The third one would be vastly situational, but its often better to build Culture than to use the Commerce settings percentile to generate Culture. Because you typically just need it in critical border areas - not in every single city!)

 

[henrebotha]

What do you recommend if you don't have anything to build in a specialized city. Say you have a Commerce City, and have all your banks and such built. Do you build units even though there is no barracks, or do you use the Build Wealth option?

I used to have the horrible habit of building troops or non-specialization appropriate buildings. But then in a recent post, one of the higher-level players (I think it was TheMeInTeam) made a very brutal but concise and valid statement: how does building a (for instance) Market help you, if you would make more money building Wealth than the Market would yield? This has made me rethink the power of Wealth-building, so in my current game (Monarch continents as Louis), I tried to only build critical core infrastructure (Granary, health and happiness) and then Wealth in all my commerce cities. In cities with low production, I even skipped Banks and such. The results were amazing. I'm currently running 0% science, 10% culture, and 50% espionage, yet turning a profit.

So my answer is: build Wealth. Only build Banks et al if the city can build them fast and early enough to yield a net profit afterwards.

 

[KiraKing123]

Alright thanks to you all I have lots of new strategies and tips thanks to everyone. If you think of anything else please do add it. It's helped incredibly having everyone post their tips and strategies so like I said thanks everyone and please if you can keep up the posts. =)

 

[Negator_UK]

Civ is a war game - so start with a leader you know how to hit people with. Agg is the obvious trait but there are lots of ways to use most of the traits avalable, some to win battles, some to help stop your economy crashing after you've taken some cities (or help you rebuild it after the crash).

But build a bunch of axe - understanding the rest of the game will follow naturally.

 

[Sisiutil]

Civ is a war game - so start with a leader you know how to hit people with. Agg is the obvious trait but there are lots of ways to use most of the traits avalable, some to win battles, some to help stop your economy crashing after you've taken some cities (or help you rebuild it after the crash).

But build a bunch of axe - understanding the rest of the game will follow naturally.

My apologies, but I think this is an oversimplification that does an injustice to the game. I've shown Civ IV to friends used to other, similar (TBS) games, and all of them have immediately been impressed by the richness of the game--specifically, by its non-military gameplay elements, victory options, and so on.

The great thing about Civ IV is that if you feel like playing a warmonger game, you can; but if you would prefer to play a more peaceful strategy, you can play that way too. It is possible to win at Civ IV without building a single military unit (yes, it's been done)!

 

[Negator_UK]

Apologies accepted , but you have misunderstood, the advice was targeted at a beginner.

I'll bet your no-units game was played and won by someone who understood the limits of other AI military and diplo, which is knowledge a beginner doesn't have - a beginner will play, maybe make some freinds with AI's but make enemies of others and he will need a military. IMHO he will actually better off taking this particular bull by the horns until he understands what a military can (and cannot) be used for, in human hands and in AI hands.

Then he can play the smart culture stuff.

Trying it the other way round will get his head smashed by Monte over and over - thats what happened to me ......

 

[henrebotha]

Apologies accepted , but you have misunderstood, the advice was targeted at a beginner.

I'll bet your no-units game was played and won by someone who understood the limits of other AI military and diplo, which is knowledge a beginner doesn't have - a beginner will play, maybe make some freinds with AI's but make enemies of others and he will need a military. IMHO he will actually better off taking this particular bull by the horns until he understands what a military can (and cannot) be used for, in human hands and in AI hands.

Then he can play the smart culture stuff.

Trying it the other way round will get his head smashed by Monte over and over - thats what happened to me ......

My first two dozen or so games were all peaceful, and I managed to win some of them at Warlord and Noble.

 

[Negator_UK]

My first two dozen or so games were all peaceful, and I managed to win some of them at Warlord and Noble.

I too had some peaceful games at that level and was even impressed I could win a peaceful spacerace in < 4 hours, something you could never do with Civ2. But on moving to prince found myself constantly being pounded, dogpiled and worse whenever an agressive AI was even remotely near me. At this point the game gives you no help as to why this is happening and no help as to what to do (which is build a big army yourself and hit someone with it).

This went on for a long time and badly soured my view of the game until I read on the forum that keeping your power/soldier levels high on the chart was something I had to do. Then the gridlock was broken. Took over a year, but I gave up on the game for a lot of that time, so maybe only 4 months of actual play was involved.

If I'd been more agressive from the start I doubt this would happened, hence the old-whipped-dog advice I give to beginners today.......