Best Civ-Specific Ability?

[JellyDonut]

As you all probably know, there are certain 'bonuses' given to each civilization based on history and gameplay that make that civilization distinct from the rest. They are:

Ability (civs) - Effect 1, Effect 2, Free Tech

Militaristic (Azt, Ger, Rom, Zul, Jap, Chi) - Reduced military improvement costs, Battlefield promotion more likely, Warrior Code OR The Wheel
Commercial (Eng, Fre, Gre, Rom, Ind) - Extra commerce in city center, Lower corruption, Alphabet
Expansionist (Iro, Ame, Rus, Eng, Zul) - Better stuff from barbarian villages, Civilization starts with a scout, Pottery
Scientific (Rus, Ger, Gre, Bab, Per) - Free random tech at the beginning of each new era, Reduced science improvement costs
Religious (Azt, Iro, Egy, Bab, Ind, Jap) - Production costs reduced for religious buildings, No anarchy between governments
Industrious (Ame, Fre, Egy, Per, Chi) - Workers work faster, Extra production in city center, Masonry

 

[Cunobelin Of Hippo]

I'll have to throw in my capitalistic support for 'Commercial'. I'm really looking forward to that extra dough in the CS, lowered corruption in a far flung empire that is built where the resources are, and Alphabet ain't so bad

Extra gold, especially in the beginning, will be a huge boon to rush building cultural buildings.

EDIT: And since we support military units with cash, I'll have that many more troops than my so called 'militaristic' neighbour

 

[JellyDonut]

Good news to all the Rome fans: your civ is the best to take over the world with! (Militaristic, Commercial)

 

[DaEezT]

I think the best ones are Militaristic, Scientific & Industrious.
I voted for Scientific because I think it is the best of the three but only slightly better. Militaristic only reduces improvement cost so building new units because you want to go to war is still costly. And industrious just increases production in the city center so it's also limited.
So it's scientific.
Free random tech at the beginning of each new era = 3 free techs =

Reduced science improvement costs = hmm I think this means the reasearch is cheaper and thus faster but i wonder why they used the term "science improvement".

The other three are not as good IMO. Comercial is like a Industrious just not as good. less corruption agains faster workers of industrious... i go for the workers.
And for religous: No anarchy.. well, depends on how long the anarchy would be. Might be interesting but i doubt that it's really useful. Cheaper religous buildings.. hmm, how many building are there that fit that description? Temple and Cathedral and maybe wonders, while militaristic have cheaper upgrade for all units and industrious have exttra production in every city.
Thus i think it's not as good as the top three abilities.

The worst one is Expansionist. I mean: better stuff frombarb villages. this can be good, depending what you can find in barb villages in civ3 and how frequent they are. but the extra scout is kinda bad. k, when u start the game u get around fast but when you got say 3 citys you are already big enoug to biuld some units for exploration which then can also attack when they find another civ. And in the late game it's a big disadvantage. while industious civs get extra production is every city and militaristic can upgrade their units for a lower price what do expansionist civs have? they had a free scout.. no good against a marine. and when there are no barb villages left that ability is also useless. IMO the expansionist civ should have something like: every city of the size 5 or less automatically makes 2 content ppl happy, every city of the size 10 to 6 makes 1 content citizen happy and 11+ cities are normal. beacause the civ is expansionist it's people are happy in smaler cities because smaler cities = recently build and recently build means that new terrain was added to their country which was an expansion of their influence
(bow down to my logic )
Maybe i just can't see the forest through all the trees but expansionist civs seem kinda.. bad

so it would be:
1. Scientific
2. Militaristic & Industrious
3. Religious & Commercial
4. Expansionist

 

[Typo]

I'd disagree an expanionist civ gives an opportunity for a great start which can give you a major advantage over other civs especially early in the game. You obviously need some luck but you may find new settlers, new units, extra cash, the list goes on while other civs are still struggling to build their first scout to start exploring. You may not get any benefits from this late in the game but you'll still have another attribute (such as commercial etc) giving you some benefits. I think going up against expansionists civs will be very challenging early in the game i.e. you don't want to bump into them too soon...

 

[Scout]

It's hard to evaluate "expansionist" at this point because we have no idea of the value of those goodie huts. But let's just say that, because of my expansionist attribute I end up with two extra cities. Each of those extra cities will be producing science, industry, and gold every turn for the rest of the game -- therefore making this quite a valuable attribute. Furthermore, if that scout shows me the lay of the land so that I know which direction to expand, etc. this may prove the best attribute of all.

However, it seems like a high risk attribute. You must, at the outset, convert this ability into tangible results, or you have forfeited your advantage. Most of the others offer advangages that are more certain and somewhat more passive... Militaristic seems to be in a category of its own. If you convert it into a stream of great leaders, it looks good. But if you don't get them (lack of battles or lack of luck) then you forfeit your advantage.

So it seems to me that expansionist and militaristic are more speculative, while the other three are more conservative investments.

 

[LKendter]

The real problem with "expansionist" is we don't know what "better stuff from goody huts is". After all, the scout won't be worth jack if the first hut it finds is barbarians that kill it

Know if that category never finds barbarians ...

 

[Robespierre]

I'm assuming that "better stuff from goody huts" means a lot better probability of getting free techs or free cities from them (otherwise expansionist civs really would be at a disadvantage). If that is true, however, then expansionism will probably be one of the best bonuses because it lets you quickly expand your empire in the early years which translates to a head start that gives you a big advantage later in the game.

I say the second best attribute is industrious, because the secondary most important thing after developing an expansive empire with a lot of cities is developing a comprehensive infrastructure - which will be doubly important in civ3 because of all the new resources features. So for my strategy of quick expansion followed by development of infrastructure, I think expansionist & industrious (the Americans) would be the best.

If you want a head start in the technology race, take scientific, if you are a big war-monger, take militaristic, if you want to get a head start in developing culture, take religious, and if you want a powerful economy with lower corruption for your distant cities, take commercial.

 

[Sixchan]

Posted by DaEezT:

Reduced science improvement costs = hmm I think this means the reasearch is cheaper and thus faster but i wonder why they used the term "science improvement".

I think this has to do with libraries, universities and research labs. Either they cost less to build, or have lower maintinence.

 

[DaEezT]

Originally posted by Sixchan

I think this has to do with libraries, universities and research labs. Either they cost less to build, or have lower maintinence.

Don't think so because in religious it says: "Production costs reduced for religious buildings"
Or Firaxis made an error there.

 

[JellyDonut]

I think they just worded it differently. In Civ II-speak, "improvement" usually refers to a city improvement, i.e. a building. I think it's like the religious ability for libraries, universities, research labs, etc. and maybe some of the wonders.

 

[aneeshm]

I'd presonally go far an expansionist & industrious civ . Why , because I can build cities faster , & my few (but faster) workers can improve the land in less than the standard required time , so I get bigger , better cities , faster (useful for wonderbuilding , specially major wonders) than the rest of you . Religious & Militaristic would'nt be too bad , as CP / turn will be higher , & you can go to war with lower repercussions on your economy & science (compensated by culture) .

 

[slothman]

1: Industrious
2: Religious
3: Scientific
4: Commercial
5: Militaristic
6: Expansionist
The production and faster workers seems really good. Just a lottle better than cheaper temples, etc. The cheaper religious and scientific buildings will help your culture. The rest only seem marginal the way I play.

 

[Karl Marx the Penguin]

After many hours of soul searching (okay, I admit it was only minutes) I picked comercial. Why, you may ask?

I picked commercial because: extra trade does nothing for your civilization!! Except for course the fact that it influences everything else. Instead of being forced into improved millitary, science, or religion; I GET TO CHOOSE, I can put it into science by the wasy of paying upkeep and rush building science improvements. I can place it into the military and religious pursuits for basically the same reasons.

Not to mention I can penalize expanionists for their far flung cities that they earned from goody huts by BUYING their cities.

A second is given to industrious because it can do much of the same. It can build millitary units quicker, improvements quicker. That edge in production early on will make them as almostas expansionists (look I've got a scout too!) at expanding.

1. commercial
2. industrious
3. scientific (free advances!)
4. religious
5/6. militaristic and expansionist

 

[SteveJH]

I would have to go with industrious being my first choice and commercial second, that extra shield can make all the difference in the beggining of the game and extra commerce is always a plus

 

[Phorever Phalanx]

Since everyone seems to have different ideas on this, I wonder (since there is not yet multiplayer) if we could design a civ3 game of the month where the location and map were frozen, but you could still choose the civ. That way, we could isolate how useful the abilities are on a consistent basis.

Of course, I believe the map location will still be more important than abilities, given that resource management will be so important.

 

[jc011]

hmmmm... it seems i've been playing with the wrong civ!!! i play the romans but never attack, perhaps i should switch to the Russians, they are scientific and expansionists, exactly what i need!!

I had no idea that these made a difference!!

 

[Haze]

Go science go science......

You do not need a good army, as long as your are the most advanced Civ, in the world/galaxi.Well think about it, what can a Phalanx do against a Nuke?

 

[DaEezT]

Another thing that speaks for scientific is that everyone needs science and new techs.
Peaceful players need it for the Spaceflight Victory and Offensive players for new Units.
You can'T play without science no matter what...

 

[Micah]

Science definitely seems to be the best. I always love those free advances. Industrious also seems good. i always seem to be needing two thigs the way I play, science and industry. Everything else just falls into place after that.