Best Traits For REXing?

[MilesBeyond]

I've always been a tall empire kind of guy, but I want to try a game where I do the whole wide empire thing instead, and I was wondering what the best traits are for REXing. I'm thinking that ORG, EXP and IMP are the top three (lower maintenance, higher health + faster workers and granaries, faster settlers - actually CHA might be a really good one too), and I'm wondering what people's preferences are for the combination of those traits.

What, in your mind, are the best traits for REXing, and who's your favourite leader to do it with?

 

[Pisskop]

Not that I powerplay, but EXPansive, CREative, and IMPerialistic.

My favorite leader, whom I regularly play with to expand peacefully is Darius I (when rushing is a no-go) and probablythe French. HRE I use, but I usually only wait until cats to war.

 

[AdamCrock]

If You want to expand far and wide I would propose any leader with "Organized" A must have in a far and wide empire unless You'd like to run state property

 

[jordiflor]

My preferred REXer is Julius.
Imperialistic because key factor in REXing is to be able to REX before your neighbors do.
Organized because you need to sustain an early still-uncottaged big empire, and maintenance costs can easily kill you.

 

[Robert FIN]

Organized leaders. I'm a noob and I've not even tried every leader in the game, but in my experience I'll go with JC. I played a nobles club game with him and he has AMAZING traits. I've never tried Joao but I quess that he is a solid REXer.

 

[reddishrecue]

Best traits for REXing, org, imp, exp, fin and cre.
Org for cheaper maintenance
Imp for quick settlers
exp for more workers and production from chopping
fin for cottage $$
and cre for no need for monuments

 

[jarhead_leif]

Joao for me, more settlers, more workers.

 

[Toxicc]

If you're playing unrestricted leaders, Joao or Mehmed of Inca for super-OP mode.

For REXing in a normal game, I like Mehmed (EXP/ORG), Sury (EXP/CRE), Pacal (EXP/FIN), Cathy (IMP/CRE), and Cyrus (IMP/CHAR).

 

[Iranon]

ORG, followed by EXP.
Both let new cities become profitable earlier. IMP saves plenty of hammers but in the wrong place - 2 cities you can afford are better than 3 cities you can't.

IMP and CRE are more useful for blocking AIs wtihout undue concessions, rather than for rapid sustainable expansion.

 

[AdamCrock]

ORG, followed by EXP.
Both let new cities become profitable earlier. IMP saves plenty of hammers but in the wrong place - 2 cities you can afford are better than 3 cities you can't.

IMP and CRE are more useful for blocking AIs wtihout undue concessions, rather than for rapid sustainable expansion.

True, true ! CRE is especially nasty !

 

[Funky]

I have found that Joao, while having superficially good REXing traits, is actually pretty suboptimal for this playstyle, as he lacks any kind of economical, military, or cultural support for the potential rapid expansion his swiftly built workers and settlers could attempt to accomplish.

 

[Chase_2_Rabbits]

I've always thought that the key to successful REXing is having the economy to do it. That can be achieved in a number of ways and by leveraging a variety of traits.

Saving a couple of turns on settlers isn't really that useful in the grand scheme of sustainable rapid expansion (unless as Iranon says it's a race against time land grab situation). EXP promotes vertical growth, it doesn't in itself help you found more cities; but it does help your existing empire grow, which helps you to afford more cities and whip more settlers

Mehmed would be my choice, but you can REX with anyone on the right map.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

ORG, followed by EXP.
Both let new cities become profitable earlier. IMP saves plenty of hammers but in the wrong place - 2 cities you can afford are better than 3 cities you can't.

IMP and CRE are more useful for blocking AIs wtihout undue concessions, rather than for rapid sustainable expansion.

You play mostly deity though. Even on immortal, you can spam out pretty hard with IMP. The fastest pure expansion traits are any combination of CRE, IMP, EXP.

I would argue that if your land is worth the rapid expansion speed, then you can probably afford the cities with some planning regardless.

On Deity it's rare that you get a ton of cities anyway though, weighting more towards CRE and EXP which have their benefits in setting cities up more quickly rather than in making cities more quickly.

 

[MilesBeyond]

I've given it some thought, and I think I'd rank them like this:

EXP
ORG
IMP
CRE


The reason why EXP is so great, IMHO, is that it provides both short term and long term benefits: Short term in that it gives fast Granaries, long term in that once you've developed a fair bit, it keeps you healthy and ergo growing.

ORG isn't as good for REXing (though I'd consider it the better trait overall) as its benefits are mostly long term. However, it does still provide some short term benefits: Double speed Lighthouses can be helpful, and double speed Courthouses are awesome.

IMP and CRE are both almost exclusively short-term traits and thus are less helpful IMHO. If you find yourself in an isolated start, or with only one neighbour who you're going to be rushing anyway, they aren't all that helpful. However, if you find yourself in a situation where there's a lot of valuable land with a few civs competing for it, you'll be really glad you have them.


Based on this, I tried a game with Mehmed and... Dude can REX.

 

[lymond]

^^^Mehmed is indeed a great leader and surprisingly very good on water maps too like Archi. Expansive is my favorite trait and really underrated. Probably the most flexible of traits.

 

[AdamCrock]

I think that most beneficial cre bonus is a double speed libraries

 

[Qgqqqqq]

Exp/Cre.
Joao of Inca if unrestricted.

 

[Merovech]

If you are only referring to grabbing land without completely bankrupting yourself, which is what REX normally means to me, that Exp/Cre. Imp is fun but weak, imo, and Org only kicks in once you start to consolidate your position (and is pretty weak at lower difficulties anyways; although you play at difficulties where maintenance matters, irc). Fin is the best trait in the game, but it provides only a very small boost to the actual Rex (increases incoming commerce, allowing you to stretch slightly further before bankrupting-better at the actual landgrab than Org).

Speaking of Exp versus Org overall, I'd say it depends heavily on difficulty and worldwrap. At Deity Toridal? Org. At Monarch Flat? Exp would be my choice. It also depends somewhat on your other trait (and your civ, if playing unrestricted). I prefer to, in most cases, have an economic trait (Fin, Org, Philo, to a lesser extent) and an expansion trait (Exp, Cre). This is why I consider Pacal to be better than Elizabeth, for example. However, if I am pairing with a combat trait (which are inherently weaker, as I am sure you know), in most cases I prefer the economic trait.

 

[Mec AntiKythera]

Looking at it from my own field trials instead of a theoretical analysis I can report that, empirically speaking, Organized has surprised me with how many new cities I can add to an empire without seeing the tech rate stagnate to unacceptable levels. Perhaps this isn't really a pure Rex trait though because I find it augments early war quite well allowing me to keep large numbers of cities instead of needing to raze them for economic reasons.

 

[babar]

Equally important perhaps is the question of the worst REx traits... I guess that would be SPI and PRO? SPI might conceivably save up to four turns of anarchy in the expansion phase, but I rarely find it's more than one or two, and anarchy helps your workers catch up slightly if you're losing money anyway. PRO might do something on Deity, but Immortal and below Archery is low priority. PHI and IND can both get you out of a hole, and AGG means fewer warriors potentially.