Bigginer's Civ

[Fried Egg]

What Civ would you recommend for a beginner to use? i.e. what would give them a good start and help them come to grips with the game?

I am thinking that an expansionist civ would be best (on a continental or pangea map) because, although I don't generally regard it as a good trait for myself, it is good for giving you an early boost at the beginning.

So far, my collegue has had a couple of Civ games but never made it out of the ancient age without either being wiped out or giving up because he is so far behind.

Perhaps the Inca's (Expansionist & Agricultural) would be a good choice?

 

[Willem de III]

Iroquois, they have the biggest advantage because they are argicultural and commercial, this means they'll get + 1 food and + 1 commerce in their city squares, so you'll get more money and faster city population growth, this means more working citicens in your city = more shield production = faster buidling times (you'll also build settlers faster because of more shield production and the quicker population growth = faster expansion), desserts will also produce 1+ food if irrigated and moreover there is less corruption because of the commercial abbility = more income and more good running cities further away from your capital. All these advatages will give you the head-start for total domination, in most cases ofcourse. And if you are a beginner always play the easiest difficulty level ofcourse!. If you really don't like the Iroquois the Dutch are also considered very strong. Their UU (Unique Unit) the Swiss Mechanary has a high defence and is availible very early so you won't have to be to frightened about attacks at your cities and moreover the Dutch are the ideal civ for maps with al lot of ocean and sea squares and made up of islands, because this civ is seafaring and will be able to cross the water faster and has less risk of early ships to sink, so you will probably be the first civ to settle on a newly found empty island, because the other civ's can't simply get there that early at least when the island is remote enough and if all other civ's aren't seafaring.

 

[Fried Egg]

I love the Commerce trait, don't get me wrong, but it's benefits don't really kick in until much later on, do they? Which is a problem for a player who hasn't yet gotten out of the Ancient Age.

 

[Willem de III]

I love the Commerce trait, don't get me wrong, but it's benefits don't really kick in until much later on, do they? Which is a problem for a player who hasn't yet gotten out of the Ancient Age.

could be possible although I never heard about that...

But Iroquois is still considered the best civ by most people.

 

[Fried Egg]

The Commerce trait reduces corruption, which is more prevellant in distant cities, therefore is more of a problem later on in the game.

In addition, the commerce bonus is only for cities and metros...so it presumably doesn't benefit smaller towns.

I have no doubt that the Iraquois are a good civ, it's just I'm not sure that they're necessarilly a great civ for a beginner who struggles a lot in the AA. They do get an AA UU though...

 

[Willem de III]

The Commerce trait reduces corruption, which is more prevellant in distant cities, therefore is more of a problem later on in the game.

The Commerce trait reduces corruption also in nearby cities next to the capital, I should think

 

[sabo]

ALot of people seem to think Maya is easy too, I've never tried them but I've heard playing Maya at one level is like playing any other civ at a level below that..

 

[gunkulator]

For a noob playing at a lower level, you want to get yourself into good habits and prevent bad habits from forming.

Good vs. bad habits:
- Players should initially concentrate on exploring and settling land
- Players should not build improvements early except for barracks
- Players need an army to go bonk some heads
- Players need workers and improved land
- Players should get used to CxxC or at least CxxxC
- Players should get to republic (or monarchy for always war) and stay there. Anarchy is a killer

Given these, I would lean towards the traits that reward your good habits, like militaristic, agricultural, industrious and commerical. I would avoid religious and scientific since they tempt you with cheap buildings and culture that you don't need early on. You should also avoid the habit of changing gov'ts frequently. Expansionist does promote exploring but you should get used to exploring with warriors and overall it really is a weak trait. I'm on the fence with seafaring. On the one hand, it promotes sea exploration. On the other hand it is a hard trait to master for a noob and might encourage the building of a large navy early when there is so much else that needs to be done.

Of the four "good" traits for noobs, agr is the hardest to take advantage of since the food advantage doesn't kick in until you get out of despotism, unless you remember to build next to fresh water. The commercial trait takes a while to really kick in, especially with new players since they don't expand as quickly as veterans. That leaves ind and mil. You don't have to do anything to take advantage of ind, while mil civs players will have the option of the cheap barracks right away. So I would say Mil and Ind are the way to go.

Welcome to China!

 

[Own]

Persia. I used thems when me was beginner.

 

[Tomoyo]

Of the four "good" traits for noobs, agr is the hardest to take advantage of since the food advantage doesn't kick in until you get out of despotism, unless you remember to build next to fresh water. The commercial trait takes a while to really kick in, especially with new players since they don't expand as quickly as veterans. That leaves ind and mil. You don't have to do anything to take advantage of ind, while mil civs players will have the option of the cheap barracks right away. So I would say Mil and Ind are the way to go.

Hehe...

Agricultual is the trait that blossoms the quickest because of the extra fresh water food. One extra fpt early on is like a 50% boost in growth in your first city, and pretty much allows you to get settlers out quicker and if the new cities are on fresh water, more fast growth.

Militaristic I would say is one of the lesser traits because their main advantage is the decreased cost of military buildings, which isn't enough to compensate for benefits you would get from another trait, like, say, umm... actually I'll just go with Industrious.

So Maya I guess would be the easiest, although I've never played as them. I use France/Holland for my next level try things.

 

[gunkulator]

Hehe...

Agricultual is the trait that blossoms the quickest because of the extra fresh water food. One extra fpt early on is like a 50% boost in growth in your first city, and pretty much allows you to get settlers out quicker and if the new cities are on fresh water, more fast growth.

Unquestionably Agr is the best trait, however for a new player trying to figure out all the mechanics of the game, remembering or even realizing that they should build next to fresh water is difficult. There's only so much detail about the game that you can recall.

Militaristic I would say is one of the lesser traits because their main advantage is the decreased cost of military buildings, which isn't enough to compensate for benefits you would get from another trait, like, say, umm... actually I'll just go with Industrious.

Normally I rate Mil near the bottom, but for a new player, especially one playing at a lower level, Mil is an easy trait to understand because there are no special rules to memorize. It also rewards "the right" behavior - make war, not love.

So Maya I guess would be the easiest, although I've never played as them.

Maya has a sub par UU that a new player would not know how to handle properly. Maya actually teach the wrong lesson about building units because the JT is so expensive for relatively little power. I actually played the Maya as a new player and I completely wasted the UU and my GA. I didn't realize until later how to use barbs or artillery to farm for slaves. Such techniques are not in the newbie's bag of tricks. I did remember the fresh water trick but I didn't know any of the finer points of settler pumps or worker pumps so most of my excess food went to waste. I also didn't realize until after the game that I could get 2 food from irrigated desert. Some things you remember, some you don't.

 

[jm chen]

Persia. I used thems when me was beginner.

I also think Persia is a great beginner's civ. Industrious is really helpful and the Immortals kick all kinds of ass.

Another thing: the Civs you're up against make a big difference to your play, also. If you start next to Rome or Greece, both of which have great ancient age defensive UU's, early conquest will be a lot harder. If you're just starting out, it's not a bad idea to stack the deck with, say, India and Egypt and France as your opponents on a tiny world.

 

[Zii]

I started with Japanese, simply for the combination of religion (temples build faster, give culture and keep people content) and military (baracks = veteran army). I know their UU doesn't figure in the Ancent Age but when it does, it's quite good

Expansionist might be good for a beginner on a pangea, to have a scout explore and get free techs.

However, now I'm getting slightly more advanced I'm leaning towards industrious (connecting cities with roads, mining and irrigating faster) and either commercial or agric.

 

[sennomulo]

ALot of people seem to think Maya is easy too, I've never tried them but I've heard playing Maya at one level is like playing any other civ at a level below that..

I would agree that the Mayans are pretty easy to play with. Agricultural + Industrious = piece of cake. The UU isn't that great, but I don't put much emphasis on the UUs when selecting a civ. The traits are what matter for me, since they stick with you for the whole game, and the Agr/Ind combo is just superb for building a huge productive empire.

 

[AskReeves15]

Babylon would be my choice. They have the relig and scientific traits. THe scienitific obviously has a great deal of advantages so as not to fall behind as does the 1 turn anarchy that religion provides. Also helps to fill out your empire with libraries and temples.
Though i must agree the Mayans are an excellent choice

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Babylon would be my choice. They have the relig and scientific traits. THe scienitific obviously has a great deal of advantages so as not to fall behind as does the 1 turn anarchy that religion provides. Also helps to fill out your empire with libraries and temples.

And that, my friend, is *exactly* what you should not do .
As some others already mentioned: Do not build anything early on but Settlers, Workers, a few Barracks and some military in those cities, a few regular Warriors for exploration and military police duty, and one or two Granaries. If you feel like it, maybe one (!) wonder.

Don't get me wrong, you can play like you want - but if you want to know how to "win the AA", your suggestions are the opposite of what's advicable...

SCI doesn't really matter on any level below Monarch. REL never matters, except for cultural victories (you need to revolt once/game). While AGR, COM and SEA are clearly the strongest traits in the game, I fully agree with China or Mayans having the easiest traits - and Persia an overpowered UU on lower levels.

One more thing: You should nevertheless try to start with Alphabet. Ensures to be first for Philosophy, whatever you pick here (Monarchy or Republic).

 

[Bud2998]

Personally, I love the Dutch. If you start next to a lake or river, expanding will come almost too easily in the beginning. Not to mention, with seafaring, if you build a curragh early, you can outline the continent / island you're on and meet a few civs on the way, which can be very helpful as you can be dominant in diplomatic affairs until the Middle Ages (which if you learn to use it right, can be very powerful and you can trade for many techs and even make a profit of it by selling it to other lesser developed civs).

The Maya are also another superb choice. Their UU isn't exactly the greatest, but the traits compliment each other well enough to make up for that.

 

[cleverhandle]

And that, my friend, is *exactly* what you should not do .

Yup. Babylon is a great civ, and for certain kinds of games a very good pick. But it's got to be one of the absolute worst civs for beginners b/c, as Doc said, it encourages all the things that you need to stay away from to be successful later on.

 

[Pentium]

They're good for cultural victories, especially 100k.

For the original question: Greece for builders, Rome for warmongers.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

I totally disagree with earlier posters saying that scientific is a bad trait. It's great for new players, as long as cheap libraries isn't all they build. A 40 shield library early in the game is all the culture you need, and it gives fast research. Add that to a builder trait and the civ is unstoppable. Sort of.

Anyway, the three best civs, in my opinion, are Persia, Sumeria, and the Iroquois.