Captured a Holy City. What to do?

[Major Tom]

I just captured a Holy City in the early game after some warmongering. Now i consider to be a builder. This shrine-building looks nice (I'm getting short of cash). The city is not able to create a great person. Do I have to build a monestary or something?
I have only researched Horsebackriding and Ironworking so far, not anything of the religious stuff.


Gamesettings: Emperor, Marathon, Huge, 17 AI's.

 

[ChicagoCubs]

If one of your other cities creates a Great Prophet, just escort the GP to the new city.

 

[Major Tom]

Thanks for reply. I have no cities producing GP's. Guess I have to find a priest.

 

[svv]

Plan for the city to be a financial center/GP farm:

1. Don't make it your primary science city. Build great library, your first academy, Oxford, elsewhere.

2. Try to have it support a lot of population. Build lots of farms. Build the happiness and health improvements you need to support growing population.

3. Build commerce improvements, market, bank, etc., as soon as possible.

4. As your population starts to get to high, make specialists, especially priests and merchants.

5. You'll want to build Wall street there eventually, so don't build two other national wonders. Possible choice for your other national wonder may be National Epic (though you may want that in your science city), or globe theatre.

6. Convert to the religion of the shrine, and spread it as much as practicable with missionaries, asking people to convert, etc.

 

[pigswill]

If you've got a holy city you've obviously got a religion there; research up to priesthood, build a temple and create a priest specialist for your GP points; once you've got the prophet you'll get the shrine.
Alternatively you can build one of the early religious wonders (Stonehenge or Oracle) which will generate GP points automatically.

 

[Stolen Rutters]

I just captured a Holy City in the early game after some warmongering. Now i consider to be a builder. This shrine-building looks nice (I'm getting short of cash). The city is not able to create a great person. Do I have to build a monestary or something?
I have only researched Horsebackriding and Ironworking so far, not anything of the religious stuff.


Gamesettings: Emperor, Marathon, Huge, 17 AI's.

not monestary, but temple for the priest - doesn't matter which city. 34 turns later, out comes the Great Prophet (don't know if marathon increases the number of GPP for the first GP... it's 100GPP in normal time speed). If you have a second religion, spread it to the first temple city to make it come faster with a second temple (you may need the monestary for that).

edit - oops, you already know about that. I should read more of the thread before shooting out the answer. Forgot about 'henge and oracle. I haven't built them since I moved to emperor.

 

[automator]

You just found the best way to get a shrine ... capture the city.

But before you bother researching priesthood and generating a GProphet, make sure you check that city. The AI is usually pretty good about building shrines if they get a GP and a holy city. They may have built it all ready.

 

[Major Tom]

Thank you all for good answers. Will eventually make it my financial center. However, now I have this choiche regarding research: Go for alphabet to extort some techs from Isabella (she is cornered and have asked for peace several times) OR research mysticism, meditation & priesthood to get my priest for GPP-points.

Do you have som experience in extortion the AIs?

(I'm playing Kublai Khan (1.61) and my Keshiks rules the killing fields for the time being.)

 

[slowcar]

go for alphabet. you can exchange many a tech with other civs, just don't give alphabet itself away unless your monopoly is broken.
if you are lucky you can ring-trade techs which means trading a tech you got from civ A to civ B in the next round, selling the tech you got from B to A and maybe C etc.

 

[voek]

Funny you are obvious new to civ4 and playing on Emperor Huge... Not afraid to get kicked down huh?

 

[cabert]

alphabet is the way to go, but it's a loooonnnggg research on marathon/emperor level.
Maybe Isabella has it, then you could extort it from her ?

 

[Major Tom]

alphabet is the way to go, but it's a loooonnnggg research on marathon/emperor level.
Maybe Isabella has it, then you could extort it from her ?

OK, I did. Great success. Got all her techs and finished her off later.
Techtraded me to a pleasant level. Went into buildermode. very peacefull world, but getting a great prophet for shrine seems far away, so I follow the trend in religion on this continent for peace sake.

Funny you are obvious new to civ4 and playing on Emperor Huge... Not afraid to get kicked down huh?

Not a novice, have played civ since civ1 (1990?). Reason for asking is that I played Civ4 for a couple of months when it came but haven't played since february so forgot the hang of it.

 

[Major Tom]

Short question for you who have experience from founding religions.

I just wondered if I switch to free religion (or more excatly: bother to get democracy), do I lose my income from my shrine and intelligence info from state religion?

 

[Welnic]

You don't lose the income, but you lose the intelligence info if you no longer have a state religion. Free Religion is enabled by Liberalism.

 

[cabert]

you can even switch out of state religion without liberalism (religious screen, click on no state religion), but you lose
- the intelligence info
- the benefit from religious civic

 

[Stolen Rutters]

Since my cities get culture from every religion if my civ has no state religion, I will rarely switch to a religion I founded in the early game to get all the culture I am due (and to avoid the diplomatic penalties). That is unless I intend to move to a religious civic that requires a state religion to get all the benefits (Organized Religion, Theocracy, and Pacifism, of course).

 

[ZB2]

I razed a holy city once. turns out the penalty of ALL those who follow have "-2 - you razed our holy city!" as comparative to "-4 Heathen religion sentence"

 

[Paeanblack]

6. Convert to the religion of the shrine, and spread it as much as practicable with missionaries, asking people to convert, etc.

These should NOT be lumped together. Deciding to invest in spreading a religion for which you own the holy city is a completely different decision from choosing a state religion.

Shrines have no concept of "your religion", "my religion", or "Bob's religion". They produce money based on the spead of their own religion. That's all. Shrines don't even care what cities their religion spreads to...foreign or domestic, it doesn't matter.

There is some indirect synergy with owning the shrine for your state religion, but if you never consider choosing a state religion for which you do not own the shrine or if you automatically convert simply because you have the shrine, you are really shooting yourself in the foot. More often than not, there are better options available.

 

[CivDude86]

Those people that bring the gold to the shrine do care though. They won't tell you whats at home if you aren't their religon.