I wanted to see what other players are doing with City-States and what the new City-State meta is, now that patch 1.30 has significantly reduced their power. Here are my initial thoughts.
Civs/Leaders: All of the Civs/Leaders that had bonuses to or from suzeraining City-States have taken a significant hit. Even though Greece and Tecumseh still benefit significantly from suzeraining, those benefits have been cut back. Influence is no longer as valuable a commodity, and, surprisingly, some of the smaller endeavors and other diplomatic actions have become more appealing.
City-States: I’m now much more likely to bulldoze City-States early in Antiquity, picking up bonus production, gold, culture, science and, sometimes most importantly, experience on commanders. When I do suzerain, I usually grab the one-off bonuses and Unique Improvements. Unique Improvements remain one of the best uses of City-States, especially in Exploration. Additionally, with more City-States in Exploration, you can sometimes get enough of the same type to build up significant bonuses.
Individual Bonuses:
Antiquity:
Militaristic: Hillfort and Hegemon remain strong. Flatbow took a huge hit. I rarely get Age of Heroes because the AI prioritizes it.
Cultural: Megaliths remain strong. Arch and Shrines to the Jinn took a hit but still are useful since the Cultural Legacy path is often the hardest. Bonuses to cultural buildings are less helpful now that buildings cost so much more for subsequent cities.
Scientific: Step Pyramids remain middling, being expensive and hard to place. Pilgrimage went from one of the strongest bonuses (and the first you always would take) to pretty middling. It’s actually weaker than Shrines to the Jinn because the Science tree has a lot more masteries than the Civic tree does. Codex remains a good way for science-poor Civs to pick up a cheap codex.
Economic: Gemstones! Tampos is also nice since trade route range is so important. Economic City-States are nice to have in abundance, since they synergize very well in 1.30, despite taking a hit overall.
Diplomatic: Not helpful, since influence took such a hit. I like Festival Grounds despite this, but mostly because it’s a nice one to weave into your cities and they look lovely.
Expansionist: The opposite of Diplomatic, in many ways. I find it hard to place a lot of Yahkchal, but all of the food bonuses are excellent and they synergize well. Food bonuses are strongest in Antiquity.
Exploration:
Militaristic: Longbow used to be amazing. Now I have little use for Militaristic bonuses in general – Settlement limits don’t matter as much and the Kasbah is lousy.
Cultural: Stone Heads are hard to place, like the Step Pyramids. Church Hierarchy is still very useful, as it was always a one-off free Civic. Unexcited by the rest.
Scientific: By far the most important bonuses of the Exploration Age, which depends heavily on science and very little on culture. The Economic, Cultural and Militaristic Legacy paths are all boosted by scientific advancement (Shipbuilding for economic, improved missionary/wonder production for Cultural, and better techs for Militaristic conquering). Eureka! remains excellent, Natural Law is decent, and Monasteries are, in my opinion, the strongest City-State Unique Improvement in the game. They allow you to start the Modern Age with tons of science, and you can spam them to break the Settlement Limit wide open.
Economic: Same as Antiquity, synergistic and great for trading. However, both gold and resources fall off in Exploration, so overall less useful.
Diplomatic: Weak Antiquity bonuses that aren’t scaled well enough for Exploration. Endeavors have dropped off in importance and influence is plentiful. The Market Cross is useful for breaking the Settlement Limit.
Expansionist: Saquiya are hard to place, and the rest of the food bonuses don’t scale well enough. You don’t need Settlement Limit, so these are much less useful than in Antiquity.
Modern: Almost no bonuses in Modern are helpful at all. The Age is almost over by the time you become Suzerain (except if Siamese), so Unique Improvements rarely if ever pay for themselves. Bonuses to buildings have a similar problem. Ethnology (Cultural) and Anthropology (Scientific) are useful for one-off free techs, and if you start the Age by trying to Suzerain all of the Scientific City-States in the world, Professional Architects is useful. Weirdly, because the Age is so short, Commonwealth (+1 free Policy slot, an effect that is middling in Ancient and Exploration) becomes useful as you don’t have enough time for Celebrations to accumulate so you can slot policies/traditions.
Thoughts? What’s your new City-State strategy?
Civs/Leaders: All of the Civs/Leaders that had bonuses to or from suzeraining City-States have taken a significant hit. Even though Greece and Tecumseh still benefit significantly from suzeraining, those benefits have been cut back. Influence is no longer as valuable a commodity, and, surprisingly, some of the smaller endeavors and other diplomatic actions have become more appealing.
City-States: I’m now much more likely to bulldoze City-States early in Antiquity, picking up bonus production, gold, culture, science and, sometimes most importantly, experience on commanders. When I do suzerain, I usually grab the one-off bonuses and Unique Improvements. Unique Improvements remain one of the best uses of City-States, especially in Exploration. Additionally, with more City-States in Exploration, you can sometimes get enough of the same type to build up significant bonuses.
Individual Bonuses:
Antiquity:
Militaristic: Hillfort and Hegemon remain strong. Flatbow took a huge hit. I rarely get Age of Heroes because the AI prioritizes it.
Cultural: Megaliths remain strong. Arch and Shrines to the Jinn took a hit but still are useful since the Cultural Legacy path is often the hardest. Bonuses to cultural buildings are less helpful now that buildings cost so much more for subsequent cities.
Scientific: Step Pyramids remain middling, being expensive and hard to place. Pilgrimage went from one of the strongest bonuses (and the first you always would take) to pretty middling. It’s actually weaker than Shrines to the Jinn because the Science tree has a lot more masteries than the Civic tree does. Codex remains a good way for science-poor Civs to pick up a cheap codex.
Economic: Gemstones! Tampos is also nice since trade route range is so important. Economic City-States are nice to have in abundance, since they synergize very well in 1.30, despite taking a hit overall.
Diplomatic: Not helpful, since influence took such a hit. I like Festival Grounds despite this, but mostly because it’s a nice one to weave into your cities and they look lovely.
Expansionist: The opposite of Diplomatic, in many ways. I find it hard to place a lot of Yahkchal, but all of the food bonuses are excellent and they synergize well. Food bonuses are strongest in Antiquity.
Exploration:
Militaristic: Longbow used to be amazing. Now I have little use for Militaristic bonuses in general – Settlement limits don’t matter as much and the Kasbah is lousy.
Cultural: Stone Heads are hard to place, like the Step Pyramids. Church Hierarchy is still very useful, as it was always a one-off free Civic. Unexcited by the rest.
Scientific: By far the most important bonuses of the Exploration Age, which depends heavily on science and very little on culture. The Economic, Cultural and Militaristic Legacy paths are all boosted by scientific advancement (Shipbuilding for economic, improved missionary/wonder production for Cultural, and better techs for Militaristic conquering). Eureka! remains excellent, Natural Law is decent, and Monasteries are, in my opinion, the strongest City-State Unique Improvement in the game. They allow you to start the Modern Age with tons of science, and you can spam them to break the Settlement Limit wide open.
Economic: Same as Antiquity, synergistic and great for trading. However, both gold and resources fall off in Exploration, so overall less useful.
Diplomatic: Weak Antiquity bonuses that aren’t scaled well enough for Exploration. Endeavors have dropped off in importance and influence is plentiful. The Market Cross is useful for breaking the Settlement Limit.
Expansionist: Saquiya are hard to place, and the rest of the food bonuses don’t scale well enough. You don’t need Settlement Limit, so these are much less useful than in Antiquity.
Modern: Almost no bonuses in Modern are helpful at all. The Age is almost over by the time you become Suzerain (except if Siamese), so Unique Improvements rarely if ever pay for themselves. Bonuses to buildings have a similar problem. Ethnology (Cultural) and Anthropology (Scientific) are useful for one-off free techs, and if you start the Age by trying to Suzerain all of the Scientific City-States in the world, Professional Architects is useful. Weirdly, because the Age is so short, Commonwealth (+1 free Policy slot, an effect that is middling in Ancient and Exploration) becomes useful as you don’t have enough time for Celebrations to accumulate so you can slot policies/traditions.
Thoughts? What’s your new City-State strategy?
