Civs in need of reworks

[DrJones87]

I think the weakest civs currently are America and Egypt. The recent patch nerfed Scythia and toned it down, which was much needed.

America has a really confusing set of bonuses. It's almost like you should get them to Modern era and then the game intentionally wants you to stay there as long as possible because of rough riders and the film studio (both of which become obsolete relatively quickly). I also find Democracy in general really underwhelming. By the time you can unlock it, most of the good great people have been obtained, and New Deal is just flat out a silly policy designed to test your intelligence (do you want to bankrupt your Civilization or not).

Egypt isn't so bad if you can get both desert based wonders (namely Petra and pyramids), but even then it only buffs one city, both of those wonders are nearly impossible to get on higher difficulties and if you don't get it you're screwed if you go after flood plains. The chariot archer is probably the most useless unique unit in the game with pretty underwhelming damage/mobility, and the fact that sphinx cant be built side by side again limits their usefulness.

There have always been power differences in Civilization (just look at the Iriquois in Civ V), but if we want balance I think those two need some pretty major reworks.

To start, I think USA should have its tourism boost extend beyond Modern era and democracy should probably have more financial incentives (gold production related to tourism generated) and that would be probably sufficient to make them viable. As for Egypt, they should get production from desert tiles that aren't flood plains (much like Russia does from Tundra) and that would probably be sufficient.

 

[Onii-chan]

Depends a bit on how you look at it. Civ is assymetrically balanced after all. Some civs are aimed at particular map types or victory conditions whereas others are more all-round. I think the best way to look at it is by taking every civ and put them in the scenario where they were intended to be played to make the most use of their abilities and then evaluate how good they are at doing precisely that, and how much of a shot they have at winning as a result

In that sense, even the relatively weak Norway can be argued to be decent since they are intended to be played on island maps, in which case they are decent. Still not the best, but they work

I agree that Egypt and America are two civs which I feel don't really accomplish a whole lot with their bonuses. France is also arguable but I think it used properly (I.E. taking advantage of diplomacy and the early spy) then they're okay. Spain is one I do feel needs a buff though, either through making their combat bonus vs civs following other religions apply more consistently (like making it work versus people without a religion as well) or by giving them additional bonuses towards actually founding a religion to begin with. Also their intercontinental trade route bonus is really weak and not very consistent either

 

[trojan13]

OP, American +5 cambat strength in home continent is a solid consistent bonus. Especially in early conquests for setting up empire.
I have yet played Egypt. In my experience, most wonders in deity come from conquest or rush with random wonder GE from IZ spams. So I don't really care about wonder bonus but district bonus on river seems solid all time.

To Onii-chan, I played Spain MP today. It has the strong stick in Renaissance. I've heard this strategy and tested it, it works very well. Conquistador 55 + missionary escort 10+ few general (I managed to draw 3) 5-15 + crusade belief 10 = 90 in Renaissance(arnd T70 in online speed). Not counting +4 leader ability because nobody found religion in the mp, but still very solid one shot to clear them all. I agree that it is really hard to get religion in single deity but it worth to try.

 

[TheSharp]

The film studio does not go obsolete, the wording of the building is simply off. Basically, the building will exert 100% tourism pressure from the city you built it in, towards any other civ that has reached the modern era or beyond. This bonus is fantastic for the culture game and will get those tourists to your lands, but it comes very late. In my America game on immortal, this building propelled me to victory.

 

[The Highwayman]

The New Deal is really good if you need housing and amenities across your empire. -8 gold per city isn't a bad hit at that stage of the game. In a recent game I was using the New Deal and still netting between $900 and $1,000 gold per turn around turn 200 (standard speed).

 

[Trebjonn]

Rather that using Continents as a metric they should just add a certain tile distance to activate those bonuses.

For instance the America home continent bonus is meant to be defensive, so it would make more sense to give them bonus lets say 10 tiles(should scale with the maps size) in every direction around their capital.
This would be much easier to plan for.

Likewise you could also use this for England and Spain and it would come more into play more often than what the RNG mapmaker gives you.

 

[MagicCuboid]

For instance the America home continent bonus is meant to be defensive, so it would make more sense to give them bonus lets say 10 tiles(should scale with the maps size) in every direction around their capital.
This would be much easier to plan for.

The bonus is not necessarily defensive. Thinking thematically, the Roosevelt Corollary was really an offensive strategy aimed toward establishing economic dominance over the Americas through use of force. In Civ terms, the bonus does just that by allowing America an easier time at conquering their starting continent, and gives them incentive to stay there.

 

[God of Kings]

Note the difference between "continent" and "landmass" in Civ VI. They mean different things in most cases.