Code of Laws, Great tech, or GREATest tech?

[Nestorius]

Code of Laws is the greatest tech. I beeline to it almost every game because you can't expand past a certain point without it. Since Warlords, bronze working is not nearly as useful as animal husbandry.

 

[Gnarfflinger]

Code of Laws is imperative early on, but you don't have to go straight for it...

 

[jimbob27]

I'm not sure why everyone raves on about courthouses so much. Sure, they're nice, but marketplaces are just as lucrative if you beeline to them in the same way people beeline for COL.

 

[cfacosta]

Though I cannot say that any tech is the most important, I will say that Code of Laws is the one I value the highest. Bronze Working is very important for chopping, but I do not put as much value on slavery as I do not use that civic. My preference is for caste system because of the versatility is gives me during my wars. Since I site my first few cities in productive areas, hammers are not as much a concern for me as gold is. That does not even take into account the fact that courthouses are, indeed, big deal. If you calculate the amount of gold they save you during the crucial early stages where gold is not easy to come by, you see their real value.

 

[cv431410]

1) Establishment of Confucianism. The obvious one, but an important one. Due to the ebb and flow of the game, this seems to end up being my religion more often than any other (Even if I don't convert ;p).

2) Courthouses. Probably the most important building early on. (That is, before the ability to expand is no longer possible).

3) Caste System: The best labor option for expanding civs. I can't get enough of this civic, which is amusing because I used to think it was 'awful'. First of all, for non creative civs, you can use the first 3 turns of a cities existence to get the first cultural growth by making an artist specialists. Secondly, you can support an expanding empire by making merchant specialists wherever needed (Until the cities start supporting themselves). Thirdly you can specialize your various cities on getting certain types of great people with relative ease. Getting an early Great Scientist in a Cottage spammed city is extremely important, due to the academy it produces. Given that probably 80% of your science at this point is coming from two or 3 cities, that academy is going to do wonders to your total numbers.

4) CS slingshot.

I had 8 flood plains + 2 hills once, after cs slingshot (using 2 hills to rush out oracle), I switched to 8 flood plains with cottages. In the entire game, I finish most of the tech in 1 turn only. Some long tech, like Fedulism and Engineering, it takes no more than 4 turns. It is very funny to finish a tech in one turn again and again.

 

[Stolen Rutters]

I used to beeline for CoL, before I found that currency was a better tech to push for if you want to expand. I would say BW is best just because of the whip/chop combo.

With BW, you can produce your first set of units to expand to your early limit (three to five cities depending on financing). The exact combination of workers, settlers, and military units depends on your surroundings and resources you have around you, but the extra production you get from the whip/chop will kick them out many times quicker than otherwise.

The next step I take, I hopefully beeline for Alphabet (tech trading to fill in the gaps), Currency (the +1 trade-route-per-city and marketplaces to finance four or five more cities) and Construction (catapults) before I upgrade my melee unit techs beyond swordsmen.

Of course, I still play at Monarch, so I may have to reduce the number of techs to pursue, and use tech trading more extensively as I move to Emperor.

 

[brianbenedict]

I'm going to agree with CV431410--researching Code of Laws is primarily useful because of the CS slingshot. I never use caste system (unless I'm spiritual and can flip to and from it at will). Slavery is too good, and a library usually allows me to employ all the scientists I want anyway. I don't usually build courthouses early on--then again, I don't usually expand all that rapidly. 3-4 cities is usually all for my initial land grab.

Fortunately, this game is balanced enough that there is no every-situation "best tech" that you must beeline for every game. Any of the first few tiers of techs can be vital to a given game. I rarely research the hunting-archery-horseback riding line, but even that can be necessary.

Also, the value of any given tech has to be weighed against its cost (unless we're slingshotting)--that's another reason why bronze working is almost always a must-get, while Code of Laws is more of a nice-to-have.

If we are talking about early-game slingshots, the prefered targets are:
(1): Civil Service (hardest to pull off, but by FAR the most lucrative)
(2): Metal Casting
(3): Code of Laws
(4): Alphabet (situationally good if you have lots of neighbors and can afford to delay many early techs)

But my ultimate choice for best overall bang for the buck technology:

I have to go with the crowd and choose BRONZE WORKING. Copper is a key military resource, and it's a rare game that I don't want to chop or whip rush. The only times I ever neglect BW (temporarily) are when I beeline for alphabet.

 

[drkodos]

If we are talking about early-game slingshots, the prefered targets are:
(1): Civil Service (hardest to pull off, but by FAR the most lucrative)
(2): Metal Casting
(3): Code of Laws
(4): Alphabet (situationally good if you have lots of neighbors and can afford to delay many early techs)

.

2 More:

- Feudalism Slingshot (Great for Warlords, especially if one is Protective)

- Currency Slingshot. As mentioned by a sagacious poster above, if you get currency early, it can bring in more loot to each city than a courhouse. PLUS, you get mega $$$ from tech trades that far outdoes any gold from courthouses. Courthouses only cut maintenance expences in half. That's it. Doesn't touch distance or number of cities costs. And it is the easiest sling to acheive.

Beaker Costs, Slingshots at Normal Speed, Noble setting (adjust for speed & level)

Civil Service: 990 beakers invested+ 1200 free beakers for CS
Construction: 960 beakers invs+ 525 free beakers for Const
Feudalism: 915 beakersinvs + 1050 free beakers for Feud
Theology Sling: 915 beakers invs+ 750 free beakers for Theolgy
Currency: 840 beakers invs + 600 free beakers for Currency
Metal Casting: 750 beakers invs + 675 for Metal Casting

CS Sling is best beaker-wise because it yields the most total beakers, but other slings woirk great in other situations, depending upon needs.

 

[shivute]

Archery is the most important tech to get - on the level I play at anyway. The barbs come too soon by the time you have got BW and produced a settler, gained a worker and are able to successfully defend your copper mine.

In my opinion archery is the most important tech to gain, unless you have quechas or are playing on monarch and below or unless you are on a small island and can produce enough fog busters.

Don't get me wrong I love BW and code of laws (chopping and caste system) but archery is essential - I don't restart just because I can't access copper or defend it and I am loathe to build a city on top of a resource like copper.

 

[mike p]

I don't really care about it; unless I'm beelining to confucionism (like in an isolated start) then I'll probably just ignore it and trade for it later on. Currency does far more for my early economy than courthouses;

Why not have your cake and eat it too? I was playing a game with the GoTM 10 settings (Qin, Immortal, Archipelago) and I finally realized that Currency is a prereq for Code of Laws anyway. Going that path is the only way to found a religion without Mysticism. In hindisight that game all of the AI had either early wars or were crippled by isolated starts even worse than I was, but I actually founded Confucianism that game by researching through Currency.

One great economic tech leading right to another, with Civil Service on deck!

 

[luniz]

What's so great about Civil Service? Right now I'm playing Incas on immortal, not on warlords, and to me courthouse and bronze working are easily the most important techs. There's simply no way to expand without courthouses in my experience and you have to get bronze working even if you're not going to use slavery. Bureaucracy is nice but it's not a game changer. Courthouses not only allow you to expand but they also keep your opponents from expanding because you can take their cities.

 

[drkodos]

What's so great about Civil Service? Right now I'm playing Incas on immortal, not on warlords, and to me courthouse and bronze working are easily the most important techs. There's simply no way to expand without courthouses in my experience and you have to get bronze working even if you're not going to use slavery. Bureaucracy is nice but it's not a game changer. Courthouses not only allow you to expand but they also keep your opponents from expanding because you can take their cities.

Well, man, that just like, your opinion.

Archery is the most important tech to get - on the level I play at anyway. .

Wondering what level? I have played games at Monarch where I never, EVER, research archery or its dead-end cousin, HBR. It really all depends on the given situation.

Archery is situational. BW is pivotal.

 

[shivute]

Emperor and above.

If you had read my post correctly you would have noticed that I said you didn't need archery on Monarch.

On emperor level I nearly always need it and it is the most important tech for me to get - I can get it quickly and produce good defensive units without the need for a resource which takes time to mine.
If I knew I was guaranteed to start close to copper I would go for BW but it isn't guaranteed. It also takes a long time to research. That is what makes archery (to me anyway) more desirable to get before BW.

BW is a better tech than archery but due to the circumstances I have listed archery is more important to me.
I would much rather still be playing with archers defending my cities rather than having to restart because the barbarian horde slaughtered my warriors.

 

[nealhunt]

CoL is much better if you have a Spiritual Civ. You can run Caste System for all the benefits stated above, then periodically switch to Slavery for a round of whipping before going back to Caste System. For Saladin with Spiritual/Philosophical, CoL is awfully sweet and almost a mandatory early beeline, imho.

Overall, I'd say Bronze is the most important tech. Slavery is just incredibly powerful.

But CoL is up in the top tier.

 

[Moonsinger]

I've only got those two options here on the survey, so just go ahead and pick one .

Code of Laws is great, but Alphabet is greater! With Alphabet, you can trade for Code of Laws and many other techs. In the worst case, if no one want to give you Code of Laws, you can always beat it out of them.

 

[Sisiutil]

In the worst case, if no one want to give you Code of Laws, you can always beat it out of them.

A man after my own heart...

 

[parachute4u]

I'm not sure why everyone raves on about courthouses so much. Sure, they're nice, but marketplaces are just as lucrative if you beeline to them in the same way people beeline for COL.

Agree with that.

I remember MANY games, when I simply did not have the time to build those courthouses. I was busy building libraries, universities and military and wonders. A courthouse takes quite some time to be build.

A captured city gives you 50-100 gold. That's how many turns in a -6 maintenance city? A great merchant gives you >1600!! A tech trade can give you 100-600. Most of the time I find myself more willing to whip a settler than a courthouse ^^

 

[drkodos]

A man after my own heart...

More like a woman after your own heart.

And a bright one to boot....

....unless arguing philosophy.

 

[Stolen Rutters]

In my opinion archery is the most important tech to gain, unless you have quechas or are playing on monarch and below or unless you are on a small island and can produce enough fog busters.

I can see that. With archer barbs on the higher levels showing up almost immediately and axes right behind, archery would be a good first choice.

 

[malekithe]

I can see that. With archer barbs on the higher levels showing up almost immediately and axes right behind, archery would be a good first choice.

Still, you're likely better off going after bronze working or animal husbandry first (raging barbs can be different, but I'd say it's still worth taking a stab at nearby copper/horses). You've got plenty of time before the barbarians actually start venturing into your territory. A proper net of warriors can even work to extend that time. I play on mostly immortal now and find that I rarely build a single archer in most games.