Converting other civs to your civ's Religion

[Teri_7075]

Hey all,

I'm having a difficult time trying to convert other civs to my religion. I know that's a main aspect of getting the AI to declare war on other civs (i.e., by having them conver to my religion so as to be in opposition to other civs with other religions)...

So I am trying to do this but the option to ask other civs if they want to convert is not available.

Is this something that's just not done in Civ 4? Am I only allowed to actively spread it through missionaries or let it passively spread through trade routes? I read the Civ 4 FAQ by Ginger Ale and under "How do missionaries work" it talks about getting other civs to conver..."However, the process for converting a city is the same: simply click the button at the bottom of your screen." I can't find that button! Does anyone have a screen shot so I can see what I can't seem to find?

Thanks, sorry for kind of a newbie question.

-Teri

 

[Jerrymander]

You have to build Missionaries and sign Open Borders with the civ in question and spread the religion to a sufficient amount of cities. The AI picks whichever religion is the most predominant in their nation. Thus, you will have to spread your religion to more cities than their religion by spamming missionaries. It's a long, grueling process.

Sometimes, you will not be able to convert a rival civilization, because every city has their state religion or they are running Theocracy.

Also, the button appears when the missionary is standing in a city, and it has a picture of the religion's emblem on it (ie: a cross for Christianity, yin-yang for Taoism, etc). If the city already has the religion, the button will be greyed out.

 

[nbcman]

There are 3 options to getting a rival to convert, assuming the target civ has at least one city with your religion:

1. Via Diplomacy. You can trade them a tech to swap religions; however if the civ has only a few cities with your religion, they probably won't swap. You also can ask for a religion change via diplomacy as a tribute or as part of a peace deal.
2. Via spread of the religion as Jerrymander has said.
3. Via espionage. There is a spy mission to change the target civs religion. But the target civ can change their religion back normally if they want to after 5 turns.

Normally it is best to convert to the rival's religion to make friends with them.

 

[*Svart*]

extra hint: if someone is running theocracy you can spread your religion: just GIFT your missionaries to the AI you want to convert, he will spread your religion

 

[Jerrymander]

extra hint: if someone is running theocracy you can spread your religion: just GIFT your missionaries to the AI you want to convert, he will spread your religion

Are you sure? Can a player running Theo spread a non-state religion in his own borders?

 

[eris]

Are you sure? Can a player running Theo spread a non-state religion in his own borders?

Yes, you can. However, you may not choose to for various reasons. The same seems to be true for the AI. (This may be dependent on patch level) They can accept your missionary as a gift and then keep it as a souvenir forever, depriving you of one of your missionary slots.

 

[Galadrion]

Yes, you can. However, you may not choose to for various reasons. The same seems to be true for the AI. (This may be dependent on patch level) They can accept your missionary as a gift and then keep it as a souvenir forever, depriving you of one of your missionary slots.

Actually, once you gift the missionary to another civilization, it no longer occupies one of your slots, it occupies one of theirs. So the only penalty for you if they choose to, as you put it, "keep it as a souvenir forever" is the hammers you sunk into building said missionary.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Theo AIs have still used a gifted missionary in every case I've seen for stock BTS, and I've seen a lot of them.

 

[Teri_7075]

I appreciate everyone's help

I have another question I just posted in a new thread.

I love forums... it makes me feel so not alone in this civilization we live in

 

[capnvonbaron]

I have never seen a civ not use a missionary I have gifted them, and yes they can spread them to their own cities even if they are in theo. However, some civs will never permanently abandon their shrine religion for various reasons, even if you saturate their cities with your own religion. Some civs just swap religions at random for no good reason also, or (I assume) are bribed by other civs to do so. Its typically impossible to get every civ on the map to follow the same religion... and then once you do invariably a few will switch to free religion and you lose the shared-religion diplo bonus