With the public release, I thought I would give me current grades on the where I think policies rank currently. I've done the long-winded explanations before, so this time I'm just using a simple letter grade.
A - Almost always my first pick in the tree. Strong enough to convince me to take a tree I wouldn't normally, or to finish a tree through bad policies.
B - Solid policy, often an early pick.
C- Ok policy. I'm not really excited about them, but they do their job.
D - Crappy policy. Only if I exhausted other options.
F - Worthless policy. Unless I want to finish a tree for a closer or to get a culture win, I would never take it.
Liberty
Opener - C
Meritocracy - A
Citizenship - B
Collective Rule - B
Representation - B
Republic - C
Closer - B
Tradition
Opener - B
Ceremonial Rites - C
Monarchy - A
Landed Elite - C
Oligarchy - F
Aristocracy - B
Closer - A
Honor
Opener - A
Military Tradition - C
Military Caste - C
Professional Army - A
Warrior Code - C
Discipline - B
Closer - C
Piety
Opener - B (only if I haven't gotten a pantheon, else its a C)
Inspiration - C
Unity - B
Tolerance - B
Charity - C
Devotion - C
Closer - F
Commerce (my most commonly completed tree in most of my games)
Opener - B
Mercantilism - B
Guilds - C
Protectionism - B
Merchant Navy - A
Patent Law - B
Closer - A
Patronage
Opener - A
Philanthropy - C
Cultural Diplomacy - D
Aesthetics - C
Trade Pact - C
Scholasticism - F
Closer - A
Order
Opener - C
Planned Economy - D
Socialism - C
Labor Unions - C
Communism - A
United Front - B
Closer - NA (this one has always seem bugged to me)
Knowledge
Opener - A
Scientific Revolution - B
Humanism - C
Sovereignty - A
Free Thought - B
Secularism - B
Closer - A
Nationalism
My big issue here is that so many of the happiness policies are city based, and at this point I've maxed my city happiness on my smaller cities.
Opener - C
Police State - B
Militarism - C
Privileged Elite - C
Fascism - N/A (never gotten it)
Conscription - C
Closer - C
Freedom
Opener - D
Free Speech - B
Diplomacy - A
Universal Suffrage - C
Free Trade - D
Immigration - C
Closer - A
My overall rankings
The BEST trees (in no specific order)
Liberty (good for wide, and frankly also decent for tall, never a bad pick)
Commerce (just chocked full of solid policies)
Knowledge (science is always good no matter what you are doing)
The decent trees
Tradition (not as versatile as liberty, but still has a great selection of policies for the most part)
Honor (some stellar polices mixed some average ones but good enough)
Freedom (worst opener in the game but comes back strong)
Order (its between my decent and bad list. Its not very exciting but some of the policies are decent enough).
The bad trees
Piety (generally mediocre, worst closer in the game)
Patronage (a beautiful start and end, with not enough meat in the middle)
Nationalism (too much city happiness that can't be used, competes with the solid freedom tree).
A - Almost always my first pick in the tree. Strong enough to convince me to take a tree I wouldn't normally, or to finish a tree through bad policies.
B - Solid policy, often an early pick.
C- Ok policy. I'm not really excited about them, but they do their job.
D - Crappy policy. Only if I exhausted other options.
F - Worthless policy. Unless I want to finish a tree for a closer or to get a culture win, I would never take it.
Spoiler :
Liberty
Opener - C
Meritocracy - A
Citizenship - B
Collective Rule - B
Representation - B
Republic - C
Closer - B
Tradition
Opener - B
Ceremonial Rites - C
Monarchy - A
Landed Elite - C
Oligarchy - F
Aristocracy - B
Closer - A
Honor
Opener - A
Military Tradition - C
Military Caste - C
Professional Army - A
Warrior Code - C
Discipline - B
Closer - C
Piety
Opener - B (only if I haven't gotten a pantheon, else its a C)
Inspiration - C
Unity - B
Tolerance - B
Charity - C
Devotion - C
Closer - F
Commerce (my most commonly completed tree in most of my games)
Opener - B
Mercantilism - B
Guilds - C
Protectionism - B
Merchant Navy - A
Patent Law - B
Closer - A
Patronage
Opener - A
Philanthropy - C
Cultural Diplomacy - D
Aesthetics - C
Trade Pact - C
Scholasticism - F
Closer - A
Order
Opener - C
Planned Economy - D
Socialism - C
Labor Unions - C
Communism - A
United Front - B
Closer - NA (this one has always seem bugged to me)
Knowledge
Opener - A
Scientific Revolution - B
Humanism - C
Sovereignty - A
Free Thought - B
Secularism - B
Closer - A
Nationalism
My big issue here is that so many of the happiness policies are city based, and at this point I've maxed my city happiness on my smaller cities.
Opener - C
Police State - B
Militarism - C
Privileged Elite - C
Fascism - N/A (never gotten it)
Conscription - C
Closer - C
Freedom
Opener - D
Free Speech - B
Diplomacy - A
Universal Suffrage - C
Free Trade - D
Immigration - C
Closer - A
My overall rankings
The BEST trees (in no specific order)
Liberty (good for wide, and frankly also decent for tall, never a bad pick)
Commerce (just chocked full of solid policies)
Knowledge (science is always good no matter what you are doing)
The decent trees
Tradition (not as versatile as liberty, but still has a great selection of policies for the most part)
Honor (some stellar polices mixed some average ones but good enough)
Freedom (worst opener in the game but comes back strong)
Order (its between my decent and bad list. Its not very exciting but some of the policies are decent enough).
The bad trees
Piety (generally mediocre, worst closer in the game)
Patronage (a beautiful start and end, with not enough meat in the middle)
Nationalism (too much city happiness that can't be used, competes with the solid freedom tree).