Difficulty Advancement

[CaptainPlatypus]

I've just gotten back into Civ4 after a long break, before which I don't believe I ever played above Noble. I've played three complete games so far - one on Noble that I won easily, a second on Prince that I barely eked out a space race on (tiny starting continent, bad city management), and a third on Prince (just finished) that I won easily (diplomacy-by-conquest).

The reason I mention this is I see a lot of discussion of the difficulty level people play at in various threads, and it seems like it gets way harder than this to move up to the next level starting at about Monarch for most of you. Since Monarch would be the next difficulty I'd move up to, I'm curious as to everyone's experience with roughly how many games on each difficulty it took before you could handle the next.

On a related note, can anyone give me tips for the best things to keep in mind as I move up in difficulty level?

 

[GGracchus]

Read through the war academy if you haven't already, I think maybe there's a guide. Look at the strategy and tips forum for Monarch games that you can read and learn from. Post a game there(random on fractal/pangaea, no huts/events), and play 20-50 turns every day, and people will give you advice and/or shadow the game.

 

[Sisiutil]

Good advice from the Tribune of the Plebs, there.

Be prepared for more barbs. Be prepared to be behind in techs for a long time (the AI gets a research bonus which increases at each level above Noble). Along with that, be prepared to be behind in score for a long time.

 

[Windsor]

I moved up rather aggressively and usually after only a few victories. When moving up I usually played a few openings(BCs) since that's the most important part of the game (and since I play so slowly).

I don't see any reasons not to move up once you have proved that you can win on prince. You learn how to handle monarch better when actually playing monarch rather than fooling around on prince.

 

[Mylene]

You learn the quickest if you jump straight to Emperor or Immortal, personally i don't see how lower diff. have a learning curve cos the AI is too weak to teach you real lessons And if you get away with mistakes, you won't see them.