My latest attempt...
My last game was with the Sidar, and I really enjoyed it. It was my first Cultural victory EVER, and I still managed to show those damn Hippus where to stick it, by burning all their towns. Anyway, as always, criticism is welcome from all (so is praise, though
)
The Sidar
The Sidar are unique even among the myriad nations of Erebus. They are immortal, and thus can easily become masters at whatever they choose to do. The Sidar
Palace grants
Specialists in the Sidar empire an boost in their production.
Merchants,
Sages,
Engineers, and
Bards all gain +1 to their respective specialty. This bonus applies to
Great Specialists as well, which becomes especially potent with the Sidars other Specialist-related ability. Units that gain level 6 or higher can upgrade freely into
Shades, weak combat units that can upgrade into a Great Specialist of their choice (except for
Prophets).
The Sidar are not conquerors. They desire only to be left alone to pursue their own interests. However, should the need arise, they are capable of raising a potent hit-and-run army led by their
Ghosts. The Ghost takes the prowess of an
Assassin to new levels, since a Ghost can turn
Hidden at will, becoming effectively invisible until they attack. With planning, Ghosts can devastate an enemy assault before it develops and get away with minimal losses. Leading these elite troops is
Rathus Denmora, who possesses the
Nether Blade. This weapon is extremely powerful, increasing a Rathuss strength but more importantly granting him a bonus versus other lands Heroes.
If Ghosts arent enough to do the job, the Sidar World Spell,
Into the Mist, grants all Sidar units the Hidden promotion once. In this way, their entire army can sneak behind enemy lines to unleash an assault. It should be noted that this spell doesnt replace the
Council of Esus special wonder
Nox Noctis, since the Sidar units are only invisible until they attack.
Strategies of Note
While it may seem that the Sidar have fewer special abilities than some of the other civilizations, thats because they dont need any more. The power of Shades gives the Sidar the single greatest economy on Erebus, albeit with a little micromanaging. ANY city, regardless of size or location, can become a powerhouse with enough Specialists. Therefore, any strategy of the Sidar revolves around gaining and using Shades and Specialists to optimize each city.
To do this, it is critical to gain XP through every means possible. If done correctly, attacks against
Barbarians and
Animals can net a few Shades extremely early in the game. As time wears on, there are some Wonders that are very useful to the Sidar. These fall into two types, those that grant free XP (
Ride of the Nine Kings,
Form of the Titan) and those that make Sidar specialists even better (
Hall of Kings,
Theatre of Dreams,
Guild of Hammers,
Great Library). Try to get as many of these as possible; it should be easy with Sandalphons
Industrious trait. His other trait,
Defender, is also very useful to the Sidar in guarding those all-important cities.
Another creative way of gaining level 6 units is to spam
Adepts. The free XP gain is slow, and upgraded
Mages are powerful, but build early and often is a good catchphrase in this case.
Priest units are another good path to get Shades; they also get free XP and the
Altars of the Luonnotar give even more.
As previously mentioned, the Sidar economy is the best on Erebus. With virtually unlimited Great Specialists, all that's required is a little micromanaging. The simplest method is to build up two or three cities, but the loss of these cities can be crippling. Think about every Shade, both about what it should be and where it should go. It's very possible for the Sidar to NEVER have taxes.
While the Sidar are an obvious builder empire, a few offensive wars are not detrimental to the cause. The Sidar Ghost is more useful on attack than defense, and it is important to remember that XP gain is increased when attacking. A wholesale conquest isnt really likely, or even recommended, but a small conflict can drastically increase Shade production.
Obviously, the easiest victories for the Sidar are Cultural and Altar. Of the two, a Cultural victory is almost ludicrously easy once the Hall of Kings and Theatre of Dreams have been built and a half-dozen
Great Bards planted in each city. With the
Octopus Overlords religion, it becomes even easier. Plus, with
Lunatics, the Sidar can build units with weak defense that can turn Barbarian, a rather clever method to gain more XP. The Altar victory is kind of a conflict of interests; Priests are the only Specialist that doesnt gain a boost. However, even with all Great Person production going toward Prophets, Shades allow the Sidar to get lots of other Great People anyway.
The synergy between Octopus Overlords and the Sidar has already been mentioned, but the
Order and
Empyrean also have good benefits. Confessors (Order priests) have the
Spirit Guide promotion, which lets them preserve some of that precious XP. The Empyrean gives
Dies Diei, and free XP to all Priest units.
The Sidar have a nice mix of starting
Mana, as well. They get
Enchantment, which is always nice for the free unit strength boost. More importantly, they get
Spirit, which allows both
Courage and
Hope.
Courage is always nice, especially when
Acheron is nearby, while Hope gives even more culture to the Sidar. Finally,
Shadow is a little weaker to start, but
Summon Mistform makes up for
Blur.
![[to_xp]Gekko](https://civfanatics-data.community.forum/avatars/m/74/74677.jpg?1475248346){kind=avatar}
Excellent Sidar guide. Good short and comprehensive overview without flooding new players / players unacustomed with the sidar with to much unnessesarily detailed information and leaving quite some things to discover for themselves.
) 
) and best free XP-starting-cap on build (usually) and free-xp-gain as well as rather powerful combat abilities. Early March + early courage is another neat thing with this line.
) in that regard (but without the need to conqer plenty of nodes...)
