Founding a Religion

[Hector Achilles]

My solution is this mod:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1178185727

Raises the number of religions that can be founded to between 12 and 16; also adds some related buildings and features I think.

I just never liked having to 'beeline' founding a religion if I really wanted one, probably at the expense of strengthening my military or founding more cities. And even then getting pipped at the last before I had enough gold or faith to grab the last Prophet. Now I just relax and get a prophet in due time.

Thanks for this MOD suggestion. Gosh, I use to MOD CIV IV all the time, but that was some time ago. I haven't a clue how to download a MOD nowadays. How would I add this MOD to Civ VI GS? The link you provide takes me to Steam....I don't see a download link there? Will I find it in the MOD section here? Will it explain how to download the MOD?

 

[AmazonQueen]

Thanks for this MOD suggestion. Gosh, I use to MOD CIV IV all the time, but that was some time ago. I haven't a clue how to download a MOD nowadays. How would I add this MOD to Civ VI GS? The link you provide takes me to Steam....I don't see a download link there? Will I find it in the MOD section here? Will it explain how to download the MOD?

If you're on Steam just follow the link and subscribe to the mod. You will have to be connected to Steam to get the mod but can use them when Steam is offline as well.

 

[ezzlar]

You must sacrifice something to get a religion, you will fall behind in number of cities, military and districts. Nice balance there. Running the prayer project is the safest way to secure a great prophet.

 

[steveg700]

For Stonehenge, you gotta have stuff to harvest. If you ain't got chops, forget it.

On Emperor, I can usually get in a religion before the lock-out, but it sure ain't the first or second...or third.

Divine Spark can help, prioritize the holy site and build the shrine. Don't forget you can do the city project, and if you have faith or gold you can buy it a few turns earlier, which can be crucial.

There's a policy card too, but it's a wildcard, which means you have to get through Political Philosophy first. Really cramps its utility.

Above Emperor....Meh. You got bigger fish to fry than getting a religion of middling worth.

 

[Warwolf22]

Go Arabia and your guaranteed to get one

 

[Phoenix1595]

I will also add that, if you don’t mind foregoing the production boost from Urban Planning, select God-King as your first Economic Policy Card to at least start getting faith for your pantheon, which speeds up the religion race prior to completing a Holy Site. It isn’t as ideal as finding first a religious city-state or a goody hut relic, but sometimes that one little faith point per turn is enough to win the Pantheon race, which is crucial to getting the elusive mega-pantheons, like Earth Goddess or Divine Spark, that all but guarantee a religion (Earth Goddess is great if you use the mass amount of faith it produces to faith-buy a prophet). I can’t tell you how many times the AI has beaten me to these by one turn...

 

[Navelgazer]

OP is playing on Prince though, and this isn’t to criticize OP’s play style so much as to say that it isn’t, in my experience, at all difficult to get a religion at that level. But OP shouldn’t fee the need to focus on wonders to get it done. Holy sites and other religious focus should do it for you on Prince difficulty. It seems likely that OP is so devoted to other (read: normally superior) opening strategies that a religion hasn’t been happening for them yet.

 

[CPWimmer]

If you're on Steam just follow the link and subscribe to the mod. You will have to be connected to Steam to get the mod but can use them when Steam is offline as well.

Just to emphasize this. The key thing is the subscribe button in the steam work shop.
Then when you launch the game go to the additional content menu (at least i think that's the name) and make sure the mod shows up there and is also enabled.

 

[Troy Bruckner]

Do not play huge map with max civilizations and expect to get a religion unless you are Arabia. Even when I rush to build a couple holy sites early along with shrines I will check my great prophet points and while I am at 4 to 6 I will see most of the NPC players with 10+. It's almost as if it's programmed to cheat

 

[Navelgazer]

It's worth noting that there are civs that are good at FOUNDING a religion (i.e. Russia, Mali, Indonesia, Greece) and those who are good at using a religion once they've got one (like Spain, Georgia, etc.) Only Poland is good at both, as far as I can tell, at least on paper, and her path to victory is super weird and convoluted. If you really want to rock religion and still have a good game otherwise, I feel like your options are Russia, Indonesia, and Mali (or, of course, Arabia, but if you just wanted a free last-chosen religion then this question is too easy. But Playing as Arabia is awesome. Seriously the Mamluks are one of the best UUs in the game.)

 

[Janskey]

OP is playing on Prince though, and this isn’t to criticize OP’s play style so much as to say that it isn’t, in my experience, at all difficult to get a religion at that level. But OP shouldn’t fee the need to focus on wonders to get it done. Holy sites and other religious focus should do it for you on Prince difficulty. It seems likely that OP is so devoted to other (read: normally superior) opening strategies that a religion hasn’t been happening for them yet.

I don't usually go for a religion, but I tried three deity starts as Tamar (no bonuses to founding a religion), twice standard speed/size and once marathon/huge. I chose astrology first and built a holy site and shrine when available, ran one prayer project per start. Only once I found a natural wonder early enough to make a difference, but I did get Divine Spark in all games. Success every time. So it's probably as you say, that the OP is focusing on other aspects of the game.
Screenshots:

Spoiler :

As you also say, those other opening strategies are far superior efficiency-wise. Personally, I think religion is like one of those manuals that come with cheap Chinese motherboards, but I'm not judging anyone's playing preferences.

Spoiler :

 

[Hector Achilles]

This gets me a religion most of the time, even on immortal or deity.

Research order: Mining -> Astrology
Capital build order: Scout -> Worker -> Settler -> Holy Site -> Shrine or HS projects (only if necessary)
2nd city build order: HS -> Shrine or HS projects (only if necessary)
Pantheon: Divine Spark (if necessary and fits the rest of your game plan)

Use the scout and your starting warrior to look for natural wonders to get the boost to Astrology. Natural wonders tend to be common in desert and tundra/snow so scout those terrains first. Use the worker to build mines or chop forests to increase your production and get the Settler/HS out faster. Researching Astrology 2nd and getting a HS out in both of your cities as early as possible is critical to start accumulating great prophet points as soon as possible. Keep an eye on the great people points screen and make sure you are on track to get a Great Prophet. If the AI is going to beat you, you need to build shrines right after the HS. If it is really really dire, run HS projects instead of building shrines as they will provide more GP points than shrines alone. Divine Spark as a pantheon is also useful for getting that GP if you think you need it although other choices might be overall better depending on what you are going for in that particular game. If you have the faith, you can purchase a GP to get it a few turns earlier.

Hey, I was able to found a religion finally! Got that elusive Great Prophet....It was the easy way though, I completed Stonehenge first.

I did however follow your steps listed above, while playing Gorgo (Greece). I landed in a great spot with a ton of production/forest. I found a few tribal villages, two of which gave me scouts....haven't had that happen too often. They in turn both found Natural Wonders, which brought me to only three turns left for Astrology. Built a Holy Site in my capital and second city. Also built a couple Shrines, got the Divine Spark Pantheon, which got me to enough GPP's/turn, to have a comfortable lead over the other leaders. So, I would of found a religion following your steps as well.

Thanks again to all for the help.

 

[CaptainPatch]

Here's a left-handed suggestion: If you want to found a Religion, do NOT select religion-oriented civs in your opponents lineup. Several civs -- such as India -- get numerous benefits towards establishing and spreading a Religion. Don't select them and don't use "Random" when setting up your game.

Personally, I always play Egypt because it has an advantage building Ancient and Classical Wonders. If you concentrate on getting Stonehenge built, you get a free Prophet, and you don't need to have built a Holy Site to establish your Religion. (But then build a Holy Site ASAP because you will be needing that Faith "income".)

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

Here's a left-handed suggestion: If you want to found a Religion, do NOT select religion-oriented civs in your opponents lineup. Several civs -- such as India -- get numerous benefits towards establishing and spreading a Religion. Don't select them and don't use "Random" when setting up your game.

Personally, I always play Egypt because it has an advantage building Ancient and Classical Wonders. If you concentrate on getting Stonehenge built, you get a free Prophet, and you don't need to have built a Holy Site to establish your Religion. (But then build a Holy Site ASAP because you will be needing that Faith "income".)

Another use for the "select who you DON'T want in the game" set up option. Then you could still get a random selection of AI civs, but not the type (religious oriented) you want to avoid.

 

[CaptainPatch]

As a personal preference, I'd rather concentrate on _building_ an empire rather than conquering my neighbors -- or, conversely, constantly fending off attacks. As such, I'd like to be able to ascertain where each civ ranks on a scale that ranges from "Warmonger" to "Pacifist".I've done a fair bit of guess-and-by-goshing to identify 10-12 which are okay for my preferred style of gameplay, but then I had to take into consideration which of those are religious steamrollers. (India, for example.) That has left me with 7-8 I feel comfortable with to have them as neighbors without feeling overly threatened.

 

[Kmart_Elvis]

As a personal preference, I'd rather concentrate on _building_ an empire rather than conquering my neighbors -- or, conversely, constantly fending off attacks. As such, I'd like to be able to ascertain where each civ ranks on a scale that ranges from "Warmonger" to "Pacifist".I've done a fair bit of guess-and-by-goshing to identify 10-12 which are okay for my preferred style of gameplay, but then I had to take into consideration which of those are religious steamrollers. (India, for example.) That has left me with 7-8 I feel comfortable with to have them as neighbors without feeling overly threatened.

What's the 7 or 8 you came up with? I myself prefer building over conquering, and would like to try some games with those civs.

 

[CaptainPatch]

Well, Egypt of course, as I control it and it is only as pacifistic or warmonger-ish as I choose. Then I usually select (as of GS),
Mansa Musa (Mali)
Wildrid Laurier (Canada)
Robert the Bruce (Scotland)
Mvemba a Nzinga (Kongo)
Pedro II (Portugal)
Pericles (Greece)
Teddy Roosevelt (USA)
King Harald (Norway)

Surprisingly, despite Harald being a Viking, his only real interest is in naval power. Have at least _some_ navy and he will respect you. And overall, for the most part, if you don't attack them, they won't attack you.

I recently completed a Marathon game with Egypt, Mali, Canada, Scotland, Kongo, and Norway on a Huge pangaea and for that entire span of time, NONE of these civs went to war with any other civ. (A few wars with City-States though.)

I should also mention that while Pedro II isn't all that much of a warmonger, you have to put up with his whining EVERY time you complete a Wonder. ("But _I_ wanted to build that Wonder!") That gets tiresome rather quickly.

 

[agonistes]

Not a total noob here...played a lot of Civ IV and a bit of Civ V, but was never a hardcore player, mostly casual, so I need a bit of help.

I'm loving Civ VI, GS, so far. I've tried a bunch of different Civs out, playing mostly Prince, Huge map, Marathon, 12 total civs, standard, etc.....but I can never find a religion. With 12 civs in my games there are 7 total religions that can be found...I don't have any luck. I have won every other way, but religion, so it's bugging me I can't figure it out.

I know I need a Great Prophet to found a religion,....I'm always trying to construct buildings, districts, wonders (Stonehenge), and find techs that generate Great Prophet points / turn, but I can never do it as fast as the AI. What am I missing?

What order should I build things? What Govt, culture, techs, wonders should I go after first so that I can be one of the 7 that finds a religion? Any help/guidance would be much appreciated.

I've posted about this before. I *always* get one of the first 3 religions. Regardless of difficulty. My general gameplay is religion dependent.

First, beeline astrology. Second, get a second city up fast. I usually build warrior - settler. That second city needs to be in the highest possible production site you can find. On slower speeds or lower difficulty I get a third city up, and if my capital is super productive, I try to get a monument out.

Soon as you research astrology, stop drop and roll to get your holy sites up. Once you have one up, you have to watch the great person screen every turn. Every turn. The ai *will* run projects, and *will* buy a prophet. You have to get good at predicting what will happen. I hate buying prophets, because I have a particular gp buy order, and can't afford wasting currency on a prophet.

Don't rest on the points generated by the holy sites. You will lose unless you are way, way ahead (more likely on slow speed). Instead, study gp progression and decide if you can get a shrine up, or have to run projects. Projects are inefficient, so I advise the shrine. I may run a project if I still don't have a pantheon. A shrine will usually pay for itself vs running a project, point-wise, but sometimes the race is too tight, and you need the project.

Do not neglect watching the gp table every turn. This is vital. A strong lead can vanish very quickly. This is particularly true if you are in the lead for the first great prophet. And don't forget someone out there is probably building stonehenge.

As a bonus tip, remember, you can squat on ai holy sites/stonehenge to prevent the ai from activating a great prophet. Theoretically, you could do this all game, on every holy site, and have the only religion in the game.

edit: don't waste your pantheon on divine spark

edit2: I believe that, while a number of civs have a bonus towards a pantheon (and thus indirectly a religion), only one has a true bonus towards a religion. Arabia doesn't count. In fact, I find Arabia to be pretty lazy about founding a religion. Russia is a problem. And often Spain for some reason. You can expect Russia to be generating 7-9 prophet points per turn rather quickly.

edit3: its a good idea to park a warrior on each of your holy sites