Has anyone else found it extremely difficult to get a religion since the patch?

[iammaxhailme]

I usually play on difficulty 6 (emperor I think)?

I just started a few games (as Nubia) and failed to get a religion four times in a row (With the same number of civs on the map as default). I don't remember having this much trouble before. I had good starts, too. On the most recent one I even restarted from turn 1 (again, with a good start) and put 100% of my focus on getting a holy site and shrine ASAP, but still failed.

 

[kaspergm]

Haven't played a lot since patch, but in my current game, I actually had the opposite experience: I was Greece and prioritized getting some early Acropoli, so I was sort of late to the religious games, but I figured I would give it a shot and put down three holy sites and got a religion, not even the last one (think there were one or two religions after mine). I was surprised, because I thought that normally, I would have been certain to miss the religion when starting that late.

 

[Kyro]

It depends on who you play against. It's impossible on Deity if they're all religious Civs. I don't see the point of limiting Religions in the game when other victory conditions aren't limited that way.

If you want to avoid this bad design then play on larger maps with lesser players it will increase the number of religions that can be founded.

 

[cazaderonus]

It depends on who you play against. It's impossible on Deity if they're all religious Civs. I don't see the point of limiting Religions in the game when other victory conditions aren't limited that way.

If you want to avoid this bad design then play on larger maps with lesser players it will increase the number of religions that can be founded.

I play deity only and basically never ever ever try and get one. TBF though, unless you had a faith based pantheon start in V it was just as a bad.

 

[bbufa]

I feel the religion race depends on map type. If AI civs are quite isolated (e.g island maps) they tend to build Holy Sites asap. They may build units instead if they hate nearby civs in land-locked maps.

 

[Ivan Hunger]

I don't see the point of limiting Religions in the game when other victory conditions aren't limited that way.

The idea is to make spreading religion to some rival empires easier than others.

If everyone could found their own religion, than spreading religion would always be an uphill battle, because no one would ever want any religion except their own. Even if you spread your religion to someone before they founded their own, they would still resist, knowing that they will want all of their cities to be following their own religion later.

But because not every empire gets to have its own religion, spreading religion is more strategic. Rivals who have founded their own religion, or believe they will later, will still resist you. But rivals who didn't get to found their own religion and don't believe they will ever be able to do so will be eager to accept your religion, because getting some bonuses from converting to a foreign religion is better than getting no bonuses from having no religion.

It creates some interesting gameplay decisions. Do you spread your religion to a nearby empire who already has their own, even knowing that doing so might offend them diplomatically? Or do you instead spread first to a more distant rival with no religion of their own, thereby improving diplomatic relations?

 

[mckinney156]

There are variables to it. Who are you playing against, how strong was your start, what Civ are you? You checked 1 of the 3 boxes required to guarantee a religion (A good start). On Diety I don't even try unless I'm Russia or lol Arabia.

 

[iammaxhailme]

There are variables to it. Who are you playing against, how strong was your start, what Civ are you? You checked 1 of the 3 boxes required to guarantee a religion (A good start). On Diety I don't even try unless I'm Russia or lol Arabia.

Well, you can make Holy Sites a bit faster as Nubia. When you're in a rage for a prophet, a couple of turns more of GPP can make the difference

 

[isau]

My Combined Tweaks mod addresses this issue by moving the Holy Site to the Mysticism civic and having Encampments unlock earlier, at Code of Laws. The issue is the unlock for the Holy Site at Astrology in the Vanilla game. Moving the Holy Site back a little, then increasing the GPP per turn for building one means the last religion typically gets taken at around turn 100 on standard speed on Emperor difficulty, tight enough that there's still a feeling of a "race."

I think Firaxis should make this change in Vanilla.

 

[Abraxis]

I get the feeling you guys aren't using projects.

At Emperor especially, a religion can be founded very reliably, the only question to it is how to commit as little as possible while still achieving what you expect from the religion. This comes from experience and watching the great person screen to judge the competition to know how strong to need to commit.

Typically, if you want first pick of best bonuses on a vanilla civ, stay on one city and rush holy site into shrine then holy prayers to get the 60 cost prophet. If you don't really care about the beliefs, just rush the holy sites and shrines in two cities and then just wait for the 120 cost prophet.

Those are the two extremes anyways. By no means should you be having trouble just to get one. That means you need to work on your efficiency.

 

[Zenstrive]

Not me. I got me religions.

 

[agonistes]

I get the feeling you guys aren't using projects.

At Emperor especially, a religion can be founded very reliably, the only question to it is how to commit as little as possible while still achieving what you expect from the religion. This comes from experience and watching the great person screen to judge the competition to know how strong to need to commit.

Typically, if you want first pick of best bonuses on a vanilla civ, stay on one city and rush holy site into shrine then holy prayers to get the 60 cost prophet. If you don't really care about the beliefs, just rush the holy sites and shrines in two cities and then just wait for the 120 cost prophet.

Those are the two extremes anyways. By no means should you be having trouble just to get one. That means you need to work on your efficiency.

Have to agree with this. If you aren't getting a religion on deity, you either have an extremely low production start, or an efficiency issue.

Check the GP screen every turn.

 

[The_Quasar]

IMHO, the problem is not getting a religion... it's that getting a religion can compromise your defence if you have multiple barbarian camps, and an aggressive AI civ or two on your doorstep.

 

[gettingfat]

The best way to get a religion at higher difficulty levels is to early rush your neighboring cities with holy sites, then keep praying. This nearly guarantees a religion at emperor and 50% chance at immortal and diety. Beelining astrology and building holy sites at your capital and 2nd city to start is generally a risky way to play if you have a close neighbor that may find your military too weak and rush you instead.