I'm getting to learn how to really use this religion side. as part of a overall strategy, combined with using other traits.
1. if spiritual leader, you can switch civics quick and no anarchy, otherwise perhaps a philosophical one so you can get more great persons. my favorites are Gandhi and Saladin. remember that this incarnation is deeply geared around the leader. the random opponents will avoid your civ nation, but mp can choose other leader of your nation with both being seperate versions. I did a hot seat with Saladin, Gandhi, and Asoka vs 15 other AI Opponents. Gandhi and Asoka were different Indian nations not the same country. Gandhi went buddhism while asoka went hinduism.
2. you can have more than one faith in your realm. cities can be multi-faith. a city can be the founding city for more than one faith.
but the more faiths present, the more difficult it is to convert an additional faith in. it is possible to make a city have all 7 faiths but it's real difficult. being that there are benefits for a state religion, have this one be in all cities.
3. [the religious buildings]
[monastery] this should be built even if you have monothiesm - let's you make missionaries without them - as it gives you +10 research points besides making missionaries before monotheism. build in every city you have the faith for every faith present. 2 faiths = +20 research points for that city alone. also it gives you 2 culture that keeps giving you that after scientific method which obsoletes the other features of it.
[temples] build in each city for each faith there. it gives you 1 culture, and +1 happy, can turn 1 citizen into a priest. temples are also useful in building cathedrals [called various names].
[cathedral] buddhist stupa, christian cathedral, confucian academy - don't confuse (no pun intended) with Academy built by great scientist - , hindu mandir, islamic mosque, jewish synagogue, taoist pagoda...
okay you need music to build these, and the associated faith in the city that you want to build it. the manual says 3 temples, but the game says 4 required per cathedral level building. you want to build a second one, the games says 8 required. loophole: if you try and build two in the same turn it sometimes lets you count the same cities - but a third later will need 12.
the cathedral level building gives +50% culture, +2 happy if that one is state faith, 2 citizens into priest, +1 happy with incense. remember that a city could have a synagogue and a mosque if you have music, 4 islamic temples, 4 jewish temples, and give you +100% culture, +2 happy if one is state faith, 4 citizens into 2 priests, +2 happy. that's in addition to what the temples give you.
because of the number of temples required try and have each faith you found in at least 4 cities or maybe 8 cities later (that's pushing it for more than one faith).
[Shrine]
only available for faiths you found, but advice - only spread faiths that you found as a state faith.
The Church of the Nativity - Christian
The Dai Miao - Taoist
The Kashi Vishwanath - Hinduism
The Kong Miao - Confucianism
The Mahbodhi - Buddhism
The Masjid al-Haram - Islam
The Temple of Solomon - Judaism
okay, these require a geat prophet. they can be only be built in the founding city. you may have to move a great prophet to the founding city. if you don't control the founding city, you could try and take it - holy crusade or jihad - and then build it there.
the shrines gives you 4 culture, turns 3 citizens into priests of that faith, spreads that faith, and gives you +1 gold for every city in the world with that faith - including those in other nations. this is useful even if you control more than one faith. spread both of them and build shrines for both of them.
that's culture, happiness, and gold for founding a faith.
now if you spread it to another nation, you get benefits:
better diplomacy if they have same state faith.
note: even if they pick another faith - that you have founding city of - they are not likely to attack you if they have large numbers of cities with it as a present faith & you do as well. if they have large number of buddhist cities and you founded it but hinduism is your state religion - if most of your cities are both hindu & buddhist. if spiritual, you could switch from hindu to buddhist at a whim in such a situation.
line of site to all cities with a faith you found - if it's currently your state faith - the game does this (not in manual) and you can switch from one to another that you also found if you're a spiritual leader easily. this line of site continues even during war - unless they take your founding city of the common faith, and then they have line of site on you!
[multiple faiths] later with liberalism, you get a bonus for having multiple faith cities. also if you have two founding faiths convert all most cities with both.
with spiritual trait you can easily switch between religions for diplomatic ease, and for line of site advantage.
combine with other strategies to further your ambitions.
I really love religion being actually incorporated into a major game. and don't let historical patterns confuse you with gameplay. if you're a buddhist, don't be afraid to found hinduism if someone beats you to buddhism and shun buddhism in the game. gandhi founds islam and even judaism in some games. if you're muslim, go for any faith as soon as you can - even judaism or christianity - or even buddhism if you can. this is gameplay.
by
Hahn Tsak
[real name: Sir Reverend Dr Stanley L Rexwinkle, Jr, HOS]
I also preform weddings in the SF Bay Area.
. Crusades!!!
