How much missionary work do I really need to do?

[oaks2ninja]

Greetings all,

First time playing through the exploration age.

I got my religion with relics being unlocked by converting city states and gold for foreign settlements following my religion.

My neighbor, Napoleon, has been going crazy converting stuff on my home continent. He's constantly flipping my cities to his religion.

My first reaction was to make missionaries and convert them back, but ultimately, I don't need to, do I? I just need to focus on flipping city states for the first, right? The bonus gold from foreign cities is nice, but I have enough gold and don't want to endlessly flip foreign cities.

Is there some aspect of religion I'm missing, or can I just focus on city states and not worry about my home continent? Or is there some other big use of region I'm not realizing?

It's still not a great system, but it feels more manageable this time around if there's only a specific thing I need to focus on.

 

[ggmoyang]

There are 2 policies that gives bonus to cities that follow your religion. There's some bonus while in plague crisis.
But you don't really have to focus on converting your own city.

 

[UWHabs]

There are 2 policies that gives bonus to cities that follow your religion. There's some bonus while in plague crisis.
But you don't really have to focus on converting your own city.

If you get the religious crisis you might need to convert your cities to avoid the happiness penalties. But yeah, other than those couple policy cards, there's not really that much benefit to converting your own cities.

 

[oaks2ninja]

Thanks! That's great news! A nice alternative to the civ 6 missionary spam.

 

[Canadian Bluebeer]

If you get the religious crisis you might need to convert your cities to avoid the happiness penalties. But yeah, other than those couple policy cards, there's not really that much benefit to converting your own cities.

If your cities are in distant lands, then they count towards the military legacy.
(and the AI still spams missionaries)

 

[Dark_Jedi06]

There's also the golden age culture legacy in the modern age that lets you keep your religion's founder belief.

 

[AriochIV]

Unless you are trying to get every legacy bonus, you can completely ignore religion without ill effect -- except in the case of the religious crisis, as mentioned above.