How to ask another civ to convert religions?

[repentance7]

As the title says. This may be a dumb question...but I can't figure out how to do it =.=" every time I ask another civ to convert, either the Convert button is red or there is no religion I can ask them to convert to.

 

[lymond]

First of all, you can only convert an AI into a religion you have adopted. Secondly, the AI must at least have one city with that religion present.

If you don't see a religion option to select in the trade screen, then either they do not have your religion or they switched/adopted a religion within the last 5 turns. (religions can be switched every 5 turns)

If the religion option is in red that means they are not willing to convert to your religion. The main reasons are a) not enough of their people follow that religion b) they simply don't like you enough. (hover your cursor over the religion in the trade screen to see the reason)

So, spread more of your religion to their cities or improve your relationship.

 

[damerell]

As the title says. This may be a dumb question...but I can't figure out how to do it =.=" every time I ask another civ to convert, either the Convert button is red or there is no religion I can ask them to convert to.

Don't bother. You'll hand them a pile of gold, and the sods will just change back again after a bit.

 

[Mr.Keene]

I'm a master at using religion, I would highly, highly, recommend you put fourth some into play here. First off, hope they have a civic other than theocracy. Okay, let's say they do, worry not you can convert the non-believers.

First off you'll want to make sure *YOUR OWN CIVIC* is off theocracy. If they don't have it adopted, it isn't a problem(so skip this step). In the case it is, however you must use the ways of those hot women spies to change their religious civic type to your own(which is why you must be off theocracy). This will cost points, so plan ahead and build up a little before taking action.

Next, when the religious defenses are down, spam their cities with missionaries(have the max 3 waiting, keep 1 or 2 high production cities ready to produce them). You don't *HAVE* to get all cities for the final step to work, but it is recommended to work quickly/steadly towards getting 90-100% of their controlled cities.

Lastly, the final thing to do points wise, is to again go to a city of theirs with your religion present in it, and click something among the lines of convert religion(you'll know it when you see it, just can't remember at this very moment). Then finally it's done!

Ah, but not so fast. There is a catch of course! If you didn't get all those cities that religon(you so dearly claim is "the way"), it could end up being only a temporary political theater.. AI's are as stubborn as a 5 year old's when it comes to switching off their religion(Just like real life people!). The best thing to do to make it stick, is as said get mostly all, to all their cities covered, and improve relationship with them.

The relationship can take two paths. I'm struggling to keep it simple, basically you can force (vassel talk) them into it, and they will come to accept it. Or just be friendly towards the civ leader in a way you'd treat your own child(considering your own child can't kill you).

GOOD LUCK!
It does work out, persistence beats AI's stubborn resistance.

Final note: You better be working with a holy religion YOU control/started, or you're completely wasting your time. Ouch!

 

[AdamCrock]

To add to the topic : AFAIK edit : Each Some Civ's (edit: more accurately : Leaders has theirs preffered religion (i.e For spain (Izzy) it's Christianity and for (Saladin) Arabia it's Islam) so it's not always easy to sway them Your way once they "catch" that favourite religion of theirs besides if They started any religion They would like to switch to the religion They've started at some point even when the majority of their cities are under another religion. (especially if the religion they've started is their prefered religion too)

Final note: You better be working with a holy religion YOU control/started, or you're completely wasting your time. Ouch!

I disagree : Shrines (holy cities with Great Prophets buildings) are nice of course but keep in mind that even without them You'll have a major diplomacy bonus with a Civ You share religion with (the more cities are believing the greater the bonus) Also if You control Apostolic Palace it isn't wasted time at all

 

[Mr.Keene]

I disagree : Shrines (holy cities with Great Prophets buildings) are nice of course but keep in mind that even without them You'll have a major diplomacy bonus with a Civ You share religion with (the more cities are believing the greater the bonus) Also if You control Apostolic Palace it isn't wasted time at all

Maybe it isn't completely a waste of time, but I'll always debate it could've been served much better

 

[ZeekLTK]

The best way to get them to convert is convert them yourself.

Get open borders and then send missionaries of the religion you have to every city you possibly can. The more of their population following the religion, the more likely they will be to convert.

 

[AW Arcaeca]

Don't ask them to convert. They'll convert back as soon as they can anyway, and you'll either hand them, say, 80% of all your gold or most of your techs available to trade.

Just found a religion and build the wonder that can only be built in the holy city, like the Temple of Solomon. It will spread religion into their cities automatically, unless the other civ has theocracy. Once way more of their cities have your religion than theirs, they'll probably convert. You could speed up the process with missionaries. I usually don't, because the required open borders can have adverse effects. (But that's an uninteresting story for another day.)

 

[Manco Capac]

hot women spies

No, they're not hot when they moan like idiots.

 

[Manco Capac]

As the title says. This may be a dumb question...but I can't figure out how to do it =.=" every time I ask another civ to convert, either the Convert button is red or there is no religion I can ask them to convert to.

"We don't like you enough!" is predictable with AI knowledge.

"Too few follow that religion!" is in fact DENIAL_MINORITY_RELIGION and the condition is simple: if the city count of that religion you want the AI to convert into is less than the half of the AI overall city count OR lacking at least one city to compete with present state religion, then refusal to swap for any cost.

I guess the first assumption is the way to convert an AI to an unfavorable religion (one the AI wouldn't convert into by its own will) where the state religion is simply present in almost all cities.

 

[Ataxerxes]

I'm a master at using religion, I would highly, highly, recommend you put fourth some into play here. First off, hope they have a civic other than theocracy. Okay, let's say they do, worry not you can convert the non-believers.

First off you'll want to make sure *YOUR OWN CIVIC* is off theocracy. If they don't have it adopted, it isn't a problem(so skip this step). In the case it is, however you must use the ways of those hot women spies to change their religious civic type to your own(which is why you must be off theocracy). This will cost points, so plan ahead and build up a little before taking action.

Final note: You better be working with a holy religion YOU control/started, or you're completely wasting your time. Ouch!

I'm a little confused. If the AI is in Theocracy but you have open borders, you can simply gift the AI the missionaries. You can't get the religion into their cities, but THEY can. They always use the missionaries. However, I've found that it the AI in question has founded a religion, they won't switch. I also don't know why you need espionage for this. You can use espionage to force them to change but they will switch right back after 5 turns. This can be useful to mess up their diplomacy, however. My favorite use for espionage is the one-turn revolt during an invasion - better than 5 cannons!

I agree with Adam, shrines may be nice but diplo is often more important. I often don't found religions - there are usually more pressing techs.

 

[Ramesses-Rules]

The AI sometimes just tells me "Switch to my religion or we go to war." It might work in reverse. I have never tried it.

 

[capnvonbaron]

I'm a little confused. If the AI is in Theocracy but you have open borders, you can simply gift the AI the missionaries. You can't get the religion into their cities, but THEY can. They always use the missionaries. However, I've found that it the AI in question has founded a religion, they won't switch. I also don't know why you need espionage for this. You can use espionage to force them to change but they will switch right back after 5 turns. This can be useful to mess up their diplomacy, however. My favorite use for espionage is the one-turn revolt during an invasion - better than 5 cannons!

I agree with Adam, shrines may be nice but diplo is often more important. I often don't found religions - there are usually more pressing techs.

I'm glad someone pointed out the "gifting missionaries" trick. But yeah, there is a large weight associated with the AI the founds the religion it is currently in. You can ask them to switch if they are Friendly with you, and sometimes they'll accept... but they'll eventually succumb to the weight of their own holy city if it is well-spread enough.

On the subject of espionage, it *can* be funny to switch their civic out of slavery (to, say... serfdom ) on the same turn you declare war. That way you get a minimum of 6 turns before they can whip any additional defenders

 

[Manco Capac]

That way you get a minimum of 6 turns before they can whip any additional defenders

No!!!

 

[happyturtle]

Even if they change back in five turns, it still helps you out since the AI will be in anarchy both times. I often get a civics or religion trade that as part of a tech deal just to slow them down by putting them in anarchy.

Unless they're spiritual. Then I don't bother.

 

[JayaTheCat]

Can be useful for an AP Cheese / Diplo win though - I've won once with the UN when the leader who had the right to choose policies (or whatever they're called) chose Diplomatic Victory. After voting (for myself, in case that wasn't too clear), I checked the (BUG enabled I believe) DV voting screen and realised that if I could heighten my relations with Hannibal then he'd vote for me. Luckily I had an available spy in one off his cities and was successful in converting his religion to my own, which pushed his attitude towards me over the threshold and helped me secure victory!

Admittedly this only worked because the AI's votes don't count until the next turn (I think! - can't remember the exact moment it freezes, so to speak), but it works

 

[reddishrecue]

When a civilization is in theocracy and refuses to allow your religion into their civilization, you could use a spy to influence civic, get that mission successful and eventually you'll be able to spread your religion into their civilization. The only disadvantage is that the leader usually ends up with theocracy again after about 5 turns.

 

[capnvonbaron]

When a civilization is in theocracy and refuses to allow your religion into their civilization, you could use a spy to influence civic, get that mission successful and eventually you'll be able to spread your religion into their civilization. The only disadvantage is that the leader usually ends up with theocracy again after about 5 turns.

Again, you can spread your religion to any civ, even if they are in theocracy. Gift them any missionary you want and they will spread it. The AI can spread any religion at any time with 100% missionary effectiveness, even if it is in Theocracy. Unfair? Kinda... but use it to your advantage.

 

[Quibblesome]

Don't bother. You'll hand them a pile of gold, and the sods will just change back again after a bit.

But if they're less than 5 turns away from completing the Apostolic Palace then its _really_ worth it.
Additionally there are times where its worth doing it for diplomatic reasons (votes or defensive pacts for example)

 

[reddishrecue]

Again, you can spread your religion to any civ, even if they are in theocracy. Gift them any missionary you want and they will spread it. The AI can spread any religion at any time with 100% missionary effectiveness, even if it is in Theocracy. Unfair? Kinda... but use it to your advantage.

Gifting missionaries can be a good alternative to the spies then.