How to encourage Missionary imports?

[Palantir30]

AI's have a religion that I dont, and I want it so I can have more temples/monastaries/cathedrals.

How can I get their religion?

They cant order me to convert to a religion that is not present in any of my cities. If the religion was present in just one of my cities, then I wouldnt have a problem.

Option1: Invade and take one of their cities. I've done this just to gain access to a religion. It works, but it's not fast, and it's not an efficient option unless the city is on your border anyway.

Option2: open your borders to Missionaries. Given the current bugs with open borders, this is risky business. I tried it anyway once, only opening my borders to nations whose state religion was the one I wanted, including the nation that has the shrine for that religion. The missionaries did not arrive before somebody's army did, and borders had to close due to the war.

How else can I actively encourage the acquisition a religion?

 

[Shillen]

What bug with open borders?

 

[Palantir30]

What bug with open borders?

Cancelling the open borders agreement is supposed to eject units, and it does not. So you basically have to shadow any foreign units with enough of your units so that if they did declare war on you in any given turn, they couldnt do any irrepairable damage.

 

[mrjepson]

Umm, it works fine on my computer. Everyone is always kicked out.

 

[Palantir30]

Umm, it works fine on my computer. Everyone is always kicked out.

Great, so you dont have to worry about that. Fine. Moving on please....

What are more active ways to import religions, i.e. not just waiting for it to spread?

 

[Gufnork]

I don't touch any of that imported stuff...

Anyway, have you been tinkering with the game or something? I haven't heard about any problems with Open Borders from anyone else, so I'm guessing that you're relatively alone with that problem so it should be fixable.

Get trade routes with your neighbours and open borders. That's all you can do. Once you have one city with a religion, build a monastery and start spreading it yourself. You may end the open border agreement then if you still have the bug.

 

[Arathorn]

The Open Borders bug is well known and reasonably universal. Numerous save files with it are available in the Bugs forum.

As to the question... I don't know. I generally don't seem to gain many religions, unless I form them. The AI doesn't seem to bold with missionaries. I think capturing/flipping a city is the way to go...or Open Borders and hope, but .....

My guess is that certain Civs will spread religions more adamently than others. With the situation that adding religions beyond the first don't always succeed, it's hard to get more than 3 religions in most cities and rarely worth the effort, IMO. So if you have a few already, they probably don't bother. <Shrug>

I don't think the AI's spreading of religions is at all understood yet.

Arathorn

 

[Bezhukov]

My understanding is that they spread along trade routes (helped along by the appropriate shrine). In my two most successful games so far, I've ignored the religion techs in lieu of getting my workers trained ASAP. About the time trade routes opened up, one of my cities caught the bug, then I spread it to the others.

Establishing multiple religions in a city can be very useful, for the obvious temple happiness effect, the cheap 2 cpt of monasteries in early border conflicts, and the huge +50% cpt of cathedrals in later border struggles. Obviously, they are also key to culture victory, if that's the way you're going.

I suspect having multiple state religion options (as well as free religion) will prove to be the key to successful diplomacy as well. I use my dedicated mil cities to make missionaries in peacetime.

 

[weimingshi]

My experience is when you have cities that don't have any religion, you have a high chance to get an AI religion.

 

[weasel77066]

I have the same question on missionaries... alsmost the same. I have permanent alliance with Russia (christian theocracy) and I am free religion (Buddhist/Conf.) I obviously cant capture a city, and though Ive tinkered with it, I cant seem to influance her to send me any missionaries.
What Im gonna try to do this afternoon is to trade two cities (hers with a christian monastary) Mine to match the quality of hers. I'll really have to study that though before I do it. As we are essentially a confederation, the trade SHOULDNT have much a dire effect on either of us.
Do the "buildings" in a city stay after you acquire one in trade? Not sure of that.

 

[DaveMcW]

AI missionaries will target a city with no religion.

 

[scottbeth]

Cities without religion seemed to be targeted first by the AI. I believe that it is related to the trading partner of that city? At least it appears that way