How to manage specialists as tradition

[besset]

When playing tradition, how do you manage your specialists in the best way possible? I assume you want to balance your specialists so that your capital is still able to grow at a reasonable rate while working as many specialists as you can. Which specialist slots are the best to work? Do you work any GD slots at all if you are not going for a diplomatic victory?

What about your satellite cities, do you work any specialists in those and if so which ones? Does it make a difference if you picked the mastery belief?

 

[CppMaster]

This is my specialist priority:
Cultural > need reduction > Scientist > Diplomat > Engineer > Merchant

 

[tu_79]

Specialists have three functions:
1. Produce yields, sometimes more than what a field worker could do, sometimes less.
2. With time they produce great people.
3. They reduce the available food, thus slowing city growth. (This you must balance: too much growth leads to unhappiness, too few and you won't be able to work on further specialists)

If you have very low culture production, then working the artist slot in Tradition is a must. You just need so much culture. Since your capital has a big advantage at working specialists, as long as your capital can grow confidently, you should put all the people that you can at specialist slots, with a few exceptions (GPTI, or exceptionally good food tiles). In secondary cities as well, though you have to be more selective there. When producing a wonder, I always work all engineers specialist.

If going for a GP strategy, when you cannot work on all your specialist slots, you can focus on one type of person at a time, for example, working all merchant slots, so a great merchant is born earlier. This birth gives extra yields earlier too. Then focus on another type of person. For this strategy you need spare happiness.

A slot that should be always worked, regardless the strategy, is the diplomatic one. Great Diplomats are the best way for Tradition civs for playing the world congress (this and fulfilling city state quests).

 

[peterw1987]

Culture most important, engineer or science depend on whether you still have many building queue you have not built. Never bother with merchant.
GD specialist is quite nice actually. It give science and culture at the same time. Culture is very valuable at any point of the game. There will always a use for great diplomat even if you are not pursuing Diplo Victory. 1 Embassy can make whole difference whether you can propose resolution or not.

 

[besset]

So do you work all GD slots or just one? And what type of specialist is the best to work in your satellite cities?

 

[tu_79]

So do you work all GD slots or just one? And what type of specialist is the best to work in your satellite cities?

All of them. You have never enough GD.

For satellites, it depends, but I tend to go for gwam people, then anything that helps with happiness. You can see how long for the next great person, so you can plan what to focus on.

 

[chicorbeef]

I tend to build all my Diplo buildings in one city and work all possible civil servants in that city. As Tradition, it's often not my capital.

I often work Merchants only in secondaries, not my capital, as well.

 

[Stalker0]

Early in the game I will cycle the specialist to get my GP quicker. So my artist, than engineer, than scientist. That gets my initial improvements going to jumpstart the engine.

Once specialist food in the capital is halfed I usually will work all my slots, but with periods of big growth once i have good farms in place and a WLTKD going (doing this after aqueduct is a good idea). I will then switch off my specialists and work the land to grow my capital rapidly. Then I’ll switxh back to specialists.