Temppu
Warlord
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2016
- Messages
- 160
Having been reading this forum for some time, I have got the feel that the religious game feels lackluster to many players. There are three main sources of frustration in the religious game:
The points 1. and 2. can be addressed with the first suggestion to
(i) add a separate unit layer for Religious units.
There is already a separation into Combat, Support, and Civilian units in Civ VI. However, the separation with Religious units has to be different in that units from different Civilizations could occupy a single tile simultaneously, provided that the units are of different types. To further exemplify this, this would mean that in a single tile, there could be one Combat, Support and Civilian unit from Civilization A in layer 1), but one Religious unit from Civilization B in layer 2).
The separation of the layer of Religious units addresses 1., but as such does not improve the relevance of Religious Victory for your enemies, the AI and other human players in MP. However, if the layer distinction is extended such that the units in layer 1) (Combat, Support, Civilian units) do not interact with units in layer 2) (Religious units) in any way, this would mean that the Combat units cannot kill the religious units anymore. In this way, the only way to fight religion is to build religion, and the Religious Victory would become feasible in MP and for the AI.
It should be noted, however, that if the means to fight Religion would be reduced, the religion would have to be more accessible. Hence, the added layer would probably require that the Great Prophets would no longer be of limited number. To address this, and to address the point 3., the second suggestion is to
(ii) greatly increase the number of religious Great People.
However, these Great People would have two separate roles (similarly to, e.g., Great Generals and Great Admirals having distinct passive and retirement bonuses). These roles would be the conventional 1) Great Prophet role for the first unlocked religious Great Person for each Civilization, and the following religious Great People would be 2) Great Philosophers, a concept discussed in thread https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/great-philosophers.611847/. These Great Philosophers could have various bonuses, similar to Great Merchants.
My third suggestion for increasing the relevance of Religion also addresses point 3. Faith has already comparable roles to Gold, in that Great People can be purchased with Faith, and in that the Religious units can be purchased with Faith. To improve the relevance of Religion, this role could be expanded. There are already Beliefs that enable certain building purchases with Faith, and the Theocracy government enabling to purchase Land combat units with faith. However, these purchases are much more limited than what can be purchased with Gold. The third suggestion of this post is to
(iii) make the purchasing capabilities of Gold and Faith more comparable.
One way to achieve this would be to separate the purchases more evenly to Gold purchases (e.g., buildings in Encampment, Industrial Zone, Commercial Hub districts and Combat units) and Faith purchases (e.g., buildings in Holy Site, Theater Square, and Entertainment Complex districts and Religious units). Another way to achieve this would be to make all purchases possible through Policy Cards only. (For example, two distinct Military Cards that enable purchasing Land combat units, from a particular era, with both Gold and Faith.)
- The Religious units of other players clutter your territory, if you don't beat them.
- The Religious Victory is very hard to achieve in MP and by the AI, because the Religious units get killed straight away by Combat units.
- The bonuses from Faith are, although not minimal, less competitive compared to other resources.
The points 1. and 2. can be addressed with the first suggestion to
(i) add a separate unit layer for Religious units.
There is already a separation into Combat, Support, and Civilian units in Civ VI. However, the separation with Religious units has to be different in that units from different Civilizations could occupy a single tile simultaneously, provided that the units are of different types. To further exemplify this, this would mean that in a single tile, there could be one Combat, Support and Civilian unit from Civilization A in layer 1), but one Religious unit from Civilization B in layer 2).
The separation of the layer of Religious units addresses 1., but as such does not improve the relevance of Religious Victory for your enemies, the AI and other human players in MP. However, if the layer distinction is extended such that the units in layer 1) (Combat, Support, Civilian units) do not interact with units in layer 2) (Religious units) in any way, this would mean that the Combat units cannot kill the religious units anymore. In this way, the only way to fight religion is to build religion, and the Religious Victory would become feasible in MP and for the AI.
It should be noted, however, that if the means to fight Religion would be reduced, the religion would have to be more accessible. Hence, the added layer would probably require that the Great Prophets would no longer be of limited number. To address this, and to address the point 3., the second suggestion is to
(ii) greatly increase the number of religious Great People.
However, these Great People would have two separate roles (similarly to, e.g., Great Generals and Great Admirals having distinct passive and retirement bonuses). These roles would be the conventional 1) Great Prophet role for the first unlocked religious Great Person for each Civilization, and the following religious Great People would be 2) Great Philosophers, a concept discussed in thread https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/great-philosophers.611847/. These Great Philosophers could have various bonuses, similar to Great Merchants.
My third suggestion for increasing the relevance of Religion also addresses point 3. Faith has already comparable roles to Gold, in that Great People can be purchased with Faith, and in that the Religious units can be purchased with Faith. To improve the relevance of Religion, this role could be expanded. There are already Beliefs that enable certain building purchases with Faith, and the Theocracy government enabling to purchase Land combat units with faith. However, these purchases are much more limited than what can be purchased with Gold. The third suggestion of this post is to
(iii) make the purchasing capabilities of Gold and Faith more comparable.
One way to achieve this would be to separate the purchases more evenly to Gold purchases (e.g., buildings in Encampment, Industrial Zone, Commercial Hub districts and Combat units) and Faith purchases (e.g., buildings in Holy Site, Theater Square, and Entertainment Complex districts and Religious units). Another way to achieve this would be to make all purchases possible through Policy Cards only. (For example, two distinct Military Cards that enable purchasing Land combat units, from a particular era, with both Gold and Faith.)