[NFP] Irrelevant Units

[Fluphen Azine]

My first gripe is that Soothsayers seem irrelevant so far.
I played two games up to turn 100.
Both games I wasted 100 faith on a Soothsayer.
I couldn't get the chariot to the volcano in time to sacrifice it to win the challenge.
Why do I want to call down fire to burn up tiles that I want to chop?
My point is I would rather save the faith for a builder.

What do you think of the new Soothsayer and or other irrelevant units like say Military Engineers?

 

[criZp]

Seems more like a troll unit to me, except the part where you build the great bath and flood the river a hundred times

Maybe if your enemy is defending in a forest you can try to incinerate him before your warriors attack.

 

[Sostratus]

What do you think of the new Soothsayer and or other irrelevant units like say Military Engineers?

MEs are very good units. They lock the cost of an aqueduct/dam/canal/flood barrier to like 400 hammers.
Most people forget about them but having a stack ready for flood barriers is really handy when you’re up against the sea level clock.

 

[Fluphen Azine]

MEs are very good units. They lock the cost of an aqueduct/dam/canal/flood barrier to like 400 hammers.
Most people forget about them but having a stack ready for flood barriers is really handy when you’re up against the sea level clock.

How do you use them to lock in the production cost of a Dam/Canal?
I know you play an IZ heavy game but most players seem to find the IZ Triangle irrelevant as well.
I get one ME to build two forts, if I remember, so I have no clue how to use them to lock in production cost.

 

[Melliores]

How do you use them to lock in the production cost of a Dam/Canal?
I know you play an IZ heavy game but most players seem to find the IZ Triangle irrelevant as well.
I get one ME to build two forts, if I remember, so I have no clue how to use them to lock in production cost.

One Military Engineer costs 170 production, two are 340. Each one can expend one charge to provide 20% to any of those buildings/districts. So you need 5 charges or 2,5 Military Engineers. If you account for any production that the city will amass during those 5 activations (should be only 1 charge per turn), you usually only need a total of about 400 production cogs for those 5 charges.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

irrelevant units like say Military Engineers

These are awesome units, you can build roads and railroads with them as well as what @Sostratus mentioned.

 

[Fluphen Azine]

These are awesome units, you can build roads and railroads with them as well as what @Sostratus mentioned.

Makes no sense to me.
What do I need a Railroad for?
Not sure I need roads either as my trade routes have made enough.
If my Trade Routes haven't made enough the AI made them for me as I am Taking over their cities.
I agree they could be useful and fun but they seem like they come too late in the game for me to make any use.

One Military Engineer costs 170 production, two are 340. Each one can expend one charge to provide 20% to any of those buildings/districts. So you need 5 charges or 2,5 Military Engineers. If you account for any production that the city will amass during those 5 activations (should be only 1 charge per turn), you usually only need a total of about 400 production cogs for those 5 charges.

Oh I see they are like a builder charging a district or space part.
Thanks for the information.
Seems easier to just chop an Aqueduct in for my games.
I haven't been building any Dams/Canals lately nor IZs very much for that matter.
I understand though that this is yet another option of playing the game.

 

[Myomoto]

Makes no sense to me.
What do I need a Railroad for?
Not sure I need roads either as my trade routes have made enough.
If my Trade Routes haven't made enough the AI made them for me as I am Taking over their cities.
I agree they could be useful and fun but they seem like they come too late in the game for me to make any use.

It's kind of funny how you're simultaneously complaining about not being able to get your chariot to a specific point on the map in time, and now deriding the need for infrastructure that has the express purpose of speeding up unit movements

 

[Metecury]

the soothsayer is useful if you manage to win the competition, the third promotion makes him put cities under siege if he is adjacent. Very useful as it helps with taking cities in strong defensive positions or on the coast.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

I would agree that Soothsayer and ME are fluff units. MEs are not irrelevant, they are relevant insofar as there is a Eurekah and they can speed up an Aqueduct.

On the other hand, you don't really need more than one Aqueduct in an a fast game.. Nor do you need Dams, Canals, or Forts, or anything of that sort.

It's kind of funny how you're simultaneously complaining about not being able to get your chariot to a specific point on the map in time, and now deriding the need for infrastructure that has the express purpose of speeding up unit movements

Railroads come so late that they will not help any fast player with warfare, or anything at all really. Roads I usually get everywhere from having 10-15 traders. I never *have* to get a ME in order to get roads everywhere.

 

[Fluphen Azine]

It's kind of funny how you're simultaneously complaining about not being able to get your chariot to a specific point on the map in time, and now deriding the need for infrastructure that has the express purpose of speeding up unit movements

lol... come on that was in the early game before you could even get an ME up let alone railroads.
I am talking around turn 35!
The nearest volcano was in the middle of the map and I didn't understand I had to walk both units all the way over to the volcano to sacrifice it!
I am not complaining I am just stating problems I run into or ran into my recent games.
I am actually fishing for useful information like that post about the third level siege promotion.
That was helpful but your post was just mocking me for some reason lol.
I can take some shade though even though I am too old to say things like throwing shade.

Personally, I don't see how we can have problems putting a city under siege.
My games are usually war focused anyway.
I would think by the time I get railroads up the game is over or just about over anyway.
I'm not saying some builder game with ME's all over building railroads can't be fun but I find them both to be irrelevant sort of like pikeman.

I agree that the ME is useful when I remember to build 2 forts for my games but many times I am teching up to flight and advanced flight and I usually got the boost some other way and didn't need an ME.
I think it is a great scientist that usually gives me the field cannon boost iirc.
Plenty of games I disregard ballistics/field cannons.
Not that I don't like them or use them in games, it sort of depends if my neighbors have walls up or not.

Perhaps @yung.carl.jung makes a better point that they are fluff rather than irrelevant.

 

[MrRadar]

You can send the Soothsayer in the forested or jungled areas where you plan to settle in the future and not chop for adjacency and start some forest fires. When the forest eventually regrows, it will have some more yields, I see one production being added. So your new city may have a bit easier start. If done in future Chichen Itza site, that may turn out even more than marginally useful.

 

[Sostratus]

I tend to play on disaster intensity 4, where floods and climate change are a little more dramatic. So even ignoring IZs, MEs are just handy to get those 2 extremely expensive pieces of infrastructure (dams and Flood barriers) up.

But if you just go for fast dom or dom->spaceship then you can likely finish before that's really an issue.

 

[MrRadar]

I saw a Soothsayer give +5 CS when in escort, to a Scottish field cannon. But not to Mali's units. So it must be a promotion. Is the Soothsayer's promotion tree known? And how do they promote? Just randomly from winning Appease the Gods competition?

 

[Equilin]

I saw a Soothsayer give +5 CS when in escort, to a Scottish field cannon. But not to Mali's units. So it must be a promotion. Is the Soothsayer's promotion tree known? And how do they promote? Just randomly from winning Appease the Gods competition?

Yes it is only randomly from the competition, but promotions apply to all of your soothsayers (like GDR promotions).