Is there a Great Library strategy?

[Gus_Smedstad]

It seems like the Great Library rarely gets built by the AI, and I can see why - by the time I'm in a position to think about building it, I'm completely done with the Classical age. All those Eureka boost have no value (and aren't that hard to get normally anyway), so I'm left with a grossly overpriced Library that has 2 Great Works of Writing slots. Which I don't care about, since if I'm going Cultural I've got a huge surplus of writing slots from Amphitheaters.

Maybe if you had a lot of early culture production, so you finish Recorded History early?

 

[w3rallmachines]

I think it's one of the weaker wonders in the game because of how late it comes. I guess you could beeline it, but I find it much more useful to just avoid building it.

 

[stinkubus]

If you started coastal I guess you could beeline Cartography, beeline Rec History, and then come out of it all close to caught up otherwise? Also if Arabia wanted to beeline stirrups you could neglect other tech and use the GL to catch up?

 

[MaximusPlatypus]

If you started coastal I guess you could beeline Cartography, beeline Rec History, and then come out of it all close to caught up otherwise? Also if Arabia wanted to beeline stirrups you could neglect other tech and use the GL to catch up?

Arabia's early University replacement (unlocked in culture tree) is more than plenty to catch up.

 

[Jarms48]

If you're playing a Civ with good early culture you can try and beeline it. Just have to make sure you research all your techs to 50%, and only finish the ones you naturally get the eureka for. Still though, I don't think it's viable.

 

[kamex]

Useful as China if you beeline it - built faster and more bulbs for your buck

 

[Bobfregman]

In short, no. There may be some strategies out there to make it less useless but there's basically no situation in which it actually makes sense.

 

[Victoria]

Of course there is a great library strategy.
Do not build it and one of the other civs will, therefore slowing them down.

 

[JustifierNA]

You do not build the GL for the boosts. You build it for the slots it provides for Great Works of Writing.

 

[Victoria]

Even then, apadna is a much better choice

 

[JustifierNA]

Absolutely. However in multi-player games for some reason people hardly contest great writers at all and so any player who goes for them can potentially get many many extra writers with no where to put them. Having both provides 4 slots which correlates to +16 cpt and some tourism to boot.

Unless you're playing Kongo it's super easy to run out of places to feature great works of writing so I put high value on both when my writers start to overflow.

Also it's noteworthy to mention when you start to run out of writer slots it usually only takes around 3-6 turns to produce the GL so it's a low production investment.

 

[Rosty K]

I've just seen Kongo build it in the Atomic Era... I wonder, did he build it just for the tourism, or due to the general AI stupidity?

 

[JustifierNA]

I'd bet on AI stupidity.

 

[Victoria]

TBH, high culture has great value but not at the expense of science unless going for a CV

 

[JustifierNA]

I disagree there are civilizations who specialize in culture more than science and treating their culture like its science in turn leads to high science. (Poland, Greece(both) Kongo, Japan are some of the civ I use this way. The thing about culture is that whether directly or indirectly via government types, civic cards, inherit boosts it will provide the following:

gold(be it via trade/adj/govt type/continental bonuses ect)

infrastructure (builder boosts/cheaper walls/better city defence/higher yields in any chosen district)

offense (production towards what ever era units you need/unit combat(corps, armies, 3rd their govts)/cheaper upgrades

Science (enlightenment)

Influence towards any city state of your choice via envoys

Espionage (cold war)

And at the same time it provides a victory type. I've had super successful games as both a war monger and on the defensive treating culture as the most important yield in the game.

 

[Victoria]

I did not say junk culture, no no no, I said at the expense of science. Meaning always consider the science cards rather that filling that slot with meritocracy.

 

[JustifierNA]

Ah I misunderstood then for me that's dependent on my goals in each individual game. what infrastructure I've completed (districts) and who my neighbors are

 

[Victoria]

Also let's be honest, as a warmonger you really do not have to concentrate on much to win

 

[JustifierNA]

I keep my options open in every game. Warmongering is always an option if people do not respect the amount of military you have and just focus on districts or you get a good enough lead to do a decent timing push but I've found Science/religion to be the most consistent victory conditions since one is based off of yields and the other is usually uncontested until you're about to win it then you can just force it down the last player's throat with a military escort.

 

[Victoria]

I find military is, the sword rules the ploughshare in this game