I wrote my own thoughts on law balance several years ago: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/laws-balance.677097/
so now coming back from hiatus and going through a lot of games, I wanted to see how the balance of laws felt with the multitude of changes that has happened in that time. Lets dig in!
I will note that my experience is principally in SP no MP, so keep that in mind.
Like before I will use a simple rating system:
A - There is good balance between the laws, they both have use.
C - The balance is ok, I tend to favor one over the other, but I do use both on occasion.
F - One law is dramatically better than the other, or both laws are so weak I often won't pick either one.
Epics / Exploration (C) - While I do think Exploration has its uses, it tends to be more subtle (wrapped more in events), whereas Epics is just straight up good. There are maps where I use exploration, but I do think Epics is more generally the better choice.
Slavery / Freedom (A) - Slavery is a great pick initially to ramp up your economy, but tends to give way to freedom. So this is one of those pairs I will often switch as the game goes on, very nice.
Centralization / Vassalage (C) - Similar to slavery/freedom, centralization is a very solid pick when you can get it early for that science. But as your armies start to grow the resource benefit of vassalage become very useful. But on the flip side, my economy also tends to grow enough where its questionable if giving up the science is worth it. I do think the balance is reasonable with a tilt towards centralization.
Tyranny / Constitution (A) - I really like both of these, just depends on the style of play I am going for.
Colonies / Serfdom (A) - The balance here to me is about when to use colonies. Serfdom is just straight up good, no question. But colonies can be amazingly useful if you time it well and use it in a short span to just grow your borders exceptionally fast. I find a shift to colonies for a handful of turns and then a shift back to serfdom can deliver excellent benefits, so good balance here.
Monotheism / Polytheism (A) - Similar to colonies/serdom, mono is generally the better play as orders are always good, but if you can shift into poly and bust out a bunch of shrines in short order, you can get a very good return and then return to the mono's benefits.
Divine Rule / Legal Code (C) - In a "normal" kind of game, its hard to say no to the insane amount of civics you can get from legal code. But....there are games where every order matters, and sometimes having your pagan religion as your state religion gives a lot of benefits. So there are definite games or even during some wars where a switch to DR can be very worthwhile, but I think LC is the better choice most of the time.
Tolerance / Orthodoxy (A) - Both are solid I think.
Professional Army / Volunteers (C) - PA is generally superior here, the treasury bonus is solid, and the upkeep is actually a lot less than volunteers. The pop consumption is pretty harsh on volunteers, it has its uses, but generally PA gives me the better bonuses.
Philosophy / Engineering (A) - I love both of these, often going with Engineering first and then shifting to philosophy as the wonders run out.
Iconography / Calligraphy (F) - Icon requires a LOT of cathedrals to really be worth it, otherwise its a pretty mediocre bonus for that high upkeep. Calligraphy can have use with high specialist play, but there are many games I forget this pair exists.
Pilgrimage / Holy War (C) - Pilgrimide.....I mean money just usually isn't that big a deal, and the spread chance while nice its really only for foreign cities, as I almost always have the spreads I need in my cities by then.. Holy War in general though is the superior pick, the ability to money rush out units can be a major strength in the late game.
Elites / Guilds (F) - Elities blows guilds out of the water, the ability save your orders is incredibly powerful. The fact your probably throwing on another 8-10 orders is just icing on the cake. Guilds just doesn't compete imo, at this point in the game I generally have curbed my discontent with other means.
Autarky / Trade League (A) - Really cool late game laws, I love them both.
Coin Debasement / Monetary Reform (F) - Probably the only law pair I actually rated lower now. Monetrary Reform is garbage at the time you often get it. The happiness is weak, the no unhappiness from hurrying is just not a big deal for the turns I have left. and the MR upkeep is a lot harsher than CDs.
so now coming back from hiatus and going through a lot of games, I wanted to see how the balance of laws felt with the multitude of changes that has happened in that time. Lets dig in!
I will note that my experience is principally in SP no MP, so keep that in mind.
Like before I will use a simple rating system:
A - There is good balance between the laws, they both have use.
C - The balance is ok, I tend to favor one over the other, but I do use both on occasion.
F - One law is dramatically better than the other, or both laws are so weak I often won't pick either one.
Epics / Exploration (C) - While I do think Exploration has its uses, it tends to be more subtle (wrapped more in events), whereas Epics is just straight up good. There are maps where I use exploration, but I do think Epics is more generally the better choice.
Slavery / Freedom (A) - Slavery is a great pick initially to ramp up your economy, but tends to give way to freedom. So this is one of those pairs I will often switch as the game goes on, very nice.
Centralization / Vassalage (C) - Similar to slavery/freedom, centralization is a very solid pick when you can get it early for that science. But as your armies start to grow the resource benefit of vassalage become very useful. But on the flip side, my economy also tends to grow enough where its questionable if giving up the science is worth it. I do think the balance is reasonable with a tilt towards centralization.
Tyranny / Constitution (A) - I really like both of these, just depends on the style of play I am going for.
Colonies / Serfdom (A) - The balance here to me is about when to use colonies. Serfdom is just straight up good, no question. But colonies can be amazingly useful if you time it well and use it in a short span to just grow your borders exceptionally fast. I find a shift to colonies for a handful of turns and then a shift back to serfdom can deliver excellent benefits, so good balance here.
Monotheism / Polytheism (A) - Similar to colonies/serdom, mono is generally the better play as orders are always good, but if you can shift into poly and bust out a bunch of shrines in short order, you can get a very good return and then return to the mono's benefits.
Divine Rule / Legal Code (C) - In a "normal" kind of game, its hard to say no to the insane amount of civics you can get from legal code. But....there are games where every order matters, and sometimes having your pagan religion as your state religion gives a lot of benefits. So there are definite games or even during some wars where a switch to DR can be very worthwhile, but I think LC is the better choice most of the time.
Tolerance / Orthodoxy (A) - Both are solid I think.
Professional Army / Volunteers (C) - PA is generally superior here, the treasury bonus is solid, and the upkeep is actually a lot less than volunteers. The pop consumption is pretty harsh on volunteers, it has its uses, but generally PA gives me the better bonuses.
Philosophy / Engineering (A) - I love both of these, often going with Engineering first and then shifting to philosophy as the wonders run out.
Iconography / Calligraphy (F) - Icon requires a LOT of cathedrals to really be worth it, otherwise its a pretty mediocre bonus for that high upkeep. Calligraphy can have use with high specialist play, but there are many games I forget this pair exists.
Pilgrimage / Holy War (C) - Pilgrimide.....I mean money just usually isn't that big a deal, and the spread chance while nice its really only for foreign cities, as I almost always have the spreads I need in my cities by then.. Holy War in general though is the superior pick, the ability to money rush out units can be a major strength in the late game.
Elites / Guilds (F) - Elities blows guilds out of the water, the ability save your orders is incredibly powerful. The fact your probably throwing on another 8-10 orders is just icing on the cake. Guilds just doesn't compete imo, at this point in the game I generally have curbed my discontent with other means.
Autarky / Trade League (A) - Really cool late game laws, I love them both.
Coin Debasement / Monetary Reform (F) - Probably the only law pair I actually rated lower now. Monetrary Reform is garbage at the time you often get it. The happiness is weak, the no unhappiness from hurrying is just not a big deal for the turns I have left. and the MR upkeep is a lot harsher than CDs.
