Limited time bonus Social Policies

[StittsvilleJame]

Just wondering about the social policies which grant a limited time bonus, and if that is only a one time shot, or if it can be done multiple times?

For example, in the Autocracy branch is Total War, which gives a 20 turn bonus to military units.

If I adopt that, and then switch to Liberty (which is mutually exclusive) can I then switch back to autocracy, re-learn all the policies in there, and get the 20 turn bonus again? If that's the case, do you have to spend culture for each policy in that tree again, or will they all be instantly adopted again once the tree is re-adopted?

And on a side note, 2 more days!!! wooooohoooooo!

 

[ValugaTheLord]

Umm... Look @ the manual ?

 

[Olleus]

No, its 1 time only.

 

[Mercade]

Above most helpful reply suggests that Valuga didn't actually practice what he was preaching. The manual doesn't seem to say anything conclusive on switching of policies.

While on page 94 it says that "Some branches (like Autocracy and Freedom) may not be unlocked and active at the same time, ..." it does not say whether it's possible to switch from Autocracy to Freedom at all, and if so, what the effect of that would be. Also the word "anarchy" - that was mentioned in some reviews and videos - does not appear in the manual.

On the topic of limited time effects from a social policy, my expectation is that they are a single shot benefit. The only time limited benefits I see are Reformation (Piety) and Rationalism (adopting) that both give a golden age, and both of which are mutually exclusive.

 

[StittsvilleJame]

There is also Total War, which is a 20 turn bonus to military units.

And thank you, ValugaTheLord, you are most helpful.

 

[Necro-]

personally, without playing the time-limited ones dont seem worth it, i mean u use it, like the total war, for 20 turns then its gone? for good? to met hat just feels like i wasted the culture, unless i won the game in that 20 turns

 

[KrikkitTwo]

personally, without playing the time-limited ones dont seem worth it, i mean u use it, like the total war, for 20 turns then its gone? for good? to met hat just feels like i wasted the culture, unless i won the game in that 20 turns

That's the point... just like a Golden Age... in those 20 turns you should either
1. Win the game
or
2. Get some massive advantage (win a very important War/survive a war you wouldn't hav otherwise)

It is unlocked near the end of the game.

 

[Some guy]

It's not a waste if you put that bonus to good use and conquer a lot of cities. Then it all adds up, like France's culture bonus.

 

[Polobo]

That's the point... just like a Golden Age... in those 20 turns you should either
1. Win the game
or
2. Get some massive advantage (win a very important War/survive a war you wouldn't hav otherwise)

It is unlocked near the end of the game.

If you are going to a culture victory Autocracy is an un-obvious but interesting choice since you will (should) be defending yourself from opponents that realize you are near victory and will try and stop you. Finish off the Autocracy tree with Total War and hold on for dear life while you build the Utopia Project.

Obviously Domination Victory works well too. Consider if you are dealing with another super-power on the other continent that has absorbed some civs as well. 20 turns of Total War boosted warfare could turn the tide and push you along to victory.

 

[ValugaTheLord]

You are welcome my friend i hope my wisdom has dropped light uppon you

 

[generalwar]

No, its 1 time only.

I haven't read anywhere that you can't use policies twice.

 

[bjbrains]

I haven't read anywhere that you can't use policies twice.

It's how they work. You unlock them and you get the benefit. You can't choose a policy more than once, or somehow 'respec' policies. Any one-time policy will take effect when you unlock it. If you choose an opposing policy tree (Piety-rationalism for example), the policies you had from the previous tree are still 'unlocked', but their benefits are disabled.

 

[Olleus]

What bj says. Its not in the manual but we've had it explained to us from several sources. When you change out of a tree, you keep all the policies, they just become inactive. This means that the cost of new policies take into account all the policies that you have already researched, even if they are inactive.

Switching trees looks set to be expensive.

 

[PACrivellaro]

This actually was clarified, I believe, in the gameplay demo that Greg did (or perhaps it was that recent podcast?). He said that you could "respec", that is, switch from one thing to another mutually exclusive thing at any time.

The consequences of this are:
1) A period of anarchy.
2) To go back, you'd have to spend a good bit of culture.

He was a little vague about #2, but it implied that it would cost a good bit of culture to switch back -- whether through repurchasing them all, or just switching itself having an inherent cost.

 

[12agnar0k]

Theirs not an awful lot of one time activation policies, but their is a few, and you can make good use from them in a switching strategy, I can't remember what policy honour can't be taken (if it exists) with, but if you take honour for its 33% barbarian bonus, which is useful for mostly the first part of the game, and then take the honour policy that grants you a great general, then you can later switch to the opposite policy cancelling the honour branch, but you get no further benefit from keeping it, so its culture well spent.
What I'm trying to say is, if the only culture you spent was on the original bonus and one time activation bonuses already taken, then switching to the tree which disables the first comes at basically no cost.

 

[Polobo]

What I'm trying to say is, if the only culture you spent was on the original bonus and one time activation bonuses already taken, then switching to the tree which disables the first comes at basically no cost.

Example to make this clear:

Lets say you have filled in the Tradition Tree and have already hit Renissance and so Rationalism is available.

For your 7th policy you decide to choose Rationalism and you get your 5-turn Golden age.

For you 8th policy you now determine that you want to either Piety or Patronage. No matter which one you pick you will only be adding to your existing situation.

If you choose Piety you lose access to the Rationalism and any permanent benefits (of which you have none) but you gain 2 happy.

If you choose Patronage you keep Rationalism and any permanent benefits (of which you have none) and you influence with city-states decreases more slowly.

Assume you picked Piety:
For your 9th policy you can choose (amongst others)
A) Another Piety Policy
B) Patronage; leaving everything else as-is
C) Re-enable Rationalism thus disabling Piety and immediately losing 2 happy
---- What we do not know is whether, as part of C, you may choose an additional policy within Rationalism (say Secularism) at this time or whether you have to wait for policy # 10.