Many people have found rushing as a despot to be particularly effective. I've seen posts here that mention it and go into a little bit of detail, but haven't seen a thread on it specifically. I'd like to lay out some of the techniques I've found, both from my own experience and from others, and request input from forum members.
Be aware that rush building as a despot may be an overpowered technique, and upset the game balance in your favor. It clearly isn't an exploit, since it was deliberately put into the game, and purposely scaled the way it is. However, it's maximizing production from it that makes it overpowered.
