[NFP] Maui seems really underwhelming

[8housesofelixir]

Here is a pic of Maui creating 4 unique Luxes, so the answer is yes.

You can also see an Amber at the east/right of the Athens, making the total number of Luxuries in that Continent into 5.

 

[iammaxhailme]

Anansi is OP. If you get open borders with another Civ, you can send Anansi there and just wipe out their resources. And if you get Maui as well, you can become the biggest seller in luxury resources.

Is there any diplo penalty for this?

 

[Deggial]

I didn't look into the code or something, but to my knowledge there are some rules about how Luxuries would spawn on the map.

There are a total of 24 land-based Luxuries, and according to the map generation rule, each Continent will have 4 different types of Luxuries, and every Continent's 4 Luxuries are different (to allow the diversity of luxury trading).

The luxury per continent distribution as well as the ressource-terrain relation is applied during the map generation, though. (As you wrote.)

It may or may not apply to a separately coded hero ability!

As you haven’t examined the code, did you make any observations during the game, whether or not the map geneation rules also apply to the hero’s ability?

 

[EgonSpengler]

I've only played 1 game with Heroes so far, but Maui is the only one I got much use from, so far: He let me build a half-decent city in the middle of a desert, which was in a spot with some important strategic value, vis-a-vis my borders, Loyalty pressure, Religious pressure, etc. When I first saw that big desert, I thought, "Well, [frack]... Maybe I can get Petra if I use all of my Trade Routes." But then Maui turned that frown upside-down.

 

[Victoria]

It seems different gaming styles prefer differing heroes. When playing limiting myself to three cities Maui would probably be pretty handy too.
Great to play heroes ... just for one day... but man do they break some rules, I guess thats what heroes are for. Getting an England off continent +30 production shipyard, very unikely in a 'real' game.

 

[TCBB]

I agree that Maui is the worst hero, purely for the RNG element involved.

I used him today on desert tiles to improve a potential Petra city. I got a copper, a sheep, an incense, and a gypsum – not exactly amazing return for the 25-odd turns I spent getting him. Compare that with guaranteed insta-finish of whichever districts you want (Hercules), guaranteed insta-kills on whichever unit you choose (Beowulf), guaranteed raw science & culture from harvesting (Anansi), guaranteed risk-free pillaging to your heart’s content (Sun Wukong), etc, and it’s pretty clear he’s at the lower end of the power spectrum.

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

Is there any diplo penalty for this?

Nope.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Great to play heroes ... just for one day...

I see you.

Spoiler :

 

[Hogimus]

I think he is more useful for certain leaders too - if I were France, the Maya, or the Cree for example, I'd probably be pretty happy to have him.

Aztecs for sure too. +1 combat strength each time he drops a new luxury. Yes, please!

 

[iammaxhailme]

Near the end of my first heroes game now. I do think Maui is waaaaaaaaaay more useful early/mid than he is late, when your cities don't have that much time to grow and are already mostly developed (and own the surrounding tiles).

But putting some wheat on some floodplains tiles that have had a few floods and are like 4f2p (before the wheat) three tiles away from your capital in the first 20-30 turns? Or even better, getting some sugar plopped there? That's really food since you have time to take advantage of those yields. Apart from that, I mostly used him for harbor stacking.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

mekeWHAAAAAAAp? I have an eventual goal of surrounding one with resources on all six sides.

 

[Brutus2]

The harbor adjacency is a great idea. He also can go very well with the Temple of Artemis wonder. That way you are happy even if you only get a bonus resource. I can also confirm that he can grant Luxuries that are not on your continent which is really great.

He is also nice in the later game when you need to build a new city far away because you need the oil or aluminum which are often found in the Tundra or Desert. Send him in first to drop in some resources and that new city can get a nice boost maybe even giving you a new luxury to go with the oil / aluminum you wanted.

 

[UWHabs]

The harbor adjacency is a great idea. He also can go very well with the Temple of Artemis wonder. That way you are happy even if you only get a bonus resource. I can also confirm that he can grant Luxuries that are not on your continent which is really great.

He is also nice in the later game when you need to build a new city far away because you need the oil or aluminum which are often found in the Tundra or Desert. Send him in first to drop in some resources and that new city can get a nice boost maybe even giving you a new luxury to go with the oil / aluminum you wanted.

I admittedly haven't played him a lot, but still feels like 4 charges, and the fact that he can only do it in empty/unowned plots still feels a little underwhelming. Perhaps would have been better to give him, say, 8 charges, but have create a lux take 2 charges and create a bonus resource take 1. Even at that, and also allowing that in your territory, doesn't feel super OP, and would give you a little more control over the region.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I'd like To try Maui with Russia to get a few more workable Tundra tiles.

 

[kb27787]

He indeed requires very specific set of circumstances... (and only worth it if he's your first hero or second at best) and synergizes well with certain early pantheons.

In the early game where everything is scarce, having 3 woods grassland hills deer with goddess of the hunt pantheon for example, is crazy.

Not to mention, Ethiopia loves him a lot more than Maori... he is insane with Menelik. If you already have a great piece of ground with 3-4 copies to start, he can make it even more insane, and I can easily conceive +64 faith/turn under in ancient era. (If you luck out with a couple builders from ruins, even better!)

 

[tedhebert]

I actually liked him in my game with sanguine pact. Found a halfway decent spot for castle close to my city but not all in it yet, then filled the bad tiles with Maui, then bought the tiles and improved them. THEN, I made the castle. Made a very nice early game castle indeed.

But I agree. It's a little on the weak side for combat compared to pretty much all the others, so 4 charges is probably not enough. Anansi was more useful having 6 charges. I really weakened my closest neighbor with him, and 100 Science + 110 culture
in classical per charge is actually a difference maker. So I say there should have been 6 charges for Maui too

 

[iammaxhailme]

I'd like To try Maui with Russia to get a few more workable Tundra tiles.

I wasn't russia, but in my last game I used Maui on (Iceland Volcano) and got some extremely good tiles... at least once Maui blessed me with luxuries (which can't be exploded by volcanoes) instead of bonuses (which can).

 

[Hactar]

Petra + Nazca + Maui + flat desert = fun

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

Petra + Nazca + Maui + flat desert = fun

Don't forget to have Mansa Musa as leader!

 

[DogeEnricoDandolo]

Is there any diplo penalty for this?

Nope.

Actually, yes. Sending Anansi to destroy Resources inside a major civ's territory generates 15 grievances for each resource destroyed.