Some late feedback on this version - all games were on Immortal/Standard speed/Standard size/Continents)
1/ with the Celts
With Mannanan (coastal pantheon) and Tradition, I was off to an incredible start, but the AI slowly caught up over time.
In Industrial they piled up against me quite nicely, and I realized too late I didn't have enough ranged units (nor enough navy). I did alright for a time, but the CS next to me were also warring against me.
I ended up losing a city... to a CS(!) - but it was actually Carthage which had done the grunt work, with a large navy that I couldn't kill fast enough.
Unfortunately I had to stop there, because on the next turn, the turn never finished: it stopped during the CS turn (cf. B/ below). Too bad, because I think I could have still come out on top. (I could have probably gotten it back from the CS, and even if I couldn't, it wouldn't have threatened other cities: because of a desert, my cities were spread far apart.)
2/ with Songhai
After some early adjustments (with the CS/RCS that keep changing, it's hard to get a feel for when a unit is safe), I rolled over the civ in my continent.
Funnily enough, I founded with God of All Creation! Thanks to a Faith CS if I recall correctly.
I thought about making a Holy Site instead of founding, to be able to steal a religion, but decided against it: I wanted a tailored religion more.
I took Hero Worship for the first time since it's changed, and I was indeed really good.
Then Orders and Cathedrals.
And Inquisition, which I usually never do, because I realized it was very good in my specific situation: early warmongering. It helped me snowball even more, by providing thousands of gold in Medieval, which meant I could invest in buidlings more than I've ever done at this stage in the game (more than with Venice, Carthage, ...).
3/ with Germany
First game ever with Germany in VP actually! I was never much attracted to this civ, but it was an easy game, mostly because the AI didn't compete much for CS. I had 8+ (and up to 12) alliances for most of the game.
The other civ did start hating me along the way, but with Germany's production and a slight science edge I was able to crush the foolish ones who declared on me.
Thoughts / Potential issues:
A/ Recent changes
I like Formation on the Spear line - it lets them resist ranged attacks better in particular. Kudos to PAD for his suggestion.
The recent Statecraft change is OK - it didn't make much difference to me. Except the TR influence bonus which is too good in my opinion. The correct level would be closer to 2-3 influence per turn.
B/ "Dancing" units potential bug(?)
I see units "dancing" (i.e. moving back and forth between hexes, with the "splash" effect that indicates they are being destroyed and recreated, much like when they embark or are upgraded) quite a bit when liberating a CS, concluding a peace treaty, etc...
Is it a side effect of the algorithm meant to avoid disappearing units?
Most of the time it lasts less than 5 seconds, but it feels a bit lengthy and distracting.
It may also be related to the "freeze" (turn not ending) I got in one game, since I saw a Carthage ship dancing back and forth between 2 hexes.
Has anyone else seen this? If so, I'll file on Github.
C/ Warmongering is not hindered enough.
- The change to City defense has clearly made it much easier to conquer cities.
It's an improvement overall, because it used a real slog (many turns to wear down the city HP bit by bit), but it's possible it has become slightly too easy.
- In my Songhai game, I founded 4-5 cities only, then proceeded to conquer 8+ more, puppeting most of them and annexing the capitals.
Happiness was never an issue, which I found odd.
Warmonger penalty was imperceptible for a long time. At some point I saw some more resistance and checked: I was at +50-60% warmonger penatly (or something similar), but I was already too strong at this point.
=> I'd suggest
- raise City defense by just a tiny bit (perhaps +1 Strength base, +1 to Castles?)
- raising puppet unhappiness back to 1 per 3 or 4 pop.
- making warmonger penalty slightly more punishing.
D/ The Inquisition Enhancer needs to change.
It's too good in one specific case (early warmongering) and mostly bad in other situations when its use is not under player control
E/ The AI needs to compete more for CS.
In my Germany game, I had Greece nearby who did put up a fight for 2-3 CS. Most other civ - even when they took Statecraft - seemed to compete only for 1 CS. I'm not sure they were properly using the new Trade Route policy (which over time gives 100s of influence) either - but perhaps they were and it wasn't visible because I started using it earlier.
F/ Election rigging is too good
Before, my early spies would all go out as Diplomats because it was the best way to level up. Having to focus on this option was bad.
Now they all go to election rigging because it's superior to all the other options, since it levels them up and provides get secondary benefits (CS alliances and the perks that go with it).
I propose two evolutions:
- Influence from rigging needs to go down a bit, especially in early eras.
- The AI should use rigging more.
G/ Firaxite Materials is amazing for me... too amazing?
I used to prefer the GP (Jewelers) or Culture (Giorgio Armeier) ones, but nowadays, at this stage of the game:
- I tend to want Science above all
- I have a problem with hater civ declaring on me (because I'm ahead) and pillaging my TR, which can cause various issues (lack of gold, loss of UA benefits for Germany/Morocco/The Ottomans, ...), and the Corporation protects TR from pillaging.
It's perhaps too good. The TR protection could be given to another Corporation... like Two Kay Foods which by consensus is still fairly terrible.
H/ Barbarians are not a problem at all anymore
I like starting with a Warrior, but it means that Barbs have lost much of their teeth.
I guess it's an area where the right balance is hard to achieve given the binary nature of some aspects (0 or 1 Warrior).
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