[GS] Pantheons other than Religious Settlements

[BenitoChavez]

Assuming the AI hasn't taken it already, do you ever pick a pantheon other than Religious Settlements? It seems to me that getting that extra city out is so strong that it is my go to pick. Getting that prime city spot, growing the city sooner, producing units, science, culture, whatever is too good.

The only time I consider something else is when the terrain allows for massive faith income with another pantheon and religion will factor heavily in my game plan. But even then an extra early city can help snowball you into lots of faith over the course of a game.

 

[Tech Osen]

Are you asking for deity games? Because I seldom take religious settlement, lately I usually go for river goddess. I like growing my cities big.

 

[kaspergm]

The one that gives you 2 faith from breathtaking tiles (Earth Goddess?) is still massively strong. And I also think Divine Spark is still a great pick in moth situations where nothing else jumps at you (which seems to be like 50 % of the games for me, since most of them are so trashy).

 

[The googles do nothing]

I pick God of War because I enjoy seeing the little plus number come up after killing a unit.

 

[bengalryan9]

Earth Goddess is good, especially with someone that has a UI that improves appeal.
River Goddess is nice if the map cooperates.
I've gotten good use out of the +culture from plantations/pastures pantheons before... that early culture can be a godsend.
Divine Spark and the builder pantheon are always useful (if a little boring).

Every time I actually want the tundra or desert pantheons, they're gone before I can take them.

 

[Kmart_Elvis]

Religious Settlements is a pretty good generic Pantheon for any civ, but most of the time, I get something else if I can.

Dance of the Aurora as Russia or Canada.

God of the Sea as Indonesia, Norway, Maori.

River goddess as Khmer or Hungary

Divine Spark as Eleanor, Sweden, or Scotland

God of the Forge for any ancient/classical civ that you intend to rush with

 

[tedhebert]

I like that the pantheon choice is really one of the rare in-game decision that is most related to civ chosen, map generated and in-game situation. So I never decide beforehand, and always go on the spur of the moment. But I do admit that since they added the settler with religious settlement, it's pretty much always attractive !

 

[AntSou]

I rarely take Religious Settlements for the simple reason I find it so painfully dull.

I like the ones that enhance resources.

 

[lotrmith]

Agree with the faith adjacency. Even if not going religion, being able to crank Monumentality more than makes up for one earlier city.

Also since it hasn't been mentioned, Earth goddess for Inca is automatic. +2 Faith on breathtaking tiles when you can work mountain tiles which are automatically breathtaking (also many tiles adjacent to those same mountains will also be breathtaking).

 

[BenitoChavez]

Huh. I wrongly assumed everyone takes the same religious beliefs as me. Well to that I say HEATHENS! HERESY!

Anyway...I added a poll so vote away!

 

[Swissy]

Fertility Rites, food is the most important resource in the game.

 

[montalaar]

depends on civ i play.
gitarja or dido - fish production is so strong;
peter - camp food and production;
often it is plantation +1 culture.
never took free settler. it felt boring. really. i try roleplay my games. it gets less boring that way to me. pantheon reflects that.
i do like stone circles or lux/mine +2 faith.
divine spark with kristina or scottish guy.
i skip pasture culture, because of harvesting cows or settling over them.
and i almost never build religion districts as it seems waste to me most of the time. they come from conquered cities almost only. that way pantheons what enhance them is no go for me.

 

[Leucarum]

What I like most since the pantheon rework is that a lot of the terrain based pantheons are viable. Which in turn means the choice of pantheon depends upon how much you know about the terrain around you. It really rewards being proactive about scouting/exploring early.

Still, if I have a choice... Religious settlements is so tasty and I am always very very tempted to take it if it's available. For that reason alone I wouldn't mind seeing it removed/reworked. The choice of pantheon would be more strategic without it I think.

 

[Isengardtom]

- stone circles weirdly enough
- earth goddess (Kupe, Cleo)
- festivals or open sky for getting to political philosophy quicker (early culture is strong)
- situationally fire goddess

I rarely take the settler one, unless my settler spamming is somehow really slow in a game and I feel I need a second city soon

 

[Sostratus]

I always play on disaster 4, but even then I rarely find fire goddess worthwhile. Except for the odd start near Kilimanjaro or some similar volcanic natural wonder where I know it’ll deliver the goods quick.

It’s rather weak but I find God of Craftsmen (+1 and +1 on strategic resources) to be quite charming. It just makes finding horses and iron mines that much more special. You could literally double or triple this pantheon and it would still suck- the number of strategic resources on the map is tiny.

 

[kaspergm]

I like that the pantheon choice is really one of the rare in-game decision that is most related to civ chosen, map generated and in-game situation. So I never decide beforehand, and always go on the spur of the moment. But I do admit that since they added the settler with religious settlement, it's pretty much always attractive !

On paper I agree with this, but most of the time, I find myself scrolling down the list and thinking: Oh my, all of these suck completely.

Anyway, cast my votes, apart from the two mentioned earlier (Divine Spark and Earth Goddess), also put down a vote for God Of Sea, which can be great if you're playing a naval civ, and Lady Of The Reeds And Marshes, which can be very helpful if you have a desert start (particularly if playing Mali).

 

[KayAU]

I go for Religious Settlements most of the time. It is very impactful, perhaps even more so on Epic speed, and certainly more so since I play with the mod which unlock Settlers at Early Empire.

I also situationally go for Earth Goddess (I enjoy it particularly when playing Inca), Divine Spark and God of the Sea.

 

[montalaar]

big problem to be able to choose earth godess is i almost never have that choice in the first place. except those unique cases when meet faith citycivs in first turns or get relic right away. same with religious settlements. i can remember only few times i even saw it as possiblity. over hundreds of games. yet fish/plantation/pasture/spark pantheons almost always are there to choose.

 

[MrRadar]

I'm starting to think that the purpose of Religious Settlements is more of a "panic button", a sort of emergency pantheon, when after initial scouting you realize that settling room is rather limited, the neighbourhood is nasty and there will be fight for sure, and it will come too soon, so you desperately need another base where to pump troops from. That, or else if you've found a very nice natural wonder nearby, and it is better to grab and start using it right now.

Otherwise, if there's more room for less violent expansion, other terrain based pantheons probably will be more beneficial in the longer run. I like faith and culture pantheons, some production pantheons may also be interesting like God of the Sea and Goddess of the Hunt, if there's enough of those features and you're not gonna chop them. But I don't think I have a "usual" one, every time there's more or less debating which one to pick from a range of them.

 

[Scaramanga]

God of War as Spain. Haven't even tried this with Theocracy/Grandmasters Chapel yet.