Playing below my level?

[Continental Op]

Thanks to TMIT, Silu, and too many other great players to mention that have helped my game immensely I now think I really should try Prince level next for Noble is getting way too easy. It seems I can't lose on this level anymore no matter what I do! But before I make the jump, I'd like some advise from more experienced players. What did you think was the hardest thing when making the jump for the Prince level? What should I remember?

 

[Groogaroo]

I'm by no means an expert at this game but I was in a similar situation not too long ago and I've gone from warlord to monarch since posting/reading on these forums.

Prince is the first level where the AI starts to get bonuses over the player so it can seem a little daunting at first. The problem I found when first making the move from Noble to Prince was that, similar to you, I had perhaps become a little too comfortable at Noble.

Whenever I attempt a new level now I always pick a strong leader and a map I'm comfortable with, it's always disheartening when a first attempt results in a loss.

Don't be put off if your not at the top of the scoreboard. The higher the difficulty the lower your going to be on the scorebord at the start and it doesn't have much relevence at the beginning of the game anyhow.

keep focus, make sure everything you do is for a reason.

If things don't go so well post a save on the forum and seek advice, as your already aware there are loads of great players here willing to give advice and feedback. I know I wouldn't have got past warlord if it wasn't for the help of all the experts here. (thanks experts )

 

[huerfanista]

What should I remember?

That the AIs still start with warriors.

What did you think was the hardest thing when making the jump for the Prince level?

I can't remember. I do remember that it was harder for me to go from noble to prince than it was to go from prince to monarch. OTOH, these days the level of advice and commentary on the forum is much better than it was just a couple of years ago IMO, so it may not be that hard for you. I think prince was where I first started learning how to set up 2 pop whips, queue swapping, recovering from REX/early war. Good luck.

 

[6K Man]

The hardest thing for me to let go of was that I would not necessarily be atop the scoreboard all the time.

 

[CynicalMagician]

Noble to Prince is not a big leap, because AIs still start with warriors just like you. If you're always winning on noble then you will do just fine on Prince.

 

[dualmaster]

The higher you go the more important diplomacy is. Learn the ways to make good friends, learn who will/will not attack at pleased/friendly. Sometimes it is better to give away a tech to make a friend than to keep it from them.

Learn to trade techs. I remember thinking that I could just tech everything myself but it is much more efficient to research key techs and then trade around to backfill.

Learn to specialize your cities. Before you settle a city decide what its specialization will be (commerce, GP farm, production, HE city, etc). Then build only the infrastructure that will help with that specialization.

Learn to build wealth/research instead of unnecessary infrastructure or units. This can give you a huge boost, especially early game.

Learn the difference between , , . This will help you immensely in your city specialization. For example, if you are running at a high science slider, banks will benefit you very little (unless you have a shrine or corp producing ). Rather than building that bank, build wealth.

Getting good at these things will easily make you a Monarch player.

 

[Meatbuster]

War or REX is important. Always have enough cities for your desired non-conquest, non-domination victory condition. As for warmongering, 9-10 cities (on standard map size) should be enough to ensure enough production when Cannons or Cuirassers roll around... and to research your way to that point.

 

[Mazzini]

Prince is probably the smallest difficulty level leap, it's not that much harder than Noble but far easier than Monarch. Just play your game and keep trying to improve and you will win a reasonable percentage of the time, though less often than on Noble. I think you'll find the challenge welcome and exciting if you're winning every time on Noble.

Now Monarch, that's a . You'll probably get to a point like me, where you can crush Prince reliably but have little chance on Monarch.

 

[Agramon]

I was very annoyed that almost every hut I popped with a warrior spawned barbs. You can be pretty dumbfound when your only scouting warrior is killed by some mad blackskirts, while your stillproducing a worker in your capital.

 

[Nothingontv]

I think i only played 1 game at prince level and went monarch after that. The difficulty didn't seem to increase (much) to me compared to noble so i basically just skipped it.

If you can't lose on noble then prince shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Zavior]

If you can always win on noble, prince shouldnt pose a challenge. I pretty much skipped the whole difficulty. The AI does things a bit faster, but it doesnt really compare to human.

 

[Shurdus]

I started out on prince because I was to proud to give noble a try.

It took me ages to beat it, but then again I cannot comment on the jump. After reading some excellent walkthroughs I could beat monarch once, and after that I took a big leap and played my first ever emperor game and won that. I did not go back since.

Now I am at a point where emperor is too easy while immortal is a bit too hard.

 

[Continental Op]

One of the reasons why I want a bit more challenge is that I already do key tech beelining and tech trade backfilling, but this seems a bit inefficient method on noble level because the AIs tech so slowly. So in the end I have to tech most of them myself. And about 1000 AD I'm so much ahead of everyone else it really doesn't matter what I do anymore.

 

[cabert]

very good answers already

I'll put another word for some things already stated:
- the AIs still start with warriors. It's your last chance (incas excepted) for warrior rush. Why not do yourself the treat?
- the huts now pop barbs from time to time. Nothing to be really scared of, but don't pop the hut next to your capital with your warrior. Let the capital's culture get it.
-

The hardest thing for me to let go of was that I would not necessarily be atop the scoreboard all the time.

Don't be afraid, that's just the way it works, no problem, but it's a bit odd when you're not used to it.

Now for some "new" items.

IMHO, prince is the first level where the AIs can actually win. It still requires huge amounts of land, but it happens (I mean space or culture, a dumb diplo win is possible at all levels) So prince is also the first level where you may want to go worker stealing.

Tech trading starts getting a bit interesting, because the AIs actually have something to trade. It may sometimes make sense to lightbulb and trade widely, depending on the game (loads of war = low tech AIs, as you certainly know).

On noble you can live with terrible diplomatic relations. On prince, they can outproduce you sometimes and you don't want to be the center of a dogpile. Don't switch to the religion you founded if other have a different one.

Other than that, I'm sure you'll be fine.

 

[Continental Op]

I've actually never tried warrior rushing. Perhaps I should give it a try sometime while I still can. Another thing that I've never done before is worker stealing. In what kind of situation is this strategy recommended?

 

[JTMacc99]

When you move to Prince, just set goals. It's good practice for moving to Monarch. Once you're really good at Noble, it probably means that you can fairly efficiently run your cities and your workers, and therefore (at that level) just build and research whatever the heck you want. At Prince, try setting goals like getting Feudalism from the Oracle, and focus your research path accordingly.

Also, practice your wars and SoD management.

 

[cabert]

when would do steal a worker from an AI?
- when you know you're going to kill the dude anyway at some early stage of the game, so you don't care about the diplo hit
- when you fear he's a runaway, and you want to bring him down. Nothing slows an AI more than losing it's workers

 

[Rameau's Nephew]

Worker theft really takes off at Monarch level. There and above, the AIs each start with a worker, so you can potentially nab one even before you've made your first. (Also, as contact with other civs is likely to be limited that early, the diplo hit for declaring on a friend should be minimal or non-existant.)

 

[Silu]

Worker theft really takes off at Monarch level. There and above, the AIs each start with a worker, so you can potentially nab one even before you've made your first. (Also, as contact with other civs is likely to be limited that early, the diplo hit for declaring on a friend should be minimal or non-existant.)

The AIs only start with a Worker on Immortal+ though.

 

[Navarre]

The only thing that bugged me when I first played Prince is that you can kiss goodbye to fair beaker-for-beaker trades, the AI having a bonus on research. So be prepared to pay a little more than you get when you trade techs. You must learn to get a tech nobody else has and trade it around to level things.

You'll have to stand not being the top researcher anymore most of the time, at least in the beginning of the game. You have to REX too, otherwise the AI will box you in with their slightly superior production.

All in all, it stays manageable, and is just slightly more difficult than Noble. If you win every time at Noble, you'll adapt soon.

I posted a RPC on Prince back in the days, here it is. You can find some advices on trades and stuff at the end, if you're interested.