Polishing my gameplay for Deity.

[InDubioProReo]

I only managed to win on Deity once so far, with Babylon at Pangaea in G&K, Science VC. I tried a whole lot of other games where I tried everything from culture to domination, however I failed in all of my attempts. At some point the AI just got way too ahead and it was rather pointless to continue after that. Right now I'm playing BnW and it's kind of the same story.

I can win on Immortal pretty much all the time, however on Deity I seem to be doing something(s) wrong. The main problem I feel for me is catching up to the AIs in tech. In Immortal, I can catch up to the AI in Industrial, however in Deity I'm always behind (except the game with Babylon, that early GS helped a lot) no matter how many RAs I sign. And sometimes, those who sign RAs with me get the tech leadership too.

I know that it's Deity and I'm supposed to be out-teched, and I understand that in Deity you're gonna have to accept that and play there, however I really don't know what I need to do to catch up. Maybe this is a wrong set of mindset, that I need to be at the lead or at least close to (maybe 5% in literacy?) the tech leader to even have a hope? Is this true or do I need to stop obsessing about this?

Another thing I'm not that good is early wars. I can't seem to really fight effectively until Trebuchets and Longswordsmen. Those early composite pushes, it's fine for me in Immortal, however in Deity, it feels like AI has an endless supply of units to throw at me. I watch many Deity LPs and most of the time they involve those early pushes to grab a city. I can't do that at all, maybe it's because I'm picking the wrong target? (someone who goes Tradition/Honor instead of Liberty/Piety)

There are probably things I am not aware that I'm doing wrong, but I would really like some advice on those who can most of the time beat Deity. I'm especially curious about your own experience of playing Deity for the first time after consistently winning Immortal. What things did you notice that you needed to improve, or what did you realize that you hadn't noticed to be that important in easier difficulties?

That being said, I have two questions:

1) I'm kind of lost after Philosophy. Go down to Civil Service, to Machinery, or to Education? How viable is rushing Education and then going through the military techs?
2) Can you close a tech advantage of 10% in Deity from playing behind?

Much thanks for answers, I hope I learn something to actually win on Deity on a reasonable frequence.

 

[TyBoy]

Maybe give England a try. They're really well suited to coming into the Medieval Era way behind but leaving the Renaissance in great shape. Use your double spies to catch you up in the tech race while you focus on longbowing down some competition.

The new warmonger formula makes casual war to just stretch your borders a little a lot more viable than it was in G&K.

 

[TheGrumpyBuddha]

Man, I really was hoping to get some good advice in here . I've got the same issue that you do -- I have a very good win rate on Immortal, as long as I don't have to fight a war on two fronts early/Alexander doesn't buy up all the City-States from the far side of the globe -- but Deity crushes me.

I am thinking that the best strategy may be:

1) Be lucky enough to not start next to a warring civ
2) Be lucky enough to start next to a chumpy small-army wonder-building civ
3) Play a civ that is good at warfare (Siege Towers are pretty awesome ...)
4) Take over that chumpy Civ before turn 100 (thus catching up a little bit in the wonder-race)
5) Play perfectly.
6) Pray.

Which isn't so much a strategy as hoping you get very lucky at the beginning, and then make sure you play flawlessly.

I'm thinking that the best map to play on may be Continents, but I'm not sure. With Continents there is the risk that a civ on the other continent may take it over and completely dominate, but on the other hand it reduces the risk of a war on two fronts. The other drawback is some city-states will be out-of-reach.

For what it's worth, the Immortal culture strategy that works really well for me is Tradition/Patronage (just to get the +20 resting), then whatever I can get in Aesthetics before moving to Rationalism.

Not that I usually get to that point in Deity ... anyway, please keep us updated on your progress, and share anything that seems to work!

 

[TheGrumpyBuddha]

1) I'm kind of lost after Philosophy. Go down to Civil Service, to Machinery, or to Education? How viable is rushing Education and then going through the military techs?

For what it's worth, my usual progression on Immortal is Civil Service (if I'm next to a river), then Education, then Iron Working/etc. up to Machinery (building Workshops/Ironworks), then back to the Tech path -- Scientific Method + Industrialization -- and then either straight through to Plastics or a dip down into Fertilizer. So to speak. It's awesome when you can take the Freedom tech that gives you 6 militiamen (or whatever they're called), and then almost immediately promote them to full Infantry. (This is probably a pipe dream on Deity, though.)

HOWEVER, if I feel I need to take over another Civ/City State early, I'll rush getting to Crossbowmen after getting the basics. I have a hunch this may be the only viable strategy on Deity -- taking over a weak Civ that has built 2-3 early Wonders, etc. -- pretty early on.