Post Your Unit Promotion Strategies

[Bleser]

Unit promotions are one of those little gems that excite me every time I get one regardless of the situation/state of the game. Civ V offers quite a few to choose from and I feel my promotion strategies differ quite a bit from Civ IV.

How do you generally promote your units - and why?

Here's my general promotion tendencies (forgive me for not knowing promotion names):

Scout
1. +1 Sight
2. +1 Movement
3. Faster Healing

Melee and Ranged Units
1. Open Terrain Level I, II, III
2. Heal While Moving
3. Attack Multiple Times Per Turn

Siege Units
1. Open Terrain I, II, III
2. City (as soon as open)
3. Attack Twice Per Turn

Naval
1. Land Bombardment I, II, III

Tanks
1. Open Terrain I, II, III
2. Heal While Moving
3. Attack Multiple Times Per Turn (I think they offer this)

Bombers
1. Land Bombardment I, II (never gotten past this yet)

The exception to these rules are instances where healing immediately would save the battle, which I occasionally due - but try to avoid.

My favoritism with open terrain bonus is that I like to wipe out units on the first try and I avoid ever attacking units in rough terrain - so I let them get into the open and then wipe 'em out.

The noticeable difference between my Civ V and Civ IV promotions is I NEVER create medic units - I feel units heal fast enough in Civ V, and in Civ IV it took FOREVER.

 

[wurstburst]

I like to mix the promotions on my melee units. About 1/2 of them get shock 1,2,3 the other 1/2 get drill 1,2,3.

Let's me use the right unit in the right place.

 

[Jon Shaw]

I also can never remeber the promotion names- this is a much more helpful way to have them

I have pretty similar preferences- with Wurstburst's addition.

One difference is that for siege I'd go for attack multiple times per turn before + vs city: attacking twice is like +100%, + vs city is only 25%. Also, the additional attack will benefit you against non city targets (in case you need to) and allows you to move, setup, fire, fire and move potentially (e.g. on a railroad), which adds a lot of flexibility. Definitely better than +vs cities IMHO

I usually mix in some medic type promos amongst ground troops- combined with healing while moving it helps ensure you can continue endlessly attacking without having to stop to heal.

 

[Bleser]

I like to mix the promotions on my melee units. About 1/2 of them get shock 1,2,3 the other 1/2 get drill 1,2,3.

Let's me use the right unit in the right place.

Help me remember - is shock "open terrain" and drill "rough terrain"?

I feel like if I mix units, murphy's law says the one I need will be on the other side of the map.

One difference is that for siege I'd go for attack multiple times per turn before + vs city: attacking twice is like +100%, + vs city is only 25%. Also, the additional attack will benefit you against non city targets (in case you need to) and allows you to move, setup, fire, fire and move potentially (e.g. on a railroad), which adds a lot of flexibility. Definitely better than +vs cities IMHO

Totally agree with this - but it is usually available so late in the promotion stage that I already have the City promotion by the time it is available.

 

[Jacksup]

It seems to me that there is never a reason NOT to give your melee/ranged units drill (the bonus on rough terrain). Enemy units already get a huge penalty when fighting on open terrain so your units don't really need any bonuses taking them out. Units on rough terrain, on the other hand, get significant strength bonuses, so you'll need all you can get to take them out.

 

[Bleser]

It seems to me that there is never a reason NOT to give your melee/ranged units drill (the bonus on rough terrain). Enemy units already get a huge penalty when fighting on open terrain so your units don't really need any bonuses taking them out. Units on rough terrain, on the other hand, get significant strength bonuses, so you'll need all you can get to take them out.

I recently thought about this as well and agree with you. But my counter arguments are:

- With my open-terrain bonuses my potentially technologically-weak units (higher difficulties) can take out more advanced units on open terrain.
- Equal technology I can almost guarantee one-shot kills which prevents the AI from healing/upgrading.
- With the upcoming patch, the built-in open terrain bonus is being reduced.
- As time goes by, you end up with more open terrain than rough (forests and jungles chopped), so they are more useful in that respect.

 

[Nares]

I'll typically open with Shock 1 for the obvious counter to the rough terrain bonus. Like most players, I'll specialize Shock and Drill units.

I've also recently taken to split Shock/Drill units, especially for newly produced units already rolling out with 30/45xp.

Shock 1, Drill 1, 25% reduced ranged damage received (forgot the name of the promotion) is a nice combo for any melee unit. Shock 1, Drill 1, 25% increased damage versus cities (likewise forgot the name) is a great generic siege setup.

 

[Paeanblack]

Warrior-line promotions always get saved for Instant Heals. Combat capability now is far more important than combat capability later. This is especially true for the first few exploring units. Finding the ruins/opponents/city states/natural wonders sooner is much more important than a promotion.

Horse units can afford to heal, since they cover more ground faster. The first one to 30 usually gets Shock1+Medic. All the others get either the Shock or Drill lines depending on what terrain the opponent's cities are on. When I'm sufficiently spread out, another one will get Medic.

The Scout gets Survival1+Sentry

 

[diz2]

I have gotten both bombers and battleships that attack multiple times per turn.

There is also an air repair promotion that allows bombers to heal + run missions in same turn.

Stealth bombers do not get these (or any) promotions, and in some way seem worse than a fully upgraded bomber.

As far as promotion strategies go, I can't say I really put much thought into it. I mostly take em as I get em, using instaheals when a unit is low.

I get the impression some people really nurture their units. I'm somewhat ambivalent on the cost of gold for upgrading verses making a new unit. In a continents game it's usually horsemen early and then a modern war on the other continent. Horsemen don't upgrade far enough to be worth much in a modern war. On Pangaea it's also horsemen early and maybe finish up with rifles. This doesn't put much of a premium on promotions strategy.

 

[Sneaks]

Scouts - Survivalism1 followed by Visibility1 - Obviously if instaheal is needed, it will happen. Losing a scout to fort-healing for a few turns is equivalent to giving every other civ that many more turns to find CSs and ruins first.

Melee - Given the patch changes I am guessing I will be grabbing medic across the board sooner for the reason that my melee units may be sitting around cities sieging for a couple turns. Other than that, straight up shock or drill to 3, then march and the double attack.

Siege - Open1, City Bombard, Open2/3, double attack (though I doubt I have ever actually had a siege unit with this many promos in a non-gimmicky game. Cities usually fall by the time these things wheel up to the battle)

Planes/Boats - Who cares. The AI doesn't get them as concepts or the game doesn't last long enough for them to matter.

 

[Raethwyn]

I also can never remeber the promotion names- this is a much more helpful way to have them

I have pretty similar preferences- with Wurstburst's addition.

One difference is that for siege I'd go for attack multiple times per turn before + vs city: attacking twice is like +100%, + vs city is only 25%. Also, the additional attack will benefit you against non city targets (in case you need to) and allows you to move, setup, fire, fire and move potentially (e.g. on a railroad), which adds a lot of flexibility. Definitely better than +vs cities IMHO

I usually mix in some medic type promos amongst ground troops- combined with healing while moving it helps ensure you can continue endlessly attacking without having to stop to heal.

I agree with you on every point except for "attacking twice is like +100%, + vs city is only 25%". Take a Catapult for example with a Ranged Combat value of 14. With Logistics you attack a city with 14 strength, then again with the same 14 strength. With a Siege promotion that turns in to a single attack of 14*1.25 = 17.5. The values go up even more with more advanced ranged units like Cannon which is 26 without, and 32.5 with a Siege promotion.

It really depends on the strength of the city you're attacking when making the decision to choose between promoting to Logistics or Siege first. Also, Logistics takes a lot more promotions to reach so it's more of a long term investment (It takes lvl3 of either Accuracy, Barrage, or Bombard versus only lvl1 for Siege). Basically Logistics is available on the 4th promotion at the earliest while Siege is available on the 2nd. With the removal of Exp gains when using ranged attacks against cities with 1hp left, it will be difficult to get to the 4th promotion without the Honor policy for increased Exp.

I do love Logistics for field combat, but with the current patch modifications to city defenses I will likely promote to Siege first more often so I can deal with the increased city strengths due to free maintenance walls/castles/etc. and the increased ramp up of city strength based on tech era. Also, siege units are nerfed against units but buffed against cities apparently (I haven't loaded up with the new patch yet but recall reading this in the patch notes) so it's even more clear cut for me: Archers/Crossbowmen deal with units and thus get Logistics first, while siege units deal with cities so promote to Siege asap.

 

[aguds]

Depends a lot on the map I play wether I go for the rough- or open- terrain bonus for my infantry.
All ranged(Siege-weapons too) I try to hurry up until they get their 2nd shot, and range after that.
My naval-units travel in packs, and I try to have a 50/50 between naval and land specialists.
2nd shot as fast as possible here too.

I also try to put the medic-upgrade on 1 of 3 units. I like to keep my units as long as possible, to have a really elite battalion to wreak havoc with in the endgame.

 

[skallben]

I agree largely with OP. March is very good for ground troops. Difference is I use the "rough terrain" bonus aswell, these troops make for a serious tactical utility, they can hold defensive position or advance ground into enemy territory very nicely. Especially when they go March and a medic backing them.

Naval: Well it depends of course, if I face an enemy fleet I use Naval Combat promotions but it is allways nice to have ships for artillery support inlands. I remember an old game I managed to get a Frigate up to range promotion before my enemies had Rifles, that was sooo good.

Artillery however, as another poster remarked, 2attack/turn is +100% damage, AND alot more experience. It is simply awesome, those siege units can decimate cities or hold off hordes on invaders.

 

[plesniak]

One promotion that I notice is glaringly absent in this discussion is the cover promotion that protects from ranged attack.

I usually will get this in the 3rd or 4th promotion when I am going to use it...I really like it for my siege and ranged units. Often you will have to sit within range of the city bombardment and a garrisoned archer to get within range to hit the city yourself. Having the cover promotion can let u get off a couple shots at the offending city or unit before you have to change that unit out with a fresh one.

It is also pretty good for the odd melee unit. Sometimes I will place a unit with double cover promotion close to the city to attract fire. The cover promotion allows me to set that unit to heal and set a GG on him or behind him. He will heal almost as fast as the city and range weapons can hurt him. It will attract ranged fire until I can get another unit over to the ranged land unit and kill it; Or, I can get some heavier seige units in place and lambaste his city while he continues to fire at my double covered unit.

With strengthened city defenses and offences post patch "cover" is even more important I believe.

 

[bpheater]

Half of my melee units get drill, half get shock, until they can get the heal promotion. Then they get cover.

 

[qyll]

For foot units, half go straight to shock 3, half to drill 3. Then, march/repair, then blitz. Blitz is amazing because it has the hidden bonus of letting you move after you attack, but march is just too good to pass up.

For ranged units, same idea as above, but then I go to logistics then range then march then indirect fire. Indirect fire is by no means a bad promotion. By itself, it's better than march, but by the time I get a 6th promotion, I can already promote them to artillery, which come with indirect fire.

 

[UknowsI]

The patched changed this quite a lot. Earlier open terrain would often mean death regardless of promotions, which made Drill a lot more powerful. These days I find it useful to give Shock to my cavalry, and drill to the majority but not all of my infantry. For archers I pick a little 50-50. I like to give medic improvement to a unit which will otherwise not be very useful, such as a unit who has used instant heal, a pikemen or a unit without Moral if my other units have moral upgrade.