Question about Legacy bonuses

[redwings1340]

In my games so far, I've been not shifting governments too much, generally going for the government that will help me most in the long run, and staying with it until I get a government of a higher tier.

However, yesterday I took a look at legacy bonuses for the first time, and I realized, these are really powerful, and I should probably pay attention to them as more than just boosts for when you're in the government. Order gives you +20% production, democracy some benefits to great people, merchant republic cost reductions, etc. It also seems like, if I'm reading it correctly, just switching to a government once gives you the legacy bonus for the entire game?

So should I be experimenting with every government at least for one civic policy every game, just to get every legacy bonus, or does it only come in to effect if you've stayed with the government for a certain time? The UI is unclear, it seems insane to give you a 15% discount on gold purchases for the rest of the game if you become a merchant republic for one turn before switching to your desired government, but that seems to be how I'm reading it. So, my question is, can anyone explain to me exactly how legacy bonuses work, and whether they're powerful enough you should take every government at some point in every game?

 

[Esperr]

No, you build up the legacy bonus over time. I think its ten turns for every percent or something like that. So most games by the time I switch to merchant republic I have a 5 or 6 percent legacy bonus left over from republic. I dont know the exact numbers.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

In my games so far, I've been not shifting governments too much, generally going for the government that will help me most in the long run, and staying with it until I get a government of a higher tier.

However, yesterday I took a look at legacy bonuses for the first time, and I realized, these are really powerful, and I should probably pay attention to them as more than just boosts for when you're in the government. Order gives you +20% production, democracy some benefits to great people, merchant republic cost reductions, etc. It also seems like, if I'm reading it correctly, just switching to a government once gives you the legacy bonus for the entire game?

So should I be experimenting with every government at least for one civic policy every game, just to get every legacy bonus, or does it only come in to effect if you've stayed with the government for a certain time? The UI is unclear, it seems insane to give you a 15% discount on gold purchases for the rest of the game if you become a merchant republic for one turn before switching to your desired government, but that seems to be how I'm reading it. So, my question is, can anyone explain to me exactly how legacy bonuses work, and whether they're powerful enough you should take every government at some point in every game?

If you switch to the government

Some builds up: ~1% every X turns
That you keep even when you switch away

Some is a baseline: +15% gold discount for merchant republic
That you lose when you switch away

 

[Esperr]

If you switch to the government

Some builds up: ~1% every X turns
That you keep even when you switch away

Some is a baseline: +15% gold discount for merchant republic
That you lose when you switch away

Are you sure you dont get to keep them all..? Ill go back and check but I could have sworn I got to keep the legacy portion of the gold discount bonus.

 

[CaiusDrewart]

Only the part of the legacy bonus that you built up stays with you after you switch governments. So if you're in Merchant Republic, you get +2 trade routes and 15% off purchasing as part of the Republic. Every 10 turns or whatever, you get another 1% off purchasing. That last value is all that stays with you if you later switch. The default 15% does not.

In general, I am finding legacy bonuses negligible. They build very slowly in very tiny increments.

 

[redwings1340]

Ok, thanks. I felt like it was too good to be true. Yeah, for the most part, I've also found legacy bonuses to be not too important, while the extra cards are amazing.

 

[Esperr]

Oh i didnt realize he was talking about that bonus, I thought you just meant the percent bonus.

 

[Atlas627]

My first game I randomed America, so I played with double speed Legacy bonuses. They felt about right to me. Then I played as everyone else, and I barely noticed them lol

I found that the slower I proceeded through the Tech/Civics trees, the more time I had to build up more ancient legacy bonuses (which build faster). Since I needed to give production time to catch up anyway, I've started purposely going slower through the Tech/Civics trees. Grab fewer eurekas/inspirations and spend production on things you need.

 

[CaiusDrewart]

My first game I randomed America, so I played with double speed Legacy bonuses. They felt about right to me. Then I played as everyone else, and I barely noticed them lol

I found that the slower I proceeded through the Tech/Civics trees, the more time I had to build up more ancient legacy bonuses (which build faster). Since I needed to give production time to catch up anyway, I've started purposely going slower through the Tech/Civics trees. Grab fewer eurekas/inspirations and spend production on things you need.

Yeah, I think legacy bonuses are another victim of the tech pace being way too fast.