Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Mec AntiKythera]

I always thought that it meant that it can heal itself, but I don't know for certain if that is true.

 

[Manco Capac]

It's an individually affecting promo. Otherwise, that would be overpowered.

 

[Mec AntiKythera]

But very useful . . .

edit: make that AND very useful. OP implies very useful anyway, doesn't it.

 

[Manco Capac]

You can gift him great engineers and he'll rush those wonders.

Well, that's the weirdest adviced ever seen. You can also rush those wonders yourself.

 

[Manco Capac]

But very useful . . .

...if the Red Cross gave this promo instead of totally useless Medic I.

 

[Samson]

Well, that's the weirdest adviced ever seen. You can also rush those wonders yourself.

The thing is he cannot rush these wonders, as you cannot start building a wonder your teammate has started building. I am not sure I would be this generous with a great engineer though.

 

[Manco Capac]

Oh yeah. True forgot about that. But there's more to this: the AI is coded IIRC to rush the most expensive wonders first...if there are other wonder slots, he might rush something unwanted.

Yes, I know well how teamwork works: I had my deal of problems way back when going for a fast space game. That idiot Peter switching civics with one last part of SS within one turn before completion was astoudingly stooopid.

 

[Mec AntiKythera]

...if the Red Cross gave this promo instead of totally useless Medic I.

Red Cross, I forget that exists. Red Cross should be a mobile healing station. Or is the Medic I meant to be a help on the way to Medic II and III ? A West Point and Red Cross combination (impossible because Heroic Epic gets paired with WP, but ok) for an AGG leader giving Combat I and Medic I to start would produce good healers, but why would you need any significant number of them? Does anyone build Hospitals?

 

[Manco Capac]

Usually, the super healer is "spawned" along the first or second GG. No need for a myriad of them.

I build hospitals...only in my space games where I have a huge empire combined with super beefed up corporations +[30,40] and ~+20 . But that doesn't count.

 

[Mec AntiKythera]

Ah, a Corp. thing. Have to keep that in mind.

 

[Samson]

Am I alone in liking the red cross? I build it in my second or third production city, and so about 1/4 of my units have medic 1. I have a super healer, but that is either with my stack or in the city with the most units healing. Where that is not, be that my stack or another city with healing units, it is good to have another healer. Having a selection of units with this promotion means I do not need to dedicate another unit (chariot) to the job.

 

[PolishNoble]

Can someone help me understand the benefits of Caste System? I usually use Slavery for as long as possible, sometimes switching to Emancipation, but never tried Caste. I'm still learning how to use specialists. I find myself utilizing scientists mostly (and priests, but that doesn't fall under caste, right?), and I usually just get my scientists from libraries, etc. Perhaps I'm not taking full advantage of all the possible specialists?

 

[Abegweit]

Caste allows unlimited Artists, Scientists and Merchants. Artists can be used for a cultural win. Scientists are useful for bulbing. This is especially powerful on the higher levels. Merchants have various purposes.

 

[Pangaea]

Caste is nice for at least two purposes.

When you have a good Great People farm you can hire a lot of eg. scientists or merchants to generate the great person you want, without being limited by the spots from market and library.

Caste also gives more hammer output from workshops, which is nice in the later game when you have a well-developed empire.

Also, caste means you can hire a pile of artists after capturing a city so it will get quick border pops.

 

[Sisiutil]

Caste System can be handy for the reasons outlined above, but like PolishNoble I don't use it much--I use Slavery for most of the game until the penalty from Emancipation becomes too much.

It's obviously much easier to use it if you're playing as a Spiritual leader. You can run Caste System most of the time for the specialists and Great People, then switch to Slavery for a few turns to do some whipping.

If I don't have the Spiritual trait I'll usually only use CS during a Golden Age--when I can switch into and out of it anarchy-free and take advantage of the increased GPP by running unlimited specialists.

 

[duckstab]

Red Cross, I forget that exists. Red Cross should be a mobile healing station. Or is the Medic I meant to be a help on the way to Medic II and III ? A West Point and Red Cross combination (impossible because Heroic Epic gets paired with WP, but ok) for an AGG leader giving Combat I and Medic I to start would produce good healers, but why would you need any significant number of them? Does anyone build Hospitals?

I rarely build the Red Cross, but when I do, I try to put it in a coastal production city. Naval units generally don't accrue experience as fast as land units so it's often the best way to get Medic I on ships. Moai Statues / Red Cross is thus the most common combination.

 

[Tyen]

edit: Ignore my dumb question. Apparently I got the anarchy I went through for Hereditary Rule confused with Organized Religion, I researched it but it didn't have yellow border in civic screen.
Can't build missionaries despite Organized Religion

 

[PolishNoble]

Thanks for the Caste response everyone. Actually trying it out in my current game, I see what you mean about the accelerated GP production rate. One question though: I somehow produced two great spies in a row, which happened shortly after I discovered Communism. The only spy i have working is the Great Spy I got from Communism. I otherwise would rather have more GS/GE/GM. Is the great person your GP farm produces related to how many wonders/specialists you have related to a particular GP, or is related to what was most recently done in that city that has GP impact?

 

[UnforcedError]

Thanks for the Caste response everyone. Actually trying it out in my current game, I see what you mean about the accelerated GP production rate. One question though: I somehow produced two great spies in a row, which happened shortly after I discovered Communism. The only spy i have working is the Great Spy I got from Communism. I otherwise would rather have more GS/GE/GM. Is the great person your GP farm produces related to how many wonders/specialists you have related to a particular GP, or is related to what was most recently done in that city that has GP impact?

The GP you get is dependent on the specialists you assign in your cities (on the right hand side of the city screen) and the wonders you built in that particular city which would all give you points towards a specific great person (see individual wonder descriptions). There are not too many wonders that offer GP points towards a Great Spy, however if you let the game manage your specialists you might still end up with some. The auto-governor is known to assign as many spy specs as it possibly can. This is something you better micromanage yourself. You can still use your Great Spies for Golden Ages though at this point of the game.

 

[RD-BH]

Can someone help me understand the benefits of Caste System? I usually use Slavery for as long as possible, sometimes switching to Emancipation, but never tried Caste. I'm still learning how to use specialists. I find myself utilizing scientists mostly (and priests, but that doesn't fall under caste, right?), and I usually just get my scientists from libraries, etc. Perhaps I'm not taking full advantage of all the possible specialists?

I use it for hammers.
Universal Suffrage (towns +)
Bureaucracy (capital +50%)
Caste (workshops +)
State Property (cities +10%, workshops +1)
Organized Religion (cities w/state religion +25% building production)