Help. You guys are too good. I have no idea what I'm doing anymore, it's like a brand new game. Is there a manual or noob tutorial?? I'm getting crushed by barbs! LOL *also my mind is clouded by a couple hundred hours of 6..... A little about me- I'm a sandboxer. I have over 2k hours in 5, but I'm a mediocre player at best. I tinker with mods and map making alot. I have beat the game on immortal, but only with my comfy civs. My young daughter shows a weird interest in the game and I create maps for us to play. I'm not hardcore by any stretch.. I feel I might just be out of my league here.
I'll try to give some tips. I am nowhere the best player around here though. If you could beat Vanilla Immortal you're probably fine on VP. VP difficulty is harder though, start on a difficulty less than Immortal, like Prince or King, or even down to Warlord (be wary, though, that the lower the difficulty, the harder the barbs).
Btw, this is not really the place to post this, but whatever.
-If barbs are a problem put "Chill Barbarians" on, it can help. Or go Authority.
-Focus on culture, especially early game. Notice how powerful those early policy trees are? That will provide the backbone which your empire will be based on.
-Religion is more consistently achievable but the race is tighter. It's often a good idea to build shrines first/second in every city, pick a faith-heavy pantheon when you can. Prioritize getting a religion that gives plenty of yields (Thrift+Inspiration+Holy Law sounds like a nice generally useful combo. It's not necessarily the best but it's easy to take advantage of), it'll help a lot with the typical problems.
-A traditional "grow early, rush National College" has been effectively eliminated. Tradition Science is certainly playable, but
a) Pop does not directly give science
b) National College doesn't exist in the way it was before
-Make sure you have a solid, at least somewhat mixed army, for either offense or defense. Spamming archers for defense is risky now. I'd say Horsemen are a good staple to base your armies off, but don't be afraid to diversify.
The AI is quite powerful too, don't underestimate them, especially their naval capacity. I don't know how bad they are on low difficulties though.
-You can play both wide/tall, aggressive/peaceful. The 3 early policy trees are suited for different playstyles. I'd recommend a wide Progress for your first game, or if you like warmongering, try Authority. Tradition's hard to play right off the bat without a tradition/GP focused civ.
-Rushing science isn't always the best strategy and Vanilla-style beelines can be hard to pull off. Look at the science sources in the policy trees and see how they can heavily affect your game.
-There are tons of build orders, but building monuments/shrines first is pretty universal, along with councils and wells. Look for synergies between buildings such as barracks+forges+arenas, and guilds+culture buildings. Prioritize buildings that get bonuses through policies/pantheons.
-Don't be disheartened if you fall in unhappiness for your first few games as the system is really different. It's based on yields your cities produce, the global median, the population/building modifiers of these needs, etc. My best advice is to try, fail, and learn what your typical problems are. Use social policies/ religion, and once you start to get a feel for how the happiness works, you'll understand how to counter it. Be proactive, though, most of all-don't wait until your empire is super unhappy to address unhappiness, except for in the early game.
There's a description in the wiki, in the Civilopedia, there are threads around here that can help you understand it better.
-There are new mechanics such as war weariness, supply cap (kind of not new but might as well be), corporations, monopolies and vassalage. I can't explain them all here but there's info on the wiki/civilopedia.
Hope that helps! Remember, everybody here was a noob, and I still feel like a noob compared to some people here. Sorry for the wall of text!
