Rate the Beliefs - part I: Pantheon beliefs

You don't like God of the Open Sky for Dom games? That extra culture really lets you fly through the early civics (get to Oligarchy faster and get a head start on Civil Service which is usually enough to get you to Nationalism and Mobilization in good time).
 
I Always go for Divine Spark if i want to go religious on emperor/immortal. Its the best.
 
WOW! I just finished a game (King) where I got Goddess of the Harvest. 1st time I got it, and it does allow you to go totally nuts with religion.:nono: I got carried away, and created a somewhat terrain-less landscape. IMO the pantheon is way OP, and needs to be seriously nerfed. It's probably "realistic", if you want to model what a good cult could do as a government (no names please), but I found it limiting my options to, 1) "burn him @ the stake!" versus, "off with his head!" Too easy to crush everything w/this pantheon, assuming you stack things so that (most) everything revolves around religion.

GETTING the pantheon is easier said than done; I had to focus almost exclusively on faith for the (1st) pantheon. After that, it was so easy to chop, chop, chop, for whatever I could buy w/faith. CS w/ religion perks (you can buy this or that w/faith), and running a theocracy became so easy, there was really no other option. OK, I am lazy, but why work at it, if you can believe it into existence?

Perhaps a % reduction (50% of harvest?), or reducing the number of harvest-ables that generate faith (terrain like swamp, rainforest, ect) might put it back into perspective.

On the bright side, I've never run a military theocracy before...I can see how theological differences can get out of hand rather quickly. :crazyeye:
 
Wow... I wasn't aware of how exploitable the harvest pantheon seems to be. I also forgot that it was possible to get the 25% bonus to early units in the base game. I almost never have a crack at either of them. Most of the others are pretty situational though. As noted Russia can use DoA to great effect. Depending on the map I like extra hammers from sea resources or wetlands. Divine Spark can certainly be useful, especially if I want a religion. The one that seems to be most consistently available AND useful is Open Sky for culture from pastures. The extra culture helps a lot, and I pretty much always want to work as many pastures as I can anyway.
 
I have to say I got my first game with Earth Goddess. This pantheon is so OP. No wonder I have trouble competing against the ai for great people sometimes. The AI usually snags this, but I got it in my Egypt game. This pantheon produces so much faith, that you have more than enough for all your needs.

I actually wish I'd get that faith hut on my first hut more often. More often than not it's the gold hut. Is there any other way to try to get my pantheons ahead of the AI?
 
1 - There's always a better option available
2 - Good for certain civs, under certain circumstances
3 - You can never go wrong with these
4 - A really good pick with the right strategy
5 - Excellent, will always be good under any circumstance

2 - Dance of the Aurora: Holy Site districts get +1 Faith from adjacent Tundra tiles. This one is really good for Russia. Otherwise, meh.
2 - Sacred Path: Holy Site districts get +1 Faith from adjacent Rainforest tiles. (A decent option for Brazil, but otherwise, nothing spectacular. The only other jungle civ can't even build holy sites.)
1 - Monument of the Gods: +15% Production to Ancient and Classical era Wonders. (For role-playing values, it's useful for China or Egypt, but I personally never go for early wonders, so pass)
3 - Lady of the Reeds and Marshes: +1 Production from Marsh, Oasis, and Floodplains. (A decent early-game boost. Definitely useful if you play as Nubia or Egypt)
1 - God of the Open Sky: +1 Culture from Pastures. (Nah, that extra eight culture isn't going to cut it)
1 - Desert Folklore: Holy Site districts get +1 Faith from adjacent Desert tiles. (I suppose this is the rebound from being the best Pantheon in Civ 5. Only good if you have Petra.)
1 - River Goddess: +1 Amenity to cities if they have a Holy Site district adjacent to a River. (If I build Holy Sites, I look for adjecency bonuses, not amenities.)
5 - Divine Spark: +1 Great Person point from Holy Site (Prophet), Campus (Scientist), and Theater Square (Writer) districts. (Excellent in every circumstance, especially if you want a religion on higher difficulties. my default pick)
2 - God of the Sea: +1 Production from Fishing Boats. (Really strong with Indonesia on Island Plates, in combination with Kampungs. On Land Maps though... meh.)
3 - Goddess of the Hunt: +1 Food from Camps. (One can never go wrong with a bit of extra growth. Good in cities with a good surplus lower than 10.)
4 - Fertility Rites: City growth rate is 10% higher. (Same, but this one is better because it's +1 food for every 10 food in a city, in every city, regardless of terrain RNG.)
2 - Religious Idols: +1 Faith from Mines over Luxury and Bonus resources. (Tile yields should never be your principle source of faith, but it can be good if you play as Greece with Legendary start)
1 - God of the Craftsmen: +1 Production from Mines over Strategic resources. (Tried it once, thinking it applied to Copper. Never again.)
2 - Goddess of Festivals: +1 Food from Wine, Incense, Cocoa, Tobacco, Coffee, and Tea Plantations. (A bit of extra growth is always nice, but less reliable than Goddess of the Hunt)
2 - Oral Tradition: +1 Culture from Banana, Citrus, Cotton, Dyes, Silk, Spices, and Sugar Plantations. (Bananas are very common, so the extra culture can stack. But like above, not very reliable.)
4 - God of the Forge: +25% Production toward Ancient and Classical military units. (Excellent for Scythia, who can get this pantheon very early thanks to the Kurgan. Indonesia and India also get faith boosts, making early warmongering more viable for them as well.)
2 - Initiation Rites: +50 Faith for each Barbarian Outpost cleared. (This should be good for Sumeria, who should prioritize clearing Outposts regardless of strategy.)
2 - God of Healing: Increases Healing by +30 in your Holy Site district, or any adjacent tiles. (This bonus is useful for defense. I'd say Khmer benefit from it the most as their HS should be placed aggressively for the culture bomb, followed by Japan and Russia who get cheaper HS.)
5
- Religious Settlements: Border expansion rate is 15% faster. (More territory is NEVER bad. Trajan in particular should love this one, with his free monument.)
4 - Goddess of the Harvest: Harvesting a resource or removing a feature receives Faith equal to the other yield's quantity. (I never picked this one, but I should try it. We're talking about 30-80 faith per harvest. This is a pretty substantial amount, given how often I harvest non-river forests, stone and jungles.)
3 - Stone Circles: +2 Faith from Quarries. (Quarries are inferior to mines, but with the prevalence of stone it's not half as bad.)
2 - God of War: Bonus Faith equal to 50% of the strength of each enemy unit killed within 8 tiles of a Holy Site district you own. (Eight tiles is a massive range, but 50% strength isn't really enough, since religious units easily cost over 300 faith a piece.)
 
Rating 0 to 5 is a bit too many numbers, so I'm going to tier them this way:

Great pretty much all the time:
Divine Spark: +1 Great Person point from Holy Site (Prophet), Campus (Scientist), and Theater Square (Writer) districts.
- Amazing for all victory types

Great situationally, bad otherwise:
Dance of the Aurora: Holy Site districts get +1 Faith from adjacent Tundra tiles.
- Great as Russia. Russia can either be a 10/10 missionary hoard spammer, or a 10/10 national park spammer. Either way, Russia is very, very powerful with this.
Sacred Path: Holy Site districts get +1 Faith from adjacent Rainforest tiles.
- Great as Brazil.
Lady of the Reeds and Marshes: +1 Production from Marsh, Oasis, and Floodplains.
- If you are Egypt, or lucky enough to have lots of Floodplains, you'll definitely want this. Extra production in high food-low prod regions is extremely welcome. Otherwise, it's basically worthless. While Floodplains comes in large clusters, Oases and Marshes don't usually.
God of the Sea: +1 Production from Fishing Boats.
- Same comment as reeds/marshes
God of the Forge: +25% Production toward Ancient and Classical military units.
- I never take this because I almost never do dom victory, but if that's your playstyle, this is quite powerful

Good situationally, bad otherwise:
Goddess of the Hunt: +1 Food from Camps.
Religious Idols: +1 Faith from Mines over Luxury and Bonus resources.
God of the Craftsmen: +1 Production from Mines over Strategic resources.
- A problem I have with God of Craftsmen is that I often get my pantheon before I can see Iron, so I don't know if I want it or not.
Goddess of Festivals: +1 Food from Wine, Incense, Cocoa, Tobacco, Coffee, and Tea Plantations.
Initiation Rites: +50 Faith for each Barbarian Outpost cleared.
- Could be good for Sumeria, as they will spend effort specifically on clearing barbarian encampments, but it seems too short-lived to be worth it
Goddess of the Harvest: Harvesting a resource or removing a feature receives Faith equal to the other yield's quantity.
- I try not to harvest in the early-game, so I don't want a pantheon that won't get much use until lategame. However, could be good if you have a lot of forested hills that you'll want to mine, or rainforests

Medium:
Monument of the Gods: +15% Production to Ancient and Classical era Wonders.
- It's okay, but there aren't a lot of super essential ancient or classical wonders IMO. Sometimes I will take this if I see a really good Petra location and I don't think I'll get it otherwise, or Stonehenge.
Religious Settlements: Border expansion rate is 15% faster.
- Doesn't sound exciting, but given civ 6's kind of low city-expansion rate compared to civ 5, sometimes I'll take it
Fertility Rites: City growth rate is 10% higher.
- See above
Stone Circles: +2 Faith from Quarries.

Not necessarily bad, but underwhelming enough that I basically never take them unless they're all that I have left:
God of the Open Sky: +1 Culture from Pastures.
Desert Folklore: Holy Site districts get +1 Faith from adjacent Desert tiles.
River Goddess: +1 Amenity to cities if they have a Holy Site district adjacent to a River.
Oral Tradition: +1 Culture from Banana, Citrus, Cotton, Dyes, Silk, Spices, and Sugar Plantations.
God of Healing: Increases Healing by +30 in your Holy Site district, or any adjacent tiles.
God of War: Bonus Faith equal to 50% of the strength of each enemy unit killed within 8 tiles of a Holy Site district you own

I suppose from some of my rankings you can see what my priorities are... generally in terms of yields, in civ 6, I find that hammers > food > faith > culture. I think having high culture is actually most useful for domination victories, not cultural ones (although of course it helps them too) becuase you can get those military cards faster, whereas I usually get most of my culture through national parks and wonder tourism. I rarely find myself needing amenities, and since war isn't my style, I rarely pick combat-based ones. These are all subjective of course, because some people prefer war, prefer rushing culture cards vs other things, etc.
 
Earth Goddess definitely needs to be #1 (or 5 on the above scale). See my comment above. This was only added in last Fall's patch apparently, and it gives insane faith numbers. Especially if you have a map with lots of mountains or coastline with good tile appeal. Very difficult to get this one though.
 
I haven’t gotten Earth Goddess yet, I really want to try it as Teddy. Lots of faith for lots of national parks... without spamming Holy Sites to actually get there.
 
Pantheons seem to go quickly @ Emperor'. :wallbash: I have no problem getting Earth Goddess or Goddess of the Harvest @ King. :woohoo:On Emperor, I really have to push hard to get the first Pantheon, and often miss it if another Civ. gets a relic or other early Faith. The difference between getting First (or Second) Pantheon (as well as a decent Religion) is HUGE!

King = Usually (Pantheon/Choice Religion) is very do-able. :banana:

Emperor = Only if I get lucky AND prioritize Faith. :huh:

On Emperor, the AI gets an extra settler & warrrior (I think), it makes a big difference...:vomit:

if I start near a settler, it is too tempting to scoop 'em up. (Last round I founded 3 cities by turn 4...plus eliminated Germany (I captured both (German) settlers on turn 2; Bye-bye Fredrick). :smoke: I still got a Pantheon, but it was "God of the Sea," (2 of the 3 cities were coastal, and near numerous aquatic resources...NICE) ! :lol:

Makes me feel guilty for slumming...not playing @Immortal, or Deity; I have to work hard @ Emperor (and an almost certain win; Ceaser was ambitious, but I', not). :smoke: Immortal, here I come. :dance:

Sorry...I'm rambling...that was the most advantageous start I have ever experienced. :clap:NOTE: I have to admit, I saved the game so I could replay it if my attack failed, but it WORKED! :D
 
1. Harvest (But it goes so fast)
2. Open Sky
3. Forge God
4. Religous Idols (desperate)
5. Boat God (even more desperate)
6. I sorta like the 25% bonus to new city districts, but not really sure.
Rest is meh
 
The earth one that gives faith off tiles with decent appeal is definetely the best, if you snatch it quickly enough. Divine spark is also good, so is the border expanding one.
 
Heh, I picked defenders of the faith last game because I was afraid I would get flanked when I rushed by Montezuma, and he did! Was able to hold off his archers and eagle warriors just with 2 warriors and an archer while my main force did its thing elsewhere.
 
Heh, I picked defenders of the faith last game because I was afraid I would get flanked when I rushed by Montezuma, and he did! Was able to hold off his archers and eagle warriors just with 2 warriors and an archer while my main force did its thing elsewhere.

Defender of the Faith is fantastic. It’s probably one of the better tennets, though I’m partial to the discounted religious units one. :)
 
I don't typically make any effort to get a religion, but sometimes the game hands you one on a silver platter. I ended up taking the Crusade belief with Rome. Legions + Oligarchy + GG + Crusade made for some very, very strong troops.
 
I don't typically make any effort to get a religion, but sometimes the game hands you one on a silver platter. I ended up taking the Crusade belief with Rome. Legions + Oligarchy + GG + Crusade made for some very, very strong troops.

For Crusade you need to spread your religion every target foreign city, which is not very efficient, but it is useful to help capturing high-defense cities, especially in MP game vs a Civ without a religion. (But in MP defender of faith is much more useful.)

By the way I can't understand why some MP game players appreciate GGs, ban defender of faith, and say religion is useless. They just ban the most useful belief and say it useless.. Religion is indeed very useful in MP games with Defender of Faith.
 
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