Second Best Leader Trait?

[DarkSchneider]

I'm pretty sure that Financial has to be the best leader trait. The extra commerce translates to extra science, which translates to extra tech which trumps pretty much everything else. Certainly the few extra promotions given by aggressive, defensive and charismatic won't elevate longbowmen and macemen up to the point where they can compete with Riflemen.

So the question remains, what is the second best trait?
My initial guess would be either Charismatic or Organized. Organized for the same reason as Financial (but a little weaker) or Charismatic since its happiness boosts will allow you to draft more quickly during war-time.

Traits should be evaluated at Monarch/Emporer difficulty level.

 

[oyzar]

philo spiritual and carismatic are generaly considered the "other" top tier traits. Personaly i like creative alot because of what it does to rexing though...

 

[Gliese 581]

Close call for me but I went with charismatic. I agree with oyzar that financial, charismatic and philosophical are tier 1 traits.
Below those I would put aggressive, creative, organized, industrial, spiritual and expansive as tier 2.
Tier 3; imperialistic and protective are the worst.

 

[dragodon64]

I voted Philosophical, but for me Industrious is the best, not Financial.

 

[Polycrates]

For my money, Spiritual is far, far ahead of all the other traits, including Financial

 

[Refar]

I voted on Spiritual too. I think it might be inferior to some others in terms of 'measurable benefits', but it just makes a game more comfy for me.

 

[illram]

I disagree that there is a best leader trait but I picked philo.

 

[Porphyrius]

The usefuleness of a trait depends quite a bit on the map, and to a smaller extend sunergies with te UB/UU can alter ratings.

Factoring variable situation however, i'd narrow my fiest tier traits to philo and creative. They are simply huge early on which means mthe most to me as i can usually win a game that started well enough.
Deciding between is just too hard, plus i am confused on how one that doesnt consider financial the best trait votes. So i just voted philo.

Financial and charismatic are tier two traits for me, good but not best.
Agressive, protective and spiritual i see mostly as negatives when picking a leader. They can be convenient but rank low in efficiency.

 

[Zanttu]

There is no best trait in this game. That's because everything depends on the game and your playing style. I, for example, love SE and for that reason I see financial as useless trait. You cant compare Spiritual and Financial for example, the advantage of Spiritual depends on how often you change civics. But for my favourite trait I would take Aggressive or Spiritual, because they suit for my playing style the best.

 

[AmazonQueen]

For me Creative is the most useful trait. I also like Financial, Industrious, and Expansionist. Spiritual is ok but if I don't have it not changing civics every 5 minutes isn't really a problem. Philosophical, Charismatic and Imperialist I haven't used enough yet to say.
I find traits like Aggressive or Protective pretty useless since I often manage with no or only small wars.

edit: And I can't even remember what organised does

 

[DigitalBoy]

Financial is the second best trait, because Charismatic is clearly the best trait.

 

[madscientist]

Personally, I think all of the traits have their strengths and weeknesses. I also am not convince financial is the most powerful but it will get you off to the fastest start.

I did vote for organized because that trait has it's uses throughout the entire game. Fast lighthouses helps feed the cities and produces faster growth, and thus gives you a good chance at nailing the Great Lighthouse. The fast courthouses allows you expand quite quickly once you have CoL. Fast factories can really build you faster modern armies than ono-organized leaders. On top of the fast buildings, half the civic upkeep cost saves bigtime bucks which effect snowballs as the game progresses. Very easy to stay away from state property and run free market with this civic. Also a very good civic for any style of victory.

Charismatic is the most powerful for war-mongers.

 

[Verge]

I went for Creative; it really helps with cherry-picking the best city locations in the early game, as well as boxing the AI in. For me, that usually translates into a much more pleasurable early game where I can fully expand my empire in an orderly fashion without having to worry about starting a Stone Age war.

 

[Dnomal]

Philisophical is and always has been my favourite trait, although Financial gives you a big bonus with less effort, so i voted Philisophical.

 

[SenhorDaGuerra]

Imperialistic is awesome. so underrated.

 

[madscientist]

Imperialistic is awesome. so underrated.

I always considered it a bottom tier trait but I have changed my opinion.

Using the settler spam method of Snaaty I found the Imp trait very powerful for getting your early city placement where you want, which is useful for all style of play.

The GG production is normally a war-monger aspect but works very suttlely with Privateers. I got three GGs with Julius without ever declaring war!!!

Still not the top in my opinion but I have finally found it's stength's.

 

[Sjaramei]

Financial is very overrated, Charismatic is in my opinion the best trait you can get. (great army + early happiness? Awesome!)
Organized, Philosophical, Industrious are all just as good as financial.

 

[xanadux]

I voted for PHI, only because it was assumed that FIN is #1. I find FIN and PHI to be relatively equal, and the best. CHA and IND are very close. It is level dependent though. IND is not so strong on Deity. It is massively strong on prince, and I would say on Prince and below, IND is the best trait. CHA is always nice, and I would say is a little stronger as difficulty increases. +2 happy early in the game is a truly huge benefit.

 

[DarkSchneider]

Oh yeah, that reminds me, I usally play on Monarch and Emporer so I'm evaluating the traits at that difficulty level. The last poster is correct that IND is very strong at Prince or below, when you have a clean shot at building most of the wonders regardless of your tech path.

I also imagine that Charismatic is the #1 trait on Deity as it helps to balance out the negative happiness from playing on Deity, and since you are often forced to go to war without a tech advantage.

My latest game was pretty crazy, I played Darius of the HRE. Monarch, no tech-trading, only conquest and time as victory conditions. I eliminated everyone in the 1800's, it was tanks, infantry, artillery and bombers against riflemen. So yes, Fin/Org gives you a crazy tech advantage. That was on top of the crazy production advantage I got for founding Mining Inc.

 

[Silence101]

I'm pretty sure that Financial has to be the best leader trait. The extra commerce translates to extra science, which translates to extra tech which trumps pretty much everything else. Certainly the few extra promotions given by aggressive, defensive and charismatic won't elevate longbowmen and macemen up to the point where they can compete with Riflemen..

You seem convinced that Financial is the uncontested "best trait" with the rational that it creates a tech lead by converting wealth into research (assuming a CE). While I agree that a strong tech lead is certainly one of the most important winning factors of the game, all of the traits can help get you there - Creative's REXing creates larger empires = more research. AGG's warmongering means aggressive expansion = more research. PHI's SE strength with additional great people = more research. ORG's additional breathing room for expansion = more research. (Expansion in general will ultimately increase your research potential long-term to a greater extent than the Financial trait in most cases.) I don't agree that there's conclusive reasoning to state that Financial is the hands down absolute best trait because it provides a tech lead. Financial is a strong CE trait - but I wouldn't call it "the best".