Secret Societies Synergies

[kryat]

It seems that some civs can have very good synergies with some societies!

I just tried with victoria, and I think the owls is the best as they increase the natural economic strenght of Great Britain and their unic docks.

I'm starting now a new game and I think I will try Hungary with owls too, as their bonus for city states trade seems to be OP!


I want to try Spain in multiplayer, but I'm not sure what would be better; Owls or voidsinger. Which one do you think would be better?
In one hand, Owls will allow Spain to have more traders > more yields from intercontinental trade / Adjacency bonus from CH gives culture > being competitive in culture and reaching fast missions

In the other, Voidsinger allows more faith > great chapel units and a lot of cultural, gold and science % thanks to missions (I'm assuming they would count for the city production and the bonus).

So which one do you think will be better?

I'd also recommend trying Victoria with HO. Either Owls or HO could be very strong for them. Owls for the reason you state, HO because they are a naturally colonizing civ, tend to build lots of harbor triangles and tend to build IZs. And England really gobbles through Great Admirals, which count the same as a Great Scientist for leylines.

For Spain, I think it depends if you tend to go more gold economy or faith economy. Both are great. Owls probably have more relevant bonuses.

 

[Pfeffersack]

Random thought...could Gran Columbia and HO have a slight synergy? I wonder if their CGs count as Great People for Ley Line yields (plus if they give the +1 science with the 3rd pormotion as well). Not that it would be terribly strong and still Sanguine Pact could be the better option for a conquering civ, but...well...for the HO I guess every bit of synergy is worth mentioning

 

[Ticio]

I'd also recommend trying Victoria with HO. Either Owls or HO could be very strong for them. Owls for the reason you state, HO because they are a naturally colonizing civ, tend to build lots of harbor triangles and tend to build IZs. And England really gobbles through Great Admirals, which count the same as a Great Scientist for leylines.

For Spain, I think it depends if you tend to go more gold economy or faith economy. Both are great. Owls probably have more relevant bonuses.

I haven't try HO yet. They seem a little weak, but you got some points. I think I will try them with japan for the +1 adjacency and the fast disctrict construction!

 

[Kwami]

I haven't try HO yet. They seem a little weak, but you got some points. I think I will try them with japan for the +1 adjacency and the fast disctrict construction!

I think Hermetic Order is pretty weak for Japan. If you're going to use the ley lines for the adjacency bonuses, then you'd generally pack your districts around them like you would a Government Plaza. But, Japan already gets +1 adjacency from other districts. Better to just use the Government Plaza or some other district as the centerpiece instead of a ley line. You would get better adjacency bonuses that way.

 

[Pfeffersack]

So I was actually able to build BOTH. I was able to build the Bazaar first get the bonus for that then built the Vault and triggered its bonus as well. I also saw that both were available to build in cities that had neither. I was able to built whichever I wanted and in whichever order I chose. The bonuses seemed to stack. Very lucrative from what I see.

I tested now with the Madrassa and the Alchemic Society and as expected, you can built those together as well. I filed a bug report here: https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...addition-to-madrassa-grand-bazaar-ubs.661534/

 

[Ticio]

I think Hermetic Order is pretty weak for Japan. If you're going to use the ley lines for the adjacency bonuses, then you'd generally pack your districts around them like you would a Government Plaza. But, Japan already gets +1 adjacency from other districts. Better to just use the Government Plaza or some other district as the centerpiece instead of a ley line. You would get better adjacency bonuses that way.

They do not stack? I though the adjacency bonus from lay lines worked even if you put district on top. My plan was to put the government plaza or the city (or both) on top and enjoy!!

 

[Kwami]

They do not stack? I though the adjacency bonus from lay lines worked even if you put district on top. My plan was to put the government plaza or the city (or both) on top and enjoy!!

They would stack if you could build the Government Plaza on top of the ley line. But, if you can do that, then it's a bug and doesn't match what the developers have been telling us. I haven't actually tested it. A previous poster wrote that it's possible to put a city on top of a ley line, though.

 

[Ticio]

So they behave like luxury ressources? Then. the society is weaker than I expected...

 

[Pfeffersack]

They would stack if you could build the Government Plaza on top of the ley line. But, if you can do that, then it's a bug and doesn't match what the developers have been telling us. I haven't actually tested it. A previous poster wrote that it's possible to put a city on top of a ley line, though.

Not necessarily - there is/could be one exception: If you start the government plaza before becoming HO member and seeing the Ley Lines and your are lucky enough to put it down (or having started construction) where a Ley Line sits and then become HO member...

 

[Deadly Dog]

Not necessarily - there is/could be one exception: If you start the government plaza before becoming HO member and seeing the LeyLlines and your are lucky enough to put it down (or having started construction) where a Ley Line sits and then become HO member...

That sounds like a horrible bit of bad luck then....don't you have to work the tile to get the t3 bonus?? That's why a city centre can go there but a district can't, isn't it?

I'd never consider joining HO unless I start near a wonder and can see the ley lines early before I get to building districts...

 

[Pfeffersack]

That sounds like a horrible bit of bad luck then....don't you have to work the tile to get the t3 bonus?? That's why a city centre can go there but a district can't, isn't it?

I'd never consider joining HO unless I start near a wonder and can see the ley lines early before I get to building districts...

A quick test (that Ley Line in the pic is quite weak one, as I recruited one lously cultural GP so far...):

I believe Ley Lines behave exactly like strategic ressources, when it comes to the possibilities of using the tile and their tile yields (except that they can't be improved by a tile improvement):

- you can always settle a city on them - and you will get their full yields (though you "waste" eventually the minium yields of the city tile you get always even when settling on flat snow or desert as worst possible terrain types) by the "work" of the non-existent citizen working the city tile

- you cannot built a district on them, if you know that they are there. If they pop up under an existing district, the district stays, but the tile has no yields which can be worked and the bonus is lost. Same for an district under construction - you can probably finish that one now after the last patch, but the Ley Line benefit will be lost.

EDIT: Corrected myself in regard to districts under construction.

 

[CoconutTank]

Just finished up a session with Indonesia + Sanguine Pact. I picked random civ and came across Lahore first, so it's like okay this could be interesting. Then the Sanguine Pact invited me, and then it's like alright this'll probably be great.

Won by eliminating every other civ on the map. I got to the Atomic Era, but by that time I had carpeted most of the world already, so airlifting with Vamp Castles wasn't particularly useful, and I could instantly faith buy forces anywhere thanks to Grand Master's Chapel. I stayed on Merchant Republic until I got Fascism, but in retrospect, given how much faith buying I was doing, I should've swapped to Theocracy. I think I'd have slotted Conscription + Logistics in red for the rest of the session, and the faith yield bonus along with the faith discount would've been very good. Overall, Vampires + Nihangs + Grand Master's Chapel meant that I could use all the faith I would've spent on boats to make a big hulking land army instead, and that they'd nearly instantly group up as Corps/Armies. This was a pretty nice contrast with my other Indonesia sessions, since I usually had a hard time following up after boats for them.

Even given how beefed up my forces were though, they were still mostly melee units, and the Maori's cramped settlement created no end of troubles. I still needed some bombers to soften their cities up before I could move in.

 

[Ticio]

Just finished up a session with Indonesia + Sanguine Pact. I picked random civ and came across Lahore first, so it's like okay this could be interesting. Then the Sanguine Pact invited me, and then it's like alright this'll probably be great.

Won by eliminating every other civ on the map. I got to the Atomic Era, but by that time I had carpeted most of the world already, so airlifting with Vamp Castles wasn't particularly useful, and I could instantly faith buy forces anywhere thanks to Grand Master's Chapel. I stayed on Merchant Republic until I got Fascism, but in retrospect, given how much faith buying I was doing, I should've swapped to Theocracy. I think I'd have slotted Conscription + Logistics in red for the rest of the session, and the faith yield bonus along with the faith discount would've been very good. Overall, Vampires + Nihangs + Grand Master's Chapel meant that I could use all the faith I would've spent on boats to make a big hulking land army instead, and that they'd nearly instantly group up as Corps/Armies. This was a pretty nice contrast with my other Indonesia sessions, since I usually had a hard time following up after boats for them.

Even given how beefed up my forces were though, they were still mostly melee units, and the Maori's cramped settlement created no end of troubles. I still needed some bombers to soften their cities up before I could move in.

I just finished a game with Gran Colombia + Sanguine pact!

The vampires that pillage for only 1 movement... it was insane! I pillaged entire districts (district + 3 building) in one turn! and the vampires were immortal as they were gaining full health every time.

Very Very impressive! I want to check now with Vikings. I presume it will be a lot of fun too.

 

[MisterBoomBoom]

It is cheesy...but you can start with 90 power vampires by using the "Time Traveler" Mod.

The Vampire Castle should not be underestimated for its doubling adjacency bonus to your capital...I am testing to see if it works with natural wonder adjacencies as well. Wondering too if it transfers the wonder ability found in the natural wonder mods I am using. This could be grand FUN!

 

[techgiz1]

I enjoyed playing as Gitarja on a archipelago map on Diety difficulty. Choose Voidsingers and went full on Old God Obelisks for culture to take me to Mercenaries where used the faith for purchasing Jongs and and domination win.