Seems hard to get a religion on Emperor

[UWHabs]

Well, when you already have a prophet, you are guaranteed the religion sooner or later, so a pantheon is a lesser problem now. Also, you don't even need god-king as Stonehenge and/or Holy Site produce faith themselves.

Yeah, once you have the prophet you're still guaranteed the religion, but it was more one of those cases where I rushed to get it, and then was like, "damn, forgot about that." Just because you get the first prophet doesn't mean you get the first religion.

 

[stinkubus]

Missing the first religion isn't so bad. The best beliefs are usually still there. Half the time the AI takes the extra faith from wonders and Feed the World or something useless like that. Crusade, Work Ethic, Jesuit Education, Tithe, etc. are almost always still on the board.

 

[kaspergm]

Missing the first religion isn't so bad. The best beliefs are usually still there. Half the time the AI takes the extra faith from wonders and Feed the World or something useless like that. Crusade, Work Ethic, Jesuit Education, Tithe, etc. are almost always still on the board.

Feed The World useless? You must be joking. Feed The World is amazing imo. I understand that AI always takes it first. They almost always take Jesuit Education as #2, btw., so you gotta be quick to get that one. AI for whatever reasons never take Tithe. In all the games I've played, never once has it happens.

 

[stinkubus]

Between trade routes and workable tiles I almost never have an issue with food and I certainly wouldn't want to waste the cogs on the buildings (and need to give up potentially useful campus spots) and the holy sites to get it.

 

[Rosty K]

Work Ethic and Tithe are always available regardless of whether I'm first to religion, or last... That's with 7 religions in the game. On King though.

 

[Nefelia]

I also had one game which I quit, where I rushed and got stonehenge, only to realize that I hadn't gotten a pantheon yet and so couldn't found a religion. Had to switch to god-king, and then wait another 25 turns to found the religion...

Yeah, that's why I try to fit monument in before going for Stonehenge. Need the civic for the +1 faith/gold to secure a pantheon (unless I'm lucky enough to get a relic from a tribal village).

The earliest I've seen Stonehenge built on Epic speed was on turn 50. Maybe I've just been lucky. I could certainly trim out one scout from the build order though.

 

[Archon_Wing]

For those who were wondering what happens when you don't found a religion: It's not the end of the world. If you have massive faith output (which I find happens easily) you can still purchase great people for cheap early on. One of my favorites is to buy an early great writer. It will give you an insane cultural advantage. You can also buy units with theocracy, and then there's also buying buildings of whatever religion your cities end up as.

One strategy I noticed no one mentioned has to do with Rome. Rome has such insane culture from the get go you can actually get political philosophy and the great prophet bonus with it while its still relevant. Having the monument auto-built means you save precious turns right at the start, and makes it less painful to rush a shrine. This is even more viable if you run into a cultural city state near the start. Its honestly one of the less clunky ways of doing it I think. Rome is nuts at the start.

Buying a great writer early has proven to be a great idea. Good advice!