Sidar/Svalta vs All

[Calbrenar]

I apologize if this is an obvious repost but I just started playing Civ again with a friend of mine after tons of gaming in .23 and saw Shadow was out. Unfortunately I can't find the excellent wiki with all of Daladinn's tips etc. How do the Svalta/Sidar compare with the other civs? What are good strategies for them?

I'm currently playing as Sidar friend is Amurites. I had a full tree start and no food resources outside of fish. I grabbed god king and started going for fish. For about 200 turns my friend was way ahead of me. I went Libraries/cottages and started getting great scientists and put them in my god king city along with occasional shades (also as great scientiists)> around like 220 turns or so my cap is making like 180-190 of my 250 beakers (at 80%) and i'm finally leaving him in the dust score wise.

Is this basically how you play them?

I got stuck as Earthmother since my friend beat me to OO by a mile. Now that my tech is caught up should I go for Council of Esus? I have Bambur and the Assassin Hero. About to get the Baron and start making Druids and werewolves.

 

[xienwolf]

My sig is full of all the resources I have found that are of real use. Loss of the Wiki is mildly helpful since so much has changed since Daladinn's write-ups that they could cause more confusion than assistance.

As for how to play, I can't help you much there. I never play the same way twice But I would think that ditching Bambur for Esus will be a tough call.

 

[reveler]

Well the nice thing about the Sidar is that at least turning them into a shadow before the switch should be an option.

 

[Mesix]

Well the nice thing about the Sidar is that at least turning them into a shadow before the switch should be an option.

That's what I like to do before switching religions as the Sidar.

 

[icantcmyeye]

Sidar are a great builder civ and partner great with ROK. OO and AV work alright too however.

I've never had much success with the Sidar as Esus, and Empyrian and Order are down right out of their playing style, as in normal games they'd be sworn enemies.

I always play however with unrestricted leaders, and choose Faeryl Viconia as my Sidar leader

 

[bc1]

Even without adopting Esus, founding the undercouncil is great. Slaves is one of the most (if not the most) broken features of FfH2 (even with the latest price hike to 30$ apiece). Click that resolution and you win!

 

[daladinn]

you guys are all mentioning all of these religious choices for the sidar but you fail to mention FoL. lets see if i can shine a lil light into the sidar palace windows.

well , you went with RoK so i will start here..
- all in all this has to be one of the worst religions for the sidar. the biggest advantage is can see is to use bambur to give all your ghosts enchanted blade then use a priest to give them +1 holy damage.

if you decided to go OO...
- you would have the advantage of 2 strong heroes (hemah could be in the wrong tree thought). but if your going with a specialist econ having 1 to 8 cities with no happy issues can be priceless.

if you went with FoL ....
- here you gain what i feel is a HUGE advantage but it requires a bit of tactical thinking. woodsman 2 is by far the biggest benefit your going to get from this best when applied to your ghosts (or beastmasters and druids). also the benefit of +5 healthy in your cities can be high.

the order ....
- the order is going to allow you to reach a higher happy cap while having a larger army. not such a big thing in your case , however it can be very helpful.

the veil....
- similar to the order. not really the best religion for you. but not bad to hop through. although if your making shades the veil priests advance pretty quickly

the empyrean ...
- ya ... umm .... no ... not worth it at all...

now for the undercouncil...
- now here is your bread and butter. i say this primarily because of shadows. the undercouncil is going to give you access to hidden nationality invisible marksmen units. if your looking to make shades you will suprised how fast you can level these.

other things of importance....
- the civic that adds 1 to the xp you get from combat ..... HUGE
- if you going sages get the library
- if your going engineers get the guild of hammers (get this anyway wether founded or not , half price to get your shadows is nice)
- if you can get the shrine of sinora get it ( keeps your level 5-6 untis alive)
- the esus calvary is insanely powerful (or will be when fixed)
- if you decide to go calvary build the ride of the 9 kings (units that start at level 5 level to 6 quickly)
- remember you gain more xp on attacking then defending.


thats all i can think of atm .... take care and have fun ... gl

 

[vivictius]

I tend to go RoK then Empyrian with the Sidar. It seems to not be the way anyone else plays them but have been focusing on getting great prophets and making the altar. The Empyrian holy city building give another +2 exp to discipline units is the main reason I take them. Then I just make lots of priests and let them level on their own.

 

[Nikis-Knight]

well , you went with RoK so i will start here..
- all in all this has to be one of the worst religions for the sidar. the biggest advantage is can see is to use bambur to give all your ghosts enchanted blade then use a priest to give them +1 holy damage.

Arete civic has a GPP boost. And you're probably using several specialists. But I don't think bambur can enchant recon units...

 

[Raizic]

To include the Svaltafar in this -- did they remove the ability of elves to build improvements in forest or can only the good elves do this? Can't do with Svalt in my game.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Both elven civs should have the ability to build in forests (it is the civs now, not the units). Are you using the latest patch? There were some problems with this but they were resolved quite a while back.

 

[Slvynn]

RoK best for Sidar IMO
They are builders, and not fact you will start near forests/they wont be chopped at enemy lands....
not mentioning their rushing power (yeah look my posts in another sidar thread), few wonders, like form of titan or great library are really worth, and arete helps alot here as well as with precisious GPs. Easy, no training yard requirements of Soldiers of Kilmorph that can be boosted just with green fresh built adept (+20% strenght, +1 movement, increased heal rate).

Their good archery units synergy (fast archery ranges, enchanted arrows) and guerilla 2 works pretty well too

So, as i said, best Sidar religion is RoK, i see no points to go with other religions.
Esus, OO may be good somehow, but rest is just crap for them.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Well, as changed in my modmod the Empyrean fits them quite well (temples boost GPP generation and slightly hurt military production, priests have spirit and life magic instead of earth, so you can use spirit guide to save up extra xp (excellent with a high level altar) and heal to heal units in the field so they can gain xp better)

 

[Raizic]

Both elven civs should have the ability to build in forests (it is the civs now, not the units). Are you using the latest patch? There were some problems with this but they were resolved quite a while back.

oh are you talking about the like Patch H etc? I won't install those because they cause the OOS errors. I'd rather just not play Elves lol