Has anyone done an article on the various starting techs?
If not, here's a brief sketch. Thoughts and comments are welcome.
Agriculture
Base Cost: 60
Leads to: Pottery, Animal Husbandry
Who's got it: America, China, France, Inca, Ottoman, Persia, Zulu
Agriculture is a "worker tech" -- it lets your worker build farms. Most capitals start with farmable land nearby, either food resources or river tiles. So this tech is immediately useful.
If you start with Agriculture, you may want to consider building a Worker early -- either your first or second build. This will stunt your city's growth for a while, as food goes to the Worker instead of expansion, but you'll probably end up with faster growth overall as the Worker starts farming tiles.
If you're playing Persia, notice that Agriculture leads to Animal Husbandry, which shows Horses, which you need for your UU. If you're Inca or American, notice that it leads to Pottery, which lets you start cottaging -- nice if you are Financial.
Fishing
Base Cost: 40
Leads to: Sailing, Pottery
Who's got it: America, Carthage, England, Greece, Japan, Rome, Spain, Viking
Fishing is probably the least popular starting tech. It's cheap, so getting it early only saves a few turns. Many starting positions are not on coasts. And water tiles are not that important early in the game.
Still, Fishing is nice to have if you (1) are near a coastal food resource, or (2) are on a lake. If you do have access to a coastal resource, consider making a Work Boat one of your earliest builds -- first or second. A Work Boat gives you a nice early boost in food and growth, and unlike a Worker, your city still grows while building it.
Also, if you are playing Elizabeth or one of the Americans, coastal tiles are more interesting -- your Financial trait will give you an extra point of commerce from each one. And Fishing leads to Pottery, which you'll want to acquire early for cottages.
Fishing also leads to Sailing, which is very important if you're on an Archipelago map or have an isolated start. If you're playing Ragnar, of course, you'll probably want Sailing early for your UB.
Tip: you can explore using Work Boats instead of Galleys. They die if attacked, but barbarian galleys don't usually appear in the early turns.
Hunting:
Base Cost: 40
Leads to: Archery, Animal Husbandry
Who's got it: Aztecs, Celts, Germany, Greece, Mongolia, Persia, Russia, Viking, Zulu
Hunting is not a great tech, but it gives you one important advantage: you start the game with a Scout instead of a Warrior. Not only does the Scout move faster, he gets better results from the tribal huts. On average, a civilization with a Scout is going to be 50-100 gold ahead of one without by the time the huts are all popped. So, if you are one of these civs, get that Scout moving!
Hunting is also a worker tech, in that it lets you build Camps. However, this is not useful unless you start with Elephants or Furs nearby. And even if you do start with Elephants in your fat cross, it may still not be worth building an early Worker. An Elephant camp gives you +1 hammer, +2 commerce, and +1 happiness in your cities. That's all very nice, but in the early turns it's less important than food, food, food. So you're probably better off building the Worker at your normal time -- second, third, or even fourth build, depending.
Hunting leads to Archery, which most players consider a low-value tech. It also leads to Animal Husbandry; if you're playing Persia, Russia, or Mongolia, you may want to get this tech early, so you can locate those Horses for your UU.
Mining
Base Cost: 50
Leads to: Masonry, Bronze Working
Who's got it: Carthage, China, England, Germany, India, Korea, Mali, Rome, Russia
One of the most popular starting techs. Not only is it a worker tech, allowing you to build Mines right away, but it's the only starting tech that leads to Bronze Working. And Bronze Working is, hands down, the single most important technology of the early game. It shows copper, enables Slavery, lets you build Axemen, and lets you chop Forests too! No wonder many players beeline for it. And if you start with Mining, that beeline will be pleasantly short.
Consider carefully how this may interact with your leader traits. For instance, if you are an Industrious leader (Qin, Bismarck, Gandhi), then early access to Bronze Working will give you a good chance at several early Wonders. That's because hammers from forest-chops and slave-whipping get your Industrious bonus. Similarly, if you are Expansive, chops and whips will build your cheap Granaries quickly.
Look hard at the map. If there's gold in your fat cross, build a Worker early and mine it -- gold gives no food, but gives so many hammers and commerce that it's worth it anyway. If there's Stone nearby, research Masonry early, build a worker and go dig; in addition to extra hammers, it gives you double construction speed on several Wonders.
Some other things to consider. If you are playing Rome, then Mining-Bronze Working - Iron Working is very tempting... early Praetorians make sure you have lots of elbow roon. If you are India, your Fast Worker can climb a hill and start mining on the same turn. And if you want to found a religion, and you missed Buddhism and Hinduism, Mining gives you a head start on Judaism (via Masonry, which leads to Monotheism).
Mysticism
Base Cost: 50
Leads to: Meditation, Polytheism, Masonry
Who's got it: Arabs, Aztecs, Celts, Korea, Inca, India, Spain
Mysticism encourages you to found an early religion. Whether this is a good idea is beyond the scope of this article, but most players seem to say "usually, yes". The +1 happiness, plus shrine income later in the game, is worth the possible negatives (like negative diplomatic modifiers with whoever founded the other early religion). And most of the leaders with early Mysticism are also Spiritual, so you don't lose a turn when you convert.
It's interesting to note that Mysticism is the least common of the starting techs: only seven civilizations and eight leaders have it.
If you're Industrious (Gandhi, Incas in Warlords), note that Mysticism unlocks one early Wonder (Stonehenge) and leads quickly to techs that unlock two more (the Oracle and Parthenon). Even if you're not Industrious, Stonehenge and the Oracle are two of the most popular early Wonders; this starting tech gives you a head start on them.
The Wheel
Base Cost: 60
Leads to: Pottery
Who's got it: Arabs, Egypt, France, Japan, Mali, Mongolia, Ottoman
The Wheel is a worker tech, sort of -- it lets you build roads. That's nice, but it doesn't give you anyplace to build roads *to*. So it's not much use by itself.
However, in combination with other worker techs, it's great. France and the Ottomans start with the Wheel and Agriculture, which makes a nice one-two punch: farm resources and connect them. If you're playing one of these civs, seriously consider an early Worker. Similarly, if you are Mali near a gold mine, or Mongolia near Elephants, get that Worker out there.
More likely, though, the Wheel won't be of much use to you in the very early game. Its main advantage is rather passive: having it means you don't have to research it in order to snag that juicy resource. Few things are more annoying than seeing Copper or Horses, moving to grab it, then realizing you have to wait six or eight turns while you research the Wheel.
The Wheel does lead to Pottery, which is especially important for Financial civs. However, Mali is the only Financial civ that starts with the Wheel. Genghis Khan and the Ottomans are Expansive, which gives cheap Granaries, so they might want to consider grabbing Pottery early for faster growth. Note, though, that Granaries are useless when you're building Workers and Settlers. So even Expansive players often don't build these very early in the game.
The Wheel is the second least common starting tech, and one of the two most expensive (with Agriculture).
If not, here's a brief sketch. Thoughts and comments are welcome.
Agriculture
Base Cost: 60
Leads to: Pottery, Animal Husbandry
Who's got it: America, China, France, Inca, Ottoman, Persia, Zulu
Agriculture is a "worker tech" -- it lets your worker build farms. Most capitals start with farmable land nearby, either food resources or river tiles. So this tech is immediately useful.
If you start with Agriculture, you may want to consider building a Worker early -- either your first or second build. This will stunt your city's growth for a while, as food goes to the Worker instead of expansion, but you'll probably end up with faster growth overall as the Worker starts farming tiles.
If you're playing Persia, notice that Agriculture leads to Animal Husbandry, which shows Horses, which you need for your UU. If you're Inca or American, notice that it leads to Pottery, which lets you start cottaging -- nice if you are Financial.
Fishing
Base Cost: 40
Leads to: Sailing, Pottery
Who's got it: America, Carthage, England, Greece, Japan, Rome, Spain, Viking
Fishing is probably the least popular starting tech. It's cheap, so getting it early only saves a few turns. Many starting positions are not on coasts. And water tiles are not that important early in the game.
Still, Fishing is nice to have if you (1) are near a coastal food resource, or (2) are on a lake. If you do have access to a coastal resource, consider making a Work Boat one of your earliest builds -- first or second. A Work Boat gives you a nice early boost in food and growth, and unlike a Worker, your city still grows while building it.
Also, if you are playing Elizabeth or one of the Americans, coastal tiles are more interesting -- your Financial trait will give you an extra point of commerce from each one. And Fishing leads to Pottery, which you'll want to acquire early for cottages.
Fishing also leads to Sailing, which is very important if you're on an Archipelago map or have an isolated start. If you're playing Ragnar, of course, you'll probably want Sailing early for your UB.
Tip: you can explore using Work Boats instead of Galleys. They die if attacked, but barbarian galleys don't usually appear in the early turns.
Hunting:
Base Cost: 40
Leads to: Archery, Animal Husbandry
Who's got it: Aztecs, Celts, Germany, Greece, Mongolia, Persia, Russia, Viking, Zulu
Hunting is not a great tech, but it gives you one important advantage: you start the game with a Scout instead of a Warrior. Not only does the Scout move faster, he gets better results from the tribal huts. On average, a civilization with a Scout is going to be 50-100 gold ahead of one without by the time the huts are all popped. So, if you are one of these civs, get that Scout moving!
Hunting is also a worker tech, in that it lets you build Camps. However, this is not useful unless you start with Elephants or Furs nearby. And even if you do start with Elephants in your fat cross, it may still not be worth building an early Worker. An Elephant camp gives you +1 hammer, +2 commerce, and +1 happiness in your cities. That's all very nice, but in the early turns it's less important than food, food, food. So you're probably better off building the Worker at your normal time -- second, third, or even fourth build, depending.
Hunting leads to Archery, which most players consider a low-value tech. It also leads to Animal Husbandry; if you're playing Persia, Russia, or Mongolia, you may want to get this tech early, so you can locate those Horses for your UU.
Mining
Base Cost: 50
Leads to: Masonry, Bronze Working
Who's got it: Carthage, China, England, Germany, India, Korea, Mali, Rome, Russia
One of the most popular starting techs. Not only is it a worker tech, allowing you to build Mines right away, but it's the only starting tech that leads to Bronze Working. And Bronze Working is, hands down, the single most important technology of the early game. It shows copper, enables Slavery, lets you build Axemen, and lets you chop Forests too! No wonder many players beeline for it. And if you start with Mining, that beeline will be pleasantly short.
Consider carefully how this may interact with your leader traits. For instance, if you are an Industrious leader (Qin, Bismarck, Gandhi), then early access to Bronze Working will give you a good chance at several early Wonders. That's because hammers from forest-chops and slave-whipping get your Industrious bonus. Similarly, if you are Expansive, chops and whips will build your cheap Granaries quickly.
Look hard at the map. If there's gold in your fat cross, build a Worker early and mine it -- gold gives no food, but gives so many hammers and commerce that it's worth it anyway. If there's Stone nearby, research Masonry early, build a worker and go dig; in addition to extra hammers, it gives you double construction speed on several Wonders.
Some other things to consider. If you are playing Rome, then Mining-Bronze Working - Iron Working is very tempting... early Praetorians make sure you have lots of elbow roon. If you are India, your Fast Worker can climb a hill and start mining on the same turn. And if you want to found a religion, and you missed Buddhism and Hinduism, Mining gives you a head start on Judaism (via Masonry, which leads to Monotheism).
Mysticism
Base Cost: 50
Leads to: Meditation, Polytheism, Masonry
Who's got it: Arabs, Aztecs, Celts, Korea, Inca, India, Spain
Mysticism encourages you to found an early religion. Whether this is a good idea is beyond the scope of this article, but most players seem to say "usually, yes". The +1 happiness, plus shrine income later in the game, is worth the possible negatives (like negative diplomatic modifiers with whoever founded the other early religion). And most of the leaders with early Mysticism are also Spiritual, so you don't lose a turn when you convert.
It's interesting to note that Mysticism is the least common of the starting techs: only seven civilizations and eight leaders have it.
If you're Industrious (Gandhi, Incas in Warlords), note that Mysticism unlocks one early Wonder (Stonehenge) and leads quickly to techs that unlock two more (the Oracle and Parthenon). Even if you're not Industrious, Stonehenge and the Oracle are two of the most popular early Wonders; this starting tech gives you a head start on them.
The Wheel
Base Cost: 60
Leads to: Pottery
Who's got it: Arabs, Egypt, France, Japan, Mali, Mongolia, Ottoman
The Wheel is a worker tech, sort of -- it lets you build roads. That's nice, but it doesn't give you anyplace to build roads *to*. So it's not much use by itself.
However, in combination with other worker techs, it's great. France and the Ottomans start with the Wheel and Agriculture, which makes a nice one-two punch: farm resources and connect them. If you're playing one of these civs, seriously consider an early Worker. Similarly, if you are Mali near a gold mine, or Mongolia near Elephants, get that Worker out there.
More likely, though, the Wheel won't be of much use to you in the very early game. Its main advantage is rather passive: having it means you don't have to research it in order to snag that juicy resource. Few things are more annoying than seeing Copper or Horses, moving to grab it, then realizing you have to wait six or eight turns while you research the Wheel.
The Wheel does lead to Pottery, which is especially important for Financial civs. However, Mali is the only Financial civ that starts with the Wheel. Genghis Khan and the Ottomans are Expansive, which gives cheap Granaries, so they might want to consider grabbing Pottery early for faster growth. Note, though, that Granaries are useless when you're building Workers and Settlers. So even Expansive players often don't build these very early in the game.
The Wheel is the second least common starting tech, and one of the two most expensive (with Agriculture).
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