Strategy Question: Multiple Religions?

[elihoya]

I'm a new player and love this board! I thought I'd ask a question that is puzzling me: with a spiritual leader (love Gandhi!), should I aim to found as many religions as possible? I like the concept, but wasn't quite sure if as a pure strategy decision it made sense. In general, I am a builder and focus on cultural advances as opposed to any military wins. I haven't won a cultural victory yet, but have managed to win by points a number of times.

I started on "Settler" difficulty, but have moved up one or two levels.

By the way, for further info, I have typically started this strategy with researching the following:

Meditation
Polytheism
Priesthood
Writing
Alphabet
Masonry
Monotheism

I will also try to build Stonehenge, the Parthenon and the Oracle. I assess my status after getting this far and decide what to research (largely based on what I could or couldn't trade for after Alphabet), but will still try to focus on the religious techs. I'm curious what you all think of this approach, and more generally the strategy of acquiring all the religions that I can.

Thanks in advance for all your help! And, apologies to those who find this question a waste -- but I hope that this will help at least a few other new players!

 

[xGBox]

This is great if you were going for some sort of cultural victory, because the culture points that can be given per religion per city is vital for a cultural victory. Other stuff that helps your culture include:

1. Liberalism (Free Speech, Free Religion)
2. Music and Literature (This allows you to build culture, adjust culture rating)
3. A leader with Creative trait (+2 per turn) and/or Industrious trait (50% production speed of wonders)
4. Religions, Temple, Monasteries & Cathedrals (religious buildings give plenty of culture points if you have lots of religions on a city)
5. Library, University, etc.
6. Sistine Chapel world wonder (+10 culture on city, +2 culture per scientist)
7. Broadcast Tower (or just get Eiffel Tower)
8. Parthenon world wonder (+10 culture, produces Great Artists)
9. Hermitage national wonder (100% increase in culture)
10. As many world wonders as you can. This includes Broadway, Hollywood, and Rock & Roll.

If you are going for such a victory, be sure to constantly check out your cities' culture ratings. Three cities need to reach legendary status, and if one of them is lagging behind, you need some buildings to help catch up with your others.

 

[Mathemagician13]

As to your question about religions, well, if you haven't heard it enough on these boards, here it is again, "It depends."

Having one religion is really handy, having more than one only help you. First benefit, is your cities become less restricted by happiness, due to Free Religion / Temples. Second, having founded the religion, you can build the shrine with a great propeht, and make great profits, ha haha. Third, if your cities have the religions that another AI has as a state religion, you can swap to that religion to gain his/her trust. This is most useful if you don't want someone to declare war on you, or you want someone to help you in a war you are currently fighting.

So in short, I usually try to found a religion (but I'm not too bothered if I don't...seizing a holy city is the same as founding the religion anyway ), and if its not too far out of my way, I'll grab any religion I come across.

Oh, and as far as cultural victories are concerned, the more religions the better, really. Those special temples that pump out +50% culture are really handy

 

[Padma]

The question is not a waste, but it isn't a strategy article, either.

Moderator Action: Thread moved.

 

[elihoya]

Thanks so much for your replies. As always, great knowledge to be gained here. I had reviewed the boards on this question, but wasn't able to find anything specific on the gains to be had on founding multiple (as opposed to just one) religions.

If I may ask just one other point: is there any downside to being a founder of multiple religions if I choose to select a state religion?

Again, thanks in advance!

 

[Roxtar]

Being one to found all rels myself, I usually research Meditation 1st & Polytheism 2nd. What I research afterward varies. Sometimes I have gone straight to Masonry & Monotheism; other times I have put some/all of the following in between: Pottery, Hunting, Bronze, Priesthood, Husbandry, Writing. But I have never researched Alphabet before Mas & Mono like the OP mentioned. My research path depends on what the goodie huts yield (scouts, techs, gold, etc). Once I discover Iron I research Code of Laws, use Prophets to discover Theology & Divine Right, & choose Philosophy as my Oracle tech. If you play OCC you can have the ultimate Holy City, but I usually expand 1-3 times before founding all the rels.

As far as a downside to founding multiple rels, let's see...Perhaps if you're playing OCC & would rather keep one of the 3 early rels as your state rel, you may not know what to do with the free missionaries from founding the other 4. You don't wanna send 'em to your neighbors lest your relations start souring due to religious differences. Or if you expand between the early 3 & the later 4, the free missionaries have a medum-to-high chance of failing to spread to your capital.

 

[mucco]

In my games i often try to secure one of the first 4 religions (the 4th being confucianism, with code of laws from oracle), and i like very much to found one other, because i can build two shrines, and intensive spreading of these religions gives me so much money i hardly have the time to spread effectively more than two religions, so i often stick with these. I try not to found more religions, because if i get all of them the AIs will more likely stay at peace. If several AIs found different religions... they will fight against themselves. Just pick freedom of religion, don't annoy AIs, and watch their crusades while running away in science with the money of your shrines .

 

[Vonreuter]

I had a surprising experience today: I let the computer randomize a faction for me on Prince, and I became Mansa Musa (once again - although I've never finished a game with the Malinese).

Not going for Bronze Working thanks to this thread, I tried getting as many religions during the early expansion as I could - and I succeeded fairly well! I started by researching Mysticism, Meditation and Polytheism and, to my surprise, got both Buddhism and Hinduism! Then I resarched Bronze Working, Masonry and Monotheism and got Judaism. After that I researched Farming and Priesthood, probably in that order, and continued to research Writing while constructing the Oracle for my Christianity trick. When I had finished researching Writing, I went back to fishing. My Oracle finished the next turn and I got Theology and Christianity!

The next turn, again, somebody found Confucianism. I can't understand how anybody can get Code of Laws before anybody else. It's not that useful to research as early on as some computer players seem to do.

OK, fair enough, I did take a few steps back, such as Farming and Pottery, to increase the rate at which my civ expanded, so perhaps it would be possible to found Confucianism as well as the three earlier religions (and Christianity). Or: one might want to found Confucianism and then research Theology as quickly as possible, but it takes so many turns to research at that point of the game... And you will probably lose the run to Philosophy and Taoism.

I just saved the game and quit after I had found Islam. So, the religions have gone to the following factions:

- Buddhism, Mansa Musa
- Hinduism, Mansa Musa
- Judaism, Mansa Musa
- Confucianism, Victoria
- Christianity, Mansa Musa
- Taoism, Victoria
- Islam, Mansa Musa

Luckily I've managed to convert both Washington and Huyana to Christianity (my euro-centric preference), and Victoria is the only one with Taoism. We will soon kick her behind together, and my troops have been told to march into her holy cities as soon as war begins. Perhaps I will finish the game with all seven religions! That is my objective, at least.

 

[elihoya]

Well done! I'm afraid that I haven't had the time to try these tactics yet. So, now that you've proven that you're able to do it (or as close as really matters), my question to you is if you think it's a good strategy. Do you find that if you're going for a cultural type victory that founding 5 of the religions offers enough advantages that it's worth delaying some of the earlier techs that you might have tried to get had you not been on a quest to found as many religions as you have?

 

[Alcatraz]

My highest score to date was in a game where I founded no religions. Hattie, my nearest neighbor, founded 4 and had built 3 holy shrines before I took her out. Thanks to all of her hard work and a steady stream of missionaries from 4 religions (I eventualy built the last shrine) money was never a concern.