Strongest a la Carte Civs

[Banazir864]

Ever since the game came out (actually, since Civ V) I've toyed with the idea of what combos would be best if you could select your uniques individually. What are some of the strongest or most enjoyable combos? Obviously, some combos would be very unbalanced (Kongo without Mvemba's religion ban, Russia with an actually good LUA), but it's fun to theorycraft.

To be clear, you get:
- One Leader Unique Ability
- One Civilization Unique Ability
- One Unique Unit
- One Unique Infrastructure

Uniques that are part of another unique (e.g. the Rough Rider or the Pā) come for free with that unique (e.g., if you select the Toa as your UU, you get the Pā in addition to whatever UI you select). References to a civilization refer to your hybrid civilization.

I'll lead it off with a very "appeal"ing combo:
Antiquities and Parks: Breathtaking tiles gain +2 Science when adjacent to a Natural Wonder or Mountain, and +2 Culture when adjacent to a Wonder or Woods. +1 Appeal in all tiles in cities with a National Park.
Nine Dragon River Delta: All land specialty Districts can only be built on Rainforest, Marsh, or Woods tiles. Buildings on these features receive additional yields: +1 Culture in Woods, +1 Science in Rainforest, and +1 Production in Marsh. Woods can be planted with Medieval Faires, instead of Conservation.
Mountie: Costs 290 Production, 3 Maintenance. 62 Strength/5 Moves/4 Sight. +5 Combat Strength when within 2 tiles of a National Park. +5 additional Combat Strength if the park is yours. Ignores enemy zone of control. Can establish a National Park (2 Charges).
Marae: Replaces Amphitheater. +1 Culture and +1 Faith to all of this city's tiles with a passable feature. +1 Tourism to all of this city's tiles with a feature (with Flight). No maintenance cost. No Great Work slots.

Strategy: NDRD lets you plant woods sooner to boost appeal and trigger the bonuses from A&P and Marae and also lets you build districts without removing the valuable woods. Mounties let you build more national parks, and the synergy from Bull Moose and the Marae should be obvious. I thought about using Mit'a instead of NDRD to be able to work the auto-breathtaking Mountains, but the ability to plant woods relatively early makes this build less luck-dependent and you should have plenty of breathtaking tiles anyway (also, Mit'a's bonus from Terrace Farms doesn't work if you don't have Terrace Farms).

EDIT: Typos & broken pictures.

 

[Pietato]

Nice combo. I am trying to fit Mana in there, but planting woods early is so good...

 

[Pietato]

Portugal leader, Gran Colombia ability, and Babylon unique unit.

4 movement, 4 sight scout/melee unit!

 

[kaspergm]

Hansa + Meji Restoration would probably make Sostratus lose his last bit of sanity.

 

[raen]

Harald Hardrada + Treasure Fleet + Nau + Feitoria

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

To Word's End (Alex's ability; free eurekas and inspirations based on districts), Enuma anu Enlil (Babylon's full-tech eurekas), Pitati Archers (or Immortals, ironic as that may be), and the Oppidum.

Maybe not the world's strongest combo, but certainly interesting. It would also be interesting to play around with the Oppidum without Gaul's special district adjacency and placement rules.

 

[KingPiggyXXI]

For the Appeal combo, I'd like to suggest an infrastructure-focused set of abilities with Egypt's Sphinx as the Unique Infrastructure, and Australia's Land Down Under as the Civilization Ability. The Sphinx gives +2 Appeal to adjacent tiles, and is unlocked extremely early. You can spam them everywhere to get ridiculous yields on both your tiles and your Districts.

My own proposal for the strongest combination would be Matthias Corvinus' Raven King, Sumeria's Epic Quest, Rome's Legion (or Persia's Immortals), and Zulu's Ikanda.
The largest power spike of Hungary is probably when you unlock Swordsmen, and you can levy City-State Warriors and upgrade them all. Imagine how much more powerful that spike would be if instead of Swordsmen, you got Legions or Immortals instead! Epic Quest will drastically reduce the cost of Levying, allowing you to cheaply levy and upgrade several Warriors the moment you research Iron Working. Finally, the cheap Ikanda allows you to easily net yourself a Classical Great General and make this push even more unstoppable.

Aside from this, Russia's Mother Russia and Lavra, Wilfrid Laurier's Last Best West and Canada's Mountie, would both make for an amazing Tundra civilization. The sheer yields you'll be getting from Tundra Improvements would be ridiculous, and Working Winter will give you a huge amount of Faith to expand with as well and even more Production.

 

[Aa602213x1023]

For a very narrow circumstance, I'd pick Norway (Stave Church) + Jayavarman VII (Monasteries of the King) + Russia (Mother Russia). The idea here would be to pick up Dance of the Aurora and then surround your Holy Sites with Tundra Woods. With a Stave Church, a Holy Site in that position would have an adjacency bonus of +15. Jayavarman's ability would increase that to +17 if you can work a river into the terrain, and would also provide that adjacency bonus as food. Slot in Scripture and pick up Worth Ethic, and your ideal Holy Site would be providing +34 food, +34 production, and +34 faith from its adjacency bonus alone. Mother Russia then finishes the combination by giving you an extra +1 faith and +1 production on each of those tundra tiles surrounding your Holy Sites.

 

[aieeegrunt]

Unique Ability - Free Imperial Cities: Each city can build one more district than usual (exceeding the normal limit based on population).

Unique Infrastructure: Hansa

Leader Ability: Thermopalyae

Unique Unit: Janissary

 

[Zaarin]

Lithuanian Union: +4 Gold, +2 Culture, +2 Faith from Relics; Holy Sites receive major adjacency from Districts.
Nkisi: Relics, Artifacts, and Sculptures grant +2 Food, +2 Production, +1 Faith, and +4 Gold. The Palace has four extra slots for Great Works. +50% Great Artist, Great Musician, and Great Merchant points from all sources.
Prasat: +6 Faith; +0.5 Culture/Population; Provides 10 Tourism if the city has 10 or more Population, and 20 Tourism if the city has 20 or more Population, after researching Flight.

Just add Reliquaries and Mont-St.-Michel and enjoy the yields...

 

[Aurelesk]

The Sphinx is still raising Appeal by 2, and might a good to trigger earlier the Science / Culture bonuses from Breathtaking tiles. Already said by someone.

Portugal leader, Gran Colombia ability, and Babylon unique unit.

4 movement, 4 sight scout/melee unit!

I wonder how the Settlers additionnal sight from Phoenicia would work with a huge focus on Sight. It has +2 sight when embarked. You would have the best maritime scout in the game!

Aside from this, Russia's Mother Russia and Lavra, Wilfrid Laurier's Last Best West and Canada's Mountie, would both make for an amazing Tundra civilization. The sheer yields you'll be getting from Tundra Improvements would be ridiculous, and Working Winter will give you a huge amount of Faith to expand with as well and even more Production.

If we went in further details, we can have something absolutely broken. To recap the abilities:

• The Last Best West: Can build Farms on Tundra tiles, and on Tundra Hills tiles with Civil Engineering. Snow, Snow Hills, Tundra Hills, and Tundra tiles cost 50% less Gold to purchase. On those types of tiles, Strategic Resources accumulate 100% faster, Farms and Camps receive +2 Food, and Mines and Lumber Mills receive +2 Production.
• Mother Russia: Founded cities start with five additional tiles. Tundra tiles provide +1 Faith and +1 Production, in addition to their usual yields. Districts, improvements and units are immune to damage from Blizzards. +100% damage from Blizzards inside your territory to civilizations at war with you.
• UI: either Chemamull, Mission or Stepwell.

At the start of the game, you can have Farms at 3 Food, 1 Production and 1 Faith, Mines at 1 Food, 4 Production and 1 Faith, and Camps on wooded Deer at 4 Food, 4 Production, 2 Gold and 1 Faith with Goddess of the Hunt (well, Dance of the Aurora is still a better pick...). You will not starve, the main limit being Housing. You could either go for Chemamull for Culture / Production on flat tiles, since Tundra tends to have high Appeal, Mission for the insane yields it gives on foreign continent, or Stepwell for the early needed Housing to grow your cities.


There are a lot of terrifying warmongering stuff to expect:

Here some Diplomatic Visibility shenaningans:

Catherine's Flying Squadron: +1 level of Diplomatic Visibility with every encountered civilization. Receives a free Spy (and extra Spy capacity) with Castles. All Spies start as Agents with a free promotion.

Örtöö: Sending a Trade Route immediately creates a Trading Post in the destination city, instead of when the Trade Route is completed. Gains an extra level of Diplomatic Visibility with civilizations that have a Trading Post. +6 Combat Strength for all units for each level of Diplomatic Visibility you have over the other civilization, instead of the usual +3 Combat Strength.

Seowon

Any good early units (Eagle Warrior for example)

Starting with +6 Combat Strength against every civilizations, going to +12 if you started a Trade Route, is quite insane. The Seowon helps toward unlocking Castle for 1 Spy, which can gives 1 to 2 additionnal levels for +6~12 more CS, and Printing for that 1 other level. Basically, an Eagle Warrior is 40 CS once you unlocked Foreign Trade and sent a Trader to someone. You could park the Eagle Warrior just in front of the Capital city, waiting you initiate the Trade Route before conqueering the city the next turn.


Or some Production is everything:

King of the Eburones: Receive Culture equal to 20% of the Production cost after training a non-civilian unit. Melee, ranged and anti-cavalry units receive +2 Combat Strength for each adjacent military unit.

Ta-Seti: +30% Production toward Ranged units. Ranged units gain +50% combat experience. +1 Production for Mines over strategic resources, and +2 Gold for Mines over bonus and luxury resources.

Basilikoi Paides: Gain Science equal to 25% of the unit's cost when a non-civilian unit is created in this city.

Pítati Archer

With Agoge, you are building your units 80% faster (or 95%?), while having some Science and Culture out of it. For example, a Pítati Archer needs 70 Production. You will need 39 Production to create one, and you will gain 14 Culture and 17.5 Science each time you are producing one. To make it clear: your Production is giving 36% Culture and 45% Science, so +81% yields.
Of course, the +2 CS from each adjacent military unit works with Ranged units, including the Pítati Archer, so having too much of them only make you stronger.


Or some gamebreaking combos!

Spoiler :

Kupe's Voyage: Starts the game in the Ocean. +2 Science and +2 Culture per turn before the first city is settled. The first settled city receives a free Builder and +1 Citizen Population. The Palace grants +3 Housing and +1 Amenity.

Any ability except Mana (Māori's ability).

Starting in the middle of the Ocean while not being able to navigate it. You will be stuck on tiles for the whole game, until a random Caravel captures your Settler.

The Last Prophet: Automatically receives the final Great Prophet when the next-to-last one is claimed. +1 Science Science per foreign city following your Religion.

Religious Convert: May not build Holy Sites or found a religion, but receives all the beliefs of any religion that has established itself as your majority religion, not just the Follower beliefs. Building a Neighborhood or Theater Square grants a free Apostle of the city's majority religion.

Witness the game crashes when the next-to-last Great Prophet is claimed, as the game doesn't know if you should have it with The Last Prophet ability, or not due to Religious Convert.

 

[KingPiggyXXI]

Witness the game crashes when the next-to-last Great Prophet is claimed, as the game doesn't know if you should have it with The Last Prophet ability, or not due to Religious Convert.

Technically, Religious Convert doesn't stop Mevemba a Nzinga from getting a Great Prophet, it only stops him from building Holy Sites and using them to get a religion. That means that you'll end up have an invincible scout, for the low cost of both of your abilities!

 

[Aurelesk]

Technically, Religious Convert doesn't stop Mevemba a Nzinga from getting a Great Prophet, it only stops him from building Holy Sites and using them to get a religion. That means that you'll end up have an invincible scout, for the low cost of both of your abilities!

This is false. Mvemba A Nzinga is able to use a Great Prophet if he could have one, and a way to get Great Prophet points:

• Stonehenge can be used by Great Prophets to found a Religion, and Mvemba A Nzinga can built it.
  • At completion, the Great Prophet is not awarded.
• The Golden Age dedication "Exodus of the Evangelists" grants +4 Great Prophet points per turn. Mvemba A Nzinga is able to enjoy from it, and gather the Great Prophet points if he picked it. He cannot recruit any Great Prophet, even if he has enough point, because the option is not available: "Cannot Recruit" is displayed instead of the Gold / Faith cost on patronage. By overing the "Cannot Recruit" text, you can read: "Your leader trait (Religious Convert) prevents you from earning this Great Person". At least, he gains Faith for excess Great People.

So far, everything is preventing Mvemba A Nzinga to recruit a Great Prophet by any means, not preventing him to use it. That's why I found quite odd to prevent Mvemba A Nzinga to build Holy Sites in the first place. It just needs:

• To change the Faith from Holy Sites and its buildings to something else. Food is a good pick: Kongo was created as a Cultural, Religious and Populous civilization without Faith.
  • Maybe it needs to go further and not let Kongo to enjoy the Great Prophet points from Holy Sites, Shrines and Temples, so he could not gather Faith for excess Great Prophet points.
• It will prevent some weird things to happens:
  • Relics being lost when a city with a Holy Site is captured by Kongo. Instead, the Holy Site stays.
  • Being less frustrating: many believes from Pantheon and religions depend on Holy Sites or its buildings, something that Mvemba A Nzinga cannot enjoy.
• Letting Kongo to enjoy Faith from Worship building from religion is rather thematic: the ability's name is "Religious Convert" after all.

In the end, Mvemba A Nzinga could have an ability like this instead:

Holy Sites' adjacency bonus, Shrines and Temples give neither Faith nor Great Prophet points. Instead, they give Food equal to twice their base Faith. Enjoys all the beliefs of any religion when that religion has established itself in a majority of his cities. Can buy Missionaries, Apostles and Gurus with Gold at discounted price. Great Prophets cannot be earned by any means.

Still not a great ability, but at least it is less frustrating.

 

[Zyxpsilon]

Gosh.. this *is* such a wacky coincidence.

Since NFP has concluded its release phase.. i've started a personal project that will expose "Leaders Principles vs. every Victory conditions" in a set of GFX reference sheets.
Here's the first (Science with a group of TEN "best"), just for fun.

Third Boxes are generated from informations found into ZigZag's Steam guides, btw ... i only extrapolated which Leaders proficiency should be selected.

PS; Still have to fill out the fourth blue box for everyone with other details like their Uniques & other implicit focus advantages.

 

[Buktu]

At the start of the game, you can have Farms at 3 Food, 1 Production and 1 Faith, Mines at 1 Food, 4 Production and 1 Faith

Arent these even better? Tundra is 1 food base, the farm is +1 and you get +2 from the last best west. Similiar mines have 1 prod from beeing on a hills tile, 1 from the mine itself, 2 from the last best west and one from mother russia.

 

[kb27787]

I dunno but I often imagined Sweden's leader UA with Kongo's Nkisi to make for some rather outrageous yields (since theming doubles every single yield, including tourism, faith, production and food). Kongo's leader UA is completely irrelevant to the GPP and theming bonuses.

Khmer's leader UA (major adjacency from river and food equal to adjacency) with Brazil's Amazon (and if possible I'd like to choose Brazil's start bias), with Lavra as my unique infrastructure (half cost build) and I guess either Pitati or Hulche for early defense.

A half cost holy site on a river with 6 rainforest and sacred path is 14 food and 14 faith. (doubled to 28) Production on top if work ethic and great people points as buildings get added in. Yikes!

 

[kb27787]

Letting Kongo to enjoy Faith from Worship building from religion is rather thematic: the ability's name is "Religious Convert" after all..

I haven't checked lately (and I'm not a warring player) but used to be that Kongo was able to retain the worship buildings from the cities they acquire (as long as there is also a theatre square in the same city) despite the holy site being poofed! (so the relic in the temple is not lost, and if there is no relic the temple slot is displayed as open and available for it). Instead, oddly enough, then shrine, temple, and relevant worship building is now moved to be under the theatre square. When this happens Kongo can use faith to purchase missionaries, gurus, inquisitors (if that religion has started inquisition) and apostles the "normal" way. You can probably find older screenshots on the forum.

This was way before even the Maya/GC patch so chances are its long gone now.

 

[aieeegrunt]

The Sphinx is still raising Appeal by 2, and might a good to trigger earlier the Science / Culture bonuses from Breathtaking tiles. Already said by someone.



I wonder how the Settlers additionnal sight from Phoenicia would work with a huge focus on Sight. It has +2 sight when embarked. You would have the best maritime scout in the game!



If we went in further details, we can have something absolutely broken. To recap the abilities:

• The Last Best West: Can build Farms on Tundra tiles, and on Tundra Hills tiles with Civil Engineering. Snow, Snow Hills, Tundra Hills, and Tundra tiles cost 50% less Gold to purchase. On those types of tiles, Strategic Resources accumulate 100% faster, Farms and Camps receive +2 Food, and Mines and Lumber Mills receive +2 Production.
• Mother Russia: Founded cities start with five additional tiles. Tundra tiles provide +1 Faith and +1 Production, in addition to their usual yields. Districts, improvements and units are immune to damage from Blizzards. +100% damage from Blizzards inside your territory to civilizations at war with you.
• UI: either Chemamull, Mission or Stepwell.

At the start of the game, you can have Farms at 3 Food, 1 Production and 1 Faith, Mines at 1 Food, 4 Production and 1 Faith, and Camps on wooded Deer at 4 Food, 4 Production, 2 Gold and 1 Faith with Goddess of the Hunt (well, Dance of the Aurora is still a better pick...). You will not starve, the main limit being Housing. You could either go for Chemamull for Culture / Production on flat tiles, since Tundra tends to have high Appeal, Mission for the insane yields it gives on foreign continent, or Stepwell for the early needed Housing to grow your cities.


There are a lot of terrifying warmongering stuff to expect:

Here some Diplomatic Visibility shenaningans:

Starting with +6 Combat Strength against every civilizations, going to +12 if you started a Trade Route, is quite insane. The Seowon helps toward unlocking Castle for 1 Spy, which can gives 1 to 2 additionnal levels for +6~12 more CS, and Printing for that 1 other level. Basically, an Eagle Warrior is 40 CS once you unlocked Foreign Trade and sent a Trader to someone. You could park the Eagle Warrior just in front of the Capital city, waiting you initiate the Trade Route before conqueering the city the next turn.


Or some Production is everything:

With Agoge, you are building your units 80% faster (or 95%?), while having some Science and Culture out of it. For example, a Pítati Archer needs 70 Production. You will need 39 Production to create one, and you will gain 14 Culture and 17.5 Science each time you are producing one. To make it clear: your Production is giving 36% Culture and 45% Science, so +81% yields.
Of course, the +2 CS from each adjacent military unit works with Ranged units, including the Pítati Archer, so having too much of them only make you stronger.


Or some gamebreaking combos!

Spoiler :

Starting in the middle of the Ocean while not being able to navigate it. You will be stuck on tiles for the whole game, until a random Caravel captures your Settler.


Witness the game crashes when the next-to-last Great Prophet is claimed, as the game doesn't know if you should have it with The Last Prophet ability, or not due to Religious Convert.

Arent these even better? Tundra is 1 food base, the farm is +1 and you get +2 from the last best west. Similiar mines have 1 prod from beeing on a hills tile, 1 from the mine itself, 2 from the last best west and one from mother russia.

And then the game spawns you in a desert

I would seriously trade all of the game modes we have now for a mode that let you make a custom leader/civ like this

 

[iammaxhailme]

Imagine combining Babylon's EUreka thing with Kublai Khan's Eureka thing. (Is Babylon's thing actually Hammurabi's thing...?)