The AIs seem to snatch religions away quite fast in this game. I still haven't played as Civilization that has a big focus on Religion (But I undestand tithe from CIV5 is still in the game so it would be quite nice no matter who I play as), but if I play a game where I definitely want a religion (At around difficulty 6-7), is there any specific steps I should definitely go for to maximize my chances?
[GS] Surefire way to get a religion?
- Thread starter Expa0
- Start date
There's no real trick beyond getting that Holy Site up and running as soon as possible, and then running the Holy Site Prayers project until the prophet appears (this is generally quicker than building the Shrine).
Finding a natural wonder will help you get to Astrology quicker, and your first builds should be warriors and slingers for defence and exploration anyway. A builder can help with production, and even chop the district in, depending on how quickly you need the religion.
Finding a natural wonder will help you get to Astrology quicker, and your first builds should be warriors and slingers for defence and exploration anyway. A builder can help with production, and even chop the district in, depending on how quickly you need the religion.
City projects are for sure an under-advertised part of the game. They are very useful for securing particular Great People, with Prophets of course being a key example. If your city has good production their yields can be quite high, too.
I haven't been utilizing projects a lot because I have been unsure of what the effect is. Does it even say in specifics how many points etc. projects provide?
Of course not, that would be too useful!
I believe the formula is that 15% of the city production per turn is converted into the appropriate yield (30% for the commercial hub). GPP is more complicated, check out the Formula thread: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/formula-thread.600534/
Navelgazer
Emperor
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- Jul 4, 2012
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Play as Arabia if you want it for sure (also Arabia is just really solid.)
Other than Arabia you can get a religion fairly reliably with Russia. It helps a lot if you find a natural wonder asap so you get the inspiration for Astrology. Lavras build in 3-4 turns then you need a shrine. Depending on the other AI civs in game you might have to do 1-2 religious projects. The drawback is the time spent on the shrine and project when you could be doing other things like creating a settler/builder. Or you could build a settler and in your 2nd city build a lavra then you got +4 gp going.
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- 11,902
A nice friendly Korean called ggmoyang came up with a brilliantly easy calculation
GPP = ( project cost/5) + 5
So a 100 production project would produce 25 GPP while an earlier 25 production project would net 10 GPP
Nifty eh?
Really important to remember that you don't actually need 60gpp. You can buy a Prophet with faith; gpp just reduces the faith cost. On Deity you should be thinking "buy prophet", not "wait for prophet to appear".
If you get lucky with pantheon (map faith, CS, hut), you don't even necessarily need a Holy Site until right before prophet purchasing time. Get Goddess of the Harvest + take Magnus as first governor + chop in faith.
If you get lucky with pantheon (map faith, CS, hut), you don't even necessarily need a Holy Site until right before prophet purchasing time. Get Goddess of the Harvest + take Magnus as first governor + chop in faith.
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Or more correctly, do I need to use faith or will 3 turns for losing all that faith not make much difference as buying a single prophet point costs 12.5 faith which is a lot early game.
megabearsfan
Prince
The ONLY guaranteed way (that I'm aware of) is to play as Arabia, since their unique ability is that they automatically get the last great prophet.
Other than that, you can get lucky with a goody hut that might give you faith towards a pantheon. Hope to find a natural wonder early so you get the inspiration for Astrology. You can beeline towards Stonehenge (good luck). Or you have to produce a Holy Site ASAP, run the Holy Site project, put a citizen in the Holy Site, buy a Shrine, etc.
What really sucks is that without the ability to found a religion (after all religions have been founded), you are eliminated from contention for the religious victory. As I recall, even if you capture a holy city, you still can't win the game with a religious victory using that religion. Without a religion of your own, you also can't compete against another player's attempts at a religious victory, since you can't train missionaries, apostles, or inquisitors. Thankfully, you can now condemn religious units, but it requires a declaration of war, or the appropriate resolution in the World Congress.
Other than that, you can get lucky with a goody hut that might give you faith towards a pantheon. Hope to find a natural wonder early so you get the inspiration for Astrology. You can beeline towards Stonehenge (good luck). Or you have to produce a Holy Site ASAP, run the Holy Site project, put a citizen in the Holy Site, buy a Shrine, etc.
What really sucks is that without the ability to found a religion (after all religions have been founded), you are eliminated from contention for the religious victory. As I recall, even if you capture a holy city, you still can't win the game with a religious victory using that religion. Without a religion of your own, you also can't compete against another player's attempts at a religious victory, since you can't train missionaries, apostles, or inquisitors. Thankfully, you can now condemn religious units, but it requires a declaration of war, or the appropriate resolution in the World Congress.
BarbarianHunter
SPAMBO
I’ve been running early game experiments with Spain on deity. I’ve been researching animal husbandry, mining, then astrology. I build a builder 1st, then a settler, then a monument, then a holy site. I buy a shrine and then run holy site prayers in the capital.
Out of the like 10 test games I’ve run through I don’t recall missing the great prophet. Sometimes I get rolled. Sometimes I wish I had been rolled as the AI has taken much of the good sites and is snowballing. Other times I do very well even having devoted all those early game resources.
I haven’t kept a log of the outcomes but off the top of my head I’d say:
-50% of the time a get a positive result like my most recent test game (see image)
- 15% of the time I get rolled due to holy site/prayer investment.
- 20% I wish I had been rolled as my empire is rubbish with like a 15 science/culture vs. AI 100+ science/culture.
-15% I am doing ok but the game will be a grinder, long and more challenging than I really care for due to early investments in religion and not settlers/builders/military.
On emperor and below I think you would significantly change the positive to negative results in your favor. Just get an early start.
Out of the like 10 test games I’ve run through I don’t recall missing the great prophet. Sometimes I get rolled. Sometimes I wish I had been rolled as the AI has taken much of the good sites and is snowballing. Other times I do very well even having devoted all those early game resources.
I haven’t kept a log of the outcomes but off the top of my head I’d say:
-50% of the time a get a positive result like my most recent test game (see image)
Spoiler :
- 15% of the time I get rolled due to holy site/prayer investment.
- 20% I wish I had been rolled as my empire is rubbish with like a 15 science/culture vs. AI 100+ science/culture.
-15% I am doing ok but the game will be a grinder, long and more challenging than I really care for due to early investments in religion and not settlers/builders/military.
On emperor and below I think you would significantly change the positive to negative results in your favor. Just get an early start.
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King_Course
Prince
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2010
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- 465
2 Civs I have often used are Gorgon and Pericles. Neither focus on religion, so you can have a religion while going for other things, like culture or domination. Basically, use their wild card policy. Rush to mysticism, and use the Great Prophet wild card for an extra 2 GP per turn. Still need to build shrine and do projects and race towards religion, but it helps alot of course.
On Immortal, I build a slinger (I do use a mod that gives free scout I just remember, so maybe ditch slinger or worker for a scout), then worker if it can be used. Else 2 settlers in a row. Then holy site, shrine and projects till I get a Great Prophet. That keeps the capital busy for a good while, and it is beneficial, to settle the other first 2 cities, with good initial production, so they can build some things themselves, mainly slingers and workers.
I do reroll to get good production in my capital, some 2 food to 2 production tiles, or better. Capital on a grass plain with no production, just feels completely bogged down to me.
On Immortal, I build a slinger (I do use a mod that gives free scout I just remember, so maybe ditch slinger or worker for a scout), then worker if it can be used. Else 2 settlers in a row. Then holy site, shrine and projects till I get a Great Prophet. That keeps the capital busy for a good while, and it is beneficial, to settle the other first 2 cities, with good initial production, so they can build some things themselves, mainly slingers and workers.
I do reroll to get good production in my capital, some 2 food to 2 production tiles, or better. Capital on a grass plain with no production, just feels completely bogged down to me.
Socrates99
Bottoms up!
Works pretty well for Poland too.
I feel like I can get one with any civ now. You just have to find an early natural wonder and beeline astrology asap. Scout as first build helps a lot. Then build the HS asap and run projects until the prophet is cheap enough to faith buy. It sounds crazy but skipping the shrine can help you get the GP faster since you'll get greater return on the projects. I might build it if I can get it out quick and competition isn't too fierce. If you have good gold income you can sometimes buy it while running projects. It often allows you to run one less project.
That's the only guaranteed way. It can put you behind so you've got to be good at catching up afterward.
ezzlar
Emperor
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- Dec 21, 2001
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- 1,843
Like most have written, Holy prayers is the way to secure a GP. Building a shrine provides higher long term boost but is less effective. I guess it could be an option if you are feeling very sure of getting the GP. It is also possible to pick Divine Spark as your pantheon for extra GP points. But as you increase the difficulty of the game both shrine and Divine spark become less reliable as a mean of securing the GP.
By the way, did someone mention Arabia?!?
By the way, did someone mention Arabia?!?
seanos08
Monarch
If you don't get a religion build a holy site in a city that has been converted to an AI religion. You can then build missionaries, apostles and gurus for that religion. I find religious units really useful for scouting opposition territory and looking at their units. Plus a couple of holy sites chugging away making faith means rock bands and lots of faith to spend on great people. I tend to be republic/democracy and focus on science and gold but faith is still useful even if you don't found a religion.
