Suryavarman of the Maya

[Babibo]

Let me suggest an interesting unrestricted leader combo that - after trying it recently on a Deity game - I consider very good :
Suryavarman of the Maya

I consider Expansive + Creative to be the best combo at high levels. Why ? Because Deity is all about fast early expansion and surviving the early stage of the game. Those 2 traits mean :
- cheap granaries
- cheap libraries
- cheap workers
which are very useful to start an early specialist economy.

Second, you don't need monuments, cause you're creative. BTW, 2 from the start is way more powerful than 1 10 turns later to fight the enormous deity culture and grab as much land as possible.

Third, the UU and UB :
- to me, having a resourceless UU (the Holkan) is invaluable, even if the unit itself is not very strong. It means you don't have to use your second settler to hook up bronze, or horses to defend against the barbarians.
- the UB, a colosseum which yields 2 additionnal happy faces is half priced because of the creative trait.

The strategy is straightforward :
- block as much land as possible,
- build 3 or 4 cities that can afford 2 scientists
- chop/whip Granary+Library everywhere

 

[RRRaskolnikov]

hum i haven't try this one... I got my next leader, thanks

Cheers,
Raskolnikov

 

[Gliese 581]

I agree, Sury is a beast on deity and the Mayan UU & UB is mad pwnage.

Edit: Also don't forget the great starting techs (hunting+mining). Though I suppose Mayans get myst+mining even if you play Sury?

 

[civvver]

Recently play sury and loved it. The khmer uu sucks, but the ub rocks, overall I *built* twice as many cities as my rivals and then proceeded to conquer all theirs as well.

But as maya? I'd probably try sury of carthage for the cheap cothon! Get the GLH and go nuts building coastal cities. Or sury of inca would be interesting too with the terrace culture, but it probably wouldn't be needed.

 

[Smartbluma]

Sury's EXP trait gives him 2 health along with the ball court's 3 happiness. Darn those large cities.

 

[Joshua368]

Sury's EXP trait gives him 2 health along with the ball court's 3 happiness. Not to mention more healthiness with the Baray and the extra food. Darn those large cities.

Though keep in mind that Pacal is expansive too, you're just trading financial for creative. And good luck getting those super cities to have both ball courts and barays.

 

[Smartbluma]

Though keep in mind that Pacal is expansive too, you're just trading financial for creative. And good luck getting those super cities to have both ball courts and barays.

Whoops, no barays. Getting confused.

 

[Babibo]

I agree, Sury is a beast on deity and the Mayan UU & UB is mad pwnage.

Edit: Also don't forget the great starting techs (hunting+mining). Though I suppose Mayans get myst+mining even if you play Sury?

I got hunting+mining, if i remember correctly

 

[Babibo]

Recently play sury and loved it. The khmer uu sucks, but the ub rocks, overall I *built* twice as many cities as my rivals and then proceeded to conquer all theirs as well.

The UB rocks ? I rarely build aqueducts (they are damn expensive, and its +2 is not needed before the industrial era).

But as maya? I'd probably try sury of carthage for the cheap cothon! Get the GLH and go nuts building coastal cities. Or sury of inca would be interesting too with the terrace culture, but it probably wouldn't be needed.

Yep, the Cothon is nice. But I can assure you that on higher levels, you'll need the holkan and the Ball court much more than the cothon or the terrace.

 

[Joshua368]

The UB rocks ? I rarely build aqueducts (they are damn expensive, and its +2 is not needed before the industrial era).

Aqueducts suck, the Baray rocks.

 

[Smartbluma]

The UB rocks ? I rarely build aqueducts (they are damn expensive, and its +2 is not needed before the industrial era).

The extra one food is awesome. It's an extra health if you look at it at a certain angle or another half-specialist. Also you will need food+health when you get factories.

 

[Bleys]

I have a Mehmed of Carthage game going now, Big and Small with Snakey Continents and Islands Mixed In, and I also turned on Random Personalities, heh. If its fun I will post it.

 

[bhavv]

While health is important, I never build colloseumes in my games untill my cities are really large and demanding more happiness.

To me, a colloseum UB is very weak, I would be using hereditary rule before I get to construction anyway.