Obviously, I'm not as authoritative as @Stalker0, but I thought I would make this thread to share my personal rankings for ideology tenets and start a discussion about them, especially with the recent congress proposal about UI-boosting tenets losing by a tiny margin. On the whole though, I actually think the ideologies are in a very good place!
I'm going to use the same ranking system that Stalker used in his Wonder Rankings: S (OP/must get) / A (strong) / C (fine) / F (weak, or actively harmful).
I'll start with Freedom:
Order:
Autocracy:
Overall, from a design point of view, I think Order has to be my favorite of the ideologies. It is clearly designed around a specific playstyle, has thematic policies that use a few shared mechanics (e.g. 5 free buildings) that synergize really well, yet is actually quite flexible and can be used to go in a number of different directions.
Freedom's tenets are also fantastic thematically and synergistically, though it feels like a less flexible option. Order is awesome because it mostly just gives flat yields (especially production) which you can use for anything, while Freedom mostly just gives you a lot of gold and more GPs. In other words, it feels like Order allows you to get/produce more of something, while Freedom just kind of gives it to you, though I'm definitely overstating the difference a bit for the sake of argument.
Autocracy is easily my least favorite of the ideologies, as its tenets are highly disjointed and inconsistent in power. When I do go autocracy, I almost always just b-line to Tyranny and then start one of the earlier policy branches as their bonuses are almost always better and more helpful in securing any of the victory conditions, even domination. That being said, the wildly OP policies in Autocracy like Lebensraum are super fun to use. I think Autocracy would benefit from 1 or 2 more ideology UUs (bring back the Panzer!), a tenet that increases GG/GA birthrate, changes to/overhaul of the tourism-focused tenets, a tenet or two that focuses on production and/or growth, and just general tweaks to tenets to make everything more synergistic.
Edit: totally misunderstood Cult of Personality. Changed from F to A.
I'm going to use the same ranking system that Stalker used in his Wonder Rankings: S (OP/must get) / A (strong) / C (fine) / F (weak, or actively harmful).
I'll start with Freedom:
Spoiler Tier 1 :
Avant Garde: C
- A good bonus, not crazy strong at this point of the game however as usually your GP-producing cities have a number of other multipliers so +33% ends up only functionally being +10-20%, and usually a civ going Freedom shouldn't really have problems with Boredom
Covert Action: S
- While Coups are changing next version, with how strong they were for the past couple months this policy is an easy S tier. Gives you another spy and essentially guarantees Coup success, which can be upwards like like 4 free GPs. This tenet could easily end up netting you like 10 extra GPs over the course of the late game.
Civil Society: S
- Absolutely insane growth enhancer, especially for civs with spammable UIs. Makes working specialists much more practical and helps kick-start the Freedom GP min-max
Creative Expression: C
- Fine tenet, though maybe I'm underrating it as its effects are harder to directly perceive. It definitely helps more in wider empires though and is very strong for civs like Brazil.
Draft Registration: A
- Great tenet. allows your cities to focus more on growth and thus working specialists and allows you to maintain a smaller standing army as you can raise a strong one quickly with this tenet. Possibly S tier for Venice or civs that have Forbidden Palace and Industry.
Economic Union: C
- Fine tenet, the +6 gold from TRs with Freedom players is pretty tiny, but the 2 extra TRs are nice.
Universal Suffrage: A
- Very good tenet, even with the recent GA changes. This combined with Artistry and either Chichen Itza or a GA monopoly can essentially ensure constant GAs in the late game.
- A good bonus, not crazy strong at this point of the game however as usually your GP-producing cities have a number of other multipliers so +33% ends up only functionally being +10-20%, and usually a civ going Freedom shouldn't really have problems with Boredom
Covert Action: S
- While Coups are changing next version, with how strong they were for the past couple months this policy is an easy S tier. Gives you another spy and essentially guarantees Coup success, which can be upwards like like 4 free GPs. This tenet could easily end up netting you like 10 extra GPs over the course of the late game.
Civil Society: S
- Absolutely insane growth enhancer, especially for civs with spammable UIs. Makes working specialists much more practical and helps kick-start the Freedom GP min-max
Creative Expression: C
- Fine tenet, though maybe I'm underrating it as its effects are harder to directly perceive. It definitely helps more in wider empires though and is very strong for civs like Brazil.
Draft Registration: A
- Great tenet. allows your cities to focus more on growth and thus working specialists and allows you to maintain a smaller standing army as you can raise a strong one quickly with this tenet. Possibly S tier for Venice or civs that have Forbidden Palace and Industry.
Economic Union: C
- Fine tenet, the +6 gold from TRs with Freedom players is pretty tiny, but the 2 extra TRs are nice.
Universal Suffrage: A
- Very good tenet, even with the recent GA changes. This combined with Artistry and either Chichen Itza or a GA monopoly can essentially ensure constant GAs in the late game.
Spoiler Tier 2 :
Arsenal of Democracy: C
- Decent, but if you took Draft Registration you won't really be using prod to make units, and the influence numbers are mediocre
Capitalism: S
- Maybe I'm overrating this one, but combined with Civil Society this is super strong. Allows you to work way more specialists and turns your science and gold to 11.
New Deal: A
- Probably the most situational of the policies depending on if you went Progress or Tradition, or Statecraft or Artistry. If you went Tradition/Artistry, this is likely S tier. If you went Progress/Statecraft, this is likely C tier.
Self-Determination: C
- Situationally very strong, but even then the units the CS get are still not usually strong enough for the CS to protect itself if you liberate it during a war. The XP and Science are really good, but its unlikely you'll have many CS that are readily liberated.
Their Finest Hour: A
- Quite good, as it means you don't have to prioritize building Airports and the B17s themselves are super strong. Can get logistics or range instantly upon creation with either Brandenburg or Pentagon I believe.
Transnationalism: A
- Both increases the floor and ceiling of your corporation, and the Towns counting at franchises is situationally super strong if most of your neighbors are warring you and/or go Order and get Nationalization.
Universal Healthcare: F
- On paper it seems really strong, but the timing is bad as there are better tier 2s (and then a tier 3) to take before this so if I do take it the free hospital is only a maintenance saving, not a prod saving. The culture is good though.
- Decent, but if you took Draft Registration you won't really be using prod to make units, and the influence numbers are mediocre
Capitalism: S
- Maybe I'm overrating this one, but combined with Civil Society this is super strong. Allows you to work way more specialists and turns your science and gold to 11.
New Deal: A
- Probably the most situational of the policies depending on if you went Progress or Tradition, or Statecraft or Artistry. If you went Tradition/Artistry, this is likely S tier. If you went Progress/Statecraft, this is likely C tier.
Self-Determination: C
- Situationally very strong, but even then the units the CS get are still not usually strong enough for the CS to protect itself if you liberate it during a war. The XP and Science are really good, but its unlikely you'll have many CS that are readily liberated.
Their Finest Hour: A
- Quite good, as it means you don't have to prioritize building Airports and the B17s themselves are super strong. Can get logistics or range instantly upon creation with either Brandenburg or Pentagon I believe.
Transnationalism: A
- Both increases the floor and ceiling of your corporation, and the Towns counting at franchises is situationally super strong if most of your neighbors are warring you and/or go Order and get Nationalization.
Universal Healthcare: F
- On paper it seems really strong, but the timing is bad as there are better tier 2s (and then a tier 3) to take before this so if I do take it the free hospital is only a maintenance saving, not a prod saving. The culture is good though.
Spoiler Tier 3 :
Media Culture: A
- Really the strength here is from the +20% culture from stadiums. Its massive. The Tourism is also quite strong, but the happiness is pretty unimpactful.
Space Procurements: A
- The gold needed to invest in spaceship parts is pretty massive making it not super practical, but the +20% science is awesome.
Treaty Organization: S
- Probably controversial to put this as the best, but the influence from TRs is actually crazy, especially when combined with Statecraft. If I manage my TRs correctly, I've found that I pretty much don't need to build Diplo units.
- Really the strength here is from the +20% culture from stadiums. Its massive. The Tourism is also quite strong, but the happiness is pretty unimpactful.
Space Procurements: A
- The gold needed to invest in spaceship parts is pretty massive making it not super practical, but the +20% science is awesome.
Treaty Organization: S
- Probably controversial to put this as the best, but the influence from TRs is actually crazy, especially when combined with Statecraft. If I manage my TRs correctly, I've found that I pretty much don't need to build Diplo units.
Order:
Spoiler Tier 1 :
Communism: A
- Just a solid policy. Synergizes really well with Progress and Industry
Double Agents: A
- Not as good as Covert Action for getting Coups or flipping CS, but good at getting the Intel Operations quests and better for defensive/offensive spying.
Hero of the People: A
- The Free GP is very good, and unlike Avant Garde, an Order player is likely to have few GP modifiers so the +25% will actually be quite strong.
Patriotic War: A
- T-34s aren't as strong as they used to be, but are still quite good and the heal on city capture is fantastic.
Peace, Land, Bread: S
- While the growth may look like a mixed bag at first, Order gives so many opportunities to reduce unhappiness and boost yields that you can actually allow your cities to make use of it. But the best part has to be the building maintenance reduction. That can literally be 100s of gold in the late game.
People's Army: A
- The timing on this one is usually kind of awkward, especially due to the fact that it boosts two buildings on opposite sides of the tree. This is a really good unhappiness solver though, preventing me from putting it in C even though I kind of want to.
Worker's Faculties: A
- Again the timing can be a bit awkward as you may have already built a number of factories, but the science is great and the free production and maintenance reduction are awesome.
- Just a solid policy. Synergizes really well with Progress and Industry
Double Agents: A
- Not as good as Covert Action for getting Coups or flipping CS, but good at getting the Intel Operations quests and better for defensive/offensive spying.
Hero of the People: A
- The Free GP is very good, and unlike Avant Garde, an Order player is likely to have few GP modifiers so the +25% will actually be quite strong.
Patriotic War: A
- T-34s aren't as strong as they used to be, but are still quite good and the heal on city capture is fantastic.
Peace, Land, Bread: S
- While the growth may look like a mixed bag at first, Order gives so many opportunities to reduce unhappiness and boost yields that you can actually allow your cities to make use of it. But the best part has to be the building maintenance reduction. That can literally be 100s of gold in the late game.
People's Army: A
- The timing on this one is usually kind of awkward, especially due to the fact that it boosts two buildings on opposite sides of the tree. This is a really good unhappiness solver though, preventing me from putting it in C even though I kind of want to.
Worker's Faculties: A
- Again the timing can be a bit awkward as you may have already built a number of factories, but the science is great and the free production and maintenance reduction are awesome.
Spoiler Tier 2 :
Academy of Sciences: C
- Can be good, but as for the other free building tenets it can be difficult to get the timing right to make the most of it. And while any unhappiness reduction is good, I find that illiteracy is usually not the one I'm struggling with when going Order.
Cultural Revolution: F
- Okay, but as an Order player the time when Tourism is the most helpful is during conquest, when it makes taking cities easier, which is also the time when your happiness is lowest. Thus, the policy ends up being fairly weak except for the rare situations where you're going Order yet a peaceful culture victory (like as Brazil).
Dictatorship of the Proletariat: A
- Super solid tenet. Always a safe pick but never one that is overwhelmingly powerful.
Five Year Plan: S
- S might be a bit high, but in the right circumstances this is like a 35% production boost in every city while its constructing a building. That's massive.
Great Leap Forward: C
- Free tech is nice, but at this point of the game hard to strategize and also just not super strong in the first place.
Nationalization: S
- S might also be a bit high, but with the right corporation and empire this policy is stupidly strong. Especially if your opponents have a lot of franchises in your cities and TRs with you. But otherwise this is usually just a massive jumpstart for your corporation, though there are situations where this policy would actually be negative (e.g. you have less than like 10 cities and no vassals, but if that's you, why are you picking Order in the first place).
Resettlement: A
- If you can handle the added unhappiness from this policy, it is S tier. If you can't, then it is C or maybe even F tier. But in the right circumstances this policy is like +20-30 total yields in every city which is awesome.
- Can be good, but as for the other free building tenets it can be difficult to get the timing right to make the most of it. And while any unhappiness reduction is good, I find that illiteracy is usually not the one I'm struggling with when going Order.
Cultural Revolution: F
- Okay, but as an Order player the time when Tourism is the most helpful is during conquest, when it makes taking cities easier, which is also the time when your happiness is lowest. Thus, the policy ends up being fairly weak except for the rare situations where you're going Order yet a peaceful culture victory (like as Brazil).
Dictatorship of the Proletariat: A
- Super solid tenet. Always a safe pick but never one that is overwhelmingly powerful.
Five Year Plan: S
- S might be a bit high, but in the right circumstances this is like a 35% production boost in every city while its constructing a building. That's massive.
Great Leap Forward: C
- Free tech is nice, but at this point of the game hard to strategize and also just not super strong in the first place.
Nationalization: S
- S might also be a bit high, but with the right corporation and empire this policy is stupidly strong. Especially if your opponents have a lot of franchises in your cities and TRs with you. But otherwise this is usually just a massive jumpstart for your corporation, though there are situations where this policy would actually be negative (e.g. you have less than like 10 cities and no vassals, but if that's you, why are you picking Order in the first place).
Resettlement: A
- If you can handle the added unhappiness from this policy, it is S tier. If you can't, then it is C or maybe even F tier. But in the right circumstances this policy is like +20-30 total yields in every city which is awesome.
Spoiler Tier 3 :
Iron Curtain: A
- A bit situational but almost always at least decent due to the City Connection bonus. Order civs are more likely to be using internal TRs anyway, especially by the time you're getting a T3 tenet, so oftentimes this is just a straight buff with no management needed. The free Courthouse is probably even stronger than the TR bonus in their respective ideal situations. It makes conquest so much easier. This whole tenet synergizes really well with the rest of the tree (especially Nationalization and Patriotic War).
Socialist Realism: F
- Probably a hot take, but I have never been in a position where I felt like working Propaganda was a good choice as Order sets you up so much better for Domination or Science. The prod from GWs is fine, but nowhere near as good as Five-Year Plan.
Spaceflight Pioneers: A
- The free GE+GS and the science from GP expend are really good, but it is difficult to time GEs to finish spaceship parts in the late game and the +50% prod from hurrying is usually unnecessary to get Wonders at that point and thus really only means that you save a couple total turns building Spaceship parts in the late game if you can get GEs to rush them.
- A bit situational but almost always at least decent due to the City Connection bonus. Order civs are more likely to be using internal TRs anyway, especially by the time you're getting a T3 tenet, so oftentimes this is just a straight buff with no management needed. The free Courthouse is probably even stronger than the TR bonus in their respective ideal situations. It makes conquest so much easier. This whole tenet synergizes really well with the rest of the tree (especially Nationalization and Patriotic War).
Socialist Realism: F
- Probably a hot take, but I have never been in a position where I felt like working Propaganda was a good choice as Order sets you up so much better for Domination or Science. The prod from GWs is fine, but nowhere near as good as Five-Year Plan.
Spaceflight Pioneers: A
- The free GE+GS and the science from GP expend are really good, but it is difficult to time GEs to finish spaceship parts in the late game and the +50% prod from hurrying is usually unnecessary to get Wonders at that point and thus really only means that you save a couple total turns building Spaceship parts in the late game if you can get GEs to rush them.
Autocracy:
Spoiler Tier 1 :
Elite Forces: S
- Incredibly good policy, lets you easily get tier 5 units after just a few turns of combat, which is just awesome.
Futurism: F
- Probably a hot take, but this policy is a total dud in my eyes. Sure the Tourism from City Conquest can help quite a bit, but it isn't that much and isn't going to be the deciding factor on whether or not you take a city, and is almost never going to win you a CV.
Iron Fist: C
- Also quite a dud, but even though the yields from Vassals and work rate are quite low, at least they're something. Maybe in some situations this can be really good, but I've almost never had vassalage dissolved through the WC, and never had it in a situation where either my Vassal didn't stay my friend or wasn't easily conquered.
Lebensraum: S
- Easily my favorite Tenet in the game. Totally changes Citadel dynamics, synergizes well with Authority, and is just a fun, powerful tenet. Culture on border expand is also insane because it compounds on itself.
Military-Industrial Complex: S
- Science from the improvements is crazy, but the cheaper gold purchasing is kind of situational. I honestly don't think this is as strong as people in the Congress proposal thread thought it was, but I'll still put it in S.
New World Order: C
- At least in my experience distress is usually not the source of unhappiness I'm dealing with most in the late game, and the extra yields to Constabularies/Police Stations are mediocre and the prod boost is oddly timed, as Police Stations are such a late unlock. Overall it just doesn't synergize well.
United Front: F
- Usually an Autocracy player is totally fine supply-wise, the extra resting influence is almost always irrelevant, and the number of extra units you'll get from Militaristic CS from this is quite limited. And this is to say nothing of the strategic headache that often is managing and integrating unit gifts.
- Incredibly good policy, lets you easily get tier 5 units after just a few turns of combat, which is just awesome.
Futurism: F
- Probably a hot take, but this policy is a total dud in my eyes. Sure the Tourism from City Conquest can help quite a bit, but it isn't that much and isn't going to be the deciding factor on whether or not you take a city, and is almost never going to win you a CV.
Iron Fist: C
- Also quite a dud, but even though the yields from Vassals and work rate are quite low, at least they're something. Maybe in some situations this can be really good, but I've almost never had vassalage dissolved through the WC, and never had it in a situation where either my Vassal didn't stay my friend or wasn't easily conquered.
Lebensraum: S
- Easily my favorite Tenet in the game. Totally changes Citadel dynamics, synergizes well with Authority, and is just a fun, powerful tenet. Culture on border expand is also insane because it compounds on itself.
Military-Industrial Complex: S
- Science from the improvements is crazy, but the cheaper gold purchasing is kind of situational. I honestly don't think this is as strong as people in the Congress proposal thread thought it was, but I'll still put it in S.
New World Order: C
- At least in my experience distress is usually not the source of unhappiness I'm dealing with most in the late game, and the extra yields to Constabularies/Police Stations are mediocre and the prod boost is oddly timed, as Police Stations are such a late unlock. Overall it just doesn't synergize well.
United Front: F
- Usually an Autocracy player is totally fine supply-wise, the extra resting influence is almost always irrelevant, and the number of extra units you'll get from Militaristic CS from this is quite limited. And this is to say nothing of the strategic headache that often is managing and integrating unit gifts.
Spoiler Tier 2 :
Commerce Raiders: C
- Decent tenet, but usually an Autocracy player is in a poor position to make the most of it as they are more likely to have inland cities, fighting with land units, and conquering/bullying CS rather than allying with them.
Lightning Warfare: A
- Great tenet, though nothing crazy.
Martial Spirit: S
- Absolutely awesome for domination victories and synergizes really well with Lightning Warfare. The reduced War Weariness is even better than it seems on paper IMO.
Police State: A
- Depending on how you're conquering, i.e. puppets vs. annexation, could be C tier or could be S, averaging out to an A. Definitely the weakest of the Spy-focused tenets though.
Syndicalism: F
- On paper it seems like it could be super strong, but it is very hard to be Popular with other civs while going Autocracy, let alone get Franchises up in major civs. I find that most of my franchises end up in CS (which are unaffected by this policy) as TRs to them are much easier to defend and I'm at war with my neighbors so often I can rarely send TRs to them to set up Franchises. I think in the ideal scenario this could totally be A tier, but I don't think I've ever gotten more than just a few extra franchises from it in my games.
Third Alternative: S
- Easily one of the best Tenets in the game for Domination, as it essentially frees you from strategic resource restrictions. The unit maintenance reduction is also quite strong, though nowhere near as good as Peace, Land, Bread's building maintenance reduction.
Total War: A
- Very solid tenet with a lot of useful bonuses. One of the few Autocracy tenets to actually synergize well with other ones.
- Decent tenet, but usually an Autocracy player is in a poor position to make the most of it as they are more likely to have inland cities, fighting with land units, and conquering/bullying CS rather than allying with them.
Lightning Warfare: A
- Great tenet, though nothing crazy.
Martial Spirit: S
- Absolutely awesome for domination victories and synergizes really well with Lightning Warfare. The reduced War Weariness is even better than it seems on paper IMO.
Police State: A
- Depending on how you're conquering, i.e. puppets vs. annexation, could be C tier or could be S, averaging out to an A. Definitely the weakest of the Spy-focused tenets though.
Syndicalism: F
- On paper it seems like it could be super strong, but it is very hard to be Popular with other civs while going Autocracy, let alone get Franchises up in major civs. I find that most of my franchises end up in CS (which are unaffected by this policy) as TRs to them are much easier to defend and I'm at war with my neighbors so often I can rarely send TRs to them to set up Franchises. I think in the ideal scenario this could totally be A tier, but I don't think I've ever gotten more than just a few extra franchises from it in my games.
Third Alternative: S
- Easily one of the best Tenets in the game for Domination, as it essentially frees you from strategic resource restrictions. The unit maintenance reduction is also quite strong, though nowhere near as good as Peace, Land, Bread's building maintenance reduction.
Total War: A
- Very solid tenet with a lot of useful bonuses. One of the few Autocracy tenets to actually synergize well with other ones.
Spoiler Tier 3 :
Air Supremacy: C
- Zeros are fine, but they don't synergize that well with Autocracy's combat style, and if you have Third Alternative you won't be worrying about using Oil too much. Regardless, I personally think that Zeros are the most underwhelming of the Ideology units. Given Autocracy's focus on war, I think it would be interesting if it unlocked more than just one unit. And if Zeros were a T1 or T2 unlock, they would be a lot more attractive.
Cult of Personality: A
- While this has a really strong Tourism modifier, it is again tourism that doesn't really help in the way a Domination player needs, as it only applies to civs you're not at war with. I've never gone for a peaceful CV as autocracy so maybe I am totally underestimating this one though.
Tyranny: A
- Definitely the only useful T3 tenet in Autocracy, though compared to Order's and Freedom's its still pretty mediocre. It synergizes well with the Autocracy playstyle and other tenets/policies, letting you make more use Authority and Total War--which you almost certainly picked up earlier--, as well as your army during the admittedly limited moments of peace in your game.
- Zeros are fine, but they don't synergize that well with Autocracy's combat style, and if you have Third Alternative you won't be worrying about using Oil too much. Regardless, I personally think that Zeros are the most underwhelming of the Ideology units. Given Autocracy's focus on war, I think it would be interesting if it unlocked more than just one unit. And if Zeros were a T1 or T2 unlock, they would be a lot more attractive.
Cult of Personality: A
- While this has a really strong Tourism modifier, it is again tourism that doesn't really help in the way a Domination player needs, as it only applies to civs you're not at war with. I've never gone for a peaceful CV as autocracy so maybe I am totally underestimating this one though.
Tyranny: A
- Definitely the only useful T3 tenet in Autocracy, though compared to Order's and Freedom's its still pretty mediocre. It synergizes well with the Autocracy playstyle and other tenets/policies, letting you make more use Authority and Total War--which you almost certainly picked up earlier--, as well as your army during the admittedly limited moments of peace in your game.
Overall, from a design point of view, I think Order has to be my favorite of the ideologies. It is clearly designed around a specific playstyle, has thematic policies that use a few shared mechanics (e.g. 5 free buildings) that synergize really well, yet is actually quite flexible and can be used to go in a number of different directions.
Freedom's tenets are also fantastic thematically and synergistically, though it feels like a less flexible option. Order is awesome because it mostly just gives flat yields (especially production) which you can use for anything, while Freedom mostly just gives you a lot of gold and more GPs. In other words, it feels like Order allows you to get/produce more of something, while Freedom just kind of gives it to you, though I'm definitely overstating the difference a bit for the sake of argument.
Autocracy is easily my least favorite of the ideologies, as its tenets are highly disjointed and inconsistent in power. When I do go autocracy, I almost always just b-line to Tyranny and then start one of the earlier policy branches as their bonuses are almost always better and more helpful in securing any of the victory conditions, even domination. That being said, the wildly OP policies in Autocracy like Lebensraum are super fun to use. I think Autocracy would benefit from 1 or 2 more ideology UUs (bring back the Panzer!), a tenet that increases GG/GA birthrate, changes to/overhaul of the tourism-focused tenets, a tenet or two that focuses on production and/or growth, and just general tweaks to tenets to make everything more synergistic.
Edit: totally misunderstood Cult of Personality. Changed from F to A.
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