The Jump to Emperor

[Florian]

It's a real pain. Well, for me at least. I made the jump from Prince to Monarch quite easily and went about 9 for 10 on Monarch with all different leaders, but Emperor is beating me up. I've abandoned six games now, some of which seemed quite promising at a certain point. It's ridiculous. Even the barbarians got in on the act last game, taking my capital with a sudden monster-spawn that wasn't even triggered by a special event.

I figure that I just need to refine my game, do everything a little bit better. But if anyone has anything more specific to recommend re: Emperor strategy as opposed to Monarch strategy (especially if you once found yourself in the same situation) I'd like to hear it.

 

[Florian]

Haha.... just noticed two similar threads on the same front page, people asking how to beat emperor. I guess there's a whole group of us trying to make the transition.

 

[Archbob]

Yeah, I'm going for Cultral victory and I can't seem to pull it off. Pyramids is a huge plus, not sure if I should have built the HG so fast though, should have shaved my engineer for either the Sistine Chapel or Bach's Cathedral.

 

[BalbanesBeoulve]

Yep, I'm working on learning emperor right now. I've managed a space race victory already, but I got really lucky in my opening. Manged to expand to a nice 10 cities without ever needing to wage war. Managed to keep the tech rates reasonable slow by starting many bribed wars. But not all my games have been so successful.

Twice i've been boxed in with only 4 cities, and i'm finding it very hard to build stongehenge and even the oracle unless I delay spamming settlers, which results in me being boxed in.

 

[cabert]

First, you need to be aware of the fact that emperor in BtS, warlords or vanilla aren't really the same.
I can beat emperor in BtS with my hands tied, while I need to focus a lot harder to beat warlords' emperor. (very different bonuses)

Second, you need to be aware of settings making specific games harder or easier. For instance, you can play a financial leader on an archipelago map for an easy game, or a financial leader on a riverless pangea like map for a tough game.

Third, you need to be aware that winning doesn't mean leading. You can be last in score while still in a pretty good situation. In the same aspect, being behind in tech, and in some kind of economical hole after a succesful war doesn't mean you'll lose.


All this being said, I suggest to go for a fast teching option, with no or only little wars in the first emperor "challenging" game, just ot get the handle of the level.
Try a cultural one, or a diplomatic maybe?
Anyway, you need to give up on some things you could have used before.
- large scale wonder spree isn't working. Focus on the wonders you really want and do what it takes to get them. you want to oracle CS? forget it!(unless playing vanilla).
- slow, sloppy improvement doesn't get you very far. And worker stealing in warlords and BtS isn't easy. Build all the workers you need. The low happy cap helps you focus on growth stopping items .
- manage your diplomacy well. The AIs have a large bonus on you, so you don't want to be everyone's enemy. + the trading opportunities tend to be very small if you don't get "good" friends = AIs at friendly status.

 

[futurehermit]

diplomacy is so much more important

 

[The Rook]

If you can beat Monarch with ease, then you must know the basics of empire building. Offering advice on how to beat the higher levels becomes more difficult I feel. I'm currently competing at around Immortal level, but I am aware that there are still plenty of gaps in my knowledge, these probably aren't the same gaps that other Immortal players have though. So the answers I need to reach Deity level probably aren't the same as everyone else. It seems the more I learn about this game, the more I realise how little I know.

All I can suggest is some learning methods I have found useful...

Read all the higher level guides. Download any saves related to the walkthrus. Pay careful attention to where the player stands at any given time. If you download the saves, look carefully at the size of their military, tech paths, city infrastructure and diplo situation. Re-read the guides.

If you are playing to learn, discard your gamer ethics. Under normal circumstances I would never restart on the same map, it makes me feel that I can't win legitimately due to the advantage I have of the knowledge I acquired from earlier play. However, doing this can be a great way to learn. After you screw up a game, you will probably have all kinds of ideas of what you could have done in retrospect. Go back to 4000BC and try those ideas, they might not work, but they could provide a catalyst for further inspiration. I have found this approach to be more relaxing, as I feel its safe to experiment. When I give myself a strict code of ethics I must follow, it forces me into playing conservatively, and offers little incentive to play outside the confines of my knowledge. Once you have learned to beat Emperor casually, you won't be far off being able to win the hard way.

If you are playing a level that is somewhat out of your comfort zone, make sure you get a decent start. I don't mean keep pressing regen until you get something awesome (I always regen if I get something that looks too good). Obviously, a decent start doesn't just refer to the quality of the BFC. If you are in a small pocket of tundra terrain, have nowhere to expand, and Toku is your only neighbour, you will be in for a difficult time.

 

[Florian]

It's interesting to hear Cabert say that BTS Emperor is much easier for him than Warlords Emperor. It might be the other way around for me, because I tend to the Builder side of things, and the BTS AI was tweaked against Warmongers. That's probably one reason my transition from Prince to Monarch was so easy: it corresponded with my transition from Warlords to BTS.

I know that taking out a neighbor early is much harder in BTS, even at Monarch level, than it used to be, so I've been going with the tech-and-culture route so far, playing with either Gandhi or Pericles. I've started a war in only one of my 5 or 6 attempts so far; it went pretty well, but then Shaka atacked me, and then Montezuma and Suryavarman entered a permanent state of war with me for no apparent reason. I was surprised how long I managed to last, but it was finally too much. My tech rate was in the toilet for too long. Three games have ended with untenable military situations (thank you very much, Zara Yaqob, Genghis, and Montezuma), one with an unprecedented barbarian surprise, and one didn't so much end as wander along at the bottom of the score table forever, with a tiny little empire perched precariously next to giants.

I know how to make the settings easier or harder. My last several Monarch games I was doing that, playing with random leaders on large 9-civ maps. I've resisted tweaking it in the other direction, but maybe that's what I need to do, or replay a map as Rook suggests, just so I can get some experience of the non-dying kind. I don't really want to, though....

 

[cabert]

the bonuses the AIs get in BtS are not as crazy as the bonuses they get in warlords.
Thus, it's easier.
They do get a bit better in city placement, basic warfare tactics, naval invasion, ... So you can't abuse them as easily as before, but I never did it (not willingly anyway) and it's no big deal to me.