Tutorial for Beginners

[tu_79]

As for grammar, it's sadly my weak point.

Aren't there some free apps that do the correction for you?

 

[CppMaster]

Aren't there some free apps that do the correction for you?

Yes, there are

 

[Recursive]

For the war weariness, that's not I'm saying. It's possible that this has been changed. I recall something about unit combat where both the attacking and defending units take, for this specific example, equal damage. In this case, the side of the attacking unit gets more war weariness from this while the side of the defending unit gets less war weariness. It's possible that this has changed over time but I recall this being something I'm worried about regarding the Huns who just make it worse for their enemies.

I haven't read the code for this, but I would assume it's using GetWarValueLost/GetOtherPlayerWarValueLost (which is also used by the diplomacy AI when calculating war state, war score and peace willingness). Dealing damage in combat has no effect on any of this unless you kill the unit/city - and if you do, the killer/winner would get less war weariness than the loser. Pillaging tiles, razing cities and (in the next version) planting citadels and stealing tiles all affect this as well.

I will check this.

Even if you lose zero units it will slowly tick up so I'm guessing it isn't just units lost that causes it. Is it just damage deal to units in general?

It goes up over time even if no damage was dealt, as CrazyG said.

I thought luxuries give 2 happiness plus a bit more per city you own?

I'll verify if this is the case.

 

[amateurgamer88]

Early Build Orders/Options

Once you settled your first city (we will cover city placements in a future tutorial), you will have to decide between what to build first. You have five options available at your capital: Warrior, Pathfinder, Worker, Monument, and Shrine. Everything else has to be unlocked through technology. Let's look at the five options and what situations you will want to build them below.

Spoiler Initial Five Options :

Warrior: This is your basic combat unit. It's important for defending against Barbarians who can cause havoc within your border. Until a fairly recent change, the human player doesn't start with a Warrior. Now, you start the game with a Warrior so building this unit is the lowest on your priority.

Pathfinder: This is your scouting unit. You will start with one at the beginning of the game. Whether or not you build this unit depends on your setting regarding Ancient Ruins. If the Ancient Ruins option is turned on, this is a possible route, especially if you play a civilization like Shoshone that benefits a lot from more ruins. If the Ancient Ruins option is turned off, the Pathfinder isn't worth it as there are higher priorities than it. Scouting and revealing the map can still be important in finding luxuries and good city sites so this unit is higher than Warriors in priorities.

Worker: Workers are very important as they provide you with valuable infrastructure critical to the growth of your civilization. While it's wise to not delay Workers too long, they also shouldn't be your first production target given that you don't have access to many improvements from the very beginning. Except to starts that are very heavy with Wheat, your Worker will not only be idle for a long time but also drain away from your precious gold by having the maintenance of 1 gold per turn.

Monument: This building is your earliest source of Culture that you can build and it's extremely important as you don't wish to fall behind in policies. Considering that your start with 1 Culture per turn from your Palace, the fact that Monument gives +2 Monument is a 200% increase and that's nothing to scoff at when you consider the importance of Culture. The Monument also reduces the Culture cost for new tiles and this helps you acquire important tiles sooner to further improve your cities without needing to buy those tiles. The Monument is certainly one of the highest priorities early in the game due to its importance overall.

Shrine: This building is your first source of Faith. Unless you have other sources of Faith (UA, early UB, early UU, Natural Wonder, or World Wonder), the Shrine is your only method of securing a Pantheon that's necessary to get religion. The fact that religions are so powerful means that this is pretty high on the priority. Whether you build this first depends on your gameplay. If you wish to get a religion earlier rather than later, then the Shrine is the way to go. Up to a certain difficulty (possibly Emperor), going Shrine first results in you getting the first pick of your Pantheon and that's a very big incentive. Otherwise, Monument first is the way to go if you want your Culture output to be a reasonable early game.

Above are your initial options. The priorities can change very quickly depending on your policies, civilization, and other factors. For those not tackling Emperor+ difficulty and just trying to master the basics, the approach above should suffice. High difficulties require the optimal play which I'm sadly not very fond of as a whole. How do policies affect your priorities? Let's use two examples then. Authority focuses more on the war so finding religion is lower on the priority and as a result Shrines aren't as valuable. Tradition provides Faith through one of its policies making Shrine first quite a powerful approach for a religious game.

How do civilizations factor into this? Let's use the Celts because they have a UU that is upgraded from a Warrior and can be unlocked after only one technology. This UU can be a great source of Faith so the player might even consider a Warrior before a Shrine. There are also other civilizations where priorities change depending on their strategies or even the player's strategy as a whole. Overall, there are lots of different cases that players will understand over time through hours of gameplay. Until then, the priorities above are good starting points.

When explaining the build order, we naturally cannot forget about the technology as the choices you make can greatly affect how your early game will look. More information on technology can be found here. To decide on what technology you need, I have broken the technologies into the following categories. Improvement, Wonder, Buildings, and Units.

Spoiler Improvements :

If you are pursuing a strategy that requires improved resources, then below are the improvements, the technology they are unlocked with, some resources that are improved by the improvement, and the prerequisite technology.

Camps (Trapping):

Camps connect resources like Fur, Bison, Deer, and Truffles. You don't need any prerequisite technology to research Trapping.

Roads (The Wheel):

Roads connect your city on land to create City Connections. You don't need any prerequisite technology to research The Wheel.

Pasture (Animal Husbandry):

Pasture connects resources like Horses, Cattle, and Sheep. You don't need any prerequisite technology to research Animal Husbandry.

Mines (Mining):

Mines connect resources like Iron, Copper, Gold, and Salt. You don't need any prerequisite technology to research Mining.

Fishing Boat (Fishing):

Fishing Boat connects resources like Fish, Pearl, Whale, and Coral. Fishing Boat requires a Work Boat as opposed to a Worker. You need the following prerequisite technology to research Fishing: Pottery.

Plantation (Calendar):

Plantation connects resources like Cotton, Dye, Citrus, and Nutmeg. You need the following prerequisite technology to research Calendar: Trapping and The Wheel.

Quarry (Construction):

Quarry connects resources like Stone, Marble, Amber, and Jade. You need the following prerequisite technology to research Construction: The Wheel and Animal Husbandry.

Spoiler Wonders :

If you are pursuing a strategy that focuses on Wonder building as a whole or specific Wonders, then below are the Wonders, the technology they are unlocked with, the main benefit of the Wonder, and the prerequisite technology.

Stonehenge (The Wheel):

The Stonehenge is great for securing a Pantheon. Upon completion, it gives you enough Faith to get a Pantheon. Depending on the difficulty, this Wonder can help you secure the first Pantheon or at least one of the earliest ones. Since each Pantheon can only be picked by one civilization only, first or early picks can be quite powerful. You don't need any prerequisite technology to research The Wheel.

Pyramid (Mining):

The Pyramid is useful for those aiming to expand their empire without needing to slow down growth in their city. The free Settler is a very powerful thing to have for those aiming for wider playstyles. Pursuing this Wonder does force you to go Shrine as your first building because you would otherwise delay your Pantheon enough that acquiring a Religion becomes very unlikely. Otherwise, this is a viable opener to help get ahead of the competition by having the ability to get one more Settler out than usual. You don't need any prerequisite technology to research Mining.

Petra (Trade):

The Petra's main strength is its extra TR and free Caravan. There are certain UA, beliefs, policies, and strategies that revolve around the number of TR you own. Since Petra adds a permanent TR slot to your civilization, it means that you can better make use of it to snowball. Early on, the Caravan can be nice as it can provide a small but noticeable boost to your civilization. Interestingly enough, Petra is one of the few Wonders in VP that has a terrain requirement so it can either go quickly or available for a long time. Given this unknown, it's usually wise to pursue this Wonder aggressive if an extra TR can aid your strategy in winning. You need Pottery and Trapping to research Trade.

Temple of Artemis (Calendar):

The Temple of Artemis has a bunch of small bonuses and the biggest selling point of this Wonder is the two Urbanization unhappiness reduction. While this reduction is in theory useful to all types of strategies, it's especially powerful for tall empires. Wonders are normally constructed in capitals due to their higher Production costs. Therefore, there's an extremely high chance that this Wonder will be built in a capital. Tall empires tend to work more specialists because Tradition provides early specialist slots and reduction to Food consumed by specialists. If the Temple of Artemis is also built, then that's two specialists unhappiness that you don't have to worry about. Non-tall playstyles tend to get specialists later in the game resulting in the Temple of Artemis not being as effective. You need The Wheel and Trapping to research Calendar.

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (Construction):

The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus has the main benefit of improving your WLTKD in the city you build it in, most likely your capital. The extra yields, 10% to be exact, might not seem like much but it will be far more noticeable as you enter the mid and late game when your capital is an actual workhorse. WLTKD is fairly easy to achieve throughout the game so you can time when you'll experience them. There are other buildings, beliefs, and synergies that work very well with this Wonder so you are planning regarding your victory conditions very early in the game. You need The Wheel and Animal Husbandry to research Construction.

Statue of Zeus (Bronze Working):

The Statue of Zeus is the first war-focused Wonder and it's very powerful. Given that early promotions increase your CS by 10%, this Wonder provides an extra 15% to your units when attacking Cities. This makes it possible for a warmonger to capture cities a lot faster and faster city captures mean faster snowball as a whole. This is especially when you play a civilization with early UU that is already stronger than your standard unit. As a result, +15% CS goes a long way. You need Mining to research Bronze Working.

Spoiler Buildings :

While Wonders are significant enough for me to go into lots of detail, builds are lesser so. Instead, I will categorize the buildings into the main yield they provide and what to pay attention to.

Unit Experience:
Barracks: available at Military

Food:
Granary: available at Pottery with Settlers

Gold:
Market: available at Trade

Production:
Herbalist: available at Calendar
Stone Works: available at Construction
Well: available at Mining, the city must not be next to freshwater (Lake, River)

Science:
Council: available at The Wheel

Spoiler Units :

Below, we will show the basic stats of each Ancient Era unit along with a quick description of their uses.

Archer: 6 RCS. 2 Range. 4 CS. 2 Movement. An early ranged support unit.

Chariot Archer: 5 RCS. 1 Range. 8 CS. 4 Movement. A mobile ranged mounted unit built for fighting on flat terrain.

Caravan: 2 Movement. Establishes Trade Routes (TR) but, once sent, no longer under your control.

Horseman: 13 CS. 4 Movement. A mobile mounted unit built to flank and outmaneuver enemies.

Settler: 2 Movement. Can Settle Cities. Can be built only if City has at least 4 Citizens and reduces the City population by 1 when built.

Spearman: 12 CS. 2 Movement. Anti-mounted unit.

War Elephant: 16 CS. 3 Movement. A mounted unit that trades a little mobility for more combat strength and hits very hard.

Now that we covered the various options available to you, we can now talk about the build order, at least the first few buildings and technology. Note that these build orders can vary depending on your civilization, starting location, monopoly resource, difficulty, and many other factors. Therefore, below is a basic guideline that you can use and modify to ensure a stronger early game. These aren't meant to achieve the most optimal opening to your games but instead, show possible paths you can experiment with. Odds are you will develop a certain strategy that is better suited to your playstyle.

Spoiler Religion Focus :

Shrine > Monument for Capital > whatever (Pottery among the first few techs to get Settlers out as soon as possible)
AND
Shrine first in all other Cities > whatever

This approach not only guarantees that you get an early Pantheon but also lets you get your religion faster than most other civ depending on the difficulty. Do note that this focus will slow down other aspects of your game since Shrine produces nothing other than Faith.

Spoiler Tradition Focus :

Assuming that you decided to go Tall, then Tradition is your choice of Ancient Era policy. However, Tradition isn't as simple as picking up its opener because some planning is certainly needed. Why? The Tradition opener gives 2 Population. If your capital is at 3 Citizens, then it will be 5 Citizens. If you have 4 Citizens, then it will be 6 Citizens. Considering that the latter scenario is a better deal than the former in terms of the Food saved, you'd want to get to 4 Citizens before picking your Tradition opener.

Then, there's also the 1 Culture per 2 Citizens in your capital. 5 Citizens only give 2 Culture while 6 Citizens gives 3 Culture. In other words, you must get to that 6 population if you want to have a strong early game. To achieve this, you have two main options:

Monument > Granary > whatever (Pottery first tech)
OR
Monument > Shrine

You will build a Granary only if your starting location lacks enough food to get you to 4 Citizens before you pick your policy. It's also important in situations where you meet a Cultural CS first as the boost to your Culture might throw off your initial timing. Otherwise, a standard Monument into Shrine will work just fine.

Spoiler Expansion Focus :

Monument > Shrine > Settler (Pottery first tech)
OR
Monument > Shrine > Granary > Settler (Pottery first tech)
OR
Shrine > Pyramid > Monument (Mining first tech)

The goal here is to expand as soon as possible. However, you don't want to sacrifice too much of your early game for that first Settler. You either make sure your Monument and Shrine are built or use the Pyramid to get that first Settler. This approach is focused on expanding more aggressively than your neighbors to grab more territory than them. However, it's risky due to fewer military units built and more territory to cover. There's also the added Tech and Policy costs that come with more cities. Depending on the terrain, this can let you get away with a lot or let your opponents take advantage of you. It's a very greedy build that can work on lower difficulties but not advisable for higher difficulties.

Spoiler Wonder Focus :

Monument > Stonehenge > Temple of Artemis OR Petra OR Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (The Wheel > Calendar OR Trade OR Construction)
Shrine > Pyramids > Statue of Zeus (Mining > Bronze Working)

Depending on your difficulty, you can potentially grab more than two Ancient Era Wonders. However, this is a very risky approach due to the amount of time your Capital is spending on Wonders and nothing else. This is made easier if you go Tradition as you get a significant amount of Production early in the game to secure the Wonders. There's also the matter of America's UA that is very powerful in securing Wonders too.

Spoiler Infrastructure Focus :

Monument > Shrine > [See below]

Your goal is to get the Worker out as soon as possible. You don't want it too soon if your Worker will be idle. You also don't want it too late to delay your improvements. You'd want your Worker for the following:

Cattle, Horse, Sheep (Animal Husbandry)
Deer, Fur, Truffle (Trapping)
Gold, Silver, Gems (Mining)
Tea, Olives, Incense (Calendar)
Jade, Marble, Lapis (Construction)

If you're waiting to get your Worker out due to not having improvements unlocked or resources revealed, then you have the following options. Note that Wonders are off the table as they use up a lot of resources so your infrastructure will suffer.

Council (The Wheel)
Granary (Pottery)
Settler (Pottery)
Well (Mining)

Spoiler War Focus :

When you are focused on war, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, Authority is the most often taken ancient policy tree but that doesn't mean Tradition and Progress don't work. For those pursuing very warmonger heavy strategies, Authority is the way to go. Tradition and Progress can handle war to a certain degree depending on your civilization, neighbors, and other factors.

Secondly, focus on wars means your resources are diverted elsewhere. You won't have the resources for Wonders unless you have one vital to war like the Statue of Zeus. You also won't have developed infrastructure in all your cities. Resources will be largely focused on military units and military buildings that can give you the edge. You will be pickier with what you need in a city as you won't have time to get everything you want. This can often mean that you won't be pursuing religion and instead will be taking one from one of your neighbors.

Monument > Shrine > military units
Or
Monument > military units > Shrine

As for your military units, you have the option of Archer, Spearman, Horseman, and/or War Elephant. These focus on the bottom two rows of the technology and may require you to connect resources like Horses as soon as possible. What makes Authority great for this strategy is that your units will be generating most of your Culture and Science so a larger military actually aid you more than it hinders you.

 

[SuperNoobCamper]

I think you mean a single source of unhappiness cannot produce more unhappiness than the population of the city.
A 10 citizens city can produce a maximum of 10 unhappiness from illiteracy, 10 from poverty, 10 from distress, etc.. but all sources of unhappiness in one city can collectively produce more unhappiness that the total population and it's not infrequent that you have a 10 pop city producing 12 unhappiness for example.

An important note is that your unhappiness is largely capped by your population. A 4 population city cannot have more than 4 unhappiness unless you have Urbanization at which you can go over the value.

 

[Cokolwiek]

A 10 citizens city can produce a maximum of 10 unhappiness from illiteracy, 10 from poverty, 10 from distress, etc.. but all sources of unhappiness in one city can collectively produce more unhappiness that the total population and it's not infrequent that you have a 10 pop city producing 12 unhappiness for example.

A city having 10 unhappiness from illiteracy, 10 from poverty, 10 from distress, would still only have 10 unhappiness.
The overflowing (that can go above population) unhappiness is only from urbanization, starving, and I am not sure if from pillaged tiles also.
So you will have 10 from let's say 5 illiteracy and 5 poverty, but if you will ad another specialist you will have 11, and if you starve your city you will have 14.

 

[akasha27]

Continents
Continents++
Communitu_79
Frontier
Pangaea
Planet Simulator
Terra

You could also add the links for the maps and add a couple more:
Communitu_79: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/communitu_79.648648/
Planet Simulator: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/planet-simulator.526882/
Tectonic Map: https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/tectonic-map-script.21639/
Communitas: Distributed with VP

 

[tu_79]

You could also add the links for the maps and add a couple more:
Communitu_79: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/communitu_79.648648/
Planet Simulator: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/planet-simulator.526882/
Tectonic Map: https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/tectonic-map-script.21639/
Communitas: Distributed with VP

Communitu_79a is going to be distributed with VP soon. Cheers!

 

[Recursive]

For the war weariness, that's not I'm saying. It's possible that this has been changed. I recall something about unit combat where both the attacking and defending units take, for this specific example, equal damage. In this case, the side of the attacking unit gets more war weariness from this while the side of the defending unit gets less war weariness. It's possible that this has changed over time but I recall this being something I'm worried about regarding the Huns who just make it worse for their enemies.

I thought luxuries give 2 happiness plus a bit more per city you own?

Okay, after much mobile searching, I managed to check the code.

War weariness does indeed use GetWarValueLost from the diplomacy AI. It is based on the war damage you took and half of the war damage your opponent took. It also increases over time even if you do nothing. There is a cap on the total amount based on your total population, however (can't be higher than 1/4 of total pop).

Luxuries give 2 Happiness plus (number of cities * (20 + Era #, where Ancient Era is 0) / 100) plus any other modifiers.

 

[Drakle]

Carthage - Progress
Ethiopia - Tradition
Russia - Progress
Songhai - Authority
Spain - Progress/Authority

These are somewhat weird recommendations. I mean not Songhai, Spain and Carthage. But Russia is easily playable as Authority, and Tradition. Considering both have border growth policies, while Progress has nothing. And Ethiopia is an all-rounder who can play any style but leans a bit wider to best exploit its Stele Faith. The Golden age bonus is nice, but the first golden age happens after the critical religion rush/when Tradition gets its golden age policy. And even Carthage can do Naval Authority pretty decently, using its early UU.

If you are giving recommendations, I think giving more pure recommendations for policy trees is best. Like Arabia is purely Tradition, and playing any other is badly suboptimal. Authority less so than Progress, but Tradition can easily grab far more historic events than both combined. All by just doing normal Tradition stuff, Great People and World Wonders.

 

[amateurgamer88]

These are somewhat weird recommendations. I mean not Songhai, Spain and Carthage. But Russia is easily playable as Authority, and Tradition. Considering both have border growth policies, while Progress has nothing. And Ethiopia is an all-rounder who can play any style but leans a bit wider to best exploit its Stele Faith. The Golden age bonus is nice, but the first golden age happens after the critical religion rush/when Tradition gets its golden age policy. And even Carthage can do Naval Authority pretty decently, using its early UU.

If you are giving recommendations, I think giving more pure recommendations for policy trees is best. Like Arabia is purely Tradition, and playing any other is badly suboptimal. Authority less so than Progress, but Tradition can easily grab far more historic events than both combined. All by just doing normal Tradition stuff, Great People and World Wonders.

While you are not wrong about Russia working with Tradition and Authority, those two policies are harder to make work with Russia. With Tradition, you get lowered culture cost to acquire tiles. However, that's about all there is with Tradition. Tradition means you have to grow tall and tall means less territory. Less territory means less Strategic resources which is another kit of Russia. I think the bonuses from strategics will outweigh those from a single policy that works with border growth. The policy is nice but it's not worth it if that's all you want a policy tree. Regarding Authority, Russia has no early UU. While border growth means more yields, you are asking a new player to fight early wars with no advantage over your opponent except for faster technology. That's asking a lot from a new player so I wouldn't recommend it. Progress does have a indirect bonus with the border growth though. You are growing your borders naturally and that yields Science. Science gets you technology which, through Progress, gets you Culture. More Culture means faster policies which, combined with more technology, should result in a decent game that doesn't require too much knowledge of the game. Therefore, new players can focus on other things and learn about other mechanics.

As for Ethiopia, I agree it's an all-rounder. For a newcomer, I find Tradition a good to place. This is subjective though. Regarding Tradition Arabia, it's actually harder to learn than you think. Will a new player know how to do the normal Tradition stuff when they're learning the game? Will they'll figure out how to use specialists and built the proper buildings to improve the rates of Great People generation? Arabia requires a solid understanding of Tradition and the later policy trees to make use of their UA. That's not what I intend for new players.so Arabia is off the table. There are other possible recommendations but the ones I added are ones I find reasonable. For more advanced strategies, I might include Arabia but this doesn't fit the beginner guide.

 

[Cokolwiek]

And even Carthage can do Naval Authority pretty decently, using its early UU.

It doesn't even have to be naval authority strictly. Conquering very early is not that appealing as it's usually best to get some development online, get some spare happiness to sustain your conquest and fall terribly behind in science and culture. Many times it's most sensible to wait until vassalage is enabled with first or second peace treaty anyway. Monuments, wells, and libraries, not units early. UU too early like Pictish Warrior or Mandekalu tends to be wasted if you don't have to kill someone to expand.
Best authority warmongers are exactly factions like Carthage, Spain, China with either bonus to early development and mid-game UU, or both. Factions like Sweden can get absurdly powerful with warmongering later, but usually are not a greatest choice for authority early until you can play well, more like progress into imperialism, otherwise they will struggle to remain relevant from the begging.
Russia is great authority through ALL: doubled strategics, science (which authority doesn't have lots of), and discount on tiles. With Angkor Wat or god of the expanse Russia is very powerful authority. It also can secure Angkor or Terracotta through its bonus science more consistently. It's versatile, but has slight tendency to get better at being wide. Progress Russia is as good choice as authority for beginners though. Early wars can very quickly backfire for beginners.

 

[Drakle]

While you are not wrong about Russia working with Tradition and Authority, those two policies are harder to make work with Russia. With Tradition, you get lowered culture cost to acquire tiles. However, that's about all there is with Tradition. Tradition means you have to grow tall and tall means less territory. Less territory means less Strategic resources which is another kit of Russia. I think the bonuses from strategics will outweigh those from a single policy that works with border growth. The policy is nice but it's not worth it if that's all you want a policy tree. Regarding Authority, Russia has no early UU. While border growth means more yields, you are asking a new player to fight early wars with no advantage over your opponent except for faster technology. That's asking a lot from a new player so I wouldn't recommend it. Progress does have a indirect bonus with the border growth though. You are growing your borders naturally and that yields Science. Science gets you technology which, through Progress, gets you Culture. More Culture means faster policies which, combined with more technology, should result in a decent game that doesn't require too much knowledge of the game. Therefore, new players can focus on other things and learn about other mechanics.

As for Ethiopia, I agree it's an all-rounder. For a newcomer, I find Tradition a good to place. This is subjective though. Regarding Tradition Arabia, it's actually harder to learn than you think. Will a new player know how to do the normal Tradition stuff when they're learning the game? Will they'll figure out how to use specialists and built the proper buildings to improve the rates of Great People generation? Arabia requires a solid understanding of Tradition and the later policy trees to make use of their UA. That's not what I intend for new players.so Arabia is off the table. There are other possible recommendations but the ones I added are ones I find reasonable. For more advanced strategies, I might include Arabia but this doesn't fit the beginner guide.

My point is that both civs are highly debatable, and are not clear recommendations for policy trees.

I also really do not see how Arabia is complicated. They are just win harder in terms of Tradition. Great People and Wonders are what you are already doing as Tradition, Arabia just gets bigger bonuses from them, and speedier creation of them. Not to mention extra faith, and a solid UU. They are definitely a stronger tier civilisation, and not at all hard to handle. There is no extra mechanic for them to handle, like free golden ages by warring, free great people attached to turns, specific terrain to settle around, specific beliefs that are tied to, etc. They have a wide amount of flexibility within Tradition.

 

[amateurgamer88]

My point is that both civs are highly debatable, and are not clear recommendations for policy trees.

I also really do not see how Arabia is complicated. They are just win harder in terms of Tradition. Great People and Wonders are what you are already doing as Tradition, Arabia just gets bigger bonuses from them, and speedier creation of them. Not to mention extra faith, and a solid UU. They are definitely a stronger tier civilisation, and not at all hard to handle. There is no extra mechanic for them to handle, like free golden ages by warring, free great people attached to turns, specific terrain to settle around, specific beliefs that are tied to, etc. They have a wide amount of flexibility within Tradition.

I appreciate your opinions and I understand some people disagree with me. There's a lot of stuff I have to cover for these tutorials and debating what civ to suggest to beginner is lower on my priority.

 

[CrazyG]

My point is that both civs are highly debatable, and are not clear recommendations for policy trees.

I don't think debating the fine details of a good strategy is necessary for a new player guide. It seems that this guide focuses on giving players a fast early game (which is a good idea for new players), and Russia gets a very strong start as progress.

 

[chicorbeef]

This is really cool so far, nice job!

While I do like in-depth guides alot and I think you're at a good spot, I think perhaps you don't need to state quite as much as you do, for instance I'm fairly certain most new players are aware that Monuments lead to faster policies, Shrines lead to faster pantheons.

You could talk about the knock on differences, for example, on how a faster monument means a faster opener, which is mostly relevant for Tradition or Authority as they benefit from the yields faster.

Pantheons work a little differently in Vox Populi than Vanilla, since Pantheons cost the same amount of Faith for every civ, which is a significant balance change from Vanilla.

 

[amateurgamer88]

This is really cool so far, nice job!

While I do like in-depth guides alot and I think you're at a good spot, I think perhaps you don't need to state quite as much as you do, for instance I'm fairly certain most new players are aware that Monuments lead to faster policies, Shrines lead to faster pantheons.

You could talk about the knock on differences, for example, on how a faster monument means a faster opener, which is mostly relevant for Tradition or Authority as they benefit from the yields faster.

Pantheons work a little differently in Vox Populi than Vanilla, since Pantheons cost the same amount of Faith for every civ, which is a significant balance change from Vanilla.

You might be right about the obvious stuff but I just want to hit all the bases. There might be people very new or have been so long that they don't remember most of the game. I don't think it hurts to add this even if it seems redundant for those of us so used to it.

With policies, I plan on going more in-depth about the ancient era ones. I chose not to talk about them here as it's already a lot to absorb. As for Pantheons, they will have their own section as well.

 

[tu_79]

Nah, do it your style. I'm more worried about nice guides getting lost in the forum.

Maybe I should add a section pointing to nice noob guides in my faq, which I think is pretty visible.

 

[amateurgamer88]

First draft of Early Build Order/Options is ready! Any constructive feedback is appreciated!

 

[amateurgamer88]

Pantheon

We have mentioned Pantheons often on our previous topics because it's very important for the entire game. While Pantheons are mostly early game bonuses, their impact affects the mid and late game. Pantheons are also not created equal either so, while some are amazing, others are pretty lackluster. Most are situational regarding when you pick them. Below is a quick guide on what you need to know about Pantheons. This won't go into great detail and the Celtic Pantheons will get their post due to how different and potentially more powerful they can be.

First, I will be separating the Pantheons into the following groups: Strong Faith. Medium Faith, Weak Faith with Other Benefits, and AI Only. Strong Faith Pantheons are the ones that can get you a religion more reliably. There's no guarantee as there are lots of factors that can impact founding a religion. Medium Faith Pantheons have a lower chance of founding than Strong Faith. These tend to require much more work to get going which means that you won't get the full potential until possibly all the Religions are founded. Weak FaithPantheons are those that require a lot of luck founding or you are playing a religion civilization that has other benefits to help them. These tend to be the ones picked by warmongers who intend of taking religion from a neighbor as well or are just bad in general except for very specific cases. AI Only Pantheon is merely Pantheon that works for AI but never worth it for humans.

Spoiler Strong Faith Pantheons :

Earth Mother:

This is a fairly strong faith Pantheon due to its sources of Faith being unlocked quite early in the game. First, you get 1 Faith from Monuments, one of the buildings you unlock from the very start of the game. Oftentimes, you will build your Monument first your capital so that 1 Faith is a given. Combined with a Shrine, you have a total of 3 Faith in your capital alone. That might not seem like much but, compared to an opponent with only 2 Faith from a shrine, you already have a headstart.

Secondly, you have the 1 Faith from Mines on improved resources. Mines are unlocked by a single tech, Mining, so that's very accessible. You also have a pretty good idea of whether or not you want to pursue this Pantheon very early on as you will be looking out for Mine improved luxuries like Gold, Silver, and Gems. You might need a Worker out sooner to get the Mines built but improving luxuries is a pretty good idea in itself. There's a chance that you can even have improved mines before you even get the Pantheon to get off to a great start.

Thirdly, this Pantheon also gives you additional benefits like +1 Culture from Mines on improved resources and +1 Production from Monuments. Both benefits already reward you for doing what you should while early Culture and Production are very powerful. One lets you unlock new Policies faster while the other allows you to just build everything faster.

God of Expanse:

This Pantheon is among the stronger ones for founding a religion. While it does force you to get a Monument for your secondary Cities first as opposed to a Shrine first as you usually do to get a religion, the decision is worth it since the faster border growth and 20 Faith from growing your border are worth that initial investment. You also get 10 Production to help speed up future buildings and/or units. Overall, this lets the player expand more as the Faith required for a Prophet doesn't scale with the number of cities you have. Therefore, this Pantheon lets you play a wide peaceful style that simply rewards you for various tasks you are already tackling personally.

God of the Sea:

This Pantheon is one of the most powerful Pantheon you can get assuming that your starting location is optimal for it. This Pantheon is dependent on sea resources as the name suggests. Except for Fish, all other resources tied to this Pantheon are revealed at the start of the game. Generally, you have a good chance to start with sea luxury resources when you have a coastal start. In such a scenario, this Pantheon might get onto your radar and Pottery becomes a higher priority in terms of what tech to research to reveal Fish. Since sea resources can be rather spread out, Pottery has a bonus of letting you build Settlers to quickly take advantage of the Pantheon bonuses and even get your Monopoly sooner rather than later.

What makes this Pantheon one of the most powerful? First, you get +1 Faith and +1 Production from Fishing Boats and Atolls. Atolls are more luck dependent on whether or not you get any but even a single one, with the buffs, can be very worthwhile. Fishing Boat does require the tech, Fishing, to unlock but it's very worth it. Improved sea resources tend to be very solid and their monopolies tend to be quite strong. Further buffs on Fishing Boats are just icing on the cake. To make this Pantheon even better, you get +2 Food and +1 Faith from coastal cities. Essentially, you research Pottery to discover all the Fish to decide on whether this Pantheon is for you. If yes, then you already unlocked Settlers to expand. New cities are buffed and give you access to more sea resources and even Atoll. These then help develop your Cities, increase your Faith generation to noticeable amounts, and ensure that you are in a good position to transition to your late early game or mid-game.

Goddess of Beauty:

This Pantheon can be extremely powerful if you work towards it. It provides an initial +2 Faith to your Palace so you are already accumulating Faith as soon as you grabbed the Pantheon. Then, you will be rewarded further for Wonders as you get +2 Faith from each of them. Wonders might be tougher to get on higher difficulties but a focus on them can still make this Pantheon quite feasible. Then, you also get Great Artist and Great Engineer points which are also very nice to acquire to boost your Culture and Production (though the Great Engineers are more likely used to finish Wonders than being used as Manufactories). Overall, this is a powerful Pantheon that requires planning and maybe a bit of luck involved. Otherwise, it can generate a lot of Faith quickly in situations where you are going tall.

Goddess of Nature:

This Pantheon is situational but it does very well with the conditions it's designed for. First, you get +1 Faith, Food, and Gold for every 2 Mountains within 3 tiles of your city, and the yields are capped by the number of Citizens in the city. In other words, you can have 10 Mountains within 3 tiles of your city but, if your city only has 3 Citizens, you only get +3 of each yield as opposed to +5 which is the most you can get. This means that you don't need Workers or buildings to get the benefits since the terrain and population requirements are all that you have to achieve. Note these you can have multiple Cities sharing the same Mountains and benefit equally from the Pantheon as opposed buildings and improvements that only benefit a single city.

For what I perceive as the icing on the cake, this Pantheon also rewards you if you can settle near a Natural Wonder. Natural Wonder gives +3 Faith and +2 Culture. If you are fortunate to get one (or two if you find the Great Barrier Reef), then you are going to have a very powerful start to your game.

Goddess of the Hunt:

This Pantheon would've been placed in Medium Faith if it weren't for the recent map changes that increase the number of Camp improved resources like Deer and Bison. This Pantheon gives Camps +1 Faith, Food, and Culture in addition to +1 Food to Tundra tiles. With more Deer and Bison, you are potentially getting a huge boost to your early game. The Food helps you get Settlers out sooner while the Culture obtained is extremely powerful this early in the game. This is only made more powerful if you start with luxuries like Truffles or Furs to further benefit from the Pantheon. Even in a non-tundra start, you are more than likely picking this Pantheon due to its usefulness in most cases.

Spoiler Medium Faith :

God of Commerce:

This Pantheon can pay off big dividends but it's quite risky as well. There's a lot of work required to make this work due to its nature. First, you get 2 Faith, 2 Gold, and 2 Great Merchant Points in your capital after you settled your second city. Until that second city, you won't be getting any of the benefits. Therefore, this emphasizes getting a Settler out much sooner. Therefore, Pottery is a priority for this Pantheon.

Secondly, you get 2 Faith and 2 Gold for each City Connection you have. This requires you to get Workers and The Wheel for Roads. Depending on how far your cities are, you might need multiple Workers to get those Cities connected and any delay will slow down your Faith generation by a lot. With the number of Roads you need sometimes, the extra Gold might just pay for their maintenance. Then, you get the same benefits as above with TR to and from the city. Caravans are unlocked through Trade and require more Production to build.

You are trying to fit into your queue at least one Settler, at least one Worker, and one Caravan while still needing to not neglect other things like units and buildings. Overall, it's a lot to do and difficult to master the timing down. There are certain civilizations like Carthage that can do very well with this Pantheon but it's a far more high risk for most games.

God of Craftsman:

This Pantheon has the potential to be a Strong Faith Pantheon but it has a few issues. These issues could be seen by the fact that this Pantheon went through a couple of changes before it became its current form. By adopting this Pantheon, you get +1 Culture, +1 Science, and +2 Faith from your Palace. That means that you get a pretty big boost from the very start without needing to do anything as the Palace comes with your Capital. This alone is a pretty big boost and, with a Shrine in your capital, you are producing 4 Faith fairly early in the game. The extra 2 Faith won't get you a religion but it's a decent headstart all things considered.

Then, there's the +1 Faith and Production from Quarries and Stone Works. This is where the issue of the Pantheon lies. To unlock both Quarries and Stone Works, you need Construction and that's a tech in the second column. You need two technologies to access Construction. Therefore, you need many turns to unlock it. Then, you have to build Stone Works and Quarries. Regarding Stone Works, you have many other items competing for the queue like military units, Workers, and/or buildings. Besides, Stone Works cannot be built unless you improved a resource with Quarry so that's further delayed. Quarries need Workers and it takes a while to improve those resources. Compared to other resources, you will likely get Quarries much slower due to later tech and the same amount of time to improve them. The 2 from the Palace seemed strong but, when you take into account the delay for your other sources of Faith, it makes this Pantheon feasible at times. This is also why this Pantheon is Medium Faith as opposed to Strong Faith.

God of the Open Sky:

This Pantheon is map dependent in that it's Medium Faith for some maps and Strong Faith for others. It's quite dependent on what sort of terrain you have around you and how many Pasture resources are around your first couple of Cities. With the recent changes (8/16), this is certainly learning towards Strong Faith. What makes this Pantheon so strong? First, it provides +1 Faith and 3 Gold from Pastures. Pastures are unlocked with a single technology researched and it is used to improve Horses, Cattle and Sheep, three resources that can be fairly abundant most games. The extra income you gain from these Pastures can then be used to buy another Worker to speed up the process further or aid in military unit purchases or building investments.

Secondly, this Pantheon gives +1 Culture and +1 Faith for every 2 Plains and/or Grassland tiles worked that lack any features or Hills. You can have resources on those tiles but they cannot have Hill, Forests, Jungles, or Marshes. Essentially, you can work two Pastures on tiles that fit the description above to gain even more Faith along with Culture that's very powerful this early on in the game. It's not exactly difficult to fulfill these requirements and a single technology can usually give you a solid idea of whether or not to pursue this Pantheon.

God of the Stars and Sky:

This Pantheon can easily drop down to Weak Faith with Other Benefits but I decided to put it here as the recent map script changes might boost it somewhat. This Pantheon gives +1 Faith, +1 Culture, and +1 Gold from Tundra tiles with resources. Tundra is the weakest start in most cases due to its low Food and at times low Production tiles. The resources you can encounter on Tundra tiles are some luxuries like Fur and other basic resources like Stone and Deer. Certain Strategics like Iron can also spawn. Overall, the benefits of this Pantheon can only be achieved after a couple of different techs which can delay how much Faith you can gain. While it is nice that you don't have to improve those resources, it's sadly not one of the strongest, especially when one other Pantheon has more potential than this one with recent map changes.

God of the Sun:

This Pantheon has been buffed fairly recently and is at a good spot. It's not one of the strongest but it's a decent choice for those going wide. The Pantheon first gives +3 Faith and +2 Gold to Granaries. A Granary is a decent building for the capital in the early game and possibly your second or third city if those are settled to build Settlers from them. With a Shrine and a Granary in your City, it will produce +5 Faith from buildings alone. That is quite powerful when you look at what you're getting. The extra Gold is rather nice as well since it can help you purchase whatever you need. In addition to buffing the Granary, the Pantheon also gives +3 Food to Farms on Wheat. For starting locations with lots of Wheat, this is a lot of Food.

So, why isn't this one of the strongest Pantheons? First, you want that Granary as soon as possible so you are competing with the Shrine and Monument. You can even consider the idea of getting a Granary over a Shrine as it produces more Faith but then you aren't using the Pantheon as effectively. As for Monument, the fact that you are delaying it can slow down your overall Culture. Fewer Policies than your neighbors can often be a disadvantage you don't want to deal with. This is where improvements are superior in that, with a Worker, you can get them without impacting your build order within your City. Of course, this is very good for civilizations like Mongolia whose UB happens to replace the Granary.

Goddess of Festivals:

This Pantheon has the potential to be Strong Faith but I decided to put it here as its main strength is its other yields. First, you get +1 Faith in your capital to get the ball rolling. This is a pretty recent buff that can help you remain somewhat competitive until you can start improving your luxuries. For each unique luxury you own or import, you gain +3 Gold, +1 Culture, and +1 Faith. This Pantheon requires you to quickly get Workers and the technologies needed to improve your nearby luxuries. Then, you should have the Gold income to purchase luxuries from your neighbors to further benefit from this. Overall, it's rather nice to get an early boost to your Gold while also getting Culture for your policies and Faith for a religion. I didn't place it this Strong Faith because some stars are aligning needed like neighbors to trade with and luxuries that don't require too much technology to unlock. Even then, the Faith is reasonable but not something you would boast about.

Goddess of Protection:

This Pantheon requires a lot of commitment and the yields, while decent, can vary from game to game. First, the Pantheon gives +2 Faith and +1 Culture to Palace, Walls, and Barracks. The 2 Faith to the Palace upon adopting this Pantheon is quite a boost, though many other Pantheons are also getting Faith from Palace as well so it's not as good as before. The extra Culture can also make a pretty big difference considering the limited sources of Culture early on. The issue with this Pantheon is Walls and Barracks, buildings both unlocked at the second column of techs. To unlock both, you need a total of 5 techs along with the turns needed to build these in your Cities. Overall, it's a lot of investment that might pay off if you plan on going to war shortly afterward.

Then, you also have the +10 HP healed per turn in friendly territory. This can help get your units back into fighting shape quickly but, with your production tied up with Barracks and Walls, you won't see this much in action in the early game. Overall, this is an alright Pantheon. It's not amazing anymore as it hasn't gotten some love as other Pantheons but it can still be a decent option, especially for civilizations like Japan. Given how long it takes to get this Pantheon setup, I might even consider this a Weak Faith for some games.

Goddess of Purity:

This Pantheon requires Lakes and Marshes which, depending on the map, can be rare or fairly common. Therefore, you can get different mileages from picking this Pantheon. First, it makes both Lakes and Marshes provide 4 Food, 1, and 1 Faith. A tile like this is pretty solid early on and is up there in terms of great tiles. The extra growth lets you get more Citizens to work more of those tiles. Overall, it's an easy Pantheon to use. There's also a bonus of +1 Happiness for settling next to a river where there could be more Lakes and Marshes nearby. The issue lies in how many Lakes and Marshes you can have access to as they might not be concentrated making it tougher to make this work. To make this Pantheon pay for itself, it's vital to do a lot of scouting to ensure that not only your Capital has access to these tiles but your other Cities will be able to make use of it.

Goddess of the Home:

This Pantheon requires you to have plenty of Production to get the most out of it. First, you would want plenty of Shrines up as Shrines gain +1 Food and Faith. This might seem like much but, considering that Shrines are higher priorities when you are pursuing a religion, the 3 Faith will make a difference compared to 2 Faith. The Pantheon then gives 8 Food and Faith when a building is constructed, scaling with the era. The scaling likely won't be playing a big role in the religion race. However, the 8 Faith is quite powerful if you have the Production to get these in a reasonable amount of time. This makes buildings like Well and improvements like Mines that much more important as those Production boost matter a lot. Finally, you have the +25% Growth that acts as a double-edged sword. While it can help you get Citizens to gain more Production, it can also hurt your Happiness resulting in fewer expansions.

Spirit of the Desert:

This Pantheon can easily become Weak Faith depending on the situation. Recent map changes might result in Horses spawning on Desert so that's a buff to this Pantheon. However, the starting location of the Capital matters greatly in this situation given how vital it is to expand. This Pantheon requires you to work as many resources on Desert tiles as possible due to the +1 Faith, Production, and Gold from Desert tiles with resources. Given that most Desert tiles are severely lacking in Food except for Flood Plains, expansion isn't the easiest when building Settlers can be a struggle at times. If there are a couple of Oasis, then this Pantheon can make up for the Food deficit but this is still largely dependent on your Capital. The strength of this Pantheon is the fact that the resources don't have to be improved so you can gain the benefits very quickly. Certain policies like those in Progress that give Food through City Connections can work quite well for this Pantheon.

Spoiler Weak Faith :

God of All Creation:

This Pantheon is a great example of lots of other benefits while odds of securing a religion are practically impossible with all non-religious civilizations and a maybe with religious civilization. While the +1 Faith seems very strong on the Monument as I mentioned with Earth Mother, that's the only source of Faith from the Pantheon. Therefore, you won't get a lot of Faith overall and it gets tough finding religion with this above a certain difficulty. However, it should be noted that Faith generation isn't the focus of this Pantheon.

The main strength of this Pantheon is the Culture, Food, Production, and Science you gain in your capital. These, except for the Culture, are limited to 4 total and is dependent on your opponents. The dependency is the timing your opponents are finding their Pantheons. Higher difficulties mean that Pantheons are founded sooner so yields are stronger there. For lower difficulty, this is weaker as the AI takes longer to get their Pantheons. Therefore, the yields of this Pantheon varies depending on many factors and can change from game to game. These yields are very powerful in your capital as it's an enormous boost when it maxes out at 1 Culture, 4 Food, 4 Production, and 4 Science. These aren't yields to scoff at early in the game and it's wonderful for warmongers that have no intentions of founding their religions. This lets the player build up a large military, be on par in technology and plot the downfall of his/her neighbors.

God of War:

This Pantheon is a rather interesting one. At first glance, you might think that it's great for warmongers as it gives an incentive to war. However, the benefits aren't great enough for it due to its bonuses. The extra RCS for Cities aren't that great since warmongers want to be on the offensive, not defensive, while the 10% Production towards Units isn't that big of an improvement given how low your early Production is. Authority does give Production for each policy adopted but a percentage gain just isn't that powerful this early so this bonus isn't going to help much in the early game when building up a large military is vital.

What about Faith generation? This Pantheon makes is so you gain Faith from killing enemy units. The idea is simple enough but, given the low amount of Faith you gain from each kill and the 900 Faith you need for religion, you need everything to go in your favor regarding barbarian camps being abundant to make this work. Except for the Aztecs, you simply don't have the tools to make this work in your favor.

God-King:

This Pantheon is extremely Faith weak as its only early source is a single Faith in your capital. Its strength lies in the late game but that's where the issue lies. To keep your Pantheon alive, you need a religion. Otherwise, you will lose your Pantheon when you are converted to another religion. Therefore, you have to find a religion to ensure that you can get +1 Culture, GAP, Faith, Gold, and Science in your capital for every 5 followers in your owned Cities. To take advantage of this Pantheon, you need a civilization that is almost guaranteed a religion or it's simply not worth it. With the recent changes to the timing of AI founding religions, this might be more possible. Otherwise, you shouldn't even consider this Pantheon at all.

Goddess of Renewal:

This Pantheon is one of the hardest ones to acquire a religion with but its other benefits are some of the best. First, it gives +1 Faith, Culture, and Science for every two Jungle/Forest tiles worked by the City. This is the reason why I consider this Weak Faith as you need a fairly large population to get a reasonable amount of Faith while many other Pantheons don't require as big of population size. However, it does make up for it with the extra Culture and Science because those yields are solid early on. For the icing on the cake, you get +2 Science and Food from Markets to further boost your Science while aiding the growth of your Cities so you can make better use of the first bonus. Overall, you should be doing very well in terms of Science, keeping up with overall Culture, and have a lesser chance of getting religion unless you happened to be a Faith civilization.

Goddess of Springtime:

This Pantheon can provide decent amounts of Faith but it requires a lot of investment. Both Plantations and Herbalists are unlocked through Calendar, a technology that's on the second column. To unlock Calendar, you would need Trapping and The Wheel. Focusing on this tech will delay your expansion as Pottery isn't one of the prerequisites. Going for Pottery first to expand isn't a bad idea but remember that you will delay your Plantations and Herbalists. Plantations give +1 Gold, Food and Faith while Herbalist gives +1 Science and +2 Faith. Plantations can be obtained through various luxuries and Bananas so certain maps should give you plenty of it. However, you must also cut down Jungles/Forests so the improvements take longer to obtain. Herbalists will take up your production queue but odds are that it will benefit your City so this investment is worth it. Overall, this takes longer to set up and, while I want to put it on Medium Faith, it just doesn't get going as quickly as the Medium Faith Pantheons.

Goddess of Wisdom:

This Pantheon is Weak Faith with a slightly stronger position for those going Tradition. This is largely due to its sources of Faith where you get +1 Science and Faith for every City and +2 Science and Faith in Cities with Specialists. Unless you go Tradition, Specialist slots are only unlocked once you get Markets at the earliest. This makes the second portion of this Pantheon extremely tough to use except for cases with Tradition where your second policy will unlock a slot for you, though this is only limited to your Capital. The first portion is alright but expanding takes a lot of resources and, ironically, this isn't something you'll be prioritizing a ton of for Tradition since your Citizens are vital to your overall Culture output. Therefore, it's not great in many areas and seems difficult to take full advantage of. While you also get +2 Great Scientist Points in your Capital/Holy City, it doesn't make up for the relatively low Faith you'd be acquiring. If anything, Goddess of Renewal seems like a better Science focused Pantheon.

Tutelary Gods:

This Pantheon is, in my opinion, one of the worst ones. It provides very little Faith and your newly settled Cities take awhile to get the bonuses when those early turns are just so vital. First, you gain +3 Production, +2 Gold, and +1 Faith in Cities with at least 3 Citizens (not scaling in any way or form). Your capital will benefit from this while your other Cities take time to grow to 3 Citizens. If you are trying to take advantage of this bonus, then odds are that you will be suffering more from Unhappiness due to growing faster than you can build infrastructure. While the extra Production will help, this Pantheon is encouraging you to dig yourself into a hole first before digging yourself out of it. You also only get 1 Faith so that is pretty underwhelming. Then, we have the +1 Production and Faith from Engineer Specialists. Tradition lets you get one Engineer slot pretty early in your Capital but the bonus isn't something to write home about. Otherwise, you need to get the Forge and that is unlocked in the Classical Era. Overall, the requirements don't quite justify the rewards and even the rewards are pretty meh.

Spoiler AI Only Pantheon :

Ancestor Worship:
This is the only Pantheon that fits this category. First, it generates Faith based on your Citizens in the city and generally, the AI will have a lot of Citizens to benefit from this. A human player has a much harder time getting a lot of Faith from this Pantheon. Secondly, this Pantheon encourages the player to build Councils and the bonuses aren't even that impressive. Councils are nice but they are rarely a top priority, especially when you have buildings like Monument, Shrine, and Granary competing for that queue along with Settlers, Workers, and Military units. Overall, this works best for AI and not recommended for a human player unless in an extremely niche situation of a Council replacement. Even then, there are still better options.