Unique Ability Elimination Thread

I do that all the time! XD

It sinergizes really well with "Messiah" enhancer belief (great prophets cost 25% less and are 25% more effective)
 
Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 9
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
It's OK in terms of strength I suppose, but incredibly passive and boring

Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 15
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 6
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 12
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Mongol Terror: 2
Dutch East India Company: 23
I love the Dutch! I almost always go into perpetual golden ages!

Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 8
The Glory of Rome: 31
Siberian Riches: 20
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 12
Nobel Prize: 22
 
Nobel Prize: 22 (+1) Why would one ever gift a great person to a city state? Well, firstly, some great people aren't that great. Admirals, Merchants,



has anyone figured out whether you can gain more influence by gifting the great merchant to the city state, as opposed to doing a trade mission and throwing all the money gained from that onto the city state? also, i would hardly ever throw away a great general in order to gain some city state influence, citadels are so powerful. about the only great person i think i'd be happy to do without is the great admiral, but getting lots of those often doesn't happen for me as my naval wars are pretty limited.
 
Great Andean Road: Might be bit of a biased vote as Incans are my favorite civ but the part I like the most of them is the UA. The faster movement in hills is very useful and applicable for any victory condition. Also free roads in all hills, see civ 4's road spam :)

another point that isn't mentioned often about the incan ua is that if you do proceed with road spam, you essentially create a very expensive city for anyone to capture. yes, roads can be removed, but in the middle of a war around a freshly conquered city that can be hard and time consuming and with multiple roads that can add up to a lot of gold during different parts of the game.
 
Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 9
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 15
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 4
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 12
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Mongol Terror: 2
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 8
The Glory of Rome: 31
Siberian Riches: 20
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 13
Nobel Prize: 22

Adwa: This sucks boot. The only way to make a realistic strategy around Ethiopia is to ignore the UA entirely.
Seven: Much maligned for unpredictability, this UA typifies the 'make something of whatever you get' style that the best players use when adapting their civs to their environs. It is also not weak, from all the 'oh if i get 500g early I just re-roll'esque comments. Along with Siam, it's also a UA that gets unpublicised religion benefits.
I'd certainly want to see it make the upper middle of this list.
 
Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 9
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13 (-2)
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 4
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13 (+1)
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Mongol Terror: 2
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 8
The Glory of Rome: 31
Siberian Riches: 20
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 13
Nobel Prize: 22

Bushido gets upvoted today. I feel bad upvoting for something at 30 already, so I'll leave my real favorite for some other good ones that I really love. Bushido doesn't do all that much to ground based units, but it still shines in air and naval battles. Imagine that, Japan good in the air and at sea! It's particularly good for ships, since they often won't be getting healed when you are moving into enemy territory. Not having to run with damaged ships in order to heal after they take a potshot, and still get their full effect? Nice.

Viking Fury isn't all that great. Even with Blitz, you only get 2 attacks, regardless of how many moves you have, so it doesn't benefit all that much. Post patch if you need that much health, it'll be better to get away than to pillage half a city's improvements to get that single unit healthy, and the movement aspect of it is very focused on water, where the human should be dominating anyway, and, again, unlike has been reported before, blitz only gives a 2nd attack (unless the UA is bugged with the promotion).
 
Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 9
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 4
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Mongol Terror: 0
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 8
The Glory of Rome: 31
Siberian Riches: 21
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 13
Nobel Prize: 22

Siberian Riches : In sp it can be transfered into more :c5gold: and production(mainly). In mp it can be transfered into more production and more units(mainly). You have to be really unlucky to not catch some horses or iron tiles. If by any chance you need nukes, you can double your output of uranium.

Mongol Terror : Attacking cs is lame. You better ally them instead.
 
Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 9
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 11 (-2)
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 4
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18 (+1) Still under 20? Upvote again
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 8
The Glory of Rome: 31
Siberian Riches: 21
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 13
Nobel Prize: 22
 
No reasons given. Votes are null and void.

Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 9
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 4
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 8
The Glory of Rome: 31
Siberian Riches: 21
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 13
Nobel Prize: 22
 
Tabarnak, I see you have upvoted Sun Never Sets a few times. How do you use this abillity to the most? I always try playing as england but, if I'm not in an archipellago map or a continents, I can't make it work properly. Do you have any strategy that you'd like to share? :mischief:
 
Manifest Destiny: 15
Trade Caravans: 9
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 4
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 27
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 8
27The Glory of Rome: 31
Siberian Riches: 21
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 13
Nobel Prize: 22
 
No reasons given. Votes are null and void.

Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 9
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 4
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 8
The Glory of Rome: 31
Siberian Riches: 21
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 13
Nobel Prize: 22
 
No reasons given. Votes are null and void.

Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 9
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 4
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 8
The Glory of Rome: 31
Siberian Riches: 21
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 13
Nobel Prize: 22

The Long Count should be at 17.

Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 9
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 2
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 17
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 8
The Glory of Rome: 32
Siberian Riches: 21
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 13
Nobel Prize: 22

the Glory of Rome: a sweet production bonus that suits any play style.

Spirit of Adwa: Stele calls you to go wide but the UA contradicts it. Useless.
 
The Long Count should be at 17.

It was at 18 before he cast his vote. He didn't actually add 1 to it, but he did subtract 2 from Viking Fury.

Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 9
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 2
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 8
The Glory of Rome: 32
Siberian Riches: 21
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 13
Nobel Prize: 22
 
Tabarnak, I see you have upvoted Sun Never Sets a few times. How do you use this abillity to the most? I always try playing as england but, if I'm not in an archipellago map or a continents, I can't make it work properly. Do you have any strategy that you'd like to share? :mischief:

Sorry for speaking when not spoken to, but I also think SNS is a great UA. The extra 2 movement doesn't need much explanation- ships get where they're going 2 tiles sooner! In hardcore sea battles against human players, where you actually have to use some naval tactics, this is an enormous advantage. You can outflank and envelop ships so easily, you shouldn't lose a single engagement. You can also hide ships of the line well beyond LOS and sneak them in after the combat to knock out injured ships- this is sure to drive an enemy mad lol.

The extra spy is nice to boost CS relations while still maintaining counterintelligence in your capital. It can also be used to steal techs you neglected beelining to frigates and crossbows :lol:
 
Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 7 (-2) it just seems so unnecessary
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 2
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 8
The Glory of Rome: 32
Siberian Riches: 21
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 14 (+1) i have played a game were i started right by el dorado and got a tile to produce some 24 :c5culture: and 12 :c5faith: in the early game it is awsome
Nobel Prize: 22
 
Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 7
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13
Monument Builders: 24
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 2
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 9
The Glory of Rome: 32
Siberian Riches: 19
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 14
Nobel Prize: 22


wayfinding is really useful, more than you think, especially large maps, anything but pangaea (where it's still useful, just not as much), the amount of huts and citystate first contacts you can generate is great early on, lots of gold, faith, plus meeting all the city states early makes sure you keep inadvertently completing quests for them so early on you wind up friends wit ha handful of city states giving you stuff.

siberian riches - +1 hammer for iron and horses.. why do people think that's very useful? how many iron or horse patches do you really get in your average game, me maybe 4 for a moderate sized early empire.. so four extra hammers.. double the resources isn't bad but i don't find im ever really lacking resources anyhow, especially now that siege doesnt require iron
 
Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 7
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13
Monument Builders: 22
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 2
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Dutch East India Company: 23
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 10
The Glory of Rome: 32
Siberian Riches: 19
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 14
Nobel Prize: 22

Wayfinding: see older posts for reason. if i had to come up with something new then i'm a big fan of coastal play even on continents. early scouting lets you map out the entire continent and you tend to come up with a strategy a lot quicker (unless you're going into the game with a fixed plan). it's fun trying to conquer down only the coast and the extra moai strength bonus is crucial when doing this. Just a really fun civ imo

Just to add, I was actually not too hot on Polynesia for a while but I played them a month ago (first few times without success) until I cranked out a few new strategies and found out I actually love them. I'm not saying everybody is going to enjoy them but I think they are worth revisiting once or twice

Monument Builders: How this has 12 more votes than Wayfinding is beyond me. I put it in the same category as Bushido - I recognize what it does but I just find it boring. When scrolling through the civs looking for one to pick I never say "oh, monument builders is going to lend itself to something new" (woodshadows, i was actually really close to picking Siberian Riches. Glad I didn't, would have looked like a straight copy)
 
Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 7
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 21
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13
Monument Builders: 22
Sun Never Sets: 24
Spirit of Adwa: 0
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Dutch East India Company: 24
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 10
The Glory of Rome: 32
Siberian Riches: 19
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 14
Nobel Prize: 22

Dutch East India Company: really nice to expand early on without going on unhappiness, as it usually becomes a problem for me. It is a really good ability when used properly, specially associated with "Protecionism" from the Commerce policy tree, as the 50% is added to the base 4 happiness per lux, so, even if you trade away your last cotton with Protecionism, you keep 4 happiness. Even more useful when trading the last lux for an AI's lux: +2 free happiness! Not very useful on multiplayer, though.

Spirit of Adwa: I find it not very useful. 20% combat strenght is a nice bonus (only nice, not great or awesome) but it is difficult to synergize with the Stele. Going religious usually means wide, and this civ kind of contradicts itself.

----

BTW, thanks for the tip, Sebastian, I'll make some tests using the In Game Editor with England no a water map :)

Woodshadows: I use the double horses/iron to trade away for gold to other civs - each horse = 45, if I have 4 to spare = 180. The production bonus is nice early in the game, when you think that working that horse-grassland-tile might be a good idea (2 food, 1 prod. With stable: 2 food, 2 prod. Adding Siberian Riches bonus: 2 food, 3 prod, an awesome tile early in the game). Also, the production bonus is not only for iron and horses (which can be enhanced by forge and stable) but for all strategic resources, so those nice tiles with oil/aluminium/uranium/coal/horses/iron are even more useful. With Russia, bulding forges and stables is a nice strategy to "enhance" the bonus, but think about it: an early city from a regular civ, working a horse tile, gets 1 prod. That means, with one pop, a scout every 5 turns. With Russia, you get 2 prod from that tile, so, your scouts come out faster, and so does the buldings/units/whatever you wanna build. Using strategic balance is great for Russia, and the Krepost helps you get those strategic tiles faster while giving an early boost to the units produced.
 
Manifest Destiny: 17
Trade Caravans: 5 (-2) Great in vanilla, junk in G&K. +1 gold per trade route means even if you go super, super wide.. let's say 20 cities, is +20 gold per turn... that's peanuts. The double oil is OK, but nothing to write home about.
Diplomatic Marriage: 17
Sacrificial Captives: 22 (+1) Not the best UA, but it makes aztecs fun and unique, and lasts all game.
Ingenuity: 12
Phoenician Heritage: 30
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 13
Monument Builders: 22
Sun Never Sets: 24
Ancien Regime: 24
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 26
The Great Warpath: 9
Bushido: 13
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 21
The Long Count: 18
Dutch East India Company: 24
Achaemenid Legacy: 26
Wayfinding: 10
The Glory of Rome: 32
Siberian Riches: 19
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 14
Nobel Prize: 22
 
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