Unique Ability Elimination Thread

[Rooftrellen]

Manifest Destiny: 14
Diplomatic Marriage: 7
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 14
Phoenician Heritage: 27
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 7
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 19
Great Andean Road: 27
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
The Long Count: 3
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 18
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 11
Nobel Prize: 21
River Warlord: 19

Phoenician Heritage gives a huge advantage in money saving. For those that want roads for transportation, use any saved money on building roads to where you need to go instead of between cities. It's also a massive boost when Railroads hit and you've planned your empire to have shorter road connections and harbors as an important part of your trade network.

Ingenuity just doesn't impress me in the least. I'd take Nobel Prize almost every time (small maps), and nothing about it is fun or interesting.

 

[Snoopaloop]

Manifest Destiny: 14
Diplomatic Marriage: 7
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 15
Phoenician Heritage: 25
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 7
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 19
Great Andean Road: 27
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
The Long Count: 3
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 18
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 11
Nobel Prize: 21
River Warlord: 19

+1 Ingenuity: One of the strongest science UA's; if not thee. A free academy for the capital makes early science output amazing. Consistent 50% great scientist birth rate keeps them rolling in...and I don't have to play Mr. Nice-guy to get the bonus, especially on small maps where the standard amount of AI's is considerably low! I find a strong research rate very interesting.

-2 Phoenician Heritage: Not a big money saver on continent or pangaea maps, because harbors are not necessary builds. (p20; my previous thoughts about that)

Having trade routes that rely on harbors, are much easier to have broken than by roads. One enemy boat near the coastal city and the trade route is down for the turn, where as a road is never pillaged.

 

[maurcus]

Manifest Destiny: 14
Diplomatic Marriage: 7
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 15
Phoenician Heritage: 25
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 7
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 19
Great Andean Road: 27
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
The Long Count: 1 (-2) i suppose it is time for the long count to die while good it is just not that good.
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 19 (+1) incredibly useful in any circumstances, the only time when it is not useful is if you have no strategic resources. i had a game with horses on grassland (2,3, and because of my pantheon and the river 1,1. a VERY good tile.
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 11
Nobel Prize: 21
River Warlord: 19

 

[woodshadows]

Manifest Destiny: 14
Diplomatic Marriage: 7
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 15
Phoenician Heritage: 25
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 7
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 19
Great Andean Road: 27
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 19
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 11
Nobel Prize: 22
River Warlord: 19

i always end up posting right after maurcus.. who annoyingly types his points into the text requiring precision editing rather than a quick bottom select/delete.
anyways


goodbye long count, you are boring and not very good, FREE PEOPLE SHOULD REALLY BE FREE, not fake free

nobel prize is more fun than i realized, exploiting the honour tree general early means you're generating more culture than probably any other civ can possibly generate that early, or alternatively you can ally with a military city state and have an army built for you while you focus on other stuff, or get a religious city state and get a first religion or get a great prophet to donate and get even more influence

 

[maurcus]

sorry ill remember that next time

 

[woodshadows]

sorry ill remember that next time

thanks

 

[Lordleoz]

Manifest Destiny: 14
Diplomatic Marriage: 5
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 15
Phoenician Heritage: 25
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 7
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 19
Great Andean Road: 27
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 19
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 12
Nobel Prize: 22
River Warlord: 19

Seven Cities of Gold: Besides the sweet

bonus, you can also get instant 2

for each natural wonder, while other civs get 1. This bonus is also very useful right from the early game. Needless to say about the double tile yields.

Diplomatic Marriage: Have to downvote it again... I just like getting along with allied city states and I enjoy the benefit they provide. I've never thought

/

them.
EDIT: on the fall patch, it will be even worse because you can no longer get jewelry or porcelain from annexed/puppeted mercantile city states.

 

[Petiscator]

Manifest Destiny: 12
Diplomatic Marriage: 5
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 15
Phoenician Heritage: 25
Art of War: 22
Viking Fury: 7
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 19
Great Andean Road: 27
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 19
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 12
Nobel Prize: 23
River Warlord: 19

Nobel Prize: One of my favorites, if not the best, for me. I love the bonus per friendship (which scales per players in game, so, let's say I"m playing a huge map with 22 players and get a DOF with 14 - before the warmongering - I'm getting a ginormous bonus! Of course it is only on perfect conditions and after I start the warmongering spree, it is gonna be reduced). With some friends early in the game, it is time to go to war against the black sheep of the continent; a perfect time to pick honor and gift that GG to, let's say, Manila/Budapest/Zurich/Florence/Jerusalem and start with a very good amount of food/units/happiness/culture/faith early in the game, so I can focus on units and start the war without caring so much about building things like a granary (as its effect can be "replaced" by a maritime CSs bonus). By the time I start pumping the GGs and GAs, the game's on my hand.

Manifest Destiny: Cheap tiles is kind of lame for me as it is only for buying them, and not for acquiring them through culture. It is kind of lackluster, a kind of bonus I'll use few times in a game. The extra sight is nice for finding Ancient Ruins, CSs and for the siege units, but I don't think that is very good. If I want to go to war, I preffer a different bonus, like Art of War, Bushido or Viking Fury. Not a bad UA, but not a very good one - for me.

 

[Crafty Bison]

Manifest Destiny: 12
Diplomatic Marriage: 5
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 15
Phoenician Heritage: 25
Art of War: 23
Viking Fury: 7
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 19
Great Andean Road: 27
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 17
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 12
Nobel Prize: 23
River Warlord: 19

A lot more power and extra citadels! chews through the civ with the great wall. Really nice warring bonus.

Extra hammers. Woot. It's okay (though would much rather have Rome's) but kinda dull, and if needs be there's a whole manner of ways to get my strategics, rarely causes a big issue. I don't get to trade away as much, but as Russia I'll usually piss off the rest of the map fairly sharpish (I'd much rather have arabias extra lux's anyway). Playing peaceful with high production is so boring.

 

[woodshadows]

how much of a combat bonus does art of war give to gg effectiveness? 10%?

 

[Petiscator]

I think it is 20%, if I recall correctly, so it would be the normal 15% of the GG and 35% with Art of War

 

[Heinage]

I think it is 20%, if I recall correctly, so it would be the normal 15% of the GG and 35% with Art of War

I think it's an extra 15%, so 30% all up

 

[Seabastian Civ]

Manifest Destiny: 12
Diplomatic Marriage: 5
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 15
Phoenician Heritage: 25
Art of War: 21 (+1) There's nothing worse than FINALLY hammering a unit in MP, knocking it down to 1 HP, and then watching it run away and heal the next turn (Keshiks, Camels, Horse Archers, I'm looking at you). Art of War turns that 1 HP into a dead unit. That's a great UA. Plus it stacks with Nationalism, Himeji, etc.
Viking Fury: 7
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 19
Great Andean Road: 27
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 17
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 10 (-2) Still hate it, still think its either OP or Worthless depending on whether you enjoy re-rolling or not.
Nobel Prize: 23
River Warlord: 19

 

[Peasley]

Manifest Destiny: 12
Diplomatic Marriage: 5
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 15
Phoenician Heritage: 25
Viking Fury: 7
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 17 (-2) : Of all of the city-state oriented UAs, this one does the least for you.
Great Andean Road: 28 (+1) : There is no ability with more versatility and utility. Literally the only place that free roads and hill movement won't help are tiny archipelago islands. I also love the flavor it adds to distinguish this civ.
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 17
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 10
Nobel Prize: 23
River Warlord: 19

 

[Lordleoz]

Manifest Destiny: 12
Diplomatic Marriage: 5
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 15
Phoenician Heritage: 25
Art of War: 24
Viking Fury: 7
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 17
Great Andean Road: 28
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 17
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 10
Nobel Prize: 23
River Warlord: 19

 

[Skibbi]

Manifest Destiny: 12
Diplomatic Marriage: 5
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 15
Phoenician Heritage: 25
Art of War: 24
Viking Fury: 5 Extra embarkation and stuff is good for fleeing, better suited for france!
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 18 Great for getting vital allies early in the game.
Great Andean Road: 28
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 17
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 10
Nobel Prize: 23
River Warlord: 19

 

[maurcus]

Manifest Destiny: 12
Diplomatic Marriage: 3
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 15
Phoenician Heritage: 25
Art of War: 24
Viking Fury: 5
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 19
Great Andean Road: 28
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 17
Father Governs Children: 25
Seven Cities of Gold: 10
Nobel Prize: 23
River Warlord: 19

im posting here just for wood shadow

(+1) hellenic league is incredibly useful for earning and keeping allies.
(-2) it is incredibly annoying to play against

 

[woodshadows]

I think it's an extra 15%, so 30% all up

meh, no wonder ethiopia is rated low, a measly +5% difference with severe limitations and no increased rate of gg's.

anyone know if the chinese gg's are the source of the bonus, or if it's entirely civ dependent. for instance - if i gift my chinese gg to my teammate in a multiplayer, would they benefit from the gg bonus? ive had fun gifting khans in the past, but never thought of a chinese gg before.

 

[woodshadows]

Manifest Destiny: 12
Diplomatic Marriage: 3
Sacrificial Captives: 24
Ingenuity: 15
Phoenician Heritage: 25
Art of War: 24
Viking Fury: 5
Monument Builders: 19
Sun Never Sets: 26
Ancien Regime: 23
Hellenic League: 20
Great Andean Road: 28
Scholars of the Jade Hall: 23
Dutch East India Company: 22
Achaemenid Legacy: 29
The Glory of Rome: 28
Siberian Riches: 17
Father Governs Children: 23
Seven Cities of Gold: 10
Nobel Prize: 23
River Warlord: 19


The not-mentioned bonuses from Hellenic league make this a very versatile city-state bonus. You can freely walk through/sit in neutral city-state land without incurring a trespassing penalty and more importantly you can heal as if you were in friendly territory. Often in my games wars end up being fought with another civ around a city state (since the map tends to be so crowded with city states it's hard to avoid them), so the ability to heal and not get trespassing negatives is a nice extra edge to have. I'd really rate Greece better overall if it weren't for having two ancient era units which don't have promos that carry over and are gone all too quickly.

I've never found a great use from Siam's city state bonus, I'm sure it's GREAT on lower levels of play, where you can actually easily grab a lot of city states and hold onto them, but on Immortal ths is much more challenging and on Deity you're lucky to hold onto more than a handful at a time what with the multiple coups on multiple city states every turn and thousands of gold poured into city states by infinite gold reserve AI's. Plus, since you only benefit from three kinds of city states out of 5, this doesn't really impress much, especially as one of those three is faith. Extra culture and food are nice but with no benefit to help hold onto the city state, I'd rather take Sweden or Greece.

 

[Crafty Bison]

meh, no wonder ethiopia is rated low, a measly +5% difference with severe limitations and no increased rate of gg's.

anyone know if the chinese gg's are the source of the bonus, or if it's entirely civ dependent. for instance - if i gift my chinese gg to my teammate in a multiplayer, would they benefit from the gg bonus? ive had fun gifting khans in the past, but never thought of a chinese gg before.

Never tried it, but can't imagine it would. Gifted persian catapult doesn't go faster and stronger once gifted, gifted beserker the same. chinese general bonus is part of the UA so should not carry over, wheras khan bonus is part of the U(Uish) so does.