What are the best civ traits?

[Dagoth Ur]

I would say Industrious is the best, for it's +50% wonder production. I'm always the first to Stonehedge, Oracle, and Pyramids. 1/2 cost of forge is nice too.

Next best is Financial. It's not so good in the early game because you don't have many +2 commerce squares yet to take advantage of the +1 bonus. But in late game once you've cottaged/windmilled every square it's HUGE!!!!

Philosophical would be third, for the double great persons rate. I can't get enough of those great engineers.

 

[Arkanin]

I'm not as big a fan of industrious, but I play on a pretty high difficulty level and trying to beat the AI to wonders is very hard.

Financial is very nice. Organized is underestimated greatly. Creative is very useful for expansion, as well.

They're all pretty good, though I think my least favorite is old-fassioned aggressive, though that just comes down to my playing style.

 

[Legionary37]

I haven't found aggressive very useful as of yet. XP is, as of now, just very easy to get.

 

[Martinus]

I think Industrious is overrated. Moreover, it can lead you into a trap of trying to get all wonders (which you can do) effectively making you devote your energy to wonders instead of growth and expansion, which makes you an excellent invasion target (especially in MP - I usually go after the player with most wonders, since this means his cities are both juicy targets and that his defenses are lacking).

Personally, I find Expansionistic, Financial and Philosophical to be most useful. Expansionistic is very nice no matter what your play style, as it allows both for fast settler/worker production or for heavily great people oriented cities (it generally gives you more freedom since you get more food). Financial is great for cash-whoring. Philosophical for obvious reasons.

In my earlier games Creative was a very useful trait too - it is very "beginner friendly" trait, in that it works on its own without a need to do anything from you (for example with Industrious you need to build wonders to utilise the trait; with Financial you need to build cottages; with Philosophical you need to generate some GP points to begin with etc whereas Creative gives you these 2 culture points no matter what). However, it can easily be replaced by building Obelisks (or even better, Stonehenge).

My favourite combos right now are both Russian leaders - Peter (Exp/Phi) for fast growth and heavy GP strategy; Catherine (Cre/Fin) for high tech, high commerce strategy. And their special unit comes at a very useful time and is quite powerful (plus you may get there relatively easy if you skip some techs after gunpowder and shoot straight for Military Tradition).

 

[Martinus]

Also, I think you should not discount the cheap building part of the trait. Many people think that they are pretty equivalent, but when you consider that, if you specialize your cities properly, some of the buildings you will want to build in all cities and some in only a few, this changes:

Expansionistic - Granary, Harbour - you will want at least Granary in each city, and Harbour in each coastal city
Organized - Courthouse, Lighthouse - you will want Courthouse in every city and Lighthouse in each coastal city
Financial - Banks - you don't need them in all cities
Philosophical - Universities - you don't need them in all cities
Aggressive - Barracks - you don't need them in all cities
Creative - Theatres and Colloseums - you will want them in most cities, maybe all (but Theatres are rather cheap to begin with)
Industrious - Forge - you MAY want them in each city if you are Industrious, but otherwise it is not worth it
Spiritual - Temples - you will want them in all cities

This gives extra points to Organized, Expansionistic and Spiritual, imo.

 

[Vraslosken]

Louis of france is my favorite with Industriuos and Creative. Great for culture.

 

[eewallace]

Which trait is best varies a huge amount, depending on where you land on the map and who your opponents are. My best game so far has been with Elizabeth as leader (financial and philosophical), where there were nice locations on the map for 2 excellent science cities (hills and rivers). I also had a great diplomatic victory game with Ghandi (industrious and spiritual, I think?).

Does anyone have a recommendation on who is the best leader for a cultural victory?

 

[Abacus]

In my earlier games Creative was a very useful trait too - it is very "beginner friendly" trait, in that it works on its own without a need to do anything from you (for example with Industrious you need to build wonders to utilise the trait; with Financial you need to build cottages; with Philosophical you need to generate some GP points to begin with etc whereas Creative gives you these 2 culture points no matter what). However, it can easily be replaced by building Obelisks (or even better, Stonehenge).

Creative's not just about expanding your city to work it's whole radius.

If two border cities are built at the same time separated by just two squares, the creative civilization can eventually push it's border right back to the edge of the other city. +2 culture is a small but useful boost in the culture wars.

 

[Gufnork]

Creative is good for one thing. Ancient era warmongers. I played Cyrus and did an Immortal rush. Since I never had time to build obelisks or Stonehenge my cities would have stayed small for a long, long time. Creative saved me the trouble. Other than that I don't see much use for it. Sure, it's nice to expand your borders a little earlier and maybe snag a few tiles from a neighbour, but not that groundbreaking. I consider it a warrior trait.

 

[weimingshi]

You guys are asking the wrong question, its not which trait is best. It should be which combination of traits is best. Every leader has 2 traits, combinations make a huge difference.

As for me, I find industrious/financial quite a powerful combination. this combo allows me to get most useful wonders ( I dont want all the wonder, but most of them) Yet I am still among the top 3 in military strength. Those extra commerce work wonders combined with benefits you get from wonders and if u manage to get pyramid, you can buy stuff with gold alot earlier than anyone else, thats a huge advantage.

 

[Astax]

1) Financial
2) Aggressive
3) Expensive
4) Organized

 

[Hellfire]

1) Financial
2) Aggressive
3) Expensive
4) Organized

I find that "expensive" trait very powerful in the AI's hands. When the AI trades with me, any AI with the "expensive" trait is extremely difficult to deal with and wants 4 of my cities, 3 of my sciences, and 1374 gold when I ask to trade territory maps. Seems to be a hold over from Civ3 and it makes the game very challenging. I also think there is a bug that some how every Civ has this trait along with their two other traits.



Sorry, I know it's a typo, I just couldn't resist

 

[diamond geezer]

I seem to be in a minority of one, but I really like Philosophical. Great People a very flexible edge (they can get you Wonders, but they have other uses too). I also like Organised - it's good for the bank balance like Financial.

But the guy who mentioned combinations was partly right. Actually it's about leaders. For instance Alexander, with Philosophocal , Aggressive and the Phalanx, is ideal for an early military rush, followed by a culture binge (just like the real one). Napoleon is ready to do the same thing, but at a later date.

Victoria is set to build some large cities and then the redcoats will help to carve out an Empire. Some leaders do not seem so fortunate, even if there may be some historical truth in their traits. Isabella anyone?