What do you get at the start?

[Ball Lightning]

Which techs do you get early on, pottery, bronze working or sailing. What do you think?

 

[Ball Lightning]

I think bronze working is best for two reasons:
You get copper, so you can build swordsman to take over people.
And so you can chop rush trees, this is going to be reduced in warlords, but i hope its still okay.

 

[Zombie69]

Bronze working is the best tech, for slavery alone. Chopping, copper and axemen are just bonuses! That tech is way overpowered. Personally, i'd move slavery somewhere else to balance it out a little bit.

 

[malekithe]

I voted for Bronze working but, in a fair number of the games I play, it isn't my first tech. First, I might not start with Mining. Second, I prioritize food resources very highly and will try to work the best one nearby. So, agriculture definitely gives Bronze working a run for its money in my games. But I always get Bronze working in the first 3-4 techs.

 

[Nares]

I picked Hunting, but the real goal is Archery (didn't bother to look for it until I had already clicked the Vote button). I'm not very fond of civs that start with Hunting because it sacrifices the free Warrior for a free Scout, and Scouts suck.

 

[cymru_man]

I picked Hunting, but the real goal is Archery (didn't bother to look for it until I had already clicked the Vote button). I'm not very fond of civs that start with Hunting because it sacrifices the free Warrior for a free Scout, and Scouts suck.

2 moves and better goody hut results, plus it's equally good against animals as a warrior. You are kidding, right?

 

[Nares]

2 moves and better goody hut results, plus it's equally good against animals as a warrior. You are kidding, right?

Read the sig.

Scouts can't steal a Worker.

Free Workers are better than mildly better Hut results. Well, unless you're playing on really high difficulties, where a Warrior popped Hut might mean a horde of Barbarians spawning, but even there, a free Worker has some immense use.

That, and the two movement points aren't exceptionally useful. Too many Hills to climb, or Forests/Jungles to crawl through. And Warriors do way better against Barbarian Warriors and Archers than Scouts do (which is to say, Scouts mean free XP for a Barbarian unit).

 

[The Lardossen]

I really like starting with a scout. I never steal workers so the warrior is just being chopped before the settler as an escort.

 

[pigswill]

Used to go for bronze-working (through mining if necessary). Post patch more likely to go for tech that helps city grow fastest at start. Bronze is still an early one (usually after first worker tech).
Regarding warrior/scout. I haven't gone for worker-napping (yet). Warriors survive longer(usually 'til their first bear), scouts travel faster; I expect to lose either unless I'm lucky.

 

[ownedbyakorat]

I voted for Bronze working but, in a fair number of the games I play, it isn't my first tech. First, I might not start with Mining. Second, I prioritize food resources very highly and will try to work the best one nearby. So, agriculture definitely gives Bronze working a run for its money in my games. But I always get Bronze working in the first 3-4 techs.

ditto.....

 

[BadHorsie]

I think bronze working is best for two reasons:
You get copper, so you can build swordsman to take over people.

Don't you mean axemen?

 

[Tavenier]

Pottery. Especially when starting next to a river. I then build cottages like crazy alongside the floodplains, or grassland/rivers. You'll be making money like crazy in no time and before you know it you have the tech lead.
Works every time.
If I don't start next to rivers then I research the wheel first. Get everything full with roads so that when you research tile improve-techs you can get everywhere very fast. Plus you can get your cities connected right away. Good for defense and for spreading religion. Infrastructure is critical in my type of strategy.

 

[ComradeDavo]

Polytheism, presuming I am playing a spiritual civ.

 

[Elrohir]

It really depends upon the start, what resources are available, what your startint techs are, etc. More often than any other, though, it's Bronze Working.

 

[GreatSquid]

I almost always go with bronze working so I can send some axemen at my nearest foe.

 

[obsolete]

People are overlooking the fact it often depends on your leader... If i'm Ghandi, i'll save bronze working for later, and try to get my religion down asap.

Once again, this choice list is somewhat meaningless. If you're playing the same routes no matter what your leader is, what is the point of different leaders.

 

[Jazzster]

I voted for meditation. I want a holy city.

 

[mutax2003]

Polytheism if I have mysticism as my starting tech, otherwise mining->bronze working. If no bronze around, then maybe detour to archery (at epic game speed for barb control), or head straight to iron working (for online quick MP games).

 

[Aldarad]

Polytheism or Mysticism-Polytheism. I realy love having my own religion early.

 

[Zombie69]

Pottery. Especially when starting next to a river. I then build cottages like crazy alongside the floodplains, or grassland/rivers. You'll be making money like crazy in no time and before you know it you have the tech lead.
Works every time.

Not on higher levels it won't. On very high levels, the only way to get the tech lead against AIs that get huge bonuses is to destroy at least one of them, and take over their land. Cottages won't let you do that, but bronze working (allowing for axemen, and providing the hammers to create them through chopping and whipping) will.