[GS] What is your preferred difficulty level for playing GS?

[Stilgar08]

Pretty much always standard speed Emperor. I don't have any difficulty/speed mods. I disagree with the opinion I often see expressed that Emperor difficulty makes pursuing early wonders or a religion nigh impossible.

I'm a religion-lover in civ and I regularly get a religion on Emperor difficulty playing civs with no bonuses to getting one. The same can be said for early wonders -- as long as I'm not trying to get the Great Bath, I feel like I have a fair shot at any other wonder. Stonehnge is risky but I've found that I'm getting it more often now that the Great Bath gives the AI something else to rush.

I also dislike the notion that Emperor+ difficulty makes peace unviable. That's just not true. You don't have to war to win at all, but of course, it does make it easier.

Oh, it's not impossible at all to build wonders But you definitely have to limit yourself to one / two max IMO.
If you get a religion you gotta focus on it .I almost always go for one and it's easy to get I'd say...

 

[Victoria]

For me it is a bit like hitting a golf ball, sometimes it just feels right and goes well, especially when you do not try too hard.
This feeling comes most often for me on Emperor, things works well together without trying too hard, you get the eurekas and inspirations when you need them, it is much nicer timing in my view and I also have lots of choice in approach, if I do not want a second city for 50 turns that can be OK in a more relaxed way.

 

[Disgustipated]

I should add that it also depends on which Civ I'm playing. Someone like the Ottomans have to be played at a higher level. Where as someone like Canada or Georgia...

 

[Tech Osen]

My standard configuration is Emperor, standard size map, continents with high sea level. Either a random civ or a specific one. Used to like to play on island maps but on those maps there is often a lack of sizable rivers.

 

[MrRadar]

I'm really at a loss where to cast my vote. I cycle through Emperor, Immortal and Deity, but I can't call any of those preferred level, probably just because how extremely unbalanced difficulty is throughout the course of a game.

Emperor allows you to do pretty much whatever you want, build wonders, etc., but all the intrigue, whatever it may have been, leaves the game very early and past that point the bore grows relentlessly with every turn.
Immortal is in a very peculiar place, most cases when I pick it I catch myself asking why I just hadn't picked Deity.
Deity presents decent initial challenge and prolongs the interesting part of the game, and sometimes even approaching the end you must keep an eye on SV and CV, and RV (!) tabs, so you're not sneaked upon unexpectedly, but then again, usually the pressure drops and AI fizzles out. It seems that it also loses interest.

I do not aim for fastest finish times or maximum efficiency. Every now and again I try a GOTM only to rediscover every time that I pretty much can't stomach a playstyle required for fast finish times. Inevitably I seek little stories in my games, I expect there will be an interesting history to enjoy, and I want the civs to behave, well, in some more active and interesting ways, like a nation would. And I'd prefer AI pressure that would be spread much more evenly throughout the game. Maybe I'll try Smoother difficulty some time.

I tried Increased tech and civic costs mod, but ended up with mixed feelings. The Ancient and Classical were very eventful and I had to push back a real carpet of AI archers (Chinese archers, I was almost praying with every turn that he does not get to his Tigers, but Qin chose to build HS in that game instead of Campus districts, and oddly, he was never in for peace, even with the last city garrison reduced to 0 and no units left he wouldn't peace out under any conditions), but then it was back to usual afterwards, complete passivity of the AI in the endgame, so essentially it was all the same just drawn out. It seems addressing pacing without upping the mid-late game AI behaviour will not be enough.

 

[Abaxial]

Always Prince, because I have a principled objection to handicapping the player just because the AI is weak. I like a level playing field, and I'm not overly concerned about challenge. I can make a comparison with chess. In the 19th C, it was popular to even out the difference in skill between two players by playing at odds - for instance the stronger player might remove his queen's knight at the start of the game. But you never see this mode of play now, and in the days when I played chess it seemed to be really unpopular with modern club-level players.

 

[Jkchart]

We've had a lot of topics about the AI, pros and cons of certain difficultly levels, ways to "fix" various issues that different people have, etc. etc.
We've also had about a month and a half to play and learn Gathering Storm and settle into our own personal preferences.

So, What is your preferred difficulty level for playing GS?

Feel free to explain why - including (if it matters) your personal playing style, or any general settings you feel might impact this (ex: huge map with half the # of Civs).

I'll go first, I enjoy playing Emperor. And here's why:

I find, for my enjoyment, this to be the best level that mixes some challenge and still allows for a somewhat laid back playing style.
While I consider myself a good player, I don't like to force myself into playing super efficiently.
I don't have to worry about getting the perfect start, I hate restarting.
I do, usually, have to build up a minor army to keep the AI honest at this level, but I don't always have early era war forced upon me (like I do with Deity).
I also get to trade and interact with other AI's that have built at least a decent size empire, with a somewhat developed mid-game.

I prefer to play for either Culture or Science victories. Many times I will conquer my closest neighbor, but this is not always the way I play. And after that I like to settle into a peacful empire building type of game.

So, all in all, Emperor gives me the best overall play experience to meet my preferences.

I picked King. I will play Prince/King when trying something new. Starting Emperor for civs I know well and want a challenge with.

 

[Leathaface]

Immortal. I would play on Deity if the AI didn't get a 3rd settler, Deity should be where the AI gets a second settler like in Civ IV and V.

Immortal is the right place for veterans that do not want to go cheesy/early war against a slug-brained opponent. Immortal without abusing your neighbors is more challenging than Deity with neighbor abuse that you almost cannot avoid as the neighbors usually abuse you first, and now with the grievances it's very easy to stop them in their initial assault, and then take what they built for you very early on, making the game much easier from there on. That feels very cheesy, and would be corrected with a better AI, which will not happen.

So if you capture your enemies cities Diety becomes easier than Immortal?

 

[Clan]

Most of the time, when having a few hours to myself away from real life headaches, I just want to enjoy playing the game, building wonders and districts, without falling impossibly far behind early.
Maybe just for the hell of it, build a medium sized army to smash a neigbour, you know, just simply having fun playing and I find marathon with ages of pace on emperor is ideal.

 

[Aristos]

So if you capture your enemies cities Diety becomes easier than Immortal?

Read the part you quoted from me carefully again.

 

[RohirrimElf]

Immortal. I would rather play on deity if instead of a starting bonus the advantage would grow over the ages.

I just find a more relaxing game on immortal is more enjoyable then starting with a 3 to 1 disadvantage score wise on deity. I dont play optimal and experiment a bit. Deity is not hard to beat but i find myself playing the same strategy over and over.

 

[Icicle]

I like Emperor because I'm mostly a roleplayer but I can't completely ignore game mechanics either. It works for me.

 

[BK*]

Emp for wonder spam. Deity for headaches

 

[KyivanRusCivPlease]

Immortal is the right place for veterans that do not want to go cheesy/early war against a slug-brained opponent. Immortal without abusing your neighbors is more challenging than Deity with neighbor abuse that you almost cannot avoid as the neighbors usually abuse you first

Which map size and game speed do you usually play on? Another question: does AI at Immortal usually not attack in the early game, so that you don't abuse those early wars? And last question: you mean you can play cheesy at any difficulty by just conquering neighbors early on?

 

[Gorbles]

Mainly Prince, as I play for a relaxed time and I like to explore different build / tech paths. I always run a random Civ as well, so I don't get used to any one particular path. The last time I really tried with difficulty was Beyond Earth, which has an easier curve than either CiV or VI across the difficulty settings (including having less steps overall), and while I could do it, I dislike the incredibly optimised gameplay that you kinda need to follow to win reliably on the highest difficulties.

Part of me wants to be? But I prefer just being a bit lazy, and like getting surprised at whatever harebrained scheme the AI tends to have more time to try at Prince (or thereabouts).

A lot of people here who do the highest difficulties, do you have specific Civilisations? Do you enjoy the harder-to-reach Victories (the lategame ones mainly)?

I guess part of my problem is I dislike losing games, haha. Would have to get used to that to keep giving King or higher a bash.

 

[Onii-chan]

Usually Immortal. I feel like the more mechanics that are added to the game, the easier it becomes for a human to outplay an AI

 

[OmegaDestroyer]

I usually opt for King but occasionally go for Emperor. Always play on Epic and usually Huge, Shuffle maps.

 

[skodkim]

Just waiting for a hotfix so I can start playing GS

\Skodkim

 

[Leathaface]

I tried my first game on Deity today, playing as Nubia. I'm in the early Industrial era (after beelining Ballistics to upgrade my Crossbowmen to Field Cannons) and i'm fareing well, I am second in Science. I've 100 Science and Korea has 135.

I've got 8 cities down and am Sim City'ing well. I think I might stay at Deity after this, though I would have lost my second city if I wasn't playing as Nubia. I forward settled Rome and me getting the Eureka for Archery and Amanitore's bonus production to ranged units made me keep that city.

 

[NebulousJaguar]

I like prince because I like to build wonders. Most specifically I love to build casa de contracion, ruhr valley, and a few others I prefer. I can never get casa de contracion on higher difficulties.
But deity is fine too, the game plays differently on deity and sometimes I happen to be in the mood for that.