I used to only play Sci/Ind in Civ3, so I found it a bit unsettling when I loaded up Civ4 for the first time and couldn't find a Phi/Ind leader. I later read one of Sulla's posts, and he said that combo wasn't included because the ability to create GPP wonders easily (Ind) + the 50% GPP bonus (Phi) was just too powerfull. So I had no choice but to venture into the great unknown, and try a bunch of other combos out... I'm glad I did.
I first choose Saladin (Phi/Spi), Phi of course is now agreed upon as being one of the more usefull traits, due to the importance of Great Peoples in Civ4. Simply put, Great People are great. Religious shrines, science academies, culture bombs, trade missions, free techs, super specialists.. what's not to love? Specialize a city for food, create a couple of specialists, and pump those babies out. Since they're one of the new concepts, it took me a few games to get the hang of them, and the more I got comfortable with the concept, the more usefull Phi seemed.
As for Saladin's other trait, Spi, well it's generaly regarded as one of the more useless traits. The reason for this is because most people see its only benefit as avoiding the one turn of anarchy you get by changing civics/religions - and losing that one turn really isn't that big of a deal. But as I've learned, that's not Spi's real worth as a trait. Every trait gets a cost deduction on one building, Phi gives you a cost reduction for universities, Agg gives you a cost reduction for baracks, and Spi gives you a cost reduction for temples, etc. But here's the thing, in a single city you can only build one university, or one barracks, but you can build up to seven temples (one for each religion). The more religions you have in a city, the more temples you can build, and the greater the culture, happiness, and Spiritual GPPs (through priests) boost. I see Spi as a trait which will be much more usefull at higher difficulty levels, where you find it very difficult keeping your citizens happy.
Next up was Louis XIV (Ind/Cre). What can I say, Ind is a great trait. Maybe the best trait, since it makes almost every other trait better. I mean, what strategy doesn't include wonders? To get the full effect of Phi's trait , you'll need to build wonders like the Parthenon and National Epic. To get the full effect of Fin's trait, you'll need wonders like Wall Street and the Oxford University. Simply put, Ind is great with everything, because everything is greater with wonders.
Now Louis' other trait, Cre, is something I didn't really appreciate untill it was gone. While it's true it's only really usefull in the early game when you're first settling your nation, it's so usefull during that stage that once you've gotten used to having it, it's very hard to play a civ without. Think about how how much pressure is put on you in the early game. Every turn is vital. You know you've got to build settlers as fast as possible, but you also need to start expanding your borders in order to claim resources, and at the same time you need to build workers to hook-up/improve those resources. No matter what you do your sacrificing something. But with the Cre trait, suddenly things become a lot simpler. Since your borders take care of themselves, you can focus entirely on workers/settlers, getting more of them out sooner than if you had to bother building obelisks in order to gain access to that horse/stone/copper/etc resource just outside your border.
Finaly, I tried playing a Fin civ (Qin: Fin/Ind), and this was the trait that suprised me the most. I remembered how badly Civ3's Com (commercial) trait sucked, and so I was kind of expecting more of the same. But as it turns out, the new Fin trait is nothing like the old Com trait (the new Organised trait gets that dubious honor), it's acctualy good - very good. Interestingly, the Fin trait is more about science than it is about money, as Fin boosts your commerce and commerce is what's turned into research. Of course if you lower your science rate from 100%, the extra commerce will be deposited into your your treasury as gold, but for the most part you're going to want to be running at 100% science unless you need some cash for your annual unit upgrade. Just as the Cre trait is usefull early in the game but grows less and less usefull through the mid to late game, the Fin trait isn't very usefull in the early game but grows more and more usefull through the mid to late game. The reason for this is three-fold. First and foremost are cottages, the backbone of a Fin civ, produce very little commerce early in the game, it's only when they progress from cottage to hamlet to village to town that they really become worthwhile. Second, the techs/civics which further improve cottages/villages/towns aren't available untill the the mid to late game. And finaly, the wonders which are best suited for a Fin civilization (wall street, oxford) aren't available untill the mid to late game.
Oh well - I think I'll try an Aggressive civ next - I have yet to fight anything but barbarians and animals!
