What techs and civics do you prioritize for Science Victory?

[JorshRod]

I'm playing at Immortal now and the AI is starting to get religion or cultural pushes that are challenging my finish times when doing science. I really don't have much of a grip on the synergies of the two trees right now.

My general idea is to get my luxury/bonuses up and running, then beeline to apprenticeship and industrialization for the factory cheese, picking up writing, currency, and education on the way to keep up science. For Civics I get political philosophy asap, then games and recreation for the collesium, then beeline to exploration for merchant republic, then capitalism, ideology, suffrage and space race.

City wise I typically push commercial zones, then industrial, then campuses, putting theaters where campuses don't make sense to keep up the culture points.

While this seemed to work at launch, it is not working now. I get to rocketry really earlier compared to the AI by neglecting the bottom half of the tree, but when I have to get Nuclear Fusion and nanotech it takes forever to pick up all the small techs on the bottom half I've neglected, even with the eureka for as many as possible.

What are your priorities for science victory, where is the balanced approach for optimal victory times?

 

[jaegybomb]

Campuses always make sense for the buildings. Rationalism is huge.

 

[MaximusPlatypus]

You mean production victory?

 

[Sun Tzu Wu]

For Science Victory, you need Campus districts and buildings as soon as possible. The Jesuit belief will allow you to build Campus buildings with Faith.

Build Commercial Districts in all your core cities (not all cities though) for some trade routes. Build Markets and Banks for extra cash. Some players will maximize their Treasury and complete Big Ben to double their Treasury.

After Commercial Districts, beeline Industrial Zones and its buildings. Once you have unlocked Spaceport, allow research to coast and focus on cogs only, including The Ruhr Valley great wonder, Sagan and Braun Great People for the big three Science Victory goals as noted in the game summary for that victory condition.

 

[Chibisuke]

For science victory, prioritize:

1. Campuses and campus improvements asap.

2. Industrial zones and industrial improvements asap.

3. Techs that give campus buildings.

4. Enlightenment civic.

5. Key great people.

6. Don't neglect army, domination of a few civs will help speed things along a good bit.

I have been keeping the government that gives bonus great people points a lot longer lately as well. Often I skip the middle set of governments entirely.

It is important to get the campus/industrial zone buildings working asap not just for the tech/cog push to build the space race items, but also because if you do things right you can start to monopolize the most important great scientists and engineers. The right combo of them can instantaneously win you the game or at a minimum significantly speed up your mission to Mars to allow you to overtake a runaway AI or just win the game quicker.

 

[Sun Tzu Wu]

I would have thought that getting a few trade routes (building Commerial/Harbor Districts) after unlocking the Campus District, but before unlocking the Industrial Zone would be optimal. You seem to be saying delay all Commercial/Harbor Districts until all Industrial Zones have been completed. Is that right?

 

[Chibisuke]

I will build commercial and/or harbor only as needed. Generally, I am trying to maintain income somewhere around 10 to 30 gold per turn during the build up phase. Thus, if I have 15 gpt income, I won't build another commercial zone right away unless that city already has campus/industrial. However, if my income dropped to like 7 gpt, now I am looking for the next place to build commercial/harbor and that moves to the top of the list. Eventually you have enough civics and improvements where gold income goes up significantly, but I don't think that should be as much of a priority in the early game when it is better to start accumulating great people.