When is Desert Folklore Worth It?

I'm a very new player playing G+K, and I keep hearing about how Desert Folklore is like the most amazing pantheon belief in the game (and I also hear that Petra is amazing when coupled w DF, which makes sense.)

I guess what I am curious about is how many desert tiles do I need around my capital to make desert folklore worth it? I was just playing a game when I had 1 desert tile in my original 6 hexes around my cap, but 5 more in the ring outside of that. Is that enough, or does my cap need to be like in the mdidle of the desert to make it worth it?

Thanks

 

It all depends on what is on those desert tiles, are there hills and/or resources on them?

 

I'd say when you have a lot of flood plains (easy to work early without losing food) and hills (which can be worked once you have farmed the flood plains).

 

Remember that Petra does not work for flood plains, just Desert and Desert Hills, so it's not always as powerful as you might think. It has a few additional bonuses, however.
If you have a city with 4+ desert tiles, I think Petra is worth it. If you have a desert start on lots of floodplains, then desert folklore is also a viable option.

 

My rule is if I have at least 2 good tiles of desert (oasis, hill, desert with fresh water) it's worth getting.

 

2 desert tiles that you can work with an existing city should be good, often you will have more cities later. faith generating pantheons are quite powerful.

 

Desert folklore is probably one of the best pantheons and you should almost always take it if you have a few desert tiles. In fact I will often take even if the desert will be grab by my second city, unless I have a stronger immediate pantheon like a several quarries around my cap. Or plethora of silver and gold.

I mean think about it. Even 1 workable tile is equal to 1 shrine.

 

If you start by a desert? Always. You will easily generate an upwards of 200+ faith per turn if you have enough desert tiles, which is enough to effectively purchase units/buildings well into the industrial era+.

 

I tend to take DF when I have at least 5 desert tiles of any kind near my first city.

 

Even having two desert tiles on useful hexes you know your workers will work would be enough. That's already tripled your early game faith. 6 hexes around your cap is better than Stonehenge once your city has grown enough, assuming they are in good spots. Get it for sure.

 

You have to look at the pantheoons available and decide which is the best for your environment. Will getting faith from something like quarries, gold/silver, etc. give you more faith in the long run? It might be a better idea. If your desert tiles aren't flood plains and don't have any yield if worked yu have to think: am I likely to get the petra wonder?

You generally want to push for extra faith from your first pantheon. If this isn't viable or if you don't think you'll yield enough faith for it to be worth it you might want to consider getting +10% food (which I find is always a great back-up).

 

I'd want desert tiles all over (at least 6 tiles in my capital) plus more desert tiles available in other cities... but depends on resources. My favorite pantheon now is the one with gems. Had a game where I started out with three sources of gems in my capital. IMO better to take this one if you have the gems

 

My first BNW game was Morocco and I took Petra and DF and just spammed Kasbahs. Twas incredible.

 

With pantheons its my theory that you should always take the one that will give you the most faith

 

It's often good. Perhaps not if OCC with 6 tundra deer, but often it's good.