[BTS] When Should I go for Oracle?

[CGQ]

I just started a new emperor game with Elizabeth and landed a pretty nice start with lots of food and marble in my BFC. My question is however, when is it best to go for Oracle and what's the best way to go about it? Should it be only when I have Mysticism and marble in my BFC or if I have only marble, since Elizabeth doesn't start with Mysticism. Would this be a good strategy in this particular game? I attached the 4000 BC save for anyone who wants to have at it. I have events and tiki huts on though since I intended to play this one for fun.

If I do go for Oracle, what's the quickest way?

Spoiler 4000 B.C. :

 

[Gumbolt]

I see lots of forest, corn and pigs. To me that suggests agriculture, BW and AH as early techs. Your financial and philosophical. Danger here is you build Oracle and end up with lots of great priests.

Really not sure on Oracle here. It's not impossible but it may mean delaying useful early techs like pottery and writing for early cottages/GScientist.

 

[rah]

If I see good commerce and I'm industrious I'll give it a run. For the just over 300 beakers for mys, med, priesthood I can score almost 800 for metal casing.
All I have to do is score pottery first and that's a usual early tech for me. Yeah, it can delay some other techs a few turns but get access to forges early when you're industrious is just too good to pass up.

 

[dankok8]

See Harv's Catherine game where he used the Oracle to get early Monarchy. The map badly lacked in happiness resources. That's one good use of it for sure. I find that I rarely go for the Oracle. There are often more important economic techs to research early in the game.

 

[Tobiyogi]

If you mean your question like "in general"... I would really think if I need all those techs leading towards it. If you are CHA, can use failgold from ToA, maybe a religion in sight (or you want to oracle Confu) and/or Monarchy is also useful for you, then trying for the Oracle can be a huge benefit. Otherwise, it could mean that you simply get something that equals all those techs you needed to reach Priesthood. Not to mention that your tech pace was blocked all the time for something else. I admit though that some techs can be a huge deal.

 

[Fine_Distinction]

It depends a lot on difficulty level. On emperor, you have to think really hard about what you need and how does it fit with your big strategy? On lower levels, having marble, Oracle is normally very useful, you can often (up to Monarch for me) reliably oracle something really fancy, like civil service, and with marble, failgold is not a total catastrophe, either.

I would say if you can get something really useful - and build Oracle in time without sacrificing normal development to much - go for it. But with Elizabeth, specialist economy seem like a better fit, dunno. Pyramids would be a better fit, but on emperor without stone I guess much higher chance to conquer them than to build them.

So I, personally, would just go for a "catapult wonder"

 

[lymond]

Marble for Oracle really depends on what you might be able to save it for. CS sling on Emperor is possible but only if you know Oracle will last....Henge timing and AIs present. Folks like Justy, Izzy and Gandhi on your map then forget a sling. Regardless, having marble online is not necessary for Oracle which is one of the cheapest wonders in the game. Just chop it.

 

[Gwaja]

The free tech from the Oracle must serve a purpose short term in order to be worth the effort. If you don't have any specific plan to utilize that free tech, better to put the hammers into other things. Lack of plan usually leads to the player just picking a tech with the highest beaker cost, which does not always serve the player best, and many times that tech just does not get put into good use.

I would stay away from attempting CS slingshot even at lower levels as it forms a bad habit which will just not work in Immortal and Deity, if you plan on moving up the ladder in difficulty.

 

[sylvanllewelyn]

On emperor you could go for the Oracle but there's not much point:

Spoiler :

If I started with gold, silver, or gems, then it would have been worth it. As it stands, I had to burn a great scientist for mathematics. What's the point? I don't even have The Wheel or Pottery.