Which early social policy tree is most likely to have your most frequent adoption?

[EEE_BOY]

I know Tradition is the G&K most favourite by many forum visitors, occasionally Liberty still has some voices (like me). Now with the change of Piety moving to ancient era, I had a feeling that things might get really diversified. Of course playstyle is different as well as maps, civs, and balance issue. I think Piety maybe my new favourite as it is very flexible for any type of victory, it has science, tourism, domination and CS combos (first to choose of course). It is a no brainer to go if civ is religious or having a religious UB, but for other civs the reformation belief is still very powerful not to miss.

Assume other trees stay the same except the below changes made, which policy tree do you expect to suit your style?

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Honor Social Policy Tree
- Opener; You can build the Statue of Zeus Wonder; Adopting Honor gies a +33% combat bonus vs Barbarians; notifications will be provided when new Barbarian Encampments spawn in revealed territory; Gain Culture for the empire from each barbarian killed.
- Finisher; You can purchase of Great Generals with faith; grant Gold for each enemy unit killed

Liberty Social Policy Tree
- Opener; You can build the Pyramids Wonder

Piety Social Policy Tree
- Unlocks in the Ancient Era
- Opener; Build Shrines and Temples twice as fast, unlocks building the Great Mosque of Djenne
- Reformation; you can chose one of the reformation beliefs for your religion
- Finisher; causes a Great Prophet to appear and Holy Sites provide +3 Culture

Tradition Social Policy Tree
- Opener - unlocks the Hanging Gardens; greatly increases the rate of border expansion in cities and also grants 3 Culture in the Capital
- Finisher; purchasing of Great Engineers with Faith; Adopting all policies in the Tradition tree will grant +15% Growth and a free Aqueduct in your first 4 cities
(Reference to the sticky thread for ease of discussion)

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Tradition still sounds like the go-to Tree most of the time, but certain civs, like Byzantium, could go the Piety route and do quite well.

 

[Martinus]

My favourite play style is a tall empire, focusing on culture and religion.

In vanilla/G&K this meant Tradition as an almost constant opener, but now I will have to seriously reevaluate that and Piety.

 

[nanomage]

Liberty and Tradition look like they're both ok.
Honor still seems worthless, though maybe barb culture will be more valuable now.
To know how good new Piety would be we'll have to play a few games.

 

[Velex]

Do we know what Great Person liberty gets access to purchase w/ faith?

 

[Ryoga]

Tradition is my preferred starting tree, piety my least favored one, nothing has really changed. In addition of all those unlocked wonders the hanging gardens is the one that I usually aim to, I rarely bother with the others.

 

[migalhone]

I picked Honor because i love playing Sweden, and apparently, one of the early Honor SP increases your GG production by 25% (The SP i'm talking is the one that gives you a GG). I saw the info on a screenshot, can't exactly remember.

 

[nanomage]

Do we know what Great Person liberty gets access to purchase w/ faith?

No purchase, just a "free" GP as now. Maybe they'll at least make it not increment the counter, I dunno.

 

[blackcatatonic]

I tend to go either Tradition or Liberty but Hanging Gardens will probably swing it for Tradition.

 

[DeutschDachs]

Adding in great engineers for tradition just about solidifies that as my go to tree. Piety could be quite useful as well though, the reformation beliefs seem awesome. Could take the honor opener if I'm going to be a warmonger for the statue of Zeus, but otherwise I can't see myself using any beyond unless I'm the aztecs or maybe Mongoliafor a free khan

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

I tend to open Tradition first to get the three culture per turn, then switch to Liberty at least as far as the free settler and can't see that changing with BNW.

 

[Velex]

Piety seems really good now, especially quick shrines from the get-go, then double faith for them. And since it no longer clashes with rationalism, I think it'll be my go-to.

With tradition allowing faith purchased GE's, is that from as soon as you finish tradition, or you still have to wait 'till industrial era?

edit: @ Rob : Does that actually net you a settler faster than if you went the more direct route?

 

[baptismbyfire]

I do the same thing with opening Tradition to get the 3 culture then switch to Liberty to get the free settler. Now that you can't sell resources without a DOF, there is no reason to change that. Pyramids is usually my first go-to wonder and I like the Statue of Zeus, so it looks like I'll also be opening Honor now, which I don't usually do.

 

[cpm4001]

I can see no reason for me to change from Tradition; it fits my preferred tall playstyle quite well. The fact that it unlocks the Hanging Gardens (one of the better wonders) and the ability to purchase Great Engineers (Production! Yay!) with Faith is just icing on an already-great cake.

 

[DudewiththeFood]

Still liberty first most of the time although piety coming sooner may mix it up a bit more.

 

[kaspergm]

Piety could still use a slight buff, I think Opener should have the +1 on Shrines/Temples and then Organized Religion should give +1 from these buildings instead. I also think closer is still really lack-lustre. When that's said, I will definitely give that tree a lot more attention, since the fact that it adds something unique in form of the Reformation beliefs that I can't get access to without picking that tree really adds something special to the game. But Tradition will most likely still be my favored pick as first tree.

In fact, there seems to be something there that could have been expanded to the closer of each tree to make the game much more fun and emphasize the importance of specializing in the different policy trees. Of course, the closer can't stand alone, as the otherwise lacklustre Expansion tree shows.

 

[crawf0rd]

I might try piety, but tradition has always been the tree for me. I think Liberty should allow you to build settlers with faith.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

I think Liberty should allow you to build settlers with faith.

I like that idea!

 

[IkM]

I like Tradition and mostly get it first. but, Honor is very important for some factions like Mongols, Huns, Aztecs. etc.

if you get "Military Tradition" as Mongols and if you attack a city with Keshiks, they get 6 exp points. and, if your Keshiks have "Logistics Promotion" which gives "1 additional attack per turn." you get 12 exp points each turn. I have 5 Keshiks in my current campaign and most of them over 450 xp.

 

[Velex]

I like that idea!

Seconded. Because why not?