Which jump between levels is the biggest

[stavka]

I'm struggling to make the jump from noble to Prince - I can cane the game on noble, but can't win on Prince.

Are all the level jumps quite big, or are some much worse than others?

 

[AfterShafter]

The Monarch/Emperor jump feels like a kick in the teeth compared to the previous ones... Though I'm only just learning that the Emperor/Immortal one is even worse in a lot of ways :S

 

[Leodavinci]

I'm struggling to make the jump from noble to Prince - I can cane the game on noble, but can't win on Prince.

Are all the level jumps quite big, or are some much worse than others?

same problem here, could win almost every game on Noble but have won only 2-3 cultural on Prince...

 

[DigitalBoy]

I've heard that the monarch-emperor jump is pretty excruciating.

 

[pi-r8]

I think every jump is bigger than the one before it. At least, it feels like I've played about twice as many games on each difficulty level as I did on the one before it.

 

[Pangur Bán]

The jump from Noble to Prince isn't that bad. Try easing yourself in by playing an easy leader or with easy settings ... say the Romans on a small or tiny terra map, then gradually challenge yourself more until finally you find you don't even notice you're on a new difficulty level.

 

[The Rook]

Emperor seems all around much tougher than Monarch. Immortal is brutal in the early stages, but if you can weather the AI's early expansion frenzy, it doesn't feel too different to Emperor IMHO.

 

[The Rook]

The jump from Noble to Prince isn't that bad. Try easing yourself in by playing an easy leader or with easy settings ... say the Romans on a small or tiny terra map, then gradually challenge yourself more until finally you find you don't even notice you're on a new difficulty level.

Of course even Deity can be ridiculously easy if you fiddle with the settings enough. Deity, Dual, Marathon, HC, Quechua rush etc... But that is a very cheap way to grab a Deity win.

 

[AfterShafter]

Emperor seems all around much tougher than Monarch. Immortal is brutal in the early stages, but if you can weather the AI's early expansion frenzy, it doesn't feel too different to Emperor IMHO.

Yeah. Once you get going, it's pretty much the same... But boy do you have to claw your way past five or so cities. 95% of my Immortal games that end end really early... Though I just got Stalinated by about a bazillion knights in one of my games :S

 

[PimpyMicPimp]

I'm only a Noble player currently, but I found Warlod to Noble like two different games. It took me awhile before I could do it, although I'm starting to dominate on Noble like I used to on Warlord so I'm considering another jump. I'm scared

 

[Nay]

Monarch -> Emperor is toughest.
Once you master Emperor, Immortal isnt that big of a difference.

But Monarch is a lot more forgiving than Emperor.

 

[Stylesrj]

From Chieftain to Warlord. It was a big jump. On Chieftain, I barely saw the AI use large scale navies (and it was like only 2 or 4 ships). On Warlord, they jump up and use huge fleets (10 ships in a stack or something). More XP for my Destroyers!

 

[Sempronio]

Monarch to Emperor is certainly the toughest one I have experimented.
With Noble to Prince and Prince to Monarch it only took me a few games to adjust, but at Monarch man!! You really have to pay attention to what you're doing.
I've never tried a Deity game but just looking at the extra bonuses the AI gets it seems that Immortal to Deity is even worst.

 

[ButSam]

I think the worst jump is between Prince and Monarch, since that is what I am trying to do. A few months ago, I thought the worst jump was between Noble and Prince, until I got a hang of Prince.

Point is, the worst jump will be from the level you can win at often to the next higher level

I honestly think based upon what others have said, the jump to Emperor requires a lot. I personally think Monarch is very difficult though

Sam

 

[kranhalf]

Hi,

I pretty consistently win on Monarch with my choice of CIV, but recently on Emperor I'm struggling. I've got a pretty decent start as Hatshepsut but Shaka is my neighbor and even tho I have the tech lead he'll crush me soon (we're friendly, but that doesn't mean much, he's vassalized my other neighbor and just made peace with the other guy on the continent, so i'm pretty much screwed)

I beat him 6 turns to Rifling, but my army is half the size of his.

Ah well, I'll get better. But Emperor is really tough after Monarch... Monarch wasn't that bad after Prince. (Epic speed, small/standard Terra map with +1 civ to the normal)

 

[ButSam]

Settler to Diety is the biggest jump

 

[PJyang]

Immortal to Deity maybe. The extra settler AI has make them expand very fast and likely to box you in which immortal AI doesn't.

 

[cryogenics]

To take us all back a second, I remember when I just finished moving into a new apartment a year or so ago and the Internet-cable guy saw a disk of Warlords sitting on my coffee table. He mentioned it was a favourite of his and we started talking. Asking if I had time to play the new Warlords expansion yet, I replied not much. And I didn't at the time - moving and all. He told me difficulty levels that were a cinch for him in Vanilla were altogether another matter in the new expansion. When I finally sat down to play I realized, I too, was no match for the updated AI.

This thread reminded me of that conversation. From Vanilla to Warlords and now Warlords to BtS... things are a little different that's for sure. Even when I made the jump from Noble to Prince (all my games are played at quick speed on either tiny or small with raging barbarians and usually aggressive AI), I noticed the difference. Now, with a couple of exciting Prince-level wins under my belt (one was a extraordinary battle where I was whip-happy Montezuma), I still find the AI far superior in adapting to what I'm doing than in previous levels.

I think the real kicker here is an AI which is able to pick up on what you're doing and come up with an effective counter. But I guess the biggest tangible difference I notice between Noble and Prince is the AI seems to tech at super-speed around the time Scientific Method is researched. It seems I always slow down at this point because buildings I have to produce beakers go obsolete.

In any event, I'm sure I'll put a lid on things with a little more practise{:

player_13