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Contents
How
do
Golden Ages Begin?
What
Does
a Golden Age Do?
How
Long
do Golden Ages Last?
When
are
Golden Ages Useful?
How
Does
a Golden
Age Affect Production and Economics?
How
Does
Happiness
Effect Golden Ages?
Should
I
Sacrifice a
Great Person to Start a Golden Age?
Should
I
Develop
Rationalism and/or Reformation to get a Golden Age?
Should
I
Build the Taj
Mahal for the Golden Age it Provides?
How
can
I Speed up
Golden Age Progress and Extend Golden Ages?
How do Golden Ages Begin?
Golden Ages are triggered by
Happiness, by completing the Taj Mahal, by sacrificing any Great
Person, and by adopting the Rationalism and Reformation Policies.
What
Does
a
Golden
Age do?
Golden Ages cause your civilization to
generate much more Production and Gold than it normally would. Your
Cities complete Buildings faster, create Wonders more quickly, and give
you lots of extra Gold to buy Units, bribe City-States or apply to
construction.
How
Long
do
Golden
Ages Last?
It depends on the way they're
triggered and modifiers like the Chichen Itza and Darius II. They
usually run between 3-10 Turns. Every time you use a Great Person to
start a Golden Age, the duration of the next Golden Age caused by a
Great Person decreases by one turn.
When
are
Golden
Ages
Useful?
The earlier a Golden Age happens, the
better. Civilization 5 operates on compounding interest. The earlier
you build or buy Units, Buildings and Wonders with the proceeds of your
Golden Age, the more time those Units, Buildings and Wonders have to
grant their benefits to your civilization. That said, Golden Ages are
always good. Peacetime, Wartime, Ancient Era or Future Era, Golden Ages
provide more Production and Gold, two resources you never stop needing.
Golden Ages are also extremely useful
for Annexing large numbers of puppet cities all at once by negating the
negative effects.
For example, you have say 24 excess happiness and 8 or 9 cities you
have puppeted
from a previous war. If you also have a general or two to trigger so
much the better. You trigger the Golden Age, add in your generals (if
any) and
immediately go annexing all the cities you want. Your happiness falls
dramaticaly, but the excess production insures that you will complete
your courthouses before the Golden Age ends. Negative happiness during
a Golden Age
does nothing to your Golden Age timer, and has minimal effect on
production.
How Does a Golden
Age Affect Production and Economics?
While in a Golden Age, every worked
Tile in your empire yields one additional Production and Gold. If you
have ten Cities with an average of ten worked Tiles each, you'll gain
an extra 100 Production and Gold per turn.
Because they rely on the number of worked Tiles you possess, a Golden
Age grants greater benefits to a large civilization than to a small
one. This ensures that Golden Ages scale through the game along with
the rising costs of Buildings, Wonders and Units. Specialists don't
contribute Production or Gold during a Golden Age.
How Does Happiness
Effect Golden Ages?
Every point of Happiness you have at
the end of every Turn feeds into your pool of Golden Age Progress.
Surplus Happiness brings Golden Ages with greater frequency.
Unhappiness SUBTRACTS from this pool. Do not ever allow your
civilization to become Unhappy. Every time you leave a Golden Age, the
amount of Happiness necessary to inaugurate the next one increases.
Should I Sacrifice a
Great Person to Start a Golden Age?
Early in the game, Great People are
best applied to creating Manufactories, Academies, Landmarks and
Customs Houses. These Improvements will generate more benefit to your
civilization than Golden Ages will. As you approach the late game,
Golden Ages become a better application of your Great People,
especially Great Artists.
Great Generals are an exception. You rarely need more than one at a
time, two at the most. The citadel Improvement they offer is rarely
worth the trouble, so sacrificing excess Generals is a nice way to
create Golden Ages.
Should I Develop Rationalism or Reformation to get a Golden Age?
If you're on the Science Victory Path, forgo Reformation for Rationalism.
Should I Build the Taj Mahal for the Golden Age it Provides?
If you have an expansive civilization, (100 or more worked Tiles) at the time you discover the Printing Press, the benefits of Taj Mahal should outweigh the expenditures enough to justify construction. Otherwise, focus on another Wonder instead.
How can I Speed up Golden Age Progress and Extend Golden Ages?
- Keep your people happy. There's plenty elsewhere in the guide on how to do this.
- Build the Chichen Itza (it's worth the investment).
- Develop Organized Religion. It reduces the cost of Golden Ages by a wide margin and is a prerequisite to Reformation, which in turn grants a free six turn Golden Age.
- Play as Darius I, Mr. Golden Age himself. Not only do you gain a large bonus in Golden Age length, you also have access to the Satrip's Court Building.
- The Court acts as a Bank that also
increases Happiness, which feeds back into creating more Golden Ages.
GO TO: YOUR FIRST 100 TURNS
GO TO: SOCIAL POLICY
-Martin
One thing I noticed.
While in a Golden Age, every worked Tile in your empire yields one additional Production and Gold
Early in the game, Great People are best applied to creating Manufactories, Academies, Landmarks and Customs Houses. These Improvements will generate more benefit to your civilization than Golden Ages will. As you approach the late game, Golden Ages become a better application of your Great People, especially Great Artists.
I disagree with the late game Great Artist comment. Late in the game, a landmark can up your cultural output by 40+ culture per turn. Well worth it.