Key Techs

[DeepO]

The tech tree is hard to read at first, yes. I'm not aware of a better system to represent it though. The tech tree poster that comes with the game does a better job at giving you the options you got, and the prerequisites.

Those little icons in the game tech tree are the techs you must have. If there are arrows arriving from other techs, it indicates that you only need to have one of those arrows (e.g. Military tradition means you must have gunpowder (inthe corner), and either choose between Music and Nationalism.

It will take a while to know by heart, but that's part of the fun: you don't want to have a tree that ends being a challange after only one month of play. I prefer this complex tree to a oversimplified one that is easy to navigate.

DeepO

[Vandessa]

Two key techs I recomend is Biology and Railroad. later into the game they will key to ramping production and food.

Biology is +1 to every farm
Railroads give production bonus to mines and mills.

(you will need Steam Power, because without tapped coal mines your railroads will never show up)

Thats another cool thing, some resources you just won't appear on the map till you discover the means to find them

Iron= Iron Working
Coal = Steam Power
Oil = Scientific Method
Uranium = Physics
Aluminum = Industrialisim

[Arnelos]

They got F-P to write the strategy guide? Niiiiiice

That beats hiring some yahoo from Gamespy or whatever companies normally do.

Still, the reason to come to Apolyton is that we get strategy guide material here FOR FREE. What's this business with you trying to sell it to us now?

[Fried-Psitalon]

Easy there, I just wrote like they asked.

[art_vandelai]

Democracy, Rocketry

Democracy and Rocketry are two key techs if you're going for a space victory.

Democracy allows rushing for gold, which is important for rushing wonders and production buildings (factories, hydro plants, etc.)

Rocketry unlocks the Apollo Program (National Wonder). Be careful, the AI will beeline for this tech in the later game, and refuses to trade it.

[Backpack]

I TRIED to buy it. They didn't have any of them!

(pout)

[ktbutts]

After my first weekend of play, my initial take on techs are these:

1.) Mining - Hammers drive the early game. Also, there is the chance of finding resources (although it has yet to happen to me)

2.) Bronzeworking - if you have copper, axemen are better than Archers (Archery provides a "city defense" of 4.5. An axemen is 5 + melee bonus. In terms of an early defender, when you only have a limited defense, axemen seems a better way to go.) Also, slavery allows you to make use of "extraneous" population (unhealthy or unhappy).

3.) Agriculture - Outside of bonus resources, the most useful improvements are farms and mines (see point 1). Specialists require food, and provide more value than trying to increase the commerce provided by tiles.

4.) Founding an early religion pays huge dividends in terms of expansion. I think Polytheism is better that meditation in that it leads to more techs.

Mid-later techs seem much more balanced and dependant on what resources you posses and the lay of the land. For example, if you don't have bronze or iron, feudalism is very important to use Longbowmen for defense.

Two other observations:
1.) In the early game, the AI was very reluctant to trade. If this becomes a pattern rather than a few isolated games, I think alphabet might be able to wait.

2.) Biology is huge. More food = more specialists.

[Krill]

A Dominae said, they are all key.

To me though, the main thing is the early worker. Getting a worker at size 2, when one has been prioritising religions, is a waste. Your worker can sit there and do nothing for about 10 turns, when you could have been growing.

Hell, If I tried to take buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism, I can easily be tempted into an early settler. If I want to rush some one ealy on with chariots, because I have horses, I try to beeline for Animal Husbandry, and get an early worker.

So many strategies. The anchient era in this game is amazing.

[Mayfield]

What do you guys think of all the freebies that come with some techs (such as liberalism, free artist with music, free scientist with physics)? Do you guys beeline to those or not even think about it? Personally if I am close and I know I am ahead I go for them ASAP.

[Simplicity]

Originally posted by ktbutts
2.) Bronzeworking - if you have copper, axemen are better than Archers (Archery provides a "city defense" of 4.5. An axemen is 5 + melee bonus. In terms of an early defender, when you only have a limited defense, axemen seems a better way to go.) Also, slavery allows you to make use of "extraneous" population (unhealthy or unhappy).

...
Two other observations:
1.) In the early game, the AI was very reluctant to trade. If this becomes a pattern rather than a few isolated games, I think alphabet might be able to wait.

Well, axemen are 5 strength... but there are various reasons why archers are better defenders:
1) First strike.
2) Axemen are *themselves* melee units. If they're getting their bonus against melee, the other side may very well be also.
3) Cost (Edit... I meant to put this first! But forgot it! Whoops!)

Of course axemen are better defenders against swordsmen (they are swordsmen counters, essentially), but against everything else, they are weaker than archers at defense.

[Dominae]

Axemen cost more. Defending your cities with Axemen is therefore not necessarily better than with Archers (I would argue to the contrary).

[Krill]

I don't know, Dom. Defending with archers is good, but throw in 2 axe into the attacked city, with Shock, and swords can be minced quite throughly

[Krill]

It might only be 70 more shields, but that is only 5 spt and 2 forest chops, and that is 2 axes in 2 turns. The more forest chops you get, and that is alot of axes, in a pinch if you need to defend...

And last time you rushed me with Jags, axes kinda stopped you attacking, and broke you stack.

both stacks, IIRC...

[DeepO]

Originally posted by Krill
I don't know, Dom. Defending with archers is good, but throw in 2 axe into the attacked city, with Shock, and swords can be minced quite throughly

You're telling the same thing: add a few axes is perfect, but your base defense is probably better built from archers.

Except against jags, of course

DeepO

[Simplicity]

Originally posted by Krill
I don't know, Dom. Defending with archers is good, but throw in 2 axe into the attacked city, with Shock, and swords can be minced quite throughly

Again, when you use axemen, you're countering swordsmen and ONLY swordsmen. People tend to send swordsmen to raid cities, because swordsmen are the counter for archers.

Don't think of it as 70 more shields, think of how much better you'd do with two archers than you would with one axeman.

If you really want to defend your city properly, you don't do it with one type of unit anyways. Proper defense requires a mix (I like archers + spearman + one axeman or chariot). But if you have to pick one first, go with an archer.