Best thing to do with great persons?

[nullinstance]

Played the game for bit but I'm struggling to work out what is the best thing to do with each great person I get.

Great Prophet - If I've founded a religion then I build the building, mid-game I go for the religious tech discovery, later I save them for a Golden Age.

Great Artist - Always do the great work on one of my top 3 cities for the +6K culture bonues.

Great Merchant - Early game I'll send these across the world for the gold. Mid and Late game I use them for golden age.

Great Engineer - Save them to complete wonders.

Great Scientist - Build Academies in top 3 or so cities, otherwise just go for the technology discovery bonus.

Are these the best uses or does anyone have a better idea?

Also isn't there one type missing? Great Soldiers?

[Nikolai]

Great Prophet: I always build the religious buildings I have available, then I tend to use them as superspecialists or keep them for later (GA) use.

Great Artist: Almost always strenghten one of my cities' cultural borders.

Great Merchant: I have only got one twice, but then I used them for money. Not sure if I should have done that the last time I got him though...

Great Engineer: Wonder building/completion.

Great Scientist: I use to build Academies with them.

[Vynd]

First I always check to see what technology my GP will help me get. Getting a tech quickly is often the best use for a GP.

I agree with a lot of the uses you put your GP to except for the Artists. I don't see a reason to always drop them in your best cities. I prefer to use them to extend or reinforce my cultural boundaries. They're great for stopping someone else's culture from creeping into what used to be your territory or for forcing your culture into their territory. It's also really nice to drop them in a newly captured city and instantly end the revolt and get decent buondaries for that city as well.

Of course if you are aiming specifically at a cultural victory then using your artists in your top 3 cultural cities makes lots of sense.

I seldom save GP to start Golden Ages. If I'm generating GP that I don't see any particular use for I'm more likely to add them to my cities as super specialists.

[samspock]

I am playing a game right now where I have made my capital a generic GP factory. I have made at least one of each GP in there. This is the first time I managed to get a great merchant without getting a free one. I built one academy in the capital with the first scientist but made all the rest (including another scientist) super specialists. I will then use the ones I get later to do specific things like shrines. I have a second city that is skewed towards making prophets so I should not have long to wait. I will need 5 of them since I founded 5 of the 7 religions.

I did this on a continent map on noble. I am the only civ on a continent and I have not met anyone else yet but I think I am way ahead tech wize (used the CS slingshot.) I have my caravels out there trying circumnavigation.

I built the oracle, pyramids and parthenon in the capital. I am running on caste system so I can vary my specialists to skew towards one or another GP, that's how I managed to get at least one each. I have gotten the free artist from music and one other free one (forgot which.)

In the past I would build whatever building they can make or go for a tech. For artist I would use the cuture bomb but since I have no common borders with anyone I don't need that so it's superspecialists all the way!

[Adagio]

Great Prophet: If I have a holy city without a shrine, I use it to build it, otherwise I'll just add it to a city as a super specialist

Great Artist: If I have a newly conquered city near enemy borders, I'll use it to boost culture, to aviod them flipping. Otherwise I'll just use it as a super-specialist to a city near the borders

Great Merchant: The few times I've gotten one, I've used it as a super specialist in the city with the most commerce

Great Engineer: Wonder building

Great Scientist: Academies for the cities that produces the most tech beakers, otherwise as a super specialist to the city that is #1 with tech beakers

There are situations where I might use it otherwise, like when I'm in need of a certain tech, and the GP I just got can finish it (or add some beakers)
I have never used them to create golden ages, it doesn't seem worth it, to waste two GPs for that

[Leifmk]

Originally posted by Nikolai
Great Prophet: I always build the religious buildings I have available, then I tend to use them as superspecialists or keep them for later (GA) use.

Always make sure to check on what technology they can give you; sometimes Great Prophets can actually found new religions!

[Aro]

Originally posted by Leifmk


Always make sure to check on what technology they can give you; sometimes Great Prophets can actually found new religions!

And you can plan this ahead. I usually keep a great prophet (if I don't have other purpose, maybe a Shrine) and beeline a specific patch to make this possible. Great Prophets give only religion-related techs, IIRC, and sometimes you may need one or two techs before get a Religion-founder one.
Works every day!

[nullinstance]

So is it better to use an early Great Prophet to build a shrine (assuming you have a holy city) or hold off and discover another religion starting tech?

[Hauptman]

I settle as many as super specialists as possible, one or two academies, and 1 or two shrines.

Occasionally i will culture bomb if i happen to pop an artist when on conquest, or If I'm fighting for a resource at a border.

Most however end up;

scientists and engineers settle in the capital with its Oxford university.

artists prophets and merchants settle in the wall street city (wich will include a shrine if I have a religion all my own.

On philo games I crank out great people, and end game the payoffs are incredible, much better than the 6 turns you could save by using a scientist for a tech. A great scientist in an oxford city produces 21 beakers after buildings. And a whole gang of em, with lots of cottages add up to 1000 beaker cities.

Combine that with a wall street city with a good shrine making 300 gold per turn at 100% research, and I rocket ahead late game... tanks pre 1800 is normal these days.

[Martinus]

Originally posted by Adagio
Great Prophet: If I have a holy city without a shrine, I use it to build it, otherwise I'll just add it to a city as a super specialist

Great Artist: If I have a newly conquered city near enemy borders, I'll use it to boost culture, to aviod them flipping. Otherwise I'll just use it as a super-specialist to a city near the borders

Great Merchant: The few times I've gotten one, I've used it as a super specialist in the city with the most commerce

Great Engineer: Wonder building

Great Scientist: Academies for the cities that produces the most tech beakers, otherwise as a super specialist to the city that is #1 with tech beakers

There are situations where I might use it otherwise, like when I'm in need of a certain tech, and the GP I just got can finish it (or add some beakers)
I have never used them to create golden ages, it doesn't seem worth it, to waste two GPs for that

Totally agree. As a rule of thumb, adding the GP as a super specialist is the best use for most if not all GPs, with the possible exception of the engineer used for finishing a needed wonder and a great prophet used to found a shrine (but otherwise, their +5 to commerce is just too good to waste on anything else).

Using them for a single tech is usually a waste, unless it really is important strategically (e.g. you have no religion and need to beeline for theology or near the end game when making a run for some spaceship tech you need).

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by nullinstance
So is it better to use an early Great Prophet to build a shrine (assuming you have a holy city) or hold off and discover another religion starting tech?

Getting the right shrine in the early parts of the game, when money is short and the budget is pressed can be very important.

[Aro]

Originally posted by nullinstance
So is it better to use an early Great Prophet to build a shrine (assuming you have a holy city) or hold off and discover another religion starting tech?

It depends, but... Yeah, I think so. You need a Great Prophet to build a shrine, IIRC... I try to grab every religion I can found, and build the respective shrines.