Most important Tech is.....

[Destroyer]

For me it is currency.

I always like to play marathon games of huge maps.

Its important to spread out. To do this you need a large army to defend against barbarians. The larger you become the less money you have to spend on research.

Currency is the turning point where you can start to pull a bit more money in, and reverse the constant lowering of science spending.

Its also the point you can start expanding again.

Getting that far is another matter. Its possible to discover virtually all of the techs before it from goody huts. This alone can give you or the ai a huge advantage.

After a religion or two I always make a beeline for Currency. I understand that barbarians require dicovery of bronze, iron working or archery, but I usually discover at least one of these from goody huts.

[Crossfire]

For me I think it is Liberalism. It isn't that I care about it, but that it gives me Nationalism for free and with just 2 more techs to research I have Cavalry. Then I spam as many cav out as I can and remove my worst enemy. If I can do this before that AI has gunpowder I can just walk over his entire civ. It feels like the one spot where I have such a military advantage that I can kill all those heavily fortified longbows without losing any of my own troops.

[BigFree]

The first one that gets you a Religion.

[Theseus]

Bronze Working first, then Alphabet. Later in the game depends.

[LordShiva]

The one that gives you Tanks...

[proviisori]

The wheel. You can't win if you don't invent the wheel at all.

[unamablebuiler]

pottery. you cant grow without granaries and cottages

[alva]

Originally posted by Flamer(fin)
The wheel. You can't win if you don't invent the wheel at all.

You can, just makes it a tad more difficult.

[Nikolai]

Yeah, just try asking the Aztecs. IRL that is.

[Qwertqwert]

Alphabet, nesissary for tech trading.

[joncnunn]

Astronomony.
It's the sole prereq of the most techs.

[chuckdelicious]

Calendar. Allows you to make plantations and harvest the king of crops!

[Urban Ranger]

You are all wrong. It's farming.

[fed1943]

Is "important"means here urgent,then bronze working;if very necessary the ones who enable workers work.
Best regards,

[Dauphin]

Bronze working is the first tech I go for if I start with mining. In no particular order:

You can build a worker and then build-chop settlers for quick early expansion.
You can locate copper and set about expanding towards it and/or hooking it up quickly.
If you can have an axeman or two early on then you don't need to worry so much about researching hunting and archery and you can take the fight to any barbarians a lot more easily.
Having the slavery civic means you can rush buy units or buildings for population - useful if you have a surplus of food but suffering health or unhappiness or if an unexpected assault heads your way.


All techs have their pros and cons, but imho Bronze Working is a damn useful early tech to have. Later techs depend on your style of play for their ascribable benefits.