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With an expansion and a whopping three new civ traits right around the corner, it would be a good time to discuss what we have learned about about the original game's traits.
One thing I have learned is that there is not a huge gap between the strongest traits and the weakest traits. The developers have made an outstanding effort to balance and fine-tune this game. And there are circumstances where even the bottom-tier traits are more powerful than any. So just because a trait is in the bottom-tier, do not interpret it as being bad. All the traits are good, some are simply slightly stronger than others.
So without further ado, here is my rankings of the traits, and a brief explanation of my reasons for their place on the chart.
-edit after considering some of the arguements in the thread, I have adjusted my rankings somewhat. I have moved Organized and Aggressive up and Creative and Expansive down.
Top Tier
---------------------
1.* Spiritual- There is no other trait in the game that offers you as much sheer power as spiritual does. The ability to switch civics every five turns for free gives you so much flexibility it is almost over-powered. There are an infinite amount of tricks you can use to benefit from spiritual, but here are a few ideas to spur your imagination. You can go into "builder phases" in your cities for a while where you use organized religion's 25% bonus to catch up on infastruture (markets, universities, etc) and then go to theocracy for a while and switch most of your city to building units for some elite troops. Do you need a short-term boost to your capitol's production to finish a key wonder? Go bureaucracy. Need an immediate boost to your army to fend off an enemy invasion? Go nationhood, draft a few troops, then switch back. Need to catch up on some infastructure on a newly captured city? Go slavery. A new tile improvement become unlocked? Go serfdom for a while. Are you in absolute need of a certain great person in the near future? Why not just go caste system or pacifism or both for a while?
Power, unlimited power! As you can see spiritual gives you an infinite number of options to boost your strength for the current situation. But did you notice the asterisk by the number 1? I put it there because spiritual is only strong if you work to take advantage of it. If you just use it for civic changes that you would normally make with non-spiritual civs, it is a bottom tier trait. But for the sheer ability to impact your chances at winning the game, there is not a stronger trait.
2. Financial - Others have spoken at length of financial's strength so I won't go into great detail. But the extra commerce early in the game (especially for cities around rivers) is incredibly powerful. Losing cheap banks in 1.61 was unfortunate, but it doesn't diminish this trait from being top tier. It actually is even stronger than spiritual for players who don't work to take advantage of spiritual's subtleties.
Upper mid-tier
----------------------
3. Philosophical- Philosophical is trait that, like spiritual, is difficult to use to it's fullest extent. However, the extra great people you are awarded give you a great chance to turn the game into your favor. There are a number of ways that philosophcal can be used to great effect such as ultra-early academys or early shrines. But the massive flood of great people from a GP creche city combined with parthenon or pacifism can be overwhelming. If you throw some representation, cheap universities and statue of liberty into the mix, it is unlikely anyone will be able to touch you, scientifically. Philosophical is one of the absolute most powerful traits. It can easily be the most powerful if you can maxmize it's benefits
4. Organized- At the time of Civ IV's release, this was a trait that was lamented as the weakest in the game. Like a fine wine though, Organized's strength has gotten better with age. I have seen some expert players who have even considered this a top-tier trait. Certainly the financial benefit from this trait can be huge, especially on higher difficulity levels. Moreover, it allows you to run powerful civics like organized religion or police state with near impunity. Vassalage also becomes far more powerful with organized since it still gives you the free units, but now it only costs half as much! Also, organized has probably the best cheap buildings of any trait. Cheap courthouses and lighthouses are incredibly useful. Organized has greatly benefited from recent patches that have increased the costs of certain key civics. It is now widely considered to be a very good civic, and possibly even one of the best.
Mid-Tier
--------------------
5. Aggressive- This is probably the trait that I am most likely to not fully appreciate since I am not as much of a warmonger as some. But even so, I do appreciate what advantages it grants the player. The Combat I for melee and gunpowder units is quite handy. It can really be helpful for waging early axe/sword rushes, especially with the cheap barracks that the trait offers. With a barracks, the trait allows access to some of the key level 2 promotions such as cover, shock, and medic 1. This has it's limits though, and if you are stuck in an isolated position then the trait is of virtually no benefit. But most of the time, it can be incredibly powerful. It is another trait that is even better on higher difficulty levels because of the necessity of waging early war. Overall, it is a great trait.
6. Creative- There are a lot of benefits to being creative. It certainly makes your early game easier not having to worry about having to rely on religion/obelisks/Stonehenge to generate your culture. The most powerful benefit of creative though is the flexibility it gives you in your city placement and allowing you to obtain the resources that your civ needs to thrive. With creative, you don't have to worry about placing a city in a dodgy spot just to obtain that copper or that ivory. These optimally placed cities with copious luxory/health resources can reap huge benefits over the course of the game, and the culture bonus can actually prove very key in pursuing the cultural victory in the late game, especially with all the modifiers that cathedrals and such buildings provide. All of these factors make creative one of the top traits.
Bottom-Tier
-------------------
7. Expansive- Another trait that has benefited from recent patches. The +2 health in older versions was reasonably useful, but not very exciting. But now the +3 health is something that just can't be ignored, and it is even better on higher difficulties. The huge health bonus allows players to benefit in two ways, they can either expect to have much bigger and faster growing cities than their oponents in the mid game., with the extra commerce/hammers that those big cities provide or they can chop forests with impunity in the early game. Chopping, while nerfed, can still be strategically key for an early rush or for securing an early wonder. Expansive players also benefit from some of the best cheap buildings in the game, possibly second only to organized's. Cheap granaries allow you to grow a huge population fast, and with slavery, can be helpful in getting some quick infastructure. Cheap harbors can help your low-production coastal cities become commerce powerhouses early. All in all, expansive is a very good trait, with a lot to offer any player.
8. Industrious- If organized is the fine wine that has aged well in player's eyes, then industrious is the sour milk. Before Civ IV was released, when we first heard of the trait that gives a 50% wonder production bonus, we thought it was overpowered beyond belief. Of course, like the old saying goes, generals always try to refight the last war. In Civ III, this trait would have been broken, but in Civ IV it is actually fairly weak. Why? Because wonders themselves have been greatly weakened. The benefits they offer are modest, and typically not game-breaking. There are a couple that might offer advantages strong enough to turn the tide of a game (Pyramids, CS slingshot Oracle, Kremlin) and others that are very helpful (Great Library, Three Gorges Dam, etc), but the truth is that wonders just aren't as powerful as they were in past games. I have seen some lower-level players who consider this to be one of the most powerful traits. It is easy to be deceived since building wonders is just so gosh darn fun, but fun does not always equal to sheer power. And although this is the trait that has the least impact on your chances of winning the game, it is still one of the most fun traits to use. And even though I have ranked it at the bottom, cheap forges are nothing to sneeze at and occassionally those extra wonders and the GP points they provide will turn the tide for you.
So in summary:
Top Tier
----------
1. Spiritual
2. Financial
Upper-Mid Tier
----------------
3. Philosophical
4. Organized
Mid-Tier
---------------
5. Aggressive
6. Creative
Bottom Tier
-------------
7. Expansive
8. Industrious
One thing I have learned is that there is not a huge gap between the strongest traits and the weakest traits. The developers have made an outstanding effort to balance and fine-tune this game. And there are circumstances where even the bottom-tier traits are more powerful than any. So just because a trait is in the bottom-tier, do not interpret it as being bad. All the traits are good, some are simply slightly stronger than others.
So without further ado, here is my rankings of the traits, and a brief explanation of my reasons for their place on the chart.
-edit after considering some of the arguements in the thread, I have adjusted my rankings somewhat. I have moved Organized and Aggressive up and Creative and Expansive down.
Top Tier
---------------------
1.* Spiritual- There is no other trait in the game that offers you as much sheer power as spiritual does. The ability to switch civics every five turns for free gives you so much flexibility it is almost over-powered. There are an infinite amount of tricks you can use to benefit from spiritual, but here are a few ideas to spur your imagination. You can go into "builder phases" in your cities for a while where you use organized religion's 25% bonus to catch up on infastruture (markets, universities, etc) and then go to theocracy for a while and switch most of your city to building units for some elite troops. Do you need a short-term boost to your capitol's production to finish a key wonder? Go bureaucracy. Need an immediate boost to your army to fend off an enemy invasion? Go nationhood, draft a few troops, then switch back. Need to catch up on some infastructure on a newly captured city? Go slavery. A new tile improvement become unlocked? Go serfdom for a while. Are you in absolute need of a certain great person in the near future? Why not just go caste system or pacifism or both for a while?
Power, unlimited power! As you can see spiritual gives you an infinite number of options to boost your strength for the current situation. But did you notice the asterisk by the number 1? I put it there because spiritual is only strong if you work to take advantage of it. If you just use it for civic changes that you would normally make with non-spiritual civs, it is a bottom tier trait. But for the sheer ability to impact your chances at winning the game, there is not a stronger trait.
2. Financial - Others have spoken at length of financial's strength so I won't go into great detail. But the extra commerce early in the game (especially for cities around rivers) is incredibly powerful. Losing cheap banks in 1.61 was unfortunate, but it doesn't diminish this trait from being top tier. It actually is even stronger than spiritual for players who don't work to take advantage of spiritual's subtleties.
Upper mid-tier
----------------------
3. Philosophical- Philosophical is trait that, like spiritual, is difficult to use to it's fullest extent. However, the extra great people you are awarded give you a great chance to turn the game into your favor. There are a number of ways that philosophcal can be used to great effect such as ultra-early academys or early shrines. But the massive flood of great people from a GP creche city combined with parthenon or pacifism can be overwhelming. If you throw some representation, cheap universities and statue of liberty into the mix, it is unlikely anyone will be able to touch you, scientifically. Philosophical is one of the absolute most powerful traits. It can easily be the most powerful if you can maxmize it's benefits
4. Organized- At the time of Civ IV's release, this was a trait that was lamented as the weakest in the game. Like a fine wine though, Organized's strength has gotten better with age. I have seen some expert players who have even considered this a top-tier trait. Certainly the financial benefit from this trait can be huge, especially on higher difficulity levels. Moreover, it allows you to run powerful civics like organized religion or police state with near impunity. Vassalage also becomes far more powerful with organized since it still gives you the free units, but now it only costs half as much! Also, organized has probably the best cheap buildings of any trait. Cheap courthouses and lighthouses are incredibly useful. Organized has greatly benefited from recent patches that have increased the costs of certain key civics. It is now widely considered to be a very good civic, and possibly even one of the best.
Mid-Tier
--------------------
5. Aggressive- This is probably the trait that I am most likely to not fully appreciate since I am not as much of a warmonger as some. But even so, I do appreciate what advantages it grants the player. The Combat I for melee and gunpowder units is quite handy. It can really be helpful for waging early axe/sword rushes, especially with the cheap barracks that the trait offers. With a barracks, the trait allows access to some of the key level 2 promotions such as cover, shock, and medic 1. This has it's limits though, and if you are stuck in an isolated position then the trait is of virtually no benefit. But most of the time, it can be incredibly powerful. It is another trait that is even better on higher difficulty levels because of the necessity of waging early war. Overall, it is a great trait.
6. Creative- There are a lot of benefits to being creative. It certainly makes your early game easier not having to worry about having to rely on religion/obelisks/Stonehenge to generate your culture. The most powerful benefit of creative though is the flexibility it gives you in your city placement and allowing you to obtain the resources that your civ needs to thrive. With creative, you don't have to worry about placing a city in a dodgy spot just to obtain that copper or that ivory. These optimally placed cities with copious luxory/health resources can reap huge benefits over the course of the game, and the culture bonus can actually prove very key in pursuing the cultural victory in the late game, especially with all the modifiers that cathedrals and such buildings provide. All of these factors make creative one of the top traits.
Bottom-Tier
-------------------
7. Expansive- Another trait that has benefited from recent patches. The +2 health in older versions was reasonably useful, but not very exciting. But now the +3 health is something that just can't be ignored, and it is even better on higher difficulties. The huge health bonus allows players to benefit in two ways, they can either expect to have much bigger and faster growing cities than their oponents in the mid game., with the extra commerce/hammers that those big cities provide or they can chop forests with impunity in the early game. Chopping, while nerfed, can still be strategically key for an early rush or for securing an early wonder. Expansive players also benefit from some of the best cheap buildings in the game, possibly second only to organized's. Cheap granaries allow you to grow a huge population fast, and with slavery, can be helpful in getting some quick infastructure. Cheap harbors can help your low-production coastal cities become commerce powerhouses early. All in all, expansive is a very good trait, with a lot to offer any player.
8. Industrious- If organized is the fine wine that has aged well in player's eyes, then industrious is the sour milk. Before Civ IV was released, when we first heard of the trait that gives a 50% wonder production bonus, we thought it was overpowered beyond belief. Of course, like the old saying goes, generals always try to refight the last war. In Civ III, this trait would have been broken, but in Civ IV it is actually fairly weak. Why? Because wonders themselves have been greatly weakened. The benefits they offer are modest, and typically not game-breaking. There are a couple that might offer advantages strong enough to turn the tide of a game (Pyramids, CS slingshot Oracle, Kremlin) and others that are very helpful (Great Library, Three Gorges Dam, etc), but the truth is that wonders just aren't as powerful as they were in past games. I have seen some lower-level players who consider this to be one of the most powerful traits. It is easy to be deceived since building wonders is just so gosh darn fun, but fun does not always equal to sheer power. And although this is the trait that has the least impact on your chances of winning the game, it is still one of the most fun traits to use. And even though I have ranked it at the bottom, cheap forges are nothing to sneeze at and occassionally those extra wonders and the GP points they provide will turn the tide for you.
So in summary:
Top Tier
----------
1. Spiritual
2. Financial
Upper-Mid Tier
----------------
3. Philosophical
4. Organized
Mid-Tier
---------------
5. Aggressive
6. Creative
Bottom Tier
-------------
7. Expansive
8. Industrious
Protective may well be a lot better than most people are giving it credit for.
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