The Frequency Of Trait/Tech Combinations

[JackRudd]

I wanted to check just how common each trait/tech pairing was in the game. So I went through and checked:

Trait/starting tech combination frequency

0 leaders
Creative/Mysticism
Imperialistic/Mysticism
Philosophical/Agriculture
Philosophical/Wheel
Protective/Hunting

1 leader
Aggressive/Agriculture (Shaka)
Aggressive/Mining (Stalin)
Aggressive/Mysticism (Montezuma)
Charismatic/Mysticism (Brennus)
Charismatic/Wheel (Napoleon)
Creative/Fishing (Augustus)
Expansive/Mysticism (Isabella)
Expansive/Wheel (Mehmed)
Financial/Agriculture (Capac)
Financial/Hunting (Ragnar)
Imperialistic/Agriculture (Cyrus)
Imperialistic/Wheel (Genghis)
Industrious/Fishing (Roosevelt)
Industrious/Mysticism (Capac)
Organized/Hunting (Frederick)
Organized/Mysticism (Asoka)
Philosophical/Mysticism (Gandhi)
Spiritual/Fishing (Isabella)

2 leaders
Charismatic/Hunting (Brennus, Cyrus)
Charismatic/Mining (Churchill, Hannibal)
Creative/Agriculture (Hatshepsut, Louis)
Creative/Hunting (Catherine, Kublai)
Creative/Mining (Augustus, Catherine)
Expansive/Fishing (Isabella, Washington)
Financial/Mysticism (Capac, Wang Kon)
Financial/Wheel (Mansa, Wang Kon)
Imperialistic/Fishing (Julius, Victoria)
Industrious/Hunting (Bismarck, Stalin)
Industrious/Wheel (Louis, Rameses)
Organized/Wheel (Mehmed, Napoleon)
Philosophical/Fishing (Alexander, Elizabeth)
Protective/Agriculture (Mao, Qin)
Protective/Fishing (Churchill, Tokugawa)
Protective/Mysticism (Saladin, Wang Kon)
Spiritual/Agriculture (Hatshepsut, Rameses)
Spiritual/Hunting (Brennus, Montezuma)

3 leaders
Aggressive/Fishing (Alexander, Ragnar, Tokugawa)
Aggressive/Wheel (Genghis, Kublai, Tokugawa)
Charismatic/Agriculture (Cyrus, Napoleon, Washington)
Charismatic/Fishing (Churchill, Hannibal, Washington)
Creative/Wheel (Hatshepsut, Kublai, Louis)
Expansive/Hunting (Bismarck, Peter, Shaka)
Expansive/Mining (Bismark, Mao, Peter)
Imperialistic/Hunting (Catherine, Cyrus, Genghis)
Imperialistic/Mining (Catherine, Julius, Victoria)
Industrious/Mining (Bismarck, Qin, Stalin)
Organized/Agriculture (Mehmed, Napoleon, Roosevelt)
Organized/Fishing (Augustus, Julius, Roosevelt)
Philosophical/Hunting (Alexander, Frederick, Peter)
Protective/Mining (Churchill, Mao, Qin)
Protective/Wheel (Saladin, Tokugawa, Wang Kon)
Spiritual/Mining (Asoka, Gandhi, Mansa)

4 leaders
Expansive/Agriculture (Mao, Mehmed, Shaka, Washington)
Financial/Fishing (Elizabeth, Hannibal, Ragnar, Victoria)
Financial/Mining (Elizabeth, Hannibal, Mansa, Victoria)
Organized/Mining (Asoka, Augustus, Frederick, Julius)
Philosophical/Mining (Elizabeth, Frederick, Gandhi, Peter)
Spiritual/Wheel (Hatshepsut, Mansa, Rameses, Saladin)

5 leaders
Industrious/Agriculture (Capac, Louis, Qin, Rameses, Roosevelt)

6 leaders
Spiritual/Mysticism (Asoka, Brennus, Gandhi, Isabella, Montezuma, Saladin)

7 leaders
Aggressive/Hunting (Alexander, Genghis, Kublai, Montezuma, Ragnar, Shaka, Stalin)

[zeace]

That's a very nice way of laying out that information. Thanks Jack!

I notice that very often the trait and the tech go well together (spi/myst, exp/agr, fin/fish...) and most of the worst are avoided (cre/myst).

Agg/Hunt seems like a mismatch though. An agg civ wants to build melee units for its bonus, not scouts. I think most aggs would rather have mining so they were a step closer to axes...

[MasterDave]

I think that both the traits and starting techs were chosen to match the historical "feel" of the leader rather than game mechanics. For instance, in the case of the Zulu- starting with hunting and agriculture makes more sense historically based on what the Zulus as culture did rather than mining and the wheel, even though, in game terms, these two lead more quickly to better weapons (hunting does too, in fact).

If the goal of the designers in choosing traits and techs was strictly game balance, then there would probably be more "favorite" civs than the ten or so I always see in multiplayer (with few exceptions).

[JackRudd]

Mining is probably the best starting tech for an Aggressive leader, yes, which could be why the only Agg leader who gets it is Stalin, whose other trait arguably has the worst synergy with Agg of any of them. (It's a toss-up between him and Alexander.)

The five missing trait/tech combos?

Protective/Hunting - probably a game balance issue there. A Protective leader who immediately researches Archery can send Drill I City Defender I Archers very quickly towards his enemies. Who he just happened to find with his starting Scout.

Creative/Mysticism - possibly there too. Give a Creative leader an early religion and he'll have borders to die for.

The absence of the other three combinations probably has more to do with the paucity of Imperialistic and Philosophical leaders than with any game balance issues.