Updated Traits Ranking (C3C)

[Enriquillo]

Since you choose to make it one dimensional by not building pillagers, I guess it is for you. My play style involves removing their strategic resources and luxuries in the first turn or two of combat if at all possible and then go for the cities.

Good strategy, with the randomness of combat you need every advantage you can get.
Taking their luxuries is something I always try to do, because I know it would set me back if they did it to me, and I figure the AI is only human(ly programmed)

[geniemalin]

I love the Conquistadors; often I run Republics/Democracies and aim for short wars that set the enemy back but I hate bothering with conquered cities for the most part.

I'm having great fun as the Portuguese at the moment, Seaf. and Exp. means you get early contacts on any kind of map....

In answer to the original question

1 Seafaring/Expansionist
depending on map, but early contact is vital especially in higher difficulty levels. And exploring is fun. And post-Magellan speed 8 transports and speed 10 destroyers are *lots* of fun.

3 Militaristic
I love the new armies

4 Religious
Cheap culture and contentment plus easy gov switches

5 Scientific
It's hard to get a tech lead on higher levels but Scientific can keep you in the race, and SGLs rock.

6 Industrious
Effective but boring

7 Commercial
Why doesn't Commercial provide cheap banks?

8 Agricultural
Both boring and doesn't fit with my playstyle - I don't enjoy REXing at the expense of core development and at higher levels the unhappiness eats away at the benefit of rapid growth.

[Jaguar]

Originally posted by WarpStorm


Not hardly. This is the best pillager in the game. An army of them can pillage 9 tiles in a turn.

nice catch!

[Artifex]

I would rank commercial #6.

[Sarxis]

Commercial doesn't provide cheap banks? Hmm.. that IS interesting. Never noticed that.

Personnally, I'd really love to see Commercial provide cheap Colloseums. I mean, isn't entertainment a staple of the commercial industry?

[CerberusIV]

I am getting seriously addicted to the agricultural trait.

Currently playing as the Sumerians on a standard continents map at monarch. First city had a lot of desert - no problem. Cities 2-4 on rivers/lakes. Result - I outexpanded the Chinese and wiped them out to own the biggest continent.

About 40% of the continent is so corrupt (pre-patch) as to be unuseable but that extra food from the city tile is enough to support an extra specialist in some cities so what would be a useless one food for non-agricultural civs turns into a civil engineer or taxman or scientist.

Yes, it is great for REXing but can also make cities that bit more productive. Definitely a top 2 trait if not the outright best.

[Theseus]

I'm starting to re-assess the traits completely, if the new resource distribution and FP effects (or lack thereof) are here to stay.

REL (temples), MIL (harbors), and COM seem to grow in importance.

[DrSpike]

It is situational.........all of the traits are good in the right circumstances.

I have to agree with Seafaring is powerful right now.

[Donegeal]

Hmmm... Byzantines builds the great lighthouse.

5 MOVE DORMONS!!! (an offensive ancient age bombarding transport)

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Theseus
I'm starting to re-assess the traits completely, if the new resource distribution and FP effects (or lack thereof) are here to stay.

REL (temples), MIL (harbors), and COM seem to grow in importance.

Doesn't SEA give cheap harbors now, not MIL?

[sabrewolf]

it's interesting how most people don't appreciate commercial. it was and still is my favourite trait. used wisely, you can get an extra ring of productive cities. the extra commerce in ALL cities (not just coastal one) helps a lot towards money, research and specially happiness (it's sometimes just the little differece between needing 10% instead of 20% luxury level). also nice: it's good on every map. expansionist is useless on smaller maps, agricultural has no point without fresh water, militaristic is not a builders must-have, etc.
and best of all: you start with alphabet (ok ok ok, so does seafaring). which gives you a great chance at getting writing, philosophy and literature first.

which brings me to scientific: also underestimated. i didn't play sci-civs for a very long time. but in C3C it's so much better. SGLs are a lot easier to get and since one of the PTW-patches you get a random tech and not just the same one always (i used to get monotheism and nationalism every time). and i had totally forgot how nice it is to have 40-shield libraries (3 culture instead of 2 of temples)...

i havn't tried seaf(e)aring enough to really estimate it's power, and my agricultural started (i often stop if the game gets boring) games seldom were overwhelming.

my list

1 commercial
2 industrious, toned down, but still nice.
3 scientific
4 agricultural (*)
5 seafaring (*)
6 religious, although 8-turn-anarchies DO hurt uch:
7 militaristic, nice, but i can live without
8 expansionistic (*), with agricultural starting with pottery too, i hardly feel like choosing EXP.
(*) : depending of the map... there are cases where these can be best or worst.


off-topic: has chopping down forrests been made cheaper? suddenly, it's faster to clear them that to build roads through them...???

[Dominae]

1. Agricultural
2. Religious
3. Industrious
4. Commercial
5. Seafaring
6. Scientific
7. Expansionist
8. Militaristic

5, 6 and 7 can be lumped together, as well as 3 and 4.

[sabrewolf]

wow, in my yesterdays started game (netherlands), agricultural is just great. i started in the middle of a rivery and deserty region... perfect ground for me. and i've even got a settler factory in the desert, thanks to enough oasis' )

too bad there were 2 other agricultural civs on my continent

[MotownDennis]

Overall, I think the traits are pretty nicely balanced now. As can be seen by the wide variety of responses here, there is no clear-cut best trait.

My list:

Scientific (I love those SGL's!)
Agricultural (the early boost is very nice)
Industrious
Expansionist (never underestimate the power of an early free settler)
Religious (they nerfed this one when they changed it from 1-turn anarchy to 2-turns)
Seafaring
Commercial (give us cheaper marketplaces and banks! we demand it!)
Militaristic (can live without it)

On my list, the top 3 are pretty much interchangable, as are 4 and 5.

[Inverse Icarus]

i'll make my list formal.

1. Religious
2. Militaristic
3. Seafaring
4. Industrious
5. Expansionist
6. Agricultural
7. Commercial
8. Scientific