Level Climbing: Emperor to Deity

[Bohlen]

I'm one of the addicts on this site that does not play every game on Deity. I have worked my way up the level ladder over the course of my playing days, even though I now regret this, and am now tackling Deity. I started trying Deity on 2.42 and it wasn't too bad. Now that I have MGE, I want to play Deity exclusively, but am having trouble getting my civs started in order to stay competitive throughout the game.

I played King for a long time and won after a long wait. I moved up to Emperor and was surprised at how easily I could compete. Emperor is no problem for me now, but Deity is a bear. What gives? Everyone says that the secret to Deity is happiness. Well, I'm keeping my folks happy, but in doing that I can't expand fast enough. WOWs are not a problem. It's the expansion and tech rate that I have a problem with. Is there really such a big difference between Emperor and Deity, or is it just me?

What are the biggest differences between these two levels? To me, Emperor is challenging, but very winnable. Deity on the other hand seems almost impossible. How do you Deity guys do it? Anybody not consistently play Deity because of the difficulty?

[crowatbitemedotcom]

I too started at king and worked my way up. IMO the difference between King and Emperor is neglegible compared to the difference between Emperor and Diety. Before (K & E) I would almost always go for world conquest. Now I almost always go for AC. I didn't notice much difference between 242 & MGE except that the AI is much more hostile.

[Steve Clark]

That is an interesting question. In my last bloodlust game that I played on Emperor, I kept an eye on the happiness factors. Since I always make it a goal to establish martial law and then get MC, JSB with an occassional temple, I noticed that even if I was playing at Deity, it would still be the same. The only (I believe) happiness difference is that instead of the 3rd citizen arriving unhappy, it would be second one. But because of those things I listed above, I would not have any disorder even at the Deity level.

There are other changes at Deity but I found that using this happiness strategy works at both levels.

[War4ever]

one word for keeping martial law.... WArriors!..... they upgrade with leos to cheap musketeers Keep pumping out settlers..... expansion is key on deity...... if you get gardens great.... but i find if i am close to mikes and gardens is available.... i wait for mikes unless i have more than one wonder going.

Caravans are key as per usual.... trade trade trade ..... ==== free tech and gold. Build caravans all the time.... one can soar through the tech tree with caravans.

As Steve would agree.... SOL then DEmocracy and then tanks or howies , spies, whatever .... and although some people like a spotless rep... and all the power to you, some of us don't give a damm Deity presents a problem only if you can't contain other civs..... any civ given a chance to grow especially an agressive one will pose a problem..... so nip them in the bud or destroy them.

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I am a civ addict. ARE U 2??????


icq 30200920

[Matthew]

One thing that I found effective when I first started playing on diety was to wait to take a few huts, or at least enough to get a couple 2 movement units, before building a city. use these units to find even more units, and use these units to harass any AI civ you can find. I don't do this much any more, especially in MP, and it isn't without disadvantage (like at times having to wait longer for Monarchy), but if it goes well you can get a big advantage over the AI's.

If you are having trouble falling behind or lagging in tech, be sure that you have enough settlers out there building roads and irrigating. depending on the situation I think that each city size 4 or bigger needs it's own settler to keep up in terrain improvement. Also, don't underestimate the sea. Coastal cities should het harbors. And if growth is the problem, but you manage to get all the happy wonders, think celebration. Under Republic, and more so under democracy, you should be able to easily surpass the AI's . I could go on and on about a super science city, the finer points of tech stealing, and caravans, but with proper city management you should be able to win at diety without these things. Learn basics first. but if this isn't enough, then in addition to doing these things check out the threads on caravans and trade routes. Trade routes will also help you to celebrate, as will market places and banks.

[Caesar the Great]

Something quite unusual...

The first game I ever beat on diety was OCC... I could never finish a game, on diety. I have probably completed 5 games (3 cheiftan, 1 warlord, 1 emporere). Thats it, both large and small maps... weird eh...

An early HG is essential, as well as early monarhcy. Warriors actually have a use on diety ... thats pretty much it. Oh yeah and don't overlook caravans, libraries and temples... they help TONS.

[Scouse Gits]

Yes, bizarre as it sounds OCC is probably the easiest way to win at deity! The AI does not see you as a threat until way too late, so you have a fairly easy ride.

We all have our pet ways of beating the system ... mine is Fundamentalist Expansion - priorities are (1) Hanging Gardens (2) Monarchy (3) Philosophy & Trade (4) Democracy (5) Statue of Liberty (6) World Conquest

IMO The over-riding imperatives for all Deity strategies have to be Happiness and Trade

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Scouse Git[1]

"CARTAGO DELENDA EST" - Cato the Censor

[DaveV]

My two cents' worth:

You must expand quickly at Deity. Don't build any improvements until you have 6-12 cities. Keep your cities from rioting by using warriors to impose martial law. While building these initial cities, put your worker on a high-food, high-trade square for size 1 cities. For size 2 cities, put your workers on high-shield squares. The goal is to crank out settlers and build cities FAST. Build or find some horsemen to explore the map, knock over goody huts, and find good sites for your new cities.

As someone wrote in another, similar thread: decide your strategy early, and stick to it! If you're going for conquest, build up your army, research some good military techs, and attack early and often. If you're going for space, build up the economic engine you'll need to produce the spaceship. Be prepared for an all-out attack by the AIs after you launch.

The MGE AI, like 2.42, will cough up amazing amounts of tribute if they're scared of you, which seems to be based on you having a large army on their continent. Demand tribute every turn till they declare war, then they'll give you gold or techs to get a cease fire or peace treaty. Marco Polo's Embassy is very helpful to monitor the AIs' cash positions and tech research. On a big continent, it can pay for itself with a gush of tribute when you contact the AIs.