Best civ for diplomatic strength?

[Pods]

Hey all,

My first post to the Civ3 forums; I'm a long-time occasional lurker. Civ3 is looking fantastic, and I am looking forward to playing it.

Just curious about your opinions - which civ, going by their specific abilities, looks best suited to strength in diplomacy, and u ltimately diplomatic victory? I suppose the second strength of the civ would be either militaristic strength to back up the diplomacy, or scientific strength to back up diplomacy, or commercial strength to back up diplomacy...

?

Cheers,

S.

[The diplomat]

Great topic!

As I see it, to achieve the diplomatic victory, a civ needs to have excellent relations with as many other civs as possible. We know that culture helps improve diplomacy, so a civ needs high culture. So, a civ needs the religious ability. The second ability is harder to decide. I would suggest that the industrious ability would help a lot. With the industrious ability, a civ can build things faster. Thus, a civ would have a better chance at grabbing the wonders that enhance diplomatic influence. More importantly, the civ that builds the UN Wonder will probably get some advantages toward winning the diplo victory. An industrious civ has a better chance at grabbing that wonder.
Conclusion: the Egyptians have a good chance in my book for going for the diplo victory.

One of the great things about the civ specific abilities is how they really depend on the player's strategies. Good players will probably find cool strategies on how to use the other civ specific abilities toward winning diplomatically.

[KrazyHorse]

I think a religious/commercial combo will do it. IIRC, the Indians have these two traits.

[TechWins]

A militariastic/religious combo would be the best imo. You would be able to back up your words with a good military plus you would have a big culture for spreading your influence. This would mean that the Aztecs and Japaness would be very dominant in the diplomatic field.