Mastering Religious Spread in Civilization V: A Comprehensive Guide

The best way to spread religion in Civilization V is through a multi-faceted approach that combines strategic city placement, careful selection of religious beliefs, efficient use of religious units like Missionaries and Great Prophets, and leveraging religious buildings and wonders. It’s about creating a religious juggernaut that exerts pressure on rival civilizations, converting their cities and ultimately leading you to a Religious Victory. Careful planning and adaptation to your specific game conditions are key to success.

Building Your Religious Empire

Successfully spreading your religion in Civ 5 hinges on several crucial components:

• Early Faith Generation: Secure a strong foundation of Faith as early as possible. This involves scouting for Natural Wonders that provide Faith bonuses, adopting the right Pantheon belief, and constructing Shrines and Temples in your cities. Prioritize tiles that grant Faith, such as those adjacent to mountains or natural wonders.

• Strategic City Placement: Settle cities close to one another. This maximizes religious pressure between your own cities, making them resistant to conversion and increasing the likelihood of spreading your faith to nearby city-states and rival civs. Also, consider settling near civilizations you intend to convert.

• Selecting Powerful Beliefs: Choose beliefs that synergize with your victory strategy and playstyle. Founder Beliefs like “Tithe” (+1 gold for every 4 followers) provide economic strength, while Follower Beliefs like “Pagodas” (Happiness and Culture) boost city development. Enhancer Beliefs like “Itinerant Preachers” (increases the range of religious pressure) significantly improve your religion’s reach.

• Great Prophets and Religious Units: Utilize Great Prophets to found your religion, enhance it with powerful beliefs, and then use their remaining charges to aggressively spread your faith. Train Missionaries in cities with high Faith output and strategically deploy them to convert key cities, paying attention to resistance from rival religions.

• Leveraging Religious Buildings and Wonders: Construct buildings like Monasteries and Cathedrals to generate Faith and Culture. Prioritize wonders like the Great Mosque of Djenne, which grants Missionaries with three spread charges, and Hagia Sophia, which gives you a free Great Prophet. The Borobudur wonder is another fantastic early choice which will spread your religion passively.

• Defensive Measures: Protect your cities from rival religions by using Inquisitors to purge heretical beliefs. If a city is at risk of being converted, focus on producing religious units from that city to counteract the pressure.

• Diplomacy: Keep an eye on your relationships with other civilizations. Some leaders will appreciate your shared faith, while others may resent your religious spread. Use diplomacy to mitigate negative relations or even form alliances based on shared religious values.

The Importance of Enhancing Your Religion

Enhancing your religion with a second Great Prophet is often overlooked but can be incredibly powerful. Consider these strategies:

• Strategic Belief Selection: The Enhancer belief is your chance to tailor your religion to your specific circumstances. “Itinerant Preachers” increases the range of religious pressure, making it easier to convert nearby cities. “Religious Texts” increases the spread strength of your missionaries, making them more effective at converting cities.

• Synergistic Combination: Combine your beliefs to create a powerful synergistic effect. For example, pairing “Tithe” with “Pagodas” provides both economic and cultural benefits, making your religion attractive to a wider audience.

• Adapting to Rivals: Analyze the beliefs of rival religions and choose an Enhancer belief that counters their strengths. If a rival is generating a lot of Culture from their religion, consider a belief that provides additional Culture to counteract their advantage.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Ignoring Early Faith Generation: Failing to prioritize Faith early can put you at a significant disadvantage, allowing rival civilizations to found religions before you.

• Neglecting City Defense: Leaving your cities vulnerable to conversion can undermine your religious efforts and allow rival religions to take hold.

• Overspending on Religious Units: While religious units are essential, overproducing them can strain your economy and delay crucial infrastructure development.

• Failing to Adapt: A rigid religious strategy can be easily countered by rival civilizations. Be prepared to adjust your beliefs and tactics based on the game’s evolving circumstances.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How do I get Faith in Civ 5?

You primarily gain Faith through religious buildings like Shrines and Temples, natural wonders that provide Faith bonuses, city-states that offer religious influence, and certain social policies. Adopting a Pantheon belief early on is crucial for establishing a strong foundation of Faith generation.

2. What is the best Pantheon belief?

The “best” Pantheon belief depends on your civilization’s unique abilities, starting location, and intended victory strategy. However, some consistently strong choices include Goddess of Festivals (boosts production with Wine, Incense, and Silk), Faith Healers (heals nearby units), and Messenger of the Gods (boosts science in cities with trade routes).

3. How many religions can be founded in Civ 5?

The number of religions that can be founded depends on the number of civilizations in the game. The maximum number of religions is equal to half the number of civilizations, plus one. Therefore, in a standard 8-civilization game, a maximum of 5 religions can be founded.

4. How do I use a Great Prophet?

Great Prophets can be used to Found a Religion (if you haven’t already), Enhance a Religion (adding a second set of beliefs), Spread Religion (converting nearby cities), or create a Holy Site (granting a Faith yield).

5. How do I spread religion with Missionaries?

Missionaries can be purchased with Faith and used to spread your religion to nearby cities. Select the Missionary and click on the city you want to convert. Be aware that other religions in that city will resist your conversion efforts.

6. How do I stop other religions from spreading to my cities?

Use Inquisitors to remove other religions from your cities. The Inquisitor must be in the city that is not following your religion. You can also produce religious units from the city under pressure to convert back to your religion. Another strategy is to declare war on the civilization spreading the religion.

7. What is a Holy City?

The Holy City is the first city where a religion was founded. It exerts significant religious pressure on surrounding cities and cannot be fully converted to another religion without using an Inquisitor to purge the original faith. It will always exert religious pressure to convert it back to its original religion.

8. How do I enhance my religion?

Enhancing your religion requires a second Great Prophet. Use this Great Prophet near your Holy City to add a powerful Enhancer belief and two more Follower beliefs to your religion.

9. What are Founder Beliefs?

Founder Beliefs provide benefits to the civilization that founded the religion. These benefits can include increased gold generation, culture output, or happiness bonuses. A popular choice is “Tithe” which generates +1 Gold for every 4 followers of your religion in all cities.

10. What are Follower Beliefs?

Follower Beliefs provide benefits to cities that follow the religion. These benefits can include increased production, culture, faith, or happiness. A popular choice is “Pagodas” which generate +2 Happiness and +2 Culture in cities that follow your religion.

11. What are Enhancer Beliefs?

Enhancer Beliefs enhance the spread and influence of your religion. Examples include Itinerant Preachers (increases the range of religious pressure) and Religious Texts (increases the strength of religious units).

12. Is religion worth it in Civ 5?

Yes, religion is definitely worth it! Religion can provide significant economic, cultural, and social benefits to your civilization. It can also be a primary path to a Religious Victory, which is achieved by converting every civilization to your faith. Even if you’re pursuing another victory condition, religion can be a powerful tool for boosting your empire.

13. How do I win a Religious Victory?

To win a Religious Victory, you must make your religion the dominant religion in every other civilization in the game. This requires a combination of faith generation, strategic city placement, effective use of religious units, and diplomatic maneuvering.

14. What is religious pressure?

Religious pressure is the influence exerted by a city on nearby cities, causing them to gradually convert to that city’s dominant religion. Religious pressure is affected by the number of followers, the presence of religious buildings, and certain beliefs.

15. Can I destroy a religion in Civ 5?

You can’t completely eliminate a religion from the game, but you can significantly weaken it by capturing its Holy City and using an Inquisitor to purge the religion from the city. This will greatly reduce its spread and influence, and if you spread your religion, it will stay gone, or be replaced by your own religion, if the Holy City is converted with Great Prophets or missionaries.

By mastering these strategies and answering these frequently asked questions, you’ll be well on your way to building a powerful religious empire and achieving victory in Civilization V. Remember to adapt your approach to the specific challenges and opportunities presented in each game, and always be prepared to defend your faith against rival religions. Consider checking out resources from organizations like the Games Learning Society at GamesLearningSociety.org to enhance your understanding of strategic gameplay.