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Basics - Polynesia
By Ryan
Hello, this is a quick video guide of what to expect if you are to pick the Polynesians as your Civilization.
   
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Ryan
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Category: Characters, Classes, Gameplay Basics, Multiplayer, Walkthroughs
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
May 19, 2013 @ 4:24pm
Jul 9, 2013 @ 2:50pm
4,025 Unique Visitors
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Guide Index
Overview
Video of how to play Polynesia. 
Victory Conditions 
Social Policies 
Factoids 
Other Basic Guides 
Cont. 
Cont. 
Cont. 
Brave New World Basic Guides 
Comments
Video of how to play Polynesia.
This will tell you what to expect out of the special units, what to expect out of the playstyle, and what victory conditions to expect to dominate with.

Victory Conditions
Hello, if you really didn't want to watch the video I'll give a quick rundown of what you probably should be thinking if you are randomly paired up with the Polynesians or are just new to Civilization and think they would be fun to play!


Victory Conditions

  • Culture
    The Polynesians in the real world have those crazy Moai Statues. They have those here in Civilization V. With that said you'll be on the coast in most cases in maps that have coastal tiles. Around the coasts you'll want to litter them with Moai Statues to gain extra culture. With the extra Culture it allows you to stay small and focus more on Culture than anything else. Recommended.

  • Diplomatic
    Considering you'll be able to sail the seven seas right away, you'll meet many City-States along the way. Gaining their trust is key. Choose Patronage as your Social Policy and eat up the free City-States available. Doing so will anger nobody since no one will know about them right away. Hopefully you'll have some resources to trade away to keep the AI happy as well. Expanding is not a bad idea if you are looking for some additional resources to fuel the Diplomatic Victory. Recommended.

  • Science
    Since you'll be on ocean tiles you'll obtain a fair amount of science. If you build up a lot of cities on coasts and stay out of war you're looking at a viable option of a Scientific Victory. Otherwise, if you are looking to stay small this is not the best option. For those that are looking for expansion then this one may be what you are looking for. Somewhat Recommended.

  • Domination
    Although they do get an early special unit, it is not powerful enough to continue fighting everybody with. Outside of the early game they do not posses anything that is advantageous against any other Civilization. The only other ability would be that of going into ocean tiles but generally early wars are landlocked ones, not oceanic wars. Nonetheless, the Polynesians do not have a trait to help with wars either so it is not a great idea to become bloodthirsty and try to kill everyone. Not Recommended.
Social Policies
Won't get into as depth as the Victory Conditions only because Social Policies can usually go anyway for any Civ and still win. Will only note those that are very important to each Civ.
  • Commerce
    You'll be on the coasts. When you are on the coasts in Civilization it is usually best to try out Commerce. You'll get bonus movement with your ships, more money, science from money-making buildings. It's a win win situation unless you have very few cities or do not have any cities along the coast. Recommended unless not on coasts.
The rest are really up to you on how you're playstyle will be for policies, Tradition for hunkering down with few cities - Honor for cutting down enemies early on - Liberty for expanding like a mad-man but again, that goes for any Civ, not just the Polynesians.
Factoids
  • The word "tattoo" originated in Tahiti and was derived from Tatau, which was the native word for body art ,before european settlers turned it into tattoo.

  • Author Robert Louis Stevenson fell in love with the island of Samoa and settled there during his later years.

  • The Hawaiian archipelago is the largest island chain in the world, measuring at some 1,500 miles from end to end.
6 Comments
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SuperDJBling Jul 22, 2013 @ 2:51am 
Yeah, that early ability to move over the water has really served me well. Though the ability to heal some health after defeating an enemy unit due to cannabilsation would be an interesting addition indeed :D

By the way, the pronounaction of Maori I can best describe is to say it like 'Mouldy' but rather than the 'd' sound you replace it with an 'r', so you roll your tongue when you say it.

I should know, I am Maori :D

I also forgot to say, I've found your guides very helpful, thanks for taking the time to make these videos.
Ryan  [author] Jul 22, 2013 @ 2:43am 
Totally agree with you, the only way you can make complete use of Moari Warrior is on a much lengthier game - which many won't play on, usually myself included. Even so, they don't last very long and you really have to squeeze them out for everything they have very quickly. After that, it's defensive orientated play which again, as you mentioned, doesn't exactly fit the bill for Polynesia historically. Regardless, suppose this is just DLC and they quickly produced it for that quick buck. Oh well, I do enjoy their unique ability though - always fun to find everyone & City-States on Continents based maps first! Thanks for the comment by the way!
SuperDJBling Jul 22, 2013 @ 2:40am 
Personally, I thought the Maori Warrior was pretty underpowered all things considered, mainly there inability to last very long in a match (if playing standard) and there very early appearence. Historically, Maori Warriors proved capable of taking on what would be the equivalent of Musketmen/Riflemen in forest/jungle terrarin, and they probably should have recieved a buff there. The whole emphasis on defence for the UU also seems uncharacteristic when looking at the historical information available.
Ryan  [author] Jun 9, 2013 @ 4:34pm 
Nonetheless, even say you are playing on a Continents based map, you want to destroy a Civ that is landlocked, it'd be a challenge to do so considering Polynesia is more of water-based Civilization.

Anyway, we all have our own opinions and I absolutely love the feedback & thanks for checkin' out my guide!
Ryan  [author] Jun 9, 2013 @ 4:34pm 
I'd have to disagree just because they are geared more towards defense rather than offense. I can see their UU being an offensive machine but you'll only have them in the beginning and will need to treat them like gold there after. It's something that is do-able but isn't all that effective. Let's say for instance you're playing on a land-locked map, you do get that special unit but it won't last you to defeat a game of 10+ AI Civ's (or real people). They are much more suited towards anything but Domination - as any of my guides state, anything is possible but that is something you shouldn't associate with Polynesia. I'll agree that they are fantastic at Domination if you are playing on a Archipaleago mapstyle & very early game but that's very situational. Moai statues is what really makes Polynesia unique in my opinion, a fresh spin on a cultural victory by building unique tile improvements for a Cultural victory.
PATAR Jun 9, 2013 @ 11:55am 
i strongly dissagree. they are actually quite good at global domination. their UU is like a great general and the ability stays with the unit thru upgrades, and the moai statues make for excellent defense.