What are the best and worst families?

[Flickmann]

I find Statesmen very useful for their Orders bonus. Hunters however always seem the weakest, especially amongst the military families.

[Mel Gibson]

It's the second thread in a day mentioning hunters as an underpowered family, so there's probably something there. But I personally never felt that way. Maybe it's just a flashy, sugary bait for n00bs like me, but that extra growth from 2~3 game camps always felt very much worth it, almost "exploity", even.
I find myself not picking traders, clerics and even riders way more often, but I should probably take more time learning how to use them properly. Should I be importing horses more often? I don't think I ever did that even once. These threads are making me second guess myself.

[Sgt. Steiner]

Thank you fellows for the interesting observations. Mel, please let us know what more you find out, as I am a noob to this game. So many decisions to make, but quite brilliant to set up a system of "limited" orders for players. Best wishes to all!

[Flickmann]

Originally posted by Mel Gibson:

It's the second thread in a day mentioning hunters as an underpowered family, so there's probably something there. But I personally never felt that way. Maybe it's just a flashy, sugary bait for n00bs like me, but that extra growth from 2~3 game camps always felt very much worth it, almost "exploity", even.
I find myself not picking traders, clerics and even riders way more often, but I should probably take more time learning how to use them properly. Should I be importing horses more often? I don't think I ever did that even once. These threads are making me second guess myself.

Well hunters are funny. With camps, you're definitely right in that a handful of them can be extremely powerful. I just never seem to ger lucky with Hunter civilisations. Their bonuses aside from camps are a bit average (Sentinel is useful, but I'd much prefer an attack oriented bonus) and their founding bonus of some extra resources is hardly top-tier compared to the free advisors or techs that other families give. Traders are in a similar position - with a few nets and specialists they can be extremely good, otherwise very average.

[mk11]

I think the Landowners are one of the best. Buying tiles and +2 citizens in seat is a strong start. +2 growth means more specialists. 50% reduction in training rural specialists is also a good strong start. They get Judge and Builder as traits which are good for governors. +40 opinion for most cities, +5 per town, tends to keep them happy.

Not that keen on Artisans. +4 culture is a bit of a help to get started but quickly is just a minor boost. Bonus output is only marginal and, many games, metal and lumber are not really a problem. They get Schemers as a trait and that seems to have a lot of negative events. +10 opinion from Amphitheatres is nice but not much else opinion wise.

Traders, Hunters, Champions, Riders, are quite dependent on what the map has (or has not) which means they are kind of dependent on what you have explored when you pick them.

[jotwebe]

Originally posted by Flickmann:

and their founding bonus of some extra resources is hardly top-tier compared to the free advisors or techs that other families give.

I used to think the same, but part of that was from playing on lower and medium difficulties, where you get plenty of starting resources and the Hunter founding bonus is just "meh." The less starting resources you get, the higher the bonus is though in relation to it, and the more you need it. On the Glorious it feels pretty in line with the others - it lets you build your first settler much easier and lets you have some flexibility in choosing where to build your first improvements.

Originally posted by mk11:

Not that keen on Artisans. +4 culture is a bit of a help to get started but quickly is just a minor boost. Bonus output is only marginal and, many games, metal and lumber are not really a problem. They get Schemers as a trait and that seems to have a lot of negative events. +10 opinion from Amphitheatres is nice but not much else opinion wise.

Metal is usually not a problem, but lumber can be in my experience. Cheaper ships and siege units can be a big one, too - but yeah it's a nerf from the days they got the Ingenuity bonus.

Statesmen are good, but they're also not what they were in their glory days. Still, yeah, them and Landowners probably overall the strongest, but every family can shine depending on the settings. Raging Barbarians? Champions. Islands? Artisans, Traders. Desert? Clerics, Riders.

I think the most fun way is to pick the families that are best for your starting situation - it's usually a pretty good choice anyway, since that early advantage snowballs - and then adjust your strategy to make the most of that.

[RabidHobbit]

Trader feels quite strong to me because of how early you get things you normally would not. Maybe there was a patch that made them stronger? Because I'm surprised to see any lukewarm feelings about them at all. Workers that can build multiple roads per turn and caravans at the beginning of the game are fantastic. Agreed the nets are situational, but situational doesn't mean weak.

I wouldn't say traders are the best, but certainly not one of the weaker ones IMO.

[mk11]

Originally posted by RabidHobbit:

Workers that can build multiple roads per turn and caravans at the beginning of the game are fantastic.

I don't build a lot of roads. Usually have better things to do that Caravans for a while.

[Conquistador_514]

What I love about this game is that it is very situational, Both Hunters and Artisans and Traders on the right city can almost decide if you've won the game or not, other times... why bother even choosing them.

[folgra]

I always build roads to connect all of my cities to each other. They make moving reinforcements much faster, not to mention connecting cities that otherwise can't to the capital.

[Twelvefield]

Originally posted by mk11:

Originally posted by RabidHobbit:

Workers that can build multiple roads per turn and caravans at the beginning of the game are fantastic.

I don't build a lot of roads. Usually have better things to do that Caravans for a while.

Caravans are one of the most powerful units, though. I could never have too many Caravans. The big money, the good will, and often enough squeezed out of someone who really does not want to give you that stuff just because you've sent them Robin Williams on a camel.

[mk11]

Originally posted by Twelvefield:

Originally posted by mk11:

I don't build a lot of roads. Usually have better things to do that Caravans for a while.

Caravans are one of the most powerful units, though. I could never have too many Caravans. The big money, the good will, and often enough squeezed out of someone who really does not want to give you that stuff just because you've sent them Robin Williams on a camel.

Depends on your map. Usually though I play on larger maps which means, early, other nations are a distance away and there can be barbarians between. Once there are safe routes then caravans are very nice.

[Padmāvatī]

My favorites are Champions and Clerics. It's hard to pass on Clerics when playing a desert map. But as others have mentioned, I don't think there is a single best or worst family; it's all situational.

[IceMatrix]

Originally posted by Mel Gibson:

It's the second thread in a day mentioning hunters as an underpowered family, so there's probably something there. But I personally never felt that way. Maybe it's just a flashy, sugary bait for n00bs like me, but that extra growth from 2~3 game camps always felt very much worth it, almost "exploity", even.
I find myself not picking traders, clerics and even riders way more often, but I should probably take more time learning how to use them properly. Should I be importing horses more often? I don't think I ever did that even once. These threads are making me second guess myself.

I take Traders with Hatti every time as you need Diplomat midgame, and they are the only family that has a decent chance of producing them. Hatti doesn't have Hunters or I might include them there.
But I generally usually play with Hunters also, it really depends on if I have a lot of camps, and do I have any other families producing training. Have to have one if not two.
I think the ranged Sentinel is nice also, and the plus 50 stone, ore, food at high difficulty is almost a necessity.

[Siontific]

Landowners is probably my favorite family; 2 growth everywhere has a similar effect as being "connected" to the cap (which confers 2 growth), so whether you're connected or not, you'll get workers online quicker.

It's a massively versatile family. Very much a jack of all trades. The rate at which you could churn out miners actually means you could turn any landowners city into a decent military hub very quickly if you need it.

Traders is insanely strong if you have the right site for it; even without it, you get access to an elder specialist right away which I will almost certainly rush out as soon as the city hits developing culture.

Centralization as a law is 400 civics for 2-6 science in the first half of the game; an elder shopkeeper gives you just as much as that, plus way more of a return on the investment so it's one of the best things you could dump civics on in an early rush IMO.

Clerics is an obvious powerhouse. Each city having access to monestaries early is a huge boost in science, and monks are an amazing specialist when upgraded.