A Vox Populi(CBP) Guide: Byzantium

A guide on how to play the Byzantines with the Vox Populi(Community Balance Patch) Mod. Byzantium can reliably get the religion with the best beliefs in every single game, allowing them to excel at any victory type.

Introduction

These guides are designed to help players who are new to Civ but still interested in Vox Populi, familiar with Civ but new to Vox Populi, or even those well versed in Vox Populi who just want to see if there's anything they didn't know about a particular civilization. I am actually a big fan of Zigzagzigal's Civ guide series, and it really helped me learn a lot about the game, and I wanted to bring a similar experience for fans of the Vox Populi or Community Balance Patch modpack. For those interested in the modpack it can be downloaded here[forums.civfanatics.com]

Anyways, without further ado, onto the Byzantines!

Before I go into depth with this guide, here's an explanation of some terminology I'll be using throughout for the sake of newer players.

Beelining - Focusing on obtaining a technology early by only researching technologies needed to research it and no others. For example, to beeline Bronze Working, you'd research Mining and Bronze Working and nothing else until Bronze Working was finished.
Finisher - The bonus for completing a Social Policy tree (e.g. +33% Great Scientist rate and +25% growth in all cities from rationalism.)
GWAM - Great Writers, Artists and Musicians. These are the three types of Great People who can make Great Works, a major source of tourism for cultural Civs.
Opener - The bonus for unlocking a Social Policy tree (e.g. +25% Great Person Rate and +100% construction of guilds in Artistry)
Tall Empire - A low number of cities with a high population each.
UA - Unique Ability - the unique thing a Civilization has which doesn't need to be built.
UB - Unique Building - A replacement for a normal building that can only be built and used by one Civilization.
UI - Unique Improvement - A tile improvement that can be made by workers that doesn't replace any other improvement that can only be made by a single civilization
UU - Unique Unit - A replacement for a normal unit that can only be built by one Civilization or provided by militaristic City-States when allied.
Uniques - Collective name for Unique Abilities, Units, Buildings, Tile Improvements and Great People
Wide Empire - A high number of cities with a low population each.
XP - Experience Points - Get enough and you'll level up your unit, giving you the ability to heal your unit or get a promotion.

Brief Unique Summary

Start Bias

Byzantium has no start bias. Cathaphracts might appear to prefer open terrain, but they actually function great in rough terrain to, and the rest of your uniques care little about terrain too.

Unique Ability: Patriarchate of Constantinople

Is always eligible to found a Religion, receives an additional Belief when founding a Religion, and can choose Beliefs already present in other Religions

-15% Faith costs, and may purchase unlocked Great People with Faith as early as the Classical Era

Unique Unit: Cataphract(Replaces the Knight)

A mounted melee unit

Technology	Obsoletion	Upgrades From	Upgrades To	Resource Needed
Chivalry Medieval Era	Combustion Modern Era	Horseman (120 ) War Elephant (85 )	Lancer (160 )	1 Horse

Strength	Ranged Strength	Moves	Range	Sight	Negative Attributes	Positive Attributes
28	N/A	3	N/A	2	25% penalty attacking cities	Can move after attacking +30% combat bonus in open terrain +25% combat strength against ranged attacks(Cover I) (Cover I)

Negative Changes

• Less Movement (3 vs 4)

Positive One-Off Changes

• Higher combat strength (28 instead of 24)
  
• Obsoletes at Combustion rather than Metallurgy
  
• Has a smaller penalty against cities (25% vs 33%)
  
• May benefit from defensive terrain

Positive Stay on Upgrade Changes

• +25% combat strength against ranged attacks (Cover I)
  
• +30% combat bonus in open terrain

Unique Building: Tetraconch(Replaces the Temple)

Technology	Building required	Required to Build	Production Cost	City Restriction	Maintenance
Philosophy Classical Era	Shrine	Grand Temple	200	None	1

Base Output	Citizen Yields	Specialist	Great Work Slots	Other Effects
2 3	+1 per 3	None	1 Music	Double Relgious Pressure generated by Trade Routes -1 Unhappiness from Religious Unrest Nearby Incense, Wine and Amber gain +1 and +1

Positive Changes

• +2
  
• Double Religious Pressure from Trade Routes
  
• +1 per 3

Strategies & Victory Routes

Strategy Ranking

These scores are merely my personal opinions from playing and examining this Civ, you may find other uses for the Byzantine uniques that make you disagree with a certain ranking

Offense	Defense	Culture	Tourism	Science	/ Growth/Production	Gold	Diplomacy	Religion
7/10	5/10	5/10	4/10	4/10	4/10	4/10	4/10	5/5

Now these may all seem like low scores except for offense and religion, but let me explain why that is. The majority of the Byzantine strengths feed directly into founding a powerful religion, and religion can be leveraged towards any victory type, and almost no one can leverage better then the Byzantines, but all of these don't help towards a particular victory type specifically. It's up to choosing between the beliefs that every civ can access on order to forge your path, Byzantium may be able to use them better and more reliably then anyone, but their uniques that do this don't inherently help towards any victory.

That being said the one exception to that is the Cataphract, a powerful unit that the Byzantines, regardless of what they choose in their religion, can effectively use in warfare.
Byzantium's ability to cheaply purchase great people far earlier then other civs also can give them a slight leg up in culture, although this depends somewhat on what policies they choose.
Byzantium lacks any advantages not derived from their religion towards diplomacy or science.
Religion is of course the bulk of what makes Byzantium great, and are arguably the best religious civ in the game.

A Quick Guide to Religion: (Founder Beliefs)

Considering it is such an integral part to their gameplan, knowing all the various religious beliefs and how they fit with Byzantium is important if you want to play Byzantium effectively. I will briefly go over each founder, follower, enhancer and reformation belief as well as what Byzantium can get out of them. I will ignore pantheons this time around as Byzantium doesn't use them much differently then other civs, they still largely depend on your starting territory.

Founder Beliefs

All founder beliefs come with a bonus that usually gives yields when you spread religion, or increases holy city yields. They also come with a national wonder that can only be built once you have converted 20% of the world's population to your religion. They provide a small yield boost, a boost to Holy Site yields, and allow you to pick a reformation belief. Do note if you pick two Founder beliefs, you can only build one of the national wonders.

Belief Name	Belief Effect	How Byzantium can use it
Ceremonial Burial	Unlocks Mausoleum(+5 and gain faith when an owned unit dies in battle. +5 from holy sites) When a great person is expended, gain 10 & per city following your religion(maximum 25 cities) scaling with era	Ideal for a cultural Byzantium, giving lots of faith to help spread your religion more effectively for tourism bonuses. A cultural Byzantium will likely be using more great people.
Council of Elders	Unlocks Holy Council(+4 & +5 +5 from Holy Sites.) When a city adopts your religion for the first time gain 20 & in your Holy City, scaling based on the number of cities following your religion (bonus caps at 25 cities)	Ideal for a scientific Byzantium.
Divine Inheritance	Unlocks Celestial Throne(+2 to all yields. +5 from holy sites) Holy City produces 20% of all yields during a golden age.	Slightly favors a cultural byzantium as they will likely have more golden ages, but in general best for a Byzantium who wants to stay flexible.
Evangelsim	Unlocks Apostolic Palace(+4 & points +5 points from Holy Sites) +15 in holy city when you spread your religion, scaling with the number of new followers of your religion, and 15 , scaling with the number of followers of other religions in the city	Ideal choice for a Cultural Byzantium
Hero Worship	Unlocks Great Altar(+5 and +15% of military units. +5 from Holy Sites) Receive & points whenever you conquer a city, as well great general points from a landlocked city, and great admiral points from a coastal city. Bonus scales with city population and era.	Ideal for a domination Byzantium
Holy Law	Unlocks Divine Court(+4 & +6 +5 from Holy Sites) When you unlock a policy, gain 5 5 & 5 per follower of your religion(maximum 250)	Decent for every type of Byzantium
Revelation	Unlocks Chartarium(+5 from Holy Sites) When you research a technology, gain +2 , and for every follower of your religion(max 250 followers)	Good choice for a scientific Byzantium, but is ok for everyone
Theocratic Rule	Unlocks Grand Ossuary(+10 +5 from Holy Sites) We Love the King Day boosts the , , & output of a city by 15%	Ideal for a Diplomatic Byzantium, as they will likely have more luxuries and be using great merchants for trade missions more often
Transcendent Thoughts	Unlocks Sacred Garden(+3 & +5 +5 from Holy Sites) When you enter a new era, gain 12 of each yield in your holy city for each city following your religion (maximum 25 cities) scaling with era	Great choice for a science Byzantium, but not a bad choice for any Byzantium game

A Quick Guide to Religion: (Follower Beliefs Part 1)

These are the beliefs that other civs who get your religion can benefit from. These include buildings that you purchase with faith, and beliefs that give extra yields based on the amount of followers in a city. Buildings all boost religious pressure by 25% unless stated otherwise. All follower beliefs only affect the city it is in unless stated otherwise

Belief Name	Belief Effect	How Byzantium can use it
Asceticism	+1 per follower in the city(max +15)	Ok for any byzantium, but there are better options
Cathedrals(Building)	+2 & 1 Art/Artifact slot Farms, Pastures and Quarries near the city get +1 Gain +10 when the cities borders expand, scaling with era. -1 from poverty	Good choice for a diplomatic Byzantium, although might be a good choice for any Byzantium depending on the terrain
Churches	+2 & +4 1 Music Slot 15 turns of We Love the King Day when constructed All great works generate in the city generate +1 Boosts Religious Pressure by 40% instead of 25% -1 from boredom	Great for all except domination Byzantium, mostly due to the extra religious pressure
Cooperation	Internal trade routes give +3 of their primary yield. +2 if the city has a specialist	A fairly weak bonus for Byzantium, not recommended
Creativity	+1 per 3 followers (max +6 culture) and +2 if you have at least 1 specialist	Not a great choice for Byzantium
Diligence	+1 for every two followers in the city (maximum +15)	Not the best choice for Byzantium
Gudwaras	+2 & +3 +10% &+10% -1 from distress	A solid choice for a science Byzantium
Gurukulam	+1 for every 5 per turn the city produces, capped at half of the city's followers. 10% of the cost of faith purchases is converted to & .	A decent choice for a scientific Byzantium
Indulgences	+1 for every 10 per turn the city produces, capped at half of the city's followers. 10% of the cost of faith purchases is converted to & .	A decent choice for a diplomatic Byzantium
Mandirs	+3 & +2 Gain +5 of all yields when a citizen is born, scaling with era Boost religious pressure by 15%, and increases conversion resistance by 10% -1 from poverty	A solid choice for a Cultural Byzantium
Mastery	Specialists generate +1 and +1 of their primary yield	A great choice for a cultural Byzantium
Mosques	+3 & +2 +15% in the city during Golden Ages -1 from Illiteracy	A solid choice for any Byzantium
Orders	+2 +3 & +10% city strike strength Gain equal to the cost of a unit when produced, and gain equal to 10% of all purchases Morale promotion on all land military units -1 from Distress	An ideal building for a military Byzantium

A Quick Guide to Religion: (Follower Beliefs Part 2)

Pagodas	+1 to all city yields per religion present in the city Does not provide bonus religious pressure or resistance to conversion -1 from boredom & -2 from religious unrest	Not a great choice for Byzantium as you'll want your religion to be as strong as possible, more often then not by overpowering the other religions
Scholarship	+1 per two followers (maximum +15)	Not a great option for Byzantium
Stupas	+3 & +5 +1 -1 from Illiteracy	An Ideal choice for a Cultural Byzantium
Synagogues	+2 & +3 Increase the city's resistance to conversion by 15%, but does not increase the religious pressure During We Love the King Day, increases by 15% -1 from distress	An ideal choice for a Science Byzantium
Teocallis	+2 +5 when a unit defeats an enemy unit in combat +15xp to all units built in this city -1 from distress	An ideal choice for a Domination Byzantium
Thrift	+1 for every follower in the city (maximum of 10)	Not an awful choice for a diplomacy Byzantium, but not the best either

A Quick Guide to Religion: (Enhancer Beliefs)

Enhancer Beliefs

Enhancer beliefs are unique and powerful beliefs that depending on what you choose, will start to push you in a specific victory direction

Belief Name	Belief Effect	How Byzantium Can Use it
Inquisition	Inquisitors cost 33% less and generate 25 when removing heresy per converted citizen. Your spies exert +52 religious pressure on cities they occupy, and gain +2 if they are stationed in a foreign city	A decent choice if you have a strong religious rival, but a poor choice otherwise
Mendicancy	+2 & in all owned cities following this religion. Missionaries erode 10% of the existing pressure from other religions	Not an awful choice for a diplomatic Byzantium, but not a great one either
Orthodoxy	Religion spreads to cities 25% farther away. Religious Pressure triple to friendly city states and foreign cities connected by a Trade Route	A great choice for both a cultural and diplomatic Byzantium, and a solid choice for science as well
Prophecy	Reduces minimum policy requirement for wonders by 1. Prophets of this religion are 25% stronger, and cost 25% less +3 to base Holy Site yields. If this is the majority religion in a city, Inquisitors and Great Prophets only reduce your followers by half.	A good choice if you have a major religious rival, or if you are a diplomatic Byzantium, but a poor choice otherwise
Sacred Calendar	+33% Great Person rate in Holy City during Golden Ages. +3 points & in Holy City for every foreign city following this religion. Missionaries 25% stronger	A good choice for both a cultural and scientific Byzantium
Symbolism	Holy City gains +5 points and +2 Great Person points for all great people.	A great choice for a cultural Byzantium, and a decent choice for a science Byzantium
Universalism	+1 & +1 in Holy City for every 5 followers of other religions in owned cities. +1 & for every 10 followers of this religion in foreign cities	A good choice for a domination Byzantium as you'll likely have conquered cities with different religions, but a poor choice for other Byzantiums as you'll mostly want to convert as much as possible.
Zealotry	May spend to purchase land units in cities. Strategic Resource quantities increased by 1% per following city (maximum 25%).	Ideal for a domination Byzantium

A Quick Guide to Religion: (Reformation Beliefs)

Reformation beliefs are easily the most powerful of all the beliefs, and will give you the final push to complete your victory type of choice. These are the only beliefs Byzantium cannot choose for their bonus belief, although just like other beliefs another civ choosing one of these first does not prevent Byzantium from getting it.

Belief Name	Belief Effect	How Byzantium uses it
Crusader Spirit	Land units gain +10% vs land units in enemy lands, and an additional 10% against civs who do not follow your religion. Receive & when you conquer a city	The perfect choice for a domination Byzantium
Defender of the Faith	Land units gain +10% vs land units in friendly lands, and an additional 10% against civs who don't follow your religion. +1 & +2 from all defensive buildings	Normally a decent secondary choice to Crusader Spirit, but as you don't have to worry about it as Byzantium, this is an inferior option
Divine Teachings	May build libraries, universities, public schools, & research labs with and each building gains +2 Holy City gets 20 each time the owner expends a great person, scaling with era	The ideal choice for a scientific Byzantium
Faith of the Masses	May purchase amphitheaters, opera houses, museums, broadcast towers, and stadiums with and each building gets +2 Holy City owner gets +1 for every two cities following this religion	A good choice for cultural Byzantium, but there are better options
Global Commandments	Religion spreads 15% faster(30% with printing press) +10 +10 +10 +10 & +10 points per turn when you are the host of the World Congress. Receive 150 of each of these yields when you pass a proposal, all scaling with era	A pretty good choice for a diplomatic Byzantium, but there is a better option
Holy Land	Receive 1 additional delegate in the world congress per 2 Holy Sites and 2 Landmarks you own. +50% yields from friendly/allied city states	The ideal choice for a diplomatic Byzantium
Inspired Works	Landmarks and Great Person Improvements gain +4 & Great Works produce +2 and you can purchase archaeologists with	An ok choice for a cultural Byzantium, but similar to diplomacy there is a better option
Sacred Sites	Hotels and all buildings purchased with generate +3 World and Natural wonders gain +4 the Hermitage gains +10 &	The ideal choice for a cultural Byzantium
To the Glory of God	Use to purchase any great people starting in the industrial era* When you expend a great person gain 3 3 & 3 per city following your religion (maximum 20 cities)	An interesting choice for a Byzantium that wants to remain flexible

*For Byzantium this is instead the classical era

Unique Ability: Patriarchate of Constantinople

Byzantium's UA is incredibly different from most other uniques. It offers little in terms of direct bonuses. Instead, it offers an opportunity to unlock bonuses that other civs have access to with a level of flexibility and reliability that no other civ can hope to match.


Above: Note that the ancestor worship pantheon has already been chosen by the Maya, yet still shows up on the list of choosable pantheons

The first part you'll notice about Byzantium's ability is when you found your pantheon. Byzantium lacks early faith generation which is usually a cornerstone of good religious civs. However, Byzantium faces no competition when founding a religion. You could wait until the information era to found a religion and could still get every belief you want. Of course I wouldn't recommend doing it like that, but it has great uses even if you try to found a religion at a good pace. Byzantium lacks good faith output until they actually found a religion, but they don't need to have it. No matter how many people found a religion, even if every possible religion is founded, this isn't a problem for Byzantium. They can get every belief they want no matter how slow they are to found their religion, and also can always found a religion.


TWO ENHANCER BELIEFS??? I call hacks

The second part of the Byzantine UA gives them an extra belief when they found their religion. This can be used to choose anything besides the reformation beliefs. This allows them to not merely tie the best religion but beat it, every time. While you can choose pantheons and follower beliefs, the most powerful beliefs are founder and enhancer beliefs. Founder beliefs are probably a bit weaker then enhancer beliefs, but choosing one as your bonus belief allows you to build both national wonders associated with them, allowing for truly monstrous Holy Site Yields, which is a good idea for diplomatic Byzantium, as they are inclined to build Holy Sites because of the Holy Land Reformation Belief, so they might as well get some better yields out of them. It is also an interesting idea for a domination & cultural Byzantium, as a cultural Byzantium could use Theocratic Rule and Way of the Pilgrim to get lots of tourism out of Holy Sites, and domination Byzantium has much less reason to convert enemy cities, and might have more faith lying around for Great Prophets.

The final part of the Byzantine UA is that they can purchase Great People with faith in the classical era, as well as all faith purchases are 15% cheaper.


Above: Note how in the top left it says minimum faith to earn a Great Prophet is 825, yet in the religion screen it says I only need 615 faith

The cheaper faith purchases, arguably more then anything, sets Byzantium apart as the best religious civ in the game. Take away everything Byzantium gets in their UA and their UB, except for perhaps being guaranteed to found a religion. I think they'd still be the best because of this bonus. It allows them to out-compete every other civ in terms of conversion, and while this isn't the most important thing for what a religion can do for you, if a civ can prevent you from using your strengths, then how good they are doesn't matter. Buying Great People earlier is an interesting niche, that Byzantium can perhaps try to exploit, but it doesn't synergize well with the rest of the Byzantine UA and UB. It can hold it's uses, but it's not something to base your strategy around


Ivan the Terrible was probably religious yeah?

Unique Building: The Tetraconch

Byzantium may lack early faith generation, but the Tetraconch allows their mid game faith to explode.


Above: I'm not even in the renaissance era yet, and I'm making just shy of 200 faith from my cities. More then enough for a missionary per turn, especially with the Byzantine cheaper faith purchases

The Tetraconch is the only way to gain faith scaling with population that isn't directly tied to your religion in the game. This means that Byzantium's faith generation will increase throughout the game, instead of largely capping off by the end of the renaissance era like almost every other civ. This means that where most religion strategies build you a great base for the end game but don't directly play into your late game, Byzantium will use their faith as a primary resource throughout their entire game

The other main thing Tetraconches give is double Religious Pressure from trade routes. This can definitely help give some passive pressure, but Byzantium has so many faith bonuses and can very easily commit to missionaries or even great prophets without taking a big hit to their other goals, so this is a fairly minor bonus, but certainly a welcome one given what else the Tetraconch gives.

Unique Unit: The Cataphract

Faith and conversions and whatnot is fun and all, but maybe you're craving something a little more... Destructive?



The Cataphract is a strong unique unit that can be useful no matter what victory type your religion is tailored to. Cataphracts are stronger then knights, gain bonuses in rough and open terrain, start with cover I, and has a reduced penalty against cities, enough that just 1 drill promotion allows them to deal normal damage. They do have one downside compared to normal knights however. 1 less movement, and this is by no means insignificant. That's why it's better to think of cataphracts not as a knight replacement(other then the fact that, you know, they are) but rather as a faster, stronger melee line replacement that requires horses instead of iron. Some Cataphracts supported by a few seige units can easily wipe out an entire civilization or even two before they become obsolete.


Above: The Maya might have very low tech units, but Cataphracts still roll over them in a way that normal knights couldn't quite pull off

Even if you don't want to go to war, whether due to personal preference, not having any neighbors, or having a neighbor with a strong military of their own, Cataphracts are about as strong on defense as they are on offense, and should be more then enough to deter attackers until the late renaissance or even the industrial era.

Upgrades Kept on Promotion

• Cover I
  
• Open Terrain Combat Bonus

Upgraded Cataphracts may lose the traits that make them more like infantry then mounted units, but the open terrain bonus will ensure that your mounted line will be strong for the entire game.

Policies

No matter the victory route you intend to take, you should start with Progress, so you can expand wider for a strong religion. Next you should go Fealty to further capitalize on religion. The third social policy tree completely depends on what victory route you plan to go however. Science should go Rationalism, Culture should go Industry, Domination should go Imperialism and Diplomacy, somewhat unusually should go Statecraft

Progress

Opener: If at all possible, try to avoid growing your capital much before you get this, you'll get more science that way. The culture you immediately get from this will likely almost be enough for the next policy

Liberty: If you don't have any worker techs yet, it might be a good idea to save this for later, otherwise this makes sure you're improving stuff ASAP

Organization: Faster workers, settlers, and even great people all help infrastructure get built just a little bit faster

Expertise: Faster building construction is great, especially in the early game where production might be sparse.

Equality: More happiness is always welcome, especially if you do some conquering

Fraternity: Little bit of food and science, both good to have

Finisher: A nice bit of gold to compliment your faith purchases

Fealty

Opener: Monasteries are a solid building, even more so for Byzantium as they can buy it for cheaper then anyone else. The cheaper faith costs from Fealty combined with Byzantiums UA is also fantastic.

Nobility: Castles are a decent building, but armories are often a pain to build, even for warmongers. This makes both much easier to build, and actually gives even more incentive to build castles in particular

Divine Right: Having trouble with happiness? Your cities will generate a good bit less if you're struggling to build culture buildings. Doing great on happiness? Congrats have some culture for keeping your people happy.

Serfdom: If you've been expanding with Cataphracts/horse resources in mind this should always prove at least moderately useful. Also a bit of extra culture to help get through policies quicker

Burghers: Extra border growth combines well with Tribute from Autocracy, and the production is quite welcome

Organized Religion: Most likely you'll be dominating other religions around you, but this will at least help prevent people you've already converted from rising again.

Finisher: The extra yields are decent, but this isn't the best finisher unless you are going a Cultural route, in that case this is incredibly useful

Statecraft(Diplomacy)

It may seem odd to choose a second tier policy tree for your third tree, but Statecraft provides several crucial bonuses for keeping city states and succeeding in the World Congress. No Diplomatic civ can afford to miss it, even if they are picking it up later then most

Opener: Small bit of gold and a few extra yields in the capital can't hurt

Trade Confederacy: If you're trading with city states to try and keep religious pressure on them, might as well get some extra benefits out of it

Foreign Service: Completing quests can be really helpful for farther away city states that diplomatic units will take some time to get to, plus the spies are useful

Shadow Networks: A big boost to science.

Consulates: Probably the most important policy in Statecraft for civs trying to win a diplomacy victory. You can still get City State allies without Statecraft, but there is no making up for the delegates this gives

Exchange Markets: An extra trade route, bonus tourism modifiers from having trade routes with other civs, possible monopolies, a fantastic boost.

Finisher: Less policies required for wonders isn't super useful for you, as many of the important diplomatic and even religious wonders have long since gone by, but buying great diplomats is actually very important for Byzantium.

Industry(Culture)

Opener: Two trade routes is great to get more tourism, religious spread, and money

Division of Labor: Seaports and Train Stations are normally expensive buildings, but now they are in line with other buildings. Also a large boost to your production and gold outputs

Mercantilism: A large boost to your culture and science outputs. If there was something for food and faith and you'd have everything you could ever want.

Free Trade: Extra gold from ITRs is always a good thing

Entrepreneurship: Gold and production, the industry tree knows what it wants, and you do too.

Protectionism: Several bonuses to help your gold, science, food and even production

Finisher: You'll have at least a few specialists, so extra production and gold from them is a good thing

Imperialism(Domination)

Opener: At this point in the game (depending on the map type you're playing on) your last rivals are likely on different continents, so faster navies and embarked units is great. The extra production is good, although not amazing for Byzantium, but the cheaper upgrades are great.

Colonialism: If you've been doing a good job of conquering your neighbors, you've likely accumulated a good amount of monopolies, which already give great boosts. Why not make them better?

Regimental Tradition: Great Generals and Admirals are very important to keep your army fighting at peak strength, so making them affect more units, and affect them more, is great.

Martial Law: You might have a few puppets by this point, and possibly some happiness issues. This does a bit to make both less of a burden.

Exploitation: Making your military strong is nice and all, but what's the point if your cities can't gain some benefits too? Plus if you have a far away army it isn't as much of a pain anymore to get them upgraded

Civilizing Mission: Gold to support your conquests, production to support your conquered cities, both exactly what you need on the war path.

Finisher: A better navy, less unhappiness, and making your air units more effective on defense are all solid things to have

Rationalism(Science)

Opener: Lots of science and a bit of production.

Scientific Revolution: Depending on the terrain this could be only a bit of science or a ton, but overall it's usually worth building these.

Empiricism: Helps prevent other civs from leeching off your science lead

Rights of Man: Little bit of food, better villages, probably the weakest policy in rationalism.

Enlightenment: A free tech and more science is a fantastic bonus. I recommend putting it off till this late because the free tech is likely more useful if you postpone it to when the techs are more expensive

Free Thought: Great Scientists are critical in getting through the atomic and information era, and this makes them better at it.

Finisher: More Great Scientists and more growth.

Ideology

Ideology again depends on what victory route you are going. Diplomacy is best served by Freedom, Both Science and Culture get a lot out of Order, and Domination favors Autocracy

Level 1 Policies(Freedom)

Economic Union: 2 trade routes, 2 more City States to gain influence with

Covert Action: Makes your spies better at getting those tricky city states your diplomatic rivals don't want to give up.

Civil Society: Makes Specialists more reasonable to use without sacrificing growth

Level 2 Policies(Freedom)

Universal Healthcare: A free hospital in every city, possibly before you even have biology researched, is amazing.

New Deal: You're gonna have a ton of Holy Sites, make them better. The other improvements and landmarks will thank you as well

Level 3 Policies(Freedom)

Treaty Organization: Turns trade routes from merely maintaining the same influence levels to actively giving influence

Level 1 Policies(Order)

Worker's Faculties: Free factories for more production and some science too

Hero of the People: A science Byzantium can use this for a scientist or an engineer, whereas a cultural Byzantium can get a GWAM

Communism: There are crucial wonders for both culture and science in the late game, and this helps you get them.

Peace, Land, Bread(Culture): A plethora of great bonuses that don't directly help with a culture victory, but it will still help strengthen the empire

Level 2 Policies(Order)

Five Year Plan: Lots of production.

Academy of Sciences(Science): Free and better research labs for all your tech needs

Dictatorship of the Proletariat(Culture): A crazy tourism boost if you can maintain high happiness.

Cultural Revolution(Culture): High Tourism means it's likely you've managed to flip some civs ideologies, get even more benefit against them.

Level 3 Policies(Order)

(Note that cultural civs need 2 level 3 policies to win a cultural victory)

Spaceflight Pioneers: Essential for a Science victory, but a scientist is still useful for a cultural Byzantium. That and the level 3 order policies don't directly help a cultural win

Great Leap Forward(Culture): Not that this isn't useful for a science Byzantium, they just don't need it. A cultural Byzantium can use this to get to wonders like the CN tower, Great Firewall or Sydney Opera House quicker then their cultural rivals.

Level 1 Policies(Autocracy)

Elite Forces: Whether you need to replenish your army or are continuing to fight with veteran units, this will make them improve much faster

Military Industrial Complex: Combined with Imperialism upgrading units is pretty much free

New World Order: There is a solid chance you'll have lots of unhappiness at this point in the game, this helps alleviate that somewhat.

Level 2 Policies(Autocracy)

Lightning Warfare: Better armor and gun units, as well as faster generals is hard for almost any civ to stand up to.

Third Alternative: More resources for your likely largely armor based army

Level 3 Policies(Autocracy)

Air Supremacy: Free Airports allow your army to be almost anywhere at any time, and almost eliminates the need for a navy as long as you've conquered/founded a city on every continent

Wonders

Ancient Era

Statue of Zeus: A somewhat competitive wonder, but will make conquering cities very easy

Stonehenge: Byzantium doesn't NEED to get a pantheon quickly, but there is no reason to not do that

Classical Era

Oracle: You'll be going for Philosophy early anyways, this will be a great springboard to Chivalry

Medieval Era

Borobudur: This will this make your missionaries almost impossible for anyone to deal with given how fast they are coming out, but arguably more important is that if another civ makes this wonder they actually stand a chance of fighting your religious units off and maybe even converting you if you aren't careful.

Forbidden City(Progress Only): Makes that bit of gold go that extra mile.

Karlstejn: Somewhat like Borodudur, the bonus is nice for your religion, but it's also important to deny your religious rivals the powerful reformation beliefs.

Hagia Sofia: Great Prophets hold even more flexibility to Byzantium then most civs. An extra one is great to have.

Renaissance Era

Globe Theatre(Culture): A good start to getting your tourism off the ground. The golden age points are nice too.

Leaning Tower of Pisa: Get a free Great Prophet if there's a last stubborn religion that won't fall, or just grab whatever other type you want.

Porcelain Tower(Science): Byzantium's science tends towards being widespread compared to most civs, but this is still a great science boost

Red Fort(Fealty Only): Cataphracts should still be a decent deterrent to attacks at this point in the game, but they won't last forever.

Summer Palace(Diplomacy): A fantastic wonder for diplomacy, ensures that trivial things such as national borders don't affect your diplomatic units.

Uffizi(Culture): Lots of art/artifact slots, lots of tourism

Industrial Era

Palace of Westminster(Statecraft Only): Considering you are likely finishing Statecraft later then most, this wonder is likely to be gone by the time you can build it, but if it's not it is absolutely worth grabbing.

Modern Era

Broadway(Industry Only): Like the Uffizi but with music

Cristo Redentor(Culture): Lots of tourism from things you're already building to get tourism, a fantastic wonder for all cultural civs

Prora(Autocracy Only): Is a massive help in managing happiness.

Statue of Liberty(Freedom Only): Extra production isn't really that useful for a diplomatic Byzantium, but it isn't worthless, and the free social policy alone probably makes it worth building

Kremlin(Order Only): Similar to Statue of Liberty, the best part of this wonder is probably the social policy for Byzantium

Atomic Era

Bletchley Park(Rationalism Only): Once again makes it much harder for spies to steal tech from you.

Pentagon(Imperialism Only): Makes air units exceptionally powerful and quick to build.

Information Era

Cern: Especially good for science and diplomacy, but two free techs is amazing regardless of victory type

CN Tower(Culture): A crazy amount of tourism from almost every source you can gain tourism from.

Great Firewall(Culture & Science): Good for science to completely shut down enemy spies, and good for culture to grab to prevent another civ from blocking their tourism

Hubble Space Telescope: Essential for a science victory, but other victory types can still make good use out of two free scientists

Sydney Opera House(Culture): The extra policy and culture will help finish off the last policies needed to win a cultural victory

Pitfalls to Avoid

Byzantium is a weird civ, so it is definitely easy to make a mistake or two.

Waiting too long to found a religion

Byzantium may be guaranteed to found a religion, and can take any belief they want, but it is also the core of their gameplay. Waiting to found for too long will put you at a disadvantage.

Trying to do everything at once

There are religious beliefs for every victory type, and they are pretty strong. However, not even Byzantium can have them all. It is important you choose the religious beliefs that fit whatever victory type you are going for. Furthermore, once you decide on a victory type you need to commit to it. You are only flexible in what victory you want until you choose your beliefs.

Buying Too Many Great People With Faith Early

The early great people buying is a good feature, but Byzantium at a minimum will want to convert enough people to get their religious national wonder and therefore their reformation belief. They'll need to focus on their missionaries and maybe prophets until that point. Once that happens, then you can start spending some more faith on great people

Trying to Convert Everyone

Early game it is definitely important to convert at least a few people, but depending on what victory type you are going for, you might be better off spending faith on non-religious units, or using prophets for holy sites instead of conversions. Diplomatic and especially Domination Byzantium doesn't need to convert people too much, and even Science and Culture Byzantium will want to spend faith on lots of buildings.

Ignoring Cataphracts

Even if you aren't going for a domination victory, Cataphracts are very strong units, and you can easily wipe out a civ or two during their window of usage. Wide empires usually generate more faith, so it will be helpful to conquer no matter what, especially if you can take out a big religious rival.

Claiming the City of the World's Desire: Counter Strategies

Byzantium may have the strongest religion in the game, as well as a dominant mid-game UU, but they are by no means unbeatable.

Patronizing the Patriarchate of Constantinople

Byzantium has the strongest religion in the game, and even the other strong religion civs cannot stop them from getting every belief they want. A civ without a major religious bonus is best off ignoring religion entirely. Civs with a strong religion can still combat Byzantium however. They lack early faith bonuses which means someone like Spain, Ethiopia or even The Maya will most likely beat them to founding a religion. If Byzantium happens to be an immediate neighbor, drop everything immediately after founding your religion to get as many missionaries as possible, and attempt to convert them as fast as possible. If you are incredibly lucky, you'll crush their religion before it can get off the ground, and deny them almost every bonus they have. If this fails or isn't an option, don't panic. You can prevent Byzantium from converting you fairly easily just by placing inquisitors in all of your cities, and while it might be a losing battle, still trying to convert other neighbors or even Byzantium themselves can slow them down. Another thing to note about the UA is that it offers them a huge amount of choice, but it doesn't actually provide a lot of flexibility. Once Byzantium chooses their beliefs, they are more or less locked on that victory path, and you'll have a better idea on the standard counters to that victory type.

Trashing Tetraconches

Byzantium's UA is powerful, but it's the Tetraconch that makes conversion battles near unwinnable, as it makes so much faith that keeps increasing long after every other civ has stagnated. There isn't much you can do to stop them from building this short of conquering them early, but you can minimize it's effectiveness. If you are a neighbor, try to claim wheat, sheep, and any resource or good land that gives a lot of food. Blocking them off from settling many cities is another possibility, as wide empires will always have more faith, but there is a risk to doing that...

Crumpling Cataphracts

Cataphracts are a monstrous unit to fight, both when being invaded and trying to invade, but they aren't completely invincible. Knights, while weaker, are faster then Cataphracts and can rush in, attack, and pull out of range of an easy counterattack. Use this to bait the Cataphract into several of your units, or just use an overwhelming number of knights, although amassing that amount is easier said then done. Pikemen are an ok counter, but make sure to keep them on rough terrain if at all possible. Cataphracts may receive defensive bonuses from rough terrain, but not offensively unlike open terrain. Crossbows and Heavy Skirmishers don't perform great due to Cover I, but enough in defensive terrain can still do ok. The open terrain bonus carries over on upgrade and makes their upgraded Cataphracts still quite strong, but at least they will now be countered more easily by normal mounted counters. In later wars, focus down any unit you notice is an upgraded Cataphract.

Strategy by Style

Early-Game Warmongers: This is the prime time to take out Byzantium, they have almost no early game bonuses and will be incredibly weak.

Mid-Game Warmongers: In contrast to the early game this is when Byzantium is at their prime. Cataphracts are hard to beat. If you have to invade Byzantium during this time, try to bait Cataphracts into running after your units, they don't do hit and run as well as normal knights. Also during this time try to kill any missionaries or even Great Prophets that you see.

Late-Game Warmongers: Byzantium will prove a radically different foe based on their strategy. Science and Domination Byzantium might prove tough to fight, with strong, state of the art mounted and armored units. Cultural and Diplomatic Byzantium on the other hand aren't a huge issue, but they still might have a stronger army then some peaceful civs, as they'll likely still hold some remnants from their Cataphract wars.

Scientific Players: A scientific Byzantium may have strong science, but they usually will do so by going wide and faith buying as many science buildings as possible, and will have overall weaker production, especially in a centralized place that can reliably build spaceship parts

Diplomatic Players: If another religion has survived the Byzantine crusade, then voting that up as world religion might be a decent idea to help push them back at least a little. A diplomatic Byzantium does have a few unique ways to gain delegates, but isn't amazing at holding on to city states, although they do have a few advantages in that respect too, but still, the best way to beat a diplomatic Byzantium is to try to topple their city states, converting city states far away from Byzantine territory if you happen to have a religion can go a long ways.

Cultural Players: Similar to science players, the best way to beat a cultural Byzantium is to outproduce them, Byzantium's tourism is unmatched in the early game due to their religion, but unlike most of their religious abilities, doesn't scale the best in the late game. Byzantium will need more traditional tourism if they haven't managed to culturally influence everyone by the late game, and if you steal their wonders they'll struggle to do so.

Other Guides

Meta Guides

These guide cover every civ in the game, and can be used as a quick reference

• Civ Summaries

Civ Specific Guides: Alphabetized

• America (Domination/Science/Culture)
  
• Arabia (Culture/Science)
  
• Assyria (Science/Domination)
  
• Austria (Diplomacy/Culture)
  
• The Aztecs (Domination/Science)
  
• Babylon (Science)
  
• Brazil (Culture)
  
• Carthage (Domination/Diplomacy)
  
• The Celts (Domination/Culture/Science)
  
• China (Domination/Culture)
  
• Denmark (Domination)
  
• Egypt (Culture)
  
• England (Domination/Diplomacy)
  
• Ethiopia (Science)
  
• France (Domination/Culture)
  
• Germany (Diplomacy/Science)
  
• Greece (Domination/Diplomacy/Culture)
  
• The Huns (Domination)
  
• The Inca (Science/Domination)
  
• India (Science/Culture)
  
• Indonesia (Domination/Culture/Science)
  
• The Iroquois (Domination)
  
• Japan (Domination/Culture)
  
• Korea (Science/Domination)
  
• The Maya (Science/Domination)
  
• Mongolia (Domination)
  
• Morocco (Culture/Diplomacy)
  
• The Netherlands (Diplomacy/Domination)
  
• The Ottomans (Domination/Science)
  
• Persia(Domination/Culture)
  
• Poland (Domination)
  
• Polynesia (Culture)
  
• Portugal (Science/Diplomacy)
  
• Rome (Domination/Science)
  
• Russia (Science/Domination)
  
• The Shoshone (Domination/Science/Culture)
  
• Siam (Diplomacy/Science/Culture)
  
• Songhai (Domination)
  
• Spain (Domination/Culture)
  
• Sweden (Domination)
  
• Venice (Diplomacy/Culture/Domination)
  
• The Zulus (Domination)

[lifeordeath2077]

This sneak peak reveals that the western counterpart and precursor to Byzantium, Rome, is up next!