Endless Difficulty Tested & Approved.



Overall Theme: Sprawling Metropolis, Politics, Subterfuge, Privateer Shenanigans.



Play-style: Turtle/Passive



Victory Conditions: Massive Privateer Army, Science victory, Diplomatic victory.



Lore:



Exid the Chosen. Exid the Architect. Exid of Altars. This favored disciple of the Queen has garnered many titles. Exid's favorite pass-time is converting old Endless ruins into chapels where those faithful to the Queen can meet in prayer and trade ideas as the ultimate form of ironic insult to injury to the ever-forsaken Endless. Often regarded as the greatest architect and district planner Auriga has ever seen, at least in this age, Exid's plan for the Queen's throne city is to build a metropolis like no other; a city that spans from border to border! A true Mecca worthy of pilgrimage; the very center of the world!



"Queen, hear my cries! Seat me by your side in the Eternal End! Make me one with your GLORY Let the world once more see your divine favor---For you are the heart of Auriga herself and comfort is only YOURS to give!"



Brothers. Sisters. Lay a fire within your soul and another between your hands, and let both be your tools. For one is faith and the other is victory and neither may EVER be extinguished. Tools bestowed upon us by our Lady Eternal! Tools the unfaithful cannot sully! We will use these gifts to forge a city like Auriga has never seen! The Queen's eternal throne will touch the very heavens... And the scum of this world will tremble before her majesty, as they succumb to terror and awe as her divine shadow eclipses the sun."




-=Hands of Exid=-



Traits:



+Advanced Diarchy



+Conversion



+Mercenary Comforts



+Cellulose Mutation



+Endless Recycling



+Endless Excavation



+Landscapists



-Make Trade, Not War.



-Brace Yourselves!



-Weak Defense



-Fragile Health 2/2



-Spendthrifts 1/3




Synergy and Strategy Explained:



Advanced Diarchy + Cellulose Mutation + Endless Recycling + Landscapists + Endless Excavation.



Separate? These are amazing. Together? They are monstrous. Your city will expand fast and exploit tiles to their fullest! Cellulose Mutation + Endless Recycling = ALL OF THE SCIENCE!



Advanced Diarchy is your ace in the hole, your get out of jail free card, your access to massive massive Empire Plan buffs really early. If you find yourself boxed in early or unable to defend your villages then Advanced Diarchy gives you the alternative of throwing your influence at your city instead! Combined with the above? You can get remarkable headway on your opponents. Get an early market ban before you districts provide a happiness buff? Diarchy has got you covered. Getting rushed? Go military plan for that +30% damage! Villages getting eaten up? Pump your influence into dust-cost reduction for buyouts and industry-cost reduction! Bip, Zap, Zop, something, something, Starwars!



Your negative traits don't actually hinder you that much. Brace Yourselves doesn't really hurt the cult much at all to begin with. One level of spendthrifts is no big deal. Your fortification bonus grows exponentially and makes up for your weak defense and low hp. Mercenary Comforts dwarfs that measly level Fragile Health later. Make Trade Not War can be leveraged against your foe! (more on that later)



Primary Win Condition = Conversion + Mercenary Comforts Unfortunately I couldn't stuff We Are Legion in here.. If I could have this would have been even more potent. Essentially you use your free conversion troops to defend your villages and your capital. When you get to Era IV you'll get Mercenary Corps. This will result in an immediately huge privateer army.----You'll use it to kill those you are at peace with, your allies, without even declaring war. Very duplicitous. Very Culty!



Secondary Win Condition = Science Victory. This will be easily achievable for you... The more districts you have, the more science you get. The more districts you have, the more defense your city gets. The longer the game goes on the harder it becomes to take you out, despite the potential handicap of only having one city.



Tertiary Win Condition = Diplomatic Victory. Though admittedly untested, logic dictates that this should be feasible for the same reasons the science victory is!



Yes. Potential. Make Trade Not War is actually to your advantage; you have this instead of Weapons of the Enemy. Meaning.. You can get more than one city if someone decides to come at you. AI tends to start wars with you if they take a border near you early. Use this to your advantage.. Village conversion will become more expensive, but you will gain however many cities you take from the enemy! Advanced Diarchy, again, covers you here! Against other players---well. This gives you a kind of poker-face bluff to play against them.



Overall strategy: Play the good quiet neighbor. Use Diplomatic Manse to stay out of fights. The beauty of this build is that you do not have to over expand on your village conversion to succeed---Thanks to Advanced Diarchy you have several other uses for your influence that will help you gain momentum if the enemy tries to shut down your conversions. Even with just a handful full of villages and some mercenaries from the market you can enter Era VI with a huge privateer army that circumvents your inability to start wars.



When choosing tech and research be sure to prioritize tech that makes individual tiles better. +% on city isn't nearly as important to you---You'll have a massive amount of tiles... You'll pretty much have your entire region covered in city no time.



This is a fun build because it's really hard to lose with it, and yet games tend to be long as a result of it's passive nature. I even set the AI up as this build and it didn't die! A cultist AI not being taken out by one of the other AI on Endless Difficulty is practically unheard of---But this one began closing in on Science Victory at frightening speeds. Luckily I was testing an Economy build and out-paced it for the Economy Victory.. I tried to assault his mega-fortress. Didn't go so hot! Had to retreat lol.



I recommend this build to turtlers, science enthusiast, city builders, Sim City players, ect! Beginners or intermediates.