Normal Policy Branches

Some of the normal Policy Branches’ strengths have changed, and it's wise to go over the changes before you rush into a new game and assume that you know what you're getting into!

Tradition

Tradition is still the best starting choice for nations that want to have an especially powerful Capital. The divide between Tradition and Liberty is often simple: Are you trying to concentrate your power in a small area (Tradition) or expand quickly to cover a large region (Liberty)? It's rare that you gain enough Policies to be great at both of these Branches, so choose wisely.

Little has changed about the function of this Policy Branch. The inclusion of International Trade Routes makes it possible to bring Food or Production into your Capital for even greater potential, but that won't heavily impact whether you decide to push a Traditional agenda or not.

The one thing that's new is that you cannot pursue the Hanging Gardens without unlocking the Tradition Branch. All of the Branches now have a special Wonder that can only be constructed if you've taken a point to unlock that Branch. The Hanging Gardens is a great way to boost the Food of your Capital, and it's helpful in promoting Great Person birth there as well. Both of these fit in perfectly with a Traditional playstyle.

Liberty

Liberty is still the gem of expansionists. It soothes the Happiness and Cultural issues that are frequently a limiting factor for nations that grow too fast.

Collective Rule has a small change. If you're playing as a Venetian, there's no point in gaining a Settler (they're not allowed to have them). Taking that Policy spawns a Merchant of Venice for you instead. The other Policies act like they used to when Gods and Kings arrived.

Honor

Honor is the first Policy Branch that feels substantially different from its use in Gods and Kings. Taking a single point to unlock Honor was always useful when dealing with barbarians, but it's now even more powerful. The increase in civilian movement between nations (due to International Trade Routes) makes patrolling a critical duty. Your troops need to find and eliminate barbarian encampments as soon as possible. Otherwise, they'll kill your vulnerable trade units and cost you time and money. Overall, Honor lost a decent amount of Happiness. This Branch is still hard as nails, but you need to look elsewhere if your nation is having trouble with its citizens.

In addition to this, there are two Policies that have been altered. Warrior Code now allows nations to earn Great Generals 25% faster in addition to its existing bonuses—very impressive for a Policy that's available right from the beginning of the Branch.

Professional Army has changed even more. It's lost the Happiness bonus that you got from putting defensive structures in your cities, but your nation now builds Barracks, Armories, and Military Academies 50% faster.

Be careful about that change in Happiness. Militaristic players used that easy bonus while keeping their border cities safe. It's now important to spend a bit more time upgrading infrastructure and to pick and choose your defensive upgrades. This, combined with the reduced Happiness from Zoos (compared with Theatres), makes it a little harder to wildly conquer without hitting negative Happiness for a while.

Ideologies have a few tricks to aid in this matter, so militarists have plenty of options to please their citizens once they hit the Modern Era.

Piety

Piety has undergone a massive revision. Most of its Policies have been modified or entirely rewritten. If anything, the Branch is stronger and better directed. Instead of offering Culture here and there, this Branch gives you ways to make religion more powerful and stay relevant even into the later game.

Mandate of Heaven adds a 20% discount to the Faith cost of all religious buildings and units. This Policy used to add some excess Happiness to your Culture, but this change is quite powerful. You have to build your Culture up in other ways, but that bonus was never one that lasted much past the early game anyway. This new Policy sure does! It's useful whether you're peaceful or militant. Use it to get a head start on the spread of religion or the creation of some impressive religious buildings.

Theocracy has the same base benefit, but it also includes +3 Gold yield for Holy Sites. You won't have to weaken your cities in the name of Faith generation. The increased Gold output more than makes up for ripping up an existing improvement. Every religious player benefits heavily from this Policy change.

Religious Tolerance has completely shifted focus. Instead of lowering the cost of Policies, this ability now lets cities get bonuses from a second Pantheon. If a city has a majority religion and a secondary one as well, they receive the Pantheon bonus of each. This Policy is more situational, because you won't always have a religion in your nation that is present but benign. Many religious civilizations spread their faith too little or too aggressively for this to be perfect. This is best for peaceful games, when you're not worried about neighbors using their religion to make your empire more vulnerable (as with the Just War Enhancer belief).

Reformation has also lost its Cultural focus. This Policy now grants your religion a 5th belief type, called Reformation. It's a massive change, and it allows you to customize your religion even more than you used to. The final bonuses are extremely useful.

Though these beliefs were listed earlier in the guide, they are shown here as well so you can see what's available. Reformation, by itself, is worth investing in Piety as long as your nation has an interest in playing with religion.

Patronage

Patronage is stronger than it was in the earlier stages of Civilization V. Many of its original bonuses remain in effect, but it now has an extra perk that's thrown into the mix. You still spend less to get more from City-States, but now you also get a bonus for creating Trade Routes with them.

The completion bonus no longer causes other nations' Influence with City-States to drop faster. Instead, this perk now lets Allied City-States gift you with Great People. This used to require the purchase of Educated Elite, but a new Policy, Merchant Confederacy, was added in its place. Merchant Confederacy gives you +1 Gold for International Trade Routes with City-States.

Consulates puts your resting point for all City-States' Influence at +20. This is the same function as the old Policy "Aesthetics," but the name had to be changed because that's now a whole new Policy Branch.

Aesthetics

This Policy Branch is entirely new. It takes advantage of the new Cultural system in the game and makes it easier for nations to work toward a Cultural Victory or defend against someone else who's doing the same thing.

Cultural Centers lets you construct Monuments, Amphitheaters, Opera Houses, Museums, and Broadcast Towers 50% faster. This is very useful if you're a Culture player with more than a couple of cities. It's less important if you're based out of your Capital and only need to build one or two copies from each of these.

Fine Arts adds 50% of excess Happiness toward your global Culture. It allows your nation to adopt Policies at a faster pace, as long as you keep your people happy. The value of this Policy varies dramatically, depending on how well your nation is doing. If you only get a few points of Culture per turn from it, then Fine Arts isn't very powerful for you. Look at your Happiness rating before deciding whether to take Fine Arts or Cultural Centers. The latter is usually the better first pick, but both have their moments.

Flourishing in the Arts increases Culture yields by 33% in all of your cities that have constructed a World Wonder. In addition, the empire enters a Golden Age. This is a massive Policy for anyone who takes Aesthetics. You need Fine Arts and Cultural Centers to get it, so this will be the third Policy you choose in the line (every time). It's game changing. Once you have this, make sure that all of your best cities attempt to secure at least one World Wonder, to spread the bonus around. Save a Great Engineer to assist with this task, if needed.

Artistic Genius spawns a free Great Artist for you. That's useful, but it should usually wait to be your final Policy in this Branch.

Ethics reduces the cost of future Policies by 10%. This won't push you forward as quickly as Flourishing of the Arts, but it's still a good way to keep your Policy growth moving at a decent clip.

Commerce

Commerce has tossed off the last roots of being a naval Branch. It's now all about the money, and the sea-based perks have gone over to Exploration. Take this line if you want to make as much cash as possible, benefit more from land-based trade, or if your nation is based off of its Capital and needs every coin possible. If that's the case, even unlocking the Branch is a huge boost.

Wagon Trains adds 2 Gold for each of your land Trade Routes. It's powerful in some circumstances, but it isn't always useful (even for heavy traders). This bonus does not apply to Domestic Trade Routes or naval ones either. It's only effective if you have many Trade Routes and have them all going off toward foreign cities.

Trade Unions reduce the cost of Roads and Railroads by 50% now (instead of 33%), but they no longer add Gold to Harbors and Seaports. As with Wagon Trains, this is very effective for land-based trade empires. The cost reduction for a large road network is very noticeable.

Entrepreneurship lets you earn Great Merchants 25% faster. This is especially useful after completing the Branch, when Trade Missions start getting you more Gold. Also, this pairs well with Patronage. You can make money while impressing the City-States—the best of both worlds.

Exploration

Exploration turns your big naval empire into a rich and powerful naval empire! Its value is entirely proportional to the number of coastal cities that you've founded (or plan to found). The more you have, the better this Branch becomes. If you're going to be a major force on the waves, this set of Policies is not optional. They're so good that every naval civilization will want them. By the Medieval Era, you’ve explored and settled enough to know whether Exploration is something you need.

The completion bonus for this Branch is an odd duck. It eventually allows you to gain more Artifacts or Landmarks for your nation. Rather than being a naval perk, this is a useful trait for players that are going after a Culture Victory. Even still, land-based Culture players will not want to spend six Policies just to get a few more Artifacts. They might think about it, but there are other Policies that help their cause even more.

Maritime Infrastructure adds 3 Production in each of your coastal cities. That's a major boon, especially when you're first getting those cities off the ground. Take this as soon as you can; free Production is almost always a strong benefit. This is only weak if you don't have much of a coastal presence. But if that's the case, you probably shouldn't invest in Exploration anyway.

Naval Tradition adds 1 Happiness for each Harbor, Seaport, or Lighthouse in your nation. It's very solid, especially if you're expanding quickly through an area with lots of smaller islands. This helps to offset the higher Unhappiness you have to deal with while establishing those cities. You can focus heavily on the naval buildings they need, and worry less about entertainment buildings.

Merchant Navy adds 1 Gold for each Harbor, Seaport, or Lighthouse. Pair this with Naval Tradition for useful synergy. These coastal buildings become the core of any sea town you found.

Navigation School gives you a free Great Admiral, adds 2 Movement for all Great Admirals, and lets you earn additional ones 25% faster. If someone is contesting your fleet, this Policy is quite powerful. However, it's the least effective choice for peaceful maritime powers. Let this wait if you don't expect any trouble in the near future.

Treasure Fleets adds 4 Gold to each of your International Trade Routes on the sea! That's decent money for a naval trade empire. Venice, using this, can make piles of money in short order.

Rationalism

Though toned down slightly, Rationalism is still a wonderful Policy Branch that appears in the middle of the game. Its bonus to Science is roughly the same, but you only get one free piece of Technology for completing the Branch. Also, the Humanism Policy dropped the Happiness bonus from Science buildings and now aids in Great Scientist growth (by 25%).

All in all, Rationalism still feels much the same and is available for anyone who wants to get a technological edge on their competition. Most players kind of fall into that category, whether they're leading a nation of killers, traders, or geeks!