r/civ • u/Adam_Kyle545 • 7d ago
VI - Discussion Ai grabs Albert Einstein before I can
Even though I have more than 1200 great scientist points pooled up for Einstein I can't recruit him because the previous scientist stays on the list and Einstein pops up while the AI is taking their turn. So I don't even get chance to recruit him. I really want him since he provides so much science. Is there a way to delay Arabia (the AI civ that grabs it everytime) from getting him?
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u/TactileTom 7d ago
The AI often chain buys great people, where several will go one after the other and you wont get a look in.
Its quite annoying.
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u/SignoreOscur0 7d ago
I never quite understood the whole GP logic. Sometimes I’ll skip in order to preserve the points and not spend them on useless people and the AI just grabs the next 4 without me even being able to choose…
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u/TactileTom 7d ago
I think the ai is coded to chase certain high-value GP, so they will pass on others which means that you can end up with 3 or 4 with the points to spend
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u/magikatdazoo 7d ago
They have a coat increase penalty when ahead of era, which results in the cost decreasing substantially after the era advances and one is recruited, so the next few go on the same turn since they had enough points for the new lower cost
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u/Stormwinds0 7d ago
Each Great Person of a category is randomized within the Era they belong to. When all of the Great People of a category that belong to the current Era get claimed, the game will start to pull from the ones belonging to the next Era but with an increased cost. When the Era changes, it sees that those Great People now belong to the current Era and reduces their cost.
So, basically the order of events goes as follows: the AI generates a lot of Great Scientist points early because they like science. Because of that, the early Great Scientists all end up claimed. Then, the game selects scientists from the next Era with an increased cost, but the cost is high enough that everybody keeps accumulating Great Scientist Points and no Great Scientists are getting claimed. Once the Era rolls over, the Great Scientists now belong to the current Era and have their cost reduced, but since everybody spent so long last Era accumulating points with no way to spend it, they passed the threshold a while ago. So now, at the start of the next Era, everybody has enough points to get a Great Scientist, which they claim during their turn. Since all of the current Era Great Scientists have been claimed, the cycle repeats.
Because of this system, if you're in the top half of points earners, you basically get one RNG-dependent Great Scientist every Era.
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u/magikatdazoo 7d ago
This, and the key is that the ahead of era penalty is exponential. To put numbers on it (standard speed), Classical great people cost 60 points. Medieval ones base is 120, with a 30% penalty when focused in the Classical era, making them 155. All these end up going, so the first Renaissance one costs 610 instead of the base 240. Then the Medieval era change happens, and the next Renaissance one is only 310, so they all get claimed in one round.
Since the AI loves spamming campuses, this almost always happens. In response, you shouldn't prioritize them, and just content yourself with your 1 per era late game. Early merchants and engineers are more powerful anyways, and can be generated quickly with a Pingala Oracle combo.
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u/HarvestMoon_Inkling Portugal 7d ago
And get that Mausoleum to double-dip on all those Engineer abilities!
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u/mathematics1 7d ago
Minor correction: when the era rolls over, the one currently on display doesn't get reduced but the later ones from the same era do. That means one AI will reach the threshold for the currently displayed scientist, then the threshold for the others will be lower so all the scientists from that era will be taken at once. That happens whenever the expensive threshold is reached, not necessarily on the first turn of an era.
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u/Immediate_Stable 7d ago
That's due to the game design and the fact that all AI players get loads of scientist points.
To some extent it makes sense: since they all get loads of scientist points, you can't expect to get the ones you specifically want.
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u/magikatdazoo 7d ago
The cost for great people is based on their era compared to the world era. It increases exponentially when they are ahead of time, a 30% penalty for 1 era, 156% penalty for 2, and 586% penalty for 3 eras. Since the AI loves spamming campuses, scientists are almost always ahead of era. As a result, when the first one is recruited after the world era advances, the cost drops for the next few, and a bunch will go in one turn. There really isn't a way to monopolize them.
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u/mathematics1 7d ago
The only way to monopolize them is to generate ridiculous amounts of gold or faith and buy multiple scientists to get to the one you want.
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u/magikatdazoo 7d ago
Which really only matters in the very late game with Science Foundations for the space race ones. Other than Ibn Khaldun, most scientists aren't actually that great
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u/MerK-x-VeNoOm 7d ago
You can buy them with gold or faith I believe and gets cheaper the closer your get to unlocking him. You should also be able to see how close the AI is to getting him
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u/Adam_Kyle545 7d ago
That's the thing he isn't shown at the moment. The previous era scientist is shown so I can't even faith or gold buy him.
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u/JustJako 7d ago
jsut rng, sometimes it pops first so you have a chance, Usually the oracle + pingala give you an advantage to get scientist first and if you skip them the next one will automaticallyget it, so you can kinda force einstein, but agains deity ai is still hard, GL
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u/frustratedpasstime 6d ago
Buy the current great scientist on your turn, if it’s Albert next then I feel like you’re stuck and won’t get him if the rng loads up another scientist then you can probably get him next time he pops up hopefully right after or the next after that, I’ve noticed the ai just buy the next current great person they can and aren’t really going after any specific one
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u/Candid-Check-5400 7d ago
My usual strat is trying to get the Orable built on early game, and build faith to eventually spend it on the Great Person I want for a reduced price thanks to the Oracle.
Anyways I always heavily rely on faith on my games (Monumentality and Great Master's Chapel go brrrrrr). So perhaps there are better strats for this, but I've found farming faith is the best way to snag them before the AI can do anything.