Civilization 5 Piety Social Policies
Strategy Guide for Gods and Kings & Brave New World
| Tradition | Liberty | Honor | Piety | Patronage | Aesthetics | Commerce | Exploration | Rationalism |
Piety's focus is on Religion, and adopting it is situational. I would not open with this, despite it being available early in the game, unless you're playing a Civ that is particularly focused on Religion. On high difficulties, you need the benefits of Liberty, Tradition, or Honor to really shine. Adopting Piety will make Great Prophets appear faster due to a bonus to put up Shrines and Temples in half the time, which does help you form your Religion earlier, important in getting first picks on those beliefs. Religion is a race, after all, as not all Civs will get to found one.
I suggest you take this after two or three points (at least) are invested in other Policies, so that you are generating Culture or getting bonuses to Military or Expansion. Temples do not come until Philosophy, which is why I suggest waiting this out a bit. I would primarly adopt at least some of this to ensure the spread of my own Religion when going for a Cultural Victory, because shared Religion is so helpful in that, then move on to Aesthetics.
There ARE large opportunities to use Piety to purchase Military units and thrive culturally. You should know all about Religion and the bonus buildings available, which can let you choose a direction. There is also the opportunity to buy pre and post-Industrial units, through two separate beliefs. You've gotta be first to choose them, and Piety can help you accomplish that.
Adopting all Policies in Piety will cause a free Great Prophet to appear, and all Holy Sites will begin generating +3 Culture. This not only expands your Civ's borders and allows for adopting more Social Policies, it also paves the way for a Cultural Victory through religion as all those Holy Sites can be converted to Tourism with Hotels and Airports. Place them around the City that will have your National Visitor Center for maximum Tourism impact.
The main thing I would tell you is to use your third and later Great Prophets not to spread your Religion, but to create Holy Sites so that later on you are able to spread with many Missionaries. You should also definitely build The Great Mosque of Djenne and other Religious Wonders that you are able to, so you can ensure your Civ has plenty of Faith. The aforementioned Mosque will make Missionaries able to spread religion 3 times, which helps them spread while your Great Prophets get planted. Otherwise you are limited to Shrines, Temples, buildings from Beliefs, Religious City-States and any terrain bonuses for Faith and your Missionaries will be weak without using valuable belief slots on them. This is especially important with fewer Cities in your Empire.
Organized Religion: +1 Faith from Shrines and Temples.
Tips and Strategies for this Policy: Greatly boosts Faith, especially across wide Empires. Even in just a few Cities, it'll make a difference, though. Later in the game you can use Faith to buy Great People and need it in large chunks. Early on, you'll find Units are affordable every 10 turns or less with plenty of Cities having both Shrines and Temples. Since you opened Piety, you'll be able to build these quickly.
Mandate of Heaven: 20% discount on all purchases of religious units and buildings with Faith.
Tips and Strategies for this Policy: This is specifically for Religious Units like the Missionary, Inquisitor, and Great Prophet, along with anything like the Pagoda or Monastery. It does not reduce the cost of other things. This lets you purchase more Missionaries to spread your Religion, while giving you a break with Great Prophets to use them to create Holy Sites for long-term Faith generation (plus Culture and Gold with other Policies).
Theocracy: Temples increase a City's Gold output by 25%. Holy Sites provide +3 Gold.
Tips and Strategies for this Policy: This policy was improved with the Fall Patch of 2013 and made things much better for players who choose to go Piety and try to generate tons of Faith. The Gold definitely helps and changes the Temple into a Bank! This encourages you to place Holy Sites as well, which will also get the Culture boost should you polish off Piety.
Religious Tolerance: Cities with a majority Religion also get the Pantheon belief bonus of the second most popular religion.
Tips and Strategies for this Policy: The usefulness of this depends upon what Religion is present in each City. Grassland areas may get Desert Folklore. It's a mixed bag, but necessary if you're going to go all-out on Piety.
Reformation: If you founded a Religion, gain a bonus Reformation belief.
Tips and Strategies for this Policy: The purpose of this one is up to you. These are all listed on the Reformation Beliefs page.
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