Civilization – In Civ 5, how exactly do agreements affect relations with other civs

civilization-5

OK, so I just moved from emperor to immortal level and its becoming a bit tricky to me. The main problem is that I somehow manage to piss off all my neighbours way too soon 🙁

The only obvious diplomatic option to keep good relations is a pact of cooperation. But do such things as trade and research agreements or open border treaties make actual impact on your relations? If so, what are their relative values? Also, apparently giving money to other civs should make them happy, but how much should I give to make any impact?

In Civ 5 (unlike in civ 4, where it was clearly identified positive or negative points for diplomatic relations) it all is very vague, basically what you have to do is read the leaders body language. Which I think actually is very realistic. So the only two ways I can think of answering this question is:

  • to try and dig in some modding options, like some default values is some .xml files or anything, does the modding affect diplomacy at all?
  • to share your experience.

So I shall share my experience in my own answer.

Best Answer

I'm currently playing my first successful game on immortal. The most important thing to keep the AI from attacking you is to have a strong enough military that you aren't an easy target. This means that you might have to forego wonders and other early buildings to catch up to the AIs starting units. You should also focus on scouting early, so you can meet as many city-states as possible, find some ruins, and kill some barbarians, all of which boost your economy. In my experience, it also means that you're going to have to attack someone early on in order to catch up to everyone else's growth. A few good puppet cities (preferably with one of those wonders you skipped) will put you back on par with the other AIs.

Some other tips regarding relations I've learned

  • Try to get a pact of cooperation early on, while there's still plenty of space between you and the other civ. They aren't time limited, so it can help protect you for a long time.
  • I've been turning down pact of secrecy offers, they limit my ability to be friends with as many people as possible.
  • I've also been turning down open borders, this just allows the AI to scout me and see that he likely has a military advantage.
  • I didn't settle many cities (only one in fact, the rest of my cities were captured). Eventually the AI settled near me, and this did cause our relations to sour, but at least it put it off.
  • I've never given money to other civs, but I have occasionally given them free resources if they ask for them nicely.
  • Research agreements are good, but be careful that you don't help one AI get too big of an advantage. I try to make agreements with the civs that have a lower score.
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