DeletedUser
I've never had a population crunch issue really when advancing in age, but that being said I've made a point of getting Babel while in Iron age at latest. Word of caution there though that you can level Babel up too fast and end up having a cultural problem. That means getting either Hagia Sophia (my preference), Notre Dame (not bad but considered a bit of an underperformer by many) or the Colosseum (rather poor return for space though not bad especially if your willing to demolish it and replace with Deal Castle.)
As most have pointed out no real reason to rush through the research tree to higher ages, but you should make plans for what you intend to do and then figure out the best ways for you to get there.
If your planning to be heavy into PvP/GvG then your looking at needing a lot of space for barracks and the resources to keep them churning out the units.
As a Farmer/Trader its Goods production needing space and the resources to produce those goods.
Getting a balance and looking at the various GBs and how they can interact with each other and your city is key to being successful.
Interactions/limitations to be aware of:
Babel gives population that can be very useful early on and can help with a steady stream of goods. Limitation is no coin production from that population and needing culture to keep productivity optimal.
Aachen can help coin production so pairs nicely with Babel, but it's attack bonus may go largely unused if your primarily a Farmer/Trader.
Notre Dame provides decent culture and helps reduce need for production buildings early but can recieve similar benefits from other GBs so may not be optimal choice, especially if worried about available space.
Lighthouse is solid performer, providing goods early and reducing quantity of production buildings needed. Really no down side other than you will still need at least some production buildings to get supplies unlike Notre Dame.
Hagia Sophia, if you can get this in Iron Age do so, especially if you have Babel. Pretty much covers all your Cultural needs by itself up through LMA with some leveling which you'll want to get done asap for those FP it produces.
Zues is great if your into PvP/GvG otherwise it's simply filling space you could put other things in.
St. Mark's is solid, but fairly large. Helps keep the coins pouring in and the goods are welcome. If your a Farmer/Trader and can get this fairly early it's probably a better choice than Aachen for you.
Castle Del Monte FP production makes it worthwhile for everyone but the fighters will get more utility out of it.
Saint Basel gives defensive boost which even farmers will benefit from as they can start at least giving would be looters a bloody nose which is often enough to get them looking for easier targets elsewhere. Coin from it is more of a nice extra by the time your likely to get it in play.
Those are all I currently have in my main City which is in LMA. Have prints for Colosseum and could fit it in, however I'm getting close to Deal Castle at this point which provides better medal output and will help bolster my defense. Got more than enough Culture for my pop so Colosseum would just be a waste of space or get built simply so I could say I've got all the GBs to that point.
If I was going to get rid of GBs for some reason then Zues would be first to go as I'm not a fighter, but instead focus on producing Goods to support my Guild both in trade and for GvG. Now having Saint Basil and being a Farmer Aachen would be next GB to be removed as I'm not utilizing the attack bonus at all (negotiating for sectors on campaign map and almost finished with Colonial there so fighting isn't an option.) and have outstanding coin production so losing it would have little more impact than Zues. Notre Dame would be the 3rd to go as neither it's Culture nor Supplies are really needed at this point.
As most have pointed out no real reason to rush through the research tree to higher ages, but you should make plans for what you intend to do and then figure out the best ways for you to get there.
If your planning to be heavy into PvP/GvG then your looking at needing a lot of space for barracks and the resources to keep them churning out the units.
As a Farmer/Trader its Goods production needing space and the resources to produce those goods.
Getting a balance and looking at the various GBs and how they can interact with each other and your city is key to being successful.
Interactions/limitations to be aware of:
Babel gives population that can be very useful early on and can help with a steady stream of goods. Limitation is no coin production from that population and needing culture to keep productivity optimal.
Aachen can help coin production so pairs nicely with Babel, but it's attack bonus may go largely unused if your primarily a Farmer/Trader.
Notre Dame provides decent culture and helps reduce need for production buildings early but can recieve similar benefits from other GBs so may not be optimal choice, especially if worried about available space.
Lighthouse is solid performer, providing goods early and reducing quantity of production buildings needed. Really no down side other than you will still need at least some production buildings to get supplies unlike Notre Dame.
Hagia Sophia, if you can get this in Iron Age do so, especially if you have Babel. Pretty much covers all your Cultural needs by itself up through LMA with some leveling which you'll want to get done asap for those FP it produces.
Zues is great if your into PvP/GvG otherwise it's simply filling space you could put other things in.
St. Mark's is solid, but fairly large. Helps keep the coins pouring in and the goods are welcome. If your a Farmer/Trader and can get this fairly early it's probably a better choice than Aachen for you.
Castle Del Monte FP production makes it worthwhile for everyone but the fighters will get more utility out of it.
Saint Basel gives defensive boost which even farmers will benefit from as they can start at least giving would be looters a bloody nose which is often enough to get them looking for easier targets elsewhere. Coin from it is more of a nice extra by the time your likely to get it in play.
Those are all I currently have in my main City which is in LMA. Have prints for Colosseum and could fit it in, however I'm getting close to Deal Castle at this point which provides better medal output and will help bolster my defense. Got more than enough Culture for my pop so Colosseum would just be a waste of space or get built simply so I could say I've got all the GBs to that point.
If I was going to get rid of GBs for some reason then Zues would be first to go as I'm not a fighter, but instead focus on producing Goods to support my Guild both in trade and for GvG. Now having Saint Basil and being a Farmer Aachen would be next GB to be removed as I'm not utilizing the attack bonus at all (negotiating for sectors on campaign map and almost finished with Colonial there so fighting isn't an option.) and have outstanding coin production so losing it would have little more impact than Zues. Notre Dame would be the 3rd to go as neither it's Culture nor Supplies are really needed at this point.
