Maya: Lady Six Sky (WIP)

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS

INTRODUCTION

I am Lady Six Sky, a warrior standing above my defeated foes.

The Mayan Empire led by Lady Six Sky is a civilization specialized for Science Victory. She relies heavily on favorable initial conditions, i.e. needing enough settleable land and Plantation Resources close to her  Capital, on top of having an obstacle of no Fresh Water  Housing in all cities. Despite her humble beginnings, extra  Housing in Farms and a +10% multiplier to all yields allows the Maya to overcome the disadvantages and potentially surpass other civilizations at an exponential pace. She is the epitome of efficient city planning and micromanagement due to having to extract the most out of a limited territory. This may be to the dismay or joy of players depending on their preferred playstyle.

The vulnerable start can be defended with Hul'ches armed with extra  Combat Strength around the  Capital while the Observatory unlocks stronger upgrades ahead of other civilizations for later homeland security. Overexpanding the Empire either by settlement or conquest results in some diminishing return on investment—though satellite colonies may be necessary as part of a strategy. Other victory types are reasonably achievable, though it is recommended that she focuses on her specialty in Science Victory while keeping vigilient on opportunities for other victory types.

Many stars have to align for Lady Six Sky in order for her to be successful; but, once they do, she can expect to cast away her earthly confines soon enough and finally expand the Mayan Empire on towards the outer worlds to achieve a Science Victory.

SUMMARY

CIVILIZATION ABILITY

Mayab

Settling adjacent to Fresh Water and Coast do not provide extra  Housing; instead, each Farm provides an additional +1  Housing and +1  Gold. +1  Amenity for every Luxury adjacent to the City Center.

• Aqueduct district provides full +4  Housing as if normal civilizations settling adjacent to Fresh Water, plus +2  Housing it provides.
• Mohenjo-Daro's suzerain bonus does not provide additional  Housing.
• Settling on a Luxury Resource does not count for +1  Amenity bonus but still grants immediate access to that Luxury Resource.

UNIQUE UNIT

 

Hul'che

Technology/Civic

 

Archery

Replaces

 

Archer

Base Production Cost

60

Base Gold Cost

240

Base Faith Cost*

120

Maintenance Cost

	1
	—

*Available to purchase with  Faith if the Grand Master's Chapel building is built in the Government Plaza.

	Upgrade Path
	Slinger	60	Hul'che	250	Crossbowman
Technol­ogy / Civic	None		Archery		Machinery
Base Produc­tion Cost	35		60		180
Base Gold Cost	140		240		720
Base Faith Cost	70		120		360
Strategic Resource	—		—		—
Maintenace Cost	—  —		1  —		3  —
Statistics	2  1  5  15  2		2  2  15  28  2		2  2  30  40  2

Usual Attributes

• −17  Ranged Strength vs. district defenses and naval units

Special Attributes

• +3  Ranged Strength compared to the Archer unit
• +5  Ranged Strength vs. wounded units

UNIQUE INFRASTRUCTURE

 

Observatory

Technology/Civic

 

Writing

Replaces

 

Campus

Base Production Cost

27

Base Gold Cost*

108

Base Faith Cost*

54

Maintenance Cost

—

Base Pillage Yield

25

Placement Rule: Any land with removable features (if any)

*Available to purchase with  Gold and  Faith if Reyna with Contractor promotion and Moksha with Divine Architect promotion are established in the city, respectively.

Yields

+2	Science for every adjacent Plantation Improvement
+1	Science for every 2 adjacent Farm Improvements
+1	Science for every 2 adjacent Districts
+1	Science if adjacent to a Government Plaza
+1	Great Scientist point per turn

Specialist Yields

+2	Science per  Citizen

Domestic Trade Yields

+1

Food

Foreign Trade Yields

+1

Science

Projects

 Campus Research Grants

Base Production Cost

25

District-based project which provides  Science every turn and  Great Scientist points once finished.

• Generates  Science equal to 15% of  Production spent every turn
• Grants  Great Scientist points equal to 15% of  Production spent throughout the project upon completion

Special Attributes

• −50%  Production cost compared to the Campus District
• Adjacency bonuses are not provided by Mountains, Geothermal Fissures, Reefs, or Rainforests but instead are provided by Plantation and Farm Improvements.

STARTING BIAS

 

Starting Bias

Tier 1	Grassland, Plains
Tier 2	Luxury Resources Plantation Resources: Citrus, Coffee, Cocoa, Cotton, Dyes, Incense, Olives, Silk, Spices, Sugar, Tea, Tobacco, Wine Other Resources: Gypsum, Ivory, Jade, Marble, Mercury, Salt
Tier 3	—
Tier 4	—
Tier 5	—

LEADER ABILITY

Ix Mutal Ajaw

Non-capital cities within 6 tiles of the  Capital gain +10% to all yields. Other non-capital cities receive −15% to all yields. +5  Combat Strength to units within 6 tiles of the  Capital.

• The 6 tiles are counted between City Centers with the Capital's being point zero.
• "All yields" means  Food,  Production,  Gold,  Faith,  Science, and  Culture.
• +5  Combat Strength bonus is based on the tile where the battle is initiated.

Solitary

Keeps her cities clustered around her Capital, and likes civilizations who settle far from her. Dislikes those who encroach upon her borders with cities or troops.

PROSPECT

VICTORY SKEW

Victory	Score		Rationale
	Main	Sub
Science	10/10	10/10	Technological Advancement (+) The unique Observatory District can reliably have +3  Science adjacency and most, if not all, cities will have more than 10 Population to maximize the effect of the Rationalism Policy. (?) A significant amount of  Science can be generated with the Cross-Cultural Dialogue Founder Belief even if the founded religion is contained within the Mayan Empire since every 4 followers regardless of nationality contribute 1  Science and Mayan cities will most definitely have high Populations. (+) Each  Citizen producing 0.5  Science amounts to above-average  Science from Population. Extra  Citizens due to highly populated cities can work in the Observatory District to generate even more  Science. (+) High  Production (see rationale for Productivity below) allows efficient completion of Campus Research Grants projects.
		10/10	Productivity (+) Aqueduct placement in every city that is capable of building it for Housing will naturally result in tiles with high  Production adjacency for Industrial Zone Districts despite having low  Production initially from having to start on flat terrain. (+) Compact city placement means high coverage of regional effects from Industrial Zones, especially with Mexico City's suzerain bonus of extending the regional effect. Magnus with the Vertical Integration Promotion can be placed in the city with the most overlap for concentrated  Production. (+) More  Citizen working a tile that has a  Production yield makes for productive cities. Extra  Citizens due to highly populated cities can work in the Industrial Zone District to generate even more  Production.
Culture	2/10	7/10	Cultural Development (?) A significant amount of  Culture can be generated with the World Church Founder Belief even if the founded religion is contained within the Mayan Empire since every 4 followers regardless of nationality contribute 1  Culture and Mayan cities will most definitely have high Populations. (+) Each  Citizen producing 0.3  Culture amounts to above-average  Culture from Population. Extra  Citizens due to highly populated cities can work in the Theater Square District to generate even more  Culture. (+) High  Production (see rationale for Productivity in Science Victory section above) allows efficient completion of Theater Square Performances projects.
		1/10	Tourism Business (±) Leading in the Technology Tree progress and high productivity of Mayan cities makes building Wonders earlier and faster, especially in the middle to late eras when  Production bonuses start to take effect, though finding locations for them can be tricky due to the higher-than-typical density of cities. (−) Compact cities again leave little room for  Great Works, National Parks, Seaside Resorts, and Tile Improvements that generate  Tourism. (±) No special  Faith generation bonus to purchasing Rock Bands. In fact, having a few compact cities on top of having limited real estate allows little opportunity to construct Holy Site Districts. However, tiles adjacent to Mountains can be designated for Holy Sites since the Campus is replaced with the Observatory which has different adjacency bonuses.
Domination	4/10	7/10	Military Superiority (+) Leading in the Technology Tree progress unlocks stronger Units earlier than most other civilizations. (+) High  Production (see rationale for Productivity in Science Victory section above) and decent  Gold generation from Farms and Plantations can raise and support a formidable army. (±) No special  Combat Strength bonus outside the 6 tile range of the  Capital. (±) No special Seige bonus in overcoming city defenses.
		2/10	Commanding Loyalty (−) Captured cities will receive the same  Housing penalty as original Mayan cities and will have difficulty growing to maintain Loyalty unless there are a few un-pillaged Farm Improvements and/or Aqueducts. Furthermore, outside of the 6 tile radius from the  Capital, they will have a −15%  Food penalty to exacerbate the situation. Appointing Governors, especially Victor with the Garrison Commander Promotion, while having the Audience Chamber building alleviates the  Housing and Loyalty issues but they are very limited in number and would probably be of better use near the  Capital.
Religion	3/10	2/10	Foundation and Evangelization (−) No special bonus in accumulating  Great Prophet points to found a religion. Other concerns in the early game, such as planting cities before being forward-settled by other civilizations and expanding the initially stunted  Housing, may take precedence in the already-long priority list of the Maya.
		4/10	Fostering Faith (+) Decoupling Mountain adjacency with the Observatory District removes the conflict of interest between Campus and Holy Site Districts.                (+) Extra  Citizens due to highly populated cities can work in the Holy Site District to generate more  Faith. (−) Proclivity for founding few compact cities and limited real estate allows fewer opportunities to construct Holy Site Districts.
Diplomacy	7/10	7/10	Diplomatic Favorability (±) Lady Six Sky will probably commit a few war atrocities conquering or even razing cities to draw the 6-tile boundary in the Ancient and Classical Eras. However, once the core cities are settled, she can turn to more peaceful diplomatic measures as long as her neighbors are willing to forgive her well-meant(?) transgressions. (+) Once peace is made,  Grievances decay quicker in the earlier eras and distant civilizations may have more favorable opinions of Lady Six Sky by the time she meets them and even may denounce her neighbors if they declare wars of retaliation for long-passed events of ancient history... (−) Or she may fall into a death spiral of negative feedbacks loops being constantly denounced by other civilizations; in which case, she is more than happy to isolate herself to pursue the Science Victory she is born to achieve. (+) The −5  Diplomatic Favor penalty for each foreign  Capital held would likely not apply to Lady Six Sky since she has less incentive than other civilizations to expand her territory.
		8/10	World Leadership (+) High  Production (see rationale for Productivity Bonus in Science Victory section above) and decent  Gold generation from Farms and Plantations are advantageous for winning certain Scored Competitions and building Wonders that grant Diplomatic Victory Point(s). (+) Maintaining a strong army without the intent of domination (see Military Superiority rationale in Domination Victory section above) makes Maya a great candidate as the World police that liberates cities and protects the league of nations.

POWER SPIKE

	Era
	An­cient	Classi­cal	Medie­val	Renais­sance	Indus­trial	Mod­ern	Atom­ic	Informa­tion	Fu­ture
Urban­i­za­tion
Production
Gold
Science
Culture
Tourism
Faith
Religion
Offense
Defense
Diplomacy

Era	Commentary
Ancient	Busy, Busy from the Get Go The first peak in the Power Spike Chart for Lady Six Sky is actually a valley due to having to start with no additional  Housing from Fresh nor Coastal Waters, unlike other civilizations. However, this handicap can be quickly reversed by building Farms. Using all Builder charges to build 3 Farms in a city creates 4  Housing (the same amount a normal civilization would receive accessing Fresh Water) with 0.5  Housing as a remainder that can be topped off with another Farm to make a total of 6  Housing. As a comparison, the 4 Mayan Farms effectively does the job of 12 normal Farms, which only provides 0.5  Housing each! Furthermore, the Granary building providing just 2  Housing and 1  Food are a less effective use of  Production for the Maya because of this ability; being slightly more expensive at 65  Production than Builders at 50  Production who can actually provide the same bonuse plus another 1  Food and one charge left over. Granaries starts become a better choice when Builders become more expensive as  Production scales with each consecutive build and cities start to become desperate for  Housing. Improving Farms also provide 1  Gold each, not an insignificant amount in the early game. The earned  Gold can be spent between many options (e.g. more Builders, a Settler, military units, and upgrades to Hul'che) at the player's discretion. The initial vulnerability is covered by the Ix Mutal Ajaw ability adding +5  Combat Strength to all units within 6 tiles of the  Capital. Hul'che units are perfectly adapted to be defenders as they do more damage to units that are already damaged. Consider pairing them having the first attack to harm the enemy so that the second can deal a devastating blow. Their early availability also enables territorial control of the vicinity. Use this bonus to deter any onlookers that might encroach with their Settlers while preemptively settling the edges before they do. The Hanging Gardens and the Temple of Artemis are powerful Wonders for the Maya as they give bonuses relating to city growth. The Hanging Gardens enhances the +10%  Food modifier from the Ix Mutal Ajaw ability. The Temple of Artemis potentially could provide more  Amenities than most other civilizations as there probably will be more than a few Plantations owing to Maya's starting bias. While flat Desert tiles are useless for Lady Six Sky, having one within range to build the Pyramids to grant Builders an extra Builder charge would be indispensable. The Observatory also becomes available at this time to start gaining  Science at a low  Production cost.
Classical	Continue Growing Big Cities Both Monumentality and Free Inquiry are valid choices as a Golden Age Bonus. The former focuses more on purchasing Builders and Settlers but the  Gold and  Faith economy might not be developed enough to effective use of it. Choosing Golden Age Free inquiry first in the Classical Era might better prepare for the Golden Age Monumentality later in the Medieval Era. The Mayan empire will gain a second major bonus in  Amenity and  Housing with Classical Republic and Audience Chamber as the first tier government and Government Plaza building, respectively. Constructing the Colosseum Wonder should be planned as  Amenities from these government policies and Luxury Resources starts to be insufficient in the mid- to late Classical Era. The last major bonus to urban development is the Aqueduct District, which finally unlocks access Mayan cities.  Science from Observatories will help to research the Engineering technology quicker (even more quicker with the Natural Philosophy policy) and building one in every city that is able to is strongly recommended. This not only will this restore the  Housing missing from the start but they will later provide a major adjacency bonus to Industrial Zones.
Medieval	Industrialization in the Middle Ages Building Aqueducts in the Classical Era starts to pay off in  Production when the Industrial Zone district, which has a major adjacency bonus (i.e. +2  Production) from being adjacent to each Aqueduct, is unlocked at Apprenticeship technology. Mayan cities being close-packed will make it common to have a tile with two adjacent Aqueducts for a +4  Production bonus. Plantations and clustered Farms gain more  Food with the development of the Feudalism civic. Additionally, Builders will gain 2 more charges if they are trained when the Serfdom policy is in place. The Angkor Wat Wonder grants 1  Population to existing cities and 1  Housing to existing and future when built. By this time, all cities that can be settled within 6 tiles of the  Capital should be settled so the effect of gaining a  Population is maximized. The Kilwa Kisawani Wonder is crucial for the Maya because the bonus stacks with the Ix Mutal Ajaw ability's potentially granting a multiplier of 25% (or 40% to the city with Kiwa Kisiwani) to all  Production,  Gold,  Science,  Culture, and  Faith with a stipulation of being a suzerain of City-States.
Renaissance~Modern	Communism
Atomic~Future	asdf

IDEAL ADMINISTRATION

GOVERNMENT & POLICIES

Form of Government / Government Building		Details / Rationale	Civic
Tier 1
	Classical Republic	0  2  1  1  All cities with a district receive +1  Housing and +1  Amenity +15%  Great People points	Political Philosophy
		asdf
	Audience Chamber	+3  Housing to cities with a Governor +1   Amenity to cities with a Governor −2 Loyal in cities without a Governor asdf
Tier 2
	Merchant Republic	1   2   1   2  +10%  Gold in all cities with an established Governor +15%  Production toward Districts	Exploration
		asdf
	Intelligence Agency	+1 Spy and Spy capacity. All Spy Operations have a higher chance of success. asdf
Tier 3
	Communism	3   3   1   1  +0.6  Production per  Citizen +10%  Science	Class Struggle
		asdf
	Royal Society	Builders gain the ability to use all of their charges to contribute  Production to a District Project once per city per turn at 2% of the  Production cost per total number of charges used asdf

POLICIES COMING SOON

PANTHEON & RELIGION

Tenet		Details / Rationale
Pantheon
	Fertility Rites	Receive a Builder +10% growth rate in all cities This Pantheon is a more attractive choice for the Maya with respect to other civilizations since an extra Builder can build Farm and Plantation for Observatories adjacency and  Housing. Furthermore, an increased growth rate will help obtaining high  Populations.
	Goddess of Festivals	+1  Culture to Plantations Choose this Pantheon for substantial amount of early  Culture if Plantation resources abound.
	Religious Settlements	Receive a Settler +15% border expansion rate An free Settler is always helpful in jumstarting any civilization but especially for Lady Six Sky since she would want to send them to the outer-most bound to establish a border before others settle too close. Faster border expansion will help claim tiles in the bordering territories.
Founder Belief
	Cross-Cultural Dialogue	+1  Science for every 4 Followers of this Religion The Maya will have little issues with  Science yields but, with this Founder Belief, it can be gained further even if the Religion managed within highly populated Mayan cities and even more if evangelized abroad.
	World Church	+1  Culture for every 4 Followers of this Religion This Founder Belief will partially replace the need to build Theater Squares that would have occupied valuable real estate space in close-packed cities. Even keeping the religion within the Empire yields a substantial amount of  Culture since it is proportional to the number of Followers, unlike other Beliefs that count the number of cities that follow a Religion. Investing in the spread of the Religion amounts to converting  Faith, a currency Mayans have little use for, to  Culture to help advance the Civics Tree.
Follower Belief
	Feed the World	+3  Food from Shrines and Temples +2  Housing from Shrines and Temples This Follower Belief will expand the  Population capacity further for cities with Holy Sites.
	Work Ethic	Holy Sites provide  Production equal to their  Faith adjacency bonus Choose this belief if there are many high-adjacency Holy Sites for an increased  Production yield
Enhancer Belief
	Defender of the Faith	+5  Combat Strength near friendly cities that follow this Religion This bonus stacks with the +5  Combat Strength from the Ix Mutal Ajaw ability for a total of +10  Combat Strength in the homeland.
Worship Belief
	Gurdwara	+3  Faith +2  Food +1  Housing This Worship Belief will expand the  Population capacity further for cities with Holy Sites.
	Meeting House	+3  Faith +2  Production This Worship Building will add a small amount of  Production to cities with Holy Sites.
	Stupa	+3  Faith +1  Amenity High  Population requires  Amenities to match. Stupas are essential if other sources of  Amenities are particularly difficult to procure.
	Wat	+3  Faith +2  Science This Worship Building will add a small amount of  Science to cities with Holy Sites.

CITY-STATES

GREAT PEOPLE

WONDERS

Era / Wonder		Details / Rationale	Technology / Civic
Ancient
	Hanging Gardens	Production Cost: 180  Placement Rule: Any land with removable features (if any) adjacent to a river +2  Housing To all cities: +15% growth rate	Irrigation
		The growth bonus is multiplicative to the +10%  Food bonus from the Ix Mutal Ajaw ability; essentially making the growth rate modifier be +16.5%, +27.5%, and +38.5% for content, happy, and ecstatic Mayan cities, respectively.
	Temple of Artemis	Production Cost: 180  Placement Rule: Any land with removable features (if any) adjacent to a Camp Improvement +4  Food +3  Housing For each Camp, Pasture, and Plantation within 4 tiles: +1  Amenity	Archery
		ASFD
	Pyramids	Production Cost: 220  Placement Rule: Any flat desert with removable features (if any) +2  Culture Upon completion: Receive a Builder To Builders: +1 charge	Masonry
		asdf
Classical
	Colosseum	Production Cost: 400  Placement Rule: Any flat land with removable features (if any) adjacent to an Entertainment Complex with an Arena +2  Culture To all cities within 6 tiles: +2  Amenity +2 Loyalty	Games and Recreation
		ASFD
	Mausoleum at Halicarnassus	Production Cost: 400  Placement Rule: Any land with removable features (if any) adjacent to a Coast and Harbor To all Coast tiles in this city: +1  Faith +1  Science +1  Culture To Great Engineers: +1 charge	Defensive Tactics
		ASFD
Medieval
	Angkor Wat	Production Cost: 710  Placement Rule: Any land with removable features (if any) adjacent an Aqueduct district +2  Faith To all cities upon completion: +1  Population To all cities: +1  Housing	Medieval Faires
		asdf
	Kilwa Kisiwani	Production Cost: 710  Placement Rule: Any flat land with removable features (if any) adjacent to a Coast Upon completion: +3  Envoys To this city: +15% yields corresponding to each City-State type with suzerainty To all cities: +15% yields corresponding to each City-State type with at least 2 suzerainty	Machinery
		asdf
Renaissance
	—
Industrial
	Oxford University	Production Cost: 1240  Placement Rule: Any land Grasslands or Plains with removable features (if any) adjacent to a Campus with a University +20%  Science +3  Great Scientist point per turn +2  Great Work of Writing slot Upon completion: +2 random Technologies	Scientific Theory
		asdf
	Ruhr Valley	Production Cost: 1240  Placement Rule: Any land with removable features (if any) adjacent to a River and an Industrial Zone with a Factory +20%  Production To each Mine and Quarry in this city: +1  Production	Industrialization
		asdf
Modern
	—
Atomic
	Amundsen-Scott Research Station	Production Cost: 1620  Placement Rule: Any Snow or Snow Hills with removable features (if any) adjacent to a Campus with a Research Lab +5  Great Scientist point per turn To all cities, double if there is a city that owns at least 5 Snow or Snow Hills within 3 tiles of its City Center: +20%  Science +10%  Production	Rapid Deployment
		asdf
	Estádio do Maracanã	Production Cost: 1740  Placement Rule: Any flat land with removable features (if any) adjacent to an Entertainment Complex with a Stadium To all cities: +6  Culture +2  Amenity	Professional Sports
		asdf

STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES

BUILDING THE EMPIRE

Founding the Capital

Build Order

Conurbation

Observatory Module

Industrial Zone Module

Entertainment Complex Module

Entertainment Complex Module

Encampment Module

• Farm tiles should be swapped in pairs or with other Improvements that provide  Housing since 0.5  Housing remainder , especially when Housing
• Grouping cities into clusters to form a Metropolis is an efficient city planning.