Governors

The Steward | Magnus

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General Information

Powerful early due to the early Government districts and how The Steward will interact with them also his upgrades align perfectly with early game mentality: Expand and conquer/focus infrastructure

However The Steward is also geared towards late game with his last upgrade Vertical Integration. Extremely well rounded and should be your first or second pick of Governors

Since you should be chopping/harvesting everything in your cities that yields production anyways this combined with early civics cards such as Agoge will be INSANELY powerful making chops/harvest yields in the city The Steward is in give +50% yields from chopping giving decent overflow that you can put towards more units or more infrastructure

Groundbreaker

IF you get Ancestral Hall or plan to and you have 4+ chops in a city you should be rushing for this

Extremely powerful for early expansion when combined with Early Empire and Ancestral Hall but most importantly this will allow you to expand without taking away from getting to 7-10 population so that you can lock in your districts to keep the production cost of them low

Surplus Logistics

While both extra Growth and Trade Route Yields are nice, with Trade routes having been recently nerfed AND the housing cap limiting how much population you can reach without other influences Surplus Logistics has limited potential

Provision

A decent option at the very least I suggest putting Two points into The Steward to grab his base +50% yields for chops and Provision so that you can combine this incredibly strong feature with Ancestral Hall and Early Empire’s +50% production towards settlers so that you can spam out cities without losing population in your best city

Industrialist

If you have a city with MANY MANY strategic resources then this upgrade will a significant impact however it’s rare that you’re getting more than 2 per city which makes this bonus quite lackluster considering it’s a T2 upgrade and will take a total of 3 Governor Titles to reach

Black Marketeer

If in Vanilla Civilization you did not have access to Iron or Horses by turn 25-30 it is pretty much a death sentence. While that has not exactly changed IF you are in this situation in R&F you can easily invest all your governor titles into The Steward to remove this issue. However it’s not limited to that use alone. If you only have ONE resource and ONE encampment then you can put The Steward to another city that does not have the Encampment then you will now have two cities which can produce resource-dependent units

Vertical Integration

This will make one city in your empire an industrial powerhouse. If you plan districts and cities properly and put your industrial zones within range of a city, use Centralized Trade in that city and this upgrade you can use this to easily make a city with 300+ Production Per Turn

The Educator | Pingala

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General Information

Extremely powerful mid-late game Governor however due to the way he functions you’re not going to want to recruit him early unless you’re secured that you will not be warred.

The reason I suggest getting him mid-late is because of his unparalleled late game benefits combined with Government but surprisingly lackluster early benefits Districts towards both militaristic and space race victory types through his last two upgrades

Librarian

Not something that will shine early as +15% on both culture and science early may equate to +.5-2 yields per turn since it’s in one city but incredible once your cities infrastructure comes online and it starts producing 10+ SPT/CPT from one city

Researcher

Great for getting your Campus District Buildings online but you’re not going to really feel anything on the early aspects of producing a Library at base cost but super impactful for the T2-3 district buildings

Connoisseur

More impactful than Researcher since Libraries are much cheaper than an Amphitheater (90 Production vs 150, Standard Speed) however due to the raw power of other Governors this is still not going to be enough to convince me to invest Governor Titles into The Educator early

Grants

Combined with specific wonders and civilizations this upgrade is potentially busted. One of your cities can be getting 4 Great People Points Per Turn from the base district and from a single district and the district building inside. However when combined with the Wonder Oracle one city can make 10 GPP per turn from a single city

Space Initiative

Combined with the Royal Society This is likely one of the best ways you can close out a game. Extremely powerful for late game Science Victories

Arms Race Proponent

Combined with the Royal Society This is likely one of the best ways you can close out a game. Extremely powerful for late game Military Victories

The Surveyor | Liang

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General Information

I’m very likely to grab The Surveyor JUST for the base bonus and then invest into other Governors but the mid-late game power she will bring to district production is incredible and the early power she brings for producing Government District Buildings and City Center Buildings is incredible. Extremely versatile mix between early and late game power

Guildmaster

Getting extra build charges for chopping and for improving for early war and infrastructure is insanely powerful and will give you a edge regardless what victory type you plan on going for

Infrastructure

Very strong for getting your early cities started. Getting a +% bonus towards Government district Buildings may make this a requirement due to their high production cost: (150 production Standard Speed for the T1 Government Districts) but on the same note spending a whole Governor Title to produce 3 buildings may not be worth your time

Aquaculture

This tile upgrade seems rather weak due to the requirement to go for some early sea based technologies when you’re very focused on land-based warfare in most situations, also since it does not provide Housing and you’re going to be using it in Coastal Cities it will not give you much since the cities are easily Housing Capped

Zoning Commissioner

The longer the game goes the more powerful this gets. +30% production towards districts like Aerodromes and Spaceports late game will be INCREDIBLE but even just for getting your base districts down this will be super impactful

Amusement

Unfortunately the Loyalty System does not seem impactful enough to encourage the mass production of this district type as such I still do not recommend building them in large numbers so this bonus doesn’t mean much by my estimation

Parks and Recreation

Extremely powerful tile improvement since each Amenity over the city's required amenities gives +3 loyalty Mostly used for Coastal cities you’ll find this tile improvement very useful to keep cities loyal and for cultural victories

The Diplomat | Amani

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The City-State Governor Extremely useful to get and maintain the strongest relations with city states after you meet them and prioritize them BUT she’s also EXTREMELY strong for when you’re on the offense because of her eccentric Loyalty boost abilities The Diplomat’s Loyalty pressure output is 8 + 2 + 4between all of her bonuses since Amenities can provide loyalty. She will be useful at all points of the game and is a very high priority

Messenger

While +2 envoys towards a city state will always be useful early unless you get one that is truly exceptional this is not going to mean all that much to you due to all the city state nerfs in R&F. As such you’ll be using this more to deny someone city state quests for this city state via war and for Suzerain bonuses

Emissary

Useful to pressure someone who has settled near your land to flip their city for free but not amazingly powerful

Prestige

Useful for keeping loyalty on border cities near other people to keep your cities yours or to try to flip someone's in a dark age but not amazing

Affluence

Potentially extremely useful to grab multiple luxuries from a different continent that you have no access to each of which provide 4 amenities for your cities

Promoter

EXTREMELY powerful +4 amenities provides happiness and a % modifier for yields 4 amenities in a specific city of your choice -- This will also boost the loyalty of that city through happiness

Puppeteer

Incredible to completely control a city state that is vital to your game strategy. It will be extremely hard for anyone to compete with your Suzerainship while you have The Diplomat with this upgrade in the city-state

The Castellan | Victor

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Redoubt

Very strong to help you defend against an impromptu war especially when combined with Defensive Tactics’ Bastions giving a city +11 Combat Strength which is extremely unsavory to attack without an extreme advantage

Garrison Commander

Extremely powerful for both defense and to hold captured cities +5 combat for all units in your city's territory--this applies offensively if the enemy you're attacking is also within this city's borders

Defense Logistics

Extremely powerful to prevent another player from taking a weakly positioned city easily. Combined with the rest of the Castellan's kit this can single handedly thwart an offensive

Security Expert

This is actually going to be a very important mid game upgrade due to the rise of Spies since Spies will now be able to flip cities using a new Mission so getting this upgrade by the time spies are coming online will be very important to keep your cities yours

Embrasure

While 2 shots looks nice since your city strength ranged power is tied with your strongest ranged unit’s this won’t mean much until you hit Machinery and upgrade an archer into a x-bow

Air Defense Initiative

This doesn’t mean much for you unless you’re facing a barrage of bombers/fighters but that’s unlikely considering that most players will not invest into that type of unit. However now that nukes are stopped by all anti-air units this is particularly useful once they start dropping.

The Cardinal | Moksha

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General Information

Bishop

Amazingly powerful to spread your religion early without investing into a holy site or shrine. If you’ve obtained your Religion through Stonehenge or if you have a low Faith output then getting this to spread a city-dependent religion with a belief like Church Property early to maximize the benefits of it will go a long way

Grand Inquisitor

Anything that is specifically geared towards a linear victory type I always give low marks and this specifically is only for Religious units and ONLY when defending against a religious attack from Missionaries and Apostles, but in those situations this is quite useful

Divine Architect

Not extremely useful to have this though Religion is due to the lost base cost of Holy Site buildings in the first place and that chances are getting many holy sites will not likely be amazing even if getting a religion is useful without very select beliefs

Laying On Of Hands

Weak due to the linear aspect that this will provide as it only heals RELIGIOUS units and not all your units. However if you're defending your religion from someone trying to obtain a religious victory this is beyond useful

Citadel of God

• This applies to Religious combat and Religious Pressure but you can still spread religion using a charge to the city even if the Cardinal has this upgrade

Potentially amazing depending on if someone has spread a religion with Crusader to you BUT this is such a niche situation that I cannot in good faith suggest anyone use this regularly

Patron Saint

Now THIS I can give high marks. IF religion is going to be useful in the expansion then I’d expect to see apostles coming more and more into play. Having an extra upgrade on your apostles means that not only can you spread your religion more efficiently BUT you’re also far more likely to get the Chaplin Upgrade which makes your units heal +20 when adj or under that Apostle, or if you're actually trying to get a Religious Victory you can choose to pick Prophesier or Translator to help you better spread your religion

The Financier | Reyna

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General Information

While this Governor is named “The Financier” I cannot honestly say that her upgrades will truly help you excluding specific situations. All of her bonuses are going to be extremely Civ-dependant or situation dependent or not within your control however she does apply a strong bonus towards a late Cultural Victory in a themed city as well as a mid game power spike via a "Raina Triangle" or Raina Diamond with her second upgrade, Harbor Master

Land Acquisition

Useful to grab tiles in a specific city as soon as possible instead of purchasing them early, especially if you're wanting to grab tiles further out without purchasing them

Harbormaster

This upgrade is likely Raina's best. You can use it to make a "Raina Triangle as shown below. Properly set up and combined with the civic cards Town Charters and Naval Infrastructure you can get a coastal city with 26+ SPT from your Harbor/Commercial hub combination during a Golden Age in which you take the dedication Free Inquiry

Foreign Exchange

The wording on this makes me quite hesitant to even give it a Medium Rating because it gives gold to Foreign trade routes “passing through” especially considering the nerfs to trade route availability AND this is going to be dependent on a source of income that is not within your control BUT if you do get +3 gold per foreign trade routes going TO this city then this is a potentially strong source of gold

Tax Collector

An extremely good source of gold in any city 8+ population

Contractor

Because of when you’re going to be using this and the raw gold it takes to purchase the districts in question AND the time it takes for the Financier to establish just so you’ll be able to use this benefit are all major points against its usefulness. BUT the biggest strike against this is that its most useful point in the game comes at a time where you’re going to be focusing on upgrading units for defense or using purchasing strategies which require large sums of gold…which this also takes

Curator

This is for a tourism victory, I would only recommend taking this if you have a city with as many wonders which have great work slots as possible and a themed art museum

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