How do you use Great Person in late game?

Solution 1:

In general I agree - in late-game, GP are less useful and I usually trade them in immediately for a quick golden age. However, unless you have absolutely everything, great scientists and great engineers do have some value, and there are use-cases where the rest are useful as well, I've listed them below.

Remember golden ages are always great, even if they are short. +gold, +production and no happiness issues.

Great Scientist: if you already have everything then this is indeed useless, but as long as you don't this is still useful. It's true late-game technologies are usually researched quickly but there are a few wonders in late game and being the first to reach them can be nice; furthermore, being the first to unlock Aluminum or Uranium is good because you can plan your land acquisitions better.

Great Engineer: there are some wonders in the late game, and they are pretty good actually. Other than that, great engineers are useful if you create a new city in the late-game; I usually buy a lot of buildings whenever I do this, but a great engineer can save a lot of money by speeding the most expensive buildings.

Additionally, factories are always useful.

Great Merchant: whether you should use the diplomatic mission or the golden age is not always obvious - see my answer to another question to see my opinion. In general I say a diplomatic mission is usually worth more gold, but a golden age also nets production. Custom houses are not worth it, in my opinion.

Great General: I almost always trade them for a golden age immediately, with one exception - I sometimes build citadels in natural chokes or other appropriate locations. From experience, a single citadel in the right spot, backed by 2-4 units, can stop an army.

Great Artist: the most useful type in the late game! Using the culture bombs allows you to reach practically everywhere. I one time used 3 of them to get to just one Aluminum patch in the middle of an icy area (just took a little time because of the cooldown). They can also be used to steal stuff from civilizations and city-states.

Also, landmarks are always nice in cities that already have a lot of +% culture.

Regarding city states: I usually do use great people from city-states, late-game maintenance costs are high but I think a golden age is always worth more than the time it takes them to get to the nearest border, even if it's a golden age lasting just 3 turns.

EDIT as of the June 2011 patch, great person improvements have been buffed:

• Erecting a great person improvement automatically connects a strategic resource if there's one on the tile
• Each great person improvement has an associated technology which increases the tile yield when researched
• Completing the freedom tree doubles the tile yield

This means using great people for improvements is a more viable option now.