Is there any advantage to destroying another civilization?
Do I get anything from being the conqueror (aside from the cities)?
For example, let's say another civilization loses their major cities, but sends out a settler. It makes a tiny city somewhere... What do I get if I go all the way over and destroy it? Anything?
Solution 1:
Killing an enemy Civ entirely only really achieves two things (other than cities).
- It takes them out of the game.
If they were close to some kind of noncombat victory, then they can't win if they are destroyed. If they were really close, they may have been able to scrape in ahead of you with that last city.
It also means you don't have to worry about them building up again and coming after you, or forming an alliance to come after you etc. (of course, see 2 below).
- You gain Warmonger points.
The other thing you "gain" is everyone else hates you. It looks like you gain additional bonus Warmonger points for wiping out enemy Civs. This would often offset any bonus from 1, because you would face an increasingly hostile world.
Solution 2:
The primary benefit to conquering another Civ is the gaining of any cities and territory that you acquire. You get to reap the rewards of (almost) all the work they have put into building their empire before you took them over. This includes any wonders, districts, luxury resources, improvements, etc that they have made. Just saving the production cost of the settlers required to found the cities nets you a huge advantage. Often times, conquering a neighboring Civ early in the game with a couple of archers and a warrior can put you on a winning trajectory. Also, its another point for you towards domination victory.
Solution 3:
There are quite a few effects I can think of, some of them might not be an advantage:
- Era Score: You get 5 points of era scores for wiping out a civilization.
- Prevent them from achieving victory: Obviously.
- Changing the victory condition: Cultural victory, for example, require you to accumulate more foreign tourists than the highest Domestic Tourists any civ has. If the civ you wipe out had the most domestic tourist, the number of foreign tourists you need for victory might be reduced significantly.
- Changing the Grievances dynamic: Wiping out a civ will generate a fixed amount of grievances toward everyone you know. This could be better off if your grievances with the civ you wiped out were excessively high. It takes longer to mend a 1,000 grievances against us than mending 250 grievances from 5 different civ. Also, Note that excessively high grievances to a civ will have a negative effect on the relationship toward other civs as long as that grievance remains. It also deducts your Diplomatic Favor up to -10 per turn depending on the severity of that grievances. Sometimes it really is better to finish them off.
- Get rid of all those envoys: A civ sent 50 envoys to a city-state that you really need its bonus? Jealousy kills the civ.
Bonus:
- Try reviving them later: Try trading the city belong to the late civ to someone far away; make it so that the city will revolt later. Then capture it and ironically liberate it. I don't remember all the details but there is so much bonus from this 'kind' action that it might negate all the penalty from wiping them out earlier. I tried this long time ago though, not sure if things change about this exploitation.