Destroy temples?

[nanoman88]

When you conquer a enemy city do you destroy their temples and build your own? I usually destroy them, but when a city has the higest level of a temple built I leave it. Am I doing the right thing by leaving these temples?

[Maximus Aurelius]

You dont have to destroy enemy temples. As far as i know you can build the next level of your temples over the ones that belong to another faction.

[stupac]

I often leave them. Always upgrade them if you can cause then you'll have a temple of your own culture (if different), but if it's the highest level, I can't imagine it being worthwhile to tear down and build all the way back up again for a few culture points. Maybe if you want to do some roleplaying you can desecrate a temple occasionally, but I think the pagan nations of the day had a decent amount of respect for other nation's gods.

[nanoman88]

Right now i'm playing as the Romani, and I seem somewhat racist. I always destroy barbarian temples but leave greek ones alone.

[Long lost Caesar]

Right now i'm playing as the Romani, and I seem somewhat racist. I always destroy barbarian temples but leave greek ones alone.

i guess the greeks got the long straw!

[Sdragon]

As Armenia I've been able to build over the Eastern Greek temples. But a couple I haven't been able too and had to demolish and start over, an no, they weren't at max size.

[Foot]

There are six temple complexes shared by all factions, one complex for each god. Some factions don't utilise all six complexes and so don't have access to one or more temple complexes. If you conquer a province where there is a temple complex, built by another faction, that you have ownership of then you can build the next level (which will change the culture of the building, its description and its effects), if you don't have ownership then you can't build the next level of that complex and must destroy it so you can then choose from the full range of temple complexes available.

Foot

[Ayce]

I always leave them and then upgrade, unless they're max level dedicated to Ptolemaic dynasty specific gods (in which case I don't get any bonuses from them).

[Kromulan]

If they're the type I want (high law usually), I keep them or build over. If not, I trash em.

[Parallel Pain]

For some reason during my Saka campaign.

Whenever I conquered a city from AI factions, the temple description don't list the temple bonus. This lead me to conclude the difference in culture offers none (which turned out to be correct) so I ended up destroying all the temples. They were good cash too.

[Ayce]

I'll admit I like the money infusions, but somehow, destroying a wondrous temple because it's absolutely useless doesn't sound right.

Congratz on your 100th post Parallel Pain! (and on mine for that matter - 100 posts w00t! )

[Apgad]

It depends if the "kind" of temple there can be upgraded to the one that I want the settlement to have. If not, I demolish. Always better to have 400 people pissed that you got rid of their sacred enclosure of Sprittney Beares than 20,000 people pissed off (or whatever).

The only exceptions are when I'm far from home and culture penalties would mean that happiness would drop below acceptable limits (and I have no plague to hand...). That's why I usually massacre populations, and make use of level 4 governments, temporarily if I can.

[Spotted Pig]

As I understood it you can only upgrade another factions temple if the old temples bonus match one of your own. Or is that wrong?

[Hooahguy]

i destroy them because i heard somewhere they increase the culture penalty

[Kongeslask]

Something slighty funny: one of the Pahlava temple-complexes is dedicated to Mithras. Yet when I seized an AS city with an AS temple to the very same god, the upgrade would turn it into another deity's temple.

[Ymarsakar]

Unless the AI has a 25 happiness 25 law temple for me to use, I would almost always have to destroy it given the 60+ distance from capital penalty ontop of the culture one.

[Apgad]

i destroy them because i heard somewhere they increase the culture penalty

They do, but you will also be getting some happiness out of them at the same time, and maybe other bonuses (law, trade etc). You might be saving yourself a 10% culture penalty, but losing 25% happiness and 25% law.

I suppose it depends whether you're expanding slowly and can afford to have a large garrison present while new structures are built, or if you're blitzing and just want to keep the people from revolting until you can shore things up later and properly "assimilize" them.

[Ayce]

Something slighty funny: one of the Pahlava temple-complexes is dedicated to Mithras. Yet when I seized an AS city with an AS temple to the very same god, the upgrade would turn it into another deity's temple.

The order into which they're put in the files for AS and Pahlava may be different, so slot Mithras for Pahlava doesn't match slot Mithras for AS.

[Theodotos I]

For some reason during my Saka campaign.

Whenever I conquered a city from AI factions, the temple description don't list the temple bonus. This lead me to conclude the difference in culture offers none (which turned out to be correct) so I ended up destroying all the temples. They were good cash too.

In my Pahlava campaign, all the temples to Seleukos had absolutely no benefits to me. Why would they, they deify my enemy! So, naturally, they came down post-haste.
This could be your situation as well, I don't know.

[carthage_supreme]

It really depends on what temple, i usually keep them due to there bonuses. However in my last campaign i destroyed the temple complex in rome , and about every other destructible building.

[Chris1959]

If a temple can be upgraded as a setlement grows I'll usually upgrade if not destroy and build a fresh. I'm pretty certain apart from the govt building a temple has the biggest cultural penalty, which can hurt a lot as that plundered cities pop recovers.

[zooeyglass]

If a temple can be upgraded as a setlement grows I'll usually upgrade if not destroy and build a fresh. I'm pretty certain apart from the govt building a temple has the biggest cultural penalty, which can hurt a lot as that plundered cities pop recovers.

exactly - the upgrade should reduce the culture penalty as the new upgraded temple is converted to one of your own faction. leaving it will continue to penalise you due to the culture, and destroying it will sacrifice the bonuses it offers.