Defender of the Faith - Anyone Use It and Why?

[D-A-C]

Hey guys,

I have been playing the Ottoman's and early took up the Defender of the Faith title, as the extra missionary meant I could boost up to 100 piety and then convert more provinces faster.

Well, approaching 150 years in and I am still Defender of the Faith, and that tech penalty is starting to get annoying.

Do you guys still use it?

I read that if I lose a war I'll lose the title, but I have been careful to pick my fights and so havn't lost yet, but that seems strange that the only way to ever remove it is from losing a war don't you think?

Anyway, how do you guys find DoF, what countries do you aquire it for, and how long do you end up keeping it?

 

[Xara]

It's removed when your ruler dies. You also lose it if you decline to join.

The tech penalty is not that bad. Just think of it as an investment. Would you pay 30 Admin, Diplo, and Mil points every 13 years to gain 5% morale, -0.03 monthly exhaustion, and a missionary? Hell yeah.

 

[Freudia]

Mainly for the passive war exhaustion removal, but the other bonuses are nice too. Extra morale and a missionary is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[D-A-C]

It's removed when your ruler dies. You also lose it if you decline to join.

The tech penalty is not that bad. Just think of it as an investment. Would you pay 30 Admin, Diplo, and Mil points every 13 years to gain 5% morale, -0.03 monthly exhaustion, and a missionary? Hell yeah.

Really? I thought I was stuck with the damn thing and couldn't figure out how to get rid of it, interesting. I'll check that, but I have had the extra missionary since around 1455 and its 1590 now.

 

[Dani3l47]

Extra morale is sweet since unlike with technology or ideas the AI can't match you unless they're another religion and are defender of that faith.

 

[Zwirbaum]

Really? I thought I was stuck with the damn thing and couldn't figure out how to get rid of it, interesting. I'll check that, but I have had the extra missionary since around 1455 and its 1590 now.

Did you conquered in the mean time Jerusalem? Because it grants extra missionary.

 

[itsuart]

It's removed when your ruler dies.

No it's not. At least it didn't in 1.7

 

[D-A-C]

Did you conquered in the mean time Jerusalem? Because it grants extra missionary.

Yeah, then I got 3 missionaries total.

 

[JQuacker]

Playing now as Protestant HRE, sucking up all the Catholic provinces from France, Orthodox from Russia, and Sunni from Ottomans. DoF just helps convert them all that much faster, and in the 1700's with the ability to defeat all three foes, tech isn't a huge concern right now.

 

[Osman Pasha]

I use it all the time, it gives you an extra missionary. It also decreases your war exhaustion. The only bad thing is the +5% tech cost, but really, that doesn't matter. You will only be a few months behind of tech.

 

[grommile]

The +5% tech cost penalty means that every 13-15 years, you spend 30 more points in each category than you otherwise would.

That's four months "reference" monarch power income. (Reference income is 7 points per category per month - 3 base, +3 for an average ruler, +1 for having an advisor. For a large country that's doing well, the reference income is more like 9 points per month - 3 base, +3 for an average ruler, +2 for advisor, and possibly +1 for power projection.)

 

[Lord Finnish]

I made extensive use of it in my Byzantium run. There aren't many Orthodox states to protect and the missionary bonus comes in handy when purging Muslim territory.