Religious Bonuses Elimination Thread

[Clausewitz_]

For the next elimination thread i choose to do best religious bonuses. THIS IS NOT A DISCUSSION OF REAL LIFE RELIGIONS. Your votes should be based on gameplay only. Base bonuses, mechanics, decisions, and events all count for the voting criteria. However i am disqualifying the reformation as a basis for voting, as it doesn't relate to the bonuses themselves. CK2 converted religions are also not included. Animist, totemist. and shaminist have been grouped into pagan because they have the same bonuses. Again, be respectful. This is a purely gameplay based thread. The moderators will punish those who say offensive and trollish comments. Same rules as the others. +1 for an upvote, -2 for a downvote. One vote per day please. Have fun everyone!

Thread approved - Had a dad

Eliminated:
1. Protestant
2. Hindu
3. Shia
4. Catholic
5. Reformed
6. Sunni
7. Orthodox
8. Nahuatl
9. Inti
10. Norse
11. Tengri
12. Mayan
13. Ibadi
14. Sikh
15. Coptic
16. Zoroastrian
17. Shinto
18. Jewish
19. Vajrayana
20. Theravada
21. Confucian
22. Mahayana
23. Pagan

Just a heads up, anyone thinking of trolling this thread will be banned from the thread outright AND bonus points assessed by the staff - Had a dad

 

[Clausewitz_]

Catholic: 21
Protestant: 20
Reformed: 20
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 20
Sunni: 20
Shia: 20
Ibadi: 20
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 20
Mahayana: 20
Confucian: 18
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 20
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 20
Inti: 20
Mayan: 20
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 20
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20
Might not be the best overall, but the recent changes to Catholicism makes it very versatile if you can get a decent amount of papal influence a year, and the curia control benefits are great. Confucianism isn't fleshed out at all.

 

[Pedrinluigi]

Catholic: 21
Protestant: 21
Reformed: 20
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 20
Sunni: 20
Shia: 20
Ibadi: 20
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 20
Mahayana: 20
Confucian: 18
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 20
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20
Mayan: 20
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 20
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

Protestantism has powerful Church Aspects, while Pagans don't even have the right to, well, be respected as a religion. It's pretty bad.

 

[Had a dad]

FYI read my statements in the OP

 

[Salje]

Catholic: 21
Protestant: 21
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 18
Sunni: 20
Shia: 20
Ibadi: 20
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 20
Mahayana: 20
Confucian: 18
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 20
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20even
Mayan: 20
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 20
Jewish: 20

Reformed activated bonuses can be very powerful and with a bit stability can be maintaned almost constantly. Coptic is just currently just boring and without even very good bonuses.

 

[Noel84]

Catholic: 21
Protestant: 21
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 18
Sunni: 20
Shia:21 Not only do they get the epic piety bonuses they also get a religious cb on basically everyone
Ibadi: 20
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 18 You so much as think of conquering someone and you're hit with a MASSIVE discipline debuff
Mahayana: 20
Confucian: 18
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 20
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20
Mayan: 20
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 20
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

 

[Rubidium]

Catholic: 21
Protestant: 21
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 18
Sunni: 20
Shia:21
Ibadi: 20
Theravada: 18 I suspect the Buddhists will be the earliest ones out. Of the bonuses, I find this the least useful
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 20
Confucian: 18
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 21 You get some very nice, very flexible bonuses from choosing a deity, plus more monarch points for your monarch
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20
Mayan: 20
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 20
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

 

[Locklen]

Catholic: 21
Protestant: 22
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 18
Sunni: 20
Shia:21
Ibadi: 20
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 20
Confucian: 16
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 20
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20
Mayan: 20
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 20
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

The extreme flexibility of Protestant bonuses is very nice (as well as many good choices). Confucian on the other hand has weak bonuses

 

[Azikiel]

Catholic: 22
Protestant: 22
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 18
Sunni: 20
Shia:21
Ibadi: 20
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 20
Confucian: 16
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 20
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20
Mayan: 18
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 20
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20
Catholic op, and down Mayan because im salty that all those cool religions that can be reformed are only playable if you start as a primitive. Paradox-sama plz change.

 

[Darth Samuri]

Catholic: 22
Protestant: 23
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 18
Sunni: 20
Shia:21
Ibadi: 20
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 20
Confucian: 16
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 19 (edit hindu should have been 21 check post #5)
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20
Mayan: 18
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 20
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

Love the church power bonuses, it adds a bunch of customizing opportunities. Hindu has kind of the same, but less efficient.

 

[CNY10000]

Catholic: 22
Protestant: 24
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 18
Sunni: 20
Shia:21
Ibadi: 20
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 20
Confucian: 14
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 19
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20
Mayan: 18
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 20
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

Church aspect is nice.

Tolerance to other religion is really not a valid bonus for me. You can have a maximum of 3 tolerance to other religion, and thus -3 unrest. While getting religious idea and converting all provinces can gurentee, at least, 3 unrest reduction.

 

[Shaaaq]

Catholic: 22
Protestant: 25
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 18
Sunni: 20
Shia:21
Ibadi: 20
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 20
Confucian: 12
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 19
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20
Mayan: 18
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 20
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

Church aspect is OP as it is tailored to your needs.
Confucian might as well be a non religion with virtually no bonuses to it.

 

[DerMaulwurf]

Catholic: 22
Protestant: 25
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 18
Sunni: 20
Shia:22
Ibadi: 20
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 18
Confucian: 13
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 19
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20
Mayan: 18
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 20
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

As already mentioned Shia has nice bonuses and DeusVult on pretty much everybody else. Piety mechanic is generally worthwhile, since the bonuses are good and the "focus" can be changed through your game.
If Confucian is bad for having no outright bonus, how bad are the Buddhist denominations, that give you a handicap? Even when you make the effort to balance your Karma, the bonus isn't better than say Protestantism. I can see where other religions are lacking, but Buddhism should be out first.

 

[Ironicus]

Catholic: 23
Protestant: 25
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 18
Sunni: 20
Shia:22
Ibadi: 18
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 18
Confucian: 13
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 19
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20
Mayan: 18
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 20
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

Torn between Catholicism and Protestantism since I consider saving monarch points a key element.
Catholic pro: must-have for colonizers (especially since all colonizers seem to stay Catholic in my games, including UK), powerful curia (constant zero inflation and 3 stability at no admin point cost plus free mercantilism) even if you want to reform later (spend all papal influence to get long-lasting or permanent bonuses before converting), available from start, great diplomacy (France, Austria, Spain, PLC, often UK)
Protestant pro: powerful aspects (cheaper development and ideas save monarch points), probably the best military bonuses of all religions (discipline, moral, manpower recovery), vastly superior send-missionary sound ;-)

But in the end the prestige hit on conversion and the limited diplomacy put it just behind Catholicism. I'm also under the impression that there are more negative events with Protestantism than with Catholicism.

Ibadi - weaker than Shia and Sunni, almost no natural allies

 

[t6.28]

Catholic: 23
Protestant: 25
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 16 The worst christian religion
Sunni: 20
Shia:22
Ibadi: 18
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 18
Confucian: 13
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 19
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20
Mayan: 18
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 21 The better Hinduism, sadly only nation designer or mods
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

 

[QDI]

Catholic: 24
Protestant: 25
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 20
Coptic: 16 The worst christian religion
Sunni: 20
Shia:22
Ibadi: 18
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 16
Confucian: 13
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 19
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 18
Inti: 20
Mayan: 18
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 21 The better Hinduism, sadly only nation designer or mods
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

Catholic: nice bonuses (especially the +15% manpower recovery speed) when you are big enough to generate tons of points. Is a lot weaker for small states (not enough cardinals).

Buddhist: this is so bad. You conquer? Get your -10% discipline oO You are a diplomat? Get your malus to diplomatic reputation. If you manage the equilibrium, you get +5% discipline and +1 diplomatic reputation which is nice but it is rather hard.

 

[Zehir]

Catholic: 24
Protestant: 25
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 21 more manpowah!
Coptic: 16
Sunni: 20
Shia:22
Ibadi: 18
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 16
Confucian: 12
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 19
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 16 Only sensible thing to do as a pagan is converting.
Inti: 20
Mayan: 18
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 21
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

EDIT: Confucian should be 12, someone made mistake up here.

 

[Path]

Catholic: 24
Protestant: 26 (+1)
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 21
Coptic: 16
Sunni: 20
Shia:22
Ibadi: 18
Theravada: 20
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 14 (-2)
Confucian: 12
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 19
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 16
Inti: 20
Mayan: 18
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 21
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

Being Buddhist is an exercise in pain for anyone with Common Sense. Protestantism on the other hand is extremely versatile now with the Aspects. In general the Abrahamic religions benefit from strong conversions and a massive amount of possible missionaries, so even the worst of them are still potent.

 

[perhje]

Theravada was downvoted at the same time as Hindu was upvoted, but hasn't been corrected(see Rubidiums and Darth Samuris posts)

Catholic: 24
Protestant: 26
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 21
Coptic: 17 +1(Although maybe not the best it's is great for those countries that follow this religion with mountains you get a high fort defence, also +2TTF and -2% missionary strenght is also good to keep your country stable and make it more difficult for others)
Sunni: 20
Shia:22
Ibadi: 18
Theravada: 18
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 14
Confucian: 12
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 19
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 14 -2
Inti: 20
Mayan: 18
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 21
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20

 

[ThePatriotOfDreumel]

Catholic: 24
Protestant: 26
Reformed: 21
Orthodox: 21
Coptic: 17
Sunni: 20
Shia:23 Basically takes the piety system, and gives to a religion that is already pretty strong in itself. Add religious ideas and you can Jihad until there are no infidel left.
Ibadi: 18
Theravada: 18
Vajrayana: 18
Mahayana: 12 -10% Discipline as a bonus, great.
Confucian: 12
Shinto: 20
Hindu: 19
Sikh: 20
Pagan: 14
Inti: 20
Mayan: 18
Nahuatl: 20
Tengri: 20
Norse: 21
Jewish: 20
Zoroastrian: 20