Upgrades/Swords of the Prophets

In Swords of the Prophets, religion plays a major part in technology. Different religious foster interest in different areas of research and technology. Generally, barbaric nations such as the Norse and the Turks get very few upgrades, but civilised factions such as the Byzantines or Indians can get many more.

Fort
In contrast to other mods, the Fort now researches 4 different tech tracks as opposed to just 1 or 2: this includes the Attrition and Logisstics line of research in addition to the vanilla tracks of Fortification and Strategy. All upgrades require Military Research, plus one or more additional techs.

Of these, Attrition is the simplest, requiring only two levels of Military research.

Strategy .Stratgen_icc.png
Want your Generals and Officers to be a little more capable? or you need the ancient version of James Bond serving for king and country? the Strategy track of upgrades can help. These boost the craft, survivability and movement of your Spies and Officer-type units, making them more useful on the battlefield.

In addition, Strategy, as in Warbirth and Alexander, is required to access the Warriors' Hall, if you should need it. Tactics is thus a highly important technology especially for factions such as the Vikings and Turks as it will then allow them access to their elite units right away, as opposed to more settled factions which need to obtain control of a Magistracy instead..

Attrition [[file:attrition.png|Attrition|link=#Attrition]]
With Attrition, it is not just your units that fight the enemy, but even the land itself. Attrition research is useful in that it ensures that enemy units will suffer damage even when not fighting so long as they are far from friendly territory or supply.

While it is clear that the Makurians have an advantage when it comes to Attrition (thanks to their ability to receive free Attrition upgrades, as well as added bonus damage) the Indians however have the ability to match them with regards to Attrition damage, thanks to their mastery of Ashwamedha.

Logistics [[file:supply.png|Logistics|link=Upgrades/Swords of the Prophets#Logistics]]
In New World Empires, only one level of Logistics is available for research, and it must be obtained from the Fort.

Logistics is considered a mid-tier tech, and it will require three different techs: Logistics is required for the following:
 * The intermediate Age tech (Classical Age for Alexander; Gunpowder Age for The Southeastern Dragon); and/or
 * Level 3 Red government; and
 * Level 1 Taxation.
 * (Alexander) War Elephant units,
 * (Swords of the Prophets) Cataphract-type cavalry and other top-tier units at the Magistracy, for Franks and Byzantines.
 * (The Southeastern Dragon) Various Western units that would otherwise have been available with Mercantile Era from Rise of the Moderns.

Sanctuary
The upgrades of a Sanctuary all require Administration as part of their prerequisites. Of these, Religion has the simplest requirements. A Sanctuary requires Level 1 Administration in order to be constructed.

Religion [[file:relig icc.png|link=Upgrades/Swords_of_the_Prophets#Religion|Religion]]
If Religion "is the opiate of the masses", then Swords of the Prophets will demonstrate it well. The higher your religious research, the more resistant your cities become in battle. Religion also helps your cities become more effective in securing and expanding your territory, increasing your tax revenues. Note that not all factions are capable of researching all Religion techs.
 * Level 2 (Missionaries) is blocked for most pagan factions, or factions that do not have any semblance of organised religion - Germans, Slavs and Turks do not advance to this level.
 * Level 3 (National Cults) is restricted to mostly Christian factions: Makurians, Franks, Lombards, Visigoths, Byzantines

Healthcare [[file:hcare_icc.png|Healthcare|link=Upgrades/Swords_of_the_Prophets#Healthcare]]
As its name suggests, Healthcare is intended to increase the train time of your infantry and cavalry, as well as increase the healing rate of garrisoned units. Most civilised nations (ie Tang, Franks, Arabs) are capable of accessing Level 2 (Medical Thought) but the final tier (Ayurveda) is restricted solely to Hindu factions only (Indians, Srivijaya) In Swords of the Prophets, however, not all factions are capable of achieving all levels of Healthcare: for instance, the 2nd tier of the Healthcare track, Medical Thought, is available only to a handful of civs: these consist mostly of the more civilised Asian factions, but also include the Byzantines, Persians and Franks as recipients. As with Alexander, the final tier, Ayurveda, is available only to the Indians.

Influence [[file:krateia.png|Influence production|link=upgrades/Swords of the Prophets#Influence]]
One level of Influence is available for Arabs and Persians from the Sanctuary — Five Pillars.

Granary
The Granary primarily functions as a food booster, be it through its initial ability to boost Farm output in its host city, or by researching new technologies to increase that boost.

Level 2 Civics is required to build a Granary.

Sawmill
The Sawmill's main job is increasing the output of Timber produced by Logging Camps located within the radius of your Settlements. While it can do so from the beginning it is erected, the magnitude of Timber output can be increased by researching Woodworking upgrades - with a total of 3 levels. Unlike vanilla RoN, Sawmills do not host Construction techs — that task has been taken over by the Foundry.

A Sawmill will always require Level 1 Commerce except for the the Poles who begin with on in their starting city in normal scenarios, and the Arabs who have no restrictions whatsoever.

Woodworking [[file:timber.jpg|Woodworking|link=Upgrades/Swords_of_the_Prophets#Woodworking]]
Woodworking knowledge is widespread but it is by no means necessarily known to all civs. A few ones are often too fragmented or isolated to know more than the basic Woodworking tier: the Poles, Tibetans, Makurians and Avars.

The final Tier, Paper, is a secret known only to four civs: Tang, Korea, Japan and the Sogdians.

Foundry
A Foundry requires Level 3  Science in order to be erected.

Metallurgy ore.png
While knowledge of metalworking and mining is widespread across the world, not everyone is capable of obtaining any level of Metallurgical knowhow beyond the first Tier. The final Tier, Steel, is reserved exclusively to the Korean and Indian civs.

Construction [[file:Maspns_mini.png|link=Upgrades/Swords of the Prophets#Construction|Construction]]
Construction technologies boost building construction speed and hitpoints. But in the world of Swords of the Prophets, they are also prerequisite for several other technologies and units - most notabily, the final tier of Woodworking research.

Influence [[file:krateia.png|Influence production|link=upgrades/Swords of the Prophets#Influence]]
The Chomskyite task of "manufacturing consent" is a big industry and this is done by Councillors, who are usually drawn from the leadership of rural or tribal communities. Thus  Influence is a vital resource as it not only just fuels technological and sociological innovation to foster material progress, but is also required to raise some of the most powerful units you can ever field. Without this you can't raise units such as Cataphract cavalry or Indian Royal Elephants, let alone have the luxury of contemplating their existence in your war machine.

Note that all upgrades under this entire track of research are available to all factions, but Five Pillars is researchable solely for Muslims - these being Persians and Arabs.