Strategy games can be imposing beasts, with layered systems and complex progression. Firaxis’ newly released Civilization VI breaks down barriers thanks to an approach that makes complexity welcoming instead of daunting.
SEE ALSO: 5 major changes that make 'Civilization VI' feel like a better game
Long-time fans will feel at home quickly, despite some major changes. Those who have always toyed with the idea of experimenting with the long-running strategy franchise will find a fantastic introduction in this installment. But in case you need a helping hand, we’ve got you covered with a set of tips to guide you through your first game.
1. Understand the four victory conditions
If given the option (city has coast tiles) build a Harbor, this is much better as it gives production and food too. Also the Great Admiral points are impactful as Admirals have powerful actions in the game. How to counter Ethiopia. Ethiopia is just a strong Civilization, harder to play against than other AIs. There are good way to go about it. In Civ 5, any city could bombard nearby enemies from the start; in Civ 6, city centers (and encampments) can only attack after building Ancient Walls (unlocked with Masonry). As for the bonuses, I'm still not sure on the lighthouse whether that's +2 housing on top of its current +1, or instead (so maybe +1 housing/+2 if next to city centre). But overall, with the Fisheries adding housing combined with the lighthouse bonus, it means that a coastal city isn't really any behind a city on a river or a lake for housing.
In every new Civilization game, Firaxis tweaks the ways you’ll conquer the world. There are four core victory conditions in Civilization VI: domination, science, culture, and religious. There is also a quiet fifth option based on score that only kicks in if you reach the year 2050 (500 turns) without a victor.
Domination victory relies on military might. Once you control every other nation’s capital as well as your own, the game is yours.
A science win requires you to research a number of late-game technologies, launch a satellite into space, put a man on the moon, and establish a colony on Mars. Each of these requires special construction projects, with the final step demanding three components that can only be built in cities with a spaceport.
Cultural victories rely on building tourism cache and welcoming foreign tourists. This is generated with open border treaties, archaeological finds, great works of art, holy sites, unique wonders and national parks. The longer the game goes on, the harder this is to accomplish since you need to have more visitors than all of the domestic tourists combined in each of the other civs.
Finally, Civilization VI adds a religious victory for the first time. Your path to victory is through the use of holy sites and religious agents like apostles, missionaries, and inquisitors. You need to convert at least half of every other civilization’s cities to your faith, in order to score this kind of win. Founding a religion in Civilization VI is great fun, because you can call it anything you want.
2. Pick a leader that suits your play style
Once you understand the different ways to win, it’s important to choose one of the 20 leaders that fits your play style.
If you’re new to the Civilization series, we’d recommend a science victory to start with. Culture is tricky, religion will likely send you to war, and domination is harder than it sounds, because big armies need robust infrastructure.
For that reason, you might consider Russia. Peter I (sometimes known as Peter the Great) is a science and culture leech. Trade routes (more on them later) can bring in additional science from any culture that is more advanced than Russia. Just be careful that Peter’s rapid land grabs don’t raise the ire of your neighbors.
Other good options for science victories are Arabia and Saladin (combining faith and technology) and Sumeria and Gilgamesh (whose ziggurats produce additional science along rivers).
Science victories allow you to secure your borders with a modest military while focusing on technologies and district improvements that serve your end game. This is also a great way to experiment with the diplomacy system, as making friends with other leaders will help keep you safe. Using negotiations, you can trade for technologies you’d rather not waste turns researching yourself.
You’ll also want to make sure that your relationships with other civilizations give you access to crucial commodities you can’t harvest on your own. If you need oil or steel, but them isn’t available within your borders, you’ll have to trade for them with other leaders.
A science victory lets you get your feet wet. Next time out, you can be the bully on the block, preach the gospel to the rest of the world or welcome the world’s tourists with open arms.
3. Choose your first city location carefully (but don’t dawdle)
Each Civilization game starts you off with a settler and a soldier. You’ll want to be near water when you put down roots, whether that’s a river or an ocean (definitely the latter if your leader and civ focus on sailing, like Norway and Harald Hadrada or Victoria and England).
Don’t take too long to find the perfect place to found your empire. Get it done in the first two turns unless you’re dropped into a miserable wasteland.
Settling near water is important for any civ to promote population growth. Each new citizen allows you to “work” one additional tile in your borders. You can choose to micromanage the tiles on which your city focuses or let the game deal with that (we recommend leaving that alone until you get comfortable).
It’s important to have a healthy food supply nearby that you can cultivate into farms with builder units later. The best way to determine this is to turn the yield overlay on (and leave it on).
The minimap on the lower left features four icons, choose the one second from the left and enable all three checkmarks (you might later wish to turn off resource icons and grid lines, but the yield icons remain helpful).
Corn represents food, gears represent production and music notes represent culture. For now, focus on food and production, which helps you complete building assignments faster.
4. Know when to send settlers out into the wild
Eventually, you’re going to need more cities. Your population will hit a point at which growth stagnates.
Before you hit that point, build a settler and send them out to found a new home. Ezkeys mac crack. It’s time to start considering expansion when you hit four or five population, but don’t disrupt your build queue if your current project is almost done.
Be sure to attach a military escort to your vulnerable settlers. You don’t want barbarians or an enemy civilization to capture or kill it. When looking for a good spot, try to nab valuable resources, and settle against rivers, hills or mountains.
5. Diversify your cities
You don’t want carbon copy cities. Each new metropolis should have a role to play in your growing empire.
You can prioritize culture and trade in one and production in another. Your coastal cities can pump out naval units, while a well-fortified, centrally located city can be used to train up military and dispatch them to other areas of your territory.
As you play more, you’ll get a natural feel for how to specialize cities. To start with, just know that some cities don’t need certain districts. If you’re generating gold, there’s no need to focus on production-boosting improvements, for instance.
Don’t take the cookie cutter approach. Trying to do everything in every city is the quickest way to waste time and money. It’s a distraction from pursuing your victory.
6. Don’t ignore your armed forces
Even if you are the most passive leader the world has ever known, you can’t ignore military forces. Eventually, you’re going to find yourself in a situation that requires a sword or gun, and it might be through no direct fault of your own.
Sometimes the AI will settle close to you and get huffy about your naturally expanding borders. Other times, you’ll send an emissary to a city-state and draw the ire of a leader on the outs with that settlement. You don’t always know how leaders will react to your moves, and sometimes, they’ll surprise you with a declaration of war.
You don’t need to biggest, baddest military to force your aggressor to sue for peace. You just need enough units to patrol the borders, rattle their sabers, and scare off anyone who thinks you might be a pushover.
If you do run into a situation like this and navigate it well, you might find your coffers full with your opponent’s gold as they try to extricate from a losing conflict.
7. City-states can be valuable allies
Early on, the first non-barbarians you are likely to encounter are AI-driven city-states. You can be the neighborhood bully and take them by force. Or, if you are looking for a peaceful relationship, you can build trade routes, send emissaries, and foster a relationship.
Every envoy you send contributes to city-state specific bonuses. This helps you target which are most important to your victory condition.
More importantly, if you’ve got the most influence, you can temporarily command the city-state’s military forces. If you find yourself in a bind, this can be a good way to discourage enemies from stepping over your border.
8. Make the most of trade routes
Trade routes are your friends. This bears repeating. Trade routes. Are. Your. Friends.
In previous Civilization games, players had to tediously task workers to build roads. It wasn’t enjoyable, and it didn’t always work quite right. In Civ VI, roads between cities are automatically constructed along trade routes.
These speed movement, negating terrain penalties and, in the case of war, getting vital military units to their destination before it’s too late. Trade routes also deliver food, gold, production and culture, giving you a lifeline between your people and allies, or simply moving your domestic goods around the map more easily.
You don’t need to biggest, baddest military to force your aggressor to sue for peace. You just need enough units to patrol the borders, rattle their sabers, and scare off anyone who thinks you might be a pushover.
If you do run into a situation like this and navigate it well, you might find your coffers full with your opponent’s gold as they try to extricate from a losing conflict.
7. City-states can be valuable allies
Early on, the first non-barbarians you are likely to encounter are AI-driven city-states. You can be the neighborhood bully and take them by force. Or, if you are looking for a peaceful relationship, you can build trade routes, send emissaries, and foster a relationship.
Every envoy you send contributes to city-state specific bonuses. This helps you target which are most important to your victory condition.
More importantly, if you’ve got the most influence, you can temporarily command the city-state’s military forces. If you find yourself in a bind, this can be a good way to discourage enemies from stepping over your border.
8. Make the most of trade routes
Trade routes are your friends. This bears repeating. Trade routes. Are. Your. Friends.
In previous Civilization games, players had to tediously task workers to build roads. It wasn’t enjoyable, and it didn’t always work quite right. In Civ VI, roads between cities are automatically constructed along trade routes.
These speed movement, negating terrain penalties and, in the case of war, getting vital military units to their destination before it’s too late. Trade routes also deliver food, gold, production and culture, giving you a lifeline between your people and allies, or simply moving your domestic goods around the map more easily.
Especially if you’re going for a cultural victory, you’re going to want to send your caravans to as many cities as possible.
9. Make friends, because you’ll definitely make enemies
Unless you set out to rule the world with an iron fist, chances are you’re spending the early game laying the foundation for a game that’s more a race than a boxing match. You might be able to go the whole game without a war, but it’s unlikely. You’re going to piss someone off, and have to rapidly put yourself on a war footing as a result.
Your goal at that point is to make the situation untenable for your aggressor as fast as possible. The best way to do that? Make friends.
Spend some time in the diplomacy menu. Try to negotiate open borders with leaders that aren’t predisposed to warmongering, strike trade agreements, and raise your rapport to the “friendship” level.
Once you’ve done that, any AI that declares war on you is going to find themselves with a fight on two fronts. If you do end up in a scrap at that point, chances are your combined might will give you a path to end the conflict in relatively short order.
10. You don’t need every technology
Earlier, we recommended that you specialize your cities. Now, in our final tip, we’re suggesting you apply that same philosophy to your entire empire.
Technologies take time to research. Every time you choose a tech that doesn’t unlock a building, district, or unit that serves the victory you’re pursuing, you’re burning valuable turns (sometimes 40 or 50 of them). Once you learn how to play, you can choose your next tech from a list that appears on the left side of the screen.
When you are getting your Civ legs, open the tech tree every time. Get a feel for what your options are and what they, in turn, make available for research. It’s not only ok to plan out your next three or four choices, but advisable. In fact, if you have a target in mind, you can select it on the tree and the game will research the prerequisites in order without interruption.
Later on, you might find that you need an earlier tech to reach one you need. This is a perfect time for diplomacy.
In addition to units, great works of art, gold and resources, you can request that other leaders impart their wisdom. Sometimes, this is the fastest way to convert your gold surplus into science. There’s no shame in paying for it.
Civilization VI is out today, October 21, for PC.
Barbarians in Civilization VI are roving bands of non-player character units who will attack and pillage tile improvements of players and other civilizations or City-States. As civilizations in the game grow Barbarians will appear less frequently as there will be less places for their outposts to appear. During the early game they are particularity menacing as they can spawn horsemen and horse-archers before a player can research anti-cavalry technology. Barbarians will typically only spawn at outposts; however, they can spawn near civilization cities when their Amenities gets too low.
- 4Strategy
Outposts[edit | edit source]
Barbarians will spawn at outposts that appear randomly in any tile that is outside of the visible range of any non-Barbarian unit or city (this includes City-States and non-player civilizations). When a new outpost is created the game will play a tune to let the player know. To reduce the spawn of Barbarian outposts in your area you can position units on hills, which can allow units to cover an extra tile of sight due to its height advantage, as to maintain the largest possible visible range. Your cities will also increase their visible range by their cultural borders. Alternatively, and for purposes such as Gilgamesh'sEpic Questsleader bonus, you can keep units as close to your cities as possible to increase the chances of an outpost spawning near you.
Barbarians will remain in the game right up until the end. However, as more territory is acquired, Barbarians will have less land available for their outposts to appear and typically will only be found in snow or tundra terrain as they are less likely to be cities and non-Barbarian units there. If the entire world is civilized, the Barbarians will disappear.
Barbarian Units[edit | edit source]
Although Barbarians can spawn nearly every type unit in the game (dependent on the current era) they will spawn different units depending on where their outpost is located. Regardless of their position every outpost will spawn melee and ranged units. Every time a new outpost appears it will start with 1 Scout and 1 era-dependent melee or anti-cavalry unit (such as a Spearman).
- Naval: An outpost that appears on a coast line will periodically spawn naval units.
- Cavalry: An outpost that has a horseresource within 6 tiles will spawn cavalry units.
Typically, Barbarian units will prioritise attacking or capturing units. If there are no units in visible range for them to engage they will swarm cities and pillage their improvements. They will also attack cities if there are enough Barbarian units in range. Barbarian Scouts will survey the land for cities. Once they find a city they will attempt to go back to the closest Barbarian outpost to spawn additional units to assault it before returning to scouting. If a scout has spotted your city it can be visually recognised as a red exclamation mark (!) above the unit.
Other Units[edit | edit source]
Barbarians themselves do not spawn non-combat units however they will assault them if they see them. If a Barbarian unit comes upon a non-combat unit such as a settler or builder they will capture it and escort it back to the nearest outpost. If they come in contact with a trader they can pillage the trade route. Once the Barbarians capture a unit it can be recaptured by any other civilization or City-State in the game even if they were not the original owners of that unit.
Strategy[edit | edit source]
Barbarians are generally seen as an annoyance throughout the game. To reduce their impact on your civilization players should aim to have as much territory in their visible range as possible by positioning units strategically around their land or having large cultural borders on their cities. When a new outpost spawns and the player is notified by the sound alert, it is recommended to attempt to locate it to make sure that it doesn't pose a threat. Barbarians are not always detrimental to a player and they can be strategically used for beneficial purposes.
With the exception of Barbarian scouts, all of their other combat units will almost always attempt to attack the weakest unit in close range. This also includes units weakened by damage they have taken in previous turns and not specifically the units base combat strength at full health. Players can use this behaviour to lure units away from their outposts or towards other civilizations or City-States provided than at the end of the turn your unit is not the closest or weakest.
Basic Rewards[edit | edit source]
There are multiple rewards that can be obtained for killing Barbarian units or clearing Barbarian outposts:
- Killing a Barbarian unit with a slinger will provide a Eureka technology boost for Archery.
- Killing three Barbarian units will provide a Eureka technology boost for Bronze Working.
- Clearing a Barbarian outpost with any unit will provide a Eureka Civic boost for Military Tradition.
- Clearing a Barbarian outpost will give Gold. The amount given depends on the game speed and difficulty.
Leaders, Units and Abilities[edit | edit source]
Certain leaders and units have bonuses that provide additional benefits for combat or specifically tailored towards Barbarians. When correctly utilised it allows Barbarians to provide a benefit to the player rather than an overall hindrance.
Civ 6 Better Coastal Cities
- Gilgamesh's Epic Quests bonus provides additional rewards for clearing outposts equal to a random reward provided by a Tribal Village. This can allow Gilgamesh to attempt to keep his units close to his cities to allow more room for outposts to appear so he can utilise the bonus more.
- Gorgo gains Culture for destroying combat units. Due to this Barbarian outposts can be 'farmed' for bonus Culture in the early-mid game.
- Apostles with the Heathen Conversion promotion can convert any adjacent Barbarian units to your side which can help provide a significant boost to your military strength. Although typically bought through Faith they can be acquired elsewhere, such as Mvemba a Nzingas bonus Religious Convert which provides a free Apostle when you construct a Mbanza or Theater Squaredistrict.
- Clearing an outpost when you have the Initiation RitesPantheon will give you +50 Faith.
Notes[edit | edit source]
- When a new Barbarian outpost spawns the game will play a tune to let the player know. There is no way to center on its location other than a visual scan of the map.
If barbarians do capture a city other than your capital it will be destroyed instantly there is no getting it back whether this is supposed to happen or is a bug it is devastating so deal with them early on.
- Barbarians appear to function on a 'boldness' bar that in some way affects the spawning of a new wave of units
Barbarian 'Boldness'
Barbarian Boldness per Camp Attack
Value=-30Barbarian Boldness per Kill
Value=+15Barbarian Boldness Per Scout Lost
Value=-5Barbarian Boldness Per Turn
Value=2Barbarian Boldness Per Unit Lost
Value=-10Barbarian Camp Coastal Spawn Roll
Value=6Barbarian Camp Extra Distance Per Low Difficulty
Value=1Barbarian Camp First Turn Percent of Target to Add
Value=33Barbarian Camp max Per Major Civ
Value=3Barbarian Camp Minimum Distance Another Camp
Value=7Barbarian Camp Minimum Distance from City
Value=4Barbarian Camp Odd of New Camp Spawning
Value=2Barbarian Number Random Unit Choices
Value=3Barbarian Release Variation
Value=2Barbarian Technology Percent
Value=50