Civilization 7 Treasure Fleets Guide

During the Exploration Age of you Civilization VII playthrough, you might stumble across a special kind of ship called the Treasure Fleet. This is only granted to you by procuring a specific type of resource and it’s required to complete some objectives for the Economic Advisor. However, beyond that, the game doesn’t truly explain what the fleets are used for or how they work.

Fortunately, we played enough Civilization 7 to understand the Treasure Fleets, and they are a goldmine if used properly. Below, we’ll show you exactly what to do with Treasure Fleets and how to make boatloads of gold with them.

How to get Treasure Fleets in Civilization 7

For starters, let’s talk about how to acquire your first Treasure Fleet. This type of ship is only given to you if you procure the Silver resource, which is indicated by the silver pot and orange background icon. You need to have this resource within one of your settlement’s borders and then build a mine on the resource tile when you get the chance to grow your settlement. It’s also required to have the silver resource be connected to a settlement with a coastal border.

If the Silver resource is already in your coastal settlement when you establish it, then all you have to do is build the mine on it. You get the chance to do that when your population grows, and the game allows you to convert a new tile.

When this happens, select the Silver resource tile and then go to the Resource Management screen. Here, make sure the Silver resource is slotted into the settlement that has its tile. However, it will be a separate resource located on the right side of the screen, as seen in the screenshot below.

From there, you’ll start the process of making Treasure Fleets, which takes 10 turns. They are created one by one for every settlement where you have Silver as a resource. So, in theory, you could make multiple Treasure Fleets at the same time if you own more than one Silver tile.

What to do with Treasure Fleets in Civilization 7

Once you have made your first Treasure Fleet, it will be treated as a unit you command during every turn. The main goal of a Treasure Fleet is to offload it within the border of any of your homeland settlements. Homeland settlements refer to any settlement that’s located on the continent where you started the game.

So, from your coastal settlement when the Treasure Fleet starts, find the closest homeland settlement and make your way there turn after turn. When you’re within the border of the settlement, select the Treasure Fleet at the start of a new turn and find the “Unload Cargo” icon on the Treasure Fleet’s unit box.

Select the Unload Cargo icon, and you’ll earn one Treasure Fleet Point and 150 gold. If the Unload Cargo icon is greyed out and not selectable, then you’re either not within a settlement’s border or not at a homeland settlement.

Obviously, the extra 150 gold is a nice return for basically just sailing a ship to a settlement. However, the Treasure Fleet Points are another matter. If you chose the Economic Advisor, one of the objectives on your Legacy Path is to score 10 “TF Points” during the age where you received the objective. In our case, we got the objective at the start of the Exploration Age, and it took us over 100 turns to score all 10 TF Points.

If you fail to complete the task during the age you received the objective, you won’t earn any Legacy Points on the Economic Path. The objective will also disappear when you begin the next age in Civilization VII.

The best strategy to use with Treasure Fleets is to try and establish settlements wherever you can find Silver. Then, set up a homeland settlement at the closest location you can to all of your Silver settlements. With the settlements close to one another, you can sail the treasure fleets faster and produce gold substantially quicker.

You’ll find most Silver tiles on smaller islands in Civilization VII. The Continents Plus and Archipelago map types are best for finding islands. However, most map types will still allow for easy Treasure Fleet navigation if you can establish the settlements quickly enough.