In Civilization 7, choosing a leader is the most tremendous decision you’ll ever make. The civs themselves will transform with the dawn of each age, giving you a total of three by the time you’ve finished the game, but your leader is eternal; they will endure the passing millennia.
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What this means in practice is that your leader’s unique abilities must be weighed against the fabric of time. Ideally, they’ll complement every civ you choose. Regardless, they’ll inform the broad-ranging decisions you’ll make, the approaches you’ll take… you get the idea. Machiavelli has a nicely unique spin on it all, and we’re covering it right here.
Overview
It’ll help if we set the stage on what to expect from Machiavelli throughout your playthrough. In this segment, we’ll talk basics, from what his strengths are to what those strengths likely ought to mean for you, the player.
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So, Machiavelli has enough going on that, in truth, he has three traits: Diplomatic, Economic, and Militaristic. There’s a remarkable cadence behind all of this, which we’ll be covering in greater detail.
Diplomatic, Economic… Militaristic
Generally speaking, the easiest way to uncover each Civilization 7 leader’s best victory paths is to take a cursory look at their trait pairing. But as we mentioned above, Machiavelli semi-secretly has a third.
There is an exceptional degree of synergy with Machiavelli, the likes of which are arguably incomparable with other leaders. And that’s not to say they aren’t all designed with a degree of synergy in mind; they absolutely are.
Thanks to the 50 Gold (scaled per speed, we believe) gained from every Diplomatic Endeavor accepted by other civs, you’re incentivized to always be the one proposing Diplomatic Endeavors. You’re gaining cash when people are your friends.
Conversely, you gain 100 Gold (again, scaled) for every proposed Diplomatic Endeavor that is rejected. It pays, then, to be sworn enemies. After all, leaders are virtually never inclined to agree to your proposals when they dislike you.
Thus, you can keep cashing in regardless of their opinions, but you’re always going to be better off when you’re detested. Better still, it’s not like the leaders are going to preempt you in asking for Diplomatic Endeavors when they can’t stand your presence.
All those deteriorating relationships may soon lead to wars. But you don’t have to wait until things have reached the Hostile relationship status. Instead, you can declare a Formal War at any time without suffering immediate penalities to Happiness.
You’ll need a steady helping of Influence in order to make any of this work, and Machiavelli gains +3 per Age. And, once the war horns are blaring, you can Levy units from city-states that aren’t yours. That’s less time spent producing Military Units heading into the conflict.
The Antiquity Age
You can play Civilization 7 without focusing on Legacy Paths per Age, or – as they’re aptly called in the Modern Age – Victory Paths. The game even goes out of its way to reassure you on that front. But it’s usually better to adhere to these Legacy Paths to some degree, so we’re penning all of this under the pretense that you want Machiavelli to shine accordingly.
If you’re new to Civ 7, you may be asking why that’s the case. The more you accomplish within the parameters of the Antiquity and Exploration Ages’ Legacy Paths, the more points you’ll have for each category to boost your might heading into subsequent Ages. Furthermore, completing a Legacy Path awards you with its “Golden Age” version as an option during Age Transition, and those are always great.
The Best Antiquity Civilizations For Machiavelli
Our favorite Antiquity Age civ for Machiavelli is Greece. That sweet, sweet +3 Influence per turn on the Palace equips you with an immediate edge at the negotiating table over all your neighbors, enabling you to begin taking advantage of them for monetary gain right near the start of the Antiquity Age.
You’re also looking at +2 Influence from the Greek Parthenon building, so long as it’s placed on Rough Terrain.
And, while Culture isn’t necessarily Machiavelli’s strong suit, you’re still going to want to blitz through the Civic Tree, and the Parthenon – as well as the other unique building, the Odeon, both gain substantial Culture from proximity to Wonders.
Wonders, which you can more easily devote the significant production time necessary for building when you have so much Gold to spend on more “staple” developments, like the military you’ll want for wars.
That said, Rome is another strong choice. Rome’s unique benefit from stopping most of your Towns from becoming Cities is going to help with your income, which syncs well with Machiavelli’s natural ease therein.
You will still want a few Cities, however – more than you’d likely seek out if you played as Rome’s own native son, Augustus Caesar. One of Rome’s Unique Buildings, the Basilica, adds +4 Gold as well as +1 Influence for every adjacency to Cultural Buildings and Wonders.
Rome’s Legatus Unique Commander and Legion Unique Infantry are great for your Antiquity warmongering ways. Its other Unique Building, Temple of Jupiter, helps with Happiness and Culture, while its Unique Quarter, the Forum, adds +1 Gold (and +1 Culture) for every Tradition.
First Befriend
Unless your map generates some fairly odd parameters, you’re likely to meet between half and two-thirds of the rival civs within the Antiquity Age. As soon as you do, spend that Influence like there’s no tomorrow.
Once your Greek or Roman benefits are online in conjunction with Machiavelli’s own, you’ll have excess Influence in spades, so don’t hesitate to befriend a city-state or two. Just remember: you’ll be able to Levy other city-states’ units, regardless.
We’ll be starting things off smoothly with our neighbors. Propose Diplomatic Proposals as quickly as possible. Never wait for leaders to be the ones to initiate them, because you’ll be missing out on Machiavelli’s Gold accumulation whenever they do.
Timing this may seem tricky, but you’ll get into the swing of things. Just keep tabs on how many turns are left for each Diplomatic Agreement by periodically checking the other leaders’ Diplomacy screens.
You’ll be raking in the cash in no time. Start by spending it on units, including Military and Civilians. Train a Settler while paying for Infantry Units, either Hoplites with Greece or Legions with Rome once you have them. Or, you know, whatever works, if you selected a different civ.
Once you have a nice army up and running, work on Commander Promotions by clearing out hostile Independent Powers. At this point, pay for Merchants once they’re unlocked to help with the Gold (and the flat-out Resource benefits). By now, there’s no reason not to purchase Buildings alongside the traditional construction method, and you’ll want a few Wonders, too.
Then Befoul
You’ve made lovely arrangements with those who occupy the realms all around you. Maybe a militaristic leader didn’t especially care, and they already hate you. Go ahead and let at least one of the other civs hate you, too, so that you can start making twice as much money per rejected Diplomatic Endeavor proposal.
As you have the army to back up your antics, declare a Formal War on one of them to get the jump. Or, if there’s an especially weak civ with whom you’re on friendly terms, declare a Formal War against them instead, because again, you won’t be suffering a penalty.
Ransack your target. Most of your peers won’t be happy about it, so make sure you have defensive fortifications in place, then Reconcile to smooth things over with anyone who isn’t out for blood already.
Keep this up throughout the Antiquity Age to reach outrageous levels with your income, which you can use to supplement everything else and not fall behind in any sector.
More To Come
Look for guides for Machiavelli’s Exploration Age and Modern Age strategy over the next couple of days!
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