Pro Tips For Civilization 7

Summary

Unlock more civilizations by meeting gameplay metrics like improving specific resources or building certain buildings.
Leverage mixed leaders and civilizations for strategic pairings and unique advantages throughout the game.
Plan for legacy paths, prioritize optimal building placements, and hunt for artifacts early on for better chances at victory.

Civilization 7 is a complicated game. While the base mechanics are pretty straightforward, mastering the game takes a lot of practice. If you’ve already mastered the base systems of the game, there are several more advanced mechanics you may want to start looking at.

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Some of these mechanics may be similar to what you’ve come across in other Civilization games. However, many of the more advanced systems in Civilization 7 are completely new, like age transition and mixing leaders and civilizations. Don’t feel like you need to master all of these right away!

8

Unlock More Civilizations

Civilization 7 new age screen allows players to pick a new civilization.

At the end of each age, only certain civilizations will be available. By default, these are based on your leader and current civilization. For instance, Benjamin Franklin will always unlock America. However, these are not the only civilizations you can unlock during your game.

You can also unlock civilizations by achieving certain gameplay metrics. Typically, these are building a certain number of buildings or improving a certain type of resource. For instance, if you improve enough horse resources in the antiquity age, you’ll unlock Mongol during the exploration age. You can use these unlocks to your advantage to put yourself in a good position for the next age. A Mongol unlock might be very useful if you find yourself touching borders with an aggressive civilization, for example.

Keep an eye on the Age Progress meter to anticipate transitions between eras. This will help you plan a bit better for each transition.

7

Leverage Mixed Leaders And Civilizations

You can mix leaders and civilizations in Civilization 7 instead of them being attached to each other like they were in previous iterations of the franchise. You can be Benjamin Franklin and play Rome, for instance. Your civilization will change each age, but your leader will not. To some extent, this does make your leader more important than your civilization.

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This feature allows you to either pair leaders with their historical or geographic civilizations or you can take a completely different route and choose strategic civilization pairings. There is no reason you have to go with the game’s base suggestions after you’ve got an understanding of the game. In many cases, they aren’t even the best pairing!

6

Commendation Points

Several hostile city state units standing near a city in Civilization 7.

The game doesn’t explain commendation points on commanders well, but they can be very powerful. For instance, the Merit commendation gives commanders a +1 commanding radius, which is huge if you have a larger army. You can also choose Order, which gives all land units +5 combat strength – a huge jump considering that most bonuses give +3.

So how do you get them? You have to complete any of the five skill trees. It doesn’t matter which one you complete; you can select any commendation perk that you’d like. Consider continuing down one tree at a time to unlock these perks faster.

You don’t have to get every perk in a tree. You just have to reach the bottom.

5

Use Sanctions Often

Hapshethut standing in the diplomacy screen in Civilization 7.

The diplomatic system in Civilization 7 runs on influence points, which you earn each turn. You use these points to propose or support different diplomatic actions. It may be tempting to use these points for endeavors, which provide you with increased relations and other bonuses. However, sanctions are where the power really lies.

Keep an eye on each civilization’s progress towards victory. If someone is getting ahead, consider sanctioning them in the category of their victory. For instance, a science sanction can slow down a civilization that is plowing ahead on a science victory.

4

Plan To Pursue Several Legacy Paths

Railroad Tycoon screen showing no points in Civilization 7.

Most victory conditions in civilization require you to complete a legacy path. Legacy paths are not 100% straightforward. For instance, completing the cultural path doesn’t mean producing as much culture as possible. In the exploration age, it means spreading your religion; in the antiquity age, it means building wonders.

In the two beginning ages, pursuing several paths is recommended to unlock the most number of benefits. For each milestone you complete, you get unlock points for the next age. It often makes the most sense to diversify heavily rather than run down one path in the first two ages, as the later milestones are harder than those at the beginning.

If you can unlock the first two milestones in two or three paths, you’ll often benefit more than unlocking a golden age on just one path.

3

Prioritize Optimal Building Placements

A Mexican city full of wonders standing in the late game in Civilization 7. — via 2K

Most buildings in Civilization 7 produce outputs based on the buildings they’re placed with or next to. Each urban district can hold two buildings, which allows extra flexibility in planning. Luckily, the game automatically calculates output while you’re selecting which tile you’re putting each building in. Therefore, you won’t actually need to do any math yourself.

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However, it does help to do a little planning so you don’t take up tiles that you’ll need later. For instance, if you want to place a bath, make sure you leave a river slot open. Many wonders require specific tiles, so look ahead to plan for the wonders you want to build. You can see all building unlocks on the tech and civic tree, along with their tile requirements.

2

Artifact Hunt Early

Artifacts screen showing available on a continent during the Modern Age in Civilization 7

If you want to accomplish a cultural victory in the modern age, you’ll need to collect artifacts. This is one time when we really recommend rushing. There are only so many artifacts in the game, and other civilizations will be looking for them. Unlock the ability to dig for artifacts by researching the appropriate civics quickly and get to it!

The odds of collecting all the artifacts you need is unlikely. In many cases, you’ll need to go to war and steal the others you need from other civilizations. Plan accordingly by building up your military, too. Completing a few military milestones in the first two ages can be a big help.

Don’t neglect resource management or underestimate hostile independents. These are common mistakes that can cost you a lot later.

1

Check Your Unit Panels For Abilities

A scout reaches new lands in Civilization 7.

In Civilization 7, the tutorial does not explain unit abilities at all, and it’s very easy to overlook them. You should always look at your unit panel near the bottom of the screen to check a unit’s abilities. Scouts, for instance, possess the “Search” function, allowing them to reveal all discoveries within double their normal range, making exploration much more efficient.

Plus, military units led by Army Commanders from the Exploration Age onward have a “Reinforce” ability. Activating this allows a selected unit to instantly join the commander’s army, bypassing the need to traverse the map, thus enabling rapid reinforcement without having to click each turn.