Leader Guide For Benjamin Franklin In Civilization 7

Benjamin Franklin is a great leader for science, production, and Influence-based gameplay in Civilization 7. His bonuses focus on production buildings (which will also grant you extra science) and extra science per Age for every Endeavor you start.

You should prioritize earning Influence above all else during the Antiquity Age, as it will provide an excellent science boost when you head into the Exploration Age. You can do this via various wonders and attribute points that we’ll cover below. This guide will also cover the best civilization combos for Franklin, the best Mementos, and more.

Benjamin Franklin Overview

Benjamin Franklin is all about Influence and diplomatic Endeavors. These new mechanics in Civilization 7 are extremely powerful. Early on, research collaborations and local festivals can improve your food, science, culture, and more, sometimes doubling your starting yields.

Franklin is all about diplomacy. Managing your relationship with other civilizations is key, as you want to be able to keep as many of them as possible on friendly terms – this will allow you to constantly send Endeavors whenever they become available.

Benjamin Franklin Early Strategy

Franklin is a versatile leader when it comes to victory conditions, particularly during the Antiquity Age. Your high science yields and production will easily let you complete the culture and science victory paths, while you will also be able to establish trade networks with friendly civilizations for economic victory.

Don’t underestimate Franklin’s military capacity, either. Although he typically wants to follow a friendly, diplomatic path, he can also turn that high production into a machine of war. Your Influence gain can be used to sanction and hinder your opponents via espionage actions.

Early Pantheon

Early on, try to grab the Mysticism civic early, because if you can manage to get the City Patron Goddess Pantheon you’ll get an excellent +3 Influence boost early on.

Early Production

The Monument is a great early pick up for Franklin as it again provides more Influence. However, you can also start to get some early science by building production buildings like the Saw Pit and Brick Yard. This makes Animal Husbandry a particularly good first pick, although, of course, this depends on what resources are located close to your capital. You can read more about resources in our complete guide.

Diplomacy

Demonstration of Franklin’s super early science advantage.

Build at least two Scouts and start exploring immediately, hunting for Discoveries and neighboring civilizations. You want to start interacting with other civs as soon as possible, using Franklin’s Research Collaboration Endeavor (unlocked because he is classed as a scientific civilization) to begin pumping your science yields. While this does provide a bonus to your opponents, you can stack multiple Research Collaborations on top of each other to outstrip your opponent’s science output.

Best Resources And Other Great Starts For Franklin

Incense is an excellent resource for Franklin as it increases science in the slotted city by 10 percent, but other early resources like Cotton and Sheep can provide a nice boost to food and production. Without a doubt, the best start for Franklin is near the Great Barrier Reef, one of the best science Natural Wonders in the game.

Best Mementos For Benjamin Franklin

Franklin’s Unique Mementos

As you can imagine, Franklin’s unique Mementos he unlocks via his progression path are both extremely useful:

• Bifocals – Gain 50 Influence after researching a Tech or Civic Mastery.

These allow you to quickly gather Influence that snowballs with your progressively stronger science output throughout the game. By the time you reach the Modern Age, with the correct use of adajencies, you should be earning 100s of Science a turn and quickly able to burn through the tech tree, earning Mastery techs and unlocking even more Influence.

• Kite & Key – +10% Science towards researching Tech Masteries.

This is just a straight-up fun Memento because it reduces the science required across the board for tech research. It gives you an immediate head-start against the AI.

• Glass Armonica – 10% Science and Happiness when in an alliance for you and your ally.

If you’re opting for the peaceful route with Franklin, the Glass Armonica provides a staggering 10% science per Alliance. If you’re playing on a standard-sized map, you could potentially ally at least one or two players, providing you with a potential extra 20 percent science production on top of your already huge science bonuses.

Complementary Mementos For Franklin

As well as his unique Mementos, there are plenty of other options.

• Treaty Of Kadesh – +1 Bonus Diplomatic Attribute point.

This is a very straightforward Memento and one that is available right from the start of the game, ideal for first-time players of Franklin. It just provides you an extra point in the Diplomacy Attribute tree. You can see what the attribute trees offer here.

• Golden Seal Stone – This is unlocked by getting Himiko, Queen of Wa to level 2. The Stone grants an extra +1 Influence per Age on science buildings.

Seeing as you’re really pushing for science with Benjamin Franklin, it’s great to see a Memento that specifically favors his diplomatic/scientific style.

• Globus Cruciger – +50 Influence when you spend an Attribute Point on the Diplomatic Attribute tree. Unlocked by getting Charlemagne to level 5.

This neat little Memento is great when paired with the default +1 Diplomatic Attribute point memento as it will allow you to immediately start with an extra 50 Influence at the beginning of the game. While that might seem like a small amount, it could be the key difference between getting that early city-state suzerainty or a good relationship with your neighbor.

Best Civilization Combos For Benjamin Franklin

As you begin the game with Benjamin Franklin in the Antiquity Age, you’ll get to pick your first civilization to pair with the leader.

Greece

Everything about Greece is built for Benjamin. Greece provides a flat +3 Influence on the Palace right from the start of the game, and considering Influence is one of the most difficult of the currencies to come by in the early game, this boost is substantial.

The Parthenon, one part of the Greek’s unique quarter, will also add +2 Influence if placed on Rough terrain. Once you’ve constructed the unique quarter, the Acropolis, you can also spawn a Logios which adds more Influence to the palace tile. All of these bonuses start to stack up in a way that really favors Franklin’s diplomatic playstyle.

Greece also has some very useful policies in their civic tree, including Xenia which makes befriending city-states much cheaper, Ekklesia mastery which provides +2 Culture for each Endeavor you start, and Symmachia mastery which provides an extra 30 percent reduction in cost for Endeavors and Sanctions.

Rome

If you prefer to lean into a more militaristic approach, Rome is a solid choice. The Roman bonus of extra production in the capital for every town leans nicely into Franklin’s overall production focus to generate science. Pairing that production with the scientific boost you’ll get to military tech – allowing you to unlock Bronze Working early – will mean you have a significant advantage over your neighbors.

Use the Roman Legions to swarm your opponents.

But Rome isn’t just about the military. The Basilica unique building provides +1 Influence adjacency for Culture Buildings and Wonders. This massively improves your Monument, for example, as well as improving early adjacency boosts for those great early wonders, like the Great Stele. With plenty of production in the capital, you should be able to grab at least a couple of wonders, even on harder difficulties.

Rome doesn’t have the best Influence civics, as opposed to a civilization like Greece, but they still have some of the best policies in the game. This includes the Cursus Honorum which provides 25 percent of the production cost of Infantry units as culture whenever you produce an Infantry unit. This is super powerful early on, as it allows you to produce military without completely ignoring culture.

Benjamin Franklin In The Exploration Age And Modern Age

As you move into the Exploration and Modern Age with Benjamin Franklin, the choice of your new civilization is a big decision. It’s also completely situational. Saying that there is a correct or incorrect choice when it comes to civilization choice isn’t really accurate.

Instead, you should make the decision based on the type of gaming your playing – for example, as a military Franklin you might want to lean into the Normans.

Normans, Exploration Age

This is the civilization the game recommends you pick for Franklin because apparently they share a cultural link (we’re not sure what that is exactly, but whatever), but you should only pick the Normans if you’ve embarked down the military path with Rome in the previous Age.

The Normans can play an aggressive or defensive military game during the Exploration Age. If you’ve spent the previous Age developing a strong military presence on your continent and a robust science economy, you can use the powerful Chevaler unique unit to defend your borders, turtle up, and explode with science, or use them to start conquering the rest of the world.

Modern Age

There are multiple options for civilizations in the Modern Age – the choice is too diverse to actually say which is the best. It totally depends on how your game has developed up until this point. America seems like the default choice, and Franklin could certainly benefit from the massive production boost from the Railyard and Steel Mill.

Alternatively, a civilization like France or even Meiji Japan for military victories makes sense, too.