New to the series in Civilization 7 is the concept of Legacy Paths. These fit in tidily with the game’s all-the-more-revolutionary three-ages mechanic, which splits things in substantial ways between the Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern Ages. You’ll earn Legacy Path points in the two prior ones, and they’ll come in handy right down to the end of the game.
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But in the Exploration Age, the Economic Victory Path can be rather confusing. On paper, it’s simple enough: earn Treasure Fleet points by carrying shipments of resources to your homelands. In practice, the whole system can quickly turn into an ordeal, so here’s some insight on how to make ’em spawn.
Treasure Fleets: An Overview
During the Exploration Age, you’ll be able to cross ocean tiles and seek out Distant Lands. Those far-off places will be populated by rival civs, which means there will often be a dearth of new land to settle, but the main thing you’re looking for from an Economic Legacy Path standpoint is Treasure Fleet resources.
There are four in full, and they include chocolate, tea, spices, and sugar. They’re all quite normal as far as those other civs seem concerned, as they’ll have been hanging around throughout the Antiquity Age. But for your citizens – and the citizens of other empires in your Homelands – they are a commodity to be sought out and exploited.
You can sometimes find a Treasure Fleet resource or two on the outermost islands of your Homelands landmass during the Antiquity Age. It’s never a guarantee, but if you do, then be sure to settle near them prior to the Exploration Age. The resources won’t do anything now, but they will when the time is right.
It’ll be a mad rush to get to these resources. Unless you’re alone on your continent (hello, warmongers), you’ll have plenty of competition. And, the thing is, sometimes these resources will spawn inland. But they’re no good; they need to have spawned within range of a settlement which is, in turn, within range of coastal tiles. Otherwise, there’ll be no way to get them home.
The gist, then, is to settle near a Treasure Fleet resource that’s close to the coast, improve its tile, and wait for the Treasure Fleet to spawn. Alas, would that it were so simple…
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How To Spawn Treasure Fleets In Civ 7
First order of business: the Distant Lands coastal settlement within range of the Treasure Fleet resource must have a Fishing Quay. When last we checked, this was not made clear in the tutorials! Spend gold on that Fishing Quay ASAP to get things online.
And – again – you have to improve the resource’s tile before Treasure Fleets begin to spawn.
With all that out of the way, you’ll also need Shipbuilding, a mid-age tech. But don’t wait for that to happen, because there might not be any resource-rich land left by the time you do. Get out there immediately.
Of course, if all else fails, you can always pick the nuclear option – not literally, since that comes later in the game – and conquer settlements that have what you want. It’ll take more work, but hey, maybe you’re chasing that Military Legacy Path, too!
Alright, so – here’s the part that we reckon a few of you are solely here for. How do you know when a Treasure Fleet will spawn, and relatedly, that you’ve got it lined up to make it happen?
- Open your settlement’s menu.
- Click on the tab near the top-left (at least on PC; might be different on consoles) with the paper icon on it. This shows you the settlement’s details.
- You should see something toward the bottom of the pulled-up information telling you when the next Treasure Fleet will spawn. If it tells you that there’s a condition stopping it from happening, double-check that you have the Fishing Quay, the tile improvement, and Shipbuilding.
Figuring out what counts as a Homelands settlement can be kind of finicky. Island settlements that are cited as belonging to your own continent don’t always count, since they may be a bit too far from the mainland. Or… maybe there’s some other variable under the hood. We really haven’t figured that one out 100 percent.
If that happens, keep the Treasure Fleet moving toward a mainland settlement of yours, which will surely pan out. In addition to Treasure Fleet Points, you’ll also earn a tidy sum of gold, making the whole process worth looking into even if you aren’t after the Exploration Age Economic Legacy.
Well, maybe don’t put everything you’ve got into acquiring the necessary resources if it’s too much of a hassle, though. Might be a bit taxing.
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Civilization 7: Distant Lands Guide
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