Just as human history has been filled with the so-called Golden Ages, it has had its fair share of Dark Ages as well. While the pop culture understanding of Dark Ages is still stuck in the scientific past – which is to say, they’ve tended to be more isolated occurrences within the confines of specific societies than wide-ranging doomsday scenarios – Civilization 7 rocks them in this more accurate style.
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You’ll earn Dark Age possibilities via specific gameplay routes, and while these can provide tangible benefits, they come with a degree of setback as well. Read on to learn more!
What Are Dark Ages In Civilization 7?
In Civ 7, Dark Ages are not all-encompassing for a particular era. This is a departure from Civilization 6. It really would not work so well, since Civilization 7 truncates eras into thirds, albeit by increasing their relevance, length, and impact dramatically.
Golden Ages and Dark Ages are instead linked to Legacy Cards, which are the selectable cards you’ll earn based upon how many Legacy Points you racked up during the prior age when heading into the next.
Thus, there are Antiquity and Exploration Legacy Cards – none exist for the Modern Age, since at least as of this writing, the Modern Age is when the game concludes.
Golden Age Legacy Cards are obtained for completing all milestones on a given Legacy Path. This means Cultural, Economic, Military, and Scientific. Although you can complete multiple Legacy Paths, you can only select one of these powerful cards when choosing your lineup.
Dark Age Legacy Cards work as opposites. In order to obtain them, you must fail to complete any milestones on a given Legacy Path. Therefore, you either need to specifically work to evade one, or else you’ll encounter them if your playstyle is entirely separate from one or more paths.
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How Useful Are Dark Ages In Civilization 7?
Dark Age Legacy Cards can be situationally useful. Remember that you’re always going to be facing a downside with these. Does the benefit outweigh the dilemma? Truly, it depends on what you’re aiming for in your current file.
Below, we’ve listed every Dark Age Legacy Card, as well as our subjective analysis as to whether they’re worth selecting.
|
Transition Age |
Legacy Path |
Effects |
Worth It? |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Antiquity |
Cultural |
|
No. The Happiness impact is simply too much to deal with when you may end up facing an Exploration Age Crisis that hinges upon maintaining that stat as best as possible. |
|
Antiquity |
Economic |
|
Yes. This can be surprisingly robust if you intend to settle Distant Lands in search of Treasure Fleet resources and/or conquest. Mind you, this comes with the caveat that you need to fulfill an intention to do heaps of warfare, or else you’d be better off devoting that time to training Settlers instead. |
|
Antiquity |
Military |
|
No. No, no, no. If you’re going for a military-minded Exploration Age, you’re far better off progressing from a strong-arming Antiquity Age and selecting a civ like Mongolia. Getting rid of all your settlements just to have a dozen or so units of two specific types doesn’t strike us as a Legacy Card so much as a challenge run. |
|
Antiquity |
Science |
|
Maybe. The tech boosts, while decently substantial, come at quite a high cost. Still, if your civ is especially scientifically middling – Himiko, High Shaman being a sterling example – the boosts may be worth the hit just to ensure you don’t fall entirely behind when your Science output is going to be rough regardless. |
|
Exploration |
Cultural |
|
Yes. As always, this is situational, but if your goal is to amass as many Artifacts as possible as swiftly as you can, in order to rush to a Cultural Victory, the Influence knockdown isn’t a big issue. |
|
Exploration |
Economic |
|
Maybe, as the quarter hit to Culture shouldn’t matter all that much if you want an Economic Victory. You only need to progress so far down the Civics Tree, after all. Still, jumping from failing every Exploration Age Economic Legacy Path milestone to aiming for them all does seem counterintuitive. |
|
Exploration |
Military |
|
Yes. Honestly, the increased Production for military units shouldn’t be much of an issue if your Gold output in the Modern Age is high enough to simply purchase most of them, and it’s easier to have a sky-high Gold-per-turn in the Modern Age than in prior eras. If you’re simply playing defensively, it will be nice to shore up those defenses with more powerful Commanders. If you’re playing offensively, you’ll gain a nice edge over the competition heading into the home stretch. |
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