What Should You Build First In Civilization VII?

Whenever you start a new game in Civilization 7, your starting city will have a very low amount of production. Everything takes a fairly long time to build. This means that you have to be extra careful with what you select for your city to produce. Produce the wrong thing, and you could find yourself dozens of turns behind the competition.

Redwood Forest and a camp in Civilization 7

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You probably won’t build the exact same things at the beginning of every game. Where you’re located and what technologies you research will impact your build order. However, there are some things that are more important to build than others.

1

Scout

A scout reaches new lands in Civilization 7.

You should always build a scout first in Civilization 7. Scouts uncover the map, allowing you to prospect for your next city location, meet independent civilizations, and scout for your competitors. Without a scout, you’ll find yourself bottlenecked later when it comes to expansion and warfare.

Your scouts will come in use later, too, so take good care of them. For instance, scouts can be used to provide additional support during military campaigns with their lookout function, which allows you to see enemy troops from further away.

When exploring, prioritize uncovering Discoveries, which are unique locations that grant powerful rewards when you visit them.

2

Warrior

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

Having an army is not optional in this game. Almost right away, you’ll notice hostile independent civilizations, and these can be quite powerful if you don’t handle them early. You’ll want a warrior to protect your city right away. Otherwise, enemies will just be able to waltz in and take your only city, ending the game.

You probably won’t be able to build a slinger at this stage, though this is the preferable unit for city defense. For this reason, we recommend building a warrior and switching him out for a slinger later on. You’ll probably use this warrior throughout this age.

3

Granary

The camera looking at a settlement in Civilization 7.

For most cities, a granary will be helpful. Constructing a granary boosts your city’s food production by adding +1 food to farms, pastures, and plantations. This enhancement accelerates population growth, enabling your city to expand more rapidly and work on additional tiles.

The pyramids situated beside a modern city in Civilization 7

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This works best in cities where you’re relying on farms and similar improvements. If you’ve decided to make use of fishing boats instead, a granary might not be all that useful at all, and you can skip it.

4

Settler

A settler in Civ 7 selects a tile to move to.

At this point, it’s a good idea to start thinking about your second city. Yes, it is still quite early, but other civilizations will start swooping into the good spots soon, and you want to beat them to it! Prioritize settling near resources or tiles with high yields. Where exactly you should settle will also depend on your end goals. For instance, if you want a military victory, you may want to settle at a strategic location.

Use the settler lens to see the best spots for your new city, but remember that it doesn’t know everything. Fresh water is important, but there are times when other things may be more important.

5

Terrain-Specific Buildings

an aksumite city in civilization 7. — via 2K

Now is a good time to start producing terrain-specific buildings that will enhance your local resources. First, take a look at what improvements you’ve made thus far with your population growth and what tiles you expect to improve in the future. Then, build a building that increases the yield for these tiles:

Fishing quay: For cities that are near rivers, coasts, or lakes, building a fishing quay improves your food production.
Brickyard: A brickyard boosts production in rough terrain when you expect to place a lot of mines and similar buildings.
Saw Pit: For those with lots of vegetation, a saw pit can increase production within wooded tiles.

All of these improvements increase the output for rural tiles that you’ve already improved. They also last through all the ages as warehouse buildings, so building them now will lead to game-long boosts.

6

Altar

Firaxis official screenshot of a forested civilization in Civilization 7.

Next, you should build an altar to make use of your chosen pantheon. Preferably, the pantheon you chose should impact your overall strategy. It also provides extra happiness, on top of whatever bonus you chose when founding a pantheon.

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You should also build altars in any other cities you have as soon as you’ve covered the other basics. Altars can be added in every city, though they cannot be purchased in towns. Keep this in mind when expanding.

7

Slinger

The leaders of egypt and rome facing each other in Civilization 7.

A slinger is the very first ranged unit you’ll get access to in the Antiquity Age. You’ll need to unlock this unit first through the Animal Husbandry technology, which you should have accomplished by now. Equipped with makeshift slingshots, Slingers can attack from one or two tiles away, offering a tactical advantage in early conflicts.

However, they are not nearly as good as future ranged units. Luckily, you can upgrade them to an archer later, which makes them much more useful.

Upgrade your slinger into an archer as soon as possible. This tier-two ranged unit is much better than a slinger.

8

Ancient Walls

Camera showing a mountain near a settelment in Civilization 7.

Constructing Ancient Walls is crucial for enhancing your city’s defense capabilities. This building adds 100 hit points to the district and provides a +15 combat strength bonus to units defending within the city. When you put a slinger inside your walls, you’ll be left with a very powerful defensive system.

Walls protect your civilization from independent civilizations, too, which will remain a problem during the antiquity age. Some crises increase hostile units from these civilizations, and having walls already protecting your city can be a huge advantage.

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