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In Civilization 7, Mementos are a new feature that allows players to gain slottable bonuses by progressing the Leader Path for specific leaders, and by progressing their account Foundation Path level. Though some of the best Civ 7 mementos can only be unlocked after progressing these paths significantly, many of the most useful mementos can be unlocked relatively quickly.
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Some of these best mementos to unlock early will give you such a significant boost that it’s hard to imagine playing without them. Others, like Imago Mundi, are extremely powerful in certain Ages, but should be replaced with mementos that suit later Ages at the Age Transition.
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Golden Seal Stone
- Golden Seal Stone Effect: +1 Influence per Age on Science Buildings
- Golden Seal Stone Unlock Requirement: Himiko, Queen of Wa, Level 2
What makes the Golden Seal Stone one of the best Mementos Civ 7 players should unlock early is that it allows Science players to rapidly gain Influence in all ages. Each City can house two Science Buildings per age, which increases from 1 Influence per to 3 Influence per Science Building by the Modern Age.
If you have three Cities with both of the Age’s Science Buildings, you’ll generate at least 18 Influence just with this one Policy Card slotted.
Because Influence boosts your ability to befriend City-States, reject Denouncements, gain War Support, and because it’s so difficult to accrue compared to other Yields, Golden Seal Stone is a great one to slot.
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Merchant’s Saddle
Scouts, Merchants, And Settlers Can See Further
- Merchant’s Saddle Effect: +1 Movement and Sight for Scouts, Merchants, and Settlers
- Merchant’s Saddle Unlock Requirement: Ibn Battuta, Level 5
The Merchant’s Saddle memento is one of the best Civ 7 mementos because of how strong Sight and Movement are for Scouts and Settlers. With this memento slotted, players will be able to see further away with both of these units and have an easier time telling if an area is dangerous before moving into it.
This memento copies Ibn Battuta’s Leader Ability, but it will take at least two games playing as him to get him to Level 5. This is one of the best mementos for every Civ 7 Civ, though, so it’s worth playing as Ibn Battuta a couple times to have a solid option for every playthrough.
Boost Growth With City Specialists
- Brush & Scroll Effect: +5% Growth in Cities for every Specialist in that City (max 25%)
- Brush & Scroll Unlock Requirement: Confucius, Level 2
Brush & Scroll is a very powerful Memento for all Civs because it increases Growth Rate in Cities for every Specialist, mimicking Confucius’ Leader Ability. With five specialists placed in a City, you will increase that City’s Growth Rate by 25%.
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Growth is one of the most important things for all Civs in all Ages to prioritize, and with this, you will be able to expand and gain new Population much faster.
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Eagle Banner
Science Efficiency Increases With More Great Works
- Eagle Banner Effect: Cities gain +5% Science Efficiency per Great Work in that City (max 25%)
- Eagle Banner Unlock Requirement: Catherine the Great, Level 2
Eagle Banner is a memento that you can earn relatively quickly by playing as Catherine the Great, and it’s one that both Cultural and Scientific playthroughs can benefit hugely from. With Great Works (which includes Codex, Artifacts, Relics, etc), your Science Efficiency will increase, effectively boosting your research towards all Techs by 5% for every Great Work.
This is one of the best relics for the Antiquity Science strategies, as reaching half of the required Codices for the age will grant you the maximum Science Boost. In the Exploration Age and beyond, Cultural players can use this to boost Science passively, so you can dedicate more resources to following the Cultural Legacy Path.
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Corpus Juris Civilis
- Corpus Juris Civilis Effect: Start with one extra Social Policy Slot
- Corpus Juris Civilis Unlock Requirement: Foundation/Account Level 8
Corpus Juris Civilis is one of the best mementos in Civ 7 because it’s useful across all Ages for all types of Victory Conditions. With an extra Policy Slot, you can start with Science and Production on your capital and 2 Culture. In later ages, and after unlocking more Social Policy Slots, you’ll still have a leg up on opponents without this memento.
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The downside is that, to get Corpus Juris Civilis early, you must rush the Foundation Path to Level 8. This requires playing multiple games of Civ 7 and accomplishing dozens of Leader Progression Path achievements. But it’s one that you’ll find hard to replace once unlocked.
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Padrón Real
Makes Natural Wonder Tiles Even Better
- Padrón Real Effect: +100% yields on Natural Wonder tiles, but only if you are working the most Natural Wonders tiles. +2 Combat Strength for Naval Units if you do not control the most Natural Wonder tiles.
- Padrón Real Unlock Requirement: Isabella, Level 9
Isabella is arguably one of the most broken Leaders in Civ 7 if you can maximize on discovering Natural Wonders early – and create Settlements to acquire their unique yields, which are boosted by her Leader Ability. With the Padrón Real memento, you can mimic this ability on any Leader, significantly boosting Natural Wonder yields.
Natural Wonders can provide enormous yield bonuses without bonuses, so getting double the yield on these already-strong tiles is an enormous boost. If you play as Isabella, and have this memento slotted, you’ll triple the yields on Natural Wonders, which makes for some of the most broken Cities in the game.
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The Travels of Marco Polo
Easy Gold, Especially When You Stack Sight
- The Travels of Marco Polo Effect: +50 Gold for every 100 tiles explored by your Units
- The Travels of Marco Polo Unlock Requirement: Foundation/Account Level 9
One of the best mementos for early exploration, but one that you’ll likely replace by the time you reach the Modern Age, is The Travels Of Marco Polo. This memento grants 50 Gold for every 100 Tiles you reveal on the map. On its own, this isn’t that strong, but it stacks with other Sight-improving effects.
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If you pair this with Imago Mundi, for example, just about every other time you use a Recon Unit’s Search ability will grant 50 Gold. At the start of the game, this is an enormous amount, but after revealing the majority of the map it should be replaced at the Age Transition screen.
On Standard and larger maps, The Travels of Marco Polo proves to be extremely lucrative as there’s more map to reveal. On Small map types, the significantly reduced world size reduces the gold-making efficiency of this memento.
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Imago Mundi
An Enormous Sight Bonus Makes For The Best Memento In Civ 7
- Imago Mundi Effect: +3 Sight instead of +1 for Scout’s Search & Lookout Abilities
- Imago Mundi Unlock Requirement: Foundation/Account Level 7
One of the most broken mementos Civ 7 players can use is Imago Mundi. This memento requires players to raise their account level to Level 7, but once unlocked, you’ll quickly see why so many players consider this to be the best memento in Civ 7.
When a Scout uses the Search ability, it fully reveals everything within its normal sight range +1, and all Discoveries within the fog of war in double that distance. So, if you have this memento, every time you Search you will reveal a whopping four tiles in all directions, and all Discoveries within eight tiles.
But that’s not as far as you can push it – play as Ibn Battuta, or use his memento to increase Sight even more, to be able to see up to five tiles with Search, and Discoveries up to 10 tiles away.
You can push this even further and reveal the entire map before leaving Antiquity with other mementos and abilities, which stack. But it’s best paired with The Travels Of Marco Polo, which will grant 50 Gold just about every time you use the Search ability.
Grand Strategy
Turn-Based Strategy
4X
- Franchise
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Sid Meier’s Civilization
- Released
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February 11, 2025