This is a short overview of the purchasable versions of Civilization V and its downloadable content (DLC). Up to date as of December 14th, 2013. Civillization V was initially released in three different versions. A normal version, a digital deluxe edition, and one special edition (not as download, only in shops).
This list of all 43 Civilizations and Leaders available in Civ 5, Gods and Kings, Brave New World and Steam DLC/Scenario Packs shows the bonuses you get when playing each Civ - from their Leader's Unique Ability (UA), to the Unique Units' Stats (UU), Unique Buildings (UB), and Terrain Improvements available to them. What is special about this list is that it shows the difference between each UU/UB and the original Building or Unit it replaces. This should help you come up with ideas for how you might like to play a certain Civilization. Himalaya rahasyalu book review. The ultimate goal of this list is to help you choose which Civilization to play by giving you a rundown of the bonuses you'll get when playing as that Leader. It is intended to be better than the in-game menu for choosing a Civ. Many players return to this list to pick who they'll play in their next game. You can press Control + D to bookmark the list.
DLC and Civilization Selection: Brave New World and Civ 5 Complete Edition
Not all Civs in this list will appear in your selection menu if you have Vanilla or only one or two of the Expansion Packs. There are several DLC available on Steam for Civilization 5 that add Scenarios and new Civilizations to the game. In the list below, these are labeledDLC (Steam). Civilizations that come from Gods and Kings are labeled G&K, and those from Brave New World, BNW. Players who own the Brave New World Expansion Pack get all features of Gods and Kings except for the Civilizations - so if you want to buy one of the DLC, this is the one to get. It also makes Civ 5 one of the best Turn-Based Strategy games ever made. Civilization 5 Complete Edition is also available, so players can get the Gods and Kings and Brave New World Expansions along with all of the Steam-only DLC/Scenario Packs in one package.
& Leader | vs Replaced Unit | Compared to Original | DLC? | ||
Morocco Ahmad al-Mansur | Gateway to Africa - +3 Gold and +1 Culture for each trade route with a different Civ/CS. Other Civs get +2 gold for each route sent to Morocco | Berber Cavalry (Cavalry) - +25% Combat Bonus in your territory, +50% Combat Strength fighting in Desert | Kasbah (Tile Improvement) - Food, Gold, Production +1 and +50% Defense for units stationed there. May only be built on Desert tiles, after Chivalry. | BNW | |
Greece Alexander | Hellenic League - City-State Influence degrades at half and recovers at twice the normal rate, also eliminates Trespassing penalties. | Companion Cavalry (Horseman) - Combat is more likely to produce Great Generals, +1 moves (5), +2 Strength (14). | Hoplite (Spearman) - +2 Combat Strength (13) | Vanilla | |
Assyria Ashurbanipal | Treasures of Nineveh - Gain a free Tech discovered by the owner of the city when Conquering it through War. (Trade doesn't count, and only once per city). | Siege Tower (Catapult) - Strength +5 (12), No set-up, Cover I Promotion (ranged defense), +1 sight, +200% bonus vs Cities itself and Units within 2 hexes get +50% attack bonus on Cities. | Royal Library (Library) - Great Work of Writing slot that, when filled, will give +10XP to newly trained units in addition to benefits provided by Barracks, etc. | BNW | |
Songhai Askia | River Warlord - Triple gold from pillaging Barb encampments and Cities. Land units gain War Canoe and Amphibious promotions - attack better from water with better sight and Combat Strength while embarked. | Mandekalu Cavalry (Knight) - 10 less Cost in Production, -33% Penalty to Attacking Cities Removed | Mud Pyramid Mosque (Temple) - Culture +2 in addition to usual +2 Faith. 0 Gold Maintenance. | Vanilla | |
The Huns Attila | Scourge of God - Double Raze speed. Uses City Names from other Civs. Starts with Animal Husbandry and earns +1 Production per Pasture | Horse Archer (Chariot Archer) - +1 Melee Strength (7), Rough Terrain Penalty Removed. Starts with Accuracy I upgrade - +15% against units in Open Terrain | Battering Ram (Spearman) - City Attack Only so no Bonus vs Mounted. -1 Strength over normal, yet gets a +300% Bonus vs Cities. -33% Defense against attackers, so keep it safe. | G&K | |
Rome Augustus Caesar | The Glory of Rome - +25% Production in other Cities toward any Building that exists in the Capital. | Ballista (Catapult) - +2 Ranged Strength (10), +1 Melee Defense (8). Simply a stronger Catapult that still has to set up. | Legion (Swordsman) - +3 Combat Strength (17). Capable of building Roads and Forts, the only Non-Worker that can do this. Use them to connect new Cities and help your workers in times of peace. | Vanilla | |
Germany Bismarck | Furor Teutonicus - Defeating a Barbarian in an Encampment gives you a 67% chance they join your side. Land unit maintenance costs 25% less. | Panzer (Tank) - Has +1 move and +10 combat strength compared to a regular Tank. It is merely a faster, more powerful version that Germany will be able to mass-produce easily thanks to their unique building. | Hanse (Bank) - All the regular benefits of a Bank, but with a great perk - +5% production per Trade Route with a unique City-State in every City with a Hanse. | Vanilla | |
The Celts Boudicca | Druidic Lore - +1 Faith per city with adjacent unimproved Forest tiles. Increases to +2 when 3 or more Forest are present. | Pictish Warrior (Spearman) - Removed bonus to Mounted, but gain +20% Combat Bonus when outside Friendly territory. Also, no Movement Cost to Pillage Tile Improvements and earns 50% of a slain enemy's strength as Faith. | Ceilidh Hall (Opera House) - Gives +3 Happiness, vs 0 on a regular Opera House | G&K | |
Poland Casimir III | Solidarity - Free Social Policy each time you advance an Era | Winged Hussar (Lancer) - Heavy Charge forces defenders to retreat if it deals more damage than the Lancer. When they can't flee, they take more damage. Comes with Shock I (+15% Combat in Open Terrain). | Ducal Stable (Stable) - Gives +15XP to mounted units in addition to the usual production bonus. Pastures provide +1 Gold in addition to the usual +1 Production, also requires no Gold maintenance. | BNW | |
Russia Catherine | Siberian Riches - Strategic Resources give +1 Production. Horse, Iron, and Uranium give double quantity for larger armies or more trading. | Cossack (Cavalry) - +33% Combat Bonus when fighting damaged enemies, so have your ranged tap them first! | Krepost (Barracks) - Usual +15XP of Barracks but reduces Culture and Gold Costs of acquiring new tiles by 25%, expanding your lands. | Vanilla | |
Persia Darius I | Achaemenid Legacy - Golden Ages last 50% longer. Units get +1 Movement and +10% Combat Strength during Golden Ages. | Immortal (Spearman) - +1 Combat Strength (12), Heals at Double Rate - 20 outside friendly territory to 50 in a City. | Satrap's Court (Bank) - Gives +2 Happiness unlike a Bank (0), along with an additional +1 Gold, bringing it to +3 | Vanilla | |
Carthage Dido | Phoenician Heritage - Coastal Cities get a free Harbor. Units may cross mountain after the first Great General is born, but will take 50 damage if ending a turn on a Mountain. | African Forest Elephant (Horseman) - Doesn't require Horses, but costs 100 instead of 75 like a Horseman. Enemies nearby take a -10% Combat penalty. Loses 1 Move (3) but gains 2 Strength (14). Comes with Great Generals II Upgrade, making them spawn more quickly from using this unit in combat. | Quinquereme (Trireme) - +3 Combat Strength over usual Trireme, bringing it to 13. | G&K | |
England Elizabeth | Sun Never Sets - +2 Naval unit Movement and +1 Extra Spy when introduced in the Renaissance | Longbowman (Crossbowman) - Range +1, which is a huge advantage | Ship of the Line (Frigate) - +7 Ranged Strength (35), +5 Defense (30), +1 Sight - a big bonus with the native Movement of English Ships. | Vanilla | |
Venice Enrico Dandolo | Serenissima - No Building of Settlers nor Annexing of Cities - you can only fully control one City, but get double the Trade Routes your tech level would normally provide. Your only method of taking control over other cities is to Puppet them with the Merchant of Venice UU. Venice gets the ability to purchase in Puppeted Cities. | Merchant of Venice - May buy City-States for Gold. Has Trade Missions like a regular Great Merchant, but they are 100% more effective. These are spawned instead of Great Merchants, and you'll get a free one when you research Optics. | Great Galleass (Galleass) - Costs 10 more than a regular Galleass at 110 Production, but has +3 Ranged Strength (20 total) and +2 Defense (18 total). | BNW | |
Indonesia Gajah Mada | Spice Islanders - First 3 Cities founded on continents other than where Indonesia started each provide 2 unique Luxury Resources and can never be Razed. | Kris Swordsman (Swordsman) - Gets a random upgrade after Combat. Most of these are incredible bonuses, like fully healing after a non-barbarian kill or 1 extra attack+move per turn. Unfortunately, some Units may get cursed blades that reduce their effectiveness in Combat but in general, the Mystic Blades rock and you'll want to be careful not to lose Units with certain upgrades. | Candi (Garden) - The usual great person generation of a Garden, but with +2 Faith for each World Religion with at least 1 follower in the City. | BNW | |
India Gandhi | Population Growth - Unhappiness from number of Citizens halved, while unhappiness from number of Cities doubled. | War Elephant (Chariot Archer) - Loses 1 move (down to 3) but also ditches the Rough Terrain Penalty that costs a Chariot's moves should it move into rocky terrain. Its Ranged Strength is +1 (11 total) with a hefty boost to melee defense, up to 9 from the Chariot's 6. | Mughal Fort (Castle) - Gives +2 Culture where a Castle gives none. After Flight is researched, it'll give +2 Tourism as well. The cost is about 8% cheaper, from 160 to 150 Production. | Vanilla | |
Mongolia Genghis Khan | Mongol Terror - +30% Combat Strength when fighting City-State units or City-States themselves. All mounted units get +1 movement. | Keshik (Knight) - Like a Knight, but with +1 moves (5) and ranged, being unable to Melee but able to fire from 2 tiles away. Combat with these will generate Great Generals faster, while the unit simultaneously gets a 50% boost to XP earned from combat. The Knight's penalty to attacking Cities is gone, while they retain the ability to move after attacking - a very potent City raiding unit of the early-mid game. | Khan (Great General) - Gets the usual Great General uses, but also comes with Enhanced Medic, healing adjacent units by 15 hp per turn. They can also move 5 hexes as opposed to the usual 2. Note the unit beneath the Khan will not be healed, so it's best to position them with units around to maximize the effect. Khans along with other mounted can retreat, wait a few turns outside combat range, and return fully healed. | DLC (Steam) | |
Sweden Gustavus Adolphus | Nobel Prize - Gain 90 Influence gifting Great People to City-States. Declarations of Friendship give Sweden and the friendly Civ a +10% GPP boost toward Great People. | Hakkapeliitta (Lancer) - Great Generals give +30% combat bonus if in the same tile. This is easy to accomplish, as a GG stacked with the Hakkapeliitta will inherit the same moves (4). | Carolean (Rifleman) - Starts with March, which will heal it every turn, even if it performs an action. Keep a Medic nearby for maximum effect, so that it can get larger heals every turn, helping it last longer in combat and when attacking Cities. | G&K | |
Ethiopia Haile Selassie | Spirit of Adwa - +20% Combat Bonus to all Units when fighting a Civ with more Cities than Ethiopia. | Mehal Sefari (Rifleman) - Costs 200 vs 225 for a Rifleman. Starts with Drill I, giving a bonus in Rough Terrain and good opportunity for upgrades straight out of a Military Academy. Gets a +30% Combat Bonus while fighting from inside the Capital, which diminishes in power as it gets a few hexes away. | Stele (Monument) - Gives +2 Faith in addition to the regular +2 Culture of a Monument. | G&K | |
Denmark Harald Bluetooth | Viking Fury - Embarked units gain 1 movement and pay only 1 movement to move from sea to land. Melee units do not lose movement to Pillage, providing them ample healing near enemy Cities. | Berserker (Longswordsman) - Gets +1 Movement (3 total) and begins with the Amphibious promotion, eliminating combat penalties for attacking from sea or across a river. | Norweigan Ski Infantry (Rifleman) - 25% combat bonus in unforested Hills, Snow, and Tundra tiles. Also moves double through those tiles. | DLC (Steam) | |
Arabia Harun al-Rashid | Ships of the Desert - Caravans gain +50% extended range. Land/sea trade routes spread the home city's religion at double effectiveness. Get double Oil Strategic Resources. | Camel Archer (Knight) - Ranged unit replacing the Knight. Gets -3 defensive strength (17) but has a ranged combat strength of 21. Removes the penalty for attacking Cities while retaining the ability to move after attacking. | Bazaar (Market) - Gives 1 extra copy of each Luxury Resource near the city. Oil and Oasis provide +2 Gold. Bazaars give +1 base gold as well. | Vanilla | |
Iroquois Hiawatha | The Great Warpath - Units and Caravans move through forest/jungle in your territory as if they were roads and these tiles can be used to establish City Connections (build roads in between). | Mohawk Warrior (Swordsman) - Gains +33% Combat Bonus in Forest/Jungle (even if on hill) and doesn't require Iron unlike the Swordsman it replaces. | Longhouse (Workshop) - Gives the flat +2 Production of a Workshop, but changes the +10% Production bonus to instead give +1 production to each worked Forest Tile. It's great with Lumber Mills, but you have to leave the Forests until that Tech is researched. Gives much more Production when you have plenty of Forest around your Cities. | Vanilla | |
Spain Isabella | Seven Cities of Gold - Gold Bonus from discovering Natural Wonders. All tile yields from Natural Wonders doubled if you can get one within workable range. | Tercio (Musketman) - +50% Bonus vs Mounted Units. Has +2 higher Combat Strength than Musketmen, at 26 vs 24 but costs 10 more Production (160). | Conquistador (Knight) - City attack penalty removed. Double defense when Embarked, +2 sight range and can settle Cities on other Continents. | G&K | |
Polynesia Kamehameha | Wayfinding - Units can Embark over Oceans immediately. +1 sight when Embarked. +10% Combat Strength if within 2 tiles of a Moai. | Maori Warrior (Warrior) - Haka War Dance Upgrade makes all enemies in adjacent tiles suffer -10% Combat Strength penalty. | Moai (Tile Improvement) - Build on land along coast. Gives +1 culture, up to +3 if adjacent to other Moai. When Flight is researched, Moai receive +1 gold each. | DLC (Steam) | |
Portugal Maria I | Mare Clausum - Resource diversity grants double gold for Portugal in each trade route, which can amount to a lot of extra Gold. | Nau (Caravel) - Can use Exotic Cargo ability to generate gold and XP, more the further it is from the Capital. You may only use this ability once per unit. | Feitoria (Tile Improvement) - Build along a City-State's coast in a spot without a resource. This will give you a copy of each Luxury resource the CS has connected, but can't be traded. Units defending in the Feitoria will get a +50% defensive bonus as though using a Fort. | BNW | |
Austria Maria Theresa | Diplomatic Marriage - Allows you to spend gold to Annex or Puppet a City-State that has been an ally for 5 turns. This will cost you about 1500 gold or less. | Hussar (Cavalry) - +1 Movement, Flank Attack bonuses increased +50% and gets +1 Extra Sight. | Coffee House (Windmill) - Loses the flat terrain requirement and the +10% production toward buildings, but gets 5% flat production and provides +25% Great People generation in the city | G&K | |
Aztec Montezuma | (Sacrificial Captives) - Gains culture for the empire for each enemy unit killed | Jaguar (Warrior) - A great UU. Heals 25 damage when it kills a unit, gets a +33% combat bonus in forest/jungle giving it freedom to choose the open terrain upgrades for versatility, and moves through forest and jungle at double the usual rate. | Floating Gardens (Water Mill) - Allows construction in cities near lakes in addition to rivers. Provides a whopping +15% growth to the city, reduces gold maintenance from 2 to 1. A great UB all-around that you will want to try to slip in early for maximum effect. | Vanilla | |
France Napoleon | City of Light - Museum and World Wonder theming bonuses are doubled in their Capital | Musketeer (Musketman) - +28 instead of +24 Combat Strength. Perhaps the most straightforward UU bonus out there. | Chateau (Tile Improvement) - May be built adjacent to luxury improvement, but not another Chateau. Acts as a fort, but must be built in French Territory. Starts with +1 Gold/+2 Culture to the tile when worked, rises to +3 Culture/+3 Gold with Flight. | Vanilla | |
Babylon Nebuchadnezzar II | Ingenuity - Free Great Scientist at the invention of Writing. Even better, earn Great Scientists 50% faster. | Bowman (Archer) - Bowmen have better stats over the Archer they replace. 9 Ranged Strength vs 7 and 7 Defensive Strength vs 5 - nearly the defense of a Warrior. They're great for clearing Barbarians and even waging early war thanks to their cheap cost. | Walls of Babylon (Walls) - Gives a City +6 Defense (Combat Strength) as opposed to 5, 100 HP instead of 50. | DLC (Steam) | |
Japan Oda Nobunaga | Bushido - Units fight at full strength, even when damaged, a very powerful Military bonus. | Samurai (Longswordsman) - Starts with Shock I (open terrain bonus) and the Great Generals II upgrade meaning using them will raise the GG spawn rate. They are also able to build Fishing Boats when embarked, which can help when settling new Cities or developing around newly conquered Cities. | Zero (Fighter) - Gets a +33% bonus vs other Fighters and does not require Oil. | Vanilla | |
The Maya Pacal | The Long Count - After researching Theology, get a free Great Person of your choice every 394 years. You may choose only one of each type throughout the ages. | Atlatlist (Archer) - Costs 10% less than a regular Archer at 36 Production and does not require Archery, meaning you can start the game with Archers. | Pyramid (Shrine) - Gives +2 Faith as opposed to 1 and a nifty +2 Science! | G&K | |
The Inca Pachacuti | Great Andean Road - Units ignore terrain costs when moving into any tile with Hills. There are no maintenance costs for improvements in hills, meaning roads, and half cost elsewhere. | Slinger (Archer) - Has 4 Defensive Strength as opposed to 5, but may Withdraw Before Melee if there is room to escape and the enemy is not fast (horseback) | Terrace Farm (Terrain Improvement) - Build farms on hills without fresh water. All other Civs can do this so long as the Hill is next to a River or Lake. What's unique about this is that it also gives +1 Food for each adjacent Mountain tile. | DLC (Steam) | |
Brazil Pedro II | Carnival - Double Tourism output during Golden Ages. Earns Great Artists, Musicians, and Writers 50% faster during Golden Ages. | Pracinha (Infantry) - Kills grant points toward Golden Ages, allowing Brazil to boom Tourism late-game if they choose to go to War | Brazilwood Camp - Can be built on Jungle tiles only. Gives +2 Gold, +2 Culture. Brazil can use these Jungle tiles for Science as well, with Universities. All other Civs must either chop them down or go for Science/Trading Post. This is much, much better. | BNW | |
Shoshone Pocatello | Great Expanse - Founded Cities start with additional territory. Units receive a combat bonus when fighting within friendly territory. | Pathfinder (Scout) - Native Tongue lets you choose among benefits when discovering Ancient Ruins, also has 8 strength making it as strong as a Warrior - however they also cost nearly double at 45 vs 25. Still, worth it. | Comanche Riders (Cavalry) - Costs 200 vs 225 for Cavalry. They gain +1 Movement, also. Just a little cheaper, just a little faster . | BNW | |
Egypt Ramesses II | Monument Builders - +20% Production towards Wonder Construction | War Chariot (Chariot Archer) - Gets 5 moves instead of 4 and doesn't require Horses to be built, leaving you free to trade them away or save them for Horsemen later. | Burial Tomb (Temple) - Gives +2 Happiness in addition to the +2 Faith, while eliminating the Gold maintenance of a Temple. Additionally, any enemy that conquers a City with a Burial Tomb will get double pillage Gold. | Vanilla | |
Siam Ramkhamhaeng | Father Governs Children - 50% more Food, Culture, and Faith from Friendly or Allied City-States | Naresuan's Elephant (Knight) - +50% bonus vs Mounted units, killing its own kind. They lose 1 move, falling to 3, but get 25 strength, up from 20 - a 25% increase. | Wat (University) - Gives +3 Culture in addition to the usual University Building benefits. | Vanilla | |
Korea Sejong | Scholars of the Jade Hall - Each Specialist produces +2 Science, as do all Great Person Tile Improvements. Each time a scientific building/Wonder is built in the Capital, Korea gets a Research boost similar to a Research Agreement's completion. | Turtle Ship (Caravel) - Gets 36 strength, up from 20 but with some drawbacks. They can't enter deep ocean, meant to be coastal defenders. They also lose 1 sight and cannot withdrawal from melee like a Caravel. | Hwach'a (Trebuchet) - Gets 26 ranged strength as opposed to 14 and gains 1 sight, but loses the 200% bonus against Cities. This makes it a Unit killer, though not entirely useless against Cities compared to a Trebuchet, it's about 33% weaker (roughly). | DLC (Steam) | |
The Zulu Shaka | Iklwa - Melee units cost 50% less maintenance and all units require 25% less experience to earn promotions. | Impi (Pikeman) - Gets a spear throw attack before engaging in melee combat, which weakens the enemy before the real combat begins. This often results in them dealing much more damage than stated, although the spear throw will diminish in power as opposing units gain Combat Strength - it seems to be about half the unit's usual damage. | Ikanda (Barracks) - Gives the usual experience of a Barracks, but also a unique Promotion line for pre-Renaissance Melee units. All units coming from an Ikanda start with Buffalo Horns, which give +1 Movement, +25% flank attack bonus and +10% ranged attack defense. You can then immediately choose to upgrade these when promoted, giving further flank attack bonuses and more Combat Strength. | BNW | |
The Ottomans Suleiman | Barbary Corsairs - All melee naval ships have the Prize Ships promotion, allowing them to capture defeated ships. Naval unit maintenance only 1/3 the usual cost. | Janissary (Musketman) - +25% Combat Bonus when attacking, gets 50 healing if it kills a non-barbarian Unit. | Sipahi (Lancer) - Gets +1 Sight, +1 Movement and no movement cost to Pillage. | Vanilla | |
Byzantium Theodora | Patriarchate of Constantinople - Choose one more Belief than normal when you found a Religion. | Cataphract (Horseman) - Penalty to attacking Cities reduced from 33% to 25% and these units can get terrain bonuses unlike Horsemen. They lose 1 movement but gain +3 strength, putting them at 15 vs the Horseman's 12. | Dromon (Trireme) - Costs 56 instead of 45, but is a ranged attacker that may not melee. Their 10 melee defense is reduced to 8, and gain 10 Ranged strength with a range of 2. | G&K | |
America Washington | Manifest Destiny - All land military units have +1 sight. 50% discount when purchasing tiles. | Minuteman (Musketman) - This is a better Unique Unit than first meets the eye thanks to its mobility and that any kills made with Minutemen will grant points toward Golden Ages. Gets Drill I, giving them a bonus in rough terrain and starting them out with great promotion opportunities. They also ignore terrain cost - literally nothing can slow them down except Mountains. | B17 (Bomber) - Gets +70 Ranged Strength instead of 65, but more importantly starts with the Evasion promotion, which gives it 50% less damage from air interceptors. They also start with Siege I, giving them a 33% bonus vs Cities and enabling some great promotions for newly produced units. | Vanilla | |
The Netherlands William | Dutch East India Company - Keep 50% of the Happiness benefits (+2 out of 4) from a Luxury Resource if your last copy is traded away. | Sea Beggar (Privateer) - Comes with Coastal Raider II, giving it another +20% strength vs Cities. Their Supply upgrade allows them to heal outside friendly territory unlike other Ships (+15/turn). Additionally, defeated enemy ships may join your side after combat. | Polder (Tile Improvement) - Gives +3 Food on Flood Plains or Marsh, something not possible with Farms until Civil Service. This nifty improvement also picks up +2 Gold and +1 Production for the tile when Economics is Researched. | G&K | |
China Wu Zetian | Art of War - Great Generals give +30% instead of +15% Combat Bonuses and their spawn rate is 50% faster. | Chu-Ko-Nu (Crossbowman) - Loses 4 Ranged Strength, down to 14 from 18, but that hardly matters for their ability to attack twice in a single turn so long as they have not consumed a move. The Chu-Ko-Nu is easily one of the best Unique Units in the game and its double attack upgrade is kept when you later promote the unit. | Paper Maker (Library) - This is a pretty great Unique Building. Gives +2 Gold in addition to the usual benefits of a Library, as opposed to costing 1 per turn in Maintenance. | Vanilla |
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Joe says..What will be the next Civilization VI DLC? The game has been out over a year now, and post-launch content has been steadily rolling out of Firaxis. The first expansion, Rise and Fall, added plenty to our beloved strategy giant, and we don’t expect it to be the final one. Historically, Civ DLC has been crucial to unleashing each game’s potential, as the devs chuck in new content to fill out the faction roster, or to plug the pacing or mechanical gaps that inevitably arise in a game attempting to chart pretty much everything that’s ever happened.
With some new civs having already been added, and Rise and Fall having introduced a solid variety of exciting new mechanics, we wondered what other great cultures from history are missing, and what larger gameplay features we’d like to see when Civ VI gets its next major expansion. This is our lengthy wish list for new Civ 6 DLC.
Need even more tactical joy? Try out one of the best strategy games on PC.
Civ VI’s post-launch DLC has so far added only civs. John Curtin’s Australia are debuting for the first time, while Persia and Poland are old favourites with a new spin, as Civ V’s leaders Darius and Casimir III are replaced by Cyrus the Great and Jadwiga. Rise and Fall further adds Korea, The Netherlands, Mongolia, and The Cree. We’re really liking this mix of the old and new, so we present a few of our own suggestions that have either been under-represented in the series, or could really benefit from a fresh take.
Last seen in Civ III’s Conquests expansion, the Hittites were a major military power of ancient Mesopotamia. They were suspected by archaeologists to be the first people to smelt iron, staking a major claim in history that could be reflected in a unique ability (double copies of iron resources? Bonus combat strength for all units that use iron? I’m just spitballing.) They caused the Egyptians and Babylonians no end of headaches, winning several major victories thanks to their heavier model of chariot – a clear choice for the unique unit.
In the meantime, Civ V players can check out Tomatekh and Janboruta’s Hittite mod for that game.
The Apache have yet to appear in a mainline Civilization game. They were present in Sid Meier’s Colonization, a 1994 offshoot of the series, and thus were also present in the Colonization remake that was made in the Civ IV engine, but come on, that hardly counts. Some Civ VI DLC would be a great way to debut this famous native American tribe, which were one of the most fiercely resistant to American expansion. An Apache Warrior is the obvious unique unit, and could be designed to synergise with a faction unique ability that reflected the Apaches’ fierceness and their ambush-based, agile fighting style.
England have been in every Civ game. They generally have bonuses focusing on their maritime or industrial history, and are led by the monarchs most associated with those periods – Elizabeth I and Victoria.
But how’s this for a fresh take: Alfred, unifier of England and one of only two English monarchs to be styled ‘the Great’. You could have him either as a new leader for the English or as leader of his own kingdom: Wessex. The bundled scenario where you unify the crown and repel the invading Vikings is the icing on the cake.
A polymath who improved his people’s quality of life in many areas, Alfred’s bonuses could focus on his reorganisation of England’s dark age armies, his diplomatic shrewdness, or his concern for the country’s legal and educational systems (such as they were).
Proving that no matter how inventive we think we are, a modder has got there first, here’s JFD, Janboruta and Viregel’s Anglo-Saxon civ for Civ V, led by Alfred.
Babylon was periodically the world’s largest city, home of famous architecture, and one of the ancient era’s most important settlements, but I mainly want to see them brought back because of how ludicrously overpowered they were in Civ V. Breaking from our ‘fresh take’ theme, in this case, don’t change a thing Firaxis – give me cheaper walls with double HP and a +50% bonus to Great Scientist points, and we’ll be fine. I’ll go revise my arguments for why I shouldn’t be banned from picking them in multiplayer.
Civ has had a pretty unstable relationship with taking things interstellar or orbital. After the magnum opus (or Great Work?) that was Alpha Centauri, we’ve had the maligned Call to Power spin-offs dabble with space colonisation, while Beyond Earth didn’t introduce enough interesting mechanics to really exploit its space setting.
It’s time for Civ to reclaim that frontier with a worthy expansion that takes us out to orbit. Say what you will about Call to Power II, but its use of an extra ‘space’ layer of map over the old one was interesting, allowing you to attack earth-based units from orbit, set up space colonies and mine asteroids. This era could also bring back wackier future technologies and new hazards to contend with like global warming.
Naturally all this cosmic malarkey should be optional, as the concept of Gandhi raining nukes from his Death Star may be a tad unpalatable for some.
Immigration – bit of a buzzword these days, innit? And despite what the Daily Mail say, it’s always going to play a big part in shaping nations, seeing as it’s been occurring ever since the first stick-huts were washed away by a landslide, forcing the tribesfolk to go crash round their neighbouring village’s fire.
The series has dabbled in this area before. In Civ IV, border cities would have mixed-nationality populations, and if the neighbouring civ had a stronger culture then they could take over the city. But this never ran very deep. The fact of peoples from poorer civs migrating to wealthier civs – or refugees fleeing wars – should be ever-present with all the accompanying issues it brings – economics, happiness, culture-clashing, integration policies, and so on.
The notion of ‘people moving around’ has defined the world as much as war and Wonders, so it’s time Sid or Ed or whoever’s actually in charge to accommodate it.
The Civ series is well aware of this concept, having released two standalone Colonization games but never elaborated on any of their mechanics in the main series. It’s a controversial topic, but again it shouldn’t be ignored in a game that purports to broadly capture the ups and downs of human history.
Settling uncharted shores should present you with new challenges and mechanics, making it more of an event rather than just another piece of land to turn your colour. You should work to come to agreements with other colonising nations about splitting the land, have colonial wars with them that don’t affect the home front, as well as have the option to work with the indigenous people of the land (or just destroy them).
Perhaps this could be integrated with Barbarians. Those savages have been nothing but a thorn in the side of fledgling empires in all Civ games to this point. That’s fine, but let’s vary them up a bit. We could still have brutes who want nothing but to pillage our lands, but also introduce ‘indigenous people’ who you can trade with, integrate into your society and recruit special units from.
The Civilization series could just as easily be known as ‘Imperialism’ based on how the late-game pans out. Sure, in Civ V they tried making small, tall empires viable, but this was rarely as effective as making the blob of your empire spread like a virus across as much of the globe as possible.
Civ’s empire-centric leanings fail to reflect the world post-WW2. As the game goes on and people in far corners of your empire start getting big ideas about autonomy, it should get tougher to hold onto foreign lands. Wars of independence and civil wars – like in Civ II – could make a return here, with the possibility of spawning new nations, particularly late on, preventing games from going stagnant.
Such a system could be used to the advantage of the nation getting broken up, too. You could grant your distant and culturally detached cities independence peacefully, for example, turning them into a city-state that’s permanently your ally unless someone pulls off a coup.
Unions – whether voluntary or forced – have shaped human history. From imperial unions such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, ideological, autocratic unions like the USSR, federal ones like the United States, or… whatever the EU is, they’ve all changed the world dramatically.
In an inverse way to my previous point, this would make the mid-late game more volatile, as suddenly nations could hyper-expand through joining together, potentially forcing you to have a completely different relationship with them. If you entered a union, there would of course be trade-offs, as you’d need to run key decisions by your fellow union leaders and would effectively be splitting power, but such a setup could be a great way for smaller nations to get some economic and tech boosts as they cosy up to bigger nations, or for medium nations to unite into a formidable superpower.
(What you see in the picture is not a political union, just PCGN’s Phil dealing with some macemen in the Dark Ages – clearly wishing he was in a union with someone like Big Teddy Roosevelt so he could fend them off.)
Most of the features that we saw in the ‘complete’ version of Civ V made it over into Civ VI, with the one notable exception being the World Congress. While a nice idea, it never worked previously due to the awful AI, and I don’t think I could deal with another game in which some halfwit rival Civ decides to impose a global ban on sugar just ‘because’.
Despite that, the idea of a system where all nations (who choose to opt in) can have a say in global matters in the later game is a good one. As in Civ V, it should let you make sweeping suggestions like a global ideology or global religion, but sanctions should only be imposed with good reason.
Something like the World Congress or UN could be expanded to various crises as well, like nuclear attacks and wars. So perhaps an emergency session could be called to embargo a bullish nation preying on its neighbours, or have everyone chip in to send economic aid or even ‘peacekeeping’ (yeah, right) troops into warzones.
Firaxis doesn’t go on about this, but many of the ideas in Civ VI can be traced back to the Civ V Community Balance Patch, which overhauls much of the main game (I highly recommend you squeeze in a couple of games on it before Civ VI!). One of the more intriguing additions is the idea of monopolies, so if your nation has the lion’s share of a certain resource within its borders, that resource offers bigger benefits, increasing its value.
Essentially, that old economic chestnut of supply and demand actually becomes a thing, as other nations are willing to offer more for your resources that can’t be obtained elsewhere. Something like this should appear in Civ VI down the line in a future expansion, so that the value of luxury resources fluctuates with their availability. Also, let’s chuck loans in there. Big nasty loans in which you can set the interest rates on and exploit/assist developing nations that need a bit of a leg up in the world, like the benevolent leader you’ll no doubt be.