Getting started inCivilization 6during the Ancient Era can be a frustrating experience at times depending on the map design, density of barbarian clans, or overzealous and hostile opponent leaders. These challenges can be exacerbated even more so when playing with enhanced environmental effects enable, such as in zombie defenseor apocalypse mode. Building a strategy for surviving the early game Ancient Era starts with choosing the right civilization and leader.
Fortunately,someCiv 6leaders are better equipped for making it through the Ancient Era than others, and could even give players a leg up if the unique Ancient Era units, structures, or leader abilities are utilized properly. These ten civilizations in Civilization 6 will give players the best chance at establishing a strong foundation for themselves during the Ancient Era.
10Māori Is A Strong Pick When Water’s Around
Leader: Kupe
The Māori civilization is a great starting civ for games on the archipelago, small continents, islands, or snowflake maps due to its starting bonuses. The leader ability, Kupe’s Voyage, guarantees that players will start on an Ocean tile andprovides +2 Science and Culture per turn until the first city is settled. Kupe’s ability also gives players a free Builder and +1 Population when the first city is settled.
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Māori also has the Mana feature, whichunlocks the Sailing and Shipbuilding technologies from the start of the gameand allows players to enter Ocean tiles automatically with all units, providing them additional movement while embarked. The above bonuses allow players to establish an early foothold in any oceanic-style game, especially during the Ancient Era, but prove very ineffective on maps with little or no water.
9Sumeria Is Great At Conquering Barbarians
Leader: Gilgamesh
The Epic Quests unique civilization ability for Sumeria is especially useful in the Ancient Era when Barbarian raiders are abundant, as it provides an additional reward when capturing a Barbarian Outpost. Players recieve a “goody hut” (AKA tribal village) rewardin addition to the usual Gold bonus. The Sumerian Ziggurat is a unique structure that Builders can construct, providing +2 Science and +1 Culture if next to a river.
If players find themselves at war early on, the leader Gilgamesh’s Adventures of Enkidu ability provides powerful Alliance bonuses.
Further,the War-Cart is a unique Ancient Era military unit that is stronger than all other starting units in the game.It has increased movement if starting a turn in open terrain, giving great mobility in the early parts of a session. If players find themselves at war early on, the leader Gilgamesh’s Adventures of Enkidu ability provides powerful Alliance bonuses.
8Nubia Gets Production Going Quickly
Leader: Amanitore
Under the rule of Amanitore,Nubia is an excellent choicefor a starting civilization that will give players a massive boost to production and a powerful unique ranged military unit.Amanitore’s leader ability, Kandake of Meroë, gives a +20% boost to Production on all districts, rising to +40% if players build a Nubian Pyramid adjacent to the City Center. The Nubian Pyramid can be built early after players unlock Masonry, and provides additional Faith and Food adjacency bonuses.
Nubia has a powerful Civ feature called Ta-seti, which gives a +30% Production bonus toward Ranged Units, namely the Pítati Archer, an Ancient Era ranged unit with extra movement that is stronger than a regular archer. With these boosts to Production, players will be able to form a massive legion of archers very early in the game.
7Greece Has Two Powerful Leader Choices
Leaders: Gorgo & Pericles
Both leaders for Greece, Gorgo and Pericles, provide some stellar Culture bonuses that begin as early as the Ancient Era and have access to the powerful Ancient Era military units, Hoplites, an anti-cavalry unit that gains adjacency bonuses when positioned next to other Hoplites. Greece’s civilization features the Plato’s Republic ability, whichgives an extra Wildcard policy slot inanygovernment - a huge advantage during the Ancient Era and beyond.
Pericles is one of the bestchoices for beginnersthanks to his easy access to early-game bonuses.
While Pericles' Surrounded by Glory ability provides a decent +5% Culture bonus per Suzerain, this will only be useful if the match settings include a decent number of city-states and players are lucky to spawn near a few to take advantage of this bonus in the Ancient Era.Gorgo could be a safer bet,but her Thermopylae ablity only awards Culture from Combat victories.
Leader: Montezuma
Led by Montezuma, the Aztec civilization is great for development during the Ancient Era because of The Legend of the Five Suns unique civilization ability. Thisallows players to spend Builder charges to complete 20% of the cost of any original district, which is an extremely useful tool for completing districts early on in order to increase adjacency bonuses and boost gains as much as possible later down the road.
The Aztec’s unique Ancient Era military unit, the Eagle Warrior has a unique ability allowing them to capture other civilizations' military units and turn them into Builders, which is incredibly useful given The Legend of the Five Suns mentioned above. Players can declare an early war, capture opponents' military units and turn them into Builders, and boost district production with those “free” Builder unit charges.
5Gaul Has Perks For District Planning
Leader: Ambiorix
The Gallic civilization, helmed by King Ambiorix, has various unique Ancient Era bonuses, including the Hallstatt Culture ability that provides a minor adjacency bonus to all districts next to Mines, as well asa Culture Bomb of unowned territory when a Mine is built.The Gaesatae unit replaces the Warrior and is slightly more expensive to maintain, but it gets a boost to Combat Strength when fighting stronger enemies or versus district defenses.
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Even more beneficial is the Oppidum district that replaces the Industrial Zone and can be built earlier, meaning it’s easier to establish in the Ancient Era than the Industrial Zone, anditunlocks the Apprenticeship technology when the first Oppidum is built.These districts also provide a very useful adjacency bonus from Quarries and strategic resources.
4Phoenicia Is Perfect For The Coast
Leader: Dido
The Founder of Carthage ability for Dido, Phoenicia’s leader, will not become relevant until after a Government Plaza is established, but all other civilization bonuses will be incredibly useful for the Ancient Era. This includes the Mediterranean Colonies civilization ability, lettingplayers begin the game with the Writing Eureka, gives 100% Loyalty to all coastal citieson the same continent as the Capital, and enhances Settlers' movement and sight range.
More significantly, the Cothon district is a cheaper version of the Harbor that gives +50% Production toward naval units and Settlers, and the Bireme, a unique Ancient Era Phoenician naval unit replacing the Galley, can protect traders within four tiles from being plundered. This comes in especially useful when facing Barbarian raiders early on inCivilization 6’s Ancient Era.
3Maya Leads To Dense Civilizations
Leader: Lady Six Sky
The Mayan civilization in Civ 6 is helmed by Lady Six Sky, whose unique ability, Ix Mutal Ajaw, gives a +10% yield bonus to all non-capital cities within six tiles of the Capital andprovides a free Builder when those cities are founded.This is a huge boost in the early game, allowing players to build a tight cluster of high-yield cities. However, this comes at a cost when the map becomes more crowded; cities that aren’t within that same range receive a -15% debuff to all yields.
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Additionally, the Observatory building replaces the Campus for Maya and is cheaper to build while giving Science bonuses to Farms, districts, and Plantations. If that wasn’t enough, the Hul’che unique Ancient Era ranged unit has a very powerful ranged attack that is even further increased when fighting a wounded opponent.
2Cree Can Acquire More Land
Leader: Poundmaker
With Poundmaker as the leader, the Cree civilization has an amazing position in the Ancient Era due to a unique feature that enables land acquisition early on. The Nîhithaw ability gives players a +1 Trade Route capacity and a free Trader once they’ve unlocked the Pottery technology, but more importantly willallow Traders to claim tiles within three spaces of a Cree citythe first time they move through them, assuming they are unclaimed.
Additionally, the Okihtcitaw unique Ancient Era unit is a very strong replacement for the Scout that starts with an automatic free promotion. Further, Builders in the Cree civilization can construct the Mekewap, whichprovides Production, Housing, Gold, and Food bonusesthat increase as players advance through the Civics and Technology trees. These can be constructed early on to maximize Ancient Era yields and adjacency bonuses inCivilization 6.
1Egypt Has It All In The Ancient Era
Leaders: Egyptian Cleopatra, Ptolemaic Cleopatra & Ramses II
Of all the civilizations with excellent Ancient Era bonuses, Egypt comes in at the top due to its variety of possible leaders and Ancient Era unique features. Players can choose between the Egyptian or Ptolemaic versions of Cleopatra, or they can select Ramses II as the leader for an Egyptian civilization run.Egypt’s Iteru ability gives +15% Production when placed next to a river, while the Maryannu Chariot Archer is a mobile and powerful Ancient Era ranged unit.
Overall, these civilizations are guaranteed to give players the much-needed advantage they’ve been looking for during the Ancient Era.
Overall, these civilizations are guaranteed to give players the much-needed advantage they’ve been looking for during the Ancient Era. Whether it’s the Gallic focus on Production or the many boosts to Culture and Trade from Egypt’s various leader options, theseCivilization 6options stand out as excellent choices for the Ancient Era.
