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The new system for religion inCivilization 7is a lot more streamlined than in previous games in the franchise. However, that doesn’t mean that you don’t need to be careful when it comes to selecting a religion’s beliefs, as these will be key to making sure you’re able to achieve a Cultural Victory by the end of the Modern Age.
Whether going for a Cultural Victory or just trying to dominate the Exploration Age, you’ll need to select the best reliquary, founder, and enhancer beliefs possible for your faith. We’ve broken down every religious belief you can use in Civilization 7 by tier.
Civilization 7 Religious Beliefs Tier List
This tier list encompasses every religious belief currently available in the gamethat you may ascribe to your faith. There arethree different types of beliefs, Reliquary, Founder, and Enhancer.
However, for this tier list,we’ve combined these into one uniform table. Further below, we’ll label each of these by type of belief as well.
In each tiered list,we’ve organized beliefs in this order: Reliquary, Founder, and then Enhancerfor ease of use.
Icons, Reliquaries Interfaith Dialogue, Tithe, Conversion, Stella Maris
A-Tier
Apostolism, Lay Followers, Ecclesiasticism, Holy Ecumene, Vipassana, Defenders of the Faith, Dawah, Zeal
B-Tier
Charoen, Stewardship, Shrines of the Kami, Sky Gods, Millenarianism, Scripture, Sanctum
C-Tier
Brahmanism, Evangelism, Reincarnation, Shamanism, Desert Faith, Holy Waters, Sacred Herbs
Remember that whileyou can have two Founder Beliefs,you may only have one Enhancer and Reliquary Belief each, so choose carefully!
Reliquary
+2 Relics for first-time conversions of City-States.
Because a huge portion of the legacy path for the Exploration Age involves collecting reliquaries,your Reliquary Belief is going to be extremely important.
At the start of each age,Independent Powers reset and respawn across the map. If you can quickly found a religion and set Icons as your reliquary belief,you’ll be well-poised at the top of the age for befriending Independent Powersand then subsequently converting them.
This will get you to the 12 reliquaries needed to secure a Cultural Golden Ageat the top of the Modern Age in no time flat.
Description
+1 Relic for the first-time conversion of another Civ’s settlement with a Temple or Altar.
Most Civs are bound to have a decent amount of Temples or Altarsin their society by the time the Exploration Age rolls around.This makes this Reliquary Belief top-tierin our books, as you’ll want to make sure your Reliquary Belief favors quantity over quality.
Since the goal of the age is to try to make your faith as dominant as possible, this Reliquary Belief is relatively straightforward to use throughout the second phase of your campaign.
Founder
+4 Science for every foreign settlement following your faith.
Science is always going to be a powerful resourceand yield for you to collect in Civilization 7, regardless of whether you’re going for a Scientific Victory.Science obviously helps boost your Tech Tree, which is always a plus.
In addition, since you’re bound to be converting foreign settlements pretty consistently during the Exploration Age,this belief synergizes well with Scientific outputacross the board. It’s easy to capitalize on.
+4 Gold for every foreign settlement following your religion.
Simple, yet effective,Tithe will help you expand your treasuryat a rapid-fire pace. This belief synergizes well with either a Cultural or Economic Victory path during the Exploration Age.
Plus, Gold has so much added power in Civilization 7, given its ability to help improve towns quickly with buildings and other tile upgrades. More than ever before,having a large, healthy treasury is imperativefor a successful campaign.
Enhancer
New towns founded in Distant Lands start with your religion in place.
So much of the Exploration Age is marked by an expansionist mindset.If you’re looking to make your empire as wide as possiblein terms of settlement location,this Enhancer belief is a must-have, and highly effective.
If your other beliefs grant you bonuses for having more of your own settlements converted to your religion, thenselect Conversion so that you don’t have to waste Missionaries converting your own settlements.
+2 movement to Missionaries when Embarked, plus, all naval and Embarked units receive +1 movement.
This belief is well worth having, butmake sure you’re using it on the right map. If you’re playing on a small or even tiny map, this S-tier belief is considerably worse.
However,if you’re playing on a rather large mapwith fewer Civs or Independent Powers,Stella Maris quickly becomes an extra powerful belief. The movement boost is nothing to sneeze at during the Exploration Age, especially if your Missionaries have to cross oceans to reach foreign settlementsin Distant Lands.
+2 Relics for first-time conversion of another Civilization’s settlement with a Wonder from any age.
Any Reliquary belief that gets you +2 relics is super helpfulto achieve the Legacy Path for a Cultural Victory during the Exploration Age.This belief only gets knocked down to A-tier by virtue of its specificityand circumstantial nature.
While gaining two relics for every conversion is great, of course, you’ll have to be careful tomake sure you’re near Civs that have a lot of Wondersfor this one to work well for you.
+1 Relic for first-time conversion of another Civ’s settlement with 10 Rural Population.
Though the Lay Followers belief is also somewhat circumstantial,so many settlements have a decently sized rural population, that this Reliquary Belief is usually a super solid option depending on the type of victory you’re trying to achieve.
The only catch here is thatyou may not be able to benefit all that much from this belief early onin the Exploration Age. Toward the end of the age, more settlements are likely to have larger populations, at which point you should quickly capitalize upon this belief.
+2 Relic for the first time conversion of another Civilization’s settlement with 10 Urban Population.
Similar to Lay Followers, Ecclesiasticism suffers from the same issueearly on in the Exploration Age:many settlements don’t always have such a big population. However, by the end of the age, you can definitely mine this belief for all it’s worth.
Plus, unlike Lay Followers,this belief gives you a +2 Relic score, solidifying its place in A-tier. Just be sure tokeep an eye on settlements' growththroughout your campaign.
+4 Culture for every foreign settlement following your faith.
For those players specifically going for a Cultural Victory,Holy Ecumene is another all-around great option for a founder belief. Culture helps you run through your Civics Tree faster, which is always a great boon.
The only downside to this belief is thatyou may have already spent most of the Antiquity Age selecting Social Policies and other constructions that boost your Culture, particularly if you’re already going for a Cultural Victory.This belief, ultimately, may prove redundantdepending on how much Culture you’re already generating.
+4 Happiness for every foreign settlement following your religion.
Happiness is a severely underrated resourcein Civilization 7, particularly as you work your way further into the Exploration Age. During this age, you’re bound to gain more Specialists, which chip away at your settlement’s happiness rating.
This Founder Belief can offset happiness costs nicely, and help keep your empire more balanced during the second phase of your campaign. Plus,since you can select up to two Founder Beliefs, you can still pick another belief that’s more about optimizationrather than just offsetting resource costs.
Units gain +5 combat strength in friendly settlements that follow this religion.
The Defenders of the Faith beliefworks great for players trying to achieve a Cultural or Military Victory, or are at least prioritizing military enhancement as they play. If you play your cards right,you’re able to use this ability to dominate warsagainst certain opponents, and is really useful for keeping your borders intact.
The only downside to this belief is thatit only works in friendly settlements, so you can’t use this combat bonus to act aggressively within another Civ’s borders.
When a trade route is established in a settlement, it is instantly converted.
Dawah is another belief thatsynergizes well with Economic Victory conditions. If you’d rather spend time producing Merchants as opposed to Missionaries, this belief is a nice compromise, asyou can use Merchants to convert settlements instead.
The only downside is that, since you can only pick one Enhancer Belief,you’ll have to be ready to commit to this strategy of using Merchantsas proselytizers. Otherwise, choosing this belief will be a total waste.
Missionaries receive +1 charge.
Zeal is incredibly straightforward, but extra powerful, as you’re able to sometimes enact other policies that can stack extra belief charges on top of this one. SinceMissionaries eventually run out of charges and disappear off the map, this belief will ensure you’re getting the most bang for your buck.
Plus, you never know whenhaving that one extra charge might convert one last settlement you need to earn a reliquary. Sometimes, one charge is the difference between victory and defeat.
+2 Relics for a first-time conversion of another Civ’s settlement that is producing Treasure Fleets.
Treasure Fleets are often misunderstoodor underappreciated in Civ 7, however,this Reliquary Belief allows you to capitalize on Treasure Fleetsjust as much as the enemy Civ. Gaining two relics is, of course, fantastic, but there are some downsides to this belief overall.
First off,Treasure Fleets that are being produced are often developed and sent away quickly, so you’ll need to capitalize on this one fast. However, if you know that another Civ is going for an Economic Legacy Path, you may easily optimize your playstyle to reap what they sow each time they produce a Treasure Fleet.
+8 Gold, Culture, and Science for every tile that has a Natural Wonder in another Civ’s settlements following your religion.
To be frank,this Founder Belief has one of the best buffs to resources availablein all of Civilization 7. The downside to this belief, and ultimately what puts it in B-Tier, is thatit’s so circumstantial and specific that you might not get to benefit from it all that much.
Some Natural Wonders don’t take up that many tiles, to begin with, and additionally, focusing all of your efforts on one particular settlement next to a Natural Wondercan be a waste of turns and time. However, if you’re able to make this one work, the rewards are well worth it.
+4 Culture, Gold, and Science for every Wonder in other Civ’s settlements following your faith.
Shrines of the Kami features another excellent buff to certain yieldsand is a little more workable than Stewardship thanks to the prevalence of man-made Wonders over Natural Wonders. Once again, though,this one is highly circumstantial.
But,if you’re neighboring a Civ that is going for a Cultural Victoryas well, and they have a lot of Wonders,this is a good way to make sure that their gain is also yours.
+1 Culture for every Plains tile in other Civ’s settlements following your religion.
Sky Gods is the first of many beliefs focused on tile type.Plains tiles are often pretty commonthroughout Civ 7, depending on your starting position and map type.
This makes this belief an all-around super solid optionfor a Founder Belief. Ultimately though, this one ends up in B-Tier just because the boons aren’t that great overall.
Conquered settlements are converted.
If you’re attempting to synergize a Military Victory with a Cultural one, Millenarianism is a great option for your Enhancer Belief. The only downside here is thatconquering settlements is so difficult, particularly later in the Exploration Agewhen many settlements have district defenses.
This means that you’ll rarely (if ever) benefit from this perk, and while it can be extremely powerful if you have confidence in your military prowess, overall, you’ll want to think twice before selecting this one.
+10% Production toward training Missionaries for every Relic.
Scripture works great if you’re specifically going for the Cultural Victory Legacy Pathduring the Exploration Age. A bonus to production is always super solid as well.
The only issue with this belief, and why it ends up in B-Tier, is thatyou won’t really start to feel any synergy with this belief until later in the agewhen you’ve begun to actually collect relics. However, by the end of the age, depending on how many you’ve collected, you’ll really start to feel the power of your Missionaries.
+1 Relic Slot in Temples in Cities
Simple and straightforward,this belief merely cuts down on any production you might need to spend building structures that can house relics. It’s easy to forget that a condition of the Cultural Legacy Path is being able to actually store the relics you earn throughout the age.
This can help cut down on some extra time constructing more templesin your cities, but ultimately it’s not that effective. However, if you’re out of cities and don’t want to convert more towns, this one can help, particularly late in the Exploration Age when it comes to relic storage.
+2 Relics for the first-time conversion of another Civ’s capital city.
This belief sounds really good on paper, and, of course,having a +2 to Relics is fantastic for achieving the Cultural Legacy Path. But, there’s a huge caveat to this belief that can render it almost useless.
In Civilization 7,you cannot convert another Civ’s Holy City, which can often be their capital. This obviously poses a huge problem for this belief,making it largely not worth it.
+1 Relic for the first-time conversion of another Civ’s settlement in Distant Lands.
Similar to Brahmanism,this belief suffers from the fact that it’s so specificand sometimes nearly unattainable depending on your positioning on the board. Plus,you’ll need to wait until other Civs start establishing Distant Lands settlements.
This means you’re relying on other Civ’s progressbefore you can actually start making moves with your Reliquary Belief. Depending on the length of your campaign,this may prove costly to your own progression.
+1 Science for every grassland tile in other Civ’s settlements following your religion.
Sacred Herbs is plagued by the same issue as many Founders Beliefs, once again beinga bit too circumstantial to always be useful. However,Grassland tiles are much more prevalent than others at times, especially depending on the type of map you’re playing.
Plus,Science is a great all-around yield. It’s always helpful when going for a Cultural Legacy path by way of religion can help you out in another department, namely, Science.
+2 Science for every Tropical tile in other Civ’s settlements following your faith.
Reincarnation is another belief that is contingent on tile placements.Tropical tiles are not nearly as common as some others, meaning capitalizing on this belief is really only valuable if you’re near a Civ with a heavy Tropical tile spread.
Of course, if this is the case for your empire, then by all means, Reincarnation can work. However, don’t just pick this one randomly. It’sonly worth it in super-specific cases.
+2 Culture for every Tundra tile in other Civ’s settlements following your religion.
Just as is the case with Reincarnation,Shamanism suffers from a need for hyper-specific tile placement to be useful. Of course,having a bonus to Culture does synergize well with religionin the Exploration Age, so this belief isn’t entirely useless.
However, once again,plan ahead before selecting this Founder Belief. You’ll also want to make sure your second Founder Belief is a little more broad since this one is so niche.
+2 Gold for every Desert tile in other Civ’s settlements following your faith.
This Founder Belief is another option that’s tile-specific. Desert tiles can be more prevalent depending on the type of map you’re playing, but once again,you’ll want to make sure this one can actually work for you before selecting it.
One bonus to Desert Faith is thatGold is, of course, a super valuable resourceduring the Exploration Age, and can synergize well with using Treasure Fleets. But, all in all,this one is a bit too difficult to pull off well.
+1 Happiness for every Marine tile in other Civ’s settlements following your religion.
By now, you might be sensing a trend.Tile-specific Founder Beliefs are just not that helpful, however, if you’re playing on an archipelago map, Holy Waters can be more useful than some.
Happiness is also a great yield, but not nearly as valuable as Culture or Goldduring the Exploration Age. Holy Waters can prove a good supplement if you’re low on happiness in other aspects of your empire though.
