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Harriet Tubman is the master of espionage inCiv 7. There are a few fun strategies with her that can result inmassivewar weariness for aggressive AI, particularly good for higher-difficulty games. The Deity AI is aggressive as it is, so being able to essentially shut down opponents while also carrying out espionage to collect tech and hinder their progress can be extremely useful.
Actually getting Tubman’s bonuses to work in a game can be a bit tricky, however. This guide covers the best Harriet Tubman strategies, as well as some ideas for the best civilization combos and Mementos.
This guide is based on singleplayer games against higher-diffifculty AI, not multiplayer.
Harriet Tubman Overview
Harriet Tubman is all aboutnegative war supportfor your attackers, as well as committing espionage actions.
Shewantsto be attacked by enemy players, which definitely changes the way you play the game. You’ll need to build troops at some point with Tubman, andshe doesn’t excelat the peaceful type of game.
You will, however, be able to reduce your enemies to almost nothing by seriously hampering theirHappiness,production, and more. Expect plenty of their settlements torevolt to your borderswithout even having to take them by force.
Units ignore movement penalties on vegetated tiles.
Espionage Actions
Tubman is basically able to shut down an enemy player’s empire from the inside. Espionage Actions are a set ofdiplomatic actionsthat can be used to reduce yourenemy’s happiness,steal technology, and much more as the game develops. As a general rule, Tubman wants to be at war - a lot - but never actually in danger of losing any cities.
You will unlock more Espionage as the game progresses into the Exploration Age and Modern Age.
War Support
War Support can be a frustrating mechanic for higher difficulties (the AI usually just starts wars with you for no reason), but Tubman turns this completely on its head.
Five free war supportis actually massive, and it makes turning the tide of war in your enemy’s favor a huge investment for them in terms of Influence.
Enemy players will loseHappinessandCombat Strengthbased on theirWar Weariness.The reduction in Combat Strength is particularly impactful on Deity difficulty, as the AI receivesmassive Combat Strength buffs.
Harriet Tubman is probably one of the best military leaders for warfare on higher difficulties because of this. Pair this with high Influence gain and you can really ruin the AI’s day.
Best Harriet Tubman Strategy For The Antiquity Age
Harriet Tubman is a unique way to play the game, and depending on your civilization choice (we’ll go over this below), she can either be playedaggressivelyor as an annoying thorn in the AI’s side, as you turtle up whilestealing their techandbuilding up culture and sciencewhile they waste resources on your wars.
You will receivesignificantadvantages over the AI in warfare due to your War Support bonuses, so it makes sense to play aggressively. You can wipe out opposing civilizations early with just a few units due to the Combat Strength boost.
With a large army and an aggressive playstyle, the game becomes more about managing your overall happiness to prevent chaos if theHappiness crisisoccurs during the final stages of the Antiquity Age.
Scouting And Discoveries
Just like with any other leader in Civ 7, your journey begins withtwoorthree Scoutsto get vision of the surrounding area.
You’re looking forDiscoveriesto help you rushCultureandGold.You want Culture to grab theMysticismCivic early on, and Gold to help develop your first settlement.
You should also pick up anySciencethat is available to rush theAnimal HusbandryandPotterytechs to get your production up in your capital. More production means more buildings and units.
Forward Settling
Harriet Tubman is the best leader for forward settling your enemies. This means you can find a nice spot near your enemy’s capital and then plonk a settlement right down in their face.
You want to make the AIangryand this is pretty easily done by encroaching on their land. As long as you are prepared forsome conflict,then you should be safe with your early war weariness advantage.
Your main job as Tubman is to irritate your enemies until they’re constantly at war with you: you can do this bysettling cities close to them,stacking lots of units on their borders, ordenouncingthem.
you may also start to conductEspionageimmediately, regardless of your current relationship with the opposing civilizations.
Each Espionage action has a chanceof successand achance of being discovered. If it is discovered, you will receive ahefty relationship penaltywith that civ - not a bad idea if you want to encourage your neighbors to attack you.
Civics And Tech
Tubman relies quite a lot on healthy Influence gain to be able to play the diplomatic game, so you utlimately want to make a beeline for theWeiyang Palace- this is the best Influence Wonder in the game. It’s unlocked via theCitizenshipcivic, which you need to researchCode Of Lawsfirst to unlock.
Early, though, you just want to grabMysticismintoDiscipline.You’re probably going to be fighting a lot.
You definitely want to research theDiscipline Mastery civic.This unlocks theGate Of All Nations.It provides an extra +2 War Support forthe entire game.This is probably the best war Wonder in the game.
Pantheon
Your choice of Pantheon is typically quite limited onImmortalandDeitydifficulty, because the AI will typically beat you to the best ones.
However, if you do manage to snag an earlyMysticism, then the best Pantheon for Tubman is theCity Patron Goddess.This provides +3 Influence on your Altar.
If you may’t get the City Patron Goddess, you will have to be a bit more flexible. Typically,production Pantheons are useful- likeStone Circlesif you have the correct tiles for it.
An early Pantheon is why we recommend that you try and take Culture from your Discoveries. The quicker you can get to Mysticism the better, especially on higher difficulties.
Religion doesn’t come fully into play until the Exploration Age.you’re able to read more about it here.
Government
Harriet Tubman has a couple of options for a Government choice in the Antiquity Age.
You could go forDemocracyto unlock that significant20 percent food bonus, oryou could unlockOligarchyif you are going for a pure military victory - that bonus production to Infantry units is very powerful.
Conquest
Harriet Tubman wants to go to war, ultimately. You will capture settlements all over the place with your powerful units with boosted Combat Strength.
Should yourazecities or keep them for your own? This is entirely dependent on yourcurrentSettlement Limitand the quality of the towns and cities you conquer. Generally speaking, you want to keep hold of youropponent’s capital cityas this will likely have the most developed tiles or even some Wonders.
you may return settlements during peace treaties to repair your overall Happiness, but be wary of razing cities: it applies a game-long debuff to your Combat Strength and relationship with other civilizations.
Independent Powers
Independent Powers are very important on Tubman - you shouldtry to make friends with as many as possible, as they may be theonly way for you to open trade routesandearn bonuses from resources not available in your empire.
We recommend using the majority of your early Influence tobefriend as many Independent Powers as you may. We’d even go as far to say that this strategy is better than wiping them off the map, although you do earn great commander experience and bonuses for doing so.
You can level up your commander by killing Independent Powerunits without actually clearing the tile. There is a limit, however, on how much experience can be earned by fighting Independent Powers. You’ll have to turn your attention to opposing players eventually.
Best Civilizations For Harriet Tubman
Tubman is very versatile when it comes to civilization picks, though there are a couple of standouts from the Antiquity Age.
To really learn a leader we recommendplaying with lots of different civilizations, as you never know what sort of combinations and unique styles of play might present themselves.
+3 Influence per turn on the Palace.
+30% Production towards constructing the Oracle.
Greece is a fantastic Influence civilization in Civ 7. They have great base bonuses to Influence gain, and a host of diplomatic-focused civic techs that complement Tubman’s playstyle.
As well as these fantastic civics, the Greeks have a powerful Antiquity Age unit - the Hoplite - and theParthenonunique build that provides extra Influence gain.
Persia
If you prefer a more militaristic approach to Tubman, then we can recommend the Persians as one of the best military civilizations in the Antiquity Age.
Infantry Units receive +3 Combat Strength when attacking.
+30% Production towards constructing the Gate Of All Nations.
Immortal- Persian Unique Unit. 15 HP after it defeats an enemy unit.
The Immortal is one of the best Antiquity Age units. You get abunchof free units via the Persian’s unique narrative events, and theyhealafter defeating a unit.
As we mentioned above, theGate Of All Nationsis also a fantastic wonder for Tubman as it adds to her overall war weariness advantage acrossall three Ages of the game.
While the Persians let you play more aggressively, make sure thatyou are not declaring warsas you will lose your war weariness bonus.
Instead, attempt to aggravate the enemies to the point that they attack you. You can do this settling cities close to their borders, amassing lots of troops on their borders, ordenouncing them.
Best Mementos For Harriet Tubman
Tubman has some excellent Mementos for her strategy, both on her own unlock path and from other leaders.
This Memento is actually fantastic atgaining an advantage during the Antiquity Age. Generating free population is more impactful when you have fewer overall population. If you’re able to successfully commit Espionage Actions you’ll be able togenerate a lot of extra Migrantsto improve rural tiles in your capital, reaching max capacity quicker.
You can read more about Migrants here.
You can change your Mementos when the age transitions.Don’t forget! We often do…
Tubman In The Exploration Age And Modern Age
Tubman excels in the Exploration Age in terms of conquering settlements in Distant Lands. You should already have a robust military economy and plenty of units that are carried over from the Antiquity Age. You can eitherclear out your own continentor head over to the Distant Lands to start annoying the other AI.
By the Modern Age, a successful Tubman game should really close itself out. We’ve managed to stack War Support bonusesall the way up to 15 or 20, which renders your opponents useless and miserable. Conquest is easy when your enemies are suffering such massive reductions to their Combat Strength.
