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Benjamin Franklin is a great leader for science, production, and Influence-based gameplay inCivilization 7. His bonuses focus on production buildings (which will also grant you extra science) and extra science per Age for every Endeavor you start.
You should prioritize earning Influence above all else during the Antiquity Age, as it will provide an excellent science boost when you head into the Exploration Age. You can do this via various wonders and attribute points that we’ll cover below. This guide will also cover the best civilization combos for Franklin, the best Mementos, and more.
This guide is based on AI not multiplayer matches of Civ 7. It is not applicable to Multiplayer, although it can be used as a rough framework of how to correctly play Benjamin Franklin.
+1 Science per Age on Production Buildings in Cities.
+50% Production towards constructing Production buildings.
+1 Science per Age from active Endeavors you started or supported.
Can have two Endeavors of the same type active at a time.
Benjamin Franklin is all aboutInfluenceand diplomaticEndeavors. These new mechanics in Civilization 7 are extremely powerful. Early on, research collaborations and local festivals can improve your food, science, culture, and more, sometimes doubling your starting yields.
Franklin is all about diplomacy. Managing your relationship with other civilizations is key, as you want to be able to keep as many of them as possible on friendly terms - this will allow you to constantly send Endeavors whenever they become available.
As well as diplomacy, Benjamin Franklinexcels at production. That 50 percent production towards production buildings allows you to get very early production buildings, like the Saw Pit, for example, online before other players. Productionsnowballsin Civ 7.The more buildings you can construct in the Antiquity Age, the better footing you’ll have for the Exploration Age and Modern Age.
You can read more about Diplomacy in Civ 7 here.
Benjamin Franklin Early Strategy
Franklin is a versatile leader when it comes to victory conditions, particularly during the Antiquity Age. Yourhigh science yields and productionwill easily let you complete thecultureandsciencevictory paths, while you will also be able to establish trade networks with friendly civilizations for economic victory.
Don’t underestimate Franklin’s military capacity, either. Although he typically wants to follow a friendly, diplomatic path, he can alsoturn that high production into a machine of war. Your Influence gain can be used to sanction and hinder your opponents via espionage actions.
Your goal as Franklin is to get high-production cities online. We usually use a1:1ratio for cities and towns in Civ 7. So, for every city, you have one town feeding it. This is the ideal situation, though, and you’re not guaranteed to generate enough Gold to convert all your towns to cities. The more the better, however!
Early Pantheon
Early on, try to grab theMysticism civic,because if you can manage to get theCity Patron GoddessPantheon you’ll get anexcellent +3 Influenceboost early on. You could also go for theStone Circles Pantheon, as this provides some fantastic early production to help you get your capital up to speed quickly. The AI does love City Patron Goddess, so you might not be able to snag it on higher difficulties.
Pantheon choice is largely subjective, but there are a few standouts as the best in the game: City Patron Goddess, Stone Circles, and the Wonder-production Pantheon are all S-tier picks. However, make sure to make the choice based on your starting location - lots of fishing boats in your capital? Grab the production from fishing boats Pantheon, for example.You can read more about Religion in general here.
Religion doesn’t really start to play a part until the Exploration Age, but the Pantheon is still one of themost importantboosts to grab as early as you can.
Early Production
TheMonumentis a great early pick up for Franklin as it again provides more Influence. However, you can also start to get some early science by building production buildings like theSaw PitandBrick Yard.This makesAnimal Husbandrya particularly good first pick for technology, although, of course, this depends on what resources are located close to your capital.You can read more about resources in our complete guide.
We usually recommend starting with production buildings in the capital and using towns to feed the capital with food. You’ll need high production in your capital to be able to produce buildings fast enough to keep up with the ticking age timer, especially if you’re focused on grabbing some important Wonders.
Early strategies chop and change depending on your play style, leader, and civilization choice, but as a general rule we follow this formula:
Diplomacy
Demonstration of Franklin’s super early science advantage.
Build at leasttwo Scoutsand start exploring immediately, hunting for Discoveries and neighboring civilizations. You want to start interacting with other civs as soon as possible, using Franklin’sResearch Collaboration Endeavor(unlocked because he is classed as a scientific civilization) to begin pumping your science yields. While this does provide a bonus to your opponents, you can stack multiple Research Collaborations on top of each other to outstrip your opponent’s science output.
We think it’s a good idea to grabCultureto rush yourMysticism civic, thenScienceto grabAnimal HusbandryandPottery, and finally, Gold to help you purchase units, buildings, and potentially Settlers if you’re going for an early wonder and can’t spare the production in your capital.
Best Resources And Other Great Starts For Franklin
Incense is an excellent resource for Franklin as it increases science in the slotted city by 10 percent, but other early resources likeCottonandSheepcan provide a nice boost to food and production. Without a doubt, the best start for Franklin is near theGreat Barrier Reef, one of the best scienceNatural Wondersin the game.
You should be looking for early settlement spots with your Scouts. You should aim for some of the best early resources in the game, likeGoldandSilver.It’s also a good idea to settle onFresh Watertiles for that bonus happiness.
Best Mementos For Benjamin Franklin
Franklin’s Unique Mementos
As you may imagine, Franklin’s unique Mementos he unlocks via his progression path are both extremely useful:
These allow you to quickly gather Influence that snowballs with your progressively stronger science output throughout the game. By the time you reach the Modern Age, with the correct use of adajencies, you should be earning100s of Science a turnand quickly able to burn through the tech tree, earningMastery techs and unlocking even more Influence.
This is just a straight-up fun Memento because it reduces the science requiredacross the boardfor tech research. It gives you an immediate head-start against the AI.
If you’re opting for the peaceful route with Franklin, the Glass Armonica provides a staggering 10% scienceper Alliance.If you’re playing on a standard-sized map, you could potentially allyat leastone or two players, providing you with a potential extra 20 percent science production on top of your already huge science bonuses.
Complementary Mementos For Franklin
As well as his unique Mementos, there are plenty of other options.
This is a very straightforward Memento and one that is available right from the start of the game, ideal for first-time players of Franklin. It just provides you an extra point in the Diplomacy Attribute tree.You can see what the attribute trees offer here.
Seeing as you’re really pushing for science with Benjamin Franklin, it’s great to see a Memento that specifically favors hisdiplomatic/scientific style.
This neat little Memento is great when paired with the default+1 Diplomatic Attribute point mementoas it will allow you to immediately start with an extra 50 Influence at the beginning of the game. While that might seem like a small amount, it could be the key difference between getting that early city-state suzerainty or a good relationship with your neighbor.
Best Civilization Combos For Benjamin Franklin
As you begin the game with Benjamin Franklin in the Antiquity Age, you’ll get to pick your first civilization to pair with the leader.
Greece
Everything about Greece is built for Benjamin. Greece provides a flat+3 Influence on the Palaceright from the start of the game, and considering Influence is one of the most difficult of the currencies to come by in the early game, this boost is substantial.
TheParthenon, one part of the Greek’s unique quarter, will also add+2 Influenceif placed on Rough terrain. Once you’ve constructed the unique quarter, the Acropolis, you can also spawn aLogioswhich adds moreInfluenceto the palace tile. All of these bonuses start to stack up in a way that really favors Franklin’s diplomatic playstyle.
Don’t forget about your Logios! We have made this mistake multiple times already and always try to remind ourselves that we’ve got powerful Great People to build. They’re cheap to build for the first few, and their cost increases as you produce more of them.
Greece also has some very useful policies in their civic tree, includingXeniawhich makes befriending city-states much cheaper, Ekklesiamasterywhich provides+2 Culturefor each Endeavor you start, andSymmachia masterywhichprovides an extra 30 percent reduction in cost for Endeavors and Sanctions.
Rome
If you prefer to lean into a moremilitaristic approach, Rome is a solid choice. The Roman bonus ofextra production in the capital for every townleans nicely into Franklin’s overall production focus to generate science. Pairing that production with the scientific boost you’ll get to military tech - allowing you to unlockBronze Working early- will mean you have a significant advantage over your neighbors.
Use the Roman Legions to swarm your opponents.
But Rome isn’t just about the military. TheBasilicaunique building provides+1 Influence adjacencyfor Culture Buildings and Wonders. This massively improves yourMonument, for example, as well as improving early adjacency boosts for those great early wonders, like theGreat Stele.With plenty of production in the capital, you should be able to grab at least a couple of wonders, even on harder difficulties.
Rome doesn’t have the best Influence civics, as opposed to a civilization like Greece, but they still have some of thebest policies in the game.This includes theCursus Honorumwhich provides 25 percent of the production cost of Infantry units as culture whenever you produce an Infantry unit. This issuperpowerful early on, as it allows you to produce military without completely ignoring culture.
Benjamin Franklin In The Exploration Age And Modern Age
As you move into the Exploration and Modern Age with Benjamin Franklin, the choice of your new civilization is a big decision. It’s also completelysituational.Saying that there is acorrectorincorrectchoice when it comes to civilization isn’t really accurate.
Instead, you should make the decision based on the type of gaming you are playing - for example, as a military Franklin you might want to lean into theNormans.
Depending on your difficulty level, you might’ve already started to completely outscale the AI with science by this point.
Normans, Exploration Age
This is the civilization the game recommends you pick for Franklin because, apparently, they share acultural link(we’re not sure what that is exactly, but whatever). But you should only pick theNormansif you’ve embarked down the military path withRomein the previous Age.
The Normans can play an aggressive or defensive military game during the Exploration Age. If you’ve spent the previous Age developing a strong military presence on your continent and a robust science economy, you may use the powerfulChevaler unique unitto defend your borders, turtle up, and explode with science, or use them to start conquering the rest of the world.
Modern Age
There are multiple options for civilizations in the Modern Age - the choice is too diverse to actually say which is the best. It totally depends on how your game has developed up until this point. America seems like the default choice, and Franklin could certainly benefit from the massive production boost from theRailyardandSteel Mill.
Alternatively, a civilization likeFranceor evenMeiji Japanfor military victories makes sense, too.
