Summary
Culture and civics are important aspects of anyCivilization 7campaign. Of course, depending on the type of victory you’re going for, whether Cultural, Economic, Scientific, or Military, the civics you’ll want to research may shift. However, there are still a handful of civics that are worth researching right off the bat.
Beginning in the Antiquity Age, there are some civics in the civic tree you’ll want to prioritize right away in order to get the best head start in your campaign. Whether you’re new to the franchise or a veteran, here is a list of the best culture and civics to research first in Civilization 7.
For this list, we are focusing on civics you can earn during the Antiquity Age, meaning all of these are available early on in your campaign.
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Mysticism should be your top priority when it comes to completing your civics tree. This unlocks the Priesthood policy, which can be highly beneficial in the Antiquity Age, but eventually leads to Code of Laws, which is an essential civic.
Most importantly though, Mysticism unlocks the ability to found a Pantheon. Having a strong Pantheon in place is essential for the Exploration Age and founding a religion, so make sure you do this first.
The most important element of military combat andachieving military victoriesin Civilization 7 is having good Army Commander units at your disposal. Researching this civic unlocks your ability to do just that, so it’s a must-have early on.
If you’re surrounded by civs that are warmongers, or even aggressive Independent Powers, focus on Discipline early on in your civics tree. It’s available right after researching Chiefdom in your first few turns.
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Researching the Code of Laws civic is essential if you’re planning an Economic Victory. However, even if you’re more interested in just pursuing culture orany other victory condition, you’ll still want to prioritize this civic early on.
The reason you’ll want to spend time focusing on Code of Laws is because you unlock the Merchant support unit once you complete this research. Regardless of your strategy, having a healthy amount of Merchants is essential for solid gameplay.
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Citizenship, as a civic, synergizes well with players who are pursuing a Cultural Victory for two reasons. One, this unlocks the Cultural Festival Project, which can help boost your cultural output alongside ally civs.
Second, you’ll also unlock the Drama and Poetry policy, which grants +50 percent production toward constructing Culture Buildings. So, if you’re pursuing a cultural victory, you’ll want to prioritize this civic extremely early.
Almost immediately after researching Citizenship, you’ll want to pursue the Mastery civic research. The Hospitality Policy is great, granting +3 Culture for every City-State you control.
However, you’ll also be able to initiate the Wonder Construction Endeavor once you complete Mastery of this civic, which helps accelerate your production of Wonders during the Antiquity Age. Because the milestone for the Cultural Legacy Path involves Wonder Construction, this boon is not to be overlooked.
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If you’re interested in pursuing a Scientific Victory, you’ll want to put Literacy at the top of your civic tree research list. This is because Literacy is one of the first civics you can research that’ll allow you to gain a Codex.
This is not only critical for theScientific Legacy path, but helpful for boosting your overall science yield, since each Codex can grant you a +2 to your yield. This will help you research your Tech Tree just as quickly as your civic one.
Even if you’re not feeling like you want to run a domination-based campaign, you’ll want to make sure you can defend yourself should other civs get envious of your empire. That’s why Tactics is a great civic to research early.
You’ll start the foundation for unlocking other military policies and civics, but most importantly, you’ll gain +30 percent production toward training Infantry and Ranged units. There’s nothing worse than wasting turns on producing soldiers, so prioritize cutting down that production time with this civic.
Preceded by Tactics, you’ll want to research Organized Military pretty quickly during the Antiquity Age for one very important reason. You’ll be able to increase your settlement limit by one after you complete this civic.
This is essential early on in the game when your settlement limit is pretty restrictive. More towns and more cities means more gold and more production, so don’t sleep on this civic, even if you’re not trying to build a strong military.
Skilled Trades is a civic you can earn pretty late in your Antiquity Age run, but it is imperative for trying to complete the Economic Legacy Path during this age. The Economic Legacy path during the Antiquity Age has you focus on collecting as many resources as you can.
Skilled Trades unlocks the Coinage Policy, which allows for +1 Gold for each imported resource. This means you’re able to buy more merchants to subsequently unlock more resources.
If you’re surrounded by dozens of hostile Independent Powers or even aggressive enemy civs, you’ll want to prioritize Public Life in your civic research tree. This is because you’ll immediately unlock the City Guard Policy once you complete your research.
This policy grants +3 Combat Strength for fortified districts. Of course, this means you’ll have to spend turns building fortifications, but if you need a good defense against enemies, or are actively in a war, you’ll want to take a look at Public Life.
