Contents
Introduction
All credit goes to Tynendir!
Here’s a guide to help you decide on which culture is the best for which purpose. For each culture I will assign a letter from S-tier (the best of the best) to D-tier (the worst of the worst). I will write a paragraph explaining why I think this culture deserves its place.
Of course this tier list, while trying to remain objective, is heavily influence by my playstyle and the options I play on (Endless pace) which is not necessarily balanced.
Ancient Era
S Tier
Egyptians
Huge industry boost that will carry you through all the eras with -10% to district cost. Their Emblematic district is nothing to scoff at with Influence and a lot of Industry generated. Moreover their unique unit is quite potent as a replacement for the Archer. If you manage to grab the Pyramid of Gizah then it’s almost a guaranteed win against the AI.
Harappans
It is no surprise that the AI tends to favor the Harappans when they reach the Ancient Era. It is an incredibly potent culture. First off, Agrarian Affinity is broken and will generate tons of population while denying them to your neighbors. Incredibly effective.
The Emblematic District is very potent as rivers are incredibly good in the early game with the Irrigation and Watermill infrastructure and will make the cities founded on rivers extremely powerful.
Furthermore, population is very important in the early game as, most of the time, they will generate almost as many resources than a district and can be used to build military units.
Therefore, a strategy with the Harappans could be to steal the population from your neighbors, preventing them for easily raising an army and then rushing them with an army of your own. They might not be considered as a militarist culture as they lack bonuses to make their units better, but they can overcome it with sheer number especially in the early with their special unit that is very effective at rushing.
A Tier
Myceanans
The best culture for people who want to be aggressive. Their legacy trait means +1 Combat Strength to all their units in the Ancient Era and they are cheaper.
Their Emblematic District is the best early game tool to deal with Stability and generates tons of Influence. The culture is a bit more focused towards defense rather than offense but with all those bonuses can be very versatile. Their unique unit in particular can have a shock and awe effect when attacking during the first round, making them very effective at overwhelming attackers and defenders alike. Only downfall is that being aggressive is situational.
Zhou
Their legacy trait is incredible, allowing you to deal with stability much easier throughout all eras. For every 6 garrisons in the early game that your competitor will have to build, you will only have to build 4 (and a quarter of one). It can almost be considered as an Industry bonus. Moreover their Emblematic Quarter can also be an effective tool to deal with Stability while also generating Science. It can even be a good science alternative to Babylonians if you are in a Mountain-heavy area. The downside of their Emblematic District is that you can only build it adjacent to other districts (like regular districts) and thus its placement can be a bit finicky to exploit those mountains and special tiles. Otherwise not S-tier as they do not have the most powerful bonuses Industry or Food wise. Moreover, Unique unit is not that amazing.
Olmecs
A good food and influence oriented culture with their Emblematic Quarter. Their legacy trait is however on the weak side. Their unique unit can be quite good in Forest Tiles.
B Tier
Assyrians
A good expansionist culture with a very useful legacy trait that will carry through the eras. The +1 Land Movement Speed is incredible on Huge maps and is useful in more areas than just simple warfare. The Ransacking bonus will mean that you need less time to ransack outpost to prevent the expansion of your competitors. In addition their unique unit is very mobile and can ransack for a bit more gold though it is not a huge bonus.
Finally their Emblematic District can act as an Influence generating garrison and can be purchased in Outposts that are not attached for an influence price. It can quickly go out of control with more and more influence generated. Perhaps the best influence culture in the Ancient Era.
Not S-tier or A-tier as those bonuses will be useless if you don’t have a lot of neighbors and there is nothing to boost your economy except for Influence. Therefore it is a situational culture.
Nubians
Merchant cultures are in my opinion fairly weak compared to other affinities. Money isn’t that good in the early game. Sure it can replace production in some cases as you can rush production. It is however extremely costly with 1 turn of production being equal to hundreds of Money. The only real use for Money is influencing independent people. Influencing them and then hiring their armies might be the only way you can defend yourself against more aggressive cultures. Their legacy trait is quite useful in the early game and will generate a lot of gold but almost entirely useless in the late game (it will generate at the very most 250 gold when you will produce more than 20k). And their special district has the merit to act as both a Market Quarter and a Makers Quarter. Therefore it exploits both Money and Industry. They have decent Archers that can truly benefit from steep terrains to avoid being attacked back by ranged units.
Babylonians
Very weak Legacy Trait that will only be relatively meaningful in the Ancient Era but then completely useless. There are less than 100 technologies in the game so at most you are looking at a 200 Science boost in the late game, which is around 2% of what you will produce (high estimates).
Their Emblematic Quarter however is quite potent as it is able to exploit both food and science (thus counting as both a Research and a Farmer Quarter). It can produce quite a lot of Science in the early game and make your Researchers able to generate a tiny amount of food (1/8th of what they need to survive). For that alone, the Babylonians can be a good science culture to get an early tech lead. They also have a strong defensive unique unit that can quite effectively defend your cities.
C Tier
Hittites
A much weaker version of the Myceanans as far as aggressive cultures are concerned. Their legacy trait is good and will be useful throughout the game. It is their saving grace as their Emblematic Quarter is almost completely useless. It is as if they didn’t have any. They do have a redeeming quality in their Unique Unit that might be the best in the Ancient Era. Suppression and Charge can be quite deadly against all types of units.
D Tier
Phoenicians
Same thoughts as the Nubians for the Merchant affinity. In addition the Phoenicians are very weak with their legacy trait (as you won’t have any Merchants in the early game but it does scale better than Nubians’) and their Emblematic District is unlocked too late in the era to be really useful. Only use that would make them C-tier is in Ocean heavy maps where their unique unit can explore a bit better.
Classical Era
S Tier
Huns
The most powerful culture of the Classical era military-wise. They are able to quickly raise armies thanks to their unattached outposts able to convert 4 pops into a 4 Units Army of Hunnic Horde. Their unique unite is an incredibly strong horse archers unit able to self replicate by ransacking and killing enemy troops. Their hit and run tactics are legendary and able to make short work of any army composition available to Classical Era cultures with the exception of Heavy Cavalry that may only trade relatively well depending on the terrain. The strategy with this culture is to raid as much as possible and make the neighboring competitors your vassals.
A Tier
Achaemenid Persians
A very good Legacy Trait on Huge maps allowing them to play wide. The Persians are a good Influence/Money generating culture thanks to their Emblematic District. Their unique unit is incredible at defending against melee heavy armies if they can manage to sit inside your cities or in good chokepoints.
Mayans
A strong Emblematic District that allows them to outproduce most other cultures in terms of Industry. Their unique unit is pretty good against other archers unit and may trade well against the infamous Hunnic Hordes due to their poison status that reduce their speed.
B Tier
Carthaginians
Decent Merchant culture thanks to their industry producing Emblematic Districts that acts as harbors. Their Legacy Traits can be good if you manage to produce a lot of money in the next eras. The War Elephant is also a strong unique unit that can trade well in most situations against all types of units.
Mauryans
Strong Legacy Trait for generating a lot of Influence. Decent Science generation with their Emblematic District. And a strong Cavalry Archer. Overall, a decently rounded culture.
C Tier
Aksumites
A somewhat okay Legacy Trait in this era but which will not drastically improve your future game plan. Same can be said for their Emblematic District unless you are playing a Religion-heavy build. Very weak unique unit that can easily be ignored by the infamous Hunnic Hordes as they ignore zoning effect.
Romans
Pretty good legacy trait that will allow you to boost your Money income as it drastically reduces your main (if not only) source of Money deficit. The +1 Army Slot can be ignored however.
Their Emblematic District is somewhat decent at generating Influence and Stability. Their unique units can be quite potent if allowed to group up to an enemy thanks to their Tactical Superiority ability.
Greeks
Fairly weak Legacy Trait but a decent Emblematic District that will scale through the Eras (though a fairly mediocre scaling). Their Unique Unit is decent with a bonus similar to the Romans but much weaker and more defensively oriented.
D Tier
Celts
Somewhat weak Legacy Trait and Emblematic district. A very weak unique unit. The only redeeming quality is for when you want to go for a food-heavy strategy then they can be decent at producing food.
Goths
Negligible bonus to their Legacy Trait unless you build tons of Garrisons. They can generate a lot of faith thanks to their Emblematic District but Religion is fairly weak overall and it’s easy to acquire a 4th Tenet even without any Faith bonuses. Their unique unit is decent at raiding but that’s pretty much it.
Medieval Era
S Tier
Khmer
Not the strongest of Legacy Trait but boy oh boy their Emblematic District is good. Both a Farmers Quarter and a Makers Quarter, it is especially good on Rivers and produce 1 Industry per pop. This last bonus makes this district a beast in the late game and can propel your faction through the roof in terms of Industry production. Moreover their unique unit is the second strongest in terms of Combat Strength but has the added bonus of being an Elephant (Horse) Archer. Note however that it does require a lot of resources (2 Iron and 2 Copper) to produce.
A Tier
Franks
Decent legacy trait for those wanting to generate a lot of influence. Their Emblematic District allows them to produce Science and Influence which can be a good combo in the Medieval Era for a New World rush. Their unique units pack a punch as far as Heavy Cavalry goes. Decently balanced culture.
Teutons
Their Legacy Trait can be fairly decent at generating both Science and Money if your Religion becomes dominant. Their Emblematic District is decent in the sense that it is a slightly better Makers Quarter generating a bit of Influence and Faith. It can be excellent if you manage to build Angkor Wat as it will then generates a ton of Food. Their Unique Unit is decent as a Heavy Cavalry Unit but requires a lot of resources (2 Horses, 2 Iron) and their unique ability, giving combat strength against units following a different religion, can be decent. I considered letting them stay in B-Tier but they are fairly versatile.
B Tier
Aztecs
A strong military oriented legacy trait. The bonus to movement coupled with their unique units (which doesn’t need any resources to be built) allows the Aztecs to face many foes including horse archers. Their emblematic district is a pretty good influence generator and is free to build stability-wise. However it does not exploit tiles which is a disadvantage. Overall a balanced civilization that is not too over the top and which makes it B-tier.
Mongols
While the Huns were the most powerful culture of the Classical era military-wise and while this culture functions the same, the Mongols are a tad weaker than their more ancient cousins. The reason being that, by the Medieval Era, the other cultures have access to units that can more effectively counter Horse Archers; crossbowmen and Knights (and Pikemen to a lesser extent). Their Legacy Trait does help them in reproducing quicker and they can certainly be a force to be reckoned with. A lack of proper Emblematic District can however hurt them in the long run. I put them in B-tier as they are very situational and the choice of this culture can bite you in the ass in some situations.
C Tier
Norsemen
Situational culture that excels in ocean-heavy maps with their Legacy Trait and Unique Unit. Their unique Unit allows them to be one of the first to reach the New World and the Emblematic District, being a Harbor/Farmers Quarter/Market Quarter allows them to pump out a lot of troops for warfare. If they weren’t as situational I would have put them for sure in B-tier at the very least, if not A-tier. In maps with lots of continents and islands then they can easily reach S-tier.
The Legacy Trait will help you dominate Naval Engagements throughout the game.
D Tier
Byzantines
Terribly awful Legacy trait unless you are allied with half the map (even then I would consider that it’s often better to expand through conquest than to make allies with your neighbors). Their unique units is the strongest of the era in terms of combat strength but doesn’t have a useful bonus against anything and requires a lot of iron to produce. Their Emblematic district does generate a lot of gold if you have access to lot of horses which is decent. Overall it’s a fairly weak culture that is situation if you have lots of Iron and Horses.
English
Weak legacy trait that doesn’t scale well and doesn’t produce a lot of yields. Decent Archer unique unit that can sit confortably in the Emblematic Distric which is both a Garrison and a Farmers Quarter. A defense and food oriented culture that might be good to grab to defend against Huns or Mongols but overall fairly weak.
Ghanaians
The Legacy Trait can produce a decent amount of money at the Medieval Era but doesn’t scale well at all. Their Emblematic District can be stronger than the Byzantines’ but overall they are pretty similar. Their unique unit is decent against Horse Archers and Cavalry in general. All in all I consider them a weak culture.
Umayyads
Like the Byzantines, garbage Legacy Trait. Their Emblematic District can be decent in Metropolises that have lots of territories attached but otherwise are not that good and can actually be weaker than the Franks Emblematic District that, in addition to generating Science, also generates Influence. Their Unique Unit is basically the same as Ghanaians but less specialized against Mounted Units.
Early Modern Era
S Tier
Ming
Not on amazing Legacy Trait but useful nonetheless. Their Emblematic District is where the party’s at however. It generates insane amount of Influence and if you have a large territory it’s not uncommon to generates thousands of Influence per turn thanks to them. Their Unique Unit is not amazing but not terribly bad either.
A Tier
Mughals
Fairly good Legacy Trait if you’re playing Tall (bigger cities) in your Capital. It’s especially good on Huge maps where you might have a lot of territories. Their Emblematic District is a Makers Quarter and Industry is King in this game. It’s thus a fairly strong District which generates a lot of Industry if you have a lot of Workers and some negligible Influence. They have a decent Unique Unit that acts as a Horse Archer; firepower coupled with mobility.
B Tier
Dutch
Decent Legacy Trait if you have a lot of Population. Their Emblematic District can generate a lot of Money if you’ve chosen other Sea-focused cultures previously like the Carthaginians and Norsemen. Their Unique Unit is quite useless however as it doesn’t bring the tactical advantage that the Norsemen Unique Unit has (being able to cross Oceans freely before everyone else). Money becomes a bit more important starting this Era as units’ upkeep becomes exponentially more expensive. It justifies in my opinion the Dutch position in B Tier.
Edo Japanese
Fairly good at generating Influence thanks to their Legacy Trait and Emblematic District. Their Unique Unit is quite strong but Melee units tend to start disappearing in favor of Gunpowder units. Well-rounded culture but sub tier compared to other Aesthete cultures in this Era.
C Tier
Haudenosaunee
Decent at generating tons of food thanks to a very good Legacy Trait and an adequate (but not amazing by any means) Emblematic District. Food tends to be less important in the later Eras and thus it justifies the Haudenosaunee’s place in C Tier. Their unique unit also comes very late in the Era but is a decent early replacement from the Industrial Era Partisans unit.
Joseon
The only Scientist affinity Culture in this Era so I guess it can bring them an advantage. However I do find them quite weak in terms of their Legacy Trait (not a lot of tiles on the map generating Science in the first place) and their Emblematic District (which does not scale amazingly well). Their Unique Unit is situational to Sea-heavy maps. Overall their saving grace is their affinity and the fact that Science is a precious commodity.
Ottomans
Like the Teutons their Emblematic District can be amazing if you’ve built Angkor Wat for generating tons of Food. It also generates a decent amount of Influence (but nowhere near as much as the Ming). It is thus quite situational. Their Legacy Trait allows them to produce loads of stronger Heavy Weapons and, coupled with a strong Unique Unit that is even stronger in Sieges, the Ottomans can be a military force to be reckoned with. Overall they are situational which justifies their place in C Tier.
D Tier
Poles
Quite a strong Legacy Trait and a decent Unique Unit that doesn’t get retaliation damage when they charge. However their Emblematic District is fairly weak in terms of yield (it’s just a slightly better Garrison) and doesn’t exploit nearby tiles. Their Legacy Trait is useful to deal with stability and quite potent in its role but I feel like that Stability in the Modern Era is not issue thanks to the Patronage technology and its ability to build Wondrous deposits. I strongly hesitate between C Tier and D Tier but in the end I think the last point justifies its place in D Tier.
Spanish
Weak Legacy Trait (though useful for aggressive empires), weak Emblematic District (same advantage as Teutons and Ottomans with Angkor what but without any other yield) and only a decent Unique Unit which doesn’t save them from a well-deserved D-Tier spot. I would even say that they are a league (or two or three) below the Poles and could be a F-Tier culture if I hadn’t decided that there would be no F-Tier. Overall, garbage culture.
Venetians
Weak Legacy Trait at first glance but I feel like the yields regarding Trade Routes are more important than they appear. Their Emblematic District is weird as it can generate more Influence than Money for a Market Quarter. In the end it fails to provide any good yield for either. Their Unique unit, like the Dutch, is a boat. It is better in Coastal Water and so only useful in niche circumstances. I would argue the Joseon or Dutch Unique Units are better in the sense they can prevent other Empires from reaching the New World or reach it first thanks to Naval Supremacy.
D-Tier is quite justified here (worse than Poles but better than Spanish though).
Industrial Era
S Tier
Germans
A decent Legacy Trait for those wanting to be aggressive, especially if you pair it with other bonuses that reduce the Industry cost of Units. Their Unique Unit is a good naval unit but, because it is a naval unit, it’s not amazing. Their Emblematic District does generate pollution but are very good at producing Industry. The combination of their Legacy Trait and Industry production makes them a very strong militarist faction that can quickly conquer unsuspecting competitors.
Persians
Great Legacy Trait and amazing for any culture specializing in Industry. Their Emblematic District is both a Makers Quarter and a Market Quarter which makes it highly desirable in this era as Money becomes necessary for Unit Upkeep and Industry is Industry. The Unique Unit replaces the Line Infantry of which you will have a lot and are quite strong at attacking. Overall a very strong culture.
A Tier
French
Good Legacy Trait that gives a flat 10% to Science in Cities. Their Emblematic District can generate a lot of Science depending on your Population and a small amount, but non-negligible, of Influence. An amazing Science culture for sure. Their Unique Unit is pretty good but pales in comparison to how amazing ranged units become in this Era. I hesitated in putting the French in the S-Tier but I had no culture in A-Tier (as I consider B-Tier cultures as balanced) and I was afraid of being treated as chauvinistic for putting the French on a pedestal. Yet they are very very good and can quickly propel the Science production of any Empire for a quick Science end-game.
B Tier
Austro-Hungarians
Very strong influence generating culture. Their Legacy Trait wil lgive you a huge boost on your Influence generation as it scales with the amount of district you have built and will build. Their Emblematic District is correct at generating Influence and Stability and can actually negate the negative Stability given by districts entirely if you build enough of them (10 total without any other bonuses like Zhou and Poles Legacy Trait). It can be very strong if you are in a position where you don’t have access to a lot of Luxury Resources and Luxury Manufactories. Overall quite decent if you want to take an Influence lead. Their unique unit is decent but you probably won’t build a lot of them as they replace the Partisans and it’s usually not a unit you have a lot of by this era.
Siamese
Good Legacy Trait that scales well and can provide a big boost to your Industry if you have a lot of Districts. Their Emblematic District is a bit finicky in terms of placement as it needs to be on Coastal Water and adjacent to a district (it doesn’t say in the tooltip considering placement requirements). One easy way to place them is to build a Hamlet next to the coast in order to facilitate the placement of the Emblematic District (thanks @Cornix for the tip). It does provide a decent amount of Money and a bit of Industry. It also acts as both a Market Quarter and a Makers Quarter but, as it is a harbor won’t produce a lot of Industry anyhow. Their Unique Unit is a very strong unit that replaces the Heavy Machine Gun but isn’t considered a Heavy Weapon (so it can move and fire but doesn’t benefit from the Ottomans Legacy Trait). A decent and well rounded culture in my opinion justifying a B-Tier.
C Tier
Italians
Sub-par Legacy Trait and Emblematic District compared to the Austro-Hungarians which fulfill the same niche. They are still decent at producing Influence, especially if they have constructed a lot of Commons Quarter. Their Unique Unit has a very nice strategic advantage of being able to climb cliffs which can open a lot of interesting tactical decisions during combat. Overall still an inferior culture and situational.
Mexicans
Food is starting to fall drastically in use as the game progresses which makes the Mexicans weaker as they are very Food-focused. Their Legacy Trait is not very strong, especially considering that it’s the same as the French but for Food instead of Science (Science being much more valuable yield-wise). Their Emblematic District can produce an ungodly amount of Food and can be a boon for any Empire trying to facilitate population growth. Their Unique Unit is comparable to the Austro-Hungarians’ in the sense that you probably won’t have a lot of them at hand. It could be a very strong culture, if it were not for the fact that Food becomes less desirable in the late game.
D Tier
British
Very good Unique Unit for a replacement of the Line Infantry. They can regen in outside territory making it one of the best units for aggressive players for this era. Having stated that, their Legacy Trait is horrendous, without any scaling and with very low yields for this era (even if you’ve built super tall in your capital). Same can be said for their Emblematic District that can only be built in the territory of your vassals (which would be very very small) and does not generate an incredible amount of Money. It is fair to assume that this culture is D-tier.
Russians
Weak culture overall justifying a D-Tier spot. Their Legacy Trait is not that good and their Emblematic District is garbage (low Influence and Faith generating which doesn’t scale well). Their Unique Unit is decent, especially if you have a lot of Horse Archers that you can upgrade into it, but quite weaker in terms of Strength compared to other Unique Units.
Zulu
Very weak culture justifying a D-Tier spot and might be even worse than the Russians. It’s a militarist culture focused on defense, already this sentence should make you aware of how weak a culture it is. First, their Emblematic Quarter is an improved Garrison that boost adjacent units and does not generate any yield. Secondly, their Legacy Trait improves regen of units and make them stronger inside or near your borders. Thus with those two bonuses, you should get stronger units than your opponents if you choose your terrain well and fight with those bonuses. Yet your Unique Unit receives a bonus to Strength if they are weaker than their opponents which makes no sense as it incites the Zulus to not fight with the first two bonuses aforementioned. Finally their Unique Unit is a Close-combat Unit that is completely obsolete compared to the amazing Line Infantry regular Unit. It will receive retaliation damage when the Line Infantry will not, it has 2 less Combat Strength (mitigated by the +4 when attacking stronger units but which will not help in defense). The only advantage is that they cost 2 times less to produce in terms of Industry and Population. It doesn’t justify their weakness overall compared to other cultures.
Contemporary Era
S Tier
Swedes
In the late game Science is King and no other cultures can generate as much Science as the Swedes. Their Legacy Trait will boost their Science as soon as they reach the Contemporary Era Furthermore, with each Emblematic District they build, their Science will skyrocket. It is the best culture to finish the game quickly by finishing up the tech tree. Their Unique Unit is irrelevant as often time, if not all the time, the game will end before you can build up your military forces in any significant numbers.
Japanese
Second best culture in terms of Science. Their strength is not in Science generation but in their Legacy Trait that reduces the cost of technologies. Their Emblematic District is quite good at generating both Industry and Science. Unfortunately both of those don’t provide as much as a turbo boost to their Science compared to the Swedes. However, if you expect the game to be dragged out a bit more, then the Japanese are a decent choice because of their versatility. Their Unique Unit is not that good however.
A Tier
Turks
Turks are actually surprisingly good in this Era despite being an Agrarian affinity. Food isn’t useful in this Era but their Emblematic District generates a lot of Science depending on your Population. Therefore they can be a decent contender to the Swedes and the Japanese. Their Unique Unit, a missile, is not really worth the time to build it. You can’t anonymously target Units that are in their territory and if they are in yours, you’re probably already at war with them.
B Tier
Australians
Actually a fairly decent culture if you want to reach for a Space victory.
They can generate tons of Industry to rush the Shared Projects needed for a Space Victory. They can also rush Infrastructure quite effectively, a potent strategy considering the impact that some late game infrastructure can have on all your yields. Their Unique Unit is nothing to write home about.
Soviets
I can already feel the heat that I will get from the comments from putting the Soviets this far in this list. Some people consider the Soviets S-Tier because of their Emblematic District which can potentially give you an Insane amount of Combat Strength at the most cost of Stability in your Cities. It would mean that eventually no other culture could compete against a well prepared Soviets player on the warfront. I do agree with that last statement but it would be without considering the amount of resources, and mostly time, invested in that endeavor. In fact, the time alone invested in the building of Arms Factories would mean that your opponent would either have finished the game through the tech tree or invested in Nuclear missiles to annihilate your Cities, Armies and Arms Factories. The Soviets do have a huge potential for warfare thanks to that element, their potent Unique Unit (a regenerating tank) and their Legacy Trait but warfare in the Contemporary Era takes too much time and not enough rewards to consider as a serious and potent strategy.
C Tier
Chinese
Decent at generating Money but I feel like earlier cultures could potentially generate more than the Chinese. Ok Legacy Trait if you’re already generating some Money but they have an underwhelming Emblematic District. They do have access to the best Artillery Unit in the game but it arrives so late that they probably wouldn’t have time to use properly anyhow.
D Tier
Bazilians
Food is quite useless in this Era considering how easy it is to get thanks to some buildings and techs. Moreover, Population growth is capped, so you cannot get more than a couple of Population every turn, even if you have huge Food production. Therefore too much excess of Food is actually non productive. The Brazilians are a culture that solely focuses on Food. They do it well thanks to their Legacy Trait and Emblematic District, but it doesn’t save them from the D-Tier hammer. Like other Unique Units in this era, there’s not much to say.
Egyptians
Fairly weak Influence generating culture. Their Legacy Trait will allow you to get a couple hundred Influence more per turn but won’t scale much. Influence is also quite weak in the late game. Most territories would have been conquered by now and you have the option to use Money instead of Influence thanks to a Civics. Therefore their Emblematic District that only produces Influence is quite weak as well. To the proverbial last nail in the coffin, their Unique Unit is anecdotal.
Indians
Faith generating and non-scaling bonuses all around. Their Legacy Trait is weak sauce in terms of Influence generated but can generate a decent amount of Money on Huge maps (but only enough for a dozen units or so). Their Emblematic District is generating Faith mostly and therefore can be almost ignored unless you’ve built Angkor Wat. Their Unique Unit can be decent but you probably won’t have enough time to build any before the end of the game. To my mind, Indians are the weakest of all cultures in this Era along the Americans.
Americans
Americans might be – or have been- a superpower in our timeline but they’re definitely not in Humankind. Like the Turks, their Unique Unit can’t anonymously target Units that are in their territory and if they are in yours, you’re probably already at war with them. I would consider it a bit more useful however as it’s a plane and not a one use missile. Their Legacy Trait is super weak but even weaker is their Emblematic District. To the point where in my games, when I played Americans, I never considered building one even once. It’s a sort of Influence generating garrison that doesn’t provide Stability. So weak haiyah. Some people suggested in the comments that I put them in a new F-tier category but D-Tier is as deep as it goes for this guide. We are however in the deepest part of the D-Tier cesspool.
Be the first to comment