Marcus Montis
Chieftain
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2025
- Messages
- 7
I must admit I was really looking forward playing with Teach and the pirates on deity level. Normally I manage to score all four legacy paths in exploration when the set-up in Antiquities is right. Plenty of options for the modern age 
. But I was curious on the economic and military paths. Could they be managed in every circumstance?
Will the AI players go for treasure fleets I can capture? And will there be enough before the age ends? And how about the military path…No settler production at all. Do I need to be dependant on capturing cities and suzeraining independents (and then incorporate them)? Can I be in time to get this one as well? I didn’t know but I was certainly going to try. Looked like fun!
So I started as I normally do in Exploration. Put my science on shipbuilding right from turn 1. And put my religion civics as first priority (before going for the specific pirate civics). Spend my money on a few extra sloops to start massive exploring right away. Hoping for a few independent ships to pick up along the way.
Everything went as planned it seemed. Unfortunately the AI players were not much interested in exploration. But I did discover three friendly and three hostile independents along the way. Ok…no razing, but diplomatically try to win them over. They all had at least one treasure resource. But the problem is, suzeraining them, and incorporation. That means shitloads of influence. And the hostile will take a lot of extra turns.
In the meantime I got two buccaneers as soon as possible. Waited two extra turns for the science to give me carracks. Then send them out with a sloop and a carrack to cause mayhem wherever possible. Just a note for the designers: the relationship penalty for being such a rascal is relatively low. Only four relation drop for raiding a trade route? Historically this may be accurate, but game wise it’s hardly a problem.
And then I discovered there was an added bonus I completely overlooked… When I went through the pirate civics (which I don’t consider to be that great, but they are definitely fun enhancing) there was one tiny aspect that changed my view completely.
Buccaneers get the option to found a (coastal) settlement once per game.
Problem solved. I had discovered a few perfect settlement sides (one with three, and one with five treasure resources). I play on a huge map, so I need 6 distant land settlements (with my religion) to score the 12 points needed for the military path. Provided you don’t capture an AI one.
So I managed to score all 4 legacy paths again, and had a lot of fun.
For those players interested why I focus on religion first, before doing the pirate civics?
I have a standard strategy for exploration. Basically it means keeping the peace in your homelands and maximising trade and development.
Science path is first go for shipbuilding, then immediately go for increasing the number of specialists in cities. This way you set the basic for the science and economic paths. When exploring, go for 6 distant land settlements all with your religion. Try to get a treasure resources on all six, and if you have two or more? The better for you. And why full religion first in civics? If you do that, you will always be the first one to get the Dhawa belief. IT IS AWESOME! Produce trade routes and you will convert the cities of your trading partner. With a bit of luck you will be the first to get the belief that gives you relics when you convert a settlement with an altar or temple. Sure to catch at least 3 relics every 4 trade routes. Otherwise the one converting 10+ urban is a nice one as well. And the civics that boost your hometowns are super if you quickly convert all your own cities. My experience with the AI is that it is not particularly active with religion. More of a nuisance than an actual strategy. So you will be first if you focus on it. And that means a very easy legacy path on culture.
But of course it all depends on your set-up at the end of Antiquities.
Hope you enjoyed reading this post.
Here is a veteran Civ Player right from the start with Civ 1 getting me hooked. I really love Civ 7 and the new concepts.
But I do find it a lot easier to play on the hardest level compared to Civ 6.
Regards, Marcus
. But I was curious on the economic and military paths. Could they be managed in every circumstance?Will the AI players go for treasure fleets I can capture? And will there be enough before the age ends? And how about the military path…No settler production at all. Do I need to be dependant on capturing cities and suzeraining independents (and then incorporate them)? Can I be in time to get this one as well? I didn’t know but I was certainly going to try. Looked like fun!
So I started as I normally do in Exploration. Put my science on shipbuilding right from turn 1. And put my religion civics as first priority (before going for the specific pirate civics). Spend my money on a few extra sloops to start massive exploring right away. Hoping for a few independent ships to pick up along the way
.Everything went as planned it seemed. Unfortunately the AI players were not much interested in exploration. But I did discover three friendly and three hostile independents along the way. Ok…no razing, but diplomatically try to win them over. They all had at least one treasure resource. But the problem is, suzeraining them, and incorporation. That means shitloads of influence. And the hostile will take a lot of extra turns.
In the meantime I got two buccaneers as soon as possible. Waited two extra turns for the science to give me carracks. Then send them out with a sloop and a carrack to cause mayhem wherever possible. Just a note for the designers: the relationship penalty for being such a rascal is relatively low. Only four relation drop for raiding a trade route? Historically this may be accurate, but game wise it’s hardly a problem.
And then I discovered there was an added bonus I completely overlooked… When I went through the pirate civics (which I don’t consider to be that great, but they are definitely fun enhancing) there was one tiny aspect that changed my view completely.
Buccaneers get the option to found a (coastal) settlement once per game.
Problem solved. I had discovered a few perfect settlement sides (one with three, and one with five treasure resources). I play on a huge map, so I need 6 distant land settlements (with my religion) to score the 12 points needed for the military path. Provided you don’t capture an AI one.
So I managed to score all 4 legacy paths again, and had a lot of fun.
For those players interested why I focus on religion first, before doing the pirate civics?
I have a standard strategy for exploration. Basically it means keeping the peace in your homelands and maximising trade and development.
Science path is first go for shipbuilding, then immediately go for increasing the number of specialists in cities. This way you set the basic for the science and economic paths. When exploring, go for 6 distant land settlements all with your religion. Try to get a treasure resources on all six, and if you have two or more? The better for you
. And why full religion first in civics? If you do that, you will always be the first one to get the Dhawa belief. IT IS AWESOME! Produce trade routes and you will convert the cities of your trading partner. With a bit of luck you will be the first to get the belief that gives you relics when you convert a settlement with an altar or temple. Sure to catch at least 3 relics every 4 trade routes. Otherwise the one converting 10+ urban is a nice one as well. And the civics that boost your hometowns are super if you quickly convert all your own cities. My experience with the AI is that it is not particularly active with religion. More of a nuisance than an actual strategy. So you will be first if you focus on it. And that means a very easy legacy path on culture.But of course it all depends on your set-up at the end of Antiquities.
Hope you enjoyed reading this post.
Here is a veteran Civ Player right from the start with Civ 1 getting me hooked. I really love Civ 7 and the new concepts.
But I do find it a lot easier to play on the hardest level compared to Civ 6.
Regards, Marcus
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