Best Science Civ?

[Arent11]

Since there is no "pure" science civ in civ 6 I'm wondering which civ is best suited for science victory.

In the beginning I thought maybe the civs that have science advantages (Chinese, Sumeria, Arabia), but their advantages seem to be small.
Then I shifted to production/great people/trade civs (Germany, Brasilia). But maybe the early warmongers might also be competitive simply because of the headstart they give.

 

[DrJones87]

I think Brazil if you can get good positioning to rainforests. You can easily get +5 science from one district with adjacency alone.

 

[Onii-chan]

I don't think there is any one obvious winner there. In theory I'd probably say China due to the consistent 10% eureka/inspiration increase, but it's hard to take full effect of it in practice since you'll get less time to hit all those boosts before you run into "wasted" science/culture per turn spending, so to speak

But you also have to remember that eurekas and inspirations in general indirectly provide science and culture, so being able to complete boosts will help you a lot in general. And I'd say the most consistent way to do that is by having high production since you can build more buildings and units, which is generally the core requirement for boosts. So in that sense I guess maybe Germany would be the best with their crazy production generation from Hansas

You could also argue Brazil with their rainforest bias and extra great scientist points but I'm not sure that's enough to make a huge difference in the long run (you only have so much rainforest after all)

 

[jollywonk]

Agreed no civ has an overwhelming advantage on a science victory, which I generally consider the last-resort victory anyways. Brazil and Germany definitely have a boost, preferable to China in my mind. But more cities with more campuses = more science, so you can make a good case for Sumeria or a Rome having good advantage there.

One of the huge boosts to science lies at Enlightenment on the civic tree, giving +100% yield to all science buildings. I enjoy hitting that way before anyone else as Kongo and then exploding ahead in science. There are lots of ways to generate competitive advantage.

 

[krakow2000]

If you think about long play... i win science game with germany very easy and kongo... but it's boring and only finish with this nation. My friend END game via science very fast with arabia.

 

[rpgalon]

If you just want science (not the fastest science victory), I find Brazil to be the best by far getting like 2x the science of the other civs till the +100% science from campus building policy is unlocked, at enlightenment civic. (at this point they get closer to Brazil science output).

Brazil also gets the 20% refund to Great Scientists.

 

[Unconquered Sun]

As more cities mean more campuses and no downsides, an ever-expanding empire that quickly completes campuses with trader help and then rushbuys synergized universities will burn through the science tree fastest.

However, then we hit the snag of producing the spaceship. This means high production and/or high ability to grab the wanted great people (whether through points, gold, or faith).

Finally, there's the question of how much the 3k great person can overflow under a 100% person and additional modifiers like Ruhr, Communism, the 15% policy, maybe even the other 100% person. I haven't tested it but my guess presently will be enough for all the three final parts to be completed in three turns.

 

[Customgoban]

Sumeria is easily the best science civ on Marathon Speed, especially with large maps with open spaces. Usually I don't get many tech boosts later in the game, but by farming the barb camps that will constantly spawning around you over the coarse of the game, you will get very many tech/culture boosts.

 

[Arent11]

Sumeria is easily the best science civ on Marathon Speed, especially with large maps with open spaces. Usually I don't get many tech boosts later in the game, but by farming the barb camps that will constantly spawning around you over the coarse of the game, you will get very many tech/culture boosts.

That's an interesting point because in my LAN Parties we usually play epic/marathon and on large maps. However, we also employ a turn timer that makes waging war/scouting for barbarian camps later in the game a serious trouble.

 

[Arent11]

As more cities mean more campuses and no downsides, an ever-expanding empire that quickly completes campuses with trader help and then rushbuys synergized universities will burn through the science tree fastest.

However, then we hit the snag of producing the spaceship. This means high production and/or high ability to grab the wanted great people (whether through points, gold, or faith).

The best solution to the spaceship production/great people problem seems to me sheer money.

 

[Hans Lemurson]

Good Science comes from strong Production. Strong Production comes from Germany.

 

[Fuccimama]

Any civ with a unique district will be very powerful, because you can spam campuses with impunity, while still benefiting from a district with no population restrictions. Germany is also very strong because of the production boosts from hanse. Science is really a science/production victory type, so it becomes a race of having the power-plant network in place.

 

[Victoria]

I woukd have thought. That population growth is op. Naturally kongo can do most that other stuff as well. Agreed Brazil is pretty samn goid at it also.

 

[Fuccimama]

Population growth was OP in Civ V, because tall cities were king. Wide empires are best in this game, with much of the same balance choices as Beyond Earth. You get more pop growth with more cities, than trying to build one city up. Losing the happiness resource and golden ages was a big change.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

Honestly, since SV in CiV 6 is not so much about pure science and much more about centralized production and GPP for all the Engineers and Scientist, I'd say Germany is by far the strongest science civ, followed by some of the general strong peaceful civs like China, Rome, Congo and maybe also Arabia. People are making good points for Brazil, too.

 

[jaegybomb]

It is about trade routes and GPP though so civs that can go wide are also in the running.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

Agreed, which is why I particularly listed Rome. They are probably the best wide Civ, for many reasons. Instant roads for faster settler transport, improved aqueduct so you can even settle garbage cities, instant monument gives you great yields just for settling.. Legion helps with defending until Gunpowder units come around. Just a great wide Civ.

 

[jaegybomb]

Scythia and Sumeria will always be the kings of going wide. I'd lump Rome and their super settlers in the next tier with Russia and Arabia.