Civ Discussion - Hawai'i

[bengalryan9]

Next civ up for discussion from the Exploration Age is Hawai’i. They are a cultural and expansionist civ with a starting bias towards marine and coastal terrain. Their associated wonder is Hale o Keawe (+2 culture, constructing buildings on the coast gives culture equal to 50% of its cost, and 3 relic slots). They are unlocked automatically by the Maya and Mississippians in the antiquity age, and they automatically unlock Meiji Japan in the modern age. To manually unlock them you have to have 2 settlements on an island (defined as a landmass with a maximum of 15 tiles). As far as leaders are concerned, I believe they are unlocked by Tecumseh, both Ashoka personas, both Himiko personas, Jose Rizal, and Pachacuti.

Their unique ability is Moananuiakea, which gives 25 culture each time a settlement expands to a marine tile and +1 happiness on fishing boats.
Their unique military unit is the Leiomano, a swordsman replacement that gets +3 CS against infantry and calvary as well as receiving culture from defeating enemy units.
Their unique civilian unit is the Kahuna, a missionary that can heal other units
Their unique infrastructure is the Lo’i Kalo, which gives +3 food, +1 production, and +1 culture from adjacent farms (I believe this is a recent change). It must be placed on grassland or tropical tiles.

Hawaiian Civics:
Mana - +2 culture every time a storm, flood, or volcano provides fertility. At mastery, unlocks the Kapa tradition and gives the Leiomano extra culture when defeating an enemy unit equal to 25% of its combat strength.
Ohana – unlocks the Lo’i Kalo and the Ahupua’a tradition. At mastery, gives +2 culture to Lo’i Kalo improvements if there is a pavilion in the settlement.
He’e nalu – unlocks the Ho’okupu tradition, gives 2 relics, and +1 settlement limit. At mastery, unlocks Hale o Keawe, gives +1 happiness on marine tiles in towns following your religion (+2 in cities), and gives the Kahuna an extra healing charge.

Hawaiian Traditions:
Kapa - +50% production towards culture buildings
Ahupua’a - +4 food on culture buildings
Ho’okupu - +1 culture on marine terrain

What do you think about Hawai’i? Strong, weak, or just right? Were they hit too hard by the nerf bat, or do they deserve another swing? Which leaders pair well with them, and which civs make for good transitions into and out of them? Is there music the worst in the game? Discuss!

 

[bengalryan9]

I get the sense people aren't as high on Hawaii since they first got hit with the nerf bat but I still think they're above average. Your fishing villages will provide a nice stream of culture, the UI is pretty nice if you plan around it (and I think moving the culture from the farms to the UI itself was a wise move), and while I haven't got a ton of use out of it I think the Leiomano is pretty good. Hale O Keawe is a good wonder, though in my experience it's one that the AI tends to snatch up pretty quickly. Hawaii won't be great in every game, but when the map generator rolls the right way they can really shine.

If you play without automatic unlocks Hawaii can be one of the harder ones to get (though fortunately a lot of different leaders can provide access). It can be hard to have access to islands before the Exploration Age so you need some good luck from the map generator. Honestly not sure if I've ever unlocked them the right way, haha.

 

[Leucarum]

I still enioy Hawai'i. They are one of the exploration civs I do enjoy. The culture is no longer overwhelming, but it is a solid boost. If there is a fun Hawai'i game on the cards, then that is one of the things which would convince me to play past Antiquity.

Their music is in my top few. I had worried it would get repetitive but so far so good...

When the game launched I found archipelago was the least repetitive map type so I unlocked them relatively frequently.

 

[m_mus]

Well, since I like playing coastal and enjoy the exploration part of the exploration age ... I had some fun with Hawai'i! I think it paired nicely with my Potkops from an antiquity-run with Mississippi, as the occasional Lo'i Kalo between clusters of farming Potkops boosted them even further (Playing cultures Xerxes + Chalcedonian Seal + Serpent Mound in a city is a really powerful and nice synergy).
And I discovered the Kahuna's potential rather by accident, as I went on proselytizing with them exactly where my military conquest was aimed. Could I heal my units in Civ6 by clever promotions, in Civ7 I have to retire units or pillage tiles from those cities I want to take intact. The Kahuna really helped sustain my offensive efforts without too much unit rotation.
So, truly enjoyable in my view