Civilization VII Update 1.3.0 - November 4, 2025

[Evolena]

Is Vandals in Exploration or Antiquity

• Nukuleka of the Tongan People replaced by Teouma of the Ni-Vanuatu People (Tonga DLC in Antiquity)
• Nassau of the Flying Gang People replaced by Hippo Regius of the Vandal People (Republic of Pirates DLC in Exploration)

 

[Evolena]

Or maybe the civ unlock links for the Republic of Pirates are just the same as the ones for Edward Teach.

Thank you for your quick work with the charts. They are always fun to look at.

Thank you for your appreciation. There are more graphs, like each age mapped on a world map or a wider view for each individual civ/leader, on the site in my signature.
Suggestions are also welcome in this thread: https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...ations-and-leaders-links.692526/post-16885233

 

[Sagax]

Here are the recommended choice and unlock links for Edward Teach, Republic of Pirates and Tonga:

Note that both Himiko-Tonga and Rizal-Tonga links are labelled as Geographic, but the tooltip on the unlock screen uses a "strategic" wording.

FXS doing everything they can to disassociate Himiko from the rest of East Asia is reaching comical levels.

 

[pjotroos]

I'll have to see how this comes out in the wash, but I'm not convinced Songhai is an actual buff. The notes say:

Cities in Homelands on Navigable Rivers generate Treasure Convoys worth 1 VP each.

Pretty sure this used to be 2 VP in 1.2.5.
Edited: Went to check now that I'm updated and ready to play, and this just looks like some patch note weirdness, the convoy value in the game still shows as 2.

There is also this:

• Caravanserai Improvement: Added +1 Land Trade Route Range. Cannot be built adjacent to another Caravanserai.

They were spammable before. With the newly added adjacency restriction, how many you can get in a single settlement gets greatly restricted. Nerfs their late exploration gold generation, but - more crucially - because all of the Caravanserai buffs are through civics, not traditions, you don't carry any of the buffs through. All you get in modern is fewer caravanserais, and a pitiful 3 gold per trade route tradition.

On the whole it feels like playing them in this new version gives you more production but less gold in exploration, and straight up less gold in modern.

 

[Evolena]

FXS doing everything they can to disassociate Himiko from the rest of East Asia is reaching comical levels.

Well, at least she's associated with some South-East Asia and Pacific Ocean civs.

The worse is still Silla with Mongolia, Machiavelli and... wait, nothing

 

[pjotroos]

Some weird choices for Spain, too; the notes open with:

Spain got a significant pass to help fit its historical and gameplay identity as conquerors of Distant Lands, and should feel much better in Exploration.

and few lines later they announce that our towns in the distant lands are now no better than the towns in homelands:

• New World Riches (Tier 1): +10% Food and Production in Cities in Distant Lands. (Previously: +10% Food and Production in Settlements in Distant Lands.)

But hey, at least now we can't get conquistadors until much later, and they can no longer be trained in distant lands, so we get to watch each of them cross the ocean a little later than it would be useful

• Conquistadors now require the Plaza Unique Quarter to be trained.

The unique ability buff is decent, but it feels like net neutral by the end of the era with the nerfs to New World Riches and Cerro Rico, and the religion bonuses are irrelevant. The 2 extra food, gold and production does nothing to offset the cost of missionaries you'd need to fight off the AI spam. It will be active for few turns it takes to grab the military legacy path, then gone again.

 

[Krikkit1]

You need to set those up before starting the alliance, though, otherwise it's too late. Delays it if nothing else, and opts you out of other, more beneficial town specialisations.

Are you sure... if you get the alliance and then the civc don't you get the trade route then?... shouldn't the same apply to "getting their Capital in Range"

 

[AriochIV]

You can now play Tides of Power by wishlisting it, then adding to the library from the wishlist.

It'll properly drop in the next 30ish minutes I think.

Thanks for explaining that...

That is so comically obtuse that I don't know what to say. Sure would be nice if any of Firaxis' posts on the subject actually explained that.

 

[pjotroos]

Are you sure... if you get the alliance and then the civc don't you get the trade route then?... shouldn't the same apply to "getting their Capital in Range"

I'm not sure, but the civic tooltip says:

• Tier 1: When you form an Alliance, each leader receives a free Trade Route from the other leader's Capital. These trade routes do not go away when the Alliance ends. Unlocks the 'Beopseong' Tradition.

so on the face of it, nothing here indicates this will work later. "When you form an alliance" sounds like one chance only.

Also - having thought about it - isn't this even worse than that? Trade posts extend the route of our trade routes, but I don't think it's reciprocal. Put differently, if the check is for trade route range, the only way you're getting the production and food is if the other civilization went through the effort of creating multiple trading posts, just so they can reach your capital from theirs. You being able to reach theirs only gives those yields to them.

 

[Sagax]

Well, at least she's associated with some South-East Asia and Pacific Ocean civs.
The worse is still Silla with Mongolia, Machiavelli and... wait, nothing

Oh, I know they tie her to SEA - which doesn't make the most sense either. I was among the first ones to point out the sensitivity of linking China or Korea to Japan as part of a progression, but at the same time it's silly not to list Han as Himiko's geographic choice when other leaders have much more tenuous links, or Silla as her strategic choice when she is the leader to facilitate Silla's game plan.

They were spammable before. With the newly added adjacency restriction, how many you can get in a single settlement gets greatly restricted. Nerfs their late exploration gold generation, but - more crucially - because all of the Caravanserai buffs are through civics, not traditions, you don't carry any of the buffs through. All you get in modern is fewer caravanserais, and a pitiful 3 gold per trade route tradition.

On the whole it feels like playing them in this new version gives you more production but less gold in exploration, and straight up less gold in modern.

Which does make me wonder whether these changes truly make Songhai stand out more. They were my go-to "I need gold, all else is irrelevant" pick, not sure how that is going to feel now.

 

[Kwami]

Thanks for explaining that...

That is so comically obtuse that I don't know what to say. Sure would be nice if any of Firaxis' posts on the subject actually explained that.

That wasn't intended behavior. A few minutes after that post, the issues on Steam were resolved and you could add the DLC like any other DLC.

 

[Evolena]

Oh, I know they tie her to SEA - which doesn't make the most sense either. I was among the first ones to point out the sensitivity of linking China or Korea to Japan as part of a progression, but at the same time it's silly not to list Han as Himiko's geographic choice when other leaders have much more tenuous links, or Silla as her strategic choice when she is the leader to facilitate Silla's game plan.

I don't disagree, there seem to be very much caution in the China/Korea/Japan area. All China civs and Confucius are very isolated too link-wise.

 

[stealth_nsk]

I've played a bit of Tonga with Ibn Battuta and they are perfect match:

• Additional unit visibility together with Tonga ability, together with Imago Mundi, allow scanning almost whole map in Antiquity without problems.
• 2 Wildcard attribute slots could be put into diplomacy for cheaper befriend. And additional diplomatic point from befriending city-state could come into +2 science/culture from city-states pretty quick leading to crazy yields in Antiquity. BTW, after discovering Tonga civic which grants +100% towards befriending city-states in distant lands, the cost of befriending was 68 influence

Some other things I noticed:

• Tonga could totally initiate diplomacy with distant land civs.
• You could restart after loading save files.

 

[m_mus]

I just played Tonga in a whole Antiquity session and I really had a blast. What a joy to cross the ocean and grasp what's beyond. Not only do I know the locations of all the treasure ressources ... but I was to witness the drama of Augustus taking all but one settlement of Confucius in a ferocious, almost age-lasting war on the other side of the map. Great cinema!

Edit: My capital and the bountiful "distant lands" nearby:

 

[uppi]

I've played a bit of Tonga with Ibn Battuta and they are perfect match:

• Additional unit visibility together with Tonga ability, together with Imago Mundi, allow scanning almost whole map in Antiquity without problems.

Ibn Batuta, Imago Mundi and Tonga is a bit overkill though, isn't it?. I managed to explore pretty much the whole map in Antiquity with Lakshmibai and no mementos helping exploring

• Tonga could totally initiate diplomacy with distant land civs.

Yes, but no war declaration was possible. It is also somewhat of a mixed bag: The AIs in distant lands can and will sanction you and there is not much you can do about it. I will have my revenge in Exploration, though.

 

[pjotroos]

Tonga seems to be doing alright on culture

 

[sonicmyst]

Was there a change in tech quote for Wheel? Or was I misremembering it?

 

[pjotroos]

Was there a change in tech quote for Wheel? Or was I misremembering it?

Yep, there was.

I also might be going crazy, but I feel like some wonders have the same line, but a different take from Gwendoline Christie (Sanchi Stupa stood out to me the most).

 

[Leucarum]

Tonga seem utterly bananas. Tore myself away from EU5 to give it a go, and antiquity was like autopilot - utterly bonkers yields...

 

[sonicmyst]

There is a post in reddit that got their Tonga scout in a DL navigable river, got pushed out via growth by the DL civ, and the scout can freely roam the land. Seems like unintended.