ELI5 Secret Societies, please...

[Barillius]

I'm trying to get a handle on the logistics of the Secret Societies.

I get that I have to find an invite, but then what is the criteria for promotion? Governor Titles/Promotions is not it. Also, I know that each Society has a specific function, but how the heck are you supposed to know around turn 10-20 when you start getting invites on which way your game is going to go? I'm such a newb that I really don't have a clue what victory condition I'm going to be aiming for until much, much later.

Again, TIA for any assistance! You guys (AND GIRLS!) are great. =)

 

[kaspergm]

Wrt. promotions: They go by era, but cost a governor promotion charge like normal promotions. So you can take the first promotion in ancient era, the second one becomes available in medieval era (iirc.), the third one in industrial era (iirc.) and the fourth one in atomic era, I assume.

As for which one to take, you can postpone taking one till you get a better overview of your game, or take one that cater to your civ's strengths - for instance, take Voidsingers if your civ leans towards religion, take the vampire one if you lean towards domination, or take Owls Of Minerva if you favor economy. I know they buffed Hermetic Order, but last time I played with this mode, it was avoid Hermetic Order under all circumstances.

 

[Vargas1]

If you're new to the mode I would suggest taking Voidsingers or Owls unless you know you want to lean heavily into domination. The vampires can help with domination, but the vampire castles take some planning to use correctly and the actual vampire units an be tricky unless you know what you're doing. Voidsingers, at least for the first two promotions, are very straightforward and help with any win condition - the first is a replacement for the monument (which you'll be building in most cities anyway) that gives you extra faith, and the second adds extra yields based on a percentage of your faith. That's probably your best bet. If, however, you don't really want to bother with faith, Owls is pretty straightforward too - the first promotion is an extra economic policy and an easy way to get extra envoys with city-states, and the second gives you a bank replacement that adds culture and can give you an extra trade route in cities with harbors. Just build a commercial hub and/or harbor in every city and reap the benefits.

 

[chazzycat]

Hermetic order can be fun, but is probably not as strong as the others mentioned above. It's all about converting the number of great people you've generated into tile outputs when you get the 3rd upgrade in the industrial era. So the strategy is basically to find the ley lines and settle near as many as possible, and then focus on generating as many great people as possible while you wait for the industrial era. With a focus on campuses to allow the unique alchemical society building to contribute a bunch more gpp. So there's some synergy there.

The main reasons why it's weaker:
- industrial era is late, many players find the game to be nearly over already at that point
- it's harder to win all the great people on higher difficulty levels

That being said it's still enjoyable IMO. All the details are available on the wiki so you can use that resource for planning ahead: https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Hermetic_Order_(Civ6)

 

[Vargas1]

That being said it's still enjoyable IMO.

Agree with this. I just finished my first full Hermetic Order game with Scotland, playing a relatively tall game (ended with around 10 cities, including two I settled late for resources and one I settled in the snow for Amundsen-Scott). It was a lot of fun collecting a bunch of GPs and then seeing the empire just explode once the ley lines turned them into yields.

 

[_hero_]

Unlock conditions:
Owls of Minerva- Send an Envoy to a city-state (80% chance to unlock each time)
Hermetic Order - Discover a natural wonder (100% chance)
Sanguine Pact- Destroy a barbarian camp (70% chance)
Voidsingers- Discover a tribal village (70% chance)

They are upgraded with governor titles. The first level is available upon discovery. The second unlocks when you enter the Medieval era. The third unlocks when you enter the Industrial era. The final unlocks when you enter the Atomic era, thus it will take 4 governor titles in full to fully promote.

Owls of Minerva for economic and diplomatic play. Generally good in all situations. If you want solid bonuses that are just there without much thought needed this is the pick
Voidsingers for maximum faith generation and passive gold/science/culture from faith starting in the medieval era. Ideal for civs that can take advantage of faith. Also interesting with Eleanor as the extra great work slots and the cultists in the late game let you flip cities easier than ever.
Sanguine Pact for conquest. Great anytime war is on the table. Especially powerful with civs that have a high combat str UU for their time as the Vampire unit's strength is based on the strongest unit you've built thus far.
Hermetic Order weaker than the others in almost all situations. Allows for some better district adjacencies than normal. Strongest with civs that tend to generate more great people than normal. If you prefer to sit back and peacefully build until late game they are a solid pick.

Finally, if you have no idea what you want to pick, it's permissible to wait as long as you want to choose. While you're missing out on the early bonus by delaying, you can ultimately win any victory with any of them so there's really no "wrong" choice. Just suboptimal choices depending on what you're hoping to accomplish.

 

[Barillius]

Very very helpful.. thank you all very much.

Now, if I could just keep Peter and Trajan off my borders!!! =)