Lets take a look into governments

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

All values are taken from Marbozir Civic tree video:

Terminology:
M = Military Slots
E = Economical Slots
D = Diplomatic Slots
W = Wildcard Slots (this can be used for any card including specific wildcard cards)

Bonus: The extra advantage from running this government and it lost thenever you change to another form of government.

Legacy: Permament bonus you get overtime from running this government. Once recived you can never lose it.

Tier 0 Governments: 1 influence per turn, 1 envoy every time you reach 100 points? 1 envoy every 100 turns.

Chiefdom (starting government)
M = 1
E = 1
D = 0
W = 0
Bonus: None
Legacy: None

Comment: A very poor government inferior in every way to every other government form and thus an early goal should be to reach political philosophy to get out of this government.

Tier 1 Governments: 3 influence per turn, 1 envoy every time you reach 100 points = 1 envoy every 33.33 turns. You get access to all 3 tier 1 governments at political philosophy.

Autocracy
M = 2
E = 1
D = 0
W = 1
Bonus: Capital recive +1 boost to all yields and Wonder production +10%
Legacy: Wonder production +1% every 20 turns

Comment: While the card numbers may make it look like a warmonger choice you have a better choice for that. The wonder bonus is the big thing for this government, wonders are very expensive so every bonus here is very valuable and the military cards purpose is very seldom to make your military fight better they are more to make them less of a drain for your economy which fits this government perfectly as other civs may want to capture your wonders. This government only really becomes obsolete with communism because its 10% production to everything is simply superior to autocracy wonder production and everything else with communism is just better as well.

Oligarchy
M = 1
E = 1
D = 1
W = 1
Bonus: Land melee units recive +4 combat strength, experience gain +20%
Legacy: Experience gain +1% every 5 turns

Comment: This is the warmonger choice all the way to facism which make it obsolete as that government give +4 strength to all units and thus is better in every way. If you do not plan for major warmongering this is not a good pick.

Classical Republic
M = 0
E = 2
D = 1
W = 1
Bonus: All cities with a district recive +1 amenity, +15% great person points
Legacy: +1% great person points every 15 turns

Comment: Like the other 2 tier 1 government Classical Republic only become obsolete with tier 3 government and it is democracry that make this one obsolete. Before democracy this one is the best pick for a great person heavy game which is probably about a science victory in plan as for culture the extra wonder production from autocracy may be more valuable. I do not know if the extra great person points applies to projects or not.

Tier 2 Governments: 5 influence per turn, 2 envoy every time you reach 150 points = 2 envoy every 30 turns.

Monarchy (Unlocked with Divine Right)
M = 3
E = 1
D = 1
W = 1
Bonus: Medieval Walls provide +2 housing, +20% influence towards envoys
Legacy: +1% influence towards envoys every 10 turns

Comment: This will likely be the first tier 2 government you have access to and always atleast your second one because you can not get access to theocracy before monarchy. Compared to tier 1 this government will get more then twice as many envoys during the same time and even more then you add in the monarchy influence bonus making it a prime choice for those looking to become friends with alot of city states. The +2 population bonus is also very useful and come around the same time as feudalism so it will help you take advantage of the extra food feudalism provides. However then tier 3 governemnts come monarch will become obsolete because tier 3 provides more influence and envoys and the population problem is solved by neighbourhoods at that time.

Merchant Republic (Unlocked with exploration)
M = 1
E = 2
D = 1
W = 2
Bonus: +2 trade routes, -15% gold purchase cost
Legacy: -1% gold purchase cost every 15 turns

Comment: Probably the most useful tier 2 governments for a large expansive empire as that gold purchase cost reduction can help you get your new cities up and running quickly. 2 extra trade routes are good in every case. It is also worth mention that this is the only tier 2 government with two wildcard slots which allow it much more flexibility with its card then the other tier two governments.

Theocracy (Unlocked with Reformed Church)
M = 2
E = 2
D = 1
W = 1
Bonus: +5 theological strenth in combat, Can purchase land combat units with faith, -15% faith purchase cost
Legacy: -1% faith purchase cost every 15 turns

Comment: The most interesting of the tier 2 governments. While there are less stuff to purchase with faith then gold much of that stuff can only be purchased with faith and not even be built with production. Not only that but theocracy open up a whole new way to spend faith: military units. So if you have alot of faith and need an army then this may be an excellent choice. Even if you do not plan to go to war you may like the bonus towards theological combat as it may help you to win a "peaceful" religious conflict togther with the cheaper religious agents. Also pretty nice if you want to create alot of national parks because you need faith and only faith to create those.

Tier 3 Governments: 7 influence per turn, 3 envoy every time you reach 200 points = 3 envoy every 28.57 turns.

Democracy (Unlocked with Sufferage)
M = 1
E = 3
D = 2
W = 2
Bonus: -50% Great person patronage cost, +30% District project yields
Legacy: +1% District project yields every 10 turns

Comment: Maybe the best pick for a space race victory as there are some very nice great persons for that victory as well given that many late game eurkas can only be recived by great scientists. I do not know if the district project yields effect the great person points recived or not but the cheap patronage cost may make it worth to save up your gold for late game patronage of great persons.

Fascism (Unlocked with Totalitarianism)
M = 4
E = 1
D = 1
W = 2
Bonus: +4 combat strength to all combat units, +20% to unit production
Legacy: +1% to unit production every 10 turns

Comment: The obvious choice for a warmonger, combat strength to all units and extra production towards units make it better then all other choice then it comes to warfare. It weak point is that it is not really any good for anything but warfare although you could use war as a way to weak the competition so you can win whatever way you want.

Communism (Unlocked with Class Struggle)
M = 3
E = 3
D = 1
W = 1
Bonus: +4 combat strength defensive strength to land combat units, +10% to all production
Legacy: +1% to all production every 20 turns

Comment: For war this is a nerfed version of Fascism but it may be the best government for space race which require you to build some very expensive projects and even tought democracy have bonuses towards great person generation the extra production from communism will help you finish those district projects for extra great person points. Also likely to be useful for a culture victory as you may still have some wonders left to finish and if you want alot of seaside resorts, you will need workers which communism will help you get. A weakness is that this government only have a single wildcard slots which make it alot less flexible then the other tier 3 governments.

 

[Atlas627]

How does 1 influence per turn and 1 envoy at 100 influence result in 1 envoy per 50 turns in Chiefdom?

Also, note that Oligarchy and Democracy are flexible, slot-wise. You can easily swap between more military slots or more economic slots, for example. The same goes for Merchant Republic as you pointed out, but Merchant Republic's other bonuses don't all scale (+2 trade routes gets worse the more trade routes you already had).

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

I don't think cards will decide what government you are going to pick as the government bonus and legacy bonus are probably the important thing as you will always then pick the best cards you can and you can often change cards.

Like I don't think tier 1 governments become obsolete with tier 2 governments. Yes I know tier 2 get more envoys and more card the nature of the bonuses and legacy bonuses mean that tier 1 governments may still be better in many cases.

Tier 3 feels like improve forms of tier 1 governments (one tier 3 for each tier 1 government) while tier 2 is a odd group not even all 3 in the same era.

 

[Atlas627]

I don't think cards will decide what government you are going to pick as the government bonus and legacy bonus are probably the important thing as you will always then pick the best cards you can and you can often change cards.

I agree that this will usually be the case. But I don't think it always will, and those niche cases are *exactly* the type of thing that a guide is for.

Like I don't think tier 1 governments become obsolete with tier 2 governments. Yes I know tier 2 get more envoys and more card the nature of the bonuses and legacy bonuses mean that tier 1 governments may still be better in many cases.

In many cases? I definitely think that the sheer quantity of slots will almost always cause the Tier 2s to outperform Tier 1s. It certainly will in the short term, which may be enough reason to switch (and then switch to another Tier 2 later).

Anyway, as we both have noticed, it is pretty apparent that the Tier 1 legacy bonuses are better. Which means that they will obviously balance that out with more powerful card slots, otherwise you'd never switch off the old governments. And they will balance it such that you usually want a Tier 2 government, otherwise you won't be excited to unlock them. If you don't want to use them, why have them?

So even if the current balance suggests to you that you should stick with Tier 1 almost always, that will definitely need to change in a patch.

 

[stiiknafuulia]

I get that the idea is to do the heavy lifting in differentiating governments with the cards that you pick, but imo the fixed bonuses of the governments themselves seem way too lame and ineffectual. +10 % production for a whole new way of life aimed at transforming all mankind? Really? (where's the classic yellow eyeroll smiley? ) The bonuses are too few in number, not powerful enough, and severely lacking in imagination. It's a problem as well that seemingly any card can be used with any government (correct me if I'm wrong here). Corvée labor in Democracy or Liberalism in Fascism are sure going to add to the immersion...

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

I agree that this will usually be the case. But I don't think it always will, and those niche cases are *exactly* the type of thing that a guide is for.

This is not really ment to be a guide especially not since the game have not yet been released, it more ment to be a quick look into the governments.

In many cases? I definitely think that the sheer quantity of slots will almost always cause the Tier 2s to outperform Tier 1s. It certainly will in the short term, which may be enough reason to switch (and then switch to another Tier 2 later).

The difference between tier 1 and tier 2 in terms of card are that tier 2 get two more slots but given that you are always going to pick the best cards first 2 more cards are a less gain then it may look like. You also often get to change cards which also reduce the value of the extra cards and there are other ways to get extra cards which also reduce the value of extra cards from government choice.

Tier 2 do get more envoys as well but again it do not make tier 1 obsolete.

Anyway, as we both have noticed, it is pretty apparent that the Tier 1 legacy bonuses are better. Which means that they will obviously balance that out with more powerful card slots, otherwise you'd never switch off the old governments. And they will balance it such that you usually want a Tier 2 government, otherwise you won't be excited to unlock them. If you don't want to use them, why have them?

I don't necessarily think tier 1 have better bonuses but they are so different from the bonuses tier 2 gets that tier 2 do not make tier 1 obsolete.

 

[Furycrab]

Like I don't think tier 1 governments become obsolete with tier 2 governments. Yes I know tier 2 get more envoys and more card the nature of the bonuses and legacy bonuses mean that tier 1 governments may still be better in many cases.

Obsolete might not quite be the word, but I think you'll want to jump to 2 fairly quickly. Stacking more of the tier 1 legacy bonuses won't amount to all that much, on the other hand, your Envoy count practically doubles and the tier 2 Legacy bonuses are better aimed at mid to later game.

The tier 3's seem like they might need more special consideration. You don't want to rush them since you'll struggle to use the extra card slots to full potential and stacking a few extra legacy points from tier 2 won't hurt... but they can definitely help seal a game.

 

[Atlas627]

Well the thing about Tier 3 (and Theocracy/Merchant Republic) is that each one is on its individual dead-end tech. You'll only grab it if you want to upgrade. That would suggest to me that you are intended to sometimes not want to upgrade, but also usually you will at some point. If you rarely wanted to upgrade, that'd be a waste of gameplay mechanics that you wouldn't touch ever.

So again, even if it isn't balanced right now, it will eventually balanced to a "you usually want to upgrade" situation.

 

[pietro1990]

This makes america verry interesting faster legacy bonusses will try them out

 

[Stilgar08]

I get that the idea is to do the heavy lifting in differentiating governments with the cards that you pick, but imo the fixed bonuses of the governments themselves seem way too lame and ineffectual. +10 % production for a whole new way of life aimed at transforming all mankind? Really? (where's the classic yellow eyeroll smiley? ) The bonuses are too few in number, not powerful enough, and severely lacking in imagination. It's a problem as well that seemingly any card can be used with any government (correct me if I'm wrong here). Corvée labor in Democracy or Liberalism in Fascism are sure going to add to the immersion...

I disagree - By choosing another governement you get the power to decide about which and how many cards to use. If the government inherited (correct english?) bonusses would be too powerful it would feel like kind of enforcement to me to use another government I might have chosen otherwise. The slots are part of the government system and I prefer the flexibility over "flat" bonusses..

And concerning your point that any card can be used in any type of government: You are right, but otoh the system would become more static if you were not allowed to use the cards in certain government types. The restriction is there nevertheless: Use liberalism in Fascism but there is only this one slot in economy when using it... To me that is good immersion since I focus on military in Fascism and have very limited other SP-options - Good!

edit: typo and added critique on Card usability

 

[ExemplarVoss]

I disagree - By choosing another governement you get the power to decide about which and how many cards to use. If the government inherited (correct english?) bonusses would be too powerful it would feel like kind of enforcement to me to use another government I might have chosen otherwise. The slots are part of the government system and I prefer the felxibility over "flat" bonusses..

Agreed, once you have the main bonus, the +1% per x years doesn't matter much. It doesn't measure up at all against the extra slots- at least, not in the useful categories. At the moment military seems fairly situational other than the cost reduction cards- sure sometimes you want the bonus production or something else, but by and large economic (multiplying yields) and especially wildcard slots are just better. Diplomatic seems to depend somewhat on what you're doing.

 

[Stilgar08]

Agreed, once you have the main bonus, the +1% per x years doesn't matter much. It doesn't measure up at all against the extra slots- at least, not in the useful categories. At the moment military seems fairly situational other than the cost reduction cards- sure sometimes you want the bonus production or something else, but by and large economic (multiplying yields) and especially wildcard slots are just better. Diplomatic seems to depend somewhat on what you're doing.

exactly: and there we have another "push" towards certain government types. Maybe you want to be friends with the AI on higher difficulty-settings and one option is to have the same government... Having an even higher "base"-bonus on them just doesn't make sense to me...

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Also you can't use Corvee labor in a Democracy.
Cards go obsolete....you can't have Corvee labor in any Tier 3 government because the card goes obsolete with Civil Engineering

 

[Promethian]

I think the legacy bonuses build too slowly. We are looking at over 100 turns just to get anything from them. Take the monarchy legacy. You need to spend 150 turns as a monarchy to get 1 influence point per turn in a max tier govt. Do we know if the game saves decimals or just rounds down non-whole numbers?

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Agreed, once you have the main bonus, the +1% per x years doesn't matter much. It doesn't measure up at all against the extra slots- at least, not in the useful categories. At the moment military seems fairly situational other than the cost reduction cards- sure sometimes you want the bonus production or something else, but by and large economic (multiplying yields) and especially wildcard slots are just better. Diplomatic seems to depend somewhat on what you're doing.

Legacy bonus don't have a cap, it only increase and increase.

I think the legacy bonuses build too slowly. We are looking at over 100 turns just to get anything from them. Take the monarchy legacy. You need to spend 150 turns as a monarchy to get 1 influence point per turn in a max tier govt. Do we know if the game saves decimals or just rounds down non-whole numbers?

Given that city yield can be seen in decimals Im pretty sure the game does store decimals.

 

[dturtle1]

The difference between tier 1 and tier 2 in terms of card are that tier 2 get two more slots but given that you are always going to pick the best cards first 2 more cards are a less gain then it may look like. You also often get to change cards which also reduce the value of the extra cards and there are other ways to get extra cards which also reduce the value of extra cards from government choice.

Tier 2 do get more envoys as well but again it do not make tier 1 obsolete.

More is better, who cares if you are using your "best cards".....you get more . Less gain is always better than no gain at all. The ability to change a card does not in anyway infringe on the ability to have 2 synergistic cards at the same time. Having a free Market AND Colonial Taxes is far better than having Free Market and switching into Colonial Taxes, because Colonial Taxes also affects Free Market. Having the ability to have more cards can actually increase the value of the extra cards because they can work together.
Now whether a tier 1 legacy bonus outranks a Tier 2 legacy bonus + the extra card slots plus doubling your envoy production will really depend on you. Sure, maybe holding on to an old government maybe useful and in some cases preferred. However, this notion that Tier 1 governments will be better in many cases than the Tier 2 government is a bit short sighted.

Monarchy Bonus is strong... 2 extra Housing when Housing is now very limited is huge, not to mention the 20% influence is backed up by 100% extra influence because of Tier 2
Merchant Republic is strong..... the 2 trade routes are meh, especially as you are going to want a lot of trade routes already anyway, but the 15% reduction in gold cost is pretty amazing, considering it exponentially scales
Theocracy... is obviously a no brainer for a Religious Victory and strong for a religious Civ regardless...Again, like Merchant republic, exponential scaling

All the Tier 1 Governments bonus is flat bonus are limited. 4 combat strength just to Land Melee Units, +1 to all yields in the capital, 1 amenity per city with a district....meh. The Tier 2 Flat bonus theoretically are more useful for their time and are at least equal in strength. + 2 trade routes is better than +1 to all yield in the capital...+2 housing(with walls) in the Medieval/Renaissance is better than +1 amenity per city. Theocracy is better than Oligarchy, as long as you got faith.

So they only way you stay Tier 1 is if the legacy portion is critical to your strategy. France with Autocracy is a good bet. Kongo/Brazil maybe might wanna keep Classical republic... but gee, you pay for it. It would take something like France's synergy with Autocracy to make me even consider it. (Frances Grand Tour kicks in right around the same time that you unlock Tier 2 Governments, obviously the 10%+ wonder production is pretty powerful) and even then, it will cost you something. 2 housing from Monarchy might equate to extra district in each city, + the extra 2 cards. Merchant Republic might cost you the ability to continue to upgrade your cities with gold whilst you focus on building wonders. Theocracy allows you to buy extra units with faith to protect your Wonder production. (In a multiplayer game this is going to be likely, one does not simply allow The Grande Tour to happen unopposed )

 

[UnknownHuman]

They nerfed Communism, originally it allowed Industrial Zone Districts to attack. I was kind of exited by that, it would have made for interesting defences and attacks, but I can understand how it may be overpower.

 

[kolpo]

All values are taken from Marbozir Civic tree video:

Oligarchy
M = 1
E = 1
D = 1
W = 1
Bonus: Land melee units recive +4 combat strength, experience gain +20%
Legacy: Experience gain +1% every 5 turns

An early American Oligarchy shall be very strong, +5 on home continent + 4 from Oligarchy gives 9, which is a lot in the early game. America might be the best civ to grab your home continent quickly.

 

[indradiva]

A few notes on subject:
1. There seem to be three types of governments in Civ 6: Tier 1 are playstyle govs, they will reward your chosen playstyle. Tier 2 are advantage govs, they let you take advantage from your civs strengths and deepen your playstyle. They are optional, because it is up to you if you want to specialize or not. Tier 3 are victory govs, they are aimed for specific victory conditions.
2.Three playstyles are:
Autocracy- not expansive, is best suited for small empires that want to grow tall, not wide. Later on, you will probably change to its specialized form, Monarchy, which is also about protecting and improving what you have. Not really bound to any victory condition, since wonders have very differentiated effects.

Oligarchy is all about aggressive expansion and early conquest. It has the fastest legacy bonus accumulation, so it makes sense to keep it throughout the game until Fascism and win by Domination. That is, if you really want to win that way. Alternatively, you can switch to something more peaceful, like Monarchy or MR, after the initial phase of expansion.

CR is best suited to peaceful expansion, kind of the opposite to Oli. If you keep it, you are bound to choose Democracy and win by Culture or by Science. The specialization options are up to you, any of them will do.
3. Specialization options:
Monarchy as I said, is good very good at protecting and growing what you have. It's also the expansion-stop government like Autocracy. Very good for peaceful players.

MR is also all about expansion, either peaceful or by sword. +2 trade routes are pretty good, it's like having a free city with CH and Harbor. the discount on purchases can be used to by units or buildings. A very good mid game gov, if not to say the best one. Question: Does the discount work on Great People?

Theocracy is a mix of advantage and victory gov. It is best suited for Religious Victory and to Domination supported by Faith. You can also use it to support Cultural Victory by buying TS buildings with Faith and by acquiring Relics from Apostles. Even science can be enhanced by buying Campus buildings. Rather impressive, I must say. I also have the same question as with MR.

4. Victory Govs:

Here it is pretty obvious: Fascism for Domination, Democracy for Culture and maybe Science, Communism for science and maybe Culture.

 

[stiiknafuulia]

Some good points have been raised against my concerns... I guess I'll reserve my judgment; and in any case the governments can (and will) be modded to our hearts' content, so it's a minor burn in any case.