Which special ability do you find most fun?

[salty mud]

Which civilisation or leader ability do you find most fun? I like culture bombs and building improvements or districts to spread my empire peacefully. And stealing some of my enemy's lands in the process!

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Me too actually. It might be why both Australia and the Netherlands are fun to play as coupled with the different adjacency bonuses for districts.

The leader abilities are a bit meh but I managed to win a science victory with Australia by declaring war and liberating a lot of cities that were taken over earlier.

 

[Txomin]

I enjoy the Mali and Maya abilities a lot because of how they make me think of city settlement differently.

 

[kaspergm]

I gotta say Eleanor's ability is pretty great, because it's fun but not super powerful - or at least it takes a long time to build up, so it's not like it wins you the game right out of the starting blocks, but once you get it rolling, it's really quite satisfying, and certainly makes the late game much more fun than the usual boring next-turn-clickfest.

 

[iammaxhailme]

I like playing a mostly isolated turtle sim city playstyle, building big cities, and tile improvements. So my favorite civ is probably something like the Dutch or Incas.

 

[CoconutTank]

Byzantine's Porphyrogennetos

Being able to knock down walls with cavalry feels great, since it means I won't have to wait for Obs Balloons or air units to deal with walls once enemy cities get very study. I do still need a religion, but Taxis helps with that immensely.

Edit: if we're allowed to express more than one ability, then Taxis would be another ability I've been enjoying a lot as well. Spreading religion on kill and the bonus Great Prophet point per Holy Site are quite nice.

 

[UWHabs]

I like the ones that force you to play a different style from normal. So, for example:
-Bull Moose Teddy makes you care so much about appeal, it's a nice challenge
-Kupe has a very unique setup too, and leads to a completely weird style.
-I also like the bonuses that force you to optimize districts and can give high adjacency. So stuff like Germany and Hansa, Mali and their Suguba, or Japan and just cramming everything together.
-I also love high yield tiles. So Polders, for example.

So I guess my perfect civ would probably be Bull Moose's bonus on breathtaking tiles, added to Kupe's bonus to unimproved woods, with Japan's district adjacencies, with UI Polders. Although I guess that's taking 3 civ/leader bonuses and no UU. Hmm, I guess I would take War Carts instead of one of the above then, maybe.

 

[Hokie Fan]

I really enjoy Australia’s Citadel of Civilization and Scotland’s Bannockburn. Both encourage me to actually go to war and not turtle even when I’m playing for a culture or science victory. Plus, once the +100% production boosts are activated, it’s so fun to 10 turn wonders in all of your cities.

 

[Kmart_Elvis]

• Maori's turn one ocean crossing. I love having access to the entire map from the beginning.
• Sweden's auto-theming saves a lot of annoying micromanaging and makes it easier to maximize culture and tourism.
• Macedon's zero war weariness let's you go to war and completely ignore amenity loss from it.
• Canada's surprise war immunity means you don't have to worry about being invaded and can focus on city building to your hearts content.
• Ethiopia's free science and culture from faith keeps you competitive in those areas and stops you from falling behind.
• Byzantium's spread religion on kills is a fun alternative to spreading your religion besides having to build up a ton of faith and play the apostle micromanagement mini-game.

 

[Siddharth Venkatesh]

• I really like Unique Improvements that need to be placed in a planned manner. Just adds to the best aspect of civ 6, the city and district planning. The Rock Hewn Church is one of my recent favorites. I also tend to like culture victories as they are the least micro heavy and tend to be pretty quick, so this fits well wit that.
• On a similar vein civs with unique ways to get district adjacencies make me happy. I really love the Netherlands and I enjoy Brazil a lot as well.
• Mali and Maori are also two of my favorite single player civ designs. They are just so unique, no other civ plays like them. Bull Moose is fun as well. Unfortunate that these civs tend to not be so good in multiplayer.
• Hungary's levy ability is extremely fun. It's hard to use consistently on Deity, but when timed right, it is devastating.
• Persia's surprise war bonus is so fun in domination games. The main reason I don't go domination too often (aside from it usually taking away from the challenge) is that I hate managing units during war and I hate how slow units move on faster game speeds. Persia's ability is a very nice boon for that.
• I like civs that generate tons of culture. Culture is just more interesting than science in civ 6, because it tends to unlock more decision points. I do wish policies were a bit more balanced in value, so that deciding between policies was a more dynamic choice that changed more frequently based on situation but it's still fun as is, and way better than civ 5's Rationalism or bust meta (aside from domination games).

Regardless no specific ability in civ 6 is as enjoyable as the civ 5 Spain natural wonder gamble. I still have fond memories of my Barrier Reef start.

 

[tiamats4esgares]

I really like how Maori get a free science boost basically with 2 free techs and more culture early to help go down the culture tree. Both of these make them great for a diplomatic victory, especially when trying to do it in the fastest time.

I also like how their first city is size 2 and gets a free worker, giving you basically another unit to explore early, faster growth and productivity in the capital, and can start off with a Settler as the first thing they build. It sucks they start in the ocean, but the rewards are worth the detriment.

 

[Aurelesk]

I like how the Maoris are starting the game. It makes me hope for something similar to appear. For example:

• As a new civilization (like the Huns?). They could start the game with extra units (unique cavalry?), the ability to generate units with Barbarian Outpost and no Settlers (nor the ability to create some), and you need to capture a city to get your civilization started.
• As a Game Mode, like a prehistoric nomadic mode. We would start the game in a new era, starting before the Ancient era, where we could explore a bit, meet some Barbarians and get a Settler at the start of the Ancient era, like how we get one in the Australia game mode, or we could have some Science / Culture à la Maori, have new tech / civic leading to a free Settler once we discover Agriculture.

Eleanor is, by far, my favorite leader with her game mechanic.

I like some early abilities that shift from standard gameplay. Like the free Trader at Pottery for the Cree, the early Appeal preservation mini-game of the Bull Moose for extra Science / Culture, the cultural expansion of the Gallic with Mine, the additional movement of Gran Colombia, the additional Wildcard slot of Greece, the city-state leverage and Amani great journey for Envoy with Hungary, the city building of Japan, the hope for Relic and Sculpture for Kongo, the Malian gold / faith strategy discount, the Maori early oceanic exploration, the Roman roads and free Monument, the Russian land grabbing cities or the race for Barbarian Outposts annihilation with Sumeria.

 

[Sostratus]

• The Byzantine leader ability completely inverts modern warfare, since with a few apostles as backup, tanks armies can capture cities which is not normally possible without artillery or bombards. It's the truest expression of blitzkrieg. Youhave to experience using it with tanks vs not having it to grasp how impactful it is late in the game.
• I like Germany the most because I like working the map and making the numbers get bigger
• I like Inca also because I like working the map and making the numbers get bigger also

 

[Basileus Rhomaion]

• The Byzantine leader ability completely inverts modern warfare, since with a few apostles as backup, tanks armies can capture cities which is not normally possible without artillery or bombards. It's the truest expression of blitzkrieg. Youhave to experience using it with tanks vs not having it to grasp how impactful it is late in the game.

But does it work against Russian cities?


OT: I haven't played enough Byzantium yet to confirm, but it does feel like a pretty solid, fun gamestyle. Other than that, I recall that all of my Aztec games were quite fun with the whole worker-stealing and amenity-hunting style, Sumeria war cart rush 2 μs into the game feels pretty nice and Greece's extra wildcard policy slot is always great to play with. Kongo also gets a special mention because (even though it's not a viable strategy even for them) playing tall with very little spreading out is my favourite way to play and very few other civs are even viable to do that.

 

[Sostratus]

This also reminds me: Workshop of the World is a great ability to play with. Whenever I play with it I feel like a real worker of world. Extra coal? Better factories? Easy military engineers?
>Hansa mode activated
>SMOG IS THE PRICE OF PROGRESS, BABY

But does it work against Russian cities?

Anyone who tries to defend themself with units will get converted. Byzantium also has apostles of their own. I suppose parking inquisitors into the front line cities could work to shut it down. Then you just have to contend with whatever stacks of Taxis they have accrued and their ability to simply chant heavy cav into existence. I think the Porphyrogénnētos can give tunnel vision where people do not realize that just the free units makes byzantium a juggernaut.

 

[Basileus Rhomaion]

Anyone who tries to defend themself with units will get converted. Byzantium also has apostles of their own. I suppose parking inquisitors into the front line cities could work to shut it down. Then you just have to contend with whatever stacks of Taxis they have accrued and their ability to simply chant heavy cav into existence. I think the Porphyrogénnētos can give tunnel vision where people do not realize that just the free units makes byzantium a juggernaut.

Yeah, I mean the last time somebody tried the Blitzkrieg strat irl against Russia it didn't end very well.

 

[Sostratus]

Yeah, I mean the last time somebody tried the Blitzkrieg strat irl against Russia it didn't end very well.

Oh I thought you were talking about the Russian Lavra/ religion game in civ6

 

[criZp]

Pachacuti's mountain buff together with earth goddess is really nice. I also like Norway's Knarr. Maoris do get ocean crossing earlier, but healing outside your territory is such a convenience and allows more aggressive play.

 

[tiamats4esgares]

• As a Game Mode, like a prehistoric nomadic mode. We would start the game in a new era, starting before the Ancient era, where we could explore a bit, meet some Barbarians and get a Settler at the start of the Ancient era, like how we get one in the Australia game mode, or we could have some Science / Culture à la Maori, have new tech / civic leading to a free Settler once we discover Agriculture.

That's a cool idea. Have you ever played either of the Thea games? They are sort of the 4x genre but you only have 1 city in the first, and like 0-2 (but basically 1) in the 2nd.

The first one, you start with a town. But the second one, you don't. You are meant to roam for a while, gather materials, and find a good place to settle, and then build your town.

I was delightfully surprised by how much the game changed from the first to second, and also glad the devs weren't scared to try something new. I feel like all Civilization games are too similar and they don't stray enough from the basic ideas. What you said will probably never be possible, and that's sad. Maybe somebody can make a mod. But I don't really like mods. :-\

 

[Chekko]

Eleanor is fun. So fun to focus on artwork and loyalty so you randomly get the nearby cities. Felt like I plagued the whole big island I was on.