All 43 Civilizations Tier List & Uniques Breakdown

Not all civilizations are created equal.

This guide includes a tier list of every civilization realeased for Civ V. This includes the originals, G/K, BNW, and expansions. Included with this tier list is my breakdown of each of every civs uniques to better understand them and will also give background on why they placed where they did in the tier list.

Introduction

Hello everyone and thanks for taking your time to view this tier list/unique breakdown. Civilizations are ranked by tier and not numerically, so if Civ A and Civ B are placed in the same tier, they are ranked the same regardless of position in the list. Of course when it comes to ranking there will be disagreements and if you feel something should be changed, feel free to say so, the goal is to make this tier list as accurate as possible.

Before we get started here are some terms and concepts I use throughout the guide.

When reading the unique breakdowns, refer to www.dndjunkie.com/civilopedia to get the in-game descriptions and names of the uniques. This is an internet version of the in-game Civilization V Civlopedia.

Diplomatic Victories are really Economic Victories in most cases because gold is the most important thing in most cases for winning these.

Unique Units are usually less important than any other unique because of how limited of a time period they are relevant. Civs with two UU’s consistently rank lower than ones with another unique type.

The term “situational” is used to describe uniques that are only relevant in certain, sometimes rare, circumstances. Situational uniques usually include an advantage in or coming from something specific that might not even apply to you rendering their “uniqueness” irrelevant. These are things usually based on luck that are out of your control, like for example, a UU that’s only advantage is on a certain type of tile although you might never get that bonus based on where you start. Being situational does hurt rankings on this list.

ULA = Unique Leader Ability
UU = Unique Unit
UB = Unique Building
UI = Unique Improvement
UP = Unique Person

Change Log:
Morocco updated
Huns moved
Greece moved
Inca added

Deity Tier

These civs are non-situational, provide clear and/or multiple paths to victory, and have more than one extraordinary unique

Austria

The Windmill gets replaced by the… Coffee House? Don’t laugh though; the Coffee House is arguably the best UB in the game giving every single city that has one the effects of the National Epic wonder. The ULA doesn’t disappoint either with the invaluable ability to outright buy allied City-States which is also the biggest defense to an enemy Diplomatic victory and overall just an invaluable ability when you need certain resources or land or want to cutoff resources to an enemy civ. Important for effectiveness of uniques, neither is situational or is only useful for a specific time period. Their UU is far overshadowed by the UA and UB, but in is not shabby itself receiving movement range, strength when flanking, and sight bonuses over the Cavalry.

Recommended Victory:

Babylon

Science. Babylon’s uniques are centered on defending and building up science. Their ULA provides a free Great Scientist early with the discovery of writing and a whopping 50% growth rate of them for every city throughout the game. You will literally Great Scientist your way to victory. Of course problems arise when people declare war on you. No problem, their UB gives double the HP and extra defense compared to the regular Walls on top of a ranged bonus for units in the city making your cities tanks. Their UU is nothing extremely special but gets a nice defensive bonus and of course it meshes well with the UB.

Recommended Victory:

Immortal Tier - Part 1

These civs could be somewhat situational but with high reward, provide a clear/easier chance at victory, has an extroardinary unique or multiple good ones

Aztec

With one of the most fitting UAs in the game IMO, Montezuma leads a Civ that gets culture for decapitating stuff. This continues throughout the entire game, and with Civ V’s wonky vanilla AI and a little aggression, you’re guaranteed a steady stream of additional culture which you can put back in your war effort through policies or go for the cultural victory. On top of that, the Aztec’s UB gives a massive 15% food bonus for each city that can build it which can progressively scale through the eras even out-producing the Hospital in most cases. The UU is more of just a fun little unit that actually gets a decent bonus in jungle fighting and can provide some quick early game culture.

Recommended Victory:

Brazil

Unlike most other civs, Brazil’s uniques are late game oriented which can be both beneficial and harmful. Their ULA will be literally worthless early game along with both their UU and UI. Their early game is further harmed by the fact that Brazil has a jungle start bias, which can be harsh for expansion. But once you start rolling into mid game, things change. Your lack of expansion due to being bogged by the jungle turns into an advantage as it creates a happier civ that gets golden ages quicker. Golden Ages are key in Brazil as they start rolling in through the Policies and Wonders you should be going for, Brazil will turn into a cultural powerhouse, pumping out Great Artists, Musicians, and Writers. This will be quickened by the Brazilwood camps which you can now spam all over the jungle for maximum spawnage. At this point you just watch the Tourism number rack up and let the Cultural Domination ensue. Oh, and when other civs get pissed that your civ is getting all these golden ages and culturally dominating them and attack you, your UU spawns MOAR Golden Ages on combat victories!

Brazil would easily be Deity Tier if it weren’t for the early game which takes tricky maneuvering so you can be relevant when Brazil’s OP uniques start coming into play. If done improperly though, Brazil quickly becomes a Warlord/Settler Tier civ.

Recommended Victory:

China

The combination of China’s uniques is perhaps one of the least situational reliant of the Civs. Their ULA essentially provides almost a guaranteed 30% combat bonus. Their UU can deal out massive damage for its time at 41.6 base strength combined with a flanking bonus and Great General compared to 18.4 of the standard crossbowman in the same situation. On top of it all, their UB provides a nice +3 gold per turn advantage per city compared to the standard library.

Recommended Victory:

Egypt

There is no recommended victory for Egypt because their ULA essentially lets you pick what path you want to go for. Wonders can change the game and Egypt can make them 20% faster making them a powerhouse in any victory path they choose to go into, provided they have the technology discovery rate to get them to the proceeding Wonders. Their UA gets a huge benefit from the fact that it isn’t situational at all as there will always be Wonders in a game, throughout the game. Their UB is decent and provides 2 extra Happiness and Gold Per Turn giving an early game jump on other civs. Their UU provides extra movement range and is not horse reliant making it an effective early game unit.

Recommended Victory: Whatever you want

Japan

If you want to play Civilization like you play Call of Duty then stop reading this tier list right now and start a game with Japan. Japan’s ULA turns a weak army into a group of super soldiers. You can just banzai straight into a 1v1 with a stronger unit because as they get weaker over attacks you just keep dealing out the same damage. Their ULA makes their city taking ability ridiculous as long as you’re not afraid to lose a few units. Combined with their Samurai UU that pumps out Great Generals on attacks, you’ll be set for the rest of the game with bonus strength. Oh and the Zero, well, at least it looks cool.

Recommended Victory:

Poland

Poland’s ULA, like Egypt’s, allows you to go for any path of victory you desire. The ability to get a free social policy scales perfectly throughout the game as culture costs rise and by the end of the game will amount to over an entire tree worth of social policies. A rough estimate, this could be worth around 8000 culture, or in a 400 turn game, an astonishing average of 20 culture per turn. Their UB is a nifty little replacement for the Stables that offers extra gold for every Pasture which is fairly situational and a XP bonus for mounted units basically giving you an extra barracks for mounted units. The Polish UU is definitely a bully for its time, literally. It is stronger and faster than the Lancer, receives a level 1 promotion, can cause enemies to retreat and gains extra damage against other mounted units, it also has a good synergy with their UB.

Recommended Victory: Any

Immortal Tier - Part 2

Polynesia

What says culture more than hundreds of miles of stone heads lined up on beaches? Nothing in this game. Polynesia’s Moai UI is the ultimate for producing culture. Relatively early in the game (discovery of Construction), you can literally build Culture per turn on coast. Stack up 3 in a row on both directions of a single coastal city and you’re looking at 12 Culture per turn before modifiers, that’s the equivalent of two Great Artist’s worth of landmarks which you can now save to use solely for Tourism to win that Cultural Victory. Plus with the discovery of Flight your Moai start producing gold! Although it could be considered situational, Polynesia gets a coastal start bias to almost guarantee viable land for your Moai. Their ULA complements their UI nicely by allowing you to enter oceans at turn 1 with a sight bonus to find land faster to settle on and start making Moai. This on top of the nice little 10% combat bonus around Moai which you should have everywhere making defending easy. Their UU is good for taking out barbarians and that’s about it though.

If Polynesia wasn’t reliant on having long stretches of coastline, this would be an easy Deity Tier civ.

Recommended Victory:

Shosone

I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but things just end up being better for you playing as the Shoshone. It could possibly because of the absolutely legendary start they get. Starting with the Pathfinder UU gives your civ a much better foundation allowing you to pick how you want to start and just sets you up better for the rest of the game. Their ULA provides an invaluable bonus giving each of your cities more land to start off with which can prove vital to secure resources early on and even later on when finding new land. Their Comanche Riders UU gets an extra movement range which is nice at best. This may sound pretty weak for an Immortal Tier civ, but after a few games with them, things just end up going right, the combination of start benefits just feels right.

Recommended Victory: Any

Siam

Combine Siam’s ULA with the Patronage tree and a strong diplomatic record with city-states and you’ve got a winner. 50% more food, faith, and culture from multiple city-states will have your cities growing faster, a quicker religion founding, Great People/unit instant production with faith, and quicker policy unlocking and since city-states are always there, this isn’t situational at all. The one problem with their UA is you first have to get to the point where you’re friends with these city-states which it doesn’t assist in. Their UB is great also providing 3 extra culture (3 Opera Houses worth) per University which can add up among the cities. Their UU is forgettable being stronger and getting a bonus vs mounted units but getting nerfed by range. Better for defending.

Recommended Victory:

King Tier - Part 1

These civs are overall decent, could have good uniques that don’t quite come together, could be situational but with reward, combination of weak and strong uniques or just all around decent uniques.

Arabia

Even though it would be completely OP, I’m sad Arabia doesn’t get Venice’s ability to have double the trade routes, it would just be so perfect. Arabia’s ULA gives caravans 50% more range so they can get the best options in trade routes which could make more money or it could not making it situational. I’ve never had a problem finding effective trade routes but sometimes with a higher range you get better options. The double oil resources are helpful if you need to pump out those Bombers but mostly should just be traded for money. This is also situational though because it stacks by how much oil your land is given. Their Bazaar UB as most UBs do definitely brings Arabia up giving 2x each luxury resource near a city meaning that extra can be traded for another resource for double the happiness or for gold. Each source of oil and oases gives 2 extra gold which isn’t revolutionary but pretty good for a UB. Finally, every single trade route to your city with a Bazaar will net you 2 extra gold which is a lot less situational than the gold based on resources and could end up making around 10+ gold per turn. Their UU is a ranged Knight, and that’s about it, you make what you want of that.

Assyria

Unless you plan on doing anything but going straight HAM on other civ/city-state’s cities then just pick another civ. Their ULA benefits players who are aggressive awarding techs for each city which is an ability that scales throughout the whole game especially when techs start costing some big science. This definitely creates a straightforward strategy praying on weak civs to then be able to challenge large civs. High potential cap, but also guarantees nothing. Their UB is a library with Great Writer slot which turns into library/barracks combo after its filled which is convenient but isn’t too impacting since the Great Writer slot does nothing for you and if you already have barracks then you still won’t get an additional promotion with this. Their UU does mesh nicely with their ULA and will guarantee an early city if not a few with its “Sapper” promotion.

Recommend Victory:

England

The English ULA is their saving grace. A +2 movement bonus on all naval units provides for rapid exploration early on and faster finding of good land and Natural Wonders which scales later in the game to supporting a deadly navy. The additional spy is a big bonus and can contribute to science discoveries and later on votes in the World Congress. The Lonbgowman UU gets extra strike range which is kind of just a gimmick in my opinion but could be situationally useful. The Ship of the Line UU is just a stronger Frigate and combined with their ULA should be dominant over all other navies at the time.

Recommended Victory:

France

I’m going to be honest with this one, I don’t know much about how theming works, but from what I read, it’s just a minor incentive in culture from producing great works and doubling it really isn’t that effective, maybe by the later eras, when your victory fate has already been determined, around 10-15+ culture per turn. Their UU is a bit stronger Musketman, and that’s it so a little more effective but not Earth shattering. Their UI is what carries them to this tier though; the Chateau can produce massive amounts of culture among a large civilization and scales through the game producing more with the advent of Flight. On top of that the gold output becomes ridiculous along with culture at the advent of flight. Have 10 of these littered around your civ and you are looking at 20 extra culture AND 10 extra gold early in the game up to 30 culture and 30 gold with Flight.

Greece

Competing with Sweden for King of Influence, Greece’s ULA is the equivalent of founding Patronage twice, pretty simple 50% less degradation and 50% recovery of influence. Combined with actually founding Patronage and you get an overall 75% less degradation saving major gold and keeping alliances with city-states. For example, if it costs 1000 gold for 50 influence, and it takes 50 turns to lose that influence at -1 per turn, then that averages to 20 gold per turn to get that 50 influence. With Greece and Patronage, that drops to -.25 per turn meaning it will take 200 turns to lose that influence, meaning you’re paying just 5 gold per turn for that influence. That is a huge difference. Of course this also means you’re getting the added benefits of being friends/allies with a city-state for longer. Their Companion Cavalry is quite a bit better than the Horseman unit it replaces with added strength, range, and a Great General spawn rate, unfortunately none of that is in the form of a promotion so it doesn’t upgrade. The Hoplite is basically a Spartan Spearman with a strength bonus and that’s pretty much it. However their UU’s mesh together well because they are active in the same time period so you could probably take some early cities with these two UUs.

Recommended Victory:

Inca

Much like the Iroquois ULA, the Inca treat their sacred land, hills, as regular plains and can travel through them at normal cost however they aren’t treated as roads like the Iroquois which is a minor inconvenience. You just have to build your own roads now, on hills they cost nothing though but everywhere else they are only half cost which beats the Iroquois ULA there. Overall this ULA can save a lot of money over a large civ and stacked with the “Trade Unions” Social Policy, you’ll only be paying ¼ costs for both roads and railroads excluding hills where you will pay nothing. For example, running a civ with 24 railroad tiles will only cost only around 12 gold per turn minus the number of hills that it runs on opposed to 24 with just the “Trade Unions” Social Policy. Their UU is nothing revolutionary and is cheaper and weaker than the regular archer however can withdraw before being attacked letting them avoid early ranged unit’s weakness, good for early game battles. Their ability isn’t a promotion and won’t upgrade though. The Terrace Farm UI is literally no better than a regular farm unless you’re next to a mountain in which it will get 1 lonely extra food, unless that tile is next to a river or lake in which it will still be the exact same as a farm.

Recommended Victory: Any

Indonesia

Although somewhat situational, Indonesia’s UA can provide up to a whopping 30 free happiness on top of a wider resource pool to activate “We Love the King Day” with the creation of just 3 cities. The hard part is finding three different continents to put these cities on to activate the UA. Playing on Archipelago would make this UA extremely effective along with other island world types. On more Earth-like map types, well, at least you start with a coast bias to give you a better shot. Their UB could provide a decent amount of faith, provided that other religions have an influence on your cities, which makes their UB more of a counter to strong foreign religious pressure than an actual Faith output building. And then we come to their UU, the Kris Swordsman. Like it says, after your first battle you could get any applicable promotion. I think that’s pretty cool, but probably not much more than a gimmick in most situations.

Recommended Victory: Any

King Tier - Part 2

Iroquois

Without a forest start bias, the Iroquois would probably be a Settler Tier, but it does have it, so it’s not. Their ULA can save gold and workers through not having to build roads when cities are connected by forest. Also they don’t suffer from a slow start being in the forest bypassing the forest movement cut. The Longhouse UB takes advantage of the forest start bias providing a production bonus for each worked forest tile and at a lower production cost than the regular Workshop. Their UU has no advantage of the Swordsman except for, you guessed it, an advantage (33% combat bonus) in the forest and jungle. Although situational, the start bias ensures that at least a couple of your cities will benefit from the Iroquois uniques.

Recommended Victory: Any

Korea

Unlike actual Korea, the Korean civ benefits from a large civ with multiple cities to bring its ULA to full advantage. Providing +2 Science for each specialist won’t help much at the beginning but will gradually scale throughout the game nicely and provide many techs worth of science by the end of the game, more with the number of cities you have. Also this ULA allows you to get science even out of non-scientist Great People through their landmarks. Since you should be ahead of the technology curve anyways, building Science Wonders will just scale your Science output further. Both their UU’s are based on defending with massive strength bonuses at the cost of not being able to do more aggressive things, which works nicely with your overall objective playing as Korea.

Recommended Victory:

Netherlands

I can see the justification for Dutch UA as providing gold for that last luxury resource you have to retain the happiness bonus. However, I’m not sold on the idea that for the UA to activate, you essentially have to lose happiness to gain half back. The Sea Beggar although is one of the few UUs that does have value offering gold for just attacking coastal cities and combined with its healing promotion, can create a profitable combination if plopped in front of say, a city-state with a turn after turn attack. One of the few Civs with a UI, the Polder is solid and can provide a decent amount of food from Marshes and Flood Plains.

The problem with the Netherlands is it provides no coherent path to victory and to best make the least situational use of their UU, you have to attack a few city-states which is counter-productive to a Diplomatic victory which would be their best shot at victory.

Recommended Victory:

Ottoman
The Ottomans ULA is definitely one of the flashier ones allowing you to bring in enemy naval units on victory. This can lead to large naval forces if the map type is reliant on that and continues its effectiveness throughout the game. Their UUs are each decent with the Janissary regaining health on victory upon an enemy and the Sipahi has a heightened range and vision good for combat and exploration.

Overall the Ottoman’s uniques are decent at best but are coherent with each other and favor the same play style bringing up its effectiveness.

Recommended Victory:

Persia

If in an average standard game you get around 5 Golden Ages, then with Persia’s ULA, you’re looking at about 25 turns extra of 25% bonus culture, gold, and production. After strategizing to maximize Golden Ages through Wonders and increasing their frequency by going for max happiness and using Great Artists for Golden Ages, then you could be looking at upwards of 8 Golden Ages that last on average of 13-18 turns. That is definitely not too shabby, but is situational based on your culture production, ability to build wonders before other people, and amount of luxury resources available. This ULA is definitely “unique” in the sense that it is more of a reward for already doing good than other uniques which assist you in “doing good” which makes it hard to rate. However their UB simply is good and provides an extra gold and 2 happiness from the Bank which it replaces. So that is the equivalent of a free luxury resource every other city with this UB. Their UU is pretty nifty getting double health regeneration which makes them great for city taking.

Recommended Victory: Anything but science

Portugal

Portugal’s ULA is very similar to Morroco’s in output and will provide for 2-4 extra Gold per turn based on the number of resources you have that they don’t (.5 Gold per resource) which can be advantageous for a sprawling civ but in most scenarios will suffer from Morroco’s problem where it just isn’t that influential. Your number of trade routes is limited and when the littlest gold matters the most, you won’t have enough trade routes to make use of it. Later in the game you could be making a decent amount of gold with this although. Their definitely unique UI meshes with this though providing resources from city-states that will add to your resource diversity bonus UA making it a little bit more effective than the Morrocan ULA while providing happiness from those resources. The Nau UU has a decent advantage over the unit it replaces providing for faster early game exploration and free gold and unit XP for everyone that is built from the “Exotic Cargo” promotion.

Recommended Victory:

Rome

The Roman ULA helps solve the problems of running large civilizations with civilization wide 25% boosts in production on all buildings as long as Rome has them first which it should. The faster your cities build the buildings, the more effective they will be and the more gold, science, and culture they will produce being all around effective. Their Ballista UU is whatever with a slight combat bonus but might assist in taking an early city if you’re into Classical Era sieges. Their Legion UU is the same case with just a small combat bonus over what it replaces. Overall both are forgettable and Rome is carried by its ULA.

Recommended Victory: Any

Russia

Like some other Civs, Russia’s ULA relies on where you start, however this one is broad enough to the point where it can’t really be considered that situational. Strategic resources are available in one way or another pretty much everywhere and the production bonus from them is a big bonus early and decreasingly to mid game. The doubling of the important strategic resources: horses, iron, and uranium is useful and more importantly keeps its relevance through the eras, especially later on when uranium is limited. Their UB is a possibly amazing replacement for the Barracks that essentially provide a mini Angkor Wat in each city that has it. However, by just building the fairly inexpensive Angkor Wat, this UB’s “uniqueness” is naught. Their UU is solid and works well for finishing off enemy units. Note that Russia has a start bias for Tundra which is not in most cases desirable but at least meshes with their ULA.

I initially had Russia in Immortal Tier until further investigation showed that poor Russia gets a Tundra start bonus which really just isn’t good, even situationally.

Recommended Victory: (Sellin dem re$ource$)

King Tier - Part 3

Sweden

Sweden’s ULA pretty much turns Great People into a resource which is cultivated and traded for Influence with City-States. Its main benefit comes from its consistency in that there will always be city-states no matter what your settings are (joke’s on you if you play Sweden and turn off City-States) and it provides a direct path to victory. However if Genghis Khan or some other evil warmonger starts nuking city-states, you’re entire game plan is screwed. And that’s where Sweden’s unique ends, unless you count those skins for the Rifleman and Lancer.

Recommended Victory:

Venice

The talk of the BNW civs, Venice definitely provides a new experience akin to running the “One City Challenge” but with benefits to make up for it. First and foremost is their bread and butter, the ability to have twice the regular trade routes. This basically means their main purpose (and probably only purpose) is to make da moneyz. Nearing late game if you’re still alive, you will be looking at, at least 400 gold per turn. I’ll explain “alive” later. Their Great Merchant of Venice plays a similar role as Austria without the gold, they can straight up buy city-states and make them puppets since you can’t annex or create cities as Venice. Have them do you dirty work making science or culture and you will be making absolute bank while still staying at least somewhat on par elsewhere. So at this point it doesn’t make sense why Venice isn’t Immortal or maybe even Deity, well they still have one weakness. Once the AI wises up, especially in higher levels, they simply declare war on you and relentlessly pillage your trade routes leaving you with nothing. They don’t even have to actually touch Venice to cripple your entire empire since you’ve got one crop, gold. So at this point, you have two options, find some way to make peace, or destroy their entire military because all is it takes is one lone half health Caravel in 2035 to destroy every one of your sea trade routes. Oh, and THEN they take Venice.

Recommended Victory:

Zulu

Before Gunpowder, the Zulu is one of the most potent Civs but falls off a cliff after that. Their ULA promotes large melee militaries providing a 50% decrease in maintenance for them and a heightened rate of promotion. Correlating with that, their UU is a Pikeman replacement than can get the first strike while attacking and defending ranged attacks on top of being “super effective” on mounted units making them strong against basically all units of that time. This adds on top of the bonuses from their UB which gives special promotions to the pre-gunpowder units making their UU extremely lethal.

If this game never reached the Gunpowder era, the Zulu would be a Deity Tier, however it does and after that point the Zulu literally has 0 uniques severely dropping their tier.

Recommended Victory:

Warlord Tier - Part 1

These are civs that provide may provide little to no help for a certain victory, are overly situational, fall off dramatically, and multiple weak uniques.

America

It pains me to put America in Warlord Tier as I’ve probably played them more than any other civilization combined, however their uniques are just nothing inspiring. Their ULA is great for early game exploration but really falls off after that and the 50% less cost for purchasing tiles probably won’t ever save more than around 400 gold over the course of the entire game. The B-17 UU is cool and is a very effective city taker but its defense against fighters is situational since the AI isn’t a fan of anything in the sky. The Minuteman UU is pretty much a skin for the Musketman receiving a level 1 promotion and one movement range over rough tiles alone.

Recommended Victory: ?

Celts

It looks like some try to justify The Celts’ ULA as in some roundabout maybe being sort of effective but that just isn’t the case. This ULA is bad, yes you will get a start bias towards a forest and yes you will probably secure getting a religion, but you can do that without their ULA in most circumstances. On top of that, faith really doesn’t do much after the founding of a religion, especially at the small amount this ULA offers. Plus making the faith addition only applicable to unworked forest tiles means you’re losing production that you could be getting from Lumber Mills. Their “UU” is along the same lines of being bad being a Spearman skin that gets a few faith on each kill which will completely drop off past early game. Their UB which replaces the Opera House saves them from Settler Tier giving them 3 happiness for each one being almost the equivalent of a luxury resource worth of happiness per UB.

Denmark
Presumably, the Danish ULA is to be used for quick invasions across water tiles but is perhaps more suited for simply the early game via exploration and settling. At least situationally it can continue to be somewhat useful throughout the game if your only means of attacking somebody is over water. The Berserker UU is pretty nifty with an added range bonus and the ability to attack land units from the water with further bonus from Denmark’s ULA. The Norweigan Ski Infantry is situational but gains a hefty 25% combat bonus from cold tiles and hills.

The fact that Denmark’s ULA stays relevant, although situationally, throughout the game and its good relationship with the strong Berserker saves Denmark from Settler Tier.

Recommended Victory:

Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s ULA has a major flaw in my opinion. Yes it gives a massive 20% combat bonus when you have fewer cities than the enemy civ. However when you think about one of the main points of combat, to take other cities, then, it seems that the ULA simply counters itself. However if you’re looking to run a tight civ and just defend then this is a great ULA but the rest of their uniques provides nothing for any other victory type. Their UB is a strong unique giving Faith from the first thing you’ll most likely be building in your cities. This allows you to get to your Pantheon and Religion faster but after that it becomes obselete. Their UU is little more than a skin for the Musketman providing a basic lvl 1 promotion and a defense bonus near the capitol only.

Recommended Victories: Anything but Domination

Germany

Luck and extreme time restraint play into Germany’s ULA. Even though completely useless past very early game, there is still just a 50% chance that it is activated. If it does, whoopee, you get another non-upgradeable warrior. The pay 25% less for unit maintenance is useful and continues to be throughout the game, saving this ULA. The Landsknecht UU is a Pikeman that is formed twice as fast which actually makes it a decent UU and during this time period could help take a few cities. But probably its most well-known unit, the Panzer gets a fairly big strength bonus and a movement bonus which could turn tides in close mid-late game battles, but won’t help with getting you to that point.

Recommended Victory:

The Huns

Sid Meier must hate the Huns. Their ULA is simply laughable, faster city-razing, ability to name it after other civ’s cities? Why Sid? Starting out with Animal Husbandry is worth 35 science and afterwards provides nothing. But finally something with at least a little substance is the +1 production for pastures, which is at least something that could even be remotely useful. Their Horse Archer UU is a Chariot Archer with a level 1 promotion that can move in the rough like regular, which is useful situationally at best and will rarely change tides. To end, we get to the fan favorite, the Battering Ram. Stack these early on instead of building settlers and you can get your early cities this way. Unfortunately, the Battering Ram's 300% bonus for city-taking is not a promotion so will not be passed on to its upgrade unit.

Recommended Victory:

India

Unfortunately, India has no good uniques but a group of mediocre ones. Their ULA guarantees that you will run a small civ and that’s about it. Your people will be happier but it will be countered by the fact that you will have less land and therefore less resources. I wouldn’t call that too much of a win. India’s UB doesn’t provide anything until Flight is discovered where it will give a measly 2 Tourism in all of the 3 or so cities that has it. So like how some uniques mesh together, India’s ULA hurts their UB. Their UU gets a little combat bonus but loses movement range and will get outdated really quick.

Recommended Victory:

Warlord Tier - Part 2

Maya

At first glance, the Mayan UA may seem pretty effective however it has a finite cap and becomes progressively worse as the time goes on. You will probably net around 5 Great People with no repeats hurting its effectiveness when honing down on one victory type. However, although also suffering from dropping off, the UB proves to be an effective early game building, knocking out the early game techs quicker and getting to set up your Pantheon and eventually Religion quicker. The UU is basically just a skin for the Archer.

Like so many other civs, the Mayans uniques suffer from dropping off as the game goes on. The ULA could be helpful if falling behind in the later years getting guaranteed Great People.

Mongolia

Your main purpose playing Mongolia is to piss off people going for a Diplomatic Victory. It simply won’t happen when Mongolia is present. Your 30% combat bonus is massive and will guarantee some extra cities in your civ. But really, that’s about it. What you do with those cities are up to you and then you get the “warmonger” title to the rest of the world. I hope you didn’t enjoy peace because the AI will never give it to you. The Keshik UU is a weaker Knight that does ranged attacks and has an extra range due to Mongolia’s ULA but at least it speeds up Great General Growth. Speaking of Great Generals, their other UU is a Great General replacement that can heal units around it and has more range, so that’s pretty cool and most likely is the weight that keeps Mongolia on the Warlord side of the Warlord/Settler balance.

It may seem like Mongolia should be up in King Tier with multiple decent uniques, but in my opinion their ULA is actually harmful because it requires you to go in to war with city-states to be effective but then the rest of the world just hates you for the whole game.

Recommended Victory:

Morroco

Getting a start bias in the desert would usually be a bad thing. Morocco’s uniques help make the desert a hospitable place. Their Kabash UI gives a lone food, production, and gold resource which are better than nothing in the desert. Compared to improvements on any other tile though, this is lackluster. Their UU really makes them shine in the desert though. When attacking in your desert territory, the base damage of your UU skyrockets to 59.5 compared to the base 34 of the Cavalry it replaces. A possibility with this would be to aggravate a closeby civ enough to attack you (which they’ll probably do anyways), clear out their army while defending and rush up and take a quick city or two. I save their ULA for last because it’s more of just a nice little perk than a significant ability. In the early game, 9 extra gold for your 3 trade routes might be the difference between making money and not, but by even mid game, this ability won’t scale well. The culture bonus is fairly insignificant also but has at least some substance.

Recommended Victory: in an all desert map, other than that, up to you

Songhai
Unfortunately Songhai doesn’t get a river or coast start bias because that would make their UA much more potent. However, I guess it’s more for offense than defense. The 3x gold bonus from pillaging can be a pretty big deal and scales well throughout the game. The promotions it gives obsoletes river combat disadvantages and makes them an asset which is mostly situational. Their UB provides a 2+ culture and 2+ gold advantages over the Temple which it replaces which is nice but not massive. Their UU can become a real threat as unlike the Knight it replaces, it doesn’t lose 33% combat strength vs. cities making them quick city sweepers.

Recommended Victory:

Spain

The entire Spanish ULA is one giant gamble that you’re going to be able to find natural wonders and work them. It can provide some good benefits but in most games you’ll be lucky to work even two natural wonders. Even with that, the wonders you work could be low output ones. This ULA is the definition of situational. The two UUs are also nothing special either. The Terico negates its own advantage with cost. The Conquistador is decent on paper, but in terms of actual gameplay is very situational or otherwise pretty useless considering your Scout or previous units should already have exploring under control.

Dat Fountain of Youth 20+ happiness…

Recommended Victory: Whatever your natural wonders want you to do

Settler Tier

These are civs that really just don’t provide anything or are extremely situational with no significant reward, and all uniques are weak.

Byzantine

Sure it’s nice to have an extra slot for religion benefits, but they are simply not strong enough to make Byzantine’s ULA “good”. There are situational circumstance involving terrain and resources where this could be beneficial, but even in those situational circumstances, it still isn’t extremely effective even in early game. Their UU’s fail to impress also. The Cataphract gains a measly 7% bonus compared to the Horseman and has a higher strength at the expense of movement making it so you minus well just build a Pikeman. The Dromon replaces the first naval unit in the game, so after early, early game you won’t be killing many ships with it or in fact doing anything with it.

Recommended Victory: lol @ victory

Carthage

A free harbor is nifty, but is a one-time thing and it’s done for the rest of the game. Passing through Mountains is mostly situational, but the 50hp penalty is brutal. The UU’s are no better than the UA although the African Forest Elephant looks pretty badass. The Elephant suffers from the same problem as the Cataphract in the fact that it loses a movement range making a Pikeman more useful and strong enough to even make up for the Elephant’s fear advantage. The Quinquereme suffers also from the same problem as the Byzantine’s unique ship in the fact that it is the earliest naval unit with a small buff that becomes irrelevant in just a few turns more.

Base Tier List

Deity Tier
Austria Babylon

Immortal Tier
Aztec Brazil China Egypt Japan Korea Poland Polynesia Shoshone Siam

King Tier
Arabia Assyria England France Greece Inca Indonesia Iroquois Netherlands Ottoman Portugal Rome Russia Sweden Venice Zulu

Warlord Tier
America Celts Denmark Ethiopia Germany Huns India Maya Morocco Mongolia Persia Songhai Spain

Settler Tier
Byzantine Carthage

[BillyJoelWilliamson]

Poor list. Korea is deity for sure.

[Yazuki]

Yeah idk what this guy is smoking... I've got almost 3,000 hours in this game (at time of posting this) Putting Byzantine next to last is the height of ignorance. The Dromon is op af early game. It replaces the paper built trireme with basically a battleship. RDPS is way better than MDPS. (not to mention it's a fire breathing boat) The extra religion slot is game changing... You can have BOTH a pagota and a cathedral. (or any mix) You can have missionaries, inquisitors and prophets cheaply just to name a few mixes. Theodora is my go to gal for a culture win...

[Paul Woods]

joke tier list

[Donuel the Daring]

"Their Legion UU is the same case with just a small combat bonus over what it replaces."

Not true. Not only is the legion significantly stronger than the swordsman (17 > 14; a +3 diff is significant at this point of the game), it is also able to build roads and fortresses, which is powerful in itself. During peacetime (or when you keep the units within your borders for defense), you can set all your legions to connecting your cities, while dedicating your workers to other improvements. And when connecting conquered cities through no man's land, they are workers that aren't vulnerable to capture.

[a6bc]

I could go on for hours about this.... The longbow, battering ram, horse archer, camel archer, keshik, ship of the line, and other game-changing units are considered "useless". The Maya, Poland, Korea, England, Poland, Arabs, Inca, Greece, Ethiopia, Mongolia, and Huns are all WAY better than they get credit for here. Japan, the Aztecs, Siam, and Polynesia are all trash and get the second-highest tier???

[PixelConglamorate]

This guide is 6 years old and many mechanics have changed.

[Shayan]

You're a master troll

[General Vis Ferfinir]

lol @ inca being mid tier

[Bomber Rex]

This is pure garbage. Japan in Immortal tier? Seriously?

[Red Perep]

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