Civilization 6: The 5 Best Leaders for a Science Victory
Civilization 6 is all about picking the best leader to pursue a specific victory type. With so many leaders to choose from, it's easy to get overwhelmed by options - especially for newer players who may not know the ins-and-outs of playing Civilization 6 yet. In this ongoing series, we're going to be covering a handful of leaders that excel at each Victory Condition and how they can be used effectively. This week, we're diving into the Science Victory and the leaders that are best suited to lead their Civilization into the great unknown of Space.
Hammurabi is a new face in Civilization 6, and he's a wholly Science-centered leader who can really get a sprinting start toward a Science Victory compared to other Civs in the game. Added as the newest leader in the New Frontier Pass, Hammurabi leads the Babylonian Civilization and has a heavy focus on Science and Eureka effects. Hammurabi's unique Leader Ability is Ninu Ilu Sirum, which grants Hammurabi the first building of a Specialty District for free when he builds that Specialty District. When building a non-Specialty District for the first time, Hammurabi is instead granted a free Envoy. While this is a nice bonus, and can be a big boon when going for early Great Prophets, it's not where Hammurabi shines.
The big defining feature of Hammurabi is Babylon's unique perk: Enuma Anu Enlil. In the right hands, Hammurabi can absolutely dominate the Science field thanks to this perk. This perk makes it so Hammurabi generates 50% less Science per turn, which is a huge drawback. However, when Hammurabi earns a Eureka for a Technology, he is instantly awarded that Technology rather than just a partial boost. If Hammurabi plays his cards right, he can skyrocket ahead thanks to well-timed Eurekas. However, if Hammurabi misses the opportunity to get a Eureka, then he will, unfortunately, have to purchase it outright with his abysmal Science generation. Late-game Hammurabi can be a deadly militaristic force, or if going for a Science victory Hammurabi could have a solid head start over everyone else. Hammurabi should be working to get every Great Scientist possible as the late-game ones are one of the only ways to get Eureka's for Modern Age and Future Tech Sciences.
John Curtin leads the Australian Civilization, and his playstyle is highly focused on tile Appeal and planning cities around beautiful scenery. While at first glance John Curtin's Australia may not seem like the pinnacle of Science, but don't let the beautiful land they settle on distract you, those beautiful scenes are doing more for Australia than meets the eye. But before diving into what makes Curtin such a force to be reckoned with in the Science game, let's take a quick glance at Curtin's leader ability: Citadel of Civilization. Citadel of Civilization encourages John Curtin for being the world's police force. When being targeted by a Declaration of War or after liberating a City, Curtin gets +100% Production in all of his cities. This is great if another Civilization is getting conquest-happy and is capturing City-States or other Civilizations' cities. Doubling production is a massive boon, but it's only supplementary to Curtin's claim to fame.
The real fun comes with Australia's unique Civilization perk: Land Down Under. Land Down Under provides +3 Housing to Coastal Cities (perfect for those struggling to juggle Civilization 6's Housing mechanic) and building Pastures triggers a Culture Bomb that converts nearby tiles to Australia's control. However, the real kicker is that Australia's Campuses, Commercial Hubs, Holy Sites, and Theater Squares get +1 to their yields on Charming Appeal tiles, that bonus is increased to +3 on Breathtaking Tiles. What this means is that if settled in a particularly high Appeal area of the map, Australia's cities are not only going to be happy, but they are going to be producing a lot of yields from Specialty Districts. Mountains generally have High Appeal ratings and provide good Adjacency Bonuses for Campuses, so Australia will have Campuses providing a ton of Science, which will let Curtin skyrocket through the tech tree faster than most other Civilizations. Additionally, a well-timed City Liberation will allow Curtin to rush production on key Science Victory buildings like the Spaceport or other key projects in his cities.
Robert the Bruce, much like John Curtin, utilizes less well-known mechanics to gain an edge in the Science game. Before diving into Scotland's powerful Civilization ability, let's first cover Robert's lackluster leader ability: Bannockburn. This ability grants Robert a bonus 100% Production and +2 Movement for all units for 10 Turns after declaring a War of Liberation. Additionally, Robert can declare a War of Liberation earlier than other Civilizations. This ability is certainly not weak, but it's incredibly situational and much harder to pull off than Curtin's leader ability. To formally declare the Casus Belli for the War of Liberation, a Friend or Ally must have one of their cities taken by another Civilization. Only then can the War of Liberation be declared. This can be helpful in games against another Civ that is gearing up for a Domination Victory, but generally, the ability is so infrequently used it's hard to rely upon.
The real kicker is Scotland's Civilization perk: Scottish Enlightenment. Scottish Enlightenment makes it so that Happy Cities gain +5% Science and +5% Production, and generation +1 Great Scientist Points in their Campuses, and +1 Great Engineer Points in their Industrial Zones. Ecstatic Cities double this bonus. Robert is highly encouraged to settle in appealing locations and work toward getting lots of different Amenities to keep his cities happy. Entertainment Complexes are highly encouraged as early as possible as the boosts to Science and Production will help Robert sprint toward a Science Victory, or at least a technological advantage over other Civilizations. Overall, Robert is highly incentivized to pay attention to the happiness in his cities, and to avoid war when possible as war weariness can have a much bigger impact on his cities than most Civilizations. But the boosts he gets from Happy cities are incredibly powerful when trying to score a Science Victory.
Seondeok of Korea is one of Civilization 6's pure Science-focused Civilizations, and her Leader Ability pairs quite well with Korea's unique ability and infrastructure. Picking a strong starting position will be key for Seondeok, as her entire Civilization relies on Hills - thankfully Seondeok has a starting bias towards Hill terrain so most of the time players should be placed near Hills at the beginning of the game. To start, Seondeok's Leader Ability is Hwarang. Hwarang makes it so that Cities with an established Governor receive an additional 3% Culture and 3% Science for each promotion the Governor has. It is smart for Korea to have a few Cities with well-upgraded Governors rather than having Governors in every city. Governor titles are limited, so players should carefully plan their Governor upgrades instead of just appointing Governors all over the place.
Before diving into Korea's Civilization ability, it's first important to cover Korea's unique building: the Seowon. The Seowon replaces the Campus, significantly easier to produce, and starts with +4 Science. The downside to the Seowon is that it loses 1 Science for every adjacent District (including the City Center), and cannot gain normal adjacency bonuses that the Campus has. The Seowon is a powerful boon to Korea that will give Korea a very early start in the race toward a Science Victory. Now to Korea's Civilization Ability: Three Kingdoms. Three Kingdoms makes it so that farms adjacent to a Seowon gain +1 Food, while Mines adjacent to a Seowon gain +1 Science. This makes Mines incredibly valuable, so Korea should plan to place a Seowon in a location that has several hills, and perhaps one or two flat tiles for the farm bonus. These bonuses can be gained early on which allows Seondeok to race towards a Science Victory earlier than most Civilizations, and it's not incredibly hard to do so. This makes her one of the best leaders for a Science Victory, especially for newer players.
Wilhelmina wraps up our top 5 Science Leaders list, and there was some steep competition for who would make the cut. Wilhelmina's well-rounded playstyle actually benefits her in multiple Victory conditions, and Science is no exception. While Wilhelmina has no Science-specific benefits, her overall bonuses can help her excel in the Science field easily, all while giving Mansa Musa a run for his money in the Gold department. Wilhelmina is a trade-focused leader, who again benefits from well-placed cities to capitalize on the Netherlands Civilization Perk. But to start, Wilhelmina's Leader Ability is Radio Oranje, which gives Domestic (Internal) Trade routes +1 Loyalty in the starting city. Foreign Trade Routes to and from a foreign civilization grant +1 Culture for the Netherlands. Overall, the bonus Culture from Trade Routes is nice, but not much in this area in terms of pushing that Science Victory forward.
The Netherlands' unique Civilization Perk is Grote Rivieren, which grants massive bonuses to building adjacent to rivers. Rivers will provide a +2 Adjacency Bonus to Campuses, Theater Squares, and Industrial Zones. Additionally, building Harbors triggers a Culture Bomb which converts nearby tiles to Wilhelmina's control. Wilhelmina also gets a bonus 50% production towards Dams and Flood Barriers, just in case those rivers are being a bit too rowdy - or someone in the game is being too evil in the Apocalypse Game Mode. Wilhelmina will be getting a ton of money through her many Trade Routes all while making her districts along the river incredibly efficient. Campuses along rivers will be producing a ton of Science, especially if stacked with other major adjacency bonuses. Wilhelmina will likely be able to buy buildings for her Campuses outright, allowing her to focus Production on other parts of her Civilization. While Wilhelmina's Science game is more subtle than, say, Hammurabi's, she is certainly a great contender for the coveted Science Victory
Civilization 6 is available for Linux, Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
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