Domination is one of the victory conditions in Civilization VI. To win a Domination victory, you’ll need to capture (and hold) the capital cities of all the other civilizations in a game. This is a victory condition that can only be won with military conquests. Here are a few Civilization VI tips for Domination Victories.
Read also: 8 Civilization VI Beginner Tips for War
1. Keep unit costs down
You’re going to need a bigger army for Domination games than other victory conditions. Your military units have costs that will put more strain on your budget. To reduce the budgetary impact of a bigger army, select the Conscription and Levee en Masse policies when you can. Those are policies that reduce unit maintenance costs by one and two gold per unit.
The Levee en Masse policy
2. Science is key
Science is crucial to Domination Victories. Getting ahead on the tech tree will enable you to unlock more advanced military units sooner than anybody else. So make sure you build plenty of science districts and buildings and establish envoys with scientific city-states.
Then select to research science that will unlock more advanced units ASAP. Your primary objective should be to unlock flight before anybody else so you can utilize airpower to blow away other civilizations. After that, go for the A-bomb!
A bomber plane in flight
3. Play with Skythia
Skythia is one of the best civilizations to go for a Domination Victory with. That’s primarily because of Skythia’s Killer of Cyrus effect, which gives all its military units a +5 attack boost when they attack enemy units with less than full health. Skythia’s military units also get up to 30 HP replenished when they eliminate a hostile.
However, Killer of Cyrus isn’t the only advantage Skythia gives you. This civilization recruits Saka Horse Archers, Horsemen, industrial era Cavalry and Helicopters in double quantities. Thus, a city produces two of those units for the time it takes to recruit one.
In addition to that, playing with Skythia enables players to build Kurgans in cities, which provide a + 1 gold bonus. Those gold bonuses provide a handy economic boost to cover your additional military costs.
4. Select governments that boost unit combat strength
To boost your military for wars, select a government that will increase units’ combat strength. Oligarchy is one of the first governments you can select, which provides a +4 combat strength bonus for land units.
You can stick with Oligarchy until you get either Fascism or Communism. Fascism provides a +5 combat strength bonus for all military units. That’s probably a more preferable military effect than the +4 defense strength increase Communism gives land units. However, the production boost Communism provides will help you roll out units more quickly.
Communism on the Government page
5. Build some nukes to clinch victory
Nuclear devices can be invaluable for Domination Victories. Firing a single nuke will obliterate a heavily fortified capital city for a nearby unit to capture it. Thus, you can capture capital cities quickly and easily with a nuclear arsenal.
With that in mind, unlock nuclear fission ASAP so that you can have some nukes ready for the end game. You probably won’t be able to have any nukes by the 19th century, but they can win you the game during the 20th and 21st centuries. Build two or three nuclear weapons (and their required naval or air units) so that you can nuke your enemies’ capitals in your final few wars to secure victory in style!
A nuclear attack
6. Play on a small map
Larger maps include more civilization capitals for you to conquer. So if you want an easier game, play on a small map instead. The small map includes just six (including your own) civilizations. Therefore, you’ll only need to capture five capitals to clinch a Domination Victory. Playing on a small map is a good starting point for beginners, and then you can try winning Domination Victories in bigger games after that.
Those Civilization VI tips for Domination Victories will give you a better chance of capturing all the other civilizations’ capitals. Now it’s time to crush your enemies!
