Civilization VI and its expansions include numerous civilizations to choose from, which have unique abilities, units, districts, and buildings. Selecting the best civilizations for victory condition objectives will give you a better chance of winning matches. The best civilizations in the game excel for certain victory conditions. These are some of the best civilizations in Civilization VI you can play with.
Read also: 6 of the Best Unique Units in Civilization VI
1. Germany (Domination and Science)
King Barbarossa’s Germany is an economic powerhouse that’s great for pursuing Domination and Science Victories. This civilization’s primary appeal is its unique Hansa district for industry, which is one of the game’s best unique districts. The Hansa provides a +2 productivity bonus for adjacent Commercial Hubs, Canals, Dams, and Aqueducts. That district also has +1 production bonuses for all kinds of adjacent resources and two adjacent districts. Thus, Germany has a notable productivity advantage over most other civilizations, which is especially useful for rolling out military units faster. Germany’s superior productivity is also very useful for building Spaceports and completing space projects faster as required for the Science Victory.
Another great thing about Germany is its extra military policy slot for all government types. Extra Policy Card slots are always extremely useful. As this slot is a military one, it’s especially advantageous for players going for the Domination victory.
Aside from that, Germany offers players an additional specialty district bonus and a unique U-boat unit. The district bonus is a notable one as it enables you to build one more district per population limits than other civilizations. For example, a German city with a population of four can build four districts instead of the usual three. Thus, players who play with Germany can ultimately build more districts than other civilizations, which is a big bonus for all victory conditions.
2. Sumeria (Science)
Sumeria is an ancient civilization that’s very strong in the early game, which offers notable scientific and military bonuses. Its unique Ziggurat tile improvement building is a big attraction that provides +2 science and +1 culture bonuses when placed by rivers. That unique tile improvement can give Sumeria players a notable scientific advantage, which is invaluable for the Science Victory condition.
This civilization boasts one of the best unique units in the game in the form of War-Carts. The War-Cart unit has no maintenance cost and is much better than the Heavy Chariot it replaces. With it, you can trample over enemy civilizations and barbarians during the early game period. Furthermore, you’ll also receive unique bonuses for smashing barbarian outposts with Sumeria’s War-Carts. Therefore, that unit is invaluable for players going for the Domination Victory.
Sumeria’s Adventures of Enkidu ability is also useful for war. Enkidu enables you to declare war on other civilizations without penalties if they’re at war with one of your allies. Without incurring diplomatic penalties for declaring wars, other civilizations are much less likely to attack you during matches.
3. Arabia (Religion and Science)
Arabia combines religion with science to great effect. It’s one of the best civilizations for the Religion victory condition because it provides a free Great Prophet, which ensures you can establish a religion in the early game. Furthermore, Saladin players can purchase Arabian worship buildings at a massive 90 percent faith discount. With a 10 percent faith boost for worship buildings to boot, Arabia is an excellent choice for the Religion victory condition.
However, Arabia also offers numerous scientific benefits. Arabia’s worship buildings for your civilization’s religion also provide a 10 percent science and cultural output boost. For each foreign city that follows your religion, you’ll receive a +1 science bonus. You can also build Arabia’s unique Madrasa building, which provides +5 science output, which is one more than the University it replaces. With such science bonuses, this civilization is also a good choice for winning the space race.
4. Russia (Religion and Culture)
Peter’s Russia is another great civilization to play for the Religious Victory condition with. That’s primarily due to its unique Lavra district, which provides twice as many Great Prophet points than standard Holy districts and is somewhat quicker to build. Therefore, players can get their religions started sooner than others when playing with Russia. The Mother Russia ability also provides +1 faith and +1 production bonuses from Tundra tiles and an extra five tiles for every city founded.
The Lavra also gives Russia a notable cultural advantage. It gives players extra great person points for certain religious buildings. Furthermore, players can purchase more great persons with Russia’s extra faith output. Activating great persons with Russia also expands city borders, which gets you even more territory. Remember that more territory amounts to more archaeology sites, seaside resorts, and natural parks to exploit for tourism.
If that’s not enough, Russia has the most formidable horse cavalry unit in the game. The Russian Cossack has a +5 attack bonus on home turf and can still move after attacking other units. It’s a great Industrial Era unit to have up your sleeve during wars.
5. Greece (Culture)
Greece is one of the few civilizations in Civ 6 to have two distinct leaders. Of the two Greek leaders, Pericles is the best choice for Culture victories as he increases cultural output from city-states under his suzerainty. However, you can build Greece’s unique Acropolis cultural districts with both Pericles and Rhodes. The Acropolis is much quicker to build than a standard Theater Square. Unlike the Theater Square, Acropolis provides culture output bonuses for districts adjacent to it and when it’s built beside a city center. Pericle’s leadership ability combined with the Acropolis gives Greece a considerable cultural output advantage.
Greece is also among the best civilizations in Civ VI because of the extra wildcard slot for Policy Cards it gives players. That card slot can be utilized for military, economic, and diplomatic cards. With it, you can select an extra card that provides significant tourist bonuses for a Culture Victory, such as Heritage Tourism.
6. Scythia (Domination)
When it comes to bonking heads for a Domination Victory, Scythia is among the very best civilizations in Civ VI. This civilization’s leadership ability heals units by 30 hit points when they kill other units. Scythia’s units also have a +5 attack bonus when they attack units that don’t have maximum health. The civilization ability for Scythia also provides players with free copies of every Saka Horseman, Courser, Horseman Cavalry, or Helicopter produced in their cities. Those abilities give Skythian armies both a notable qualitative and quantitative advantage against enemy civilizations.
Skythia’s unique Kurgan tile improvement is a very handy one. The Kurgan tile improvement has a +3 gold and +1 faith yield. Adding a good number of Kurgans to tiles will boost your civilization’s economy, which amounts to more gold for military units.
The best civilizations in Civilization VI above have some excellent unique abilities, districts, units, and buildings that elevate them above most others. Playing with those civilizations will give you a good chance of winning games with the victory conditions they’re especially strong for.
