Civ 7: How To Become A Diplomatic Powerhouse

In the game Civilization 7, Influence serves as a crucial resource for numerous purposes. It acts as the medium for forming connections with other players and City-States, allowing you to gain War Support, initiate Endeavors, make friends with Independent People, and so on, with many additional possibilities.

To amass influence in Civilization 7, players have fewer options compared to Science or Culture yields. However, by employing these strategies, Civilization 7 players can cultivate an empire that effortlessly allies with or outmatches opponents, controlling the game’s direction as they please – shaping its course effectively.

Civ 7 Influence Buildings

In each era, the most effective strategy for growing your impact long-term involves constructing structures that generate influence. During the Ancient Age, you can find up to three such influence-building options, whereas the Exploration and Modern Age offer only two.

In the Antiquity Age, Influence buildings include the Monument (1 Influence), Garden (1 Influence), and Villa (2 Influence)
In the Exploration Age, Influence buildings include the Guildhall (2 Influence) and Dungeon (2 Influence)
In the Modern Age, Influence buildings include the Radio Station (4 Influence) and Opera House (3 Influence)

Mostly, they can be opened using technologies that are situated just a few steps into the technology progression, enabling players to hastily acquire them throughout each era, except for the Villa, which requires The Wheel, located deeper within the Antiquity tech lineup.

Slot Influence Social Policies

There are several Social Policies that can boost your influence in the game of Civilization 7. Initially, every player begins with the Divine Right policy, which bestows an additional unit of Influence and Culture on your capital city. However, you can unlock numerous other policies by investigating specific Civics – this includes unique policies for each civilization. For instance:

1. The Merchant Republic policy, which grants +2 Gold and +1 Amenity in City-States.
2. The Confucianism policy, providing a bonus of +1 Science when constructing a Great Library or a University.
3. The Philosopher policy, offering a bonus to Great Person generation in all cities.
4. The Pax Romana policy, reducing the cost of Roads and Walls by 50%.

Oratory: Grants +2 Influence per turn.
- Unlocked with Code of Laws in Antiquity
Guanxi & Jiu Qing: Grant +1 Influence on Science and Happiness buildings, respectively.
- Unique to the Han Civ (Anqituity)

If you find yourself requiring more influence, think about incorporating one of these Civil Policies (and other policies you may unlock as the game progresses) to promptly accumulate Diplomatic favor.

The Leader Attribute Tree

In the Diplomacy Skill Tree, you can select various traits using Diplomatic Skill or Wildcard Points. Most of these traits will lower the amount of Power required for specific actions, but one early trait provides a passive bonus: an extra unit of Power in the Royal Court for every age that passes.

These Diplomatic Attributes for Influence include:

+1 Influence per Age on the Palace
+50% Influence towards initiating and progressing the Befriend Independent action
+25 Influence towards supporting or rejecting Diplomatic actions

In the Military Attribute Tree, there is an option to boost Influence over Levying units from City-States by 50%. If you find yourself in a tight spot and have two Wildcard points to spare, it’s not a bad decision to select this feature to maximize your influence when acquiring free Military units.

Use Leaders & Civ Influence Bonuses

Certain Leaders and Civilizations in the game Civ 7 possess distinctive talents that can boost your Influence or even modify the way you employ it. When it comes to choosing the most effective Influence-oriented Leaders, Civ 7 players might consider opting for:

1. Gandhi (India) – His unique ability, “Non-Alignment,” allows him to maintain neutrality and gain influence from other civilizations without any diplomatic penalties.
2. Boudicca (Celts) – Her special ability, “Celtic Fervor,” provides additional influence over cities with a high number of Great People, making her an excellent choice for players who focus on cultural victories.
3. Shaka (Zulu) – His unique ability, “War Weary,” allows him to gain influence when enemies are exhausted from warfare, making him a valuable asset in aggressive playstyles.
4. Saladin (Arabia) – With his special ability, “Dome of the Rock,” Saladin can generate additional gold and influence from religious buildings, which is particularly useful for players pursuing a religious victory.
5. Mansa Musa (Mali) – His unique ability, “Hajj,” provides increased gold and influence when visiting Holy Sites, making him an excellent choice for players who focus on religion or trade victories.

Himiko, for instance, can Support Endeavors without spending any Influence.
Harriet Tubman uses essentially half the Influence needed to conduct Espionage actions.
Machiavelli just generates +3 Influence for each Age, culminating in +9 in the Modern Age

Among the diverse civilizations available in each era, there are several that excel at accumulating Influence. Here I am, sharing some of my favorites:

1. The Shoshone – Their unique ability to convert units to Influence makes them a top pick for me.
2. The Mali – Their Grand Library wonder provides a nice boost to Influence, making them a strategic choice.
3. The Celts – Their Druids can influence enemy units, which I find quite intriguing.
4. The Polynesians – Their ability to convert luxury resources into Faith and Influence is another appealing feature for me.
5. The Mayans – Their unique ability to gain Influence from defeated barbarian units is a game-changer in my book.

The Han Civilization (Antiquity) has two unique Buildings that generates Influence on Science and Happiness buildings.
Rome (Antiquity) can create the Basilica, which grants both Gold and Influence
The Qing Civ (Modern) gains +2 Influence for every Imported Resource

Build Civ 7 Influence Wonders

Among several options available for construction, certain Wonders are particularly effective in increasing a player’s Influence production rate. Since many of these Wonders are timeless, building them swiftly will result in increased Influence accumulation throughout all three periods.

Weiyang Palace: Grants +6 Influence (Antiquity)
- Unique to the Han Civ.
Brihadeeswarar Temple: +3 Influence (Exploration)
- Unique to the Chola Civ.
Serpent Mound: +4 Influence (Exploration).
- Requires the Astronomy Tech.
Doi Suthep: +4 Influence for every City-State you are a Suzerain of (Modern)
- Requires the Political Theory Civic.

Among them, the Weiyang Palace would be the ideal choice if you’re starting as Han in Ancient times, followed by the Serpent Mountain during the Exploration era, and finally, the Doi Suthep in the Modern age.

Turn Towns Into Hub Towns

A strategy for increasing your influence could be transforming a small town into a “Hub Town.” Once your town has reached a population of 7, you have the ability to establish a “Town Focus.” In the stages of exploration and beyond, one of the options for this focus is to develop the town into a bustling Hub Town.

In simple terms, a ‘Hub Town’ will boost its influence by +2 for each settlement it is connected to. If you have a central town or a distant town surrounded by other civilizations (like in the Distant Lands), a Hub Town can significantly increase your overall Influence.

One unexpected source of influence comes from uncovering spy activities that rival civilizations have attempted against you, but failed. Although it might be difficult to persuade other players to conduct spying on your civilization, and there are limited methods for enhancing influence through diplomatic incidents, this additional influence is still beneficial and provides a means to increase your influence overall.

2025-02-12 02:25