Which religion will reign supreme?
While most religions allege peace, not all practice what they preach.
“If you want peace, prepare for war” so they say, but in the words of every late-night infomercial, “there’s got to be a better way!”
Follow me, true believers, as I detail my favorite religious civs and show you that the path to heaven isn’t always so narrow.
10. The Georgian Empire
Georgia led by Tamar uses a combination of golden ages, political power, and strong walls to generate faith and be a guardian angel for city-states.
Waging protectorate wars as Tamar doubles her faith output; additionally, every golden age doubles faith and tourism.
Using religious beliefs like Papal Primacy or Religious Unity, Georgia can quickly become a hub of faith and tourism.
Georgia: The Defender of the Faith
- Both protectorate wars and golden ages double faith output; with era score bonuses, Georgia is practically guaranteed double faith.
- Tamar can easily gain suzerainty of city-states with powerful religious bonuses.
- Using powerful, faith generating walls Georgia's well-fortified empire can quickly become your ticket to a religious victory.
9. The Egyptian Empire
Cleopatra, the infamous last Pharaoh of Egypt, makes the list with her talent for faith and wonder generation. The Egyptian Sphinx unique improvement has a direct faith yield; additionally, Egypt has a production bonus to all wonders.
By focusing on faith generating wonders and good placement of Sphinx, Cleopatra is a strong contender for a religious victory. (Barring any venomous snake bites, of course.)
The many gods of egypt:
- The “Iteru” (or “Nile”) supplies a 15% production to any wonder built by a river, enabling quick access to faith-generating wonders.
- The Sphinx gives a bonus +3 faith when built next to a wonder, complimenting Egypt’s Iteru bonus.
- The “Monument to the Gods” pantheon doubles the production bonus to early wonders to jumpstart a religious empire.
8. The Spanish Empire
Philip II leads Spain with a mix of God, greed, and war…hmm now, where have I heard that combination before?
Using religious beliefs such as “Crusade” Spain combines expansionism with a strong religious presence.
Conquistadors eagerly and easily bring the good word to all people, whether they like it or not.
Inquiring their way to the top!
- Using “Crusade,” Conquistadors can boast a whopping +24 combat strength while automatically converting captured cities.
- Spain’s unique “Mission,” improvement yields +4 faith when built on non-home continents and goes perfectly with the Casa de Contratación wonder.
- Inquisitors from Spain are exceptionally talented at removing heresy ...because as we know, nobody expects...those guys.
7. The Indonesian Empire
Gitarja sails onto the list with her island-based faith bonuses and quick-spreading, navel-based religious conversion.
As an island nation, Indonesia gets bonus yields for holy sites, and other districts built on coasts.
The ability to attain entire armadas with faith ensures the survivability of this island nation.
Indonesia's faithful fleet
- Founding cities and placing Holy Sites on coast nets huge faith gains; religious units can embark/disembark instantly.
- Since coasts tend to have high appeal, Indonesia in particular gains bonus faith from the Earth Goddess pantheon.
- Indonesia may purchase the powerful Jong ship with faith, escorting missionaries across continents.
6. Poland led by Jadwiga
The Winged Hussars of Poland gallop onto the list as a military and religious powerhouse who spread their religion as quickly as their territory.
Jadwiga is able to culture bomb her way into any territory with encampments and forts, automatically converting other civs into her religion.
Additionally, holy sites gain adjacency bonuses in faith, and relics provide bonus faith.
The piety of Poland
- Jadwiga’s conversion ability goes perfectly with religious beliefs like Crusade or Burial Grounds.
- Bonuses to relic yields can be paired with the Reliquaries’ belief to wage aggressive religious wars.
- Rushing the wonder Mont St. Michel guarantees a constant supply of new relics, giving bonuses to faith, culture, and gold.
5. India led by Gandhi
Home to Hinduism, the oldest and third largest religion in the world, India showing up on this list should come as no surprise.
India’s “Dharma” loosely translated as a moral code, allows India to have the Follower Belief from multiple religions; showing acceptance to all beliefs.
As Gandhi, you receive bonus faith from friendly religious civs and can defend your faith-producing stepwells with India’s mighty armored elephant, the Varu. (Or nukes, of course.)
India's religious tolerance
- When any Indian city has at least one follower from another religion, it gains that follower’s belief bonus.
- Gandhi gets bonus faith for other friendly religious civs, and aggression against peaceful Gandhi causes severe war-weariness.
- India’s unique “Stepwell” improvement provides bonus faith across eras; trade routes and missionaries receive bonus religious influence.
4. The Russian Empire
Russia finds god in the frozen wastelands of the tundra, amassing large amounts of faith in even the harshest environments.
The Lavra, Russia’s unique holy site, can be built quickly, and tundra tiles yield bonuses to both faith and production.
Stacking religious beliefs such as Dance of the Aurora, Russia’s faith yield in the tundra will leave every other civ frozen in their tracks.
Russia's mighty monasteries
- The Lavra is built at twice the normal speed and supplies double the great prophet points, all but guaranteeing an early religion.
- In the tundra, the Lavra combined with the Dance of the Aurora pantheon can easily boost your faith into the double digits.
- With Russia’s high border expansion rate, you can quickly amass enough tundra to generate faith in the double-digits.
3. The Mali Empire
Mansa Musa makes his debut in Gathering Storm, using his legendary wealth to buy his, and his people’s way into heaven.
Similar to Enrico Dandolo of Civ V, Musa gets bonus gold and discounts on faith purchases.
Using both religious and economic policies, Mansa Musa uses the all-powerful combo of religion and money to bankroll his cities into faith generating hubs.
Why gol-...er, why God is good
- Cities gain bonus faith for desert adjacency; with the Desert Folklore pantheon, Musa gains strong faith yields early on.
- The Suguba, Mali’s unique commercial district, gives discounts on gold and faith purchases.
- Musa can combine beliefs like “Tithe” and “Church Property” to maximize the benefits of his religious units.
2. The Arabian Empire
Remembered as a chivalric ruler, a brilliant general, and a devout Muslim, Saladin brings with him all the faith of the Islamic world.
With a guaranteed religion, Saladin can use his unique science building to generate bonus faith.
As the Arabian Empire, you combine science and faith and incentivize other civs to join your goal of religious unity.
A penchant for a Prophet
- The Arabian Empire is guaranteed a religion, allowing you to focus on early science and faith.
- The Madrasa, Arabia’s unique science building, yields faith in addition to science letting you double up with holy Sites.
- Other civs are incentivized to build Arabic religious buildings, which then yield faith to Arabia.
1. The Khmer Empire
Posthumously named Jayavarman VII acts as the Buddhist King of the Khmer. (For the record, his given name was Mahaparamasaugata, so be thankful for the nickname.)
The Khmer, historically a river people, benefit from a wealth of faith and food bonuses around rivers; the cities of the Khmer can grow tall and faithful as their devout missionaries spread their religion across the world.
The path of non-violence
- Aqueducts give the Khmer amenities, food, and faith; keeping citizens happy yields additional bonuses.
- True to Buddhist non-violence, missionaries act as passive theologians, if one is destroyed they provide a relic.
- The Khmer can use religious beliefs like “Reliquaries” and “Monastic Isolation” to skyrocket faith yields and unlock the path to Nirvana.
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