10 Best Ancient Era Civilizations, Ranked

Starting in Civilization 6 during the Ancient Era can be a frustrating experience at times, depending on the map design, the density of barbarian clans, or overzealous and hostile opposing leaders. These challenges can be further exacerbated when playing with enhanced environmental effects, such as zombie defense or apocalypse mode. Building a strategy to survive the early-game Ancient Era starts with choosing the right civilization and leader.

Happily, some Civilization 6 leaders are better equipped to traverse the Ancient Era than othersand can even give players an advantage if the Ancient Era's unique units, structures, or leader abilities are utilized correctly. These ten civilizations in Civilization 6 will give players the best chance of establishing a solid foundation for themselves during the Ancient Era.

10

Māori is a strong choice when there is water nearby

Leader: Kupe

The Māori civilization is an excellent starting civilization for games on archipelago, small continents, islands or snowflake maps due to its starting bonuses. The leader's ability, Kupe's Voyage, guarantees that players will start on an Ocean tile and provides +2 Science and Culture per turn until the first city is colonized. Kupe's ability also gives players a free Builder and +1 Population when the first city is colonized.

Māori also has the Mana feature, which unlocks navigation and shipbuilding technologies from the start of the game and allows players to enter ocean tiles automatically with all units, providing them with additional movement while boarding. The above bonuses allow players to establish a starting position in any ocean-style game, especially during the Ancient Era, but are very ineffective on maps with little or no water.

9

Sumer is great at conquering barbarians

Leader: Gilgamesh

The Epic Quests' unique civilization ability for Sumer is especially useful in the Ancient Era when barbarian invaders are plentiful, as it provides an additional reward when capturing a Barbarian Outpost. Players receive a “good cabin“Bounty (also known as tribal village) in addition to the usual Gold bonus. The Sumerian Ziggurat is a unique structure that Builders can build, providing +2 Science and +1 Culture if it is near a river.

Next, The War-Cart is a unique military unit from the Ancient Era that is stronger than all other starting units in the game. Increased movement when starting a turn in open terrain, providing great mobility in the early parts of the session. If players find themselves at war early on, leader Gilgamesh's Adventures of Enkidu ability provides powerful bonuses to the Alliance.

8

Nubia starts production quickly

Leader: Amanitore

Under the rule of Amanitore, Nubia is an excellent choice for a starting civilization that will give players a huge boost to production and a powerful long-range military unit. Amanitore's leader ability, Kandake of Meroë, gives a +20% increase in production in all districtsincreasing to +40% if players build a Nubian Pyramid adjacent to the City Center. The Nubian Pyramid can be built shortly after players unlock Freemasonry and provides additional faith and food bonuses.

Nubia has a powerful Civ resource called Ta-seti, which gives a +30% production bonus to ranged units, namely the Pítati Archer, an Ancient Era ranged unit with extra movement that is stronger than than a normal archer. With these increases in production, players will be able to form a huge legion of archers right from the start of the game.

7

Greece has two powerful choices for leader

Leaders: Gorgo and Péricles

Both of Greece's leaders, Gorgo and Pericles, provide some stellar culture bonuses that start as early as the Ancient Era and have access to the Ancient Era's powerful military units, the Hoplites, an anti-cavalry unit that gains adjacency bonuses when positioned alongside from other Hoplites. . The civilization of Greece presents the capacity of Plato's Republic, which offers an extra wildcard policy slot in any government – a huge advantage during the Ancient Era and beyond.

While Pericles' Surrounded by Glory ability provides a decent +5% culture bonus per Overlord, this will only be useful if match settings include a reasonable number of city-states and players are lucky enough to spawn near some to take advantage of. this bonus in the Ancient Era. Gorgo could be a safer bet, but its Thermopylae ability only grants Culture from Combat victories.

6

Aztec can progress with districts

Leader: Montezuma

Led by Montezuma, the Aztec civilization was excellent for development during the Ancient Era because of the unique civilization ability of The Legend of the Five Suns. That allows players to spend Builder charges to complete 20% of the cost of any original districtwhich is an extremely useful tool for completing districts early on in order to increase adjacency bonuses and increase earnings as much as possible in the future.

Unique military unit from the Ancient Era of the Aztecs, the Eagle Warrior has a unique ability that allows them to capture military units from other civilizations and transform them into Builders, which is incredibly useful given the Legend of the Five Suns mentioned above. Players can declare an early war, capture opposing military units and turn them into Builders, and increase district production with those “free” Builder unit loads.

5

Gália has advantages for district planning

Leader: Ambiorix

The Gallic civilization, led by King Ambiorix, has several bonuses unique to the Ancient Era, including the Hallstatt Culture skill that provides a minor adjacency bonus to all districts near the Mines, as well as a Cultural Bomb of unowned territory when a Mine is built. The Gaesatae unit replaces the Warrior and is slightly more expensive to maintain, but increases Combat Strength when fighting stronger enemies or district defenses.

Even more beneficial is the Oppidum district which replaces the Industrial Zone and can be built earlier, meaning it is easier to establish in the Ancient Era than the Industrial Zone, and this Unlocks Learning technology when the first Oppidum is built. These districts also offer very useful adjacency bonuses from quarries and strategic resources.

4

Phenicia is perfect for the coast

Leader: Dido

The Founder of Carthage ability for Dido, the leader of Phoenicia, won't become relevant until a Government Square is established, but all the other civilization bonuses will be incredibly useful for the Ancient Era. This includes the civilizational capacity of the Mediterranean Colonies, leaving players start the game with Writing Eureka, gives 100% loyalty to all coastal cities on the same continent as the Capital and increases the movement and range of vision of the Settlers.

More significantly, the Cothon district is a cheaper version of the Port that gives +50% production to naval units and settlers, and the Bireme, a unique Ancient Era Phoenician naval unit that replaces the Galera, can protect traders within four blocks to be looted. This is especially useful when facing barbarian invaders early in the game. Civilization 6Ancient Period.

3

Maya leads to dense civilizations

Leader: Lady Six Sky

The Mayan civilization in Civ 6 is led by Lady Six Sky whose unique ability Ix Mutal Ajaw gives a +10% yield bonus to all non-capital cities within six blocks of the Capital and provides a free Builder when these cities are founded. This is a huge early-game boost, allowing players to build a compact cluster of high-yield cities. However, this comes at a cost when the map becomes more crowded; cities that are not within the same range receive a -15% debuff to all income.

Additionally, the Observatory building replaces the Maya Campus and is cheaper to build, while also offering science bonuses for farms, districts, and plantations. If that wasn't enough, Hul'che's Ancient Era-exclusive ranged unit has a very powerful ranged attack that increases even more when fighting a wounded opponent.

2

Cree may acquire more land

Leader: Poundmaker

With Poundmaker as their leader, the Cree civilization has an incredible position in the Ancient Era due to a unique feature that allows for the acquisition of land from the beginning. The Nîhithaw skill gives players +1 trade route capacity and a free merchant once they unlock the ceramic technology, but most importantly it will allow merchants to claim tiles within three spaces of a Cree city the first time they pass them, assuming they are unclaimed.

Additionally, the Ancient Era-exclusive unit Okihtcitaw is a very strong replacement for the Scout that starts with an automatic free promotion. Additionally, Cree Civilization Builders can build Mekewap, which provides production, housing, gold and food bonuses which increase as players progress through the Civic and Tech trees. They can be built from the ground up to maximize Ancient Era yields and adjacency bonuses in Civilization 6.

1

Egypt has everything in the ancient era

Leaders: Egyptian Cleopatra, Ptolemaic Cleopatra and Ramses II

Of all the civilizations with excellent Ancient Era bonuses, Egypt is at the top due to its variety of possible leaders and unique Ancient Era characteristics. Players can choose between the Egyptian or Ptolemaic versions of Cleopatra, or they can select Ramesses II as the leader of an Egyptian civilization. Egypt's Iteru ability gives +15% production when placed near a riverwhile the Maryannu Chariot Archer is a mobile and powerful ranged unit from the Ancient Era.

Overall, these civilizations grant players the necessary advantage they were looking for during the Ancient Era. Whether it is the Gallic focus on production or the many boosts to culture and commerce coming from Egypt's various leadership choices, these Civilization 6 options stand out as excellent choices for the Ancient Era.