Civilization IV — First Principles
The early game
- Start with a worker or a warrior, then settlers. Claim good land before the AI does.
- Research the technologies that improve your capital's best tiles first — Bronze Working, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Mining.
- Keep cities connected by roads and rivers, and watch the economy: each new city costs maintenance.
Religion and great people
- An early religion makes friends and gold, but racing for one costs expansion — choose.
- Specialists in a city speed up its great people. A capital with good food and the National Epic can produce many.
Civics
- Slavery lets you finish buildings by sacrificing population; Bureaucracy boosts the capital; Representation boosts specialists. Switching civics costs turns of anarchy unless you are Spiritual.
War
- Stacks of units move and fight together; bring siege to soften city defenses and promote units for the job they will do.
- A war that does not take cities is usually lost turns.
Strategy and balance change with patches and mods. For current tier lists, guides and the Better Balanced Game rules, see the Civilization tab of our Useful Links page.