Spreading the Word: Mastering Religious Pressure in Civilization VI

Religious pressure in Civilization VI is the invisible force that shapes the spiritual landscape of your empire and the world. It’s the key to peacefully converting cities, dominating the religious game, and potentially securing a Religious Victory. Understanding how to manipulate and maximize religious pressure is crucial for any aspiring spiritual leader. The primary method for increasing religious pressure in Civ VI is through the proximity of your cities with a dominant religion to other cities. Building more cities with a strong religious following, or converting nearby cities to your religion, naturally exerts pressure on neighboring settlements. Additionally, certain beliefs, policies, and wonders can further amplify this effect, turning your empire into a beacon of faith.

Understanding Religious Pressure

Religious pressure, at its core, is the automatic spread of a dominant religion in a city to surrounding areas. This happens passively, representing the natural exchange of ideas and beliefs between populations. The more cities nearby following your religion, the more pressure you exert. The stronger the religious presence within a city, the faster and more effectively it will spread. Remember, if a city doesn’t have a majority religion, a base pressure will be applied to Atheism/Pantheons which is always a multiple of 50.

Key Factors Influencing Religious Pressure

Several elements contribute to the strength of your religious pressure:

• Proximity: The closer your religious cities are to other cities, the stronger the pressure.
• Follower Count: The more citizens in a city following your religion, the more significant the pressure exerted.
• Religious Strength: The more cities you have following your religion, the stronger the faith becomes in your Empire.
• Religious Buildings: Temples, Shrines, and other religious buildings in your cities increase local religious pressure.
• Religious Wonders: Wonders like Hagia Sophia and Mahabodhi Temple can provide significant boosts to religious spread.
• Beliefs: Certain religious beliefs directly increase religious pressure.
• Policies: Some policies, such as those available under the Theocracy government, can amplify religious effects.

Strategies to Maximize Religious Pressure

Here are some actionable strategies to increase religious pressure and dominate the religious landscape:

1. Strategic City Placement: When founding new cities, consider their proximity to other civilizations or cities you want to convert. Placing cities near borders is a great way to spread your religion.
2. Holy Site Focus: Prioritize building Holy Sites in your cities. Construct Shrines and Temples within these districts to further increase Faith generation and religious pressure.
3. Faith Generation: Generate enough Faith to purchase Missionaries, Apostles, and Inquisitors. These units are crucial for actively spreading your religion and defending against religious counter-attacks.
4. Religious Unit Management: Position your religious units strategically. Apostles with the Proselytizer promotion can remove other religions when spreading your own, effectively clearing the path for your faith to dominate.
5. Choose the Right Beliefs: Select beliefs that enhance religious pressure and spread. Tithe (Founder Belief) can be a game changer because it generates gold based on the total cities that follow your religion.
6. Utilize Policies: Experiment with policies that boost Faith output, religious unit strength, or religious spread. Theocracy is a powerful government option that significantly enhances religious power.
7. Wonders and Great People: Build wonders like Hagia Sophia to gain free Apostles and extra spread charges for Missionaries and Apostles. Recruit Great Prophets to found and enhance your religion.
8. Trade Routes: While mentioned in the original documents, Trade Routes can help, but are not reliable. Sending Trade Routes to foreign cities can exert a small amount of religious pressure, potentially leading to their conversion.

Defending Against Religious Pressure

Remember, religious pressure is a two-way street. Other civilizations will try to spread their religion to your cities. To defend against this, consider the following:

• Inquisitors: Use Inquisitors to purge foreign religions from your cities.
• Apostles: Employ Apostles with the Debater promotion to defend against theological combat.
• Religious City-States: Suzerain bonuses from religious city-states can provide defensive benefits against religious conversion.

The Importance of Religion in Civilization VI

While not always necessary for victory, religion can provide significant advantages in Civilization VI. A strong religion can fuel your economy through Tithe, boost your culture through Religious Art, enhance your military through Warrior Monks, and, of course, secure a Religious Victory. Understanding and mastering religious pressure is a key element of any successful Civilization VI strategy. You can find more resources and community discussions on sites like the Games Learning Society at GamesLearningSociety.org.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How do I found a religion in Civ 6?

To found a religion, you first need to earn a Great Prophet. Great Prophets are earned by accumulating Great Prophet points, primarily through building and improving Holy Sites. Once you earn a Great Prophet, you can use them to found a religion in a Holy Site in a city.

2. What are the best civilizations for a religious victory?

Several civilizations excel at religious victories. India (with Gandhi) gets a Faith bonus for meeting new civilizations. Scythia (with Tomyris) can generate a lot of Faith early on. Spain (with Philip II) gets bonuses for having cities on different continents that follow their religion. Arabia (with Saladin) gets a guaranteed Great Prophet.

3. What are the best religious beliefs to choose?

The best beliefs depend on your strategy. For Founder Beliefs, Tithe (gold based on followers) is excellent for economic benefit. For Follower Beliefs, Religious Art (culture based on holy cities) boosts culture. For Worship Beliefs, Cathedrals (Faith and Religious Art slots) and Mosques (Faith and extra spread charges) are strong. For Enhancer Beliefs, Itinerant Preachers (increased religious spread range) and Religious Texts (increased religious pressure from trade routes) are useful.

4. How does theological combat work?

Theological combat occurs when religious units (Apostles and Inquisitors) from different religions encounter each other. You can initiate combat by right-clicking on the enemy unit. The strength of each unit is determined by its combat strength, which can be increased by promotions and other factors. The winner of the combat removes religious presence from the city or eliminates the opposing unit.

5. Can I destroy another civilization’s religion?

Yes, it is possible, but difficult. You need to conquer their Holy City, convert it to your religion and continually use inquisitors to remove the dominant religion. If you conquer the holy city with a unit, but the holy city does not convert to your religion, use your Great Prophet to convert the Holy City. If their cities start to convert back to the original religion, use an Inquisitor to remove the religious presence. This is the best way to permanently remove the religious presence in the game.

6. What is the role of Governors in religious gameplay?

Certain Governors, like Moksha (The Cardinal), can significantly enhance your religious efforts. Moksha provides bonuses to Faith generation, religious unit strength, and city defense against religious conversion.

7. How do I heal religious units?

Religious units heal when stationed next to or on a Holy Site owned by your civilization. Select the unit, and if it has movement points available, a “Fortify Until Healed” option will appear.

8. What is the best pantheon belief for a religious game?

For a religious victory, consider pantheons like God of War (Faith from killing units near Holy Sites), Religious Idols (Faith from Mines), or Divine Spark (Great Person points). Religious Settlement (Free Settler with first city) is a great option as well for getting an early advantage on land.

9. How do I use Apostles effectively?

Apostles are powerful religious units that can spread your religion and engage in theological combat. They can also gain promotions that provide additional benefits, such as removing other religions from cities (Proselytizer), increasing combat strength (Debater), or enhancing religious spread range (Translator).

10. Is it worth building Stonehenge?

Stonehenge grants you a free Great Prophet, allowing you to found a religion early. If you are committed to a religious victory, building Stonehenge can be a significant advantage, especially if you struggle to generate Great Prophet points quickly.

11. How does the Theocracy government affect religion?

Theocracy is a government that significantly boosts religious power. It allows you to purchase military units with Faith and provides combat strength bonuses to religious units, making it ideal for civilizations pursuing a religious victory.

12. What is the difference between a Missionary and an Apostle?

Missionaries are basic religious units that can spread your religion to nearby cities. Apostles are more powerful units that can spread religion, engage in theological combat, and gain promotions that enhance their abilities.

13. How do I defend my Holy City from conversion?

Build Holy Sites in your other cities to generate enough Faith to recruit Inquisitors. Inquisitors can be used to purge foreign religions from your cities, making it very difficult for other religions to convert your Holy City.

14. What happens if I don’t found a religion?

If you don’t found a religion, you won’t be able to pursue a Religious Victory, but you can still benefit from other religions by adopting them in your cities and utilizing their beliefs.

15. Can I get a Religious Victory if another civilization has already achieved one?

No. Once a civilization achieves a Religious Victory, the game is over. You must prevent other civilizations from spreading their religion to your capital and ensure that your religion becomes dominant in at least half of the civilizations in the game to secure your own Religious Victory.