In Civilization 7, one of the key strategic decisions players face early on is which Legacy Path to follow starting from the Antiquity Age. Each Legacy Path presents distinct challenges organized into milestones. Achieving these milestones earns Legacy Points, which can be spent at the beginning of the next Age. The paths fall into four categories: Cultural, Scientific, Military, and Economic, each guided by historically significant ideas or concepts. Successfully completing a Legacy Path grants a bonus for entering a Golden Age, while not fulfilling any milestones opens up the option for a Dark Age.
During the Antiquity Age, the four Legacy Paths in Civ 7 might seem straightforward, yet they can be quite challenging for new players. Although it’s feasible to work on all four paths at once, doing so may hinder your ability to complete any of them fully due to the Age Progression meter. The Age progression is determined by the milestones reached by all leaders in the game, which imposes a limit on how many milestones and bonuses you can attain. The Legacy Paths in the Antiquity Age include the Wonders of the Ancient World (Cultural), the Silk Roads (Economic), Pax Imperatoria (Military), and the Great Library (Scientific).
Build Wonders for the Cultural Path in Antiquity
The Cultural Legacy Path in Civ 7, titled Wonders of the Ancient World, is quite clear-cut: you must construct seven Wonders before the Age concludes. However, if you’re not familiar with the mechanics of Wonder construction, here are a few important points. Wonders are unlocked through Civics or Technology research and are specific to the Age, meaning only Wonders from the Antiquity Age will be available during this time. Additionally, there is a limit to the number of each Wonder that can be built—if other civilizations are competing to construct the same Wonder, it becomes a race to see who can finish it first.
If you miss the opportunity to build a Wonder, your Production is redirected to the next available project, but that particular Wonder cannot be reconstructed. When deciding which Wonders to pursue, remember that each civilization has a unique Wonder that they can build with increased Production speed—this is an advantage worth leveraging as you aim for the Wonders of the Ancient World Legacy Path. Successfully completing the construction of seven Wonders grants a Golden Age bonus, leading to Golden Age Amphitheaters that maintain their base yields, adjacency bonuses, and effects into the Exploration Age. Each milestone you achieve also provides a Legacy Point, which can bolster Production towards a Cultural Victory in Civ 7‘s Modern Age.
Allocate Resources for the Economic Path in Antiquity
The Economic Legacy Path known as the Silk Roads requires you to collect and assign 20 Resources to your empire. You can obtain resources from various sources; however, the slots available for these resources are limited. You may need to expand your Resource capacity by constructing buildings, adopting Civics, and more. Resources can be gathered by developing a settlement and placing population on it, but alternative methods also exist. Establishing trade routes with other civilizations or City-States can yield additional resources, and Economic City-State bonuses provide unique resources like Lapis Lazuli.
Limited Resource slots can be a concern, and assigning Camels in settlements is beneficial as they can increase the Resource limit. Specific Wonders, like the Monks Mound and the Colossus, can also raise Resource capacity. Buildings like the Market and Lighthouse can enhance Resource limits, and certain unique Civics can do the same—Mississippi’s Cah-nah-ha is one such example. Achieving the Silk Roads Golden Age is highly advantageous in the Antiquity Age, allowing a leader’s cities to retain their status in the next Age when they usually revert to towns.
Expand Your Empire for the Military Path in Antiquity
The Military Legacy Path, Pax Imperatoria, requires you to maintain 12 Settlements in your empire, counting conquered Settlements as double. While it is technically possible to fulfill this requirement without warfare, it is generally more efficient to capture Settlements through conquest. To earn points for Pax Imperatoria, players can deploy Settlers to create Towns. An alternative strategy involves befriending Independents City-States, gaining Suzerain status, and absorbing these City-States into your empire.
The best approach is to deploy siege units to conquer opponents’ Settlements since exceeding your Settlement cap results in a -5 Happiness penalty for each additional Settlement. Conquering Settlements counts as two points towards the goal, meaning if you strategically take six Settlements, you can comfortably reach the target (five and a half if you count your Capital). It’s advisable to work on increasing your Settlement limit through research options like Irrigation and by adopting Entertainment and Organized Military Civics.
Showcase Codices for the Scientific Path in Antiquity
The final Legacy Path, known as the Great Library in the Scientific category, requires you to collect and display 10 Codices. Codices can be obtained through various means and are key Great Works for the Antiquity Age, necessitating designated slots for display. Mastering Technologies is the primary method for obtaining Codices, as many of these awards yield one Codex, with Mathematics Mastery providing two. You can also earn Codices through Narrative Events, Scientific City-States, unlocking the Literacy Civic, or by constructing the Nalanda Wonder, which grants a Codex and two Codex slots.
Besides the Nalanda and the Palace, the Library and Academy can provide two and three slots, respectively, for Codices. Importantly, Codices may be lost if there are no available slots for them or if the buildings they occupy are plundered or destroyed in a disaster. This makes thoughtful placement of these buildings essential to avoid running out of space for Codices.
In conclusion, regardless of which Legacy Path you choose to focus on, the bonuses derived from completing these paths are invaluable. Each milestone provides significant advantages, facilitating the accomplishment of your ultimate victory objectives. Understanding the intricacies of the four Legacy Paths in the Antiquity Age is crucial to forging a winning strategy in Sid Meier’s Civilization 7.
