civ 6 religious tourism reduced

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• CIVILIZATION VI
• Civ6 - Strategy & Tips

Religious Tourism Pressure

• Thread starter Victoria
• Start date Nov 22, 2016

• Nov 22, 2016

Nice.... The two other things that I think might qualify would be Religious Art? Holy Site for Holy City?  

KrikkitTwo said: The two other things that I think might qualify would be Religious Art? Holy Site for Holy City? Click to expand...

Lord Yanaek

And what about the modifier for different religions? AFAIK it affects religious tourism and not the rest of you tourism. It seems logical that your holy city tourism would be lower for civilizations not following your religion. I didn't fully test this but i think only civilizations that actually founded another religion have this -50% modifier, not civilizations who got converted by an AI. Also what exactly is considered Religious Tourism? From what you say it seems it's only relics, but holy city sure looks like it should fall into this category. Religious art is probably just art, unless there is a separate case for art kept in cathedrals.  

Lord Yanaek said: And what about the modifier for different religions? AFAIK it affects religious tourism and not the rest of you tourism. It seems logical that your holy city tourism would be lower for civilizations not following your religion. I didn't fully test this but i think only civilizations that actually founded another religion have this -50% modifier, not civilizations who got converted by an AI. Also what exactly is considered Religious Tourism? From what you say it seems it's only relics, but holy city sure looks like it should fall into this category. Religious art is probably just art, unless there is a separate case for art kept in cathedrals. Click to expand...

Victoria said: TBH I have been avoiding religion until I had done all the other stuff in the hope someone would test some stuff for me but I will give it a go. Click to expand...

A holy city if for religion and the relics are for tourism. perhaps if a relic is stored in holy city it gets a modifier but I do not believe so. The only one I know of is reliquaries. Click to expand...

A cathedral can house art that is labelled as religious. Which is one of the 4 types of art in the game. Perhaps that gets more from a holy city, i have not tested. Maybe it can be themed, I have not tested. Click to expand...

With regard to differing religions. I'll check it out too... just trying to do one modifier at a time Click to expand...

Lord Yanaek said: OK. i have always played with my own Religion, but unfortunately didn't really take notes. I'll see if i can make some sense of it ....... Well, i asked as this thread seemed to be about religion and tourism but sure enough, do it at your own pace. Thanks for the efforts you put into analyzing all the tourism modifiers. Click to expand...

• Nov 23, 2016

Yes, I tested last night also and was very frustrated for a while. It is certainly the most complicated part of the game. I have a theory and have tested it, its the only thing that works and gives an accurate result over the period of the game. Naturally when you see it you will understand why I want to test it more before accepting my own theory. I played a game last night as England with religion on prince standard map. With reliquaries and martyr as that seems the best tourist option and cathedrals (they are rubbish). It was my first religion game so not efficient but showed what I needed... I think. The Holy city does get 8 tourism as you said. That seems to be the only other religious modification. Cathedral art is just normal tourism. So 2 lousy tourism each and not deemed religious by the look of it. So the formula is not at all easy (sorry krikkittwo) Different religions -50% modifier is applied to the city base tourism (CBT) to give a Modified City Base Tourism (MCBT) This modifier is applied to both the holy city and the artifacts. Enlightenment is then applied to MCBT but enlightenment is only applied to the artifacts (the artifact value after the different religions modifier!) not the holy city. This is despite the fact that Cristo hints that both are affected. Different governments, open borders and trade routes are also applied to MCBT individually and then merged together. Decimal places are kept through the process and rounded down at the end. This was not an easy work out but is the best I have now. What I would really like is for someone to ratify these figures as an independent because its just such a non intuitive way of doing this. I could paste an example in here but all that cut and paste does my head in. So here is a theoretical. I have 8 tourism from holy site I have 104 tourism from relics i have 100 tourism from wonders I have 200 tourism from museums A total of 412 Tourism from my cities. The modifiers against spain are (shown is this order on the screen) -50% enlightenment -50% different religion +50% trade route +25% open borders First for different religion 412 - 56 = 356 (the 56 is 50% of holy site and relics) Then for enlightenment 52 x 50% = 26 ( 52 is the relics halved for diff relig) Then for trade route 356 x 50% = 178 Then for open borders 356 x 25% = 89 Then finally go 356 - 26 + 178 + 89 = 597 tourism applied to Spain that turn This just seems so wrong but seems to work. I just do not feel convinced.  

• Nov 26, 2016

This may be a little bit off topic, but I feel it is the most appropriate here anyway. If you wanna go for Culture Victory, an early era Wonder can helps a lot, bcoz the earlier era Wonder will give higher tourism, no matter when it is built. Most of the game I played, there are always some ancient/classical/medieval era Wonder still left for grab in the late game (Industrial era and later) which can be built in less than 10 turns and will give a big boost for tourism.  

DiffSarit said: If you wanna go for Culture Victory, an early era Wonder can helps a lot, bcoz the earlier era Wonder will give higher tourism, no matter when it is built. Click to expand...

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Sid Meier's Civilization VI

Originally posted by grognardgary : Why not convert them?

Originally posted by Daughterof Maat : Originally posted by grognardgary : Why not convert them?

Originally posted by Daughterof Maat : Oh. currently I am playing with religious, diplomatic and domination victories turned off. I do it so I can learn this game slowly.

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Home » Civ 6: Complete Religion Guide and Religious Victory Strategy (2022)

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• 1 How important is religion in Civ 6?
• 2 How do you get a Religious Victory in Civ 6?
• 3 What is a Pantheon and how do you found one?
• 4 What does a Great Prophet do?
• 5 How do you build a Holy Site in Civ 6?
• 6 How do you make a religion faster in Civ 6?
• 7 How do you remove enemy religions in Civ 6?
• 8 How do you defend against a Religious Victory and stop religion from spreading in Civ 6?
• 9 Can you get your religion back in Civ 6?
• 10 Best Civilizations and Leaders for Religious Victory in Civ 6
• 11 All Religious Beliefs and which ones are best in Civ 6
• 12 All religious units available in Civ 6 and how to get them
• 13 All Holy Site buildings in Civ 6 and what order to build them in
• 14 Best Heroes for a Religious Victory in Civ 6
• 15 All religious World Wonders and Natural Wonders in Civ 6

Whether you’re a seasoned player or a new beginner in Civ 6, there’s a lot to take in and consider when playing the latest installment in Sid Meier’s Civilization series that has been around for three decades. Religion is just one aspect of the massive game, but the option of a Religious Victory means it’s one people need to know about.

While religion has existed in some form since the original Civilization in 1991, the mechanic has become more powerful and more complicated as the years have gone on. Now in Civ 6, it’s a feature with more nuance and possibilities than ever before.

Fortunately, this complete guide is here to pull back the mystery of religion in every way possible. From how to best score a Religious Victory and earn a Great Prophet quickly to the details of every religious building and unit in the game, we’ve got everything you need to know.

How important is religion in Civ 6?

If you’re choosing to pursue a Religious Victory in Civ 6, religion is easily the most important part of your strategy. However, you can still get some major benefits from religion if you’re taking a different path.

For players focused on a Culture Victory, having a high faith output will help you buy Great People and buy Rock Bands in the late game to boost your Tourism. Even if you’re going for a Domination Victory, there are some military units you can get with religion and use faith to buy Great Admirals and Great Generals.

Ultimately, exactly how much you want to focus on religion will depend entirely on the overall strategy for the game you’re playing. Which Civilization, Leader, and even terrain on the map you have will affect how much you need to factor religion into your plans.

How do you get a Religious Victory in Civ 6?

Ultimately there are six different ways to secure Victory in Civ 6, and one way is to target a Religious Victory. As the name implies, doing so will require a heavy focus on religion and use of religious units all throughout the map.

You can earn a Religious Victory by making your own religion the majority in more than 50% of the cities in every single civilization. As such, you don’t necessarily need half the cities on the map, but half of each individual civilization.

To do this, you’ll need to use a mix of religious pressure, religious combat, and direct spread through Missionaries and Apostles. Higher population cities are harder to convert, and you will likely be at odds with enemy religions.

Once you’ve successfully converted 50% or more of the cities in every single civilization in your game, you’ll be able to take that Religious Victory and reveal in your win.

What is a Pantheon and how do you found one?

In order to found a Religion, you’ll first need to found a Pantheon. Put simply, all you need to do is accumulate Faith in order to found a Pantheon.

When playing a game at Standard Speed, you need to earn 25 Faith to automatically found a Pantheon. Once you have that amount, you’ll get the prompt to found a Pantheon without having to do anything else.

While how you build your Pantheon does not restrict which Religion you choose or how you work through it later, you probably want to already have a plan in mind when founding your Pantheon.

Which Pantheon you choose will carry over the bonus in your eventually founded Religion, and lining up this bonus with your later decisions of Religious Beliefs can make a huge difference in your Religious Victory strategy.

What are the best Pantheons to choose?

Religious Settlements: If you’re not going to be too focused on Religion and want a good bonus separate of Faith output, this is one of the best choices. Not only will you get the increased border expansion, but following the introduction of Gathering Storm you also receive a free Settler in your Capital.

Divine Spark: This is one of the more versatile and useful Pantheons, and it will boost your Great Person Points from Holy Sites, Campuses, and Theater Squares. That makes it beneficial to Religious Victory, Cultural Victory, and Science Victory strategies. Gathering Storm boosts those bonuses as you add certain buildings to each of those districts.

Dance of the Aurora, Desert Folklore, River Goddess, Sacred Path: These four all go together because they serve the same benefit, but do so for different kinds of terrain. If you’re settled in an area with a significant amount of any of these Pantheon’s particular terrains, the additional yields can be a huge benefit.

What does a Great Prophet do?

There are nine different Great People in the core game of Civ 6, and a 10th was added with the introduction of Simón Bolívar and Gran Colombia in May of 2020 through the New Frontier Pass or Maya & Gran Colombia Pack.

Of the Great People, the Great Prophet is the simplest and most straightforward of them all. Once you have one, just move it onto a Holy Site district or the Stonehenge wonder and you’ll able able to found a Religion.

As a note, Mvemba a Nzinga of the Kongo cannot claim a Great Prophet because of the way that Civilization and Leader operate.

How do you get a Great Prophet and found a religion?

In order to claim a Great Prophet, you need to earn Great Prophet points. This is primarily done through the creation of a Holy Site and buildings that are built at it.

Unlike other Great People, there is a very limited amount of Great Prophets available depending on the size of the map you’re playing on. If you want religion to be any part of your strategy, you want to make sure to claim a Great Prophet as quickly as possible.

If you wait too long, they may all be claimed and you can be left without the ability to found a Religion of your own. There are a few other methods to earn a Great Prophet, which include playing as Arabia or complete the Stonehenge wonder.

After completing Stonehenge you are automatically granted a free Great Prophet, and Arabia automatically receives the last available Great Prophet. As mentioned above, you then just need to move onto a Holy Site district or Stonehenge in order to found your religion.

How do you build a Holy Site in Civ 6?

The primary specialty district in Civ 6 that will help a focus on religion is the Holy Site, and you’ll need to have researched the Ancient Era technology Astrology in order to build a Holy Site.

Where you choose to build a Holy Site is pretty much up to you, but you’ll want to keep an eye on the adjacency bonus Faith specific locations will provide. Natural Wonders, Mountains, other specialty districts, and unimproved Woods tiles can all boost the Faith output of your Holy Site.

Keep in mind that you’ll also be creating the majority of your Religious Units with your Holy Site, so you may want to keep that in mind when deciding where to place it.

You generally want to make the Holy Site one of the earliest districts you build, even if you’re not pursuing a Religious Victory, in order to take advantage of the Faith output early and earn a Great Prophet to found a Religion if you want to.

How do you make a religion faster in Civ 6?

In some ways, the speed at which you can found a Religion will hinge a bit on luck. If you’re near Stone and can try to be the first to build Stonehenge, it can give you an early lead on the Religion race.

You also want to train a Scout early and send it out in search of Tribal Villages. If you get an early Relic or Faith boost from a Tribal Village, it can easily net you the early Pantheon and put you on the path to a quick Religion.

If you can find an Natural Wonders nearby your starting location, whether for your first city or second, those can also make a huge difference early on. There are also a few specific Leaders which have benefits that will help you found an early Religion, including Gitjara (Indonesia), Cleopatra (Egypt), Tomyris (Scythia), and Mansa Musa (Mali).

How do you remove enemy religions in Civ 6?

The most straightforward way to eliminate enemy religions is to spread your own. As you convert enemy cities to your own religion, it will naturally decrease the presence of enemy religions.

If you want to take a more aggressive stance, it is best to utilize a combination of Apostles and Gurus to wage Theological Combat on the units belonging to enemy religions. The most important locations in enemy Civilizations to convert are cities with a Holy Site. Once converted, that Civilization will be unable to create more Religious Units in that city for their own Religion.

You’ll still need to keep an eye out for their Religious Units that may already exist, as they can return to the city and convert it back to that Civilization’s founded Religion. As noted above, you only need to convert 50% of each Civilization’s cities for a Religious Victory, so it’s a good idea to prioritize the ones with a Holy Site.

How do you defend against a Religious Victory and stop religion from spreading in Civ 6?

When it comes to religion in Civ 6, there are generally two reasons you need to go on defense. The first is that you’re pursuing a Religious Victory yourself, and you need to keep enemy religions at bay along the way.

Aside from that, even if you’re not pursuing a Religious Victory, you could be facing an opponent that has chosen to do that. You can actually effectively counter an opponent’s Religious Victory without too much investment.

You will need a Religion other than the one that is pursuing victory, which can be one you founded or one you’ve picked up from a different enemy Civilization. You’ll need Inquisitors, which can be difficult if you’re using a Religion that you didn’t found, as you’ll need to wait for the founder to launch an inquisition and make Inquisitors available.

Inquisitors help cleanse enemy religions from cities, and all you need to do in order to prevent an enemy’s Religious Victory is make sure less than half of your cities have been converted to their Religion. On top of the use of Inquisitors, you’ll want to keep some Apostles and Gurus at home to engage in Theological Combat should an enemy Religion send their own Apostles in to attack.

As for the general spread of Religion through Religious Pressure, this comes from proximity and through Trade Routes. Keeping a close eye on the Trade Routes going between your Civilization and other Civilizations can make a key difference in tracking the spread of Religion.

Lastly, making your cities bigger will actually make it more difficult for enemy Religion to convert them. Cities with a higher population are more difficult to convert and take more Spread Religion charges, making them even easier to defend with an Inquisitor.

Can you get your religion back in Civ 6?

One big question many players have, especially if they’re not focusing much on Religion throughout a game, is whether they can get their Religion back if it’s been wiped out by enemy Religions. If your Religion has been completely wiped out, which means no followers of it exist anywhere on the map, there is no way to get it back.

That can be disappointing, but if it’s happened then you need to start thinking of some other uses for Faith and shifting your focus in the game away from Religion. However, there are ways to get your cities back under your own Religion’s control depending on where your Religion still exists on the map.

Keeping a handful of Religious Units around your own territory as a backup is a good way to be ready should an important city get converted, and this will help you from having to deal with this situation. If cities outside of your own Civilization are still following your Religion, whether they’re a city-state or of an enemy Civilization, you can actually conquer that city and build a Holy Site (if there isn’t one already) to start creating Religious Units and re-establishing your Religion.

On the off chance that an enemy Religion still has several Religious Units in your territory when you realize this has happened, you could also choose to Declare War on them and use your Military Units to wipe out those Religious Units. This will reduce the pressure of their Religion in those areas, and just might be enough to shift the tide and get your Religion back as the dominant one.

Best Civilizations and Leaders for Religious Victory in Civ 6

Like much of Civilization 6, you’ll start to learn that the way you play has an almost infinite amount of options. When choosing to pursue a Religous Victory, there are many different paths you can take.

Just about any Leader and Civilization combo can pursue a Religious Victory, except for Mvemba a Nzinga of the Kongo. However, these few Civilizations and Leaders stand out from the rest as some of the best choices if you want to aim for a Religious Victory in Civ 6.

Mansa Musa of Mali: As outlined in our larger Best Leaders guide , Mansa Musa of Mali is arguably the best choice for a Religious Victory after being introduced in the Gathering Storm expansion. While you’ll need to settle near the desert, you can pair this with the Desert Folklore Pantheon to significantly boost your Faith output.

Gandhi of India: A great fallback is always the classic choice of Gandhi, as he’ll gain bonus Faith for meeting Civilizations that have a Religion but are not at war. The additional Follower Beliefs gained from other Religions that have at least one follower in their cities will also help along the way.

Tomyris of Scythia: The benefits for Tomyris are two-fold, as you’ll have access to the unique Kurgan tile improvement to help boost Faith early in the game. The Killer of Cyrus ability will also make Apostles stronger and give them the ability to heal when winning Theological Combat, which makes a huge impcat.

Philip II of Spain: The most immediate difference you’ll see with Spain is the ability to build the Mission tile improvement and earn bonus Faith from it. The unique Conquistador unit benefits from being paired with a unit like an Apostle or Missionary, and can be used to spread Religion through conquest as cities are automatically converted to your Religion when conquered.

Saladin of Arabia: The ability The Last Prophet will guarantee you’ll always get the final Great Prophet and be able to found a religion. On top of that, Saladin makes the chosen Worship building significantly cheaper and boosts Faith if a city has that Worship building.

All Religious Beliefs and which ones are best in Civ 6

When founding a Religion and later improving it, your chosen Religious Beliefs can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of the Religion and how you will need to play. Every Religious Belief can only be chosen by a single Religion, so it’s important to found your Religion as quickly as possible and use Apostles to Evangelize Belief as soon as they’re available.

Having backups in mind on which Beliefs you want to go with can help as well, because an opposing Religion might snag the one you were hoping to choose. There are four different types of Religious Beliefs in Civ 6. Upon founding a Religion, you will first need to choose a Follower Belief that will affect any city following that Religion.

The second Religious Belief you choose can be of any of the three kinds, but you will ultimately only be able to pick one of each. Whichever types are not chosen when the Religion is founded will have to be unlocked later when an Apostle uses Evangelize Belief.

The other three categories are: Founder Belief, which affects only the Founder of a particular Religion; Worship Belief, which grants access to one of the Worship Buildings which are covered in detail below; and Enhancer Belief which help the spread and defense of a Religion and only apply to the Civilization that founded that Religion.

While the exact Religious Beliefs you choose will depend on the Civilization you’re using, the terrain with which your Civilization is founded near, and your own preference, there are a few which stand out among the pack. While several beliefs aid other paths to Victory, these stand out as the best if you’re pursuing a Religious Victory.

Best Follower Beliefs for Religious Victory

Divine Inspiration: Much like Pilgrimage, this is a straightforward boost in Faith. You can make World Wonders and Natural Wonders even more beneficial if you snag this Belief.

Warrior Monks: While being able to train Warrior Monks isn’t a huge gamechanger, the Gathering Storm expansion adds the effect that building a Holy Site triggers a Culture Bomb and claims surrounding tiles. That can make a huge difference as you found more cities and build more Holy Sites.

Best Founder Beliefs for Religious Victory

Papal Primacy: While this isn’t quite as powerful in the base game, it’s one you want to look at if you’re playing with the Rise and Fall expansion. This will boost the bonuses from City-States following your Religion in the core game, but in the expansion you’ll instead add Religious pressure to that City-State.

Pilgrimage: This is about as straightforward as it gets, but the increasing Faith bonus you’ll get as you spread your Religion will be a huge boon as you work towards a Religious Victory.

Best Worship Beliefs for Religious Victory

Mosque: This is arguably the most important Belief for a Religious Victory, as it’ll grant an extra Spread Religion charge for Missionaires and Apostles. That’s your direct path to victory, so you really want to snag this one if you can.

Synagogue: Just behind the Mosque would be the Synagogue, which simply gives a major boost to Faith when compared to all of the other Worship buildings. This will continue to stack as you build more cities with new Holy Sites and outfit them with a Sonagogue.

Best Enhancer Beliefs for Religious Victory

Holy Order: Much like Mosque, this is directly going to affect your use of Missionaries and Apostles. Lowering the cost of them will allow you to spread your Religion much quicker, as you’ll be able to buy them more frequently and sooner.

Missionary Zeal: If you’re not able to snag Holy Order, Missionary Zeal can help especially on larger maps. This boosts movement for all Religious Units, which will help you reach and convert cities that are further away from your own Civilization.

All Religious Beliefs in Civ 6

While the ones listed above can be best to focus on, it’s never a bad idea to have a good overview of the whole field of Religious Beliefs. The following table details every Religious Belief in Civ 6, which category they belong to, and what their effects are.

If denoted with a GS at the end of the Belief, those are only available in the Gathering Storm expansion. As well, benefits with GS (Gathering Storm) or R&F (Rise and Fall) indicate they’re changed to that if you’re playing with the corresponding expansion.

All religious units available in Civ 6 and how to get them

Despite the versatility and broadness of religion in other ways, Civ 6 actually has just four religious units to choose from. There are a few that almost qualify, such as the Rock Band.

However, while the Rock Band is purchased with Faith and a certain promotion can help boost religion, it is primarily a Culture-focused unit and not a huge difference maker for a Religious Victory. Instead, you’ll be focusing on these four units.

As a note, the Faith Cost indicated here is a baseline for Standard Speed and the initial unit. The actual amount can vary if on a different speed and increases each time you get one of that particular unit.

All Religious Units must be purchased with Faith in a city with a majority religion and a Holy Site. Be careful not to purchase them in a city that has been converted away from your Religion, as this will give you a unit of an enemy Religion.

All Holy Site buildings in Civ 6 and what order to build them in

While there are a few unique buildings for certain Civilizations that benefit Religion and are built in different Districts, the vast majority of your focus will be on the Holy Site and which buildings you can build there.

If you found new cities, you will need to build new versions of these buildings for each new Holy Site. They also must be built in progression, with a Shrine required for a Temple and a Temple required for your chosen Worship building.

All Worship buildings are unlocked by choosing the Worship Belief of the same name. Each Worship building also has additional benefits noted if you’re playing with the Gathering Storm (GS) expansion.

Best Heroes for a Religious Victory in Civ 6

Along with the introduction of Civ 6’s New Frontier Pass has come the new Heroes & Legends game mode. If you’re choosing to use this in a game, there are a few Heroes available who can help make a significant difference in a Religious Victory.

Now, the catch with Heroes is that there is no surefire way to know which ones will be available to you. There are five ways to discover a new Hero, and after discovering a Hero you’ll need to complete their Devotion project to summon them.

Visiting a newly found Tribal Village has a 15% chance of discovering a new hero. Sending an Envoy to any city-state has a 10% chance of doing the same. Discovering a Natural Wonder or a Continent is a big boost, with a 50% chance of discovering a new Hero.

The two guaranteed ways to discover a new Hero are with the Heroic Tales project, which you need a Monument to start, and by becoming the Suzerain of a city-state. Both of these methods will always discover a new Hero. Unfortunately, all of these methods choose that Hero at random, so you may need to discover a few before you get the ones you’re looking for.

Hercules: The biggest benefit of summoning Hercules is having access to the ability Hercules’ Labor. You’ll have to spend two of your six charges each time, but it can automatically complete construction of a District. This can be especially useful in getting a Holy Site up and running quickly in a new city.

Himiko: This is the most useful Hero, as you get the ability Himiko’s Charm. By using one of her eight action charges, Himiko immediately places one free Envoy in an adjacent city-state, and you earn Faith if you’re already Suzerain of it.

Sinbad: If you can acquire Sinbad early, it can be a huge boon as his ability to enter Ocean tiles will help you circumnavigate and discover things much more quickly. On top of that, the ability Sinbad’s Journeys will also earn you gold whenever he discovers a new Continent or Natural Wonder.

Sun Wukong: While not obviously focused on religion, you can actually use Sun Wukong as a very effective scout. His high movement and ability to ignore all terrain movement penalties make him especially useful in discovering other parts of the map, which helps in knowing where to send your Religious Units.

All religious World Wonders and Natural Wonders in Civ 6

While not all of the game’s World Wonders will help along a Religious Victory, there are 13 which will earn you Faith and some provide additional bonuses that benefit religion. Each World Wonder will require a particular Civic or Technology to unlock the ability to build it.

Once you have that Civic or Technology, you will also need to meet the World Wonder’s unique location requirements. Each will have specific circumstances in order to build the Wonder, and if an appropriate tile exists you’ll then need to spend several turns building that World Wonder.

While a bit harder to come by, there are also eight Natural Wonders that can be found which will help earn you Faith. You can’t create these, but are instead at the mercy of which ones exist on your particular map and your own ability to discover them.

It helps to send out scouts and ships to discover these before other Civilizations. If you have found one that’s particularly useful, you’ll want to get a Settler headed there as soon as possible to claim that land before another Civilization does so.

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'Civilization 6' Culture Victory Guide: Tips And Tricks For How To Win With Culture

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Civilization 6 features five different victory types: Score, Religious, Cultural, Science, and Domination. Civ 6 marks the first time the Religious victory makes an appearance, while the other victory types are Civ mainstays. So what do you need to know about the Culture victory in Civ 6 ? What tips and tricks will get you zooming towards first place?

It’s important to note that the World Rankings screen is easily accessible by clicking the first icon on the top right bar. The World Rankings screen shows everyone’s overall progress, as well as their progress towards a Score, Science, Culture, Domination and Religion victory.

Don’t let another civ sneak up on one victory while you’re working on another! This is where Civilization 6 ’s reworked espionage system is critical. Intelligently deployed spies sabotaging critical districts or stealing their Great Works can really cripple another civ’s victory progress, but it will count as a casus belli (justification for war) if the spy is discovered.

Spies can also perform counterspy operations in your own Civ. This is where tight city-planning will really come in handy, as you can direct your spy to protect X district and any adjacent ones as well. A sprawling city may need more than one Spy assigned in order to be fully protected.

When in doubt what to produce next, using projects like Holy Site Prayers, Campus Research Grants and Theater Square Festival will allow you to generate the appropriate yield, plus Great Person points for that type of district.

Culture Victory

Culture victory is achieved by generating high amounts of culture and tourism, winning over visiting tourists. You must attract more visiting tourists to your civ than any other civ has domestic tourists at home. The upside to chasing culture early is that your borders expand more quickly, so you’ll have more tiles to place all those Wonders you’ll want for success.

Trade routes are an often-overlooked factor in the Culture victory. International trade routes boost your overall tourism, while different governments reduce it. All religious tourism is reduced when the Enlightenment hits. Save a few of your trade routes for international trade to get those tourism bonuses up.

The Theatre Square is the main driver of Great Writer, Artist and Musician points as well as culture generation, so you’ll want to get that up as soon as possible. Adjacent wonders and district tiles increase the Theatre Square’s yield, and each citizen provides +2 culture as well. Try to place Wonders around the Theatre Square to get that culture yield up.

The Amphitheatre is the only standard building that can house a Great Work of Writing, while Broadcast Centers can hold a Great Work of Music. But you’ll have to choose between an Art Museum that holds Great Works of Art or an Archaeological Museum that holds Artifacts discovered by Archaeologists.

If you’d rather not use Great Person points on Great Artists, Archaeological Museums may be a safer bet, since you can produce an archaeologist normally or purchase them with gold for less than patronizing a Great Artist would cost. Archaeologists can get artifacts from Ancient Ruins as well as Shipwreck Resources, which are plentiful around the map.

Wonders like Hermitage, Syndey Opera House, Broadway and Bolshoi Theatre will provide more spaces for your cultural works. The theming bonus mini-game is back in museums, though to swap works between cultures you’ll have to do a full-fledged trade on the Leader Screen. The Forbidden City gives you an additional Wildcard policy slot (great for additional Great Person generation points) and a whopping +5 culture, while Chichen Itza provides bonus culture for rainforests.

Finally, the Eiffel Tower adds +2 appeal to every tile in your Civ, hugely important when trying to build up those Seaside Resorts to attract tourism (and even useful in selecting tiles for Neighborhoods to house your city population). Seaside Resorts provide double the tile’s appeal in tourism, making the Eiffel Tower an even more powerful wonder. Nab Cristo Redentor to double the tourism of Seaside Resorts and your international tourism will easily overwhelm your opponents.

Note that Espionage provides a valuable edge over other civs also competing for a Culture win. Steal their Great Works, cripple their Theatre Squares, do whatever you have to do to kill that international tourism. The World Ranking screen will tell you everything you need to know about who's winning at what. If you can't make 'em, steal 'em!

Civs with Culture bonuses include:

Got any tips for a Culture victory? Feel free to talk about Civ 6 ’s Culture victory in our comments section below.

• Science Victory guide
• Culture Victory guide
• Domination Victory guide

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Civilization 6 Religious Victory - how to win with Religion, gain Followers and convert cities

Explaining the new Civ 6 Religious Victory and best ways to win with it.

Civilization 6's Religious Victory is an all-new win condition in the Civ series, but thanks to some smart, simple implementation, feels like it's been here the whole time.

Religion functions in largely the same way as previous Civ games - cities and units can exert pressure to convert others nearby, and many Beliefs are shared by all who follow that Religion, rather than just the founding Civ. However, the Religious Victory condition is of course completely novel, and as such we'll be explaining how to spread the holy word far and wide, below.

Before doing so however, a quick reminder of our Scientific Victory and Military Domination Victory guides, too - because there's no point in mastering Religion only to be pipped by a Space Race or suprise nuke that you could have seen coming!

A quick note: we've refreshed out Civ 6 guides for the game's launch on Nintendo Switch, but just be aware that they contain information regarding the Rise and Fall DLC as well as the base game, which means some things only apply if you have that DLC! Otherwise... crack on!

Religious Victory conditions

To achieve a Religious Victory, your Religion must be the 'predominant' religion in every other civilization in the game. A Religion is the predominant one for a civ when it is followed by more than 50% of the cities in that civilization.

A city is officially following a Religion if:

• More than half the citizens in a city are Followers of a particular Religion; and
• That Religion has the majority of Followers in the city.

So for example, if my city of Washington has 7 citizens, and 3 citizens follow Hinduism, 1 follows Judaism, and no others follow a Religion, that city won't be following Hinduism yet. If the Hinduism followers in that city increased to 4 out of it's 7 citizens, then it will be officially following Hinduism - it needs to cross that 50% of citizens threshold as well as being the Religion with the most followers in that city, in order for the city to follow that Religion.

Religious Victory strategies

As with all Civilization playthroughs, it's not going to be possible to assemble a complete, step-by-step guide to Religious Victory, simply by virtue of Civilization's ever-changing elements in every game. Instead, we've put together our best tips and advice for a Religious playthrough, covering various aspects of the game:

• The Theology, Divine Right, Theocracy, Kandy combo - Arguably the most crucial point of your Religious campaign is the moment you unlock Theocracy. As a Civic, you'll want to focus on Culture, rather than Science, and head down the path which also grants you Theology and the Mahabodhi Temple Wonder, before you get access to Mont St. Michael from Divine Right, and Theocracy next. Couple this with the successful Suzerain partnership with the city-state Kandy (which grants 50% bonus to Relic Faith yields, and couples brilliantly with Mont St. Michael's extra Relic slots) and you should have a huge, long-term advantage in the Religious game.
• The Historic Religions have no inherent bonuses - An obvious one to Civ veterans, but for beginners it's worth noting that regardless of the Religion you choose, you'll see no in-game difference other than the symbol and name which is shown. All in-game Religious effects are from your choices of various Beliefs as you progress.
• Always choose the God King Policy - +1 Faith in the Capital might not seem like a great deal, but at the start of a game this can be crucial in getting you to your first Pantheon Belief, which is in itself a crucial factor for accelerating your Religious growth further down the line.
• The best and worst Pantheon Beliefs - Pantheons, like all things in Civ, depend on your situation. However, there are some stand-out choices. Initiation Rites will give you a fantastic kick-start to your Religion if you make that extra effort to explore and wipe out as many Barbarian's as possible. At 50 Faith a pop, you can quickly rush some Missionaries or other religious units in the early game. Lady of the Reeds and Marshes is an excellent choice for kick-starting your cities' Production, if situated correctly, whilst Religious Idols can seriously add-up if you're fortuitously positioned for mining. Fertility Rites is another strong kick-starter, this time for city growth, as that's a 10% bonus not to your surplus Food, but to actual growth rates themselves. Finally, we're big fans of Divine Spark , thanks to the added Great Person focus of Civ 6. Advanced players will know to place great emphasis on these, and so any help you can get could be game-winning.

If your lust for Civilization 6 knowledge is still going strong, expansion owners should take a look at our Civ 6 Rise and Fall guide hub which takes you through the basics of everything new, whilst we have dedicated pages on Governors and Loyalty , along with how to earn Golden Ages, Era Points and Era Score through Historic Moments , and a full list of new Civs in Civ 6 Rise and Fall and other DLC. Otherwise, our Civilization 6 guide, tips and tricks covers the essentials before you master early game, mid-game and late-game strategies . We also have tips on the new Districts feature, a Leaders list with their Traits and Agendas , plus the best ways to get Gold , Science , and Faith , how to win by Religious Victory , and how to earn the elusive Science Victory and Military domination victory . Finally, here's the Culture Victory, Foreign Tourism, and Domestic Tourism explained in depth.

• How to deal with Religious rivals like Spain - Spain the pain, as nobody calls it. The Spanish are hugely aggressive with their Religious spread in Civ 6 and, if you can't choose them yourself, will automatically be your greatest Religious Victory rivals. There are two main ways to counter religious spread, we found. First, you can bolster your own religion, particularly through building Holy Sites in multiple cities. Generating enough Faith to purchase new Missionaries is one of the only ways to reclaim a lost Holy City, so you'll need multiple backup options. Second, and the most effective method, is war. Killing enemy Apostles and Missionaries will reduce that Religion's influence by up to a whopping 250 in that area, and also means that with simple cavalry unit you can patrol your borders, picking off any heathens trying to enter. We waged a roughly 2,000-year war against the Spanish in our Science playthrough recently, simply to stop them sweeping an early Religious Victory. Everyone hated us, but it paid off.
• Do you rush Stonehenge? - You can, but it's not going to win you the game. In fact, the Civic Tree's Oracle is actually better in the long run, thanks to the excellent reduction in Great Person purchasing cost. You're likely to only get one in a multiplayer game, and we actually suggest focusing on cultural, rather than scientific growth early on, so as to rush the Oracle and grant you a more sustained advantage into the late game (where Great People can cost upwards of 5,000 Faith at a time to purchase). If you can sneak Stonehenge, of course, then take that too!
• Time your Policy changes and new Beliefs for the right moment - Policy changes are free when you unlock a new Civic, but can also be purchased for a relatively meagre amount of Gold. At times, especially if you can't wait for that next Civic, that cost can be worth it. For example on a militaristic playthrough we found that waiting for the chance to implement the Wars of Religion Policy gave us a huge bonus when fighting against Civs that didn't follow our Religion. At the same time, waiting until we could add a new Enhancer Belief - specifically Crusade - meant that we gained a huge +10 Combat Strength bonus for fighting near same-Religion cities, which works fantastically with a mass-conversion from stockpiled Missionaries.

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Gallery [ | ]

Ark of the Covenant

Beard of the Evangelist

Blood of the Martyr

Book of Thoth

Footprint of the Apostle

Grass Cutting Sword

Philosopher's Stone

Robes of the Guru

Saint Aubert's Skull

Sandals of the Prophet

Shroud of Turin

Splinter of the True Cross

Stone of Scone

Tooth of the Prophet

• 1 Amenities
• 2 Science victory
• 3 How To Play Guide for Civ 6

How to Get Visiting Tourists and Win a Culture Victory in Civilization 6

There are multiple victories conditions that players can get in Sid Meier's Civilization 6, but one of the non-violent ones is the Culture Victory.

Players are given choices for how they want to pursue victory in Sid Meier's Civilization 6 . While players can choose to have a religion that permeates through all nations, an army that takes over the world through force, or enough scientific genius to build colonies on Mars, players can also have such strong cultural influence that they themselves become the world's culture.

In order to get a cultural victory in Civilization 6 , players have to build up enough tourism that it forces the cultures of other countries to be replaced. There are many ways to approach this victory as well.

RELATED:  Civilization 6: Best Government

The main key to cultural victories are Great Works. These are pieces created by Great Writers, Great Artists, Great Musicians, Archaeologists, and Martyrs. Having these creations on display will be the main way for players to get tourism.

The three Great People that produce Great Works need to be obtained with the normal method of obtaining a Great Person. However, once they are on the field, they need a place to put their work in order for players to obtain a Great Work. Examples include art museums, amphitheaters, and broadcast stations. In order to maximize tourism in museums , it's best to theme them by having similar works by different artists.

In order to get archaeologists to find artifacts that can be displayed for tourism, players must build an archaeological museum in their theater square . After that, players can train up archaeologists that can excavate sites in order to find artifacts up to three times. Archaeological museums can be themed for more tourism like art museums.

After players have researched conservation, they will be able to purchase naturalists . These units are able to create national parks which also generate tourism. Players will additionally get tourism from city walls after researching conservation with more tourism with higher leveled walls.

Once players have radio researched, they can make builders construct seaside resorts. These locations generate tourism based on the appeal of the tile.

If an apostle with the martyr promotion dies while in theological combat, they will automatically leave behind a relic for their nation that will generate tourism. However, players will get less tourism after other civilizations research the Enlightenment civic unless players have the Cristo Redentor wonder.

Using these methods to generate tourism will allow players to quietly and effectively reach a cultural victory .

Civilization 6  is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

MORE:  Civilization 6: How to Deal with Barbarians in the Early Game

Religion (Civ6)

• Edit source
• View history

• 1 List of Religions
• 3.1 How to found a Religion
• 3.2 Beliefs
• 3.3 Maximum number
• 4.1 City Majority Religion
• 4.2 Conversion by Religious Pressure
• 4.3 Conversion with Religious units
• 4.4 Conversion with Non-Religious units
• 4.5 Religion lens
• 4.6 Theological combat
• 4.7 Loyalty
• 5 Religious Victory
• 6.1 Defending Against Religious Victory
• 6.2 Seeking Religious Victory

List of Religions [ ]

Pantheon [ ].

As in Civilization V: Gods & Kings , Pantheons are the first signs of spiritual development in a civilization , and a stepping stone towards a Religion. Pantheons worship a number of minor gods, usually related to nature and natural phenomena, and provide minor bonuses, usually based on terrain . In a major departure from the previous game, Pantheons are now considered separate from Religions, and a civilization's Pantheon will not get overwritten by foreign Religions converting your cities .

Founding a Religion [ ]

How to found a religion [ ].

As in Civilization V , in order to Found a Religion first you need to attract a Great Prophet . Once he is obtained, a civilization which has already adopted a Pantheon may use him to found a Religion in any Holy Site district or the Stonehenge wonder, if you've built it. The city to which these belong will then become the Holy City for the new Religion, and all cities with a Holy Site converted to it (that means that half of its Citizens +1 will immediately stop being atheists and adopt the new Religion). Also note that establishing a Religion in a city already converted to a different Religion will overwrite the other Religion! After all, the words of a real Prophet will always outshine those of a mere earthly Missionary or Apostle.

Players must choose a symbol for their new Religion. The symbols of the main historical Religions come with their respective real names, which cannot be changed. There are also custom symbols which come without a name, and a custom name must be entered.

Finally, you have the opportunity to choose two Beliefs for your new Religion.

Beliefs [ ]

Maximum number [ ].

The total number of Religions that can be founded is determined by map size, by half the default number of players plus one:

• Standard: 5

If Arabia is in the game, one Great Prophet is reserved for the nation even if it gets eliminated before founding a religion.

Adding extra players via Advanced Setup will not increase the maximum number of Religions. Once the limit is reached, no further Great Prophets may be recruited, and the Revelation policy card will become obsolete.

In single player games, Gilgamesh , Gorgo , Pericles , Qin Shi Huang , Trajan , Teddy Roosevelt , Victoria , Alexander , and John Curtin specifically ignore Religion. They will only go for it if they get a major advantage towards it (e.g. starting next to a natural wonder ). In addition, Gandhi , Philip II , Saladin , and Jadwiga will specifically aim for an early Religion. Peter is also prone to acquiring an early religion as the Lavra is his unique district.

Mechanics [ ]

City Majority Religion [ ]

The actual number of citizens is rounded to the nearest integer.

When a city grows, +50 religious pressure is added to its majority Religion; if there is no majority Religion then +50 is added to the atheist/pantheon pressure. Since atheist/pantheon pressure is never eliminated and has no external influence it is always a multiple of 50. When a city shrinks due to starvation, production of a Settler , or having been captured, all pressures remain constant. Cities that repeatedly grow and shrink due to a food imbalance can accumulate a huge amount of pressure that makes them hard to convert (typical of City states in snow terrain), and when these cities don't follow a state religion the game will not reveal how much pantheon pressure they have.

The Majority Religion of each city may change constantly: the city will almost certainly start as an atheist city (that is, no Religion will have any Followers there), then it will acquire a Majority Religion, then it might convert to another Religion, go back to the first one, become atheist again...unlike military conquest, these changes won't have any lasting effect on either the city or its population, besides possibly the Tier 3 Religious building which may get constructed at some point in its Holy Site and remain there once and for all, regardless of further conversions. Note, however, that if the city founder has adopted a Pantheon , it will hold fast in this city ever since its foundation, regardless of what Majority Religions may convert the city later.

Conversion by Religious Pressure [ ]

Each Religion spreads its influence automatically thanks to the natural contacts between people living in nearby cities and sharing their spiritual views. This effect is known as "religious pressure."

Religious pressure values for each city are calculated cumulatively for all other cities with Majority Religions within 10 tiles. The following pressures are exerted by those neighboring cities in the following way:

• No pressure if the city does not have a Majority Religion.
• +1 Pressure exerted by the Majority Religion of the city.
• +2 Pressure exerted by the Majority Religion of the city if it also has a Holy Site.
• +4 Pressure exerted by the Majority Religion of the city if it is also the Holy City.
• Potentially affected by modifiers (religious beliefs or Governors).

Pressure per turn is quite a weak effect in Civilization VI and considered passive. The impact of pressure is more pronounced in the early stages of the game where total pressure values are small and subsequently small changes can introduce Religions to your civilization's or other's cities quite easily.

Conversion with Religious units [ ]

Missionary and Apostle spreads also have the effect of eliminating other religious pressure in a city by 10% and 25% respectively. This is unaffected by damage and can prove to be more effective than the respective increase of the pressure of their own Religion by a specific amount. This does not affect atheist citizens, however, and so converting a city with a large atheist population can, perhaps unintuitively, require considerably more effort.

Note that a city of a given Religion will only purchase religious units of that Religion! So, if your cities with Holy Sites have been attacked and converted to other Religions, be careful not to purchase your units and discover they are of the wrong Religion!

Conversion with Non-Religious units [ ]

Another unit available to aid in converting the masses includes the Rock Band with the Religious Rock promotion, which converts the majority Religion of that city to the Religion founded by the player. A Warrior Monk with the Disciples promotion applies religious pressure to nearby cities every time it kills a non- Barbarian unit.

Some civilizations have a perk to aid in converting other players. These include:

• Byzantium's ability, Taxis, allows you to spread your Religion every time you kill a non-Barbarian unit.
• Spain's Conquistador converts cities to Spain's majority Religion if it captures a city or is adjacent to the city when it is captured.
• Poland's leader, Jadwiga , converts other cities to Poland's religion if the opposing city's territory is claimed via a Culture Bomb . This ability carries over into all methods for Culture Bombing such as Burial Grounds (or Warrior Monks in Gathering Storm ), activation of Great Engineer Mimar Sinan , or the World Congress's Border Control Treaty.

Religion lens [ ]

Theological combat [ ].

The final way to spread a Religion is when the agents of two different Religions clash in a contest of faith, called theological combat. The winner will receive extra religious pressure in nearby cities, while the loser will lose such pressure.

Loyalty [ ]

With Rise and Fall , Religion now affects city Loyalty . A city you own following your Religion will have an extra +3 Loyalty, while a city you own that does not follow your Religion will lose -3 Loyalty.

Religious Victory [ ]

In Civilization VI , it is possible to win the game by becoming the most dominant Religion in the world. This is done by having at least 50% of every extant civilization's cities follow your Religion, i.e. the Religion you've founded. To clarify, you need to reach 50% of each civilization's cities, and each civilization that you do this with counts as one point towards the victory, so if you are playing a game with only four civilizations and one of them only has two cities, if you convert one of those cities, then you would be 1/3 of the way to achieving this victory, even if the other civilizations have several more cities.

City-states do not need to be converted for a religious victory.

Strategy [ ]

Defending against religious victory [ ].

If an opponent is particularly strong religiously there are primarily three forms of religious defense against them:

• Having at least one counter Religion (your own, or imported) for which you can build Inquisitors to maintain and counter the religious pressure of the attacking civilization. This is the simplest tactic: just maintain 3-4 Inquisitors hidden in your cities, and wait for the enemy agents to spend themselves converting your cities, then go out and "cleanse" them. But to implement it you depend on your access to Inquisitors, and in case of an "imported" Religion you have to wait for the civ founder to initiate an Inquisition - otherwise you don't have access to Inquisitors!
• Engaging in successful Theological Combat with attacking units, utilizing groups of units that can retreat to heal at Holy Sites. This can always be performed regardless of diplomatic status. However, you always risk encountering a religious force which is simply too strong for you! The AI is fully capable of initiating an assault with 4-5 Apostles , supported by other units and an appropriate Policy setup ( Theocracy and Religious Orders ). On the upside, the defending party always gets an extra bonus around cities following their own Religion.
• Using military units to condemn foreign religious units in or near to your cities. This prevents their religious spread and strengthens your own pressure. Each unit purchased by the opposition also increases the cost of further units. However, this can only be performed whilst at war with the attacking civilization, or if the World Congress votes to allow this against the specific religion in a World Religion resolution.
• Another important factor when defending against a Religion is your cities' Population. A city is more difficult to convert the more people it has, and since Inquisitors give such an edge when converting your own cities you can maximize your Growth to turn the opposing Religion's sweeping ground into a hard terrain to convert. This will force the Religion's founder to wastes his Apostle charges on little impact, which weakens his power overall and buys you time to build up a counterattack. This is specially effective with religious civilizations who boast good Food bonuses, like Gandhi's India or the Khmer .

Seeking Religious Victory [ ]

An ideal religious campaign depends heavily on the layout of cities and Religions in those cities. Spending faith to build units to defend contested borders of cities is akin to attrition and should be avoided. If you also plan to conquer nearby cities of foreign Religions then converting them ahead of time is wasteful when they can be quickly converted afterwards with a simple Inquisitor's spread. The list below provides some common play strategies:

• Focus on Apostles . They are much more valuable than Мissionaries ; their promotions are often significant and their ability to kill foreign religious units in foreign territory is often worth more religious pressure than that achieved from simple Missionary spreads. The main strategy most Religious Victory plays use is of sending Missionaries to the more isolated zones without much religious activity (as they still count towards making your Religion majoritarian at other civs) while you send the more expensive Apostles into mainland zones of theological combat and religious pressure.
• Use the last charge of an Apostle only to eliminate a Religion or when the Proselytizer promotion will give it a large impact. Instead, keep the unit around and use it in theological combat.
• Build multiple units to function as attacking groups. Not only does this provide flanking bonus in Theological combat and extra strategy viability when in the offensive, but it allows for distribution of combat damages. A single Guru can heal up to six surrounding units with a single charge.
• Try to target strategic cities for conversion. Those with Holy Sites and that which can afterwards be defended and used to progress towards the destruction of a Religion are most important. Religious units can only be spawned from Holy Sites with an accompanying Religion, so eliminating these often leaves time to move around the map and convert other cities unhindered (possibly with cheaper Missionaries). A Religion eliminated with no remaining units cannot be resurrected. Position is to also be noted when taking into account a city's value, as cities connecting landmasses act as both platforms from which to send and retreat your religious units against other religious civs, as well as a pressuring stronghold that will slow down the enemy Religion's advances and allow for protection of your progress in entire continents.
• Related to the point above, if you can, make sure your units are in favorable locations before engaging in theological combat - that is, cities that are following your Religion. If you are in an enemy city following a heathen Religion, you should attempt to convert it to your Religion before attacking any units, as this can turn the battle hugely in your favor. This is specially important when dealing against Inquisitors, as they get extra bonuses from holy and allied land, so if they are deprived of those their 75 base strength leaves them weak and easy to target.
• Avoid letting your religious units die or be condemned by an opposing civilization's military, via rapid retreats.
• Allowing foreign units to waste charges on your cities with the intention of removing their religious pressure afterwards with an Inquisitor is sensible as long as the foreign aggression remains controllable.

Gallery [ ]

See also [ ]

• Religion in other games
• Civilization
• 1 Leaders (Civ6)
• 2 Civilizations (Civ6)
• 3 Civilization VI

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[Top 10] Civ 6 Best Religion Civ

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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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