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There are a lot of settings that players can change before starting a match ofCivilization 7, difficulty settings included. In total, there are six difficulties inCiv 7ranging from beginner-friendly Scribe to this game’s version of an ultra-nightmare mode – Deity.
Though the normal difficulty is Governor, players are free to change difficulty to their preferred challenge level. But be warned – difficulty inCiv 7doesn’t necessarily change the way the game works, it just gives the AI opponents enormous artificial bonuses that can be hard to overcome if you don’t know howCiv 7works.
Civilization 7 Difficulty System, Explained
InCiv 7,Difficulty settings essentially determine how many combat and yield bonuses the AI players will getin your game. Difficulty inCiv 7does not change anything else – itdoesn’t make the AI make different decisions, it doesn’t reduce your own resources or change the map layout, and it doesn’t change the way you interact with the game.
Instead, as youincrease Difficulty,Civ 7grants flat bonuses to the computer-controlled players. The AI doesn’t get smarter, instead, the game cheats to give them flat bonus yields and combat strength.
In Deity Mode, for example, enemy leaders practically begin the game with dozens ofimportant Yields like Cultureand Science, and will have significantly higher production and food to sustain a boosted army. But they will still behave exactly the same as in lower difficulties.
At high difficulties, enemy players will be able to use these bonus resources to their advantage, and their units will hit harder – but they won’t be smarter about it. Because the behavior remains unchanged, players who know what they are doing can still easily overtake the AI opponents.
6 – Maximum Difficulty
How To Change Difficulty Level
It is only possible to change difficulty inCiv 7in the game creation screen. After selecting your Leader and Civ, the final game settings menu will appear. The Difficulty Setting is the first option in this settings screen.
It is not known whether there will be additional difficultiesadded in future content updates, though other game creation tools are in development.
So, Which Civ 7 Difficulty Should You Play?
If you arenew to 4x grand strategy games, or haven’t played aCivilizationgame before, it’s not a bad idea toset theCiv 7difficulty settings to Scribe. This will actually reduce the bonuses enemy Civs would normally receive at higher difficulties, allowing new players to learn the game without too much stress.
ThedefaultCiv 7difficulty is Governor, which is aboutequivalent to the Prince difficulty of previousCivgames. If you have playedCivilizationgames before, or are familiar with the grand strategy genre, Governor is a good starting point.
Enemy players get no bonuses, which creates an evenly-balanced game. If youwant to play Civ 7on Normal difficulty, choose Governor.
When you should choose higher difficulties is more up to your own confidence and skill inCiv 7.Advancing through Viceroy, Sovereign, and Immortal difficulties,Civ 7players will notice enemy Leaders steadily gaining higher and higher base difficulty bonuses.
At themaximum difficulty, Deity,Civilization 7playersgo up against enemy leaders with absolutely enormous bonusesto their base yields and resources. It’s the ultimate challenge, but jumping straight into Deity is not exactly advised.
Even if you consider yourself an advancedCivplayer,Civilization 7is a major evolution of the franchise. Core mechanics and the way that you interact with the game are completely different from previous games.
It’s a good idea to spend some time in lower difficulties to learn all of these new and overhauled mechanics, then start grinding away at Deity once you feel confident in knowing whatCiv 7expects of you to win.
