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Confucius is an expansionist and scientific leader inCivilization 7.
A work-in-progress leader tier list for Civilization 7.
This guide is based on singleplayer Deity difficulty AI, not multiplayer.
Confucius Overview
Confucius is a powerful scientific leader in Civilization 7 with significant bonuses for Specialists.
+25% Growth Rate in Cities.
+2 Science from Specialists.
Combine all of these, and you might have a capital that reaches 20 population by turn 100.
This is on top of the science and culture generation specialists already provide.
The absolute trickiest part of playing Confucius is aboutbalancing specialists with happiness, and havinggood adjacency planning.
Read more about adjacency in Civ 7 here.
Specialistscost happiness, which could be detrimental in the Antiquity and Exploration Age.
Confucius Strategy In the Antiquity Age
Confucius has quite a unique approach to the Antiquity Age.
Confucius is all about setting yourself up nicely in the Antiquity Age toreap the benefits later down the line.
The AI will likely get annoyed with you, so you’ll likely need to play fairly defensively.
Let’s take a look.
Early Scouting And Discoveries
Early scouts are unbelievably powerful in Civ 7.
We recommendat least two Scouts to start with, though we often triple up for maximum scouting.
Instead,focus on production buildings, like the Saw Pit and Brickyard.
Plant those settlers on good tiles with plenty of resources that aren’t too far from your city.
Food will be sent back to your capital to help it grow while you focus on production.
Tech And Civics
We tend to pick up eitherPotteryorAnimal Husbandryfirst.
This depends on what starting tiles you have.
Pottery for clay pits and mines, animal husbandry for pastures.
Then you want to grabMasonry, andMasonry II,thenIrrigation,thenWriting.
Unfortunately, Confucius' best Pantheon isFertility Riteswhich provides +10 percent growth rate in the settlement.
As an alternative, we really likeStone Circlesfor the extra production on Mines, Quarries and Clay Pits.
Obviously, this is only applicable if you actuallyhavethose tiles in your city.
When Should You Place Your First Specialists?
As Confucius, it can be a bit difficult to understand when to place your first specialists.
However, there are some yields that are justtoogood to pass up on.
Let’s take a look at this early game Confucius city.
As you could see, even early on we’ve opened up some great specialist slots.
These are better than themajority of open rural tilesin the city.
you might read hereand about how tomaximize the yields in your cities here.
Improving Your Specialists
Confucius is capable of getting someverypowerful specialist tiles in his cities.
This is all reliant on adjacency planningandgrabbing Wonders and techs that improve your specialists.
Most of the specialist-focused improvements for civilizations are only available in their specific civic tree.
For example, theHan Civilizationprovides +1 Science per specialist on itsJunzicivic tech research.
Best Wonders
There are a couple of really standout Wonders for Confucius.
You will need toreallyrush to grab it from them.
Harriet Tubman is a master of espionage in Civ 7.
Here’s how to play her.
Best Civilizations For Confucius
Confucius haslotsof versatility with civilization choice because his bonuses are pretty universal.
The Palace gains +0.5 Science for adjacent Vegetated Terrain.
+30% Production towards constructing Mundo Perdido.
The Maya are anexcellent civilization for science, though that’s not immediately apparent from their overall bonuses.
The Maya, however, provideno meaningful bonus to Specialists- which you might prefer as Confucius.
Khmer
Want to lean completely into Confucius' growth bonuses?
Districts on Rivers do not remove the natural yield of the tile.
30% production towards constructing the Angkor Wat.
The Khmer are all about growth.
Their unique building,the Baray, provides a base bonus of +3 food when constructed.
However, it’s the Khmer civics that really complement Confucius.
The wording of theKambu-Meracivic is important.
In Exploration, we may switch to Confucius' more specialist-specific Mementos.
Charlemagne is a great military leader with some powerful bonuses to happiness.
Here’s the best strategy for Charlemagne in Civ 7.
