Sooner or later, Civilization 6 players will have to engage in combat. Whether another leader has declared war on them, they're attempting a Domination Victory, or they've come across some Barbarian units, gamers will have to know their way around combat units to take down any enemies that may cross their path.
This guide will talk about the combat modifiers that will influence a unit's combat strength in Civilization 6. This way, players will be more familiar with all attack types and in which conditions they are deemed favorable and when they should be avoided or skipped entirely.
How To Check Combat Modifiers
Before committing to an attack, players can actually check the combat modifiers that will be impacting it, either in a positive way or a negative way.
To check the combat modifiers influencing an attack in Civilization 6, players must select the attacking unit, and then hover over the enemy unit. The combat modifiers will appear on the bottom right corner of the screen. Negative combat modifiers will appear in red writing and base attack and positive combat modifiers will appear in white.
The game will analyze both modifier types and take into consideration the base strength of the units involved in the attack and let the player know if the fight will either end in victory, stalemate or defeat. Sometimes it's worth taking a step back and not engaging.
As the player progresses through the game and researches more technologies, and unlocks new policies in the Civics Tree, certain bonuses - such as Flanking and Support - will be unlocked, meaning that an attack at the start of the game may be weaker than the same type of attack a few turns later.
All Combat Modifiers
The strength that a unit has when either attacking or defending will depend on various factors in its environment. If the player understands why a unit has more or less Combat Strength in a certain situation, it allows them to modify their placement or use it to their advantage.
Civilization 6 is a complex game, and various factors come into what could seem like the smallest players during a turn. In certain scenarios, it might be worth delaying an attack for a turn or two in order to get another unit to move closer to provide a flanking Combat Strength bonus. This is just one example of countless situations that may occur. The table down below points out all combat modifiers that players will encounter during gameplay.
|
Modifier |
How it works |
Impact |
|---|---|---|
|
Ideal Terrain |
Hills, Woods, Rainforest, and Reef (naval) tiles are considered ideal terrain. These bonuses can also stack if a tile has both qualities. |
|
|
Unfavorable Terrain |
Marsh and Floodplains tiles are considered unfavorable terrain. |
|
|
Amphibious Attack |
Melee units attacking from the water onto land are given a great penalty for this type of attack. The Amphibious promotion negates this penalty. |
|
|
River Defense |
A unit is given a defense combat strength bonus when being attacked by a melee unit across the river. The Amphibious promotion prevents this bonus. |
|
|
Melee Units |
Melee Units are extra effective against Anti-Calvary Units. |
|
|
Ranged Units |
Ranged Units receive penalties for attacking Naval Units as well as City Defenses and District Defenses. |
|
|
Anti-Calvary Units |
Anti-Calvary Units are extra effective against Light Calvary, Heavy Calvary, and Ranged Calvary Units. |
|
|
Siege Units |
Siege Units receive a penalty for attacking Land Units. |
|
|
Damaged Units |
When a unit has been damaged, it receives a negative combat modifier depending on how much HP they've lost. |
|
|
Fortified Units |
If a unit fortifies and doesn't move that turn, they're granted a defensive bonus. This bonus is doubled if they fortify an extra turn or more. |
|
|
Forts |
If a unit stands on a Fort, they're granted a defensive bonus. |
|
|
Flanking and Support |
Flanking and Support bonuses increase as more units provide support. Great Generals, Great Admirals, and promotions can contribute and increase this bonus. |
|
|
Corps and Fleets |
Players can merge two units and create a Corp or a Fleet to make them stronger. It will even provide useful combat bonuses. |
|
|
Armies and Armadas |
It can be complicated to control a large of units in the late game, and players might want to consider merging three units into an Army or an Armada. This gives combat bonuses and makes it much easier to control movement when attacking a city. |
|
|
Resource Shortage |
If a player is low on a strategic resource needed to maintain a unit, it will decrease their Attack Strength. The negative combat modifier is the same as the number of units that aren't able to receive maintenance at the end of the turn. |
|
|
Diplomatic Visibility |
If the player gathers intel on the enemy, they gain combat bonuses for each extra level of visibility they have on them. |
|
These are the main combat modifiers that players will encounter during their gameplay. When trying to improve one's military units, players should invest in building the Encampment district. It helps military units increase their XP faster in order to get promoted and decreases the amount of Production needed to create them.
Promotions allow certain special combat bonuses and even prevent enemies from gaining Defensive Strength in certain situations such as when fighting across a river. Another great way to get positive combat modifiers is to plug in Policy Cards. For example, oftentimes, when fighting Barbarians in the early game, players will activate the Discipline Military Policy Card right away as it's one of the first ones to be unlocked. As gamers progress through the Civics Tree, more useful Policy Cards will become available.
When under attack, gamers with Rise & Fall expansion pack can get Victor as a governor in their city as it increases units' Combat Strength within the city. This is quite useful for fighting Barbarians and when another player attempts to take or destroy a city.
Civilization 6 is available for iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.