Sid Meier's Civilization franchise is a much-loved behemoth of the turn-based strategy genre, with six released mainline games and a handful of spin-offs to accompany them. Whether it's the tremendously popular classic Civilization 4 and its amazing expansions, or the latest, very well-supported Civilization 6, there's something for everyone to enjoy.
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Civilization 6 in particular has seen a lot of developer support in its lifespan, ranging from new leaders and Civ packs to the creation of all new game modes and content designed to be played with them. While this does add a lot of new content, it also makes the game more difficult to learn. One such update is the Secret Society system, where players and their Civs can join one of four Secret Societies in game to gain permanent, game-spanning bonuses. But, it can be a bit difficult to get started, as each Secret Society has its own way of joining, and each one offers different benefits.
Select the Right Game Mode To Access Secret Societies
Secret Societies simply won't appear in games without the Secret Societies mode selected, even if the player has the right game content. First, make sure that the Ethiopia Pack is owned, as this is the pack that brings Secret Societies to the game. Secret Societies can be combined with other game modes too, for even more flavor during gameplay.
This game mode can be selected from the game creation menu.
Find A Natural Wonder In Civilization 6
The Hermetic Order has prerequisites its members must complete before they can win themselves an invitation, just as other Secret Societies do. In the case of the Hermetic Order, it wants the player to have found at least one Natural Wonder before it will issue an invitation.
It's really easy to get an invitation in the Ancient Era if a little time is taken to explore first. But a word of warning — the more "popular" a Secret Society is, the smaller the chance of being issued an invitation. This means that if other human or AI players find more Natural Wonders and do it faster, the Hermetic Order may never issue an invitation. So it's best to get it done first, when there's a 100% chance of getting an invitation.
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Joining The Hermetic Order In Civ 6
Once an invitation is issued, it's a matter of formally joining the Order. Once joined, the Hermetic Order can't be left. To join, the Hermetic Order governor must be purchased from the Governor Screen.
Unlike other Governors in Civilization 6, Secret Society governors can't be assigned to a specific city and instead provide civilization-wide bonuses.
Once joined, the Hermetic Order governor will have the rank of Neophyte, which is the basic rank available. Neophyte unlocks the ability to see Ley Lines.
Understanding Ley Lines In Civilization 6
Ley Lines are a special resource/tile type that only members of the Hermetic Order can see and use. They are visually distinct and can appear all over the map in Grassland, Plains, Desert, and Tundra Tiles, along with Hills tiles of those types, too. They provide adjacency bonuses but can't be built on.
Unlock The Adept In Civ 6
Unlike normal governors, the Hermetic Order governor can only be promoted after reaching specific eras during gameplay. To promote the Hermetic Order governor to Adept level, the players need to reach the Medieval Era. Promotion itself is easy: click on the Promote button in the Governor Screen, like you would for any other Governor.
Once promoted, the Hermetic Order grants access to a unique building replacement for the University: the Alchemical Society building.
What Is The Alchemical Society Building?
- +4 Science
- +2 Production
- +1 Housing
- +1 Citizen slot
- +1 Great Engineer point per turn
- +1 Great Merchant point per turn
- +1 Great Scientist point per turn
- Grants Gold equal to the adjacency bonus of the district.
The Alchemical Society Building is a straight upgrade to the usual University building. The Alchemical Society is probably the biggest reward from the Hermetic Order, as it's the most easily used and reliable. The Great Person points are of particular interested, while the Gold and Production are quite nice too.
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Unlock The Magus Rewards In Civ 6
Like its predeccesor (the Adept), the Magus requires players to reach a specific Era during gameplay in order to unlock the promotion and its bonuses. In this case, it's the Industrial Era. The Magus level rewards players with a focus on Great Person generation massively.
Every earned Great Person will upgrade Ley Lines' bonuses by +1 of their specific type (eg +1 Production for every Great Engineer). Great Admirals and Generals count too and boost Ley Lines by +1 Science each. These bonuses are massive, especially with dedicated Great Person generation and strategic placement of cities near to Ley Lines.
Unlock The Aiwass In Civilization 6
The Aiwass rank is the final level in the Hermetic Order Secret Society, and it can only be achieved after reaching the Atomic Era. This rewards players with a special project, Occult Research, which generates Gold every turn while it's active, and when it finishes, produces Great Person points, along with Science for every Ley Line in the city.
The Occult Research Special Project
- Gold every turn
- +500 Science per Ley Line in city
- +Great Scientist, Merchant, Engineer points when finished
The Occult Research Special Project is listed with all the other Special Projects available in the city production screen. This is a good special project that can be used to boost Gold production, but its major benefit is the massive amount of Science it produces when finished — 500 Science per Ley Line in the city, regardless of game speed.
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Making The Most Of The Hermetic Order In Civilization 6
The Hermetic Order isn't the easiest — or, strictly speaking, the best — of the Secret Societies in Civilization 6. Its Ley Lines resource spawns randomly on Grassland, Plains, Desert, and Tundra tiles (along with Hills tiles of these types) and prevents building anything else on them. As some of the rewards increase with the number of ley lines in a given city, this could prevent building key infrastructure if not planned out — although it shouldn't be too much of a problem, as Ley Lines don't spawn in large numbers anyway.
But, with a particularly dedicated player, the Hermetic Order can grant massive adjacency bonuses thanks to the interaction with Great Person generation. Each Great Person earned provides +1 adjacency bonus of its type to Ley Lines, so these bonuses can stack up pretty fast in the right hands.
This means that the Hermetic Order can be a great choice for certain Civs such as Scotland, Brazil, or Sweden, which get unique buildings offering Great Person points. The Alchemical Society building is a huge upgrade over the basic University too, so it can pair well with Science-focused gameplay.
The special project, Occult Research, is more of a "nice to have" than something that needs to be run constantly. But — and this is quite a massive bonus — it produces 500 Science per Ley Line in the city when completed, regardless of game speed. So, while it isn't necessarily something to be run constantly at the expense of other Production, it can be used very successfully to give research boosts.
The Gold is nice, too.
Sid Meier's Civilization 6
- Released
- October 21, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ for Everyone 10+: Drug Reference, Language, Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Firaxis Games
- Publisher(s)
- 2K Games
- Engine
- Unity
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Franchise
- Civilization
- Number of Players
- 1-6
- Genre(s)
- Strategy
- How Long To Beat
- 23 Hours
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
