Sid Meier's Civilization 6 is one of the strategy genre's heavy hitters. It is an expansive historical strategy game that's seen a lot of developer support over the years in the form of updates, new game modes, new leaders and civilizations to play, as well as other content, such as monthly challenge modes.
The Know Your Enemy Challenge tasks players with defending China from Genghis Khan's Mongolia, and sees players take the role of Wu Zetian to work with Yongle and Qin Shi Huang to defend against Mongolia. The Know Your Enemy Challenge has a unique setup and play style that rewards a different kind of strategy than a typical game of Civilization 6.
Civilization 6: Mandate of Heaven Qin Shi Huang Leader Guide
Here are some tips to master Qin Shi Huang's Mandate of Heaven persona in Civilization 6.
Enabling the Know Your Enemy Challenge Mode
The Know Your Enemy challenge can be selected from the game's main menu. The challenge appears in the rotating menu on the main screen, and has two entries corresponding to the difficulty level of the challenge. Players looking for an extra challenge can choose the Emperor level Know Your Enemy Challenge, while players looking for a more standard challenge can choose the Prince level Know Your Enemy Challenge.
Know Your Enemy Game Parameters
The Know Your Enemy monthly challenge has a unique setup. The map is inspired by a section of land along the Great Wall of China. Here are the game parameters, which cannot be changed:
- Difficulty: Prince / Emperor
- Speed: Standard
- Player Leader: Wu Zetian
- Map Type: Custom
- Map Size: Custom
- Ruleset: Gathering Storm
- Start Era: Medieval
- Resources: Sparse
- World Age: Old
- Start Position: Standard
- Temperature: Standard
- Rainfall: Standard
- Sea Level: Low
The game has 305 total turns, but begins at Turn 136, starting in the Medieval Era. This is a reasonably fast challenge to complete.
The Situation at Game Start
The player begins with one city, three military units, a spy, a builder, and a scout. Other players will be visible on the map at the start of the game, including the enemy, Genghis Khan. The player is given 6 Governor Titles, available to be used immediately, and receives a handful of Eurekas and Inspirations. The player has use of Wu Zetian's unique Leader Bonus, as well as the shared Chinese Dynastic Cycle Ability.
Wu Zetian's Leader Bonus and the Dynastic Cycle Ability
Manual of Entrapment Leader Bonus:
- Receives a free Spy with Defensive Tactics, Spies can be purchased with Faith
- Spies operate as if 1 level more experienced
- Successful espionage missions in foreign cities grant 100% of Science, Faith, and Culture produced per turn by that city
Dynastic Cycle Ability:
- Eurekas and Inspirations provide an extra +10% Science and Culture when gained
- Completing a Wonder grants two random Eurekas and Inspirations from that Wonder's Era
Victory Conditions for the Know Your Enemy Challenge
The route to Victory in the Know Your Enemy Challenge is quite simple: last until the turn timer runs out, or destroy Genghis Khan.
Civilization 6: Best Civilizations For A Science Victory
Science can push everything forward, but it's easier to achieve for some nations!
Tips and Tricks for the Civilization 6 Know Your Enemy Challenge
Use the Governor Titles Effectively
A great first choice of Governor is Magnus, who can allow the player to build Settlers without spending any Population in the city where he's stationed. This is a massive help during the Know Your Enemy challenge since there aren't that many turns and Population is a precious resource. He can also boost the Growth Rate of the city where he's stationed, so it's a great way to pump out Settlers and keep the population growing.
Another good choice is Victor, whose abilities are good bonuses to military and defense - one of his promotions can even prevent a city from being put into the Siege condition. Other Governors are more situational, but Magnus and Victor are great choices for this challenge.
Expand Immediately
Expansion in Civilization games is always a must, but in this challenge particularly, it's more necessary than ever. The friendly AIs will expand, and quite quickly too. Because the friendly AIs start quite close to the player, their expansion can block off players who are slow to expand, directly impacting the player's ability to defend against Genghis Khan.
Resources aren't particularly abundant on this map, so it's also important to choose where to settle carefully. Prioritize new city locations that give access to important resources.
Use the Spies
Wu Zetian's Leader Bonus is heavily targeted to espionage and effective use of spies, so it makes sense to use this bonus during the challenge. The player starts with a Spy who can be used to great effect, whether they choose to steal Gold, damage enemy cities' Production capabilities, or reduce Loyalty. Successful operations will grant powerful promotions to the Spy unit, which makes subsequent spy operations even more successful and safe to carry out.
Use the World Congress Effectively
Although the World Congress can be safely ignored a lot of the time in games of Civilization 6, in the Know Your Enemy challenge, it can be extremely useful. Because Genghis Khan is the sole aggressor, any opportunity to pass resolutions targeting his ability to trade, or to pass resolutions affecting his Grievance generation and so on, are really good ones to take.
It can also be very worth using the Special Resolutions that pop up, especially if Genghis manages to take an allied city. This can grant a powerful situation with bonuses for players attacking Genghis Khan, which can really speed up conquest.
Civilization 6: Unifier Qin Shi Huang Leader Guide
Here are some tips on how to play as Qin Shi Huang's Unifier persona in Civilization 6.
Use the Great Wall Improvement
The Great Wall improvement is unique to China, and it's really helpful in this particular challenge because it grants Gold production as well as bonuses to military units on its tile. This can be helpful in defending against the Barbarians on the map as well as Genghis Khan.
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
