Following a promotional period on the Epic Games Store where it was completely free to download, Sid Meier's Civilization 6 has seen a rebirth of sorts with players. Originally launching on PC back in 2016, Civ 6 has seen an increase in popularity, and naturally, this has led many new players to ask a lot of questions related to the many gameplay mechanics.
While the core gameplay mechanic of attempting to grow a particular civilization across a number of different eras is straightforward enough, the tools that a player has access to as they attempt to thwart opponents can quickly become overwhelming. For players going the war route, war weariness prevents players from just deciding to embrace war all of the time, so here is how to negate that.
Updated on October 31, 2021 by Hodey Johns: To this day, war-weariness remains the biggest obstacle between victory and defeat, even more than opposing forces. The mechanic is so strong that many players have abandoned the domination victory entirely. Unfortunately, playing defense still means having to understand and mitigate war weariness. This guide has been updated to detail every aspect of this effect, explaining how it works, and then providing tools and strategies for how to best manage the mechanic. With this knowledge, it should be possible for even the bloodthirstiest players to get through a campaign without having all their amenities in ruins.
What is War Weariness?
The formula is simple: For every 400 points of war weariness, players lose one amenity. It grows when people die or fight in a war. War weariness grows regardless of who is killed and who did the killing between the nations involved in the conflict, though the amounts vary depending on the nature of the death (see next section).
Some players install a great mod for the game to avoid dealing with war weariness, but this guide is focused on how to beat this mechanic fair and square.
How War Weariness Increases
|
Formal War Weariness Chart - Era |
Fighting Inside Territory |
Fighting Outside Territory |
Dying Inside Territory |
Dying Outside Territory |
|
Ancient |
16 |
32 |
64 |
80 |
|
Classical |
22 |
44 |
88 |
110 |
|
Medieval |
28 |
56 |
112 |
140 |
|
Renaissance |
34 |
68 |
136 |
170 |
|
Industrial and afterward |
40 |
80 |
160 |
200 |
War weariness is a game mechanic that sets Civilization 6 apart from other games like Humankind. Formal wars start off providing an equal amount of war weariness as surprise wars in the ancient era, but they slowly increase as time goes on. Nuclear bombs of any variety dropped in a formal war immediately increase war weariness by 480.
|
Surprise War Weariness Chart - Era |
Fighting Inside Territory |
Fighting Outside Territory |
Dying Inside Territory |
Dying Outside Territory |
|
Ancient |
16 |
32 |
64 |
80 |
|
Classical |
25 |
50 |
100 |
125 |
|
Medieval |
34 |
68 |
136 |
170 |
|
Renaissance |
43 |
86 |
172 |
215 |
|
Industrial and afterward |
52 |
104 |
208 |
260 |
Nuclear bombs of any variety dropped in an informal war immediately increase war weariness by 624. Regardless of what kind of war, remember that any aggression in a conflict with Gandhi doubles the amount of war weariness incurred, so be sure to have the necessary amenities to prepare for this sharp increase.
Using the Giant Death Robot is not considered a nuclear weapon, so that may be a good late-game way to avoid nuclear bomb penalties.
How War Weariness Is Reduced
- Declare war via the Casus Belli
- Play as Alexander
- During a war, players lose 50 wear weariness points any turn where no casualties are inflicted and no fighting occurs
- When at peace with every civilization, wear weariness is reduced by 200 per turn
- Making peace grants an immediate decrease of 2,000 war weariness points
- Use the Propaganda policy card to reduce war weariness by 25%
- Use the Martial Law policy card to reduce war weariness by 25%
- Use the Defense of the Motherland policy card on defense to reduce war weariness by 100%
- Retire Admiral Joaquim Marques Lisboa
Amazing as the natural wonders are, none of them are good for reducing combat penalties. Alexander reduces all war weariness by 100% for all Macedonian cities, so this mechanic is completely irrelevant to him. Other than that, simply not fighting and not being attacked goes a long way and will, after so many turns, decrease total war weariness to 0.
The Propaganda and Martial Law policy cards lower the effect of war weariness by 25% apiece, these require particular types of governments that aren't typically conducive to big business. The Defense of the Motherland policy card will reduce war weariness by 100% so long as the player is fighting in their own territory.
The Casus Belli
A new gameplay mechanic in Civ 6 is the Casus Belli, which essentially allows players to justify war and get fewer penalties. These are unlocked after certain pre-requisites are met based on the type of Casus Belli. These include Formal Wars, Holy Wars, Liberation Wars, Reconquest Wars, Protectorate Wars, Colonial Wars, and War of Territorial Expansions to name a few.
Their purpose is to provide players with a legitimate reason to declare war. This justification will reduce the amount of wear weariness depending on the type and severity of the infraction.
Civilization 6 was released on October 21, 2016, and is available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.