Dutch Strategy Guide

Learn how to conquer Humankind on the highest difficulty. This guide covers AI bonuses, early game strategy, and how to leverage cultures for a dominant late game.

Hey there! So you're looking to tackle Humankind on the hardest setting, huh? That's ambitious, but totally doable. I've been there, beaten it a few times, and I'm here to share what I've learned. Keep in mind, the game's still pretty new when I'm writing this, so some things might change with updates, but the core ideas should stick around.

Let's break down what makes the 'Humankind' difficulty so brutal and how to work around it.

Humankind Difficulty and General Strategy

The AI gets some pretty sweet boosts on this difficulty. While you don't get any penalties yourself, the AI gets:

• +3 Food per Farmer in all Cities
• +3 Industry per Worker in all Cities
• +3 Money per Trader in all Cities
• +3 Science per Researcher in all Cities
• +60 Stability in all Cities
• +2 Combat Strength on all Units

Here's the kicker: those FIMS (Food, Industry, Money, Science) bonuses are flat. This means they're super powerful early on when your cities are small, but they don't scale as well later. For example, an early bonus of +9 Industry from 3 workers is huge, but a late-game AI city with 15 workers getting +45 Industry? That's something you can actually offset with a couple of Industry Districts or a special building like a Jama Masjid. So, the idea is you'll be at a disadvantage early, but things should get easier as you progress.

That +2 Combat Strength bonus is no joke. It's like giving every AI unit a special, unique unit bonus. You basically can't win head-to-head fights in the early eras (Neolithic and Ancient). So, the first rule of thumb is: avoid combat early on. Seriously, don't even think about it until at least the Classical era, and usually, it's safer to wait until the Medieval era.

The bonus Stability is a bit harder to quantify, but it definitely helps the AI keep their cities happy. Your best bet to counter this is to actively trade for luxury resources to keep your own stability high.

So, the general game plan is:

1. Avoid early wars (wait until Classical or Medieval era).
2. Focus on trading for luxury resources to keep your stability up.
3. Start with Agrarian and Builder cultures to get a strong economy and infrastructure early. Then, transition into cultures that help you scale into the late game. Building wide (lots of cities) is usually better than building tall (a few big cities) because it helps offset those flat AI bonuses.
4. Your ultimate goal is to earn as many Stars/Fame as possible. The game is won by whoever has the most Fame by the end.