French Strategy Guide

Learn how to conquer Humankind on the highest difficulty with this French strategy guide. Discover AI bonuses, early-game tips, and late-game scaling strategies.

Hey there! So you're looking to tackle Humankind on the hardest difficulty, huh? That's ambitious, but totally doable. This guide is based on my own experiences beating the game on 'Humankind' difficulty, and I want 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 'Humankind' difficulty so tough and how you can work around it.

Humankind Difficulty and General Strategy

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

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

The FIMS (Food, Industry, Money, Science) bonuses are flat, which sounds great early on, but they don't scale as well as you'd think. For example, an early AI city with 9 population and 3 workers gets +9 Industry. To match that, you'd need a few Industry Districts. But a late-game AI city with 60 population and 15 workers gets a massive +45 Industry bonus! That's something you can actually offset with a single Industry District or a special building like the Jama Masjid. So, the early game is a real grind, but it should get easier for you as the game progresses.

That +2 Combat Strength bonus is no joke, especially early on. It's like giving them a free upgrade for every unit. Trying to fight the AI in the Neolithic or Ancient eras is basically a losing battle. Your best bet is to avoid combat until at least the Classical era, and usually, the Medieval era is a safer bet. As you get further into the game, picking up the 'Professional Soldiers' Civic and leaning towards the 'Homeland' ideology will help balance out this combat deficit.

The stability bonus is a bit harder to quantify, but it definitely makes things tougher. The good news is that this bonus likely scales down as the game goes on, and you'll get more ways to boost your own stability, especially through trading for luxury resources.

So, here's the general game plan:

1. Avoid early wars: Seriously, don't pick fights until at least the Classical era, and usually, the Medieval era is better.
2. Trade for luxuries: This is key for managing stability later on.
3. Go wide, not tall: Focus on expanding your empire rather than just developing a few big cities. This helps you scale better into the late game as the AI's FIMS bonuses become less impactful.
4. Grab early cultures: Picking Agrarian and Builder cultures early on can give you a solid foundation for growth.
5. Focus on Fame: The ultimate goal is to rack up as many stars and as much Fame as possible to win the game.