Choosing Your Difficulty

Learn how to conquer Humankind on the highest difficulty. This guide details AI bonuses, strategic advantages, and optimal map settings to ensure your victory.

The highest difficulty in Humankind, known as 'Humankind' difficulty, presents a significant challenge due to substantial bonuses granted to AI opponents. Understanding these bonuses and implementing specific strategies is crucial for success.

AI Bonuses on Humankind Difficulty:

• FIMS Bonuses: +3 Food per Farmer, +3 Industry per Worker, +3 Money per Trader, +3 Science per Researcher in all cities. These flat bonuses scale with the number of workers, becoming more impactful in larger AI cities later in the game.
• Stability: +60 Stability on all cities. This bonus is more significant early on and can be mitigated by trading for luxury resources.
• Combat: +2 Strength on all units. This makes early-game combat highly disadvantageous, suggesting avoidance until at least the Classical era.

General Strategy:

1. Avoid Early War: Do not engage in combat until at least the Classical era, preferably later.
2. Luxury Resource Trade: Prioritize establishing trade routes for luxury resources to offset stability penalties.
3. Culture Selection: Opt for Agrarian and Builder cultures early on to facilitate expansion. Focus on building wide rather than tall to scale effectively into the late game as AI FIMS bonuses become less impactful.
4. Fame Acquisition: Aim to accumulate as many stars/fame as possible. It is often not optimal to immediately transcend cultures, as this can lead to missing out on era-specific stars and fame opportunities.
5. End Game: Trigger the end game condition once sufficient fame has been acquired. The science ending (researching all technologies) is generally the fastest and most consistent. Alternatively, eliminating or vassalizing all other cultures can be faster if mid-game conquest has been successful.

Optimal Map Settings:

• World Size: Huge. Larger maps provide more space for expansion and allow for more minor cultures to spawn, offering diverse assimilation opportunities.
• World Shape: Large Pangea. This shape facilitates easier scouting and interaction with potential trading partners.
• Land Percentage: 70-80%. A balance of land and water is ideal, allowing for expansion while ensuring accessible sea trade routes.
• Climate: New World. This setting ensures a diverse range of starting conditions and potential challenges.