Phoenicians Strategy Guide

Learn how to conquer Humankind on the highest difficulty. This guide covers AI bonuses, early game strategy, trade, culture choices, and winning conditions for the Phoenicians.

This guide is intended to help players beat Humankind on its highest difficulty, often referred to as 'Humankind Difficulty'. The author has experience beating the game on this setting and aims to share strategies and insights. It's important to note that the game is subject to updates, which may alter the effectiveness of the strategies presented.

Humankind Difficulty and General Strategy:

On Humankind Difficulty, AI players receive significant bonuses:

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

These FIMS bonuses are flat and scale less effectively as the game progresses, meaning the player has a severe disadvantage early on. The +2 Combat Strength bonus is substantial, making early game combat inadvisable until at least the Classical or Medieval eras. Compensating for this can be achieved through the Professional Soldiers Civic and leaning towards the Homeland ideology. The stability bonus is harder to quantify but can be mitigated by trading for luxury resources.

The general strategy involves:

1. Avoiding early war (until Classical era at the earliest).
2. Establishing trade for luxury resources.
3. Choosing Agrarian and Builder cultures early, and scaling into the late game where AI bonuses diminish. Building wide is generally more effective than building tall.
4. Focusing on acquiring as many stars/fame as possible. It's often not optimal to transcend cultures immediately, as this can lead to missing out on era stars and fame.
5. Triggering the end game condition, typically the science ending (researching all technologies) or, if conquest is successful, eliminating or vassalizing all other cultures.

Map Settings:

Optimal map settings to support this strategy include:

• World size: Huge - Provides more land for expansion and allows for more minor cultures to spawn.
• World shape: Large Pangea - Facilitates easier scouting and interaction with potential trading partners.
• Land Percentage: 70-80% - Balances land for expansion with enough ocean for accessible sea trade routes.
• Climate: New World - Ensures diverse starting conditions.