Dramatic Eras is the third new game mode added for Civilization 6’s New Frontier pass. It takes the age mechanic from the Rise & Fall expansion and tweaks it to be more impactful and dynamic. Normally, players would achieve a different era, normal, dark, golden, or heroic, by obtaining enough, or too little, era score. Era score is gained by accomplishing certain feats, like circumnavigating the planet or building a wonder. This new game mode revamps it almost entirely and offers new challenges to overcome.
Now, players can’t obtain normal eras: only dark or golden. Depending on the era, powerful government policies can be enacted that grant special bonuses. Further, civilizations in a dark age will see rebellions occur in their territory. The main constant is that era score is still obtained in the same methods, though upgrading a unit also grants some now. Additionally, excess era score, which is extra era score obtained after the golden age threshold is met, will cause a player’s cities to exert more loyalty to neighboring cities. This guide will offer tips on how to take navigate this new game mode.
How to Use Dramatic Era Policies in Civilization 6
Dark Age Policies already existed in Rise & Fall, but Dramatic Eras adds Golden Age policies to mix. These replace the dedications, or permanent one era bonuses, from the original era mechanic, and many are reworked into the policies. As before, they are placed in Wildcard slots in the government screen. Certain civilizations gain additional wildcard slots thanks to their abilities, letting them use more Dramatic Age policies at the same time. They include:
- America: Their diplomacy slots are converted into wildcard ones, allowing them to equip more wildcard policies.
- Greece: Gains an additional wildcard slot innately in every government type.
- Poland: One of their Military slots is converted to a wildcard.
- Georgia: Their ability was reworked to function with this new game mode, granting them one more wildcard slot when they’re in a golden age. They can also use dark age policies while in a golden age, resulting in policy combinations other civilizations can’t obtain.
Building the Forbidden City wonder will permanently give one wildcard slot, making it more contested than it was before.
As stated, the majority of the policy cards already exist as dark age policies or are variations of the dedications. The major difference here, is that players can mix and match multiple at once, nearly impossible before, and can choose whether or not to enact them at will. Previously, when a dedication was chosen, it could not be changed to another one. Now, players can take advantage of all the dedication abilities whenever they change government policies.
How to Handle Rebellions in Civilization 6
Another feature of this game mode are the rebellions. Civilizations that enter a Dark Age are guaranteed to lose a few cities to rebellions, where they will turn into independent free cities. If they’re close enough to the heart of kingdoms, there will be enough loyalty pressure to take them back. If not, other civilizations can rush in and seize them for themselves. This is an incredible opportunity, as adding these rebelling cities to one’s own will not infer warmonger grievances. And in Civ 6, the more cities the better!
It’s imperative that players prepare for the start of every era when playing with Dramatic Ages on; there's a timer that starts counting down when there's 10 turns left, so pay attention to that. If someone knows that they’re about to enter a dark age, they need to send their military units to the edges of their empire. That way, they’ll be prepared to quash the rebellion quickly and take back their lands. Additionally, it’s beneficial to send one’s army to their borders even if they won’t have a dark age. Because neighbors lose cities of their own to rebellion, a leaders’ opportunism will be rewarded with a new city if they manage to seize it before anyone else does.
Civilization 6 is available for PC, Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, iPhone, and iOS.