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Navigate the Dark Ages in Civilization 7 like a pro! Explore our guide for essential strategies to help your civilization flourish.
Civilization 7 awards Legacy Points to those who are able to complete specialized tasks for any of the four legacy paths, namely, Science, Culture, Economic, or Military. However, if you fail to complete the milestones in any of those four paths—your can effectively push your civilization into a Dark Age.
While there are crippling penalties when you are in the Dark Age, you also get a wide range of powerful benefits. In this guide, we’ll talk about the advantages of the Dark Ages in Civilization and how you can turn them into a boon.
Advantages of Dark Ages in Civilization 7
Keep in mind that Dark Ages can occur only during the Exploration and Antiquity Ages of the game. So, you cannot leverage any of the following benefits in the Modern Age portion of the game.
- Using Dark Ages in the Antiquity Age
- Using Dark Ages in the Exploration Age
Now, let’s take a detailed look at both of these scenarios.
Using Dark Ages in the Antiquity Age
If you fail to achieve any milestones related to a legacy path, the Dark Age penalty and benefit for that path will become apparent only at the start of the next age. With that in mind, here are the Dark Age effects that you can unlock by failing legacy path milestones during the Antiquity Age.
| Dark Ages in Antiquity Age | Bonuses | Disadvantages |
| Scientific | You gain a random boost to technology after every 5 turns. | Your Science reduces by 50% |
| Economic | For every two levels that you earn, your Naval Commanders will receive a charge. they can use this to create new settlements. | The cost for settlers increase by 100% |
| Cultural | All Missionaries that you have will get +1 movement and +1 charge. | -6 Happiness in all Settlements with your religion, where they aren’t following your religion. When you establish a religion and everyone follows it, the settlement will suffer -3 happiness. |
| Military | Receive 3 cavalry armies with siege equipment. | Lose all settlements besides your capital. Also, lose all your armies. |
The Scientific Dark Age in Civilization 7 guarantees technology unlocks. This can help you to have more technology unlocked in the Exploration Age, even if the Science itself is halved. You should go with this strategy if Science isn’t a focus for you.
On the other hand, the Economic Dark Age benefit will help you to settle distant lands with increased charges for your Naval Commander. Also, you are more likely to be able to establish Treasure Fleets this way, which would help your civilization receive an economic boost.
If you want to attempt the cultural legacy path but couldn’t build any Wonders during the Antiquity Age, going the Cultural Dark Age route would make perfect sense. Make sure you have an excess of happiness in your settlements before you go down this path, however.
The Military Dark Age benefit greatly helps if you are playing as Charlemagne or Mongolia. Both of the civilizations could earn military legacy points by remaining in their homelands during the Exploration Age. All other civilizations have to travel to the Distant Lands to score the points. So, three army units and the Capital City is a decent way to begin the Exploration Age for Mongolia.
Also, go through all of the playable civilizations in Civilization 7.
Using Dark Ages in the Exploration Age
Now, let’s see how the different dark ages in the Exploration Age can actually benefit or penalize you. Then, we’ll discuss when it makes sense to go for the specific dark ages.
| Dark Ages in Exploration Age | Bonuses | Disadvantages |
| Scientific | Flight with Combustion unlocked | Increases the cost of all planes by 50% |
| Economic | All Ports and Rail Stations receive an additional 100% Gold and Production. Inlocks +1 resource slot in all of your settlements. | Culture decreases by 25% |
| Cultural | Explorers can find artifacts 50% quicker and they gain +1 to their movement speed. | Influence reduces by 50% |
| Military | All commanders gain two free levels, including new Commanders who start with two added levels. | The cost of all military units increases by 25% |
If you are chasing the Space Race Project, going down the Scientific dark age would make sense. This dark age unlocks flights very early, which gives you quite a bit of a jumpstart toward the victory condition. If your Production and Gold numbers are high enough, you could also use this perk to establish an Air Force early on. Learn more about the different Victory Conditions in the game.
With the Economic Dark Age benefit, you can establish robust trade routes. This will give you an advantage in the race to establish the World Bank and win the game. However, only do this if you don’t mind the major hit to your Culture.
Quickly unearthing artifacts is crucial if you are trying to build the World’s Fair Wonder and win the game that way. Moreover, the Cultural Dark Age presents a sizable increase in the rate at which your explorers can find the artifacts needed to achieve Victory.
The Military Dark Ages in Civilization 7 Exploration Age is a great way to turn your attention to the Ideology legacy path. The additional cost of units can be offset if you have sufficient Gold or Production at this stage.
So, there you go. These strategies can help you understand when a Dark Age may be a blessing in disguise for your civilization.
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