The Inca, under the leadership of Pachacuti, are a civilization that thrives in the mountains, turning otherwise impassable terrain into a source of immense strength. This guide will provide a comprehensive strategy for leveraging the Inca’s unique abilities to build a powerful and productive empire, capable of achieving victory through science, culture, or even domination.
The Incan Empire: Core Strengths and Abilities
To effectively lead the Inca, it is crucial to understand their unique advantages. These abilities synergize to create a powerful engine for growth and production.
Mit’a: The Foundation of the Mountain Empire
The Mit’a is the cornerstone of the Inca’s mountain-based strategy. This ability allows you to work mountain tiles, which yield +2 Production. This bonus increases to +3 in the Industrial Era. Furthermore, mountains provide +1 Food for each adjacent Terrace Farm. This transforms mountains from obstacles into valuable assets, providing a significant boost to your empire’s production and growth.
Qhapaq Ñan: Supercharging Internal Growth
Pachacuti’s leader ability, the Qhapaq Ñan, further enhances the Inca’s mountain advantage. Domestic trade routes provide +1 Food for every mountain tile in the origin city. This ability also allows your builders to construct the Qhapaq Ñan, an early-game version of the mountain tunnel. This improvement allows units to pass through mountains and enhances trade routes that cross it, providing a significant boost to your internal trade and military mobility.
Terrace Farm: Fueling Population Growth and Production
The Terrace Farm is the Inca’s unique improvement, and it is a powerhouse for population growth and production. Built on hills, it provides +1 Food and +0.5 Housing. Its true strength, however, comes from adjacency bonuses. It gains +1 Food for each adjacent mountain, +2 Production for each adjacent Aqueduct, and +1 Production if next to fresh water. This makes Terrace Farms a versatile and powerful improvement, capable of generating massive yields in the right locations.
Warak’aq: The Twice-Striking Skirmisher
The Warak’aq is the Inca’s unique unit, replacing the Skirmisher. This medieval-era ranged unit is stronger than its counterpart and can attack twice in a single turn. This makes the Warak’aq a formidable defensive and offensive tool, capable of repelling invaders and launching devastating attacks on enemy cities.
Early Game Strategy: Building Your Mountain Foundation
The early game is crucial for setting up a successful Incan empire. Your primary focus should be on leveraging your mountain start bias to establish a strong foundation for growth and expansion.
Settlement and City Placement: Embracing the Mountains
The Inca have a mountain start bias, so you should aim to settle your first city in or near a mountain range. When expanding, prioritize locations with numerous mountains and hills. Look for spots that will allow for good Aqueduct placement to maximize the production bonus for your Terrace Farms. A city surrounded by mountains may seem isolated, but for the Inca, it is a fortress of production and growth.
Early Builds and Techs: Fueling the Engine
Your first build should almost always be a builder. This will allow you to immediately begin constructing Terrace Farms on nearby hills, especially those adjacent to mountains. This will fuel early population growth, which in turn will allow you to work more tiles and build more districts. For technology, prioritize research that unlocks key infrastructure, such as Irrigation for Terrace Farms and Engineering for Aqueducts.
Pantheon Choice: The Earth Goddess
The Earth Goddess pantheon is an excellent choice for the Inca. Since mountain tiles always have Breathtaking appeal, this will provide a significant Faith output from your mountain-heavy cities. This Faith can be used to purchase builders, settlers, or even a religion, further accelerating your empire’s growth.
Mid-Game Expansion and Development: The Engine of Production
As you move into the mid-game, your focus should be on maximizing your food and production yields to expand your empire and pursue a victory condition.
Terrace Farm Optimization: A Symphony of Adjacency
The placement of your Terrace Farms is key to maximizing their effectiveness. A single hill surrounded by mountains can become an incredibly high-yield food tile. Remember that you are giving up a potential mine by building a Terrace Farm, so prioritize hills that benefit from multiple mountain adjacencies or are next to an Aqueduct. A well-placed Terrace Farm can provide more food than a farm on flat land, while also providing production.
Internal Trade Routes: The Qhapaq Ñan in Action
Your Qhapaq Ñan ability makes internal trade routes incredibly powerful. Establish a core of high-population cities nestled in the mountains, and then run trade routes from them to your newer, developing cities. This will provide a massive food bonus, allowing your new cities to grow rapidly. The Qhapaq Ñan improvement will also allow your traders to pass through mountains, further enhancing the effectiveness of your internal trade network.
District Placement: Leveraging the Terrain
Use the terrain to your advantage when placing districts. Since Terrace Farms can only be built on hills, any flat land near mountains is a prime location for Campuses or Holy Sites, which receive significant adjacency bonuses from mountains. A Campus surrounded by mountains can generate a massive amount of science, while a Holy Site can provide a significant boost to your Faith output.
The Warak’aq: A Mid-Game Power Spike
Don’t underestimate your unique unit. A force of Warak’aqs can be a powerful deterrent to would-be invaders and can be used for a mid-game military push if the opportunity arises. Their ability to attack twice makes them incredibly effective at clearing out enemy units and taking down city defenses. A well-timed Warak’aq rush can cripple a neighboring civilization and set you up for a domination victory.
Path to Victory: Choosing Your Destiny
The Inca’s high food and production make them a flexible civilization capable of pursuing multiple victory paths.
Science Victory: The Path of Progress
This is often considered the strongest path for the Inca. Your high population will generate a lot of science, and your excellent production will be invaluable for completing the space race projects in the late game. Your mountain fortresses will also be difficult to attack, allowing you to focus on your scientific endeavors without fear of invasion.
Culture Victory: The Beauty of the Mountains
The high appeal of mountain tiles makes the Inca a strong contender for a Culture Victory. These tiles are ideal for creating National Parks, which generate a significant amount of tourism. Your high production will also be useful for building wonders, which can further boost your culture and tourism output.
Domination Victory: The Wrath of the Inca
While not their primary strength, the Inca can certainly achieve a Domination Victory. Your production advantage allows you to build a large army, and the Warak’aq can give you a key advantage in the medieval era. Your mountain fortresses will also be difficult for your enemies to attack, giving you a significant defensive advantage.
Conclusion: The Power of the Mountains
The Inca are a powerful and versatile civilization that can thrive in the hands of a skilled player. By embracing the mountains and understanding the powerful synergies of Pachacuti’s abilities, you can build an Incan empire that is both populous and productive, leading you to a decisive victory in Civilization 6.