Dyah Gitarja, the warrior-queen of the Majapahit Empire, is one of the most versatile and powerful leaders in Civilization VI. Her unique abilities create a potent synergy between faith and naval power, allowing for a flexible playstyle that can lead to a dominant Religious or Domination victory. This guide will provide a comprehensive analysis of Dyah Gitarja’s strategies, offering actionable advice and in-depth explanations to help you master the seas and the spiritual world.
The Gilded Archipelago: Understanding Indonesia’s Strengths
Indonesia’s strength lies in its unique combination of abilities that make it a coastal powerhouse. A deep understanding of these abilities is crucial for success.
- Exalted Goddess of the Three Worlds (Leader Ability): This is the cornerstone of Dyah Gitarja’s strategy. Cities adjacent to coast or lake tiles generate +2 Faith. This provides a powerful early-game boost to Faith generation, allowing for a quick Pantheon and Religion. Crucially, this ability also allows you to purchase naval units with Faith and lets your religious units embark and disembark without movement penalties. This creates a seamless connection between your religious and naval ambitions.
- Great Nusantara (Civilization Ability): This ability further enhances Indonesia’s coastal cities. Coastal tiles provide minor adjacency bonuses for Holy Sites, Campuses, Industrial Zones, and Theater Squares. This encourages you to build your districts along the coastline, creating a powerful and synergistic urban core. Additionally, Entertainment Complexes next to a non-lake coastal tile grant an extra Amenity, helping to keep your sprawling coastal empire happy and productive.
- Jong (Unique Unit): The Jong is a game-changing Medieval-era naval unit that replaces the Frigate. It is faster and gains extra combat power when in a formation. All units in its formation inherit its impressive movement speed, allowing for lightning-fast naval assaults. The Jong also doesn’t require any strategic resources to build, making it easy to mass-produce a formidable armada.
- Kampung (Unique Improvement): The Kampung is a unique improvement that provides Housing, Production, and Food for each adjacent Fishing Boat. With research, it can be upgraded to provide even more benefits, turning small, unassuming islands into thriving, populous cities.
The Path of the Divine: Religious Victory Strategy
A Religious victory with Indonesia is a natural and powerful choice. Dyah Gitarja’s abilities provide a clear path to religious dominance.
Early Game: Laying the Foundation of Faith
The early game is all about maximizing your Faith generation to secure a religion and build a strong foundation for your spiritual empire.
- Settlement Strategy: Your first few cities should be settled on the coast to take full advantage of the “Exalted Goddess of the Three Worlds” ability. Look for locations with multiple coastal tiles to maximize your early Faith output. According to the player community, a strong start with Indonesia often involves settling your first three cities on the coast before turn 50.
- Pantheon Choice: “God of the Sea” is the premier Pantheon choice for Indonesia. It provides +1 Production from Fishing Boats, which has a powerful synergy with your Kampungs. This Pantheon will help you build a strong economy to support your religious ambitions.
- Founding a Religion: Your high Faith generation should allow you to found a religion quickly. When choosing your beliefs, consider the following:
- Worship Building: The Stupa or Pagoda are excellent choices, providing additional amenities or housing to help your cities grow.
- Follower Belief: “Feed the World” or “Religious Community” will provide a significant boost to your city growth, while “Work Ethic” can provide a massive production boost in cities with high faith output.
- Enhancer Belief: “Crusade” is a powerful choice if you plan to mix in some military conquest. It grants a significant combat bonus to your units near cities of your religion, turning your religious expansion into a military one.
Mid to Late Game: Spreading the Word of the Goddess
With your religion founded, the mid to late game is about spreading your faith across the globe.
- The Unstoppable Missionaries: Your religious units can embark and disembark without any movement cost. This is a massive advantage that you should abuse to its fullest extent. Many professional gamers suggest using this ability to quickly convert coastal cities and to escape from enemy religious units by retreating to the sea.
- Faith-Fueled Expansion: Continue to build Holy Sites, taking advantage of the “Great Nusantara” adjacency bonus. Build Kampungs to grow your cities and work more tiles, further boosting your economy and Faith generation.
- Apostle Waves: Your immense Faith generation will allow you to create waves of Apostles. With the “Holy Order” belief, you can reduce the cost of these units, allowing you to overwhelm your opponents with sheer numbers. Analysis on forums shows that a popular strategy is to use your Apostles to evangelize beliefs and to launch inquisitions to protect your cities from rival religions.
The Iron Armada: Naval Domination Strategy
Indonesia’s naval domination strategy is one of the most powerful in the game, centered around the formidable Jong.
Early Game: Forging the Fleet
The early game is about preparing for the arrival of the Jong.
- Faith for a Fleet: Your early Faith generation can be used to purchase naval units directly. This is often more efficient than using Production or Gold, allowing you to build a large navy quickly.
- The Pre-Jong Armada: Build or purchase Quadriremes in the Ancient and Classical eras. These units will be the foundation of your future Jong fleet.
- The Path to the Jong: Your primary goal is to reach the “Mercenaries” civic as quickly as possible. This unlocks the Jong and the “Professional Army” policy card, which gives a 50% discount on unit upgrades.
Mid Game: The Jong Rush
The mid-game is when you unleash the full power of your naval might.
- The Unstoppable Armada: Once you unlock “Mercenaries,” upgrade your fleet of Quadriremes to Jongs using the “Professional Army” policy card. This will give you a fleet of Renaissance-era ships in the Medieval era, giving you a massive technological advantage.
- Coastal Conquest: Use your Jongs to dominate the seas and attack coastal cities. Their high movement and combat strength, especially in formation, make them incredibly effective at overwhelming city defenses. Since they don’t require strategic resources, you can build as many as your economy can support.
- Amphibious Assaults: The Jong’s ability to share its movement speed with units in its formation is perfect for amphibious assaults. You can escort land units across the ocean at high speed to capture inland cities after you’ve secured the coast.
The Holy Fleet: A Hybrid Approach
The true power of Dyah Gitarja lies in her ability to blend religious and naval strategies into a seamless and devastating force.
- Faith as a Flexible Tool: Your Faith is a flexible resource. You can start by focusing on religion, and if you find yourself falling behind or facing a heavily fortified religious opponent, you can pivot to a naval domination strategy by using your Faith to build a fleet.
- The Crusading Armada: Combine the “Crusade” religious belief with your naval attacks. Convert a city with your Missionaries and Apostles, then follow up with your Jongs to benefit from the combat bonus. This creates a powerful one-two punch that can overwhelm even the most well-defended cities.
- Domination to Secure a Religious Win: If another civilization is close to a religious victory, you can use your naval power to declare war and condemn their religious units with your military units. This will reduce their religious pressure in nearby cities and can be a decisive move to secure your own religious victory. You can also pillage their Holy Sites to cripple their Faith generation.
Conclusion: The Unchallenged Ruler of the Seas and Souls
Dyah Gitarja is a force to be reckoned with in Civilization VI. Her unique abilities create a powerful and flexible playstyle that can lead to victory on multiple fronts. By mastering the interplay between faith and naval power, you can lead Indonesia to a glorious victory, whether it’s through the peaceful spread of your religion or the thunderous roar of your cannons. The key to success is to remain adaptable, to leverage your unique strengths, and to never underestimate the power of a well-timed Jong rush or a wave of zealous Apostles. The world is your oyster, and with Dyah Gitarja at the helm, you have the power to claim it.