I’m sharing my definitive guide to ruling the seas in Civilization VI. I’ve seen too many players treat the oceans as empty space, a barrier between continents. That’s a huge mistake. The sea isn’t an obstacle; it’s your path to global supremacy. If you learn to master it, you can win with any victory condition.
Forget just building a bigger fleet. Ruling the waves is about smart positioning, integrating your economy, and understanding how maritime power shifts through the ages. I’m going to take you from a landlubber to a seasoned admiral. We’ll cover everything from the first shaky voyages of your Galleys to the overwhelming force of a modern carrier strike group. Let’s set sail and claim your dominion over the world’s oceans.
Picking Your Champion: The Foundation of a Maritime Empire
It all starts with choosing the right leader. While any civ can get its feet wet, some are just born to rule the waves.
My Top Picks for Naval Civilizations
- Norway (Harald Hardrada): If you want to dominate the early-to-mid-game with pure aggression, Harald is your guy. His ability to raid coasts with all naval melee units is just incredible. You can sail up and down an enemy’s coast, hoovering up Gold, Faith, and Science, crippling their economy while supercharging your own. His Viking Longship can even heal in neutral waters, making it a ridiculously resilient raider. With Norway, you go hard from the moment your first ship hits the water.
- England (Victoria or Eleanor): England is a production and projection powerhouse. The Royal Navy Dockyard is the heart of your empire, giving every ship built there extra movement and spitting out Great Admiral points. With Victoria, this advantage carries you straight into the modern era. My strategy for England is to build a network of powerful coastal cities, each with its own Dockyard, to churn out an unstoppable armada.
- Indonesia (Gitarja): A really unique and flexible naval civ. Gitarja’s ability to buy naval units with Faith can lead to a sudden, shocking surge in sea power that your opponents will never see coming. Her unique Jong is a beast of a frigate replacement—faster and stronger, especially in formation. I love creating a “faith-based navy” with her, completely blindsiding players focused on production. Plus, her Kampung improvement makes your coastal tiles incredibly valuable.
- Phoenicia (Dido): For anyone who loves the art of coastal expansion, Dido is the queen. Being able to move her capital to any city with her unique Cothon harbor gives you insane strategic flexibility. You can instantly shift your center of power to a new continent or a better-defended spot. Phoenicia also gets a huge production bonus for settlers, encouraging you to spread rapidly along every coastline you can find.
- Portugal (João III): The undisputed king of naval trade. Portugal isn’t about direct military might; it’s about generating so much money from trade routes that you can simply buy the biggest navy in the world. The Nau, their unique Caravel, creates trading posts in foreign cities to boost your income even further. When I play Portugal, I out-spend everyone, buying units and buildings whenever I feel like it.
Know Your Tools: A Unit-by-Unit Breakdown
You can’t win if you don’t know what your ships can do. A balanced fleet is a deadly one.
Ancient and Classical Eras: Getting Started
- Galley (Naval Melee): Your first boat. It’s cheap and essential for early exploration, clearing coastal barbarians, and escorting settlers. Don’t expect it to win major battles; use them in groups.
- Quadrireme (Naval Ranged): Your first real weapon. Use it to siege coastal cities from a safe distance. It’s fragile, so always protect it with Galleys.
Medieval and Renaissance Eras: The Game Changes
- Caravel (Naval Melee): A big step up from the Galley. It’s faster, stronger, and can cross oceans once you research Cartography. This will be the backbone of your mid-game fleet.
- Frigate (Naval Ranged): This is where things get serious. The Frigate is a game-changer. With its two-tile range and high combat strength, a fleet of these can flatten coastal cities and enemy navies. This is the ship that makes global naval domination a real strategy.
- Privateer (Naval Raider): Your first stealth unit. The Privateer is invisible unless it’s right next to an enemy, making it a fantastic scout and a terrifyingly effective trade route plunderer.
Industrial and Modern Eras: Steel and Steam
- Ironclad (Naval Melee): A floating tank. This steam-powered ship requires Coal and is incredibly durable. Use it to screen your fragile ranged ships and soak up damage.
- Battleship (Naval Ranged): The king of the seas for a long time. Its three-tile range is devastating. It can level city defenses while staying completely safe. They’re expensive and need Oil, but their power is worth every drop.
- Submarine (Naval Raider): A stealthy predator. Subs are invisible to most units and are masters at sinking enemy fleets. They’re crucial for late-game intelligence and control of the deep ocean.
- Destroyer (Naval Melee): The answer to submarines. It’s fast, detects subs, and is essential for protecting your big, expensive capital ships from underwater threats.
Atomic and Information Eras: Airpower and Projection
- Aircraft Carrier (Naval Support): A mobile airbase that completely changes the game. Launching air strikes from anywhere on the map gives you unparalleled power projection. A carrier is only as good as the planes it carries, so load it up.
- Nuclear Submarine (Naval Raider): The ultimate stealth weapon. It can launch nukes, making it the most powerful deterrent in the game. It’s incredibly hard to find and can stay hidden for ages.
- Missile Cruiser (Naval Ranged): The modern version of the Battleship. It has a powerful ranged attack and comes with its own anti-air defenses, making it a well-rounded workhorse for a modern navy.
The Art of Combat: Tactics for Victory
So you’ve got the ships. Now, how do you actually use them to win?
Early Game: Explore, Expand, Control
Your first priority is exploration. Get a couple of Galleys out to map the coasts, meet everyone, and find city-states. This early intel is priceless. Use them to clear out coastal barbarian camps to protect your cities and earn some easy era score.
Here’s a classic move: You spot a barb camp on an island. Instead of risking a land unit, just park your Galley offshore and bombard it into dust. Then you can safely send a settler to claim a new island home.
Mid-Game: The Frigate Revolution
This is when your naval power really comes online. It’s the age of the Frigate and, later, the Battleship.
- The Coastal Blockade: You can completely cut off a coastal city with a well-placed fleet. Position your Frigates just outside the city’s attack range and use your melee ships as a screen. The constant bombardment will grind the city down, making it ripe for capture.
- The Amphibious Assault: To take another continent, you need to land troops, and a strong navy is the only way to do it safely. Use your ships to obliterate coastal defenses and any enemy units. Once the coast is clear, you can land your army. Remember, embarked land units are incredibly vulnerable, so a naval escort is non-negotiable.
Picture this: You’re at war with an overseas rival. You have four Frigates and two Caravels escorting three Swordsmen. The Frigates pound the city walls and any defenders. Your Caravels form a protective line. Once the city’s health is low, you disembark your Swordsmen onto a clear tile and take the city in a single, decisive turn.
Late Game: Carrier Strike Groups and Nuclear Threats
The late game brings air power and nukes, making a dominant navy even more critical.
- The Carrier Strike Group (CSG): A lone carrier is a target. A CSG is a death sentence. My ideal CSG includes a Carrier, a Battleship or Missile Cruiser for bombardment and anti-air, and a Destroyer or Nuke Sub for anti-sub protection. This formation can project power anywhere in the world.
- Nuclear Deterrence: A Nuclear Submarine is your ultimate insurance policy. The ability to launch a nuke from the hidden depths of the ocean will make anyone think twice about attacking you. Even if you never fire, the threat is one of the most powerful tools in the game.
The Economic Engine: Fueling Your Fleet
Let’s be real: ships are expensive. You can’t have a world-class navy without the economy to back it up.
The Harbor: Your Gateway to the Sea
The Harbor is the single most important district for a naval power. It gives you naval production, an extra trade route (hello, Gold!), Great Admiral points, and adjacency bonuses.
Pro Tip: When you settle a coastal city, look for sea resources. Placing your Harbor next to them gives a huge Gold bonus. Then, build a Shipyard, which turns that Gold adjacency bonus into Production. Now you have a naval production powerhouse.
Must-Have Policies
Slot these policies as soon as you can:
- Maritime Industries: +100% Production for early naval units. Key for an early rush.
- Press Gangs: +100% Production for mid-game naval units. This is how you build that game-changing Frigate fleet.
- International Waters: +100% Production for late-game naval units. For total sea domination.
- Trade Confederation: +1 Culture and +1 Science from international trade routes. Perfect for a coastal trade empire.
Wonders of the Waves
These World Wonders are non-negotiable for a naval game:
- Great Lighthouse: +1 Movement for all naval units. An incredible advantage that lasts the entire game.
- Mausoleum at Halicarnassus: All Great Admirals get an extra charge. This is a game-changer, letting you use their powerful retirement ability and still keep their passive combat bonus.
- Venetian Arsenal: Every time you train a naval unit, you get a second one for free. This is as broken as it sounds. It doubles your naval production.
The Great Admirals: Legends of the Sea
Don’t sleep on Great Admirals. They turn a good fleet into an unstoppable one. They give a passive +5 Combat Strength and +1 Movement to all nearby ships. Their retirement abilities are also amazing, from creating a free unit to instantly forming a Fleet or Armada.
My advice: Keep your Admiral with your main battle fleet for the passive bonus. Then, when the time is right, use their retirement ability for a massive strategic advantage, like creating a Fleet much earlier than you normally could.
Fighting from Behind: Countering a Dominant Navy
So what happens when you’re on the receiving end? Don’t just roll over and die.
- Coastal Defenses: Build Encampments in your coastal cities and put ranged units in them. The combined fire from the city, Encampment, and unit can fight off a strong naval attack.
- Submarine Warfare: If your opponent has a bunch of powerful surface ships, a swarm of your own Submarines can be a devastating counter. Ambush and sink their expensive Battleships and Carriers.
- Air Power: A strong air force can shut down a naval invasion. Use fighters to protect your skies and bombers to target their ships.
- Guerrilla Warfare: If you’re totally outmatched, don’t fight a battle you can’t win. Retreat to friendly waters. Use Privateers and Subs to raid their trade routes and pick off lonely ships. Make their naval superiority as expensive and painful as possible.
Beyond Domination: How a Navy Helps Every Victory
And don’t think a navy is only for a Domination Victory. It’s a massive help for any win condition.
- Science Victory: The seas are full of Oil and Uranium. A strong navy secures these late-game resources and protects your coastal Spaceports.
- Culture Victory: Wonders like the Sydney Opera House and Seaside Resorts are coastal. Your navy is the only thing protecting your tourism hotspots from attack.
- Religious Victory: A navy is the best way to transport your Apostles and Missionaries to other continents to spread your faith across the world.
So stop seeing the ocean as a barrier. It’s your highway to victory. The vast blue expanses of Civ VI are theaters of opportunity. Build your fleets, chart your course, and the world’s oceans—and the victories they hold—will be yours.