We’ve all been there. One minute, the AI is a master tactician, pulling off a perfectly timed war or stealing a wonder right out from under you. The next, it’s doing something so completely nonsensical you can’t help but stare at the screen in disbelief. I’ve spent a lot of time digging into how the AI in Civilization 6 actually works, and I want to share what I’ve found. This isn’t just about generic tips; it’s about getting into the nitty-gritty of its decision-making, its weird personalities, and the patterns you can exploit to turn even the toughest opponent into a predictable one.
The secret to outsmarting the AI is remembering it’s not human. It’s running on a script—a complex one, sure, but a script you can learn to read. Once you know its rules and priorities, you can stop just reacting to its moves and start playing proactively, setting yourself up for a win on any difficulty. I’m going to walk you through everything you need to handle its diplomacy, run circles around its armies, and basically make it play the game on your terms.
Cracking the Code: How the AI Actually Thinks
If you want to consistently beat the AI, you have to get inside its head. It’s not one single brain but a bunch of systems working together. Everything it does is driven by its leader’s personality, a couple of secret goals, and a scoring system for every possible action.
It’s All a Numbers Game
At its heart, the Civ 6 AI is just a big calculator. For almost every choice it makes—what to build, who to denounce—it scores all the options and picks the highest one. These scores are influenced by everything: its personality, its goals, its relationship with you, and what’s happening in the game.
For example, a warmonger like Genghis Khan is programmed to give a high score to building cavalry, especially if he thinks you’re an easy target. A science-focused leader like Seondeok? She’s going to be all about that Campus district.
You can actually predict this. Watch what the AI does early on. The districts it builds, the units it trains, the techs it researches—these are all clues to its strategy. If you see an AI spamming Holy Sites and Stonehenge is still up for grabs, you can bet your last gold coin it’s going for a religious victory.
Every Leader Has a Secret
Every leader has their main historical agenda, which you can look up anytime. Peter the Great, for example, has the “Westernizer” agenda, so he’ll always like you more if you’re ahead in Science and Culture. That part’s easy.
But the real game-changer is the hidden agenda. Every game, each leader gets a random, secret agenda on top of their main one. This is where that seemingly random behavior comes from. An AI might suddenly hate you for having a small army, even if you’ve been peaceful. That’s probably a hidden “Standing Army” agenda, which means they only respect big militaries.
Finding these hidden agendas is your top priority. Here’s how:
- Listen to Gossip: Your spies, allies, and trade partners will drop hints. If you hear someone has a grievance with another AI, the reason is often a clue to their hidden agenda.
- Pay Attention: The AI will literally tell you what it wants. If it praises your high population, it’s got the “Populous” agenda. If it complains about your tiny navy, it’s “Naval Power.”
- Just Look: Observe their empire. An AI with the “Environmentalist” agenda will almost never chop down woods and might even plant new ones.
Once you know their hidden agenda, you have the key. You can go out of your way to either please them or deliberately annoy them. It’s the ultimate tool for diplomatic manipulation.
Playing the Diplomatic Game
Diplomacy with the AI is a delicate dance. You have to know when to be nice, when to puff out your chest, and when to poke them just to get a reaction. Learning how the AI views relationships is the key to avoiding pointless wars and making friends who can actually help you.
First Impressions Matter
The AI judges you the moment it meets you, and it can hold a grudge. Here’s what it looks at first:
- Personal Space: Settle too close, and they’ll see you as a threat. Don’t plop a city right on their border early on unless you’re ready for a fight.
- Military Power: The AI is a bully. If your army looks weak, you’re basically painting a target on your back for any aggressive leader. Keep a decent military force, even if you’re aiming for a peaceful victory.
- Good Manners: Send a delegation the turn you meet an AI. It’s a small thing, but it gives you a nice diplomatic boost. Accept theirs in return to build on that goodwill.
Using Favor and Grievances
The Diplomatic Favor and Grievance systems are more than just for the Diplomatic Victory; you can use them to mess with the AI.
- Sell Your Favor: Early in the game, the AI pays a ridiculous amount of gold for Diplomatic Favor. You can sell yours for a fortune to supercharge your growth, especially if you don’t care about a Diplomatic Victory.
- Make Them Mad on Purpose: Want to go to war without everyone hating you? Goad the AI into declaring war on you first. Denounce them, park troops on their border, or convert their cities. They’ll rack up grievances and be more likely to attack you, making you look like the victim to the rest of the world.
How to Make a Real Friend
Getting an AI to be your ally is pretty simple once you know what they want. You just need to stack up those positive diplomatic points:
- Trade Generously: The AI loves a good deal. Give them fair, or even slightly generous, trades consistently, and they’ll warm up to you.
- Play to Their Agendas: This is the big one. If you align your gameplay with their public and hidden agendas, they’ll love you for it.
- Join Their Wars: If an AI asks you to join a war, say yes. It gives you a massive relationship boost, and you often don’t even have to do much fighting.
Once you get a Declaration of Friendship, lock in that Alliance. They’re worth it for the military backup and the huge economic perks.
Winning on the Battlefield
The AI gets some crazy combat bonuses on higher difficulties, but its tactics are often terrible. A smart player can easily exploit its flaws.
Taking Advantage of AI Stupidity
The AI is a pretty bad general. Here are some of its biggest weaknesses:
- Bad Army Composition: It often just spams one type of unit. A big mob of melee units is easy pickings for a few well-placed archers.
- Clueless Sieges: The AI has no idea how to take a city. It won’t bring enough siege weapons, or it will put them in stupid places where you can easily destroy them. You can often defend a city against a much bigger army just by picking off their catapults.
- Predictable Moves: The AI usually just marches its units straight at you. This makes it easy to set up ambushes and defensive choke points.
- It Forgets to Pillage: The AI rarely pillages your tiles, which is a huge strategic mistake. You, on the other hand, should send fast units to burn their districts and improvements to the ground, wrecking their economy.
The Early War Gambit
On higher difficulties, the AI starts with a huge head start. An early war can be a great way to knock them down a peg.
- Pick on Someone Weak: Find a nearby neighbor with a small army or a poorly defended capital. A quick, early war can get you an extra city or two and give you a massive development boost.
- The Archer Rush: It’s a classic for a reason. Build a handful of archers and warriors and just overwhelm a neighbor before they have time to put up walls.
- Use City-States: If you’re the suzerain of a city-state near your target, levy their army. It’s a cheap way to get a temporary military advantage.
Defensive Wars Pay Off
If an AI declares war on you, don’t sweat it. A good defense can be more profitable than an offense.
- Dig In: Use the terrain. Fortify your units on hills and across rivers. Let the AI smash its army against your defenses.
- Build Walls: Seriously, don’t forget walls. They give your cities a huge defensive bonus and buy you the time you need to build more units.
- Demand Tribute for Peace: Once you’ve crushed their army, the AI will often beg for peace. This is your chance to demand gold, resources, and even cities from them.
Economic Warfare: Bleed Them Dry
You can also fight a war without ever firing a shot by attacking the AI’s economy. Their trade logic is another area that’s easy to exploit.
The Great Gold Swindle
The AI is a terrible negotiator. You can get tons of gold from them if you’re clever.
- Lump Sum vs. Per Turn: The AI loves trading a big pile of gold for a small amount of gold per turn. You can use this to get a huge cash injection for yourself.
- The Pre-War Heist: This is a dirty trick, but it works. Right before you declare war, trade all your gold-per-turn for all of their flat gold and luxury resources. The moment war is declared, all deals are canceled, but you keep everything they gave you. It’s a great way to bankrupt them before the fighting even starts.
- Sell, Sell, Sell: The AI is desperate for luxury and strategic resources it doesn’t have. You can make a fortune by selling off your extras. Keep an eye on who needs what and make them targeted offers.
Slow Their Roll
You can also take steps to sabotage the AI’s science and culture game.
- Spies: A good spy can cause chaos. Send them to steal tech, sabotage production in their key districts, and stir up rebellions.
- Great People: Make sure you’re competing for Great Scientists and Writers. Not only does it help you, but it denies those powerful bonuses to the AI.
- Pillage Their Brains: When you are at war, make it a priority to pillage their Campuses and Theater Squares. It hurts their output and forces them to waste time and production repairing them.
By hitting the AI where it hurts—its wallet and its research—you can secure a long-term advantage that will carry you to victory.
Becoming the Puppet Master
When you get right down to it, the Civilization 6 AI is just a machine running on predictable patterns and exploitable biases. Once you stop thinking of it as a human player and start looking at the systems driving it, everything changes. You’re no longer just reacting to what the AI throws at you. You become the one pulling the strings, setting up conflicts, managing relationships, and shaping the world to fit your grand strategy.
So start watching, learning, and adapting. Learn to see the signs, predict the moves, and hit them in their weak spots. No matter what victory you’re aiming for, understanding how the AI works is the most powerful weapon in your arsenal. Now go out there and show them who’s really in charge.