Humankind is a massive game covering the development of human culture and civilizations. There are so many potential paths and options to consider that players could easily get overwhelmed. This Humankind strategy guide should help prospective leaders find some starting points with which to build off of.
Influence is Key
One of the most important strategic resources, aside from those found from the ground like iron and coal, is influence.
Influence is necessary to claim additional territory, enact laws, convert outposts into cities, and attach claimed territories to established cities, as well as spread the empire’s ideology and ally with independent peoples. It’s also a resource that’s most difficult to come by and players are advised to find any way they can improve their empire’s influence income, as it will allow them to take more strategic actions.
Build Emblematic Quarters
Every culture will get access to a unique district. These districts are typically either more powerful versions of standard districts like the farmer’s or maker’s quarter or an amalgam of several types. Regardless of their effect, the emblematic quarters are almost always worth building due to their solid adjacency bonuses and propensity to generate extra influence.
Prioritize Territories With Strategic and Luxury Resources
The most valuable territories in Humankind are those that not only have high tile yields for food, industry, and science, but also resources with practical uses, such as iron and coal that are needed for units and various building projects. Luxuries may not be needed to recruit units; their usefulness can be found in their general resource production buffs, as well as tradeability. In many ways, the land grab stage of the game is all about who can get access to as many valuable resources as possible to establish a self-sufficient empire.
Actively Explore
Knowledge is power and in Humankind getting eyes on fertile ground, a vulnerable sanctuary, or a territory with vital resources can mean higher levels of success. Moreover, due to the overall complexity of Humankind’s terrain, it’s wise to discover geographic bottlenecks and chokepoints. The terrain is the player’s biggest ally not only in resource generation, but also defense and attack.
Move in Small Segments
As mentioned above, Humankind has some of the most intricate and complex terrain in 4X strategy games, which can create blindspots and highly defensible terrain. One way to counteract the oddities of the terrain and utilize movement points more efficiently is to move one or two tiles at a time. This will give enough space and time for players to react if their scouting parties and armies suddenly discover a threat or something interesting to follow-up on.
Take the High Ground
The high ground has both tactical and strategic uses that players should strongly consider. In combat, the high ground gives significant strength bonuses to units if they’re fighting another unit downhill from them, so utilize the high ground on defence and avoid it on offence. Strategically, taking the high ground will allow an army to see over the many patches of rough ground, cliffs, and into valleys, which helps with scouting and getting the lay of the land.
Preserve Units
Amplitude Studios made an interesting decision by having units consume population as a production resource. So when players build up armies and send them off to war, they’re actively taking away productive workers to go fight. Because population is a productive resource and forms the backbone of any economy, it’s recommended for players to do their best and conserve their units where possible when fighting a war.
Disband Units in Friendly Territory
Speaking of conserving the population, when a large military isn’t needed, players can reconvert their troops back into a civilian population. To do this, the unit in question has to be in a friendly territory (doesn’t have to be a city) and then players select the unit they wish to disband and click on the disband action. The unit population cost will then be placed into the population of the territory they are in and then can be used for economic purposes.
Take Your Time in the Neolithic Era
The Neolithic era sees players roam the Earth, gathering resources, hunting wild game, and discovering curiosities. At first glance, it may seem that this is a simple waiting and growing game, but the Neolithic era gives players the best opportunity to scout, pick an optimal spot for their city, and figure out who their neighbors are. In addition, by being patient and focusing on exploration, players can earn extra era stars and fame, which is never a bad thing.
Take Your Time Choosing a Culture
Piggybacking off of the previous tip, this Humankind tip concerns the timing of choosing a new culture. There is of course a serious advantage to being the first culture to reach the next era as you get the first pick out of the ten available cultures. However, there is no need to rush the choice for a culture if players haven’t explored enough of the land or see that no other empire is close to reaching the next era and have the opportunity to earn some additional fame before moving on.
Skirmish and Pillage
Humankind treats warfare far more flexibly than some of its competitors in that empires don’t necessarily need to officially declare war on each other to attack each other’s units and property. Empires do need to declare war if they want to conquer cities or even enter the boundaries of settled cities, though. In neutral or unattached territories, players are free to engage enemy troops and pillage their outposts, not only for getting additional fame from gaining gold and defeating units, but simply as a method of keeping eyes on your neighbors and in check.
Wait for the AI to Complete its Turn
Humankind has an odd turn system compared to some other 4X strategy games. When players press the button to end their turn, the game will calculate the moves for the AI, but they will only begin acting and moving units around after the end turn calculation is completed. In essence, players will witness AI units moving during their own turn and to avoid frustration and confusion, it’s advised to let the AI’s moves complete before making any important moves.
Humankind is available on PC and Stadia.
READ NEXT: Humankind Combat Guide: Armies, Terrain, Units & More
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