The Maya build a compact empire of large cities to support a scientific victory, and is a relatively easy civ to learn. Here, I detail Mayan strategies and counter-strategies. Introduction Following this guide requires the Gathering Storm expansion. It also assumes you have all other Civ 6 content, listed below, though it is not necessary to have these to utilise the key strategies of each civ. Pre-Rise and Fall content packs Vikings, Poland, Australia, Persia/Macedon, Nubia, Khmer/Indonesia Rise and Fall Expansion New Frontier content packs Maya/Grand Colombia, Ethiopia, Byzantium/Gauls, Babylon, Vietnam/Kublai Khan, Portugal These content packs include exclusive civs, city-states, districts, buildings, wonders, natural wonders, resources, and a disaster, but not core game mechanics - all you need is the base game and the Gathering Storm expansion for those. Powers shift endlessly; old alliances, new betrayals and futile diplomacy. It's time to cut through this endless back-and-forth and stake our claim in history. Naranjo is strong enough; we can defeat Caracol. We can defeat Ucanal. And yes, with the guidance of the stars we can even defeat Tikal. Our city shall be secure under the protection of her warrior queen. How to use this guide This guide is divided into multiple sections explaining how best to use and play against this specific civ. The Outline details the mechanics of how the civilization's unique features work and what their start bias is if they have one. The Victory Skew section describes to what extent the civ (and its individual leaders where applicable) is inclined towards particular victory routes. This is not a rating of its power, but an indicator of the most appropriate route to victory. Multiple sections for Uniques explain in detail how to use each special bonus of the civilization. Administration describes some of the most synergistic governments, government buildings, policy cards, age bonuses, pantheons, religious beliefs, wonders, city-states and Great People for the civ. Only the ones with the most synergy with the civ's uniques are mentioned - these are not necessarily the "best" choices when playing as the civ for a given victory route. Finally, the Counter-Strategies discusses how best to play against the civ, including a consideration of leader agendas if the civ is controlled by a computer. Note that all costs (production, science, etc.) mentioned within the guide assume a game played on the normal speed settings. To modify these values for other game speeds: Online: Divide by 2 Quick: Divide by 1.5 Epic: Multiply by 1.5 Marathon: Multiply by 3 Glossary Terminology used in this guide and not in-game is explained here. AoE (Area of Effect) - Bonuses or penalties that affect multiple tiles in a set radius. Positive examples include Factories (which offer production to cities within a 6 tile radius unless they're within range of another building of the same type) and a negative example is nuclear weapons, which cause devastation over a wide radius. Beelining - Obtaining a technology or civic quickly by only researching it and its prerequisites. Some deviation is allowed in the event that taking a technology or civic off the main track provides some kind of advantage that makes up for that (either a source of extra science/culture or access to something necessary for a eureka or inspiration boost) CA (Civ Ability) - The unique ability of a civilization, shared by all its leaders. Compact empires - Civs with cities close together (typically 3-4 tile gaps between city centres). This is useful if you want to make use of districts that gain adjacency bonuses from other districts, or to maximise the potential of area-of-effect bonuses later in the game. Dispersed empires - Civs with cities that are spread out (typically 5-6 tile gaps between city centres). Civs with unique tile improvements generally favour a more dispersed empire in order to make use of them, as do civs focused on wonder construction. GPP - Short for Great Person Points. Districts, buildings and wonders generate these points and with enough you can claim a Great Person of the corresponding type. GWAM - Collective name for Great Writers, Artists and Musicians. All of them can produce Great Works that offer tourism and culture, making them important to anyone seeking a cultural victory. LA (Leader Ability) - The unique ability of a specific leader. Usually but not always, they tend to be more specific in scope than civ abilities. Some leader abilities come with an associated unique unit or infrastucture. Prebuilding - Training a unit with the intention of upgrading it to a desired unit later. An example is building Slingers and upgrading them once Archery is unlocked. Sniping - Targeting a specific city for capture directly, ignoring other enemy cities along the way. Typically used in the context of "capital sniping" - taking a civ's original capital as quickly as possible to contribute towards domination victory without leading to a drawn-out war. Start bias - The kind of terrain, terrain feature or resource a civilization is more likely to start near. This is typically used for civilizations that have early bonuses dependent on a particular terrain type. There are five tiers of start bias; civs with a tier 1 start bias are placed before civs of tier 2 and so on, increasing their odds of receiving a favourable starting location. Super-uniques - Unique units that do not replace any others. Examples include India's Varu and Mongolia's Keshigs. Tall empires - Empires that emphasise city development over expansion, usually resulting in fewer, but bigger, cities. Uniques - Collective name for civ abilities, leader abilities, unique units, unique buildings, unique districts and unique improvements. UA (Unique Ability) - A collective name for leader abilities and civ abilities. UB (Unique Building) - A special building which may only be constructed in the cities of a single civilization, which replaces a normal building and offers a special advantage on top. UD (Unique District) - A special district which may only be constructed in the cities of a single civilization, which replaces a normal district, costs half as much to build and offers some unique advantages on top. UI (Unique Improvement) - A special improvement that can only be built by the Builders of a single civilization. "UI" always refers to unique improvements in my guides and not to "user interface" or "unique infrastructure". UU (Unique Unit) - A special unit that may only be trained by a single civilization, and in some cases only when that civilization is led by a specific leader. Wide empires - Empires that emphasise expansion over city development, usually resulting in more, but smaller, cities. Outline (Part 1/2) Start Bias

玛雅文明的一级起始倾向为平坦草原、草原丘陵、平坦平原和平原丘陵。他们的二级起始倾向为柑橘、咖啡、可可、棉花、染料、丝绸、香料、糖、茶叶、烟草、葡萄酒和香辛料——这些均为种植园资源。最后，他们的三级起始倾向为各类沙漠、苔原和雪地（平坦地形、丘陵及山地）。这是游戏中最复杂的起始倾向之一，但要记住，一级倾向会优先被考虑，其次是二级，以此类推。草原与平原倾向确保你有潜在的农场选址，而奢侈品起始倾向则增加了在游戏初期获得额外宜居度的机会。剩余的倾向设定旨在降低玛雅文明初始位置位于海岸的概率，以便更轻松地让更多城市处于六天夫人领袖能力的首都影响范围内。 文明能力：玛雅城邦 城市无法从淡水或海岸相邻获得住房 玛雅城市的水渠始终提供全额+4住房。农场在标准产出基础上额外提供+1住房和+1金币。 与天文台相邻的农场额外产出+1生产力。 城市中心每相邻一个奢侈品资源，城市获得+1宜居度。 在奢侈品资源 tile 上建立的城市不会获得此宜居度加成。 六天夫人领袖能力：Ix Mutal Ajaw

首都六格范围内的非首都城市在建立时获得一名免费建造者。 首都六格范围内的非首都城市的食物、生产力、金币、信仰、科技和文化产出+10%。 首都六格外的非首都城市的食物、生产力、金币、信仰、科技和文化产出-15%。 首都六格范围内的所有军事单位和宗教单位获得+5战斗力。 这取决于战斗发起时单位所在的位置。 纲要（第2/2部分） 特色单位：胡尔奇（Hul'che）

一种古代远程陆地单位，可替代弓箭手 研发 淘汰 升级自 升级至 成本 资源 维护费用

弓箭术 科技 远古时代

机械 科技 中世纪

Slinger (60

)

十字弩手 (250

) 60

或 240

或 120

无

使用信仰值购买单位需要“宗师礼拜堂”政府建筑，该建筑需研发中世纪时代的“神权”或文艺复兴时代的“探索”市政。 战斗力 远程战斗力 移动力 射程 视野 负面属性 正面属性 15

28

2

2

2

无法占领城市 -17

对抗城市防御 -17

对抗海军单位 对城市城墙和城市防御造成-50%伤害 不施加控制区域 +5

攻击未满生命值单位时 正面调整：远程强度从25提升至28 攻击未满生命值单位时+5强度 独特区域：天文台

一种古代特色区域，可替代学院 科研值 所需地形 建造要求 基础生产力消耗 维护费用 基础掠夺产出

书写 科技 远古时代 你领土内任何可通行的无特征陆地地块。

库

大孌

研究实验室 27

* 或 108

** 或 54

** 1

25

所有区域的成本会根据你的科技和文化发展进度而增加。若你拥有的特色区域数量大于或等于已解锁的特色区域类型数量，且前者与后者的比值大于你拥有的该区域数量，则可享受40%的折扣。 **使用金币购买区域时，需要城市中派驻拥有“承包商”晋升的蕾娜总督（财务官）。使用信仰值购买区域时，需要城市中派驻拥有“神圣建筑师”晋升的莫克沙总督（红衣主教）。 相邻加成 其他产出 伟人点数 其他效果 2

每相邻种植园 1

若与政府大楼相邻 1

每两个相邻区域 1

每两个相邻的农场 无 1

启用“校园研究资助”城市项目。通往该城市的国内贸易路线提供+1。

通往这座城市的国际贸易路线提供+1

负面改动：无法从山脉、雨林、珊瑚礁或地热裂缝获得科技相邻加成。 正面改动：建造费用减少50%；每相邻1个种植园+2科技；每相邻2个农场+1科技。 胜利倾向：在本节中，将根据文明对特定胜利类型的倾向程度进行主观评分——而非其强度。评分3分或以上意味着该文明在该胜利路线上至少拥有小幅优势。 领袖

文化

外交

控制区域

宗教

科技 六天夫人 6/10 （尚可） 5/10 （尚可） 6/10 （尚可） 4/10 （可接受） 10/10 （理想） 文化胜利是玛雅文明一个合理的发展方向。食物、住房和生产力产出加成使玛雅城市在奇观建造方面表现尚可。然而，鼓励城市紧密布局的特性导致用于提升旅游产出的地格改良空间所剩无几。 外交胜利虽非最佳选择，但也是可行路径。农场带来的额外金币以及六天夫人的领袖能力，有助于在援助紧急事件中竞争。 统治胜利是一条合理的道路，尤其在较小的地图上。尽管远方城市有15%的产出惩罚，这会使被征服的城市实力大幅削弱，但这并非无法克服的惩罚。农场提供的额外金币有助于单位维护，而来自奢侈品相邻的一些额外宜居度可能会略微缓解战争疲劳。更重要的是，独特单位“胡尔奇战士”（Hul'che）具有出色的早期rush潜力，其性价比下的伤害输出十分优秀。 对于玛雅文明而言，宗教路线可能是最薄弱的选择。信仰产出通常与城市数量成正比，因为圣地区域通常是信仰的主要来源。因此，六天夫人（Lady Six Sky）对遥远城市信仰产出的15%惩罚可能会成为一个主要限制。话虽如此，玛雅通过在首都六格范围内快速扩张并享受10%的产出加成，仍能在早期获得不错的信仰产出。首都附近的额外力量在神学战斗中发挥作用，帮助你在自己的领土上巩固宗教。 对玛雅文明而言，科技路线无疑是最佳选择。天文台区域虽然缺乏许多典型的科技相邻加成，但拥有更易掌控的强大替代加成。六天夫人的领袖能力还能为许多城市额外提供10%的科技加成。最后，得益于10%的食物加成和农场住房，城市规模得以扩大，这使你在游戏后期更有能力快速推进太空竞赛项目——尤其是在10%生产力加成的助力下。 六天夫人的领袖能力：Ix Mutal Ajaw（第1/2部分）

一个精心规划的紧凑型帝国将为玛雅带来丰厚回报，并为游戏后续阶段建立一个高效且防御完善的帝国。通过在游戏初期谨慎选址建城，你可以让后续的游戏进程更加顺畅。 第一回合 对于大多数文明而言，尽快建立首都通常是最佳选择。游戏初期损失的回合数可能会让你在整个游戏中处于明显劣势。 然而，玛雅文明拥有更多选择。 稳妥策略 立即建立首都意味着你可以更早开始研究科技、发展城市等。我建议经验不足的玩家选择此路线，以避免浪费宝贵时间的风险。此外，初始位置往往拥有丰富的资源。更冒险的策略 你可以选择立即建立首都的稳妥方案，也可以花费几个回合进行探索，寻找能最大化六天夫人领袖能力加成的区域。这是一种冒险策略，需要你熟悉游戏中的地形样貌。 你的初始战士和移民各有2点移动力。战士拥有2点视野，移民则有3点。在探索新土地时，若有需要，应让他们保持适当距离以相互保护，但也要拉开足够间隔以尽可能探索更多土地。每次移动一格，这样你就能了解前方情况并做出相应反应。

地形过渡可以提前指示海岸的位置。同时也要留意河流——仔细观察的话，你能看到它们流向大海。如果你想深入内陆地区，逆流而上会很有用。 你的目标是找到一个地点，使尽可能多的土地位于首都六格范围内，并且最好不要是城邦或其他文明的初始首都。

以下是一个成功运用冒险策略的示例。尽管我的首都周围有一些城市，但总体而言，我有很多潜在的定居点。达到这一阶段大约需要10-15回合，但通常你需要在5回合内建立首都，以避免浪费宝贵的时间。 城市布局 无论你采用更安全还是更冒险的开局策略，你的首都都应该首先训练至少一名投石兵用于防御——由于六天女的力量加成，他们不仅比平时更有效，而且之后还可以升级为胡尔奇单位。当你的首都达到大约2或3人口时，训练一名移民是个好主意，然后再训练一名建造者。新的玛雅城市无论选址如何都仅有2点住房，因此建造者用于开发农场是必要的。为了充分发挥六天夫人的领袖能力，你需要在首都6格范围内尽可能多地建立城市。

这种布局能最大化单个大陆上首都辐射范围内的潜在城市数量。你应该优先在外侧地点建立城市（以阻止其他文明占据这些位置），然后再向内侧拓展。需要注意的是，如果城市位于不同的大陆，它们可以建得更近，但这会严重限制每个城市可开发的地块数量。

使用地图标记来明确六天夫人领袖能力的范围。

Then, you can position cities accordingly! City-states and water can get in the way, but you should be able to fit in plenty of cities so long as you keep to the pattern. If a rival civ settles a city in a way that sets off the pattern, consider attacking them to raze that city. This is best done early on when the Hul'che unit can assist. Rival civ capitals and city-states within range of your capital are good potential targets for early conquest. Lady Six Sky's Leader Ability: Ix Mutal Ajaw (Part 2/2) The Yields With cities positioned and settled, it's time to enjoy a range of bonuses! You'll start with Builders right away so you can build some farms for extra housing and food alike, plantations or other such useful tile improvements. Food Food allows your cities to grow, so long as they also have sufficient housing. Mayan farms provide plenty of both, so the food bonus on offer here will mainly be useful for speeding up city growth. Every point of population is worth 0.5 science and 0.3 culture, so bigger cities will aid you in getting through technologies and civics faster. Production You'll need plenty of production to train units, construct buildings and wonders, and complete city projects. As the Maya have a flat land start bias, production can be lacking. You may have few hills for mines and/or few woods/rainforests for lumber mills. The production bonus helps to partially account for that. However, things improve considerably into the industrial era. The Mayan incentive to settle cities closely together means that Factories can offer production bonuses to a lot of cities at once. Position Governor Magnus (the Steward) in your capital with the Vertical Integration promotion, and the rest of your empire will be able to provide it with a lot of production. While your capital does not benefit from the 10% production boost, it's nonetheless typically the best place to put Magnus. Gold Gold is useful for buying units and buildings, maintaining them, trading with other players, Great Person Patronage and so forth. Thanks to the Mayan civ ability, farms generate gold, which this leader ability will build upon. Generally, the Maya have the biggest advantage in gold yield over other civs earlier in the game. Faith Faith has a variety of uses, but for the Maya it's largely useful for Great Person patronage or purchasing Observatory district buildings if you have access to the Jesuit Education belief. A bit more faith doesn't make a huge difference for the Maya as the limited number of cities you can fit within range of your capital restricts your competitiveness in the faith game. Science Probably the most useful yield to gain a 10% boost to, as science is essential for technological development and therefore for the scientific victory. Observatories are a great source of science already, but this bonus takes it even further! Culture Getting a 10% culture boost helps with getting through civics, tile accumulation and defence against cultural civs' tourism. It also partially offsets the 25% culture loss if you take the Monasticism wildcard during a classical or medieval-era Dark Age for its huge potential 75% science boost. The strength bonus In addition to a variety of yields, Lady Six Sky offers a +5 strength bonus to all units within six tiles of your capital. This is excellent in defence against Barbarians and warmongers alike, and can be used to attack the cities of other civs that get too close. It even works in theological combat, so if you have a religion of your own it's easier to keep rival religious units at bay. Cities out of range While you should typically aim to constrain your expansion to a six-tile radius around your capital, there's circumstances you might want to expand outside it even with the 15% yield penalties: Securing key strategic resources Preventing other civs from settling too close to your core cities (especially Phoenicia, which can circumvent loyalty pressures) Capturing other civs' cities with the Hul'che UU. Furthermore, while a 15% penalty to six different yields is quite harsh, you can still benefit from founding new cities outside the range if you focus on key districts like Observatories. Conclusion Lady Six Sky's ability is a useful bonus to defence and development. While it requires precise city positioning for its best potential, the benefits of doing so are straightforward and easy to make use of. A little planning in the ancient era will pay off throughout the rest of the game. Civilization Ability: Mayab

玉所带来的福祉；玉米农场提供的住房。 六天夫人的领袖能力要求你精心将城市紧密布局，以充分发挥其效果。这有两个主要缺点：一是如此精确位置的城市可能难以获取淡水，二是紧凑的城市拥有有限的地块，这会使平衡城市增长、生产力和区域变得困难。 幸运的是，玛雅文明能力避免了第一个缺点，并部分弥补了第二个缺点。通过从农场而非淡水获得大量住房，城市可以遵循更严格的布局模式。这使得使用六天夫人的领袖能力变得容易得多。农场提供的高住房容量意味着，你只需建造少量农场并结合内部贸易，就能在相当长一段时间内满足城市发展的需求，从而留出部分土地用于其他改良设施或区域建设。 无水源住房加成 通常情况下，若城市毗邻淡水（河流与湖泊），初始住房容量为5，使其能全速发展至4人口规模。无淡水 access 的沿海城市初始住房容量为3。而既不沿海也无淡水的城市初始住房容量仅为2，这意味着其发展将举步维艰。 对于玛雅文明而言，所有城市初始住房容量均为2（首都除外，因其拥有宫殿，初始住房容量为3）。虽然这意味着新城市若没有地块改良设施的支持将难以发展，但也意味着你无需在选址时考虑淡水获取。这使得为六天夫人的领袖能力优化城市位置变得更加容易。 玛雅城市不会从直接淡水获取中获得任何住房，但它们将从水渠获得全额+4住房。这使得水渠成为那些能够建造它们的城市中可靠且实用的区域。 农场住房 玛雅人的农场提供+1.5住房，这是游戏早期所有地块改良设施中最高的。两座农场就能为新城市提供足够的住房，使其与其他文明中邻近淡水的新城市相当。凭借六天夫人的领袖能力，在首都六格范围内建立的城市将获得一名免费建造者，这让你很容易达到这一阶段。更重要的是，一旦城市拥有至少四块农田，它们将开始比大多数其他文明的城市拥有显著的住房优势。尽可能将这些农田布局在天文台区域周围以获得科技相邻加成，否则就尝试将它们建成三角形，这样在中世纪时代的封建主义市政下就能提供额外的食物。充足的食物和住房相结合，能让玛雅城市发展得非常庞大，即便空间有限。在现代 era 的“可替换部件”科技的加持下，农场的实力将显著增强。而该科技距离“化学”科技仅一步之遥，后者是建造最终天文台区域建筑的必要条件。有了“可替换部件”，农场每与其他农场相邻，便能额外获得+1食物，这将使你的城市快速发展。 农场金币 所有玛雅农场均能提供+1金币，这在游戏初期能积累可观的金币收入。这些金币的良好用途包括购买种植园资源地块、购买其附近潜在的天文台建造地点、将投石兵升级为 Hul'che 单位、购买并维护 Hul'che 单位以及购买建造者。 虽然此加成在游戏初期影响最大，但在整个游戏过程中，它对于支付单位和建筑的维护费用始终具有持续的帮助。农场产出 毗邻天文台区域的农场+1生产力。这使得这些地格在分配人口工作时格外有价值，而且农场本就为天文台提供科研相邻加成，因此这是提升城市生产力的便捷途径。 城市中心相邻奢侈品提供的宜居度 玛雅城市每相邻一个奢侈品资源+1宜居度。虽然理论上这听起来是对农场住房的有益补充，但将尽可能多的城市密集建设在首都6格半径范围内的需求，使得很难主动围绕这一加成进行布局。通常，你需要寻找其他宜居度来源，例如与其他文明交易奢侈品或建造娱乐中心。总结：确保尽快派遣建造者前往新城市建造农场以促进其发展，首都辐射范围内的城市可获得免费建造者除外。若城市空间允许，建造水渠可稳定提供+4住房加成。利用农场产出的金币助力早期发展。不必过于纠结城市是否毗邻奢侈品资源，相比之下，在首都附近建造更多城市更为重要。特色区域：天文台

Observatories are a reliable source of science which lose the specific terrain-based adjacency bonuses of regular Campuses, but make up for it with two more reliable adjacency bonuses and a halved construction cost. Coupled with Lady Six Sky's 10% bonus science yields, these districts can give you a huge advantage in the scientific game. Construction Observatories just require the ancient-era Pottery and Writing technologies to build. With a relatively low cost, new cities can afford to build them - though be sure they have enough farms to grow and expand their production or else you'll be waiting a long time. When positioning Observatories, try to get them adjacent to as many plantation resources as possible. These include: Bananas Citrus Cocoa Coffee Dyes Incense Olives Silk Spices Sugar Tea Tobacco Wine A typical city will be able to get 1-2 plantation resources adjacent to their Observatory. Sometimes, the best Observatory placement for a city will be adjacent to a spot you'll want to found a new city later. If this is the case, be sure to buy the appropriate tiles and start construction on the Observatory before you found the new city. This is because districts cannot be positioned next to the city centres of other cities, while it is possible to settle a city next to an existing district. Plantation Adjacency Observatories receive a massive +2 science adjacency yield from plantations. Simply having plantation resources adjacent is insufficient - they need to be improved (requiring the ancient-era Irrigation technology). This means the plantation resource tile needs to be owned by someone first. If you control the tile, you can simply spend a Builder charge on improving it, but if another civ or a city-state controls the tile, you'll need to either wait around until they get around to improving it, culture-bomb the tile off them, or take their city over. Usually, you won't get more than a couple of plantations adjacent to an Observatory, but a +4 science bonus is very strong early in the game, and you can easily boost it further with farms or districts. Farm Adjacency Observatories gain +1 science for every two adjacent farms. While a much smaller bonus than the one for plantations, it is incredibly reliable. Farms can be placed on flat grassland, flat plains or desert floodplain from the start of the game, and thanks to the Mayan civ ability, farms are a great source of housing. Observatories surrounded by farms can have a reliable +3 adjacency bonus, while a city with a mixture of plantations and farms adjacent can viably get adjacency yields of +6. District Adjacency While Observatories do not gain the same terrain adjacency bonuses as regular Campuses, they do still receive +1 science per two adjacent districts and an extra +1 science if they are adjacent to your Government Plaza. Receiving science from adjacent districts means you can replace some adjacent farms with extra districts if need be later in the game without sacrificing science, while the new districts can also benefit from being adjacent to an existing district. As for the Government Plaza, it's best to position it in a spot two tiles away from as many plantation resources as possible. That way, nearby Observatories can benefit from both the powerful plantation adjacency and the Government Plaza adjacency. Boosting the Yield Further With the classical-era Recorded History civic, you can use the Natural Philosophy economic policy card to double the adjacency bonuses of all Observatories. This policy card is so powerful for the Maya it is worth keeping active right up until it is replaced with the superior Five-Year Plan policy card at the modern-era Ideology civic. If you fall into a classical or medieval-era Dark Age, you can take the Monasticism wildcard for +75% science in all cities with a Holy Site. A medieval-era Dark Age is more effective and easier to achieve for the Maya. The best way to set up a medieval-era Dark Age is to found plenty of cities in the ancient game era while aiming for a classical-era Golden Age. The more cities you own at the start of a game era, the higher the era score thresholds will be for the next game era. Thresholds also increase every time you enter a Golden Age. Securing a classical-era Golden Age is fairly easy for the Maya as both the Hul'che and the Observatory arrive in the ancient era, allowing you to get plenty of era score from them. Destroying Barbarian Encampments is another good source of era score. Finally, with the renaissance-era The Enlightenment civic, you can take the Rationalism economic policy card. This boosts the science yield of all buildings in the Observatory district by 50% if the district's adjacency bonus is at least 3 or the city is at least size 10, or by 100% if both conditions are met. Given the strong plantation adjacency bonuses of Observatories and the Mayan civ ability offering lots of housing, this is an easy requirement to meet. Summary Position Observatories next to as many plantation resources as possible, then surround them with farms. Don't worry about replacing Observatory-adjacent farms with districts; the city will get the same adjacency bonus. Unique Unit: Hul'che

The Mayan start is complicated by the need to carefully position in new cities and ensure they have enough housing to grow. Thankfully, the Hul'che unit makes this task a lot easier by being an affordable and effective counter to Barbarians and warmongers. Preparation Hul'che units require just the ancient-era Animal Husbandry and Archery technologies to train. It's a good idea to train a couple of Slingers ahead of time so you can immediately upgrade them once Archery is researched, saving you production. Combat Hul'che units are slightly stronger than regular Archers on attack, having 28 ranged strength rather than 25. However, against injured units, they have an impressive 33 strength - higher than most ancient-era threats. Within six tiles of your capital, that's raised to 38, outclassing classical-era units. It's a good idea to keep Hul'che units in pairs so one can get an initial attack on an enemy, and the second can deal massive damage. Injured units lose strength, so the second hit will deal considerably more damage than the first. Defence A reliable use of Hul'che units is to repel Barbarians and warmongers. Barbarians early on tend to rely on Spearmen, Scouts, Warriors and Archers. With the Discipline military policy card or within six tiles of your capital, Hul'che units can take out any of these in two hits. Against warmongers, Hul'che are most effective against civs that rely on slower units (e.g. Greece, Rome). Against civs that rely on faster units (e.g. Gran Colombia, Scythia), make good use of rough terrain and safe locations (e.g. behind a lake or garrisoning a city) so your enemy can't exploit the low melee strength Hul'che units have. Keep within six tiles of your capital where possible for the +5 strength boost. Offence The strong attack of Hul'che makes them great at clearing enemy units, and that can make them suitable for rushing nearby enemies. They'll need support from a unit with a melee attack (e.g. Warriors) to capture cities. Using Hul'che offensively is useful if you want to weaken a nearby civ, pillage their tiles for yields or go for a quick domination victory on smaller maps, but remember that all cities you control outside six tiles of your capital will have a 15% penalty to all yields. As such, early conquest is less effective for the Mayans than it is for other civs. As such, you can instead use Hul'che as part of an intimidation strategy. By training a few and declaring war on a civ (or simply moving units close to them), you can encourage them to use precious early production on building up a defence. Your strength bonus near your capital will make retaliation difficult. Obsoletion While Hul'che are effective throughout the ancient and classical eras, Crossbowmen eclipse them in strength. As such, once other civs reach medieval era technologies, it's a good idea to upgrade your Hul'che units. Conclusion Hul'che units are a really effective defensive option which means you can dedicate less production to defence and more to settling all the cities you need early on. Administration - Government and Policy Cards Note that the Administration sections strictly cover the options that have particularly good synergy with the civ's uniques. These are not necessarily the best choices, but rather options you should consider more than usual if playing this civ relative to others. Governments Tier One Classical Republic is best due to the handy amenity bonus supporting your growing cities) and the higher number of economic policy cards. Complement it with the Audience Chamber for even more amenities, or the Ancestral Hall to quickly fill your six-tile radius from your capital. Tier Two Merchant Republic's higher number of economic policy card slots and wildcards makes it an ideal choice. The Intelligence Agency is an ideal tier two government plaza building as the extra Spy can defend your Observatories, Industrial Zones and Spaceports from enemy Spies. Tier Three Communism's 10% science boost makes it a great choice, and the production boost based on city population effectively uses one of the Mayan strengths. Use it with the Royal Society building to save time on rushing space race projects. Tier Four Synthetic Technocracy is ideal for the space race; the production bonus for city projects includes space projects, and the extra power allows you to build more Terrestrial Laser Stations. Policy Cards Ancient Era Agoge (Military, requires Craftsmanship) - Allows you to train Hul'che units faster. Colonisation (Economic, requires Early Empire) - Training Settlers faster will help you make the most of Lady Six Sky's leader ability sooner. Ilkum (Economic, requires Craftsmanship) - The Maya need to build a lot of farms and plantations early on for housing and science respectively. As such, this is a very useful policy card to take. Classical Era Natural Philosophy (Economic, requires Recorded History) - A crucial policy card for the Maya, as your Observatory adjacency yields will be twice as strong! Medieval Era Retainers (Military, requires Civil Service) - An easy source of amenities for your growing cities. Serfdom (Economic, requires Feudalism) - Aids in the development of farms, plantations and other important improvements by providing Builders with more charges. Renaissance Era Liberalism (Economic, requires The Enlightenment - Bonus amenities; handy for supporting your growing cities. Rationalism (Economic, requires The Enlightenment) - It's easier for the Mayans than most civs to get both 15+ population in a city and 4+ adjacency bonus for its district adjacency, and as such it's easy to get the full 100% science bonus for Observatory buildings from this policy card. Modern Era Five Year Plan (Economic, requires Ideology) - Doubles Observatory adjacency bonuses, plus Industrial Zones on top! Information Era International Space Agency (Diplomatic, requires Globalisation) - Build on your science advantage further with this policy card. Future Era Aerospace Contractors (Wildcard, requires Exodus Imperative) - Lagrange Laser Stations require aluminium to be built, while Terrestrial Laser Stations require power to be operational. Both speed up your Exoplanet Expedition at the end of the game. This policy card supports the costs of you with both. That's particularly important for the Mayans as aluminium can be in scarce supply in a smaller empire, and Lagrange Laser Stations lack the maintenance requirement of Terrestrial ones. Global Coalition (Wildcard, requires Smart Power Doctrine) - Combined with Lady Six Sky's leader ability, you'll be particularly hard to attack, letting to focus on things other than building up your military. Administration - Age Bonuses and World Congress Age Bonuses Only bonuses with notable synergy with the civ's uniques are covered here. Free Inquiry (Dedication, Classical to Medieval eras) - A reasonable source of era score as your develop your Observatories. Free Inquiry (Golden Age, Classical to Medieval eras) - The science bonus you can get from this goes nicely with Lady Six Sky's 10% bonus. Isolationism (Dark Age, Classical to Industrial eras) - Once you've filled out the appropriate city locations within six tiles of your capital, you won't need Settlers any more. This makes this Dark Age wildcard potentially very effective for the Maya. Monasticism (Dark Age, Classical to Medieval eras) - Combined with Observatories, the science bonus you can get from this wildcard is huge. Monumentality (Golden Age, Classical to Renaissance eras) - Allows you to get Builders for a lower gold cost and saves time when getting Builders to new spots to improve. If you have some faith around (such as from Holy Sites built to make use of Monasticism), you can use them to cheaply buy civilian units. Heartbeat of Steam (Golden Age, Industrial to Atomic eras) - Your strong Observatory adjacency bonuses will be added to production! You can use this production bonus to help you with Spaceports and space race projects. Cyber Warfare (Dark Age, Information to Future eras) - An excellent defensive bonus in conjunction with Lady Six Sky's leader ability, allowing you to focus more on space projects and less on defence. Sky and Stars (Golden Age, Information to Future eras) - A source of aluminium, useful for building Lagrange Laser Stations. Also offers a set of eurekas which together with the high Mayan science output can allow you to rush through technologies a fair bit faster. World Congress How you should vote in the World Congress will often be specific to your game - if you have a strong rival, for example, it might be better to vote to hurt them than to help yourself. Furthermore, there may be general bonuses to your chosen victory route or gameplay which are more relevant than ones that have stronger synergy with civ-specific bonuses. Otherwise, here's a list of key votes that have high relevance for this civ relative to other civs. Border Control Treaty - Effect A (New districts built by this player act as culture bombs) on yourself The Mayan focus on a compact empire means land is in short supply - and you don't want other civs to take land before you can get it. Culture-bombing will help you secure that land for yourself. Espionage Pact - Effect B (The chosen Spy operation is unavailable) on Disrupt Rocketry, Sabotage Production or Steal Tech Boost Steal Tech Boost allows other civs to take your scientific progress for themselves, while Disrupt Rocketry and Sabotage Production will set back your progress in the space race. International Space Station - Always vote in favour Having Observatories will make it easier to win this scored competition, and the rewards are significant - including a boost to space race project production. Migration Treaty - Effect A (+20% faster population growth but -5 loyalty per turn in this player's cities) on yourself Mayan farms provide lots of housing, but growing cities to match that amount of housing can take a while. This resolution helps speed it up. Nobel Prize in Physics - Always vote in favour Having plenty of Observatories will grant you plenty of Great Scientist Points, making it easier to win this scored competition and achieve the technology boost rewards. Patronage - Effect A (Earn double points towards Great People of this class) on Great Scientists Builds upon all the Great Scientist Points Observatories generate. Urban Development Treaty - Effect A (+100% production towards buildings in this district) for Campuses Makes developing Observatories easy! Administration - Religion and City-States Pantheons Divine Spark - Observatories with Libraries will now grant even more Great Scientist Points. Fertility Rites - Extra city growth helps you make the most of your cities' housing yields, while the free Builder aids with early farm and plantation development. Goddess of Festivals - The Maya have start biases towards many plantation resources, and they're useful for Observatories as well. This pantheon makes all worked plantations offer bonus culture! Religious Settlements - Getting a Settler for free aids you in filling out the six-tile radius around your capital. Religious Beliefs You can have one founder, one follower, one enhancer and one worship belief. Defender of the Faith (Enhancer) - Together with Lady Six Sky's leader ability, you can get an impressive +10 strength bonus in territory you own within six tiles of your capital. This will make your cities particularly hard to attack, freeing up production for other uses. Jesuit Education (Follower) - Lady Six Sky's leader ability offers a little bonus faith, but generally the Maya don't have that much use for it. However, with this follower belief, you can convert faith into Observatory district buildings! Stewardship (Founder) - Can offer you a little more science from your Observatories. Stupa (Worship) - The extra amenity goes well with the significant Mayan farm housing bonus. Wat (Worship) - A bit more science, boosted slightly further by Lady Six Sky's leader ability. Zen Meditation (Follower) - More amenities for your growing cities. City-States Bologna (Scientific) - All your Observatories will now grant +1 Great Scientist Point! Buenos Aires (Industrial) - A source of amenities for your growing cities. Geneva (Scientific) - Along with Lady Six Sky's science bonus, your cities within six tiles of your capital will have an impressive +25% science modifier! Granada (Militaristic) - If you can spare some tiles, this improvement offers a source of science which can be boosted further via Lady Six Sky's leader ability. Mitla (Scientific) - All your cities with an Observatory will grow faster, allowing them to reach their expanded housing cap sooner. Muscat (Trade) - A source of bonus amenities to support large cities. Nalanda (Scientific) - The unique Mahavihara improvement provides more science when adjacent to an Observatory. Taruga (Scientific) - An extra science modifier that can boost Observatory science even further. Zanzibar (Trade) - Extra amenities. Administration - Wonders and Great People Wonders Etemenanki (Ancient era, Writing technology) - Can make a very powerful science/production city with enough floodplain tiles and your 10% multiplier. Hanging Gardens (Ancient era, Irrigation technology) - It's generally better to focus your early production on Settlers and Builders as the Maya than to build this wonder, but faster city growth is nonetheless useful for getting cities up to the housing cap sooner. Oracle (Ancient era, Mysticism civic) - Build this in a city that has a lot of farm tiles (or potential farm tiles) in its vicinity, and when it grows you'll be able to support a huge variety of districts for all kinds of Great Person Points. Pyramids (Ancient era, Masonry technology) - For the production investment of the Pyramids, it will pay off with more efficient Builders. Builders are important early in the Mayan game for farms and plantations. Temple of Artemis (Ancient era, Archery technology) - Excellent for supporting a single city's growth. Colosseum (Classical era, Games and Recreation civic) - An excellent wonder for the Maya - you'll be able to get a lot of cities in range for the maximum amenity, culture and loyalty boost. Great Library (Classical era, Recorded History civic) - The Maya have a strong science output but little to help them earn eureka boosts. This wonder aids in convering that downside. Oxford University (Industrial era, Scientific Theory technology) - Builds on the strong science output of an Observatory, and with two random free technologies you have a chance to avoid some of the trickier eureka boosts. Ruhr Valley (Industrial era, Scientific Theory technology) - The Mayan incentive to pack cities close to the capital makes the capital ideal for Governor Magnus' Vertical Integration promotion. Add the Ruhr Valley on top, and it can be an incredibly productive city. Alternatively, building the wonder in a different city in range of your capital allows the +10% production boost from Lady Six Sky's leader ability to stack with the 20% from this wonder as well as the extra mine/quarry production. Great People Great Generals and Admirals are only mentioned if their retirement bonuses have specific synergy with the civ; not merely for providing a strength bonus to a unique unit. Classical Era Aryabhata (Great Scientist) - The Maya have a great raw science output but can be slowed down by missing eurekas. Great People such as Aryabhata circumvent the usual requirements for certain eurekas, saving you precious time. Colaeus (Great Merchant) - Every continent has a unique set of four land-based luxuries. As the Maya's incentive to settle cities closely together means you'll usually only settle on one continent, being able to secure a luxury from another continent will come in handy for supporting city growth. Euclid (Great Scientist) - Two eureka boosts. Hypatia (Great Scientist) - A free Library, and more science for all Libraries. As you'll want Observatories in all your cities, this can be quite a significant advantage early in the game. Marcus Lacinius Crassus (Great Merchant) - Sometimes, useful plantation resource tiles or strategic resources will be just out of range of any of your cities to purchase, meaning other civs can take them. Marcus Lacinius Crassus, however, can annex tiles up to five tiles away from a city centre, so long as you own an adjacent tile already. Zhang Heng (Great Scientist) - Three eurekas! Medieval Era Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahrawi (Great Scientist) - A eureka boost. Omar Khayyam (Great Scientist) - Two eureka boosts. Renaissance Era Ferdinand Magellan (Great Admiral) - Another opportunity to secure a luxury from another continent. Ibn Khaldun (Great Scientist) - Aids a city's growth by adding +2 housing and +1 amenity to an Observatory. Isaac Newton (Great Scientist) - A free Library and University, as well as permanently boosting all your Universities' science yields. Leonardo da Vinci (Great Engineer) - A modern-era eureka boost. Industrial Era Ada Lovelace (Great Engineer) - Boosts the Computers technology without the need for a tier 3 government. Dmitri Mendeleev (Great Scientist) - A eureka boost for Chemistry, and a random industrial-era eureka boost. James Young (Great Scientist) - Two industrial/modern eureka boosts. Joesph Paxton (Great Engineer) - All cities within the six-tile radius of your capital will be able to be boosted by just a single Stadium, and will gain more amenities from it as well. This allows your entire empire to benefit from just one Entertainment Complex, saving production for use on other things. John Spilsbury (Great Merchant) - The first of four Great Merchants offering unique luxuries for bonus amenities. Modern Era Alan Turing (Great Scientist) - Offers the eureka boosts for Computers and a random other modern-era technology. Albert Einstein (Great Scientist) - A random modern-era eureka and a permanent boost to the science yield of all Research Labs you own. Alfred Nobel (Great Scientist) - One random modern/atomic era eureka boost. Nikola Tesla (Great Engineer) - Tesla is most effectively used on a city with a Nuclear Power Plant. With your compact empire, you'll be able to extend the production and science bonuses to all your cities with the enhanced range. Atomic Era Erwin Schrodinger (Great Scientist) - Three random atomic/information era eureka boosts. Grace Hopper (Great Admiral) - Two free random technologies, which may allow you to circumvent some tricky eureka boosts, or alternatively save a lot of time if used for future-era technologies. Helena Rubenstein (Great Merchant) - Another unique luxury resource. Jane Drew (Great Engineer) - A significant boost to amenities in a city. John Roebling (Great Engineer) - A reasonable boost to amenities. Levi Strauss (Great Merchant) - Another unique luxury resource. Sergei Korolev (Great Engineer) - A significant time saving for space race projects, boosted by Lady Six Sky's 10% production bonus. Information Era Abdus Salam (Great Scientist) - Eureka boosts for all information-era technologies. Carl Sagan (Great Scientist) - Another boost to space race projects. Estée Lauder (Great Merchant) - The final Great Merchant offering a unique luxury. Counter-Strategies The Maya have both good defence and a strong science output, though they tend to expand less than most other civs. Civilization Ability: Mayab Mayan cities start with a pitiful amount of housing, though they also start with a free Builder to make up for that. By attacking the Mayans with fast-moving units, you can capture those Builders or pillage the farms they build. Be sure to move your units out again if they get injured as Lady Six Sky's leader ability (especially combined with the Hul'che UU) will leave your units vulnerable to attack. Gold from farms will tend to make the Mayans richer than most other civs early in the game. While not an enormous advantage, you need to be aware of their potential to purchase units in the middle of war. To be on the safe side, if you intend to invade the Mayans early on, take significantly more units than you would for most other civs. Once bomber-class aircraft come available, they are an excellent option for pillaging Mayan farms from a safe distance. Just a few pillages can greatly impact Mayan cities' food and housing yields, potentially causing them to starve and lose population points. Lady Six Sky's Leader Ability: Ix Mutal Ajaw Mayan cities within six tiles of their capital will have 10% more food, production, gold, faith, science and culture, but those outside that radius will have a 15% penalty. By settling cities within 7-8 tiles of the Mayan capital, you deny the Mayans good city locations while also preventing them from easily retaliating with Lady Six Sky's strength bonus. When attacking the Mayans, try to lure their units outside the six-tile radius of their capital where possible. It might be useful to place map pins on the radius around their capital so you can easily see where the ability's limits are. Keep in mind their strength bonus applies based on where their units are at the start of combat, so you may need to lure ranged units further. Lady Six Sky's Agenda: Solitary A computer-controlled Lady Six Sky likes civs that are not located closely to her, and dislikes civs that have land or military units close to her land. She will never have the Paranoid hidden agenda as it overlaps with this agenda, nor the Expansionist hidden agenda as it contradicts this one. While this agenda is very similar to Chandragupta of India's agenda, the difference comes in the impact. Chandragupta is skewed towards war, and Lady Six Sky is less so. Nonetheless, particularly when Hul'che are first available or if Lady Six Sky gains a considerable technological advantage, you should ensure your border cities are well-defended. Hul'che aren't great against city walls, so they will help. If instead you start far apart from Lady Six Sky, she's a decent candidate for a level 2 military alliance. That gives you shared visibility, which will uncover all the lands and seas she's aware of, revealing more of the map. Unique Unit: Hul'che Hul'che are devastatingly effective at attacking injured units, but away from the Mayan capital, they defend no better than regular Archers. This makes them susceptible to the attacks of fast units like Heavy Chariots or Horsemen, or units with a ranged attack (like your own Archers). Try to keep injured units away from them where possible. Unique District: Observatory The main adjacency bonuses Observatories receive (farms and plantations) are based on tile improvements rather than terrain. As such, it is possible to pillage tiles that surround Observatories to weaken their yields - rather useful if you intend to capture the city but want to keep the districts intact. Consider removing any plantations and farms you may have on the border with the Mayans, as Observatories can gain adjacency bonuses even from the ones of other civs. Once you have access to Spies, there'll be many potential spots in Mayan land you can steal technologies from, as they'll have lots of Observatory districts. This makes it hard for them to cover every city with counter-Spies. Other Guides If you like these guides and want to send a tip, you can click here![ko-fi.com] Gathering Storm Compilation Guides Civ summaries (Start here for an introduction for all civs) Civ-specific tricks, secrets and clarifications (Ideal for more experienced players)Individual Civilization Guides America - no additional content* (Cultural/Diplomatic/Domination) America - all additional content* (Cultural/Diplomatic/Domination/Scientific) Arabia (Domination/Religious/Scientific) Australia (Domination/Scientific) Aztecs (Domination) Babylon (Cultural/Domination/Scientific) Brazil (Cultural/Domination/Religious/Scientific) Byzantium (Domination/Religious) Canada (Cultural/Diplomatic) China (Cultural/Domination/Scientific) Cree (Diplomatic) Egypt (Cultural/Diplomatic/Religious) England (Cultural/Domination/Scientific) Ethiopia (Cultural/Religious) France (Cultural/Domination) Gaul (Domination) Georgia (Diplomatic/Religious) Germany (Domination/Scientific) Gran Colombia (Domination) Greece (Cultural/Diplomatic/Domination) Hungary (Diplomatic/Domination) Inca (Religious/Scientific) India (Domination/Religious) Indonesia (Cultural/Domination/Religious/Scientific) Japan (All) Khmer (Cultural/Religious) Kongo (Cultural) Korea (Scientific) Macedon (Domination/Scientific) Mali (Diplomatic/Religious) Māori (Cultural/Religious) Mapuche (Cultural/Domination) Maya (Scientific) Mongolia (Domination) Netherlands (Scientific) Norway (Domination) Nubia (Domination) Ottomans (Domination) Persia (Cultural/Domination) Phoenicia (Domination) Poland (Cultural/Domination/Religious) Portugal (Diplomatic/Scientific) Rome (Domination) Russia (Cultural/Religious) Scotland (Scientific) Scythia (Domination/Religious) Spain (Domination/Religious/Scientific) Sumeria (Diplomatic/Domination/Scientific) Sweden (Cultural/Diplomatic) Vietnam (Cultural/Domination) Zulus (Domination)*The Teddy Roosevelt Persona Pack splits Roosevelt's leader ability in two, meaning the game with it is substantially different from without - hence two different versions of the America guide. Lincoln was added later and is only covered in the latter guide. Other civs with alternative leader personas are not split because the extra personas added in later content do not change the existing gameplay - as such the guides are perfectly usable by players without them. Rise and Fall These guides are for those with the Rise and Fall expansion, but not Gathering Storm. They are no longer updated and have not been kept up to date with patches released since Gathering Storm. To look at them, click here to open the Rise and Fall Civ Summaries guide. The "Other Guides" section of every Rise and Fall guide has links to every other Rise and Fall guide. Vanilla The Vanilla guides are for those without the Rise and Fall or Gathering Storm expansions. These guides are no longer updated and have not been kept up to date with patches released since Rise and Fall. To look at them, click here to open the Vanilla Civ Summaries guide. The "Other Guides" section of every Vanilla guide has links to every other Vanilla guide.