Civ 6: Complete Religion Guide and Religious Victory Strategy (2022)

Whether you’re a seasoned player or a new beginner in Civ 6, there’s a lot to take in and consider when playing the latest installment in Sid Meier’s Civilization series that has been around for three decades. Religion is just one aspect of the massive game, but the option of a Religious Victory means it’s one people need to know about.

While religion has existed in some form since the original Civilization in 1991, the mechanic has become more powerful and more complicated as the years have gone on. Now in Civ 6, it’s a feature with more nuance and possibilities than ever before.

Fortunately, this complete guide is here to pull back the mystery of religion in every way possible. From how to best score a Religious Victory and earn a Great Prophet quickly to the details of every religious building and unit in the game, we’ve got everything you need to know.

How important is religion in Civ 6?

If you’re choosing to pursue a Religious Victory in Civ 6, religion is easily the most important part of your strategy. However, you can still get some major benefits from religion if you’re taking a different path.

For players focused on a Culture Victory, having a high faith output will help you buy Great People and buy Rock Bands in the late game to boost your Tourism. Even if you’re going for a Domination Victory, there are some military units you can get with religion and use faith to buy Great Admirals and Great Generals.

Ultimately, exactly how much you want to focus on religion will depend entirely on the overall strategy for the game you’re playing. Which Civilization, Leader, and even terrain on the map you have will affect how much you need to factor religion into your plans.

How do you get a Religious Victory in Civ 6?

Ultimately there are six different ways to secure Victory in Civ 6, and one way is to target a Religious Victory. As the name implies, doing so will require a heavy focus on religion and use of religious units all throughout the map.

You can earn a Religious Victory by making your own religion the majority in more than 50% of the cities in every single civilization. As such, you don’t necessarily need half the cities on the map, but half of each individual civilization.

To do this, you’ll need to use a mix of religious pressure, religious combat, and direct spread through Missionaries and Apostles. Higher population cities are harder to convert, and you will likely be at odds with enemy religions.

Once you’ve successfully converted 50% or more of the cities in every single civilization in your game, you’ll be able to take that Religious Victory and reveal in your win.

What is a Pantheon and how do you found one?

In order to found a Religion, you’ll first need to found a Pantheon. Put simply, all you need to do is accumulate Faith in order to found a Pantheon.

When playing a game at Standard Speed, you need to earn 25 Faith to automatically found a Pantheon. Once you have that amount, you’ll get the prompt to found a Pantheon without having to do anything else.

While how you build your Pantheon does not restrict which Religion you choose or how you work through it later, you probably want to already have a plan in mind when founding your Pantheon.

Which Pantheon you choose will carry over the bonus in your eventually founded Religion, and lining up this bonus with your later decisions of Religious Beliefs can make a huge difference in your Religious Victory strategy.

What are the best Pantheons to choose?

Religious Settlements: If you’re not going to be too focused on Religion and want a good bonus separate of Faith output, this is one of the best choices. Not only will you get the increased border expansion, but following the introduction of Gathering Storm you also receive a free Settler in your Capital.

Divine Spark: This is one of the more versatile and useful Pantheons, and it will boost your Great Person Points from Holy Sites, Campuses, and Theater Squares. That makes it beneficial to Religious Victory, Cultural Victory, and Science Victory strategies. Gathering Storm boosts those bonuses as you add certain buildings to each of those districts.

Dance of the Aurora, Desert Folklore, River Goddess, Sacred Path: These four all go together because they serve the same benefit, but do so for different kinds of terrain. If you’re settled in an area with a significant amount of any of these Pantheon’s particular terrains, the additional yields can be a huge benefit.

What does a Great Prophet do?

There are nine different Great People in the core game of Civ 6, and a 10th was added with the introduction of Simón Bolívar and Gran Colombia in May of 2020 through the New Frontier Pass or Maya & Gran Colombia Pack.

Of the Great People, the Great Prophet is the simplest and most straightforward of them all. Once you have one, just move it onto a Holy Site district or the Stonehenge wonder and you’ll able able to found a Religion.

As a note, Mvemba a Nzinga of the Kongo cannot claim a Great Prophet because of the way that Civilization and Leader operate.

How do you get a Great Prophet and found a religion?

In order to claim a Great Prophet, you need to earn Great Prophet points. This is primarily done through the creation of a Holy Site and buildings that are built at it.

Unlike other Great People, there is a very limited amount of Great Prophets available depending on the size of the map you’re playing on. If you want religion to be any part of your strategy, you want to make sure to claim a Great Prophet as quickly as possible.

If you wait too long, they may all be claimed and you can be left without the ability to found a Religion of your own. There are a few other methods to earn a Great Prophet, which include playing as Arabia or complete the Stonehenge wonder.

After completing Stonehenge you are automatically granted a free Great Prophet, and Arabia automatically receives the last available Great Prophet. As mentioned above, you then just need to move onto a Holy Site district or Stonehenge in order to found your religion.

How do you build a Holy Site in Civ 6?

The primary specialty district in Civ 6 that will help a focus on religion is the Holy Site, and you’ll need to have researched the Ancient Era technology Astrology in order to build a Holy Site.

Where you choose to build a Holy Site is pretty much up to you, but you’ll want to keep an eye on the adjacency bonus Faith specific locations will provide. Natural Wonders, Mountains, other specialty districts, and unimproved Woods tiles can all boost the Faith output of your Holy Site.

Keep in mind that you’ll also be creating the majority of your Religious Units with your Holy Site, so you may want to keep that in mind when deciding where to place it.

You generally want to make the Holy Site one of the earliest districts you build, even if you’re not pursuing a Religious Victory, in order to take advantage of the Faith output early and earn a Great Prophet to found a Religion if you want to.

How do you make a religion faster in Civ 6?

In some ways, the speed at which you can found a Religion will hinge a bit on luck. If you’re near Stone and can try to be the first to build Stonehenge, it can give you an early lead on the Religion race.

You also want to train a Scout early and send it out in search of Tribal Villages. If you get an early Relic or Faith boost from a Tribal Village, it can easily net you the early Pantheon and put you on the path to a quick Religion.

If you can find an Natural Wonders nearby your starting location, whether for your first city or second, those can also make a huge difference early on. There are also a few specific Leaders which have benefits that will help you found an early Religion, including Gitjara (Indonesia), Cleopatra (Egypt), Tomyris (Scythia), and Mansa Musa (Mali).

How do you remove enemy religions in Civ 6?

The most straightforward way to eliminate enemy religions is to spread your own. As you convert enemy cities to your own religion, it will naturally decrease the presence of enemy religions.

If you want to take a more aggressive stance, it is best to utilize a combination of Apostles and Gurus to wage Theological Combat on the units belonging to enemy religions. The most important locations in enemy Civilizations to convert are cities with a Holy Site. Once converted, that Civilization will be unable to create more Religious Units in that city for their own Religion.

You’ll still need to keep an eye out for their Religious Units that may already exist, as they can return to the city and convert it back to that Civilization’s founded Religion. As noted above, you only need to convert 50% of each Civilization’s cities for a Religious Victory, so it’s a good idea to prioritize the ones with a Holy Site.

How do you defend against a Religious Victory and stop religion from spreading in Civ 6?

When it comes to religion in Civ 6, there are generally two reasons you need to go on defense. The first is that you’re pursuing a Religious Victory yourself, and you need to keep enemy religions at bay along the way.

Aside from that, even if you’re not pursuing a Religious Victory, you could be facing an opponent that has chosen to do that. You can actually effectively counter an opponent’s Religious Victory without too much investment.

You will need a Religion other than the one that is pursuing victory, which can be one you founded or one you’ve picked up from a different enemy Civilization. You’ll need Inquisitors, which can be difficult if you’re using a Religion that you didn’t found, as you’ll need to wait for the founder to launch an inquisition and make Inquisitors available.

Inquisitors help cleanse enemy religions from cities, and all you need to do in order to prevent an enemy’s Religious Victory is make sure less than half of your cities have been converted to their Religion. On top of the use of Inquisitors, you’ll want to keep some Apostles and Gurus at home to engage in Theological Combat should an enemy Religion send their own Apostles in to attack.

As for the general spread of Religion through Religious Pressure, this comes from proximity and through Trade Routes. Keeping a close eye on the Trade Routes going between your Civilization and other Civilizations can make a key difference in tracking the spread of Religion.

Lastly, making your cities bigger will actually make it more difficult for enemy Religion to convert them. Cities with a higher population are more difficult to convert and take more Spread Religion charges, making them even easier to defend with an Inquisitor.

Can you get your religion back in Civ 6?

One big question many players have, especially if they’re not focusing much on Religion throughout a game, is whether they can get their Religion back if it’s been wiped out by enemy Religions. If your Religion has been completely wiped out, which means no followers of it exist anywhere on the map, there is no way to get it back.

That can be disappointing, but if it’s happened then you need to start thinking of some other uses for Faith and shifting your focus in the game away from Religion. However, there are ways to get your cities back under your own Religion’s control depending on where your Religion still exists on the map.

Keeping a handful of Religious Units around your own territory as a backup is a good way to be ready should an important city get converted, and this will help you from having to deal with this situation. If cities outside of your own Civilization are still following your Religion, whether they’re a city-state or of an enemy Civilization, you can actually conquer that city and build a Holy Site (if there isn’t one already) to start creating Religious Units and re-establishing your Religion.

On the off chance that an enemy Religion still has several Religious Units in your territory when you realize this has happened, you could also choose to Declare War on them and use your Military Units to wipe out those Religious Units. This will reduce the pressure of their Religion in those areas, and just might be enough to shift the tide and get your Religion back as the dominant one.

Best Civilizations and Leaders for Religious Victory in Civ 6

Like much of Civilization 6, you’ll start to learn that the way you play has an almost infinite amount of options. When choosing to pursue a Religous Victory, there are many different paths you can take.

Just about any Leader and Civilization combo can pursue a Religious Victory, except for Mvemba a Nzinga of the Kongo. However, these few Civilizations and Leaders stand out from the rest as some of the best choices if you want to aim for a Religious Victory in Civ 6.

Mansa Musa of Mali: As outlined in our larger Best Leaders guide, Mansa Musa of Mali is arguably the best choice for a Religious Victory after being introduced in the Gathering Storm expansion. While you’ll need to settle near the desert, you can pair this with the Desert Folklore Pantheon to significantly boost your Faith output.

Gandhi of India: A great fallback is always the classic choice of Gandhi, as he’ll gain bonus Faith for meeting Civilizations that have a Religion but are not at war. The additional Follower Beliefs gained from other Religions that have at least one follower in their cities will also help along the way.

Tomyris of Scythia: The benefits for Tomyris are two-fold, as you’ll have access to the unique Kurgan tile improvement to help boost Faith early in the game. The Killer of Cyrus ability will also make Apostles stronger and give them the ability to heal when winning Theological Combat, which makes a huge impcat.

Philip II of Spain: The most immediate difference you’ll see with Spain is the ability to build the Mission tile improvement and earn bonus Faith from it. The unique Conquistador unit benefits from being paired with a unit like an Apostle or Missionary, and can be used to spread Religion through conquest as cities are automatically converted to your Religion when conquered.

Saladin of Arabia: The ability The Last Prophet will guarantee you’ll always get the final Great Prophet and be able to found a religion. On top of that, Saladin makes the chosen Worship building significantly cheaper and boosts Faith if a city has that Worship building.

All Religious Beliefs and which ones are best in Civ 6

When founding a Religion and later improving it, your chosen Religious Beliefs can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of the Religion and how you will need to play. Every Religious Belief can only be chosen by a single Religion, so it’s important to found your Religion as quickly as possible and use Apostles to Evangelize Belief as soon as they’re available.

Having backups in mind on which Beliefs you want to go with can help as well, because an opposing Religion might snag the one you were hoping to choose. There are four different types of Religious Beliefs in Civ 6. Upon founding a Religion, you will first need to choose a Follower Belief that will affect any city following that Religion.

The second Religious Belief you choose can be of any of the three kinds, but you will ultimately only be able to pick one of each. Whichever types are not chosen when the Religion is founded will have to be unlocked later when an Apostle uses Evangelize Belief.

The other three categories are: Founder Belief, which affects only the Founder of a particular Religion; Worship Belief, which grants access to one of the Worship Buildings which are covered in detail below; and Enhancer Belief which help the spread and defense of a Religion and only apply to the Civilization that founded that Religion.

While the exact Religious Beliefs you choose will depend on the Civilization you’re using, the terrain with which your Civilization is founded near, and your own preference, there are a few which stand out among the pack. While several beliefs aid other paths to Victory, these stand out as the best if you’re pursuing a Religious Victory.

Best Follower Beliefs for Religious Victory

Divine Inspiration: Much like Pilgrimage, this is a straightforward boost in Faith. You can make World Wonders and Natural Wonders even more beneficial if you snag this Belief.

Warrior Monks: While being able to train Warrior Monks isn’t a huge gamechanger, the Gathering Storm expansion adds the effect that building a Holy Site triggers a Culture Bomb and claims surrounding tiles. That can make a huge difference as you found more cities and build more Holy Sites.

Best Founder Beliefs for Religious Victory

Papal Primacy: While this isn’t quite as powerful in the base game, it’s one you want to look at if you’re playing with the Rise and Fall expansion. This will boost the bonuses from City-States following your Religion in the core game, but in the expansion you’ll instead add Religious pressure to that City-State.

Pilgrimage: This is about as straightforward as it gets, but the increasing Faith bonus you’ll get as you spread your Religion will be a huge boon as you work towards a Religious Victory.

Best Worship Beliefs for Religious Victory

Mosque: This is arguably the most important Belief for a Religious Victory, as it’ll grant an extra Spread Religion charge for Missionaires and Apostles. That’s your direct path to victory, so you really want to snag this one if you can.

Synagogue: Just behind the Mosque would be the Synagogue, which simply gives a major boost to Faith when compared to all of the other Worship buildings. This will continue to stack as you build more cities with new Holy Sites and outfit them with a Sonagogue.

Best Enhancer Beliefs for Religious Victory

Holy Order: Much like Mosque, this is directly going to affect your use of Missionaries and Apostles. Lowering the cost of them will allow you to spread your Religion much quicker, as you’ll be able to buy them more frequently and sooner.

Missionary Zeal: If you’re not able to snag Holy Order, Missionary Zeal can help especially on larger maps. This boosts movement for all Religious Units, which will help you reach and convert cities that are further away from your own Civilization.

All Religious Beliefs in Civ 6

While the ones listed above can be best to focus on, it’s never a bad idea to have a good overview of the whole field of Religious Beliefs. The following table details every Religious Belief in Civ 6, which category they belong to, and what their effects are.

If denoted with a GS at the end of the Belief, those are only available in the Gathering Storm expansion. As well, benefits with GS (Gathering Storm) or R&F (Rise and Fall) indicate they’re changed to that if you’re playing with the corresponding expansion.

All religious units available in Civ 6 and how to get them

Despite the versatility and broadness of religion in other ways, Civ 6 actually has just four religious units to choose from. There are a few that almost qualify, such as the Rock Band.

However, while the Rock Band is purchased with Faith and a certain promotion can help boost religion, it is primarily a Culture-focused unit and not a huge difference maker for a Religious Victory. Instead, you’ll be focusing on these four units.

As a note, the Faith Cost indicated here is a baseline for Standard Speed and the initial unit. The actual amount can vary if on a different speed and increases each time you get one of that particular unit.

All Religious Units must be purchased with Faith in a city with a majority religion and a Holy Site. Be careful not to purchase them in a city that has been converted away from your Religion, as this will give you a unit of an enemy Religion.

All Holy Site buildings in Civ 6 and what order to build them in

While there are a few unique buildings for certain Civilizations that benefit Religion and are built in different Districts, the vast majority of your focus will be on the Holy Site and which buildings you can build there.

If you found new cities, you will need to build new versions of these buildings for each new Holy Site. They also must be built in progression, with a Shrine required for a Temple and a Temple required for your chosen Worship building.

All Worship buildings are unlocked by choosing the Worship Belief of the same name. Each Worship building also has additional benefits noted if you’re playing with the Gathering Storm (GS) expansion.

Best Heroes for a Religious Victory in Civ 6

Along with the introduction of Civ 6’s New Frontier Pass has come the new Heroes & Legends game mode. If you’re choosing to use this in a game, there are a few Heroes available who can help make a significant difference in a Religious Victory.

Now, the catch with Heroes is that there is no surefire way to know which ones will be available to you. There are five ways to discover a new Hero, and after discovering a Hero you’ll need to complete their Devotion project to summon them.

Visiting a newly found Tribal Village has a 15% chance of discovering a new hero. Sending an Envoy to any city-state has a 10% chance of doing the same. Discovering a Natural Wonder or a Continent is a big boost, with a 50% chance of discovering a new Hero.

The two guaranteed ways to discover a new Hero are with the Heroic Tales project, which you need a Monument to start, and by becoming the Suzerain of a city-state. Both of these methods will always discover a new Hero. Unfortunately, all of these methods choose that Hero at random, so you may need to discover a few before you get the ones you’re looking for.

Hercules: The biggest benefit of summoning Hercules is having access to the ability Hercules’ Labor. You’ll have to spend two of your six charges each time, but it can automatically complete construction of a District. This can be especially useful in getting a Holy Site up and running quickly in a new city.

Himiko: This is the most useful Hero, as you get the ability Himiko’s Charm. By using one of her eight action charges, Himiko immediately places one free Envoy in an adjacent city-state, and you earn Faith if you’re already Suzerain of it.

Sinbad: If you can acquire Sinbad early, it can be a huge boon as his ability to enter Ocean tiles will help you circumnavigate and discover things much more quickly. On top of that, the ability Sinbad’s Journeys will also earn you gold whenever he discovers a new Continent or Natural Wonder.

Sun Wukong: While not obviously focused on religion, you can actually use Sun Wukong as a very effective scout. His high movement and ability to ignore all terrain movement penalties make him especially useful in discovering other parts of the map, which helps in knowing where to send your Religious Units.

All religious World Wonders and Natural Wonders in Civ 6

While not all of the game’s World Wonders will help along a Religious Victory, there are 13 which will earn you Faith and some provide additional bonuses that benefit religion. Each World Wonder will require a particular Civic or Technology to unlock the ability to build it.

Once you have that Civic or Technology, you will also need to meet the World Wonder’s unique location requirements. Each will have specific circumstances in order to build the Wonder, and if an appropriate tile exists you’ll then need to spend several turns building that World Wonder.

While a bit harder to come by, there are also eight Natural Wonders that can be found which will help earn you Faith. You can’t create these, but are instead at the mercy of which ones exist on your particular map and your own ability to discover them.

It helps to send out scouts and ships to discover these before other Civilizations. If you have found one that’s particularly useful, you’ll want to get a Settler headed there as soon as possible to claim that land before another Civilization does so.