The free update for Civilization VI released in Feburay 2021 made many changes to Barbarians. This update introduced various barbarian clans and the ability for these clans to become a city-state.
I have been playing Civilization since the original game, so the changes to the Barbarians have intrigued me. I wanted to start a new game to explore these changes to the barbarians.
In this article, I will be sharing my experience with the new barbarians so far.
The New Barbarian Clans
The February 2021 update added the following new clans to Civilization VI.
- Flatland Clan
- Woodland Clan
- Hills Clan
- Rover Clan
- Chariot Clan
- Jungle Clan
- Seafaring Clan
The clan name indicates the behaviour of that particular clan. For example, the Seafaring Clan can be found near the coast and spawn many ships.
Barbarian Diplomacy
Barbarian Outposts gain development points each turn. Once a specific number of development points have been reached, the Barbarian outpost will become a city-state.
The rate at which the development points are gained can be impacted by the player or other civilization’s actions. These actions can either help or hold back the outpost development.
One of the things which I found frustrating was that the number of city-states is capped, and once that limit is reached, no more barbarian outposts can become a city-state. This is a shame, as it did impact my immersion within the game.
When one of your civilization units enters a Barbarian outpost, you are now given the following two options.
- Raid the clan. Allows you to take gold and it harms the development of the outpost. However, the outpost survives.
- Disperse Clan. Disperses the clan and the unit will gain experience points.
Clicking on the outpost opens the Barbarian diplomacy screen, which allows the following diplomacy some of the following options to appear. The options displayed during gameplay depends on the current in-game situation.
- Bribe Clan. Bribes the clan for a specific number of turns. Prevents the clan from entering your civilization territory or attacking your cities. The clan also gains an increased development.
- Hire Clan. Spend gold to permanently purchase the best unit a clan can train at that time. Helps the clan to gain development.
- Incite Clan. Encourages the clan to attack another civilization for gold. Reduces development.
- Ransom Unit From Clan. Allows you to purchase a Civilization unit such as a settler or builder from the clan. Impacts clan development.
Conclusion
As I mentioned earlier in this article, I felt disappointed that my game got impacted by a cap on the number of city-states. At that point, I started to play Barbarians in a way I would normally play them. Apart from this issue, it has improved gameplay giving you more to think about, especially in the early game.
Writing this article has made me think of some further strategies I can try when I next play Civilization VI. You can find out more in my Civilization VI Barbarian outpost strategy.
What are your thoughts on the new Barbarians in Civilization VI?