Religion

By accumulating Faith and Holy Site districts, a Civilization can found a Pantheon and eventually a full Religion. In turn, spreading a founded Religion can bring many benefits to a Civilization, and even win the game with a Religious Victory.

Progression

As a Pantheon/Religion progresses, it also acquires Beliefs---bonuses granted by that Religion. Note that:

• Once a Belief is chosen, it cannot be chosen again by any Religion.
• A Religion may only have up to one Belief of any category.

Founding a Pantheon

Accumulating 25 Faith (on Normal speed) allows a Civilization to found a Pantheon---a sort of proto-Religion. This allows the selection of a Pantheon Belief.

Pantheons are tied to Civilizations rather than Religions---all cities owned by a Civilization automatically have that Civilization's Pantheon.

Founding a Religion

Acquiring a Great Prophet allows a Civilization to found a Religion at a Holy Site district or the Stonehenge Wonder (which grants a Great Prophet for free). This allows the selection of a Follower Belief, plus one other Belief of another category.

Note that the number of Great Prophets is limited, so not every Civilization may be allowed to found a religion. The total number of Great Prophets is half the number of Civilizations, rounded up.

Arabia will automatically receive the last Great Prophet when the next-to-last-one is claimed, if they have not claimed one already.

Evangelizing a Belief

Up to two Apostles may be expended to add one additional Belief each; they must have at least three charges (the base starting number) left to do so.

Launching an Inquisition

An Apostle with at least three remaining charges may also be expended to unlock the purchase of Inquisitors with Faith. These defensive Religious units have a bonus to Religious Strength in friendly territory and can eliminate other religions from friendly cities.

Losing Your Religion

If another civilization's religion is the majority in one of your cities, you will not be able to purchase religious units of your own in that city. If you do not have a majority in any of your cities you will not be able to purchase ANY religious units.

So be careful to not let other religions take over all of your cities!

Since Dec.2019 the mechanic has been changed somewhat. It is possible to "reanimate a dead religion" via a Rock Band with a specific perk. If a city is converted to another religion you can hire religions units from the new majority. In very rare cases it is possible by losing religious fights with your religious units (but with the foreign belief) to lower the support of the foreign religion in adjacient cities and gain back the majority of your religion.

Beliefs

Pantheon

Belief	Effect
Dance of the Aurora	The Holy Site District gets +1 Faith from adjacent Tundra Tiles.
Desert Folklore	The Holy Site District gets +1 Faith from adjacent Deserts Tiles.
Divine Spark	+1 Great Person Point from Holy Site ( Great Prophet), Campus ( Great Scientist), and Theater Square ( Great Writer) Districts
Fertility Rites	City growth rate is 10% higher.
God of Craftsmen	+1 Production from Mines over Strategic Resources.
God of Healing	Increases healing by +30 in your Holy Site District, or any adjacent Tiles.
God of the Forge	+25% Production toward Ancient and Classical military Units.
God of the Open Sky	+1 Culture from Pastures.
God of the Sea	+1 Production from Fishing Boats.
God of War	Bonus Faith for each enemy Unit killed within 8 tiles of a Holy Site District you own equal to 50% of their strength.
Goddess of Festivals	+1 Food from Wine, Incense, Cocoa, Tobacco, Coffee, and Tea Plantations.
Goddess of the Harvest	Harvesting a Resource or removing a feature receives Faith equal to the other yield's quantity.
Goddess of the Hunt	+1 Food from Camps.
Initiation Rites	+50 Faith for each Barbarian Outposts cleared.
Lady of the Reeds and Marshes	+1 Production from Marsh, Oasis, and Floodplains.
Monument to the Gods	Construct Ancient and Classical Wonders 15% faster.
Oral Tradition	+1 Culture from Bananas, Citrus, Cotton, Dyes, Silk, Spices, and Sugar Plantations.
Religious Idols	+1 Faith from Mines over Luxury and Bonus Resources.
Religious Settlements	Border expansion rate is 15% higher.
River Goddess	+1 Amenity to cities if they have a Holy Site District adjacent to a River.
Sacred Path	The Holy Site District gets +1 Faith from adjacent Rainforests Tiles.
Stone Circles	+2 Faith from Quarries.

An easy way to remember which resources go with Goddess of Festivals or Oral Tradition: is it psychoactive?

• Yes: Goddess of Festivals. (Including Incense.)
• No: Oral Tradition. (Including Spices---they are not of the Dunean variety.)

Follower

Any City with a majority religion benefits from that religion's Follower Belief, regardless of whether its owner founded that religion.

Exactly one Follower Belief must be chosen when founding a religion, plus one other Belief.

Belief	Effect
Divine Inspiration	All world Wonders provide +4 Faith.
Feed the World	Shrines and Temples provide Food equal to their intrinsic Faith output.
Jesuit Education	May purchase Campus and Theater Square District Buildings with Faith.
Religious Community	Shrines and Temples each provide +1 Housing.
Reliquaries	Relics have triple yield of both Faith and Tourism.
Work Ethic	+1% Production in cities for each follower of the Religion in that city.
Zen Meditation	+1 Amenity in cities with 2 specialty Districts.

Founder

Unlike other Beliefs, the benefits of Founder Beliefs accrue solely to the Civilization that founded that Religion.

Belief	Effect
Church Property	+2 Gold for each city following this Religion.
Lay Ministry	Each Holy Site or Theater Square District in a city following this Religion provides +1 Faith or +1 Culture respectively.
Papal Primacy	Type bonuses from City-States following your Religion are 50% more powerful.
Pilgrimage	+2 Faith for every city following this Religion in other Civilizations.
Stewardship	Each Campus or Commercial Hub District in a city following this Religion provides +1 Science or +1 Gold respectively.
Tithe	+1 Gold for every 4 followers of this Religion.
World Church	+1 Culture for every 5 followers of this Religion in other Civilizations.

Enhancer

Enhancer Beliefs help a Religion spread... sometimes by force.

Belief	Effect
Crusade	Combat Units (of the founder) gain +10 Combat Strength near foreign cities that follow this Religion.
Defender of the Faith	Combat Units (of the founder) gain +10 Combat Strength near friendly cities that follow this Religion.
Holy Order	Missionaries and Apostles are 30% cheaper to Purchase.
Itinerant Preachers	Religion spreads to cities 30% further away.
Missionary Zeal	Religious Units ignore Movement costs of Terrain and features.
Monastic Isolation	Your Religion's pressure never drops due to losses in Theological Combat.
Scripture	Religious spread from adjacent city pressure is 25% stronger. Boosted to 50% once Printing is researched.

Worship

These Beliefs grant the ability to construct, or purchase with Faith, a third building in Holy Site districts after the Shrine and Temple.

All Worship buildings give at least +3 Faith, plus some other benefit (which may include more Faith).

Saladin's special ability reduces the Faith cost of the building by 90%.

Belief/Building	+3 Faith	Other effects
Cathedral	+3 Faith	+1 Faith (additional), 1 slot for Religious Art
Gurdwara	+3 Faith	+2 Food
Meeting House	+3 Faith	+2 Production
Mosque	+3 Faith	Missionaries and Apostles +1 Spread Religion charge
Pagoda	+3 Faith	+1 Housing
Synagogue	+3 Faith	+2 Faith (additional)
Wat	+3 Faith	+2 Science

Spreading Religion

Followers

Each Citizen in each city may follow a Religion, or no religion. If a majority of Citizens in a city follow the same religion, the city is considered to follow that religion.

Religious pressure

Cities exert religious pressure on other nearby cities. Over time, this may convert Citizens to the same religion.

Conjecture: Each city also has an internal pressure that affects only that city, which is determined by how much Spread Religion power has been spent in that city.

Theological Combat

If one religious unit destroys another in Theological Combat, all nearby cities get +250 power for the religion of the winning side and -250 power to the religion of the losing side.

Religious units

• Unlike other units they heal only when on or adjacent to a Holy Site of their own Civilization (?).
• They can enter foreign territory without Open Borders, which can allow them to function as spies and scouts in peacetime.
• All religious units are tied to the religion their city had at the time they were purchased.
• The cost of religious units increases for each one of that unit purchased.

Religious unit summary

Unit	Base Faith cost	Religious Strength	Notes
Missionary	75 Faith	100	Cannot initiate Theological Combat
Apostle	200 Faith	110	Starts with a choice of one of two random Promotions
Inquisitor	75 Faith	75	+35 Religious Strength in friendly territory Eliminates other Religions when spreading religion in a friendly city

Great Prophet

Great Prophets are used solely to found a Religion. After this they play no further part in the game.

Missionary

Missionaries are a cheap way to spread religion when unopposed. However, they may not initiate Theological Combat and have relatively low Religious Strength, and are therefore easily destroyed by Apostles.

Apostle

The most important religious unit (other than the Great Prophet), Apostles serve a variety of functions:

• They are the only unit that can Evangelize Belief or Launch Inquisition.
• They are the only religious unit that can launch effective attacks into hostile religious territory.
• With a choice between two random promotions on purchase, they have the possibility of being able to perform additional functions.

Inquisitor

Inquisitors may be purchased only after an Apostle is expended to Launch Inquisition and act as defensive units. They eliminate all other religions in friendly cities when spreading religion. While all but useless on the offensive due to their very low base Religious Strength, they gain a large bonus in friendly territory.

Theological Combat

Religious units may attack other religious units (but not regular Combat units) even if the two civilizations are not at war. This works just like conventional combat. Religious units do not benefit from Strength bonuses that specifically apply to Combat units, but they do benefit from Strength bonuses that are not specific to Combat units.

Religious units are immediately destroyed if attacked by a Combat unit, including Barbarians. Combat units may not attack Religious units unless they are at war.

Religious Victory

To win a Religious Victory a Civilization needs to found a Religion, then have a majority of cities in every Civilization following that religion.