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Civilization VII
Civ 7 Diplomacy Guide
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Diplomacy in Sid Meier’s Civilization VII (Civ 7) lets you forge alliances, manage rivalries, and shape global politics. Learn how Diplomacy works, about Influence, and how to navigate leader agendas, and explore all Diplomatic Actions!
List of Contents
How Diplomacy Works in Civ 7
| Diplomacy Mechanics |
|---|
|
|
Building Relationships
Diplomacy in Civilization VII is all about managing relationships, wielding Influence, and navigating agendas. Influence is a new currency that plays a key role in your diplomatic strategy. It can be gained through Buildings, Wonders, and leader abilities, as well as through narrative events and player actions.
For example, settling near another leader's capital can cause tension but also generate a windfall of Influence that you can use to strengthen your position or sway others. Influence is a double-edged sword, though – aggressive actions like conquering or razing cities can reduce your influence gain, forcing you to weigh the benefits of expansion against the costs of diplomatic fallout.
Relationships in Civ 7 evolve over time, transitioning through stages like Helpful, Friendly, Neutral, Unfriendly, and Hostile. These stages affect what diplomatic actions are available and how you can interact with other leaders.
For example, military alliances can only form with leaders you have a Helpful relationship with, while trading might become more difficult if you're on bad terms. Every interaction, from settling too close to another leader to signing trade agreements, can influence your standing in the eyes of other civilizations.
Exerting Influence
Diplomacy in Civilization VII is more than just alliances and war declarations - it’s also game of Influence. This new yield acts as the primary currency of diplomacy, shaping how leaders interact, negotiate, and maneuver on the world stage. Just like Gold, Influence accumulates each turn, but instead of buying units or buildings, you spend it to sway relationships, enforce policies, and even sabotage your rivals.
How to Use Influence
Influence fuels four major diplomatic actions between empires:
- Endeavors – Mutually beneficial agreements, like “Research Collaboration,” which grants Science per turn to both empires.
- Sanctions – Targeted penalties against opponents, such as “Hinder Military Production,” which slows their unit production at the cost of your relationship.
- Treaties – Long-term diplomatic agreements, like “Open Borders” or “Improve Trade Relations,” that require Influence to establish.
- Espionage – High-risk operations, such as “Steal Technology,” which can give you an edge but lower your Influence generation if you’re caught.
When you propose a diplomatic action, the other leader can Support, Accept, or Reject it. Supporting a proposal makes it mutually beneficial but costs Influence, while simply Accepting lets it pass with more benefits for the initiator. Rejecting an action blocks it but costs Influence to do so, though the initiator gets refunded some of what they spent.
Agendas, War, and War Support
Leaders in Civilization VII also have specific Agendas that influence how they perceive your actions. These Agendas are akin to Civ 6’s leader preferences but more tightly integrated into the diplomatic system. For example, Tecumseh’s Suzerain of the World
Agenda will lead to a significant relationship penalty if you disperse Independent Powers.
Understanding these Agendas is key to building favorable relationships, as aligning with a leader’s preferences can boost your standing, while going against them can lead to tension.
War is another critical aspect of diplomacy in Civ 7, with the introduction of War Support. Each side in a conflict has War Support, which can be spent to influence the outcome of the war. If you’re on the losing side and have low War Support, you’ll face penalties like War Weariness, making it harder to maintain control of your empire and fight effectively.
Surprise wars, which are initiated when a leader's relationship with another hasn't yet reached Hostile status, will give your opponent an advantage by boosting their War Support. However, clever use of Influence can turn the tide, allowing you to acquire War Support and level the playing field.
All Diplomatic Actions
| All Diplomatic Actions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Endeavors | Sanctions | Treaties | Espionage |
Endeavors
Endeavors are cooperative diplomatic actions that strengthen relationships between leaders by boosting Science, Culture, Military, Happiness, or Gold, with greater benefits if both parties support the deal.
| Endeavor | Description | Effects | Duration | Relationship Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research Collaboration | Do a Research Collaboration with another leader. | Accepted: You receive +12 Science per turn. Other Leader receives +6 Science per turn. Supported: Both leaders receive +18 Science per turn. |
Lasts for 7 turns | Relationship change if accepted: 5 Relation change if supported: 12 |
| Military Aid | Gives a combat bonus to Military Units. | Accepted: Your Units get +2 Combat Strength. Other Leader receives +2 Gold per turn. Supported: Both leaders get +3 Combat Strength. |
Lasts for 7 turns | Relationship change if accepted: 5 Relation change if supported: 12 |
| Cultural Exchange | Have a Cultural Exchange with another Leader. | Accepted: You receive +12 Culture per turn. Other Leader receives +6 Culture per turn. Supported: Both leaders get +18 Culture per turn. |
Lasts for 7 turns | Relationship change if accepted: 5 Relation change if supported: 12 |
| Local Festival | Have Local Festivals with another Leader. | Accepted: You receive +6 Happiness per turn in all Cities. Other leader receives +6 Influence per turn. Supported: Both leaders get +9 Culture per turn Cities. |
Lasts for 7 turns | Relationship change if accepted: 5 Relation change if supported: 12 |
| Open Markets | Have Minor Trade with another Leader. | Accepted: You receive +4 Gold per turn. Other Leader receives +2 Gold per turn. Supported: Both leaders receive +6 Gold per turn. |
Lasts for 15 turns | Relationship change if accepted: 5 Relation change if supported: 12 |
| Send Aid | Send Gold to any ally. You need to be allied to start this Diplomatic Action. |
Send 50, 200, 500, or all Gold to your ally. | - | - |
| Reconciliation | Increase Your Relationship with the other Leader You need to at least a Relationship of Hostile to start this Diplomatic Action. |
Increases Relationship per turn with the target Leader. | Lasts for 5 turns | Relationship change if accepted: 30 Relation change if supported: 60 |
Sanctions
Sanctions are hostile diplomatic actions that weaken an opponent by reducing their Happiness, Culture, Science, Gold, or Military Production, typically requiring at least an Unfriendly relationship to initiate.
| Sanction | Description | Effects | Duration | Relationship Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hinder Public Morale | Hinder the morale of another Leader's people. You need to be at least Unfriendly to start this Diplomatic Action. |
Target Leader's people loses 10% of their Happiness per turn. | Lasts for 5 turns | Relationship change if accepted: -15 |
| Hinder Civic Study | Hinder the Civic Study of another Leader. You need to be at least Unfriendly to start this Diplomatic Action. |
Target Leader loses 10% of their Culture per turn. | Lasts for 5 turns | Relationship change if accepted: -15 |
| Hinder Research | Hinder the Research of another Leader. You need to be at least Unfriendly to start this Diplomatic Action. |
Target Leader loses 10% of their Science per turn/td> | Lasts for 5 turns | Relationship change if accepted: -15 |
| Hinder Military Production | Hinder the military production of another Leader. You need to be at least Unfriendly to start this Diplomatic Action. |
Military units cost 20% more Production to train. | Lasts for 5 turns | Relationship change if accepted: -15 |
| Hinder Finances | Hinder the finances of another Leader. You need to be at least Unfriendly to start this Diplomatic Action. | Target Leader loses 10% of their Gold per turn. | Lasts for 10 turns | Relationship change if accepted: -15 | Denounce | Decrease your relationship with the other Leader. | Decreases Relationship per turn with the target Leader. | Lasts for 10 turns | Relationship change if accepted: -60 |
Treaties
Treaties are formal diplomatic agreements that regulate border access, trade, and military tensions, offering mutual benefits or consequences based on acceptance or rejection.
| Treaties | Description | Effects | Duration | Relationship Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open Borders | The other leader's borders will open to you. You cannot start this diplomatic action while at war. |
The target leader's borders become passable. | Lasts for 7 turns | Relationship change if accepted: 5 |
| Improve Trade Relations | If action accepted, permanently increases the number of Trade Routes you can establish with ther other Civilization by 1 | Accepted: The target receives Gold. | Lasts for 0 turns | - |
| Denounce Military Presence | Denounce a Leader for their military being close to your borders. | Accept: Agree to not attack each other for the duration of this Diplomatic Action. Doing so will result in War Weariness at the start of the war. Support: Agree to not attack each other. Doing so will result in War Weariness for the aggressor. Reject: Start a War with the other Civilization. | - | - |
Espionage
Espionage actions let you sabotage rivals, steal tech, or gather intel, but risk exposure if counterspies are active.
| Espionage | Description | Effects | Duration | Success and Reveal Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Counter Spy | Activate counter Espionage activities to hamper any covert actions you suspect another Leader is taking against you. | Hampers the target Leader from taking Espionage decisions against you. | Lasts for 10 turns | - |
| Steal Technological Advancement | Steal a Technology another Civilization has researched that you have not. | - | Can take 9-15 turns to execute. Execution time and reveal time can both be increased if you are being counterspied by the target. | Success Chance: 100%[nl
Reveal Chance: 50% |
| Steal Government Secrets | Steal a Civic another Civilization has researched that you have not. | - | Can take 9-15 turns to execute. Execution time and reveal time can both be increased if you are being counterspied by the target. | Success Chance: 100%[nl
Reveal Chance: 50% |
| Military Infiltration | Gain Vision of all the Target's commanders. | - | Can take 9-15 turns to execute. Once executed, the effect lasts for 2 turns. Execution time and reveal time can both be increased if you are being counterspied by the target. | Success Chance: 100%[nl
Reveal Chance: 20% |
| Spread Rumors of Fake Artifacts | Remove all yields from the target Civilization's displayed Artifacts. | Can take 9-15 turns to execute. Execution time and reveal time can both be increased if you are being counterspied by the target. | Success Chance: 100%[nl
Reveal Chance: 50% |
|
| Infiltrate Enemy Positions | Your Siege units will use their Bombard Combat Strength against all units belonging to the target. | - | Can take 14-20 urns to execute. Once executed, the effect lasts for 5 turns. Execution time and reveal time can both be increased if you are being counterspied by the target. | Success Chance: 100%[nl
Reveal Chance: 100% |
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