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Civilization VII

Civ 7 Where to Settle

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★ Start Here: How to Play | Early Game
★ See the Best Leaders and Civs
★ Tech, Civics, Buildings, Units, & Wonders
★ Economic, Military, Science, Culture Victories
★Recommended Guides: Treasure Fleets
┗ Map Types | Trade Routes | Migrants

Where to Settle Banner
Settle near tiles with high yields or strategic advantages in Civilization VII (Civ 7) to quickly expand your empire. Follow our guide to know where to settle when you start a game or when you are building a new town.

List of Contents

Where to Settle in Civ 7

Settle Near Tiles With High Yields and Fresh Water

Settle Near High Yield Resources
The best way to judge whether or not you should settle in an area is if the tiles have an above average yield of food and resources. You need a lot of food to grow your settlements, especially in the Age of Antiquity.

It is also best to build cities on fresh water tiles or near bodies of water like rivers. They will enable strong buildings to be built later on and grant your settlement a Happiness bonus.

List of All Resources

Use the Settler Lens

Use the Settler Lens
You can use the Settler Lens to check the yield and type of each tile. The building icon is the game's recommendation for a settlement.

Blue tiles are land with fresh water, yellow tiles are dry land, and red tiles are lands that cannot be used to create a settlement.

Turn it on by clicking the telescope icon on the bottom left of the screen, then check Settler under Lens.

Bad Starts are Manageable

When you spawn in the map, you may start on an area with low resources. Even if you are not near a river, a luxury resource, or a synergistic tile, it is best to create your Capital as soon as possible to start collecting resources.

We do not recommend taking more than 2 turns to find somewhere to settle because you will give the other civilizations a head start.

Stay Near Your Leader's Preferred Tiles

Use Your Leader
Some Leaders have unique bonuses with certain tiles. This is reflected in their Starting Biases that increases the chance of starting the game on certain tiles. They may even create unique buildings or units that are better in specific tiles.

For example, the Vietnamese Leader, Trưng Trắc, will increase a City's Science yield when its built on Tropical tiles. As such, with her as your Leader, you should expand on Tropical tiles like Plains and Deserts.

When you start with a Founder, it is worth taking a turn or two to find the tiles that are buffed by your Leader.

Civ 7 Leaders List and All Abilities

Where to Expand in Civ 7

Scouts Can Find Resources

Scouts Can Find More Resources
When you are planning to expand by creating settlers, use scouts to reveal more parts of the map. You could find better tiles, ruins, bodies of water, other civilizations, or Wonders.

It's best to create 2 scouts at the start of the game to find ruins for resources or Independent Powers to trade with.

Find Natural Wonders

Find Natural Wonders
Natural Wonders are locations that give powerful unique buffs to adjacent tiles. They spawn at a random area of the map.

It is worth the effort to look for one with scouts for an early game lead. If you find one, create a settlement near it as soon as possible.

Wonders

Rivers Grant Several Bonuses

Rivers Give Several Bonuses
Rivers, especially navigable rivers, are a powerful tile that can give a ton of buffs. They can grant adjacent yield bonuses for buildings built across it, create trade routes to other civilizations, and serve as defensive tiles in case of war.

Settling near a river will definitely fast track your civilization's growth.

Coasts Enable Exploration and Trading

Coastal Settlements Have Exploration and Trading
If you settle on a coast, you can use Sailing to make fishing boats and create ships. This is essential for exploring other parts of the map and unlocking trade routes with faraway civilizations in the Age of Exploration. You can also do this when you are near a navigable river.

Hills and Cliffs Can Defend Your Civ

Impassible or hard to maneuver tiles like hills can provide a militaristic advantage to your Civ. Enemy units will be forced to end their turn there or will have to go around them to reach your Capital.

Consider settling in chokepoints and other key areas on the map if you are planning a Military Victory.

Civ 7 Best Civs for a Military Victory

Civilization VII (Civ 7) Related Guides

Civ 7 Tips and Tricks

Beginner Tips and Tricks

All Recommended Guides

Recommended Guides
How to Play Civ 7 Early Game Strategy Guide
The New Ages Diplomacy Guide
Best Science Mementos Best Military Mementos
Best Culture Mementos Ground Combat Guide
Naval Exploration and Combat Guide What Does Happiness Do
How to Win Wars -
Leader and Civ Guides
Best Leaders and Civilizations Tier Lists Best Science Leaders
Best Military Leaders Best Culture Leaders
Best Economic Leaders and Civs Best Science Civs
Best Culture Civs Best Culture Civs
List Pages
List of Mementos List of All Governments
List of Policies List of Pantheons
All Unique Units -

All Tips and Tricks

Gameplay Mechanics
Adjacency Bonuses Army Commanders
Ageless Buildings Building Roads
Celebrations Codex (Codices)
Crisis Dark Age Legacies
Districts Factory Resources
Healing Units Independent People
Legacy Paths Migrants
Overbuilding Persistent Buildings
Quarters Repairing Buildings
Rural and Urban Districts Settlement Cap
Specialists Towns
Trade Range Trade Routes and Merchants
Treasure Fleets Treasure Resources
Upgrading Units Warehouse Buildings and Bonuses
How to Navigate Rivers How to Get More Railroad Tycoon Points
Other Tips and Tricks
Where to Settle Where to Spend Gold
When to Build More Settlements What to Do Before and After Age Change
Best Settings Map Types Explained
Best Build Order Morse Code Event
Should I Accept Alliance? How to Change City Name
Should You Convert a Town Into a City? Can You Capture Settlers?
Where to Spend Influence? When to Incorporate City-States?
Can Scouts Auto Explore? Best Pantheon
Should You Rush Age Change? How to Incite Raid
How to Get Relics How to Get Artifacts
Fresh Water Tiles Why Can't You Build a Factory?
Distant Lands Revolutions
How to Get More Resource Slots Attribute Trees Guide
How to Get Tile Max Yield How to Found Religion and List of Beliefs
What is X Per Age? How to Defend and Conquer Cities
What is War Weariness and War Support? Zone of Control
How to Change the Capital Resource Map
Should You Melt or Construct Relic? Game Speed
Floods Natural Disasters
Best Map Seeds How to Force End Turn
Papyrus Problems Best Tech Research Order

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