This survey will take about 1 minute.
Your answers will help us to improve our website.
Civilization VII
Civ 7 Domination Victory Guide and How to Win
★ 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
This Civilization VII (Civ 7) guide will teach you the best strategies to secure a Domination Victory in any of the Ages. Learn how to best dispatch all rival civilizations, and see the best leader and civ combinations to achieve a Domination Victory!
List of Contents
Antiquity Age Domination Goals
Focus on Conquering Instead of Settling
Since the goal for the Domination Victory is to capture every Settlement and eliminate all other Civs, you'll want to focus purely on that instead of starting new Towns with Settlers. Just note that it's always okay to start one or two more extra Settlements if it will help jump-start your empire.
How to Defend and Conquer Cities
Train Up Multiple Commanders
Because you'll be fighting on a lot more fronts when compared to a Military Victory path, you'll want to have a wide army with a lot of Commanders. Try to build multiple as soon as you can so that you can train them up quickly before you start going on all-out wars.
Eliminate Everyone Before the Next Age
Unlike the other Victory types, a Domination Victory can be achieved during any Age and doesn't require you to progress to the end. Because of this, you'll want to capture all Settlements before transitioning to the Expedition Age so you prevent extra Civs and Settlements from spawning.
Unlock Techs that Improve Your Unique Unit
When you're building an army, you'll generally want to play around your Civilization's Unique Unit. Because of this, you'll want to prioritize unlocking Technologies that unlock upgrades for them. You can tell which ones you need because the unit's icon will be displayed on the Technology.
Just remember that while you want to prioritize upgrading your units, you still need to research other Techs to unlock buildings that will improve your empire's infrastructure.
Prioritize Combat and Unique Civics
Civics are generally more important for non-military strategies, but there are still some important ones that you'll want to get. Aside from the always useful Mysticism, you'll want to follow the bottom path so you can get all the military Policies, as well as unlock the military-based Wonders.
Also, make sure you dip into your Civilization's Civics because the Traditions and bonuses there support the Civ's strategy and playstyle.
Go for Increased Settlement Limits Afterwards
Once you've got all the Civics that you need, you should look to unlock the ones that give +1 Settlement Limit next. You'll need a high cap for Domination Victories since you'll be capturing a ton of Settlements in the process.
Always Pick Despotism as Your Government
When you're given the choice to select your Government, you'll always want to pick Despotism for the Science and Infantry Production boosts. The best Military Civilizations will always make use of one of the Celebration boosts, making Despotism the best option by default.
For example, Rome prefers Culture over Science, but it still wants the Infantry Production boost. On the other hand, Maurya utilizes Cavalry instead of Infantry, but they still greatly benefit from the Science boost.
Exploration Age Domination Goals
Select a Civ That Uses the Same Unit Types
If you're transitioning over from the Antiquity Age, you'll want to select a Civilization whose Unique Units are the same type as the Civ you used in the previous Age. This way your Commanders can buff the same type of Units and you don't need to train new ones with different Promotions.
Have a Forward Base of Operations
Since you need to capture Settlements in Distant Lands, you'll want to have a city that you can use as a base of operations over on that side of the world. Ideally, though, you would want to create a strong Navy and sail across the seas to take a city and use that as your base instead of settling a new town.
However, you can always settle a new town yourself, especially if there's a nice spot with good Resources or Natural Wonders available.
Focus on Building a Strong Military
During the Exploration Age, the map will expand and you'll need to conquer a lot more Settlements compared to the Antiquity Age. Because of this, you'll want to expand the size of your Military so you can either overwhelm your opponent or be able to fight on multiple fronts and continents.
Cripple Enemies if Transitioning Ages
If you can't get a Domination Victory yet, then you should look to at least take your opponent's most important Settlements. This way, their empire will be considerably weaker in the Modern Age, making it easier to get a Domination Victory during that Age instead.
Focus on Techs that Upgrade Your Units
Much like the previous Age, you'll want to prioritize researching Technologies that upgrade your military forces. If you're playing Mongolia, for example, then you want to rush Castles and upgrade your Keshigs before your opponents can improve their own Units.
Again, remember not to ignore the other Techs since you still need to unlock buildings and upgrade your infrastructure to support your empire.
Prioritize Increasing Max Settlement Limit
Aside from the Civics that help with your war efforts, you'll want to focus on unlocking the ones that give +1 Settlement Limit. It's around this Age where you'll end up capturing a ton of Settlements and having a high Settlement Limit will reduce the amount of Towns you'll need to Raze.
Pick a Government that Fits Your Strategy
Unlike in the Antiquity Age, the Government you want to choose here is a lot more flexible. Feudal Monarchy is generally the best choice because Food is always useful, and you get a useful Production boost towards Cavalry and Naval Units.
However, there are some Civilizations that may prefer to use a different Government type. As an example, if you're playing as Songhai, then you may prefer Plutocracy since they prefer to play around Infantry instead and the Gold boost can be more useful than Food.
Modern Age Domination Goals
Build Up a Powerful Military Force
Similar to the previous Age, you'll want to have a large military force to conquer the entire world. It's also very likely that you'll be fighting against multiple Civs in this Age, so having an army sizable enough to deal with this is mandatory.
Counteract any Unhappiness Drops
Due to the number of Settlements you'll need to have and the amount of wars you'll get into, you can rack up a ton of Unhappiness quickly. Make sure that your Settlements have enough Happiness buildings and improvements first before you go off capturing enemy cities.
Remember to plan ahead and unlock the respective Techs and Civics you need beforehand.
Raze Any Unneeded Settlements
At this point in the game, there might be too many Settlements to capture and your Settlement Limit might not be able to support your empire regardless of what you do. Because of this, think about razing whatever Towns you don't need so that you don't surpass the limit.
Just remember that this will cause Unhappiness amongst your empire so make sure you have enough Happiness before going to war.
Be Careful of the Consequences of Razing
If you do plan on razing a town, remember that your enemies will gain bonus War Supply when you do so. Make sure to only raze when necessary so that you don't have to combat heavy war weariness.
Follow the Bottom of the Tech Tree
Most of the important Military Techs are along the bottom path of the Technology tree, so you'll want to make sure you prioritize researching along that line. Also, make sure to research the masteries for the Unit types you use so you can get extra Combat Strength for them.
The only time you really want to focus on the top side of the tree is if you need any of the buildings that get unlocked there, or if your forces are more naval-based and you want to rush the Tier 3 Aquatic Units.
Prioritize Unlocking Political Theory
Unless you have strong Civics in your Civs Unique Civic tree, you should focus on unlocking Political Theory as soon as possible. This lets you adopt an Ideology and get extra Policy Slots if you unlock it early enough.
Try to rush getting it first since Modern Age Policies are very strong and having extra Policies will help you with your war efforts.
Pick Authoritarianism and Fascism
Unlike the previous Age, you'll always want to pick Authoritarianism and Fascism as your Government and Ideology respectively. Authoritarianism in particular is amazing since anyone aiming for a Domination Victory can make use of either of its Celebration buffs.
As for Fascism, this choice can be debatable since each Ideology grants a different Unit type and they all have ways to counter Unhappiness. However, the Scorched Earth Policy at the end of the Fascism tree is too good to pass up in most situations, making Fascism the default choice in most scenarios.
Best Leader and Civ Combinations
| Best Combinations for a Military Victory | ||
|---|---|---|
| Charlemagne | Lafayette | Trung Trac |
Charlemagne
| Leader | Civilization/s | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 Charlemagne
|
Maurya Mongolia / Norman Prussia |
||
| Mementos | |||
| Dong Son Drum | Declaring War against another Civilization grants a Celebration | ||
| Tencendur | +1 Movement for Cavalry Units | ||
The idea behind this combination is to use powerful Unique Cavalry Units to quickly run over your enemies. Since Charlemagne gets free Cavalry Units whenever there's a Celebration, you'll want the Dong Son Drum so you can get one whenever declaring War.
Also, Tencendur is great for this so that your free Cavalry Units can get to where they need to be quickly. On top of that, Prussia's Hussars gain extra Combat Strength for every unused Movement Point, making it great for both utility and for offence once they're in position.
Do note, however, that Mongolia's Keshig's are Ranged Units and don't benefit from melee-based Comander buffs. If you choose to play as them in the Exploration Age, then keep this in mind as you may need to train new Commanders.
Lafayette
| Leader | Civilizations | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 Lafayette
|
Rome Norman Mexico |
||
| Mementos | |||
| Corpus Juris Civilis | Start with one extra Social Policy Slot | ||
| Tricolor Cockade | +2 Culture and Happiness per Age in the Capital for every Tradition, but not Policy, slotted into your Government | ||
While Lafayette is not a Militaristic Leader, he still gives +1 Combat Strength for every Tradition in your Government. Combine this with Civs that grant Combat Strength per Tradition, along with the extra Policy Slots from Corpus Juris Civilis and Lafayette's Unique Endeavor, and your units become very strong.
Besides that, Tricolor Cockade is great utility that supplements this playstyle since Culture allows you to quickly unlock your Traditions, and Happiness can help offset any drops from war weariness or conquered cities.
Just remember that the bonus Combat Strength Mexico gets from their Tradition only works in friendly territory. Because of this, you may want to fight around your empire first before advancing on your enemy's territory.
Trung Trac
| Leader | Civilizations | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 Trung Trac
|
Persia / Rome Spain Buganda / France |
||
| Mementos | |||
| The Art of War | +10% Commander Experience, +50% when your Commander is within the Command Radius of a higher level Commander | ||
| Great Imperial Crown | Cities gain +5% Science per Great Work on Display (Max 25%) | ||
Trung Trac excels at training Commanders, which are the most important military units in the game since they carry over promotions between ages. Because of this, you'll want to use Civs that rely on grouping around Commanders, along with The Art of War, to quickly train up new Commanders.
Aside from that, she has a generally good bonus to Science, which helps you unlock stronger unit upgrades quickly. To further increase her Science yields, you'll want to use Grand Imperial Crown to stack multipliers and gain even more Science bonuses.
When picking which Civilization to use in the next age, choose one that utilizes units that benefit from your Commander promotions. For example, if your Commanders have Infantry, Land, and Melee promotions. This means you'll want to follow up with Civs whose units can utilize those bonuses as well.
What is a Domination Victory?
You're the Last Civilization Standing
A Domination Victory is where you conquer every Settlement and eliminate all rival Civilizations in the game. It's similar to a Military Victory, but for that one, you only need to conquer a certain amount of Settlements instead of needing to capture every single one.
Military Victory Guide and How to Win
Not Listed on the Age Progress Screen
As a note, the Domination Victory isn't listed on the Age Progress screen since there's no Legacy Path for it and the only requirement is to capture every rival Civs' Settlements.
Civilization VII (Civ 7) Related Guides
All Victory Guides
| All Victory Guides | |
|---|---|
| Culture Victory Guide | Military Victory Guide |
| Science Victory Guide | Economic Victory Guide |
| Domination Victory Guide | Score Victory Guide |
Comment
Author
Civ 7 Domination Victory Guide and How to Win
Please participate in our site
improvement survey
12/2025
improvement survey
12/2025
Would you assist in
improving Game8's site?
improving Game8's site?
×
We are listening to our users' valuable opinions and discussing how to act on them.
The information collected through this survey will be used for the purpose of improving our services. In addition, the information will only be disclosed a part of a statistic in a format that will not allow identification of personal information.
Begin Survey
Not Now
×
Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Advertisements.
Amount of Ads
Very Dissatisfied
Somewhat Dissatisfied
Fine
Somewhat Satisfied
Highly Satisfied
Placement of Ads
Timing of Ad Display
Ad Loading Speed
Safeness of Ads
Content of Ads
×
Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Quality of Articles.
Amount of information
Very Dissatisfied
Somewhat Dissatisfied
Fine
Somewhat Satisfied
Highly Satisfied
Frequency of updates
Speed of new information
Accuracy of articles
Understandibility of articles
Readability of sentences
×
Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Usability of the Site.
Ease of finding information
Very Dissatisfied
Somewhat Dissatisfied
Fine
Somewhat Satisfied
Highly Satisfied
Loading Speed
Use of Color
Font Size
Visibility of Images
Easy to Understand Layout
×
Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Message Boards, Comments.
Ease of Writing
Very Dissatisfied
Somewhat Dissatisfied
Fine
Somewhat Satisfied
Highly Satisfied
Readability
Ease in Finding Information
Comment Quality
Comment Quantity
Admin Response
×
Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Site's new design.
Please rate our site's new design
Very Dissatisfied
Somewhat Dissatisfied
Fine
Somewhat Satisfied
Highly Satisfied
Do you think that the website's design change makes the site easier to use?
Has the new design made it easier for you to find information on the site?
Has the new design improved the overall visual appeal of the site?
How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the new design of the site?
×
How likely are you to recommend Game8 to someone you know?
Very Unlikely
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very Likely
If you have other opinions regarding potential improvement to the website, please share them with us. We would appreciate your honest opinion.
Note: This is a free response section, so you can proceed without entering anything.
Note: Please be sure not to enter any kind of personal information into your response.
Note: Please be sure not to enter any kind of personal information into your response.
×
Thank You
×
Thank you for participating in our survey! Your answers will help us to improve the quality of our website and services.
We hope you continue to make use of Game8.
We hope you continue to make use of Game8.
Close
Rankings
- We could not find the message board you were looking for.
Gaming News
![Octopath Traveler 0 Review [In Progress] | Familiar, But Better](https://img.game8.co/4357336/fcaf07d58cc243e6b7319ca9b118ba16.png/thumb)
Popular Games
Genshin Impact Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Umamusume: Pretty Derby Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Where Winds Meet Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Honkai: Star Rail Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Digimon Story: Time Stranger Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Wuthering Waves Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Chaos Zero Nightmare Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Pokemon TCG Pocket (PTCGP) Strategies & Guides Wiki
Pokemon Legends: Z-A Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Elden Ring Nightreign Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Recommended Games
Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Fire Emblem Heroes (FEH) Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Monster Hunter World Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (BDSP) Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Persona 3 Reload Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
All rights reserved
©2024 Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Sid Meier’s Civilization, Civilization, Civ, 2K, Firaxis Games, Take-Two Interactive Software and their respective logos are all trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. All other marks and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.
The copyrights of videos of games used in our content and other intellectual property rights belong to the provider of the game.
The contents we provide on this site were created personally by members of the Game8 editorial department.
We refuse the right to reuse or repost content taken without our permission such as data or images to other sites.