In Civilization 6, Builders are pivotal units that significantly impact the development of cities and the enhancement of surrounding terrain. They are essential for fostering the growth and overall happiness of your civilization, wielding various abilities that allow them to construct improvements, gather resources, and perform a multitude of tasks within city borders.
These units are not only affordable but also accessible early in the game, making them crucial for players, particularly newcomers to the Civilization series. However, understanding how to effectively utilize Builders can be somewhat daunting due to the specific requirements for their deployment.
Updated on January 16, 2025, by Mehrdad Khayyat: The enduring appeal of Civilization 6 lies in its remarkable replayability, driven by deep gameplay mechanics that create unique scenarios based on players’ strategic choices.
A comprehensive understanding of each unit type, particularly Builders, is essential for achieving success in Civilization 6. Their ability to generate income and development opportunities underscores their importance in your overall strategy.
How to Utilize Builders Effectively
To recruit Builders, navigate to one of your major cities and select the “Purchase an item with Gold”option. Here, you can enlist a variety of units, including Builders.
Once the specified turns have passed, your Builder will spawn in the city. While Builders may vary slightly in characteristics based on the player’s Leader and Civilization, they generally provide 2 movement points per turn and have 3 building charges. After utilizing all 3 charges, the Builder will be disbanded.
Requirements for Builder Utilization
- Builders can only create improvements on tiles displaying an icon for a specific enhancement, such as farming or mining.
- The tile must be owned by the player; Builders cannot work on tiles that are unowned.
- Builders can clear natural obstacles like forests or marshes, but these tiles must also be owned.
- Builders cannot move two tiles and build in the same turn. If they move one tile, they can perform an action on that tile if it is eligible for improvement.
- Before using a Builder for a specific task, a player must first acquire the necessary knowledge, such as completing Mining research to build mining facilities.
Understanding the Role of Builders
Builders are the backbone of a civilization’s infrastructure development, equipped with a variety of capabilities to boost the productivity of your cities. Each Builder starts with 3 charges that can be allocated in several ways:
- Constructing Tile Improvements consumes 1 charge.
- Repairing existing Tile Improvements is charge-free.
- Removing Tile Improvements does not use any charges.
- Harvesting Bonus Resources uses 1 charge and provides a one-time yield.
- Removing natural features like forests or marshes requires 1 charge for a one-time yield.
- Planting Woods, available through Conservation technology, costs 1 charge.
- Cleaning Nuclear Fallout requires 1 charge.
To activate a Builder’s ability, move the unit to the desired tile. If the tile is usable, various options for improvement will be presented.
Making Tile Improvements
Players in Civilization 6 typically allocate a significant amount of their Builder charges to tile improvements. These enhancements can be applied across various tiles within your civilization. Key improvements that Builders can create include Farms, Mines, and Plantations.
These enhancements are highly beneficial, yielding substantial rewards such as enhanced food production, increased resource generation, and bolstered income, all of which are vital for a civilization’s growth and success.
Repairing Pillaged Improvements
During the early stages of gameplay, players may encounter frequent damage to improvements from barbarian attacks, natural disasters, or rival civilizations. Fortunately, Builders excel at repairing these pillaged improvements, restoring them to full functionality.
It is crucial to note that Builders can only repair tile improvements; they cannot address districts or their buildings. To repair a pillaged improvement, simply move the Builder unit to the afflicted tile and select the “Repair”option.
Resource Harvesting and Feature Removal
In addition to improving tiles, Builders can also Harvest Resources and Remove Features for immediate benefits. Harvesting involves clearing Bonus Resources from a tile, offering a one-time yield to the city associated with that tile.
Similarly, Builders may remove natural features such as forests or marshes, which also results in a one-time yield. This can be accomplished by approaching the tile or feature and selecting the respective ability, expending one build charge in the process.
Though this method results in lower long-term yields compared to tile improvements, it can accelerate project completions, benefit buildings, and aid district developments.
Enhancing Builder Charges
While Builders in Civilization 6 generate 3 build charges at the outset, players can increase this number through various means:
- The governor Liang, known as The Surveyor, provides an additional charge to new Builders trained in her city.
- The Pyramids wonder grants all Builders an extra charge.
- The Serfdom and Public Works policy cards award two additional charges to newly created Builders.
Leave a Reply ▼