Civilization 6: General information - tips, how to unlock new technologies? Civilization VI Game Guide

This section of the Civilization 6 guide includes basic information on the tech tree. You can learn also how to develop technologies in Civilization VI, lower the research cost, and how to plan unlocking new inventions.

How to unlock new technologies Civ 6?

Technological advancement is the most important aspect of the game, which, together with the development of political system, determines the position of your nation on the international arena. Under no circumstances should you ever begin the next turn if you haven't chosen another technology for development.

There's a separate branch in the tree for each area of research. Of course, some of them are interconnected with each other, so if you want to develop a particular technology, you will first have to carry out specific research to make this possible. Different interconnections on the tree are marked with dotted lines, which turn into solid lines only after a given technology is developed. If you see a solid line and a dotted line lead to the technology you're interested in, it means that not all conditions have been met. You can then select this technology - number will appear, indicating its position in the research queue. The higher it is on the list, the sooner you will have access to it.

Interconnections between areas of research are helpful for planning. Solid lines mean that research has been completed.

Technological development may be done according to two scenarios: you can develop every technology available at a given era, and only go to the next once you're done or you can develop only those you need at the time. Access to all areas of research is a guarantee that at any moment you will be able to take advantage of everything the game has to offer and you'll be ready for any situation. Additionally, when you want to carry out research that goes beyond the range of the tree, you will not have to go back to the research from previous eras; you will be able to select what you need off the bat.

Civilization VI is a strategy game and you have to keep this in mind when planning further areas of research. Having a clear vision of how you want to lead your nation to victory means that already at the beginning of the game you should know which tree you will choose without paying attention to the division into the eras. Regardless of which of the available options of victory you're interested in, you need to lead in the classification from the first minutes of the game. It may happen that another nation will surprise you with something and you will have to go back to the roots of one of the trees, but take into account that you will need less time to make up for this. The success in the technological race depends on how quickly you can get access to the newest technologies and the progress of other nations at the time.

The most important aspect of the technology tree is the option to reduce the cost required to develop a technology by half. The so-called "Eureka" accelerates the time required for research under certain conditions, which are specified for a particular discovery. For example, if you want to quickly develop archers, you have to destroy a unit using Slingers.

The requirements that you must meet to reduce the cost of research are always closely related to the nature of the research. Skillful use of this mechanism will give you easier access to individual technologies, but also requires separate planning. If the development of a given technology requires, e.g. 10 turns, and only after 8 will you be able to meet the requirement allowing the simplification of research, the benefits you acquire will be negligible. If you know that you can meet the criteria, but it requires more time than is needed for research, then try to select a different area, preferably one for which you were able to reduce the cost, and only after fulfilling the requirements of Eureka go back to the path you're interested in.

The research for which Eureka has been unlocked is marked very clearly.

An important aspect of Eureka is that the time that is needed for research will be reduced even if the research is in progress. This means that if you are working on a technology that at the current science rate requires 30 turns to be completed, the cost will have been cut by half even if you complete the Eureka requirement after a few or a dozen turns.

In each turn you can change the technology you are currently researching. The scientific effort already made will be taken into account if you decide to resume research, so nothing in this aspect is ever lost. However, it is best to plan your research based on available information and then proceed to work on it, because frequent switching between technologies delays gratification, which translates into a slower rate of your nation's development.