Civilization 6 Gathering Storm: Strategic resources - benefits, tips Civilization VI Game Guide

Last update: 10 March 2022

This section of the Civilization 6 game guide describes strategic resources and how to acquire them in the Gathering Storm expansion.

Strategic resources details

The Gathering Storm expansion pack introduces major changes to the strategic resources system. They are required for training stronger and newer units. The changes in the expansion pack force the players to trade, expand, and to limit the number of advanced units in the army.

Until now, in order to produce advanced units like Knights or Tanks, you needed access to upgraded fields with a strategic resource or you needed to obtain it by trading with other civilizations. Two pieces of a resource enabled the player to build a unit in each city, but only 1 piece enabled the player to build a land unit in a military district and a naval unit in a port district.

The expansion expands the application of strategic resources and changes the system of creating military units. From now on, you will use it not only to produce armies, but as an upkeep cost of some units and for producing electric energy that is needed for advanced buildings to work efficiently.

• Strategic resources details
• Changes in Gathering Storm

Changes in Gathering Storm

Gathering Storm changes the strategic resources in the following way:

1. From now on, the resources are obtained in a similar way as gold, from upgraded fields. Each field features a different number of resources that can be obtained during a single turn, for example, 3 pieces of carbon per turn. Profits from all fields are accumulating and the distance from the capitol doesn't matter.
2. You can stock a specific number of strategic resources. The limit can be increased by creating military buildings in a military district.
3. Units require a specific number of resources when starting production.
4. Units from the late technological era like planes, infantry, and tanks use one unit of coal, oil, aluminum or uranium per turn! Make sure you have higher production or stock enough resource before you start a long war. If you lack a resource, units will have lowered combat strength and they cannot heal themselves.
5. Electric plants in the industrial district also use strategic resources to produce electricity.
6. You can trade the resources similarly to trading other currencies. However, you can trade only with fixed amounts - you can't create a trading deal that will provide you a specific number of resources each turn.

Due to the above changes, you will have to change your approach to strategic resources. From now, building a single city with military district close to strategic resources won't be as effective as before. You must constantly make sure that you have enough resources in your empire.

The artificial intelligence-controlled opponent will frequently trade with you. This can improve relations, profits, or enable you to obtain unavailable strategic resource. You can help a weaker opponent with resources and refuse to trade with your rival that is fighting your potential ally. By doing so, you will have some impact on the availability of units on a level if you have a monopoly of a specific resource.

Before you discover technology that will enable you to obtain electric energy with ecological means, you will frequently have to choose whether you want to use coal in an electric plant or to use the coal for production and upkeep of new units. The limits of production, storing and upkeeps make resources a very important aspect of your economy. From now, you can't flood your enemy with better versions of your units because their number will be limited. Some units still don't require strategic resources and can serve as a garrison or the second line of an onslaught.