Civilization 6 finding religion in Fall Update

The next big free update to Sid Meier's Civilization VI [official site] will overhaul and expand the strategy game's religion system, bringing new beliefs, new pantheons, and new units as well as a reworking of religious combat. AI improvements are coming too, including making computer opponents less useless at sea. Our Adam's Civ 6 review was mighty fond of the game but it has certainly benefitted from the big updates over the past year. More are welcome.

Firaxis's Sarah Darney explained in a blog post last night:

"Two new Pantheons will be get introduced into the game, along with new Founder, Follower, Enhancer, and Worship Beliefs. These beliefs unlock the ability to build two new buildings as well as a new combat unit, the Warrior Monk.

"We also heard your requests for a deeper overall experience – and took that to heart with revamped religious combat. Religious units can now exert Zone of Control and receive Flank and Support bonuses in religious combat. Meanwhile, the Guru religious support unit can heal nearby religious units.

"Finally, the Religion Lens has been overhauled to improve overall usability and readability. You'll also find UI touches, such as religion indicators on unit flags, to remove all guesswork on where a unit's allegiance lies."

As for the AI improvements, they're focused on the seas, including making AIs build more naval units as well as heal and protect them better. Darney hints that these changes will be especially relevant to one of the upcoming civs. Sealand? Isle of Wight?

What else? The least useful Gossip messages are getting cut so your crack courtiers and top spies won't bring pointless knowledge to your ear. UI improvements are planned, including refreshing Diplomacy screens and making the Great People screen less faffy.

Those are some of the highlights of the Full Update, though it'll obviously change and fix more. No firm word yet on when it will launch but Autumn ends on December 21st so...