Mansa Musa has been the top dog when it comes to Gold generation in Civilization 6 since his introduction in the Gathering Storm expansion – thanks to his Gold-printing mines and ever-growing Trade Route capacity.
However, with the recently released Portugal Pack, the final DLC of the New Frontier Pass, a new leader may be the new King of Gold: Joao III of Portugal. Thanks to a very special set of abilities, Joao III can generate a positively absurd amount of Gold, which in turn can be used to fuel nearly any victory condition he chooses.
Joao III can generate enough Gold, with the proper set-up, to almost entire phase out Production in his empire. Mansa Musa is the only other Civilization 6 Leader who can come close to Joao III’s trade capacity and Gold generation. While Mansa Musa focuses heavily on his Commercial Hub replacement, the Suguba, Joao III relies heavily on a combination of both Harbors and Commercial Hubs. Joao III’s Leader Ability, Porta do Cerco, grants him +1 Trade Route Capacity when meeting a Civilization for the first time. While this ability’s strength is dependent on the number of other players in the lobby, it’s certainly a great way to get early Trade Routes. That’s not all this ability does, however. Joao III also gives all his units +1 Sight (perfect for scouting and finding those Civilizations early) in addition to having Open Borders with all City-States.
Portugal’s Civilization ability is a tricky one to play around, but is the key to generating an obscene amount of Gold per turn. Portugal can only trade with cities founded on Coast or cities with a Harbor. However, to make up for this, the yields from these trade routes are increased by 50%. Additionally, traders have 50% more range over water, and can embark as soon as they are unlocked. This ability is very map-dependent. Large, land-locked maps will force Joao III to have less Trade Routes active, while water-heavy maps will let Joao III thrive and have a massive number of Trade Routes active at a time. The 50% bonus to yields turns trade routes into a MASSIVE source of Gold, Production, and Food in the game. Smart use of good Government Policy Cards and good Government choices will make Joao III thrive when he gets trade routes up and running.
Then, Portugal’s unique building, improvement, and unit are all no laughing matter. His unique unit, The Nau, replaces the Caravel, and is cheaper to maintain and starts with a free promotion. However, the main specialty of the Nau is that it comes with two build charges, allowing to build Portugal’s unique improvement: the Feitoria. It can only be built in foreign cities players have open border with (meaning City-States and other players). The Feitoria can only be built on a Coast or Lake tile adjacent to a Luxury or Bonus resource. These tiles add +4 Gold and +1 Production for the city it is built in, and the same bonus for any of Portugal’s Trade Routes that end in that city. These can be placed all over the map to any City that Portugal is trading with to really maximize the Gold yields from that Trade Route.
Outside of the ability to produce the Feitoria, the Nau has little else going for it and is certainly not making it as one of the best unique units in Civ 6. They phased out quickly by Ironclads, so players will want to produce as many of these as possible to maximize the number of Feitoria on the map. This is helped along by Portugal’s unique building: the Navigation School. This building replaces the University and comes with several powerful benefits. Any city that has a Navigation School will gain +25% Production toward Naval Units, +1 Science for every 2 Lake or Coast tiles in the City’s borders, and +1 Great Admiral point per turn. This is all in addition to the University’s bonuses. This alone will help Joao III continue to produce fleets of Naval units with ease.
Joao III is truly one of Civilization 6‘s most versatile leaders, with little bias towards any one win condition. The only win condition that receives no substantial bonus from Joao III’s abilities is Faith, though even that can be passed on through Trade to a small degree. Generally speaking, Joao III’s best chances come in either Science, Culture, Domination, or Diplomacy. Most of these can be directly boosted through trading, and smart Alliances can even further push these win conditions along. The elusive Diplomatic Victory can be achieved much easier by simply buying Diplomatic Favor off other Leaders, because players will easily have enough to match whatever they are asking for.
For Science, the Navigation School will provide a strong boost to Science if they are placed in cities with a large number of Lake and Coast tiles, and trading with other cities that have a Campus built will also net Science as a Trade yield as well (which is increased by 50% thanks to Portugal’s ability). Participating in a Research Alliance will net a large amount of Science for Trade Routes to the Allied Civilization, so players should try to make that Alliance with a Civ that they can get a large amount of Trade Routes with.
Similarly, a Cultural Alliance will do the same for Culture, so picking Alliance targets is crucial for maximizing specific yields in a Trade Route. Trade Routes and Open Borders are key to gaining Tourists from other Civilizations. Domination is also within Joao III’s grasp, as Gold can fund a war of any kind. Joao III clearly achieves this best by building Naval units, but be warned, bad relations with other Civilizations may mean less active Trade Routes.
The key to generating Gold as Joao III is maximizing Trade Route capacity. Players should start off the game by settling on the coast, getting the Eureka for Sailing, and working toward a few Naval units to hopefully meet other Civilizations faster. A Scout or two could help in finding land-locked Civs, depending on the map. Each time a new Civilization is met, Joao III gains an additional Trade Route to use, so early scouting quite literally pays off. Joao III is best played on a Small Continents, Archipelago, or Fractal Map, as all these will have large bodies of water and plenty of Coastal areas to settle. Once settled and players have begun scouting, players need to build or buy Traders every chance they get to really get the biggest boost early on. Getting Open Borders with other Civilizations will allow players to build the Feitoria in their cities, so positive relations is encouraged.
Joao III should build Harbors in every city possible, and Commercial Hubs in those that cannot support Harbors (but seriously, settle Coastally whenever possible). Build the tier-one building in those districts as soon as the district is finished, as the Lighthouse (Harbor) and Market (Commercial Hub) are what increase Trade Route Capacity. If playing with the Secret Societies game mode, Joao III should almost always go with the Owls of Minerva for the extra policy slots, and great boosts to Trade Routes with City-States. This will be great for securing a Diplomatic Victory. With Heroes and Legends mode on, securing Sinbad early on will help Joao easily scour the seas to find all the other Civilizations and City-States in the game (and earn a lot of money doing it).
As stated above, securing alliances is key when looking to generate a variety of yields. Economic Alliances will skyrocket the amount of Gold Joao III gains from Trade Routes to that Civ, and should be a top priority. Cultural and Research Alliances will help push Joao III through the Tech and Civic trees with ease. Using these strategies, Joao III can easily secure nearly any win condition with relative ease, as long as the player is trading and making alliances.
Civilization 6 is available now for Linux, Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
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