A Guide to Playing Qin Shi Huang of China in Civilization 6

Qin Shi Huang was a Chinese emperor who established the Qin dynasty. His military campaigns ended the Warring States era in China. He’s also a Chinese leader you can play as in Civilization 6. Qin Shi Huang of China in Civilization 6 can be a very productive leader for culture and science. He has a strong leadership bonus and decent unique infrastructure that can help propel you to victories in your Civ 6 games.

The Chinese Civilization’s Unique Ability

Qin Shi Huang is one of five Chinese leaders you can play with additional Civ 6 DLCs, but the only one available for selection is the vanilla Civilization 6 game. All the Chinese leaders in Civ 6 share the same Dynastic Cycle civ ability. Dynastic Cycle increases China’s Eureka and Inspiration science and culture boosts by 10%. China’s Eurekas and Inspirations provide 60% (rather than 50%) research reduction costs for technologies or civics when activated.

Dynastic Cycle also grants additional Eurekas and Inspirations for building the wonders of the world. You’ll receive an Eureka or Inspiration boost for every completed wonder when playing with Qin Shi Huang of China in Civilization 6. This makes building the wonders of the world all the more important for China.

The Qin Shi Huang Leader Bonus

Qin Shi Huang’s First Emperor unique leader bonus gives Builder units an additional building charge. This means Qin Shi Huang’s Builders can build four times rather than the standard three. First Emperor also enables players to reduce production for Ancient and Classical era wonders by 15% a turn with Builder unit charges.

China’s Unique Infrastructure and Units

Players playing as Qin Shi Huang of China in Civilization 6 can build the unique Great Wall infrastructure with Masonry researched. One Great Wall segment provides +2 gold for each adjacent wall tile. It generates +2 culture for adjacent wall tiles with the Castles technology researched. A single Great Wall tile improvement can attract up to two visitors when it generates tourism with Flight unlocked.

Great Wall tiles also offer military advantages for units stationed on them. A unit stationed on the Great Wall receives a +4 defense strength boost. However, note that this defense strength boost is also applicable to enemy units stationed on them.

Crouching Tiger is a unique Chinese ranged unit that fires cannonballs, albeit at a limited range. This replacement for the Crossbowman unit has 30 melee attack strength and 50 ranged strength. Crouching Tiger is also cheaper to build than Crossbowman, with a production cost of 140.

Strategy and Tips for Winning With Qin Shi Huang

Culture is the best victory condition to go for when playing Qin Shi Huang of China in Civilization 6. This is primarily because of the Great Wall’s unique infrastructure, which can provide a notable boost to your civilization’s cultural output and tourism (number of visitors attracted). First Emperor is also a valuable leader bonus that will enable you to build Ancient and Classical era wonders of the world, for generating tourism somewhat faster than other civilizations.

When playing for a Culture Victory with Qin Shi Huang, your strategy should be wonder-oriented. Build some Ancient and Classical-era wonders whenever you can. Then, use your unique Builder charges for Ancient and Classical wonders every turn to get them built faster.

However, your wonder of world-building shouldn’t be limited to those of the Ancient and Classical eras. Remember that completing any wonder of the world will activate a boosted Eureka or Inspiration from its era, thanks to China’s Dynastic Cycle ability. Thus, building more wonders is a good way to boost your science and culture research to unlock new technologies and civics faster when playing Qin Shi Huang of China in Civilization 6.

It’s good to have the Great Wall infrastructure at your disposal when playing for a cultural victory as Qin Shi Huang. Add lots of Great Wall segments to your border tiles with your Builder units. Doing this will increase your civilization’s cultural output for unlocking civics faster. Then, with Flight unlocked, your Great Wall tiles will start attracting visitors to boost your tourist industry.

Although the Great Wall offers some military advantages, it’s not especially useful for fighting wars against enemy civilizations. However, its defense bonus can come in handy for defending territory against barbarians. Fortify units along your Great Wall to restrict barbarian movement in your territory.

I also recommend selecting the Public Works policy card when playing as Qin Shi Huang. Public Works gives your Builder units two extra building charges. Your Chinese Builders will then have six charges with this policy card combined with the additional First Emperor bonus. Those three additional charges per Builder unit will enable you to add more Great Wall segments to tiles and further boost Ancient and Classical wonder production.

If you don’t go for a cultural victory, winning the space race is probably the best alternative way to win when playing as Qin Shi Huang. China’s Dynastic Cycle ability is just as useful for unlocking technologies faster. Focus on activating China’s boosted Eurekas when playing for a scientific victory. One way you can do this with Qin Shi Huang is to build more wonders, which activate Eurekas when completed.

Qin Shi Huang’s additional Builder unit charge can also come in handy for boosting space race project production. You can use those extra charges for adding more mines and lumber mills to city tiles. Try to optimize your most productive cities for space race project production as much as possible with your enhanced Builder units.

Overall, Qin Shi Huang of China in Civilization 6 is among the better leaders in the game for securing cultural victories. His First Emperor leader bonus, Great Wall infrastructure, and Dynastic Cycle civ ability offer significant cultural and tourism advantages over many other civilizations. However, Qin Shi Huang isn’t so good for the Domination Victory condition because his unique military unit isn’t especially strong, and the Great Wall infrastructure won’t help you capture cities in wars.