A Guide to Playing as the Phoenician Dido Civ 6 Leader in Civilization 6

Dido was the queen of Carthage, a city she founded in 814 BC according to popular legend. She is the leader of Phoenicia, and you can select to play as her in the Civilization 6 Gathering Storm DLC. The Dido Civ 6 leader offers players notable trading, naval, and city loyalty advantages with her leader bonus, unique infrastructure, and civ ability. She represents a more coastal-oriented Phoenician civilization that flourishes along the sea.

Dido’s the Founder of Carthage, Leader Bonus

Dido has a Founder of Carthage leader bonus that gives you an additional trade route for each Plaza district building built. For example, three Plaza district buildings will grant you three extra trade routes (four with the district itself included). The Founder of Carthage leader bonus enables you to build districts in half the time in the city that includes the Plaza, with a 50% production reduction for them. This leader bonus also gives cities that include the Cothon a Move Capital project for changing their capital city.

The Phoenician Mediterranean Colonies Civ Ability

Mediterranean Colonies is the Phoenician civ ability that gives coastal cities established on the same continent as your capital 100% loyalty. Phoenicia starts with a eureka for the Writing tech due to the Mediterranean Colonies civ ability. This civ ability also enhances Settler units with +2 movement while embarked and no movement penalties for embarking or disembarking.

The Phoenician Unique Infrastructure and Unit

Cothon is a unique Phoenician district that replaces the Harbor. That is a unique district with half the production cost of a Harbor. The Cothon district provides a +50% production boost for building naval units and recruiting Settlers in those cities that include it. Naval units stationed in cities with Coton districts heal +100 HP per turn.

Bireme is the unique Phoenician naval unit that replaces the Galley. That ship has a melee combat rating of 35, which makes it stronger than the Galley. This unit’s special ability prevents the plundering of Traders at sea within four tiles of a Bireme.

Tips for Playing as the Dido Civ 6

It’s harder to identify a best victory condition to play for as the Dido Civ 6 leader, because she’s more of a generalist with no direct effects that increase faith, culture, or scientific output. However, her Carthage Leader bonus, combined with Cothon’s unique infrastructure, can be best exploited for increasing city production and scientific yields via trade. Starting with a eureka for Writing will also enable you to unlock Campus districts quicker. So, science can be one of the best victory conditions to aim for when playing as Dido.

During the early game, make sure you establish most of your cities alongside coastlines when playing as the Dido Civ 6 leader. Unlock Celestial Navigation tech ASAP so you can build Cothons sooner rather than later. Then, you can push out more settlers somewhat faster for civilization expansion with those cities that include Cothons. To further increase your Settler production advantage, select the Colonization policy card that gives you another +50% production bonus for them.

Building many Cothons also enables you to expand your trade routes with Lighthouses. To expand your trade even more, prioritize building a Plaza district and its buildings. Then, exploit your trade routes to boost scientific output for winning a space race by selecting the Trade Confederation and Market Economy policy cards that generate +1 and +2 science yields for international trade routes. Select the Ecommerce policy card later in a game, which gives your international trade routes +2 production yields, to increase productivity in cities that include Spaceport districts.

Building more Plaza district buildings when playing as the Dido Civ 6 leader will also enable you to appoint more governors and promote them. Pingala is certainly the best governor to select for winning space races. Select his Researcher and Space Initiative promotions to boost Campus building and space-program production in the city that includes Pingala.

I also recommend establishing a Research Alliance with another civilization. Doing so will enable you to boost science output with trade for scientific victory purposes even more. Each international trade route you send to your ally’s city will generate +2 science yields, with another +1 science yield generated from each allied trade route sent to your cities.

If you don’t fancy winning a space race, a Domination Victory can be a viable alternative when playing with the Dido Civ 6 on sea-dominated maps with many coastal cities to attack. The 50% production bonus for rolling out naval units from Cothons will enable you to expand your navy somewhat faster than other civilizations. Focus on rolling out more siege naval units with which you can attack coastal cities, such as Quadrimere, Frigate, Battleship, and Missile Cruiser. Then, you can also quickly replenish your naval units’ health by moving them into coastal cities that include Cothons.

The additional trade routes you can establish with the Founder of Carthage leader bonus also make Phoenicia a stronger economic civilization, which is important for fighting wars. A stronger economy will enable you to recruit and upgrade more military units when playing as the Dido Civ 6 leader. Select the Conscription or Levée en Masse policy to reduce your military unit upkeep costs per turn. To reduce upgrade unit costs, select the Professional Army or Force Modernization card.

Overall, the Phoenician Dido Civ 6 leader is an economically strong one, with her Founder of Carthage bonus and unique Cothon district. If you fully exploit trade for increasing science and production yields in cities with Spaceports, you can cruise to a space race victory when playing as Dido. Alternatively, adopt a naval-oriented military strategy for defeating other civilizations with your navy to secure a Domination Victory. Whatever victory condition you play for as Phoencia, your strategy should be based on the Plaza and Cothon districts for expanding trade, governor appointment and promotion, fast recruitment of settlers, and rapid naval mobilization.