A Guide to Playing as the Jayavarman VII Khmer Civ 6 Leader in Civilization 6

Jayavarman VII was a ruler of the Khmer empire who fostered the spread of Buddhism in Cambodia and also built many temples and reservoirs within his kingdom. He is a leader that players with the Khmer and Indonesia scenario pack can select to play as in Civilization 6. The Jayavarman VII Khmer Civ 6 leader offers significant religious, population growth, and cultural advantages for players who exploit his unique bonus, civ ability, and infrastructure.

The Monasteries of the King Leader Bonus

Jayavarman VII’s Monasteries of the King leader bonus enables players to trigger culture bombs by building Holy Sites. Holy Sites generate additional food yields equal to their adjacency bonuses. Monasteries of the King also gives Holy Sites a +2 faith adjacency and +2 housing bonus when placed beside rivers.

Khmer’s Grand Barays Civ Ability

The Grand Barays civ ability for the Khmer Civ 6 leader boosts faith and amenities in cities with Aqueducts. Each city that includes Aqueducts generates +1 amenities and +1 faith for each citizen. For example, a city with a population of 10 will generate +10 faith if it includes an Aqueduct. Farms also generate +2 food when placed beside an Aqueduct and +1 adjacent to a Holy Site.

Khmer’s Unique Unit and Infrastructure

Prasat is the unique infrastructure for the Jayavarman VII Khmer Civ 6 leader that replaces the Temple. That unique building grants +6 faith. However, what sets it apart is the +0.5 culture it generates for each citizen in a city. The Prasat also generates 10 or 20 tourists for a city with a population that eclipses 10 or 20 when you’ve researched Flight.

Domrey is Khmer’s unique siege unit that replaces the Trebuchet. That unit has a melee attack rating of 40 and bombard strength of 50. This unit also exerts a zone of control and can move and attack on the same turn.

Hints and Tips for Playing as the Jayavarman VII Khmer Civ 6 Leader

The Jayavarman VII Khmer Civ 6 leader is one with religion written all over him. His Monasteries of the King boosts Holy Sites in numerous ways, which are districts only essential for the Religious Victory. The Grand Barays civ ability and Prasat infrastructure also enable you to significantly increase faith output for the acquisition of religious units. Thus, religion is the obvious best victory condition to go for when playing as the Khmer Civ 6 leader.

To better exploit the Monasteries of the King leader bonus, try to settle more of your cities alongside rivers when you can. Luck might decide how many rivers there are on your map, but try to settle cities alongside all the rivers you find. Then, you can build more Holy Sites along rivers to receive the faith adjacency and housing bonuses from them.

Building Holy Sites will enable you to claim surrounding tiles outside your civilization’s borders when playing as the Khmer Civ 6 leader. However, culture bombing will only be effective when you build Holy Sites near the border of a city’s territory. So, bear that in mind when building Holy Sites.

Settling cities along rivers also enables you to build more Aqueducts for exploiting the Grand Barays civ ability. Build Aqueducts in all cities you can to boost your faith output. Then, your cities will also have more housing, which will increase their population growth rate due to food.

When playing for a religion victory with the Jayavarman VII Khmer Civ 6 leader, select policy cards that will further boost your Holy Sites’ faith output. Scripture is a great card to select when playing as Jayavarman VII because it has a 100% Holy Site adjacency bonus. Selecting the Simultaneum policy card can also significantly increase Holy Site building faith generation by 100% or 50% for larger cities, depending on which ruleset you play by. Boosting faith generation with those cards will enable you to recruit more religious units when playing as the Khmer Civ 6.

Culture is the best alternative victory condition to aim for when playing as the Khmer Civ 6 leader. Building the Prasat building in numerous cities can significantly increase your civilization’s cultural output. Plus, it will also generate good tourism and attract visitors in cities with larger populations of 10 or more when you’ve researched the Flight technology.

As the Prasat’s culture and tourism generation depends on population, boosting population growth will make it more efficient for those purposes. To boost population growth in all cities by 15%, build the Hanging Gardens wonder. You can boost population growth by another 15% in your cities that aren’t on your original capital’s continent by selecting the Colonial Offices policy. Then, build Granary and Water Mill buildings, along with Aqueducts for housing, to further increase population growth in cities that will boost the cultural and tourism value of your Prasat buildings.

Jayavarman VII’s high faith output can also be beneficial for players seeking cultural victories. Invest your faith in the patronage of cultural great persons, with which to boost tourism in your civilization. You can also purchase Naturalists and Archaeologists units with faith to set up national parks and extract museum artifacts.

The Jayavarman VII Khmer Civ 6 leader is ideal for players seeking to win Civilization 6 with religious dominance. He is a leader with whom you can obtain some explosive potential population growth that effectively synergizes with faith and cultural output. Thus, Jayavarman VII is hard to beat for generating a strong faith economy with which to secure a Religious Victory. He’s also a good leader with whom to mix religion and tourism for securing a Culture Victory.