Sid Meier's Civilization 6 recently added a new expansion known as the Ethiopia Pack, which is just one part of a list of planned expansions that will be steadily released over the coming months. The New Frontier Pass still has 4 expansions left to release for Civilization 6 ,with the next one coming out in September.
The Ethiopia Pack for Civ 6 released in late July and brought with it a new civ, a new game mode, and a new district. Ethiopia was the new civ, and their leader Menelik II is by far one of the best faith civ leaders in the game. The Secret Societies game mode created a new avenue for players to focus their game plan by signing up for one of 4 societies, and then there's the new district, the Diplomatic Quarter.
What is the Diplomatic Quarter?
In Civilization 6, districts like the Campus and the Industrial Zone are very important because they give greater yield bonuses than the normal improvements made to tiles. There are also districts like the Entertainment Complex and the Government Plaza that do not produce yields, but instead provide other bonuses once the proper buildings are made. The Diplomatic Quarter serves as a way to bridge the two types by constructing buildings that will have both yields and other gameplay bonuses.
The Diplomatic Quarter is first unlocked once the player has researched the Mathematics tech. Each civilization is limited to one Diplomatic Quarter in their entire empire and for good reason. While playing on the Gathering Storm expansion game rules, the Diplomatic Quarter serves as a method of turning good relations with city-states and other civs into tangible yields. It also provides protection from spies attempting to perform espionage in the Diplomatic Quarter and its neighboring districts by reducing their operation level by 2. Spies in Civilization 6 can steal a player's great works among many other things, so it's important for the player to protect their investments with the Diplomatic Quarter.
Why should the Diplomatic Quarter be built?
In Civilization 6, the diplomacy victory is one of the few ways to win the game peacefully. This victory is achieved once a player has won 20 diplomatic victory points through global events or winning elections in the World Congress by spending diplomatic favor. The most important yield that the Diplomatic Quarter creates is the +1 diplomatic favor from each delegation and embassy that foreign civs have made with the player. It is important to note that diplomatic favor can only be obtained if the Gathering Storm ruleset is active during a game or the yield will be culture points instead.
Aside from the extra diplomatic favor it generates in Civilization 6, the Diplomatic Quarter also changes the rules surrounding envoys plugged into city-states. City-states with 3 envoys will now give their bonus to their respective district building and they will give that same bonus to the consulate building. The same goes for city-states with 6 envoys and the new chancery building. The consulate building also generates +2 influence points for envoy generation and gives a -1 level debuff to any enemy spy in its city and in cities with encampments. The chancery's secondary effect is a +3 bonus to influence points and it generates 50 science for each level of an enemy spy when it is captured or killed.
How to best use the Diplomatic Quarter?
When building a Diplomatic Quarter in Civilization 6, there are a few things to keep in mind. The first would be to know that placing a Diplomatic Quarter next to the city center will automatically award the player with an envoy. Secondly, Diplomatic Quarters are best used for defensive strategies. It's important to plan out which districts it will neighbor to prevent spies from disrupting production. For example, if a player is going for a science victory, then it is very important to place a spaceport adjacent to the Diplomatic Quarter. Lastly, this district is vital to any player that wants to go for the diplomacy victory because of all the bonuses involving diplomatic favor and influence points. This makes becoming suzerain of city-states way more desirable.
In short, the Diplomatic Quarter has made a diplomacy victory more attainable to the player that invests in it first. Players of Civilization 6 should be aware of how powerful the Diplomatic Quarter is, and they should always find a spot for it in their empire. Hopefully, the Civilization 6 New Frontier Pass will bring more new districts to further change the game plans of other victory types.
Civilization 6Â is available for Linux, Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
