Secret societies are a feature that dropped in the Civilization 6 Ethiopia Pack update. They’re a really fun element to add to your Civ 6 game, and using them properly can turn the tides of victory in your favor, especially if you pick the right secret society for the civ you are playing. Here’s how to unlock secret societies in Civ 6.
Enable Secret Societies in Advanced Options Menu
To ensure secret societies are available in the game, you must first enable them in game setup. They are located under the advanced options menu, and only if you have the Ethiopia Pack installed.
Explore ASAP!
You discover secret societies in Civ 6 through exploration. If you’re eager to get the most out of a secret society, explore early. This is the key to finding them ASAP, and early exploration will also grant you many other advantages during your game.
Make sure you explore any “goody huts” you encounter to increase your chances of finding secret societies. Eventually, if you continue exploring, you will find them all.
How Do Secret Societies Work in Civilization 6?
Secret societies provide specific advantages to any civ who adopts them. Overall, I recommend enabling and joining them, but there is a big disadvantage if you are wondering whether you should join a secret society: diplomatically, it’s like a form of government. If you encounter another civ who has the same secret society affiliation, it will help your relationship. If not, it could damage your interactions with them, which is also not so great when you have different religions and governments.
Related: 5 Reasons Civ VI Fans Should Try Humankind
Embracing a secret society means being open to a higher level of conflict from the sensitive AI.
What Secret Society Works Best for You?
There are three secret societies in game. If you decide on your focus during early game, you should hold out to find the society that works best for your goals, and continue on heavy exploration and meeting other city states and civs until you find what you’re looking for.
Civs advance like governors, and you spend promotions on them. They aren’t assigned to a city and advance through eras.
Owls of Minerva
This secret society focuses on money, diplomacy, and espionage. You can get a special “Guilded Vault” with them, which provides amazing adjacency bonuses. If you want to make money, go with them.
Hermetic Order
The Hermetic Order is focused on science. You get a special Alchemical Society building in the Medieval Era, as well as ley line visibility which provides extra adjacency bonuses. You also get extra yields when you earn a great person.
Voidsingers
Like Cthulu stuff? You might want to check out the Voidsingers. With this “old religion,” you can turn faith into money during the Medieval Era passively — you get extra gold, science, and culture each turn based upon your faith generation. You can also build the Old God Obelisk, which is creepy and excellent looking. This feature provides extra faith and great work slots. (I recently used this as Nzinga Mbande to rapidly produce and house great works while producing an exceptional amount of faith, and it was fantastic.) Especially as Nzinga, it helped me to use the Cultist units Voidsingers can produce, as they leave relics behind when they use their charges.
Can You Leave Your Secret Society in Civilization 6?
You cannot leave a secret society in Civ 6. Once you choose a secret society, you are bound for life. Choose wisely!
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