The Unique Unit Tier List for Civ 6 

Mistakes I made (will be edited) and general responses to sentiments expressed in the comments. Mistakes: - Maryannu Chariot Archers were made cheaper in Gathering Storm. They should be up to B Tier. Things I forgot: - Roman Legions and Toa can repair a city quickly after they conquer it with their build charge. "Don't listen to this guy he knows nothing he doesn't play multiplayer" Yup, if you want to play multiplayer ignore everything I said. If you want to play Singleplayer against Deity AI then I'm worth listening to. Multiplayer is very different.

I have PTSD from getting gilgamashed by war carts.

Both the Bireme and the Viking Longship being Sea tier makes a lot of sense :P

To be honest, one of the reasons why Ancient Era units are so good is partially because of players bias towards Pangea Maps. Like, Eagle Warriors are very good if you dont have to cross a single water title and can sorround a city by all sides. But in an Earth Map, for example, they become a lot less useful. That's why I think the Pangea Map is overall the worst map. It invalidates naval civs and makes early war way too easy.

A funny thing, in Crouching Tiger's civilopedia, it said "it outranged anything else at the time." And it got an attack range of "1". Really?

Samurai are S tier just for that *_shwing_* sound effect.

Potato: I'll give tips on how to fix those under-powered units. Also potato: they are so trash I don't even know how to fix them.

Everybody gangster until pitati archers hijack a war cart

Viking Longships are basically just two turns of production which can be translated into thousands of gold, and hundreds of faith culture and science early in the game with pillaging on coastal tiles and harbor districts. Easy S tier on non pangea maps.

"Eagle Warriors can be S tier, but can also not be very good" Me: Aw, he's gonna make it B Tier Potato: I'm gonna make it S tier Me: I love you, Potato

anti-cavalry really needs a buff. The only really useful one is the pike and shot, which is only useful against earlier units, not industrial cavalry class units.

It was like a potato famine no potato for 10 days

Potato: "The Diggers are trash" *'Australia has declared war'*

I think the Spanish Conquistador deserves a B tier simply because converting captured cities to your religion gives them increased loyalty.

You forgot one "unique" unit: Warrior Monks. technically unique... to a god awful religion dedication but it exists.

37:11 spain gets era score from conquistadors converting cities so they can chain golden ages which can help with loyalty

For Bireme: Bireme's biggest strength comes from its movements. Biremes come early into the game, and that extra movement means you can scout a lots of coastal lands very early quickly - a crucial point for Phoenicians, as they are a civ focusing on early coastal colonization. I would say Bireme is an adequate fit for Phoenicans' ability as a civ.

The Inca unit is pretty insane for conquest. You spam scouts early and use the 100% exp bonus on scouts card. When you're closing in on the tech for this unit you call your scouts back from exploring and start going ham. 2 x 60 dmg with high mobility absolutely shreds at the stage of the game where you get these. Walls, cities, any units really. The only downide is that they are kinda squishy.

35:50 Pike and Shots are even outclassed by their mere purpose of existence: Industrial Era Cavalry.

A few notes about the Brazilian Minas Geraes that makes it stronger is the fact that it comes at a time where you can combine them into fleets, boosting their already INSANE naval strength. The game also treats them as an industrial era unit due to being unlocked at nationalism, which means press gangs effectively halves their production costs, allowing you to build a massive naval force of Minas Geraes fleets.

There should be a separate S tier for Pitati Archers. Horrifically strong and early, extra movement point is game changing, and fits with the meta of how you play the early game to begin with.

When are we getting a tier list of your tier lists?

Thanks! I’m expecting Unique Buildings, Improvements, and Districts next, hope they come out soon lol

"Turn your forests into an army of angry Roman Men." - Laughed so hard I subscribed.

Then the Winged Hussars arrived!

A couple extra things to consider: Both the Maori and Roman UU's can repair pillaged improvements if they keep their build charge. This means that they can repair all the improvements in a city they've conquered very quickly without the need for builders or, if you're being extra clever, can be used in a pillage economy strat where you conquer/settle a city in a place that is succumbing to alot of loyalty pressure, repair the improvements and pillage/reconquer it again ad infinitum. These units can pull off the pillage economy strat cheaper and more effectively than other civs can. This alone should elevate them both up a tier in my opinion. The Indonesian Jong has another neat little mechanic where anything that it connects to adopts its movement. This means that you can move a land unit of any kind up to the Jong, attach it, and then continuing to use the Jong's movement to get the unit even farther than it could have gotten even if it was out of movement points before it got attached. This allows them to act as ferries for very quick invasions or settling across continents. Another trick you can do with them is have a unit embark onto a sea tile with a Jong (losing all its movement points) and then attach the Jong and carry it away in the same turn. This allows for some coastal hit and run tactics that are similar to Norway and very unique and powerful on coastal maps. Personally I think the Jong is an amazing unit and deserves an A tier but naval units ARE less valuable than land units so I'm ok with where you got it. I just want you to be aware of this additional use for it cause it is very unique and interesting. Lastly, I do think you underestimate the Australian Digger a bit. Just the fact that it requires no Oil in of itself puts it in a higher tier. It can be upgraded into, is a fairly strong unit for the era it is in and, like i said....it REQUIRES NO OIL. In later era warfare the bottleneck is access to strategic resources compounded with the fact that your factories use those same resources to produce energy. Australia can amass a fairly devastating army for either attack or defense with no consequences to its economy. Furthermore, because you are not using Oil to field them, it means you can use that Oil to field units like Biplanes, Artillery and Tanks, while still being able to field a formidable Digger army. It may not be a top tier unit, but it's definitely alot better than you're giving it credit for.

Toa and Roman legion are so great because of that double dip on era score, Toa, Pa, and Roman Legion and fort

You buff the Crouching Tiger cannon by making it a Chu-ko-nu like Civ5.

War cart is S tier... you may pass this time potato

1. REALLY appreciate the bookmarks! Not only does this serve as a primer video, the bookmarks make it a wonderful in-game reference tool. You can very quickly remind yourself of how you should be leveraging your UUs strengths! Similarly, you can get expert intel on your enemies' UUs before they ROFLstomp you. 2. What do you think about giving the Australian Digger a single Builder/Engineer charge? Fortifications, trenches/canals and (rail)roads seem appropriate within their historical context.

I love how you segmented the video. I lost attention a few times but the timestamps told me exactly who you were talking about.

If Norway units isn't S tier, thumbs down...😏

The diggers of the great nation of Australia will defeat any enemies in their path they are unstoppable

What if they made it such that Crouching Tiger cannons get +1 range when in defensible districts or the Great Wall? (not Forts tho, since that would allow them to be used offensively)

Dude, looking back at this tier list now, they actually did a pretty good job of ballancing things all around. They actually listened to community thoughts.

The Warak'aq is clearly A or even S tier. It's strong enough (two shots at 40 is usually enough to kill your prey, so the weak defense is less of an issue), quick leveling enough (two shots means twice as much xp, which also means hp faster) that Ambush is realistic to get (especially if you can get hold of Kabul), and with that, you will have a 40/60, double shooting combat unit that is faster and more mobile than the crossbowman, slightly cheaper than the crossbowman and can withdraw after shooting to make up for the disadvantage of only having one range. Recon units get a bad rep, but consider how strong the upgrade tree is before discounting them.

“Let them move after they shoot” Civ 5 Flashbacks to where that mechanic was on a unique unit and made it ridiculously strong

Informative video as always, thanks! @39:27 - Janissaries' need for Niter is counteracted by the Ottomans' unique building Grand Bazaar in that you get one more strategic resource gain in the city that has Niter, so it really synergizes well in its power window

Is a Leader tier list coming up? I’d like to see your take on that. The roasting of Tamar’s gonna be great

@PotatoMcWhiskey Finally someone that sees how the Brazilian Battleship is S tier. Rushing them was my easiest Deity win. I just blasted away every costal city on the map while the other civs even though ahead on tech were fighting with Frigates. Even when the other civs caugh up with my navy by then my Battleships were fully upgraded double attack 4 range monsters. Easiest deity win I had.

Every Civ iteration (besides the first) has always had the Zulus spamming Impi zerg rush style.

Ancient era units in general should also get a bump from the fact that they help get the era score for the first golden age, which is by far the hardest/most crucial to get. It’s also important to view units from the civ’s victory conditions. For example, hoplite, although not very useful offensively, is perfect in a Culture game to defend both from ai and horse barb attacks.

The thing about the unique scout units that are later on (Inca and Scotland UUs) is that you don't build them. You build a lot of scouts early on, try to get them as many promotions as you can and preserve them, and upgrade them. Normally one regards scouts as disposable, but if you keep them around with these civs you can have a probably not that large but nonetheless potent force later.

the Russian Cossacks should be higher. If it's used in the right hands it can eliminate any Nation right next to you it has similar abilities to the unique ability of Gran Colombia. It definitely doesn't deserve to be on the same rank as the British Redcoat

My issue with Civ - all the way back to the first one - is that fighting a war is so costly in production (and how much it drops you behind orher Civs) that the fun of battle barely exists for me. I always just avoid wars and fight a big one at the end. The only way I can kinda enjoy warring is on a lower difficulty setting and then it's far too easy.

I think a roman war bonus that often gets overlooked is their instant roads. Conquer the first border city, and from then on your invasion speeds up. Perhaps this should be mentioned in mistakes or something?

Thanks for making this! I'd be excited to see a Civ tier list from you at some point, with the understanding that it would take even more work. Its really interesting to hear you explain your reasoning for specific ratings and I hope you continue to make this kind of content.

You said this took you ages and that our responses to the others put you in a "very happy time" and so I just wanted to say thanks a ton for making these!! I find the insights super handy and Civ 6 has quickly become my most-played, and a part of that is definitely thanks to your content! Keep it up man 😊😊

To fix Horse archer: ignore zone of control, can move and attack in the same turn. Berserker: ignore zone of control, start with a promotion. Crouching tiger: Plus 10 combat strength when in a defensive improvement or district. Samurai: plus 5 combat strength when defending. Highlander: plus 1 range, double experience. Rough Rider: plus 1 range.

Plase rank city-states per victory type! Edit: Oh my god yes, I have been waiting for this my entire life. Btw, It would be ranking on a tier list with 5 columns per victory type and placing every cs on each column each time. Or do whatever you want lol. Nice vid of course!

Thank you for the time to making this list, altho with a lot of hours in Civ you get sort of a feeling for the unique units and their worth its nice to see them all in comparison to each other and even learn a few more things. I never valued the Basilian ship before, I may be able to get use out of it in the future. More to the violent nature of Gengis and Shaka than to my own preferences on the Corean Playstile I was forced into a couple of wars recently as Korea, including a Havacha Push and I have to say they make decent support and siege Units in an offensive War. They still do a decent amount of damage against walls, especially with a couple of promotions and general support. In my situation a total lifesaver because of no niter. The squishiness and the no attack after moving debuff makes them very venerable to City attack focus which often means sacrificing one or two. But there amazing attack as well as their decent melee defense still makes them a good offensive Unit. The cheap prices of the sevons allow Korea to have time to focus on war economic as well. If you would rush an AI early with those things they will easily thair down walls and units, altho Bombard support would be still adequate if possible. In my opinion B-Tier

Your "Minas Geraes" was actually pretty good, except the G ssounds more like the J in Janissary

The longship is my favorite unit in the game just for the ability to coastal raid. Playing a fractal map or archipelago map is a blast using the longship. It especially helps in wars, being able to pillage that many tiles early on is so useful in a war. It's not a bad idea to just declare war with a civ early without even wanting to fight them just so you can pillage them with one or two long ships.

Woot! Less than a minute since you posted. Glad I saw it. This is a video I've been hoping you'd make.

Great video! I’m loving these tier list videos

Thank you for putting this together. Appreciate the time it took you and learned alot from this.

there needs to be a religious unique unit, like a unique apostle or missionary

Personally, I would swap the Immortal and the Legion, the Immortal is just SO unique (the next non-recon unit capable of both melee and ranged attack in the giant death robot) that I can't place the Immortal anywhere but S tier.

Love to see you redo this tier list with the new unit patches

These lists are so great! I didn't even notice this was a 50 minute long video.

When playing Sumeria I don't even go for scouts (1 at most and bought if I can). Simply build 2-3 War Carts and go barb hunting. In barb heavy maps, the investment return is _insane_ .

The version of the Civilopedia is a little bit outdated. I have noticed that when I was trying to find the profiles for some units. For example, pikemen now cost 180 production in GS instead of 200. Thank you for posting this list, hope to see more.

Hey man love your content so much - didn't play civ 6 before watching your videos, only civ 5 You got me into the game, and I really really love it now, thanks so much man

Thanks for uploading! Been waiting for new videos

Potato is talking about Barbary corsair where he says "when you combine it with the raid card, The Great Lighthouse and a great admiral you basically get the equivalent of an anime super villian teleporting behind people's coastal improvements printing stupid amounts of gold and faith for you" that comment was so hilarious I'm still laughing whenevet it comes to my mind. Great work buddy!

When you play Spain you need to make your entire game plan based on the conquistador. You can give them 83 combat strength which will almost one shot everything else around you. 55 base +10 from a missionary +10 from crusader religious perk +4 from facing a civ with a different religion and the policy card that does the same for an additional+4 puts the conquistador stronger than tanks. I know that sounds impossible to achieve but I've done it in multiple games relatively easy. Just focus on religion and science and turtle up until you're ready to kill everything in your way. Convert like 2 or 3 cities but make sure your opponent stays a majority different religion or you won't get the plus 8. You can conquer half a continent in like 25 turns with just 6 conquistadors

Thanks for the video. Im always hyped for your content.

Great video and production again.

Don’t know if you’ve done one before but would love to see a tier list on all the Civs

This really helped, appreciate it a lot🤩 And, as a sidenote, dear goodness the Jannisary is OP, i have Steamrolled people, combined with a siege tower this thing is really good And another sidenote, i am really unhappy with the Seadog, i think there could be a better choice like, as an example, longbowmen as like a replacement for crossbowmen or something, but that might just be my opinion.

Writing this before I watch just to tell you how excited I get when I see you upload these teir lists. I immediately saved what I was doing grabbed my dog and ran to my bed to watch this under the covers for maximum focus. Keep doing what you do man you have genuine fans beacuse of it

Great content! Keep putting stuff like this out!!

You better be careful potato. Harald knows your seas are unprotected and will show you how good a Berserker can be.

Every body gangster until naval raider steals minas something or other

Never waited so long for a yt vid lol, worth it for this banging content

First video I’ve ever seen which is split into section and titles! So amazing!

Warakaq is honestly one of my favorite units BY FAR, its so fun to try to get your 1-3 early game scouts to level up and promote and survive and really value them, so that you can then upgrade them into warakaqs. I love Inca in the first place for their unique playstyle and once you have 2 or even just 1 warakaq with the ambush promotion it will DESTROY literally ANYTHING it sees, NOT a single unit from the era and not a single unit even from the industrial era stands a chance against this.. it is LITERALLY a 120!! Combat strengths unit at this point that does not take any damage when attacking! And even without the promotion it is still a 80 Combat strength unit. Used right it is very much the definiton of an OP unit.

Anyone remember the XCOM squads from Civ 5? I wish those were in Civ 6

This is a LOT of work to do! Thank you for doing this!

I appreciate all the work, effort, and energy you put into this! Really useful stuff!

Suggestion for future videos. Could you have the name of the thing you're talking about at the top? I keep having to go back to hear what its called

Can we just appreciate this has timestamps for all the units? Love the video

im a very new civ 6 player and i rly love your videos! it's cool to get some gameplay hints/ideas on civ 6. I bought Gathering Storms/other DLC bc of your videos haha

The segmenting of the video bar is neat and appreciated.

Hey spud. I love these lists

The Inka Skirmisher can get the double recon unite experience bonus from however that Millitary card was called. Let me tell you, having 60 combat strength units that can move up 2 tiles through hills, shoot twice and then move back is pretty funny in the medievel era. Also pretty easy to get them to ambush when fighting a defensive war, they get 14-16 experience a turn when double shooting when combined with the double experience card and a Barracks.

Is worth pointing out that both Greece (Gorgo) and Rome get UAs that give them lots of early culture, helping you get to Agoge and Oligarchy much more quickly, which syncs well with boosting their units

Thanks for taking the time to do this

My favorite thing about the Immortal is that, as a melee unit, it exerts zone of control This means you can besiege cities in an early war while dealing ranged damage, and therefore not taking damage yourself.

the warak'aq are just amazing. i understand that you don't really use them, but tried conquering with them once and it was amazing. you basically get a crossbowman that shoots twice a turn and have no penalty towards districts. i used 6 warak'aqs and a warrior to conquer my big rival with a much bigger army in something like 20 turns. they are just awsome.

A lot of work into this! Thanks a lot!

Absolutely love your content man. I would say since finding your videos my enjoyment of civ 6 and therefore the value of my purchase has increased exponentially. so thank you!!!!

When you do these tier lists, I'd love to hear which unit/wonder/etc. is the absolute best in the game (Pitati Archer for this list?) and which is the absolute worst.

Honestly it seems like the lion's share of the weight you give is based on the base unit and how important it is to overall game: how it's unlocked, cost, strength relative to era, expected time period of usefulness, promotion class, etc. And I can't really argue with that, since any non-ridiculous unique unit buffs on bad base units is the quintessential example of "polishing a turd." It'd be a crowded field (circa 50 total), but a tier list for base units might be a good resource for new players, and leads to some fun discussion of overall game shape and some little technical pleasures like promotion choices and different mixed military compositions.

Thanks for this upload really helpful for what game of leader in civ I’m going to play next

came for the content, stayed for the timeline chapter marks. So much work! Thanks for putting out these great videos

I just realized that there is only ONE aircraft unique unit in the game - surprising! And also no unique tank units...

I've never seen the timeline bar have named separators. It certainly makes it easier to find the specific units in this video, but it stopped sectioning at the Ottoman Barbary Corsair. Is that a production error, or something on RU-vid's end?

This was a great video and breakdown of the unique units. That must of taken alot of time to organize all of this and I appreciate it! Potato McWhiskey you belong in the "S" tier

I've really enjoyed your tier videos. Thanks for all the time you put into them. On future lists I would love to see tougher rating scales. When 40% of the units/wonders/civs are S or A tier, then it's hard to judge their relative power level. A tougher scale would give a more normalized distribution. S tier: ~4 units/wonders/civs A tier: ~7 units/wonders/civs B tier: ~9 units/wonders/civs C tier: ~10 units/wonders/civs D tier: ~9 units/wonders/civs E tier: ~7 units/wonders/civs F tier: ~4 units/wonders/civs Cheers! :)