The Hermetic Order is one of the most unique and random Secret Societies available in Civilization VI, providing some interesting and unconventional bonuses that can significantly impact your game. However, despite its potential, it’s often considered one of the weakest and most unreliable societies due to the randomness of its benefits. This article will explore how to use the Hermetic Order effectively, while also discussing why it might not be the most optimal choice for players aiming for a fast or consistent victory.
Understanding the Hermetic Order
The Hermetic Order focuses on leveraging Ley Lines, mysterious resources that only appear once you’ve joined the society. These Ley Lines provide adjacency bonuses to your districts and become more powerful as you recruit Great People. This society is best for players who enjoy adapting to unexpected situations and maximizing unconventional yields. However, its randomness means that you often have to work around obstacles rather than toward a clear path to victory.
1. Ley Lines (First Promotion): The Unpredictable Advantage
The Hermetic Order’s first promotion, Neophyte, unlocks Ley Lines, which are a unique feature visible only to you. These Ley Lines act as sources of adjacency bonuses, offering potential advantages for district placement.
Strengths:
- High Adjacency Potential: Ley Lines can occasionally provide incredible adjacency bonuses for districts, especially for Commercial Hubs, Campuses, and other districts that benefit from multiple adjacent tiles.
- Opportunity to Boost Production and Yields: If you happen to have Ley Lines near valuable resources, you can take advantage of higher yields, making them ideal for specialized cities.
Weaknesses:
- Random Placement: Ley Lines appear randomly on the map, meaning they might disrupt your carefully planned district layout or show up in unhelpful locations, like in the middle of your existing districts or on tundra tiles.
- Limited Control: You have little say in where Ley Lines will be, so you might find yourself forced to adapt your strategy to incorporate them, which can be frustrating if they don’t align with your original plans.
When to Use: Ley Lines are most beneficial when they appear in clusters or in areas where you already planned to build important districts. However, because of their randomness, they’re not a reliable foundation for your strategy.
2. Alchemical Society (Second Promotion): A Unique University Replacement
The Hermetic Order’s second promotion unlocks the Alchemical Society, which replaces the University in your cities. This building offers a mix of bonuses, including extra gold, production, and Great Person points.
Strengths:
- Extra Yields: The Alchemical Society provides +2 production, +1 Great Engineer point, and +1 Great Merchant point, which is a nice bonus over the standard University. It also generates gold based on the Campus adjacency bonus.
- Synergy with Ley Lines: If you manage to place a high-adjacency Campus near Ley Lines, the Alchemical Society can be a decent source of gold, adding extra value to your science districts.
Weaknesses:
- Underwhelming Benefits: The +2 production is fairly insignificant compared to the yields provided by other Secret Societies, and the Great Engineer and Merchant points, while nice, won’t dramatically affect your game. The gold bonus often comes too late to be impactful, especially if you’re focusing on a fast victory.
- Opportunity Cost: This building is unlocked in the Medieval Era, around turn 80-90, meaning that its benefits are often overshadowed by other priorities, such as building more campuses, theater squares, or other game-winning districts.
When to Use: The Alchemical Society is most useful in cities with high Campus adjacency bonuses, but in most cases, its benefits are minimal compared to what other Secret Societies offer at this stage of the game.
3. Great Person Boost (Third Promotion): Ley Lines Get a Power-Up
The Hermetic Order’s third-tier promotion enhances the Ley Lines, granting them yields for each Great Person you’ve recruited. This sounds like a significant boost, but it has several caveats.
Strengths:
- Scaling Power: As you recruit more Great People, your Ley Lines will become increasingly valuable, potentially turning them into powerful tiles that provide food, production, culture, and more.
- Great in Long Games: If you’re playing a long game with plenty of Great People, these tiles can generate impressive yields that boost your empire’s growth.
Weaknesses:
- Late Impact: By the time you unlock this ability (typically between turns 160-180 on Deity), you should already have a strong lead in your game. The extra yields are often unnecessary if you’re already ahead, meaning this boost might be too little, too late.
- Dependent on Great People: If you haven’t been actively recruiting Great People, your Ley Lines will remain weak, limiting the impact of this promotion.
When to Use: This promotion shines in games where you’re focused on acquiring as many Great People as possible. However, if you’re not actively pursuing Great People, this ability will likely feel lackluster and insignificant.
4. Occult Research (Final Promotion): The Most Disappointing City Project
The final promotion of the Hermetic Order unlocks Occult Research, a city project that generates gold and Great People points while active, as well as providing additional science for every Ley Line within the city’s radius.
Strengths:
- Additional Great Person Points: Occult Research can help generate extra Great Person points, which might be helpful if you’re competing with other civilizations.
- Gold and Science Boosts: The project provides some extra gold and science, which could be useful for maintaining momentum in the late game.
Weaknesses:
- Late Unlock: This promotion is unlocked in the Atomic Era, around turn 200 or later. By this point, most games are nearing completion, meaning these bonuses come far too late to be impactful.
- Underwhelming Impact: The yields from Occult Research are small compared to the other options available, and dedicating city production to this project is often a waste when you could be focusing on more important tasks, like running Space Race projects or building units.
When to Use: Occult Research might be worth activating if you have nothing else to do in the late game, but it’s not a game-changer and is often too little, too late to influence the outcome of your match.
How the Hermetic Order Compares to Other Secret Societies
The Hermetic Order is often the least popular Secret Society for good reason. It’s highly dependent on randomness and late-game bonuses, making it difficult to rely on for a quick victory:
- Voidsingers: Ideal for culture and faith victories, providing bonuses to Great Works and relics that can generate massive tourism or faith yields.
- Sanguine Pact: Focused on military strength, with vampires and Vampire Castles that can help you dominate the battlefield.
- Owls of Minerva: Offers versatile economic and espionage bonuses, making it the go-to society for players looking for flexible strategies.
Compared to these societies, the Hermetic Order feels too unpredictable and underwhelming to be a consistently viable choice.
When the Hermetic Order Might Be the Best Secret Society
The Hermetic Order can work well in Great People-focused games where you aim to recruit as many Great People as possible. Civilizations like Greece, Russia, or Germany that naturally excel at Great Person generation can take advantage of the society’s benefits. However, even in these scenarios, other societies often offer more consistent and impactful bonuses.
Final Thoughts: Is the Hermetic Order Worth Your Time?
The Hermetic Order is a fun and unique Secret Society, but its benefits are simply too random and late-game-focused to be reliable. Ley Lines can provide fantastic boosts, but their randomness often disrupts your plans more than it helps. The Alchemical Society and Occult Research offer interesting bonuses but arrive too late to significantly impact most games.
For players who enjoy the thrill of adapting to random circumstances and maximizing unconventional yields, the Hermetic Order can be an entertaining choice. However, if you’re aiming for a fast and efficient victory, you’ll likely find more success with other Secret Societies.
Ultimately, the Hermetic Order is a gamble—sometimes it pays off, but more often than not, you’re better off choosing a more consistent and reliable Secret Society for your path to victory.