The Sanguine Pact is one of the most aggressive Secret Societies in Civilization VI, providing players with unique military advantages that can help them dominate the battlefield. This Secret Society is all about warfare, leveraging the power of vampires, and building up a terrifying military presence to expand your empire. While it might not always be the best choice for every game, the Sanguine Pact shines in scenarios where you want to adopt a militaristic approach to victory. This article will explore how to make the most of the Sanguine Pact, from early game strategies to maximizing its abilities in the late game.
Why the Sanguine Pact Is Powerful
The Sanguine Pact focuses on military strength and rapid conquest. By incorporating vampires into your army, you gain powerful units that can quickly become some of the most formidable forces in the game. With unique structures and bonuses that reward aggressive expansion, the Sanguine Pact is an ideal choice for players aiming for a Domination Victory. Let’s break down each of their abilities to understand how they work and when they’re most effective.
1. Vampires (First Promotion): Unleash the Undead
The first and most iconic benefit of the Sanguine Pact is the ability to recruit Vampire units. These units scale in strength with your army and can become incredibly powerful over time.
Strengths:
- Scaling Combat Strength: Vampires start with the same combat strength as the strongest unit in your military and increase in power as you acquire more powerful units. This means they can always keep pace with your military’s strength, making them useful from the ancient era to the endgame.
- Free Movement and Healing: Vampires have the ability to heal fully when they defeat an enemy unit, and they can teleport between Vampire Castles (unlocked with later promotions), allowing them to reinforce your armies quickly across vast distances.
- Invulnerability to Death: Vampires don’t die when they lose in combat. Instead, they retreat to your capital and can be redeployed, making them nearly impossible to lose permanently.
Weaknesses:
- Limited Quantity: You start with only one vampire, and additional vampires are earned through promotions, making them a scarce but powerful resource.
- Dependence on Military Strength: Vampires are only as strong as your most powerful unit, meaning if you fall behind in military technology, their effectiveness is significantly reduced.
When to Use: Vampires excel in games where you plan to be aggressive and go to war frequently. They are ideal for capturing cities, defending key locations, and exploiting enemy weaknesses, especially in the early and mid-game.
2. Vampire Castle (Second Promotion): Boosting Yields with Blood and Ston
The second promotion allows you to construct Vampire Castles, which are unique improvements that can provide massive boosts to your empire’s yields by capturing the yields of adjacent tiles.
Strengths:
- Amazing Tile Yields: Vampire Castles copy the yields from adjacent tiles, allowing you to turn an otherwise average tile into one that produces incredible amounts of food, production, and more. This can supercharge your empire’s growth, production capabilities, or resource generation, depending on where you place them.
- Teleportation Points: Vampire Castles serve as teleportation points for your vampires, allowing you to move them quickly across your empire and keep them in action.
Weaknesses:
- Limited in Number: You can only build one Vampire Castle per vampire unit you control, meaning their number is capped.
- Strategic Placement Required: The value of a Vampire Castle is highly dependent on how well you place it, requiring careful planning to maximize their potential. You might need to sacrifice other tile improvements to achieve the best yields.
When to Use: Vampire Castles are best used in areas with multiple high-yield tiles to provide a significant economic boost to your empire. Placing them next to tiles with high food and production is a great way to supercharge your core cities, especially your capital.
3. Thirst (Third Promotion): Enhanced Combat and Vampiric Strength
The third-tier promotion enhances your vampires further, giving them combat bonuses for each unit killed in combat.
Strengths:
- Increasing Combat Power: Every time your vampire kills an enemy unit, it gains additional combat strength. This means that as your vampire racks up kills, it becomes even more formidable on the battlefield.
- Synergy with Aggressive Play: The more you engage in warfare, the stronger your vampires become, making them perfect for players who want to remain on the offensive.
Weaknesses:
- Combat Dependency: To gain the full benefit of this promotion, your vampire needs to be actively fighting and winning battles. If you find yourself in a prolonged period of peace, your vampires won’t reach their full potential.
- Vulnerable to Falling Behind: If you stop fighting or your army becomes outdated, your vampire might struggle to continue gaining strength.
When to Use: Thirst is best suited for games where you plan on staying at war for most of the game. It rewards you for maintaining a constant state of conflict and ensures that your vampires remain among the most powerful units in the game.
4. Ritual Sacrifice (Final Promotion): The Ultimate Show of Power
The final tier, Ritual Sacrifice, gives you a significant bonus in the form of extra production and loyalty in cities you conquer.
Strengths:
- Increased Loyalty: Captured cities gain loyalty, making it easier to hold onto cities you conquer, even deep within enemy territory.
- Production Boost: Conquering cities will provide a production boost, allowing you to quickly rebuild or repurpose captured cities for further expansion.
Weaknesses:
- Situational Use: This bonus is only useful when you’re actively conquering cities, meaning it has little impact during times of peace.
- Limited Economic Value: Unlike other secret societies that provide steady economic bonuses, Ritual Sacrifice only benefits you when you’re capturing cities.
When to Use: This promotion shines when you’re aiming for a Domination Victory, helping you maintain control of newly captured cities and providing the production needed to fuel your war machine.
How the Sanguine Pact Compares to Other Secret Societies
The Sanguine Pact is a unique choice that focuses almost exclusively on military might, setting it apart from the other Secret Societies:
- Voidsingers: Ideal for culture and faith victories, providing bonuses to both Great Works and relics, while the Sanguine Pact offers almost no help in these areas.
- Hermetic Order: Perfect for scientific victories, providing additional yields from Ley Lines that scale with Great People earned.
- Owls of Minerva: The most versatile Secret Society, with bonuses to trade, espionage, and economic policy cards, making them better for economic and diplomatic victories.
The Sanguine Pact is the best option for players who want to expand their empire aggressively and leverage their military strength. It offers little help in the areas of culture, science, or diplomacy, but when it comes to pure conquest, it’s unmatched.
When the Sanguine Pact Is the Best Secret Society
The Sanguine Pact shines in Domination Victory games, where you intend to focus on military expansion and the rapid conquest of enemy civilizations. Their vampires and Vampire Castles allow you to maintain a constant state of warfare, overpowering enemies with sheer might and capturing cities quickly. This society is perfect for civilizations like Mongolia, Germany, or Rome, who benefit from aggressive military playstyles.
Final Thoughts: Are the Sanguine Pact Right for Your Game?
The Sanguine Pact offers a bloodthirsty path to victory, excelling in games where you want to crush your opponents and expand your empire through sheer force. Vampires provide incredibly powerful units that can carry your military ambitions, while the Vampire Castles offer an unparalleled way to boost your economy.
However, if you’re aiming for a different type of victory—such as culture, science, or diplomacy—you may find that the Sanguine Pact doesn’t provide the necessary support to achieve those goals. They are a one-trick pony, but they execute that trick exceedingly well.
If you’re looking to conquer the world and revel in the chaos of battle, the Sanguine Pact will be your most loyal and deadly ally. Embrace the darkness, unleash your vampires, and let the bloodshed begin..