Civilization 5 Units Guide
Military Unit Types, Promotions, and Strategies for Brave New World
| Melee | Ranged | Siege | Mounted & Armor | Naval | Aircraft & Missiles |
| War & Peace | Combat Bonuses & Penalties | Fighting Wars & Capturing Cities | Annexing, Razing, & Puppeting |
It also displays XP progress toward Great Generals and Admirals. Press F3 to access.
This Guide covers all Military Unit Types in Civilization 5 Brave New World. UUs are covered elsewhere: Click to learn about Unique Units in Civ 5. All UUs are special variants of these Units, so it is not necessary to cover them in two places.
Combat Experience, Upgrades, Earning Promotions and Gaining Levels
Through training by being built in Cities that have Barracks, Armories, and War Academies, Units may earn Experience Points (XP) when initially created. These three buildings give +15XP each. The Brandenburg Gate Wonder gives another +15XP bringing it to 60, while an Autocracy Tenet could see your Units starting with a whopping 75XP! With 60 XP, you get enough to choose 3 Promotions right when a Unit is built or purchased. Units gain the following experience from attacking and defending in combat:
- Melee: Warrior to Infantry, Anti-Tank Guns and Mechanized Infantry - 5XP when Attacking (including Cities), 4XP when Defending against Melee, 2XP when Defending against Ranged Attacks.
- Ranged: Archer to Bazooka, Ranged Cavalry UUs or Chariot Archer, and Artillery/Catapults - 2XP when Attacking, 3XP when Attacking Cities, 4XP when Defending against Melee, 2XP when Defending against Ranged Attacks (including Cities).
- Mounted & Armor Units: Horsemen to Giant Death Robot - 5XP when Attacking, 4XP when Defending against Melee, 2XP when Defending against Ranged/Air Attacks. Note that Helicopter Gunships may not capture Cities, although their attacks can still weaken them. That would be a bit overpowered because of their extremely high mobility.
- Naval Melee: Trireme to Destroyer - 5XP when Attacking, 4XP when Defending against Melee, 2XP when Defending against Ranged/Air Attacks
- Naval Ranged: Galley to Battleships and Missile Cruisers - 2XP when Attacking, 3XP when Attacking Cities, 4XP when Defending against Melee, 2XP when Defending against Ranged/Air Attacks. Note that Submarines may not Attack Cities.
- Aircraft: Triplanes to Jet Fighter, all types of Missiles, Bombers and Anti-Aircraft Guns - 4XP when Attacking (including Cities), 2XP when Fighters Intercept enemy Aircraft.
So, any Military action your unit takes part in will grant XP. This Experience is used to Promote the Unit, and does not vary by Unit type. However, the highest level a Unit can achieve is based upon the number of Promotions available to it at that time. Units passing this level will only receive the option to heal instantly when damage, which on a heavily-promoted Unit is certainly a valuable Promotion if it has become even slightly damaged from combat. Each time you reach a new level threshold with a maxed out unit, you'll again get the option to heal instantly when damaged. The amount of Promotions a Unit can gain is based on how long that Unit has been in service and what type it is, along with what type it's been in the past. Units like the Helicopter Gunship can only gain 8 levels when initially built by a City, but if upgraded from Anti-Tank Guns will be able to go all the way to level 21 and beyond because of the massive number of upgrades available to both Units combined. Therefore, Units that survive throughout the ages and pick up Promotions that will be helpful to the Unit to which they are going to Upgrade in a later Era will be more powerful than those newly-introduced Units created out of a City. Units gain promotions at the following Experience point totals:
| Unit Experience Level Reqs - See below for thresholds for higher Level Units | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1: 10 XP | Level 2: 30 XP | Level 3: 60 XP | Level 4: 100 XP |
| Level 5: 150 XP | Level 6: 210 XP | Level 7: 280 XP | Level 8: 360 XP |
| Level 9: 450 XP | Level 10: 550 XP | Level 11: 660 XP | Level 12: 780 XP |
| Level 13: 910 XP | Level 14: 1050XP | Level 15: 1200 XP | Level 16: 1360 XP |
As previously stated, Units may pass level 16 and even further if there are enough Promotions available. You can make some truly Godlike Units if you manage to keep them alive throughout the ages, provided they see heavy combat (Warmongering or Defending against many Wars). It's not hard to see a pattern here. The Formula for Level Experience requirements is Previous Level Cost + Next Level x 10 so, to gain level 17 the previous level cost is 1360 Xp. Multiplying 17x10 gives 170, so the adding that to 1360, the amount of Experience needed to achieve level 17 is 1530 XP and Level 18 would be (1530 + (18x10)) = 1710 XP. It is rare that Units will reach such high levels, and a few Promotions may cease to function for them depending on the situation. Hopefully the subsequent pages in this Unit Guide can help you to make intelligent decisions based on that information.
Military Overview & Great Generals and Great Admirals
Great Generals and Admirals are earned through this XP. You can see the progress toward earning them by viewing the Military Overview Screen, which also lists all Units to help you track down a lost Unit set to Auto-Explore or examine the composition of your Military. You can easily access the Military Overview screen through the drop down menu at the top right of your screen or by pressing F3.
Combat Strength and Damage Calculations
Units take and deal damage based on their Combat Strength, which can be increased by Promotions or decreased by various factors such as an Unhappy Empire. You will always take at least 1 damage when melee attacking (but not Ranged), with a huge advantage that damage will be minimal. Combat Strength is determined for each Unit based on Modifiers such as Terrain Bonuses and Promotions the Unit has gained through Combat Experience and Leveling Up.
As you can see in the Screenshot above, the Helicopter Gunship has Promotions from both being an Anti-Tank Gun and fully-Promoted Gunship. These have stacked to give the Unit a 214.8 Combat Strength, double that of the Modern Armor it's attacking. The CS of the Gunship is over triple its usual thanks to combat bonuses, and as a result it will deal much more damage to the Tank while taking less. While I do not know the exact damage formula, in general it's sufficient for players to know that bonuses are combined additively - so the total Bonus for the Gunship is 258% + 100% (its base) for 358%. Multiply that by its normal CS of 60 and you get 214.8 CS. When compared to the 90 CS (100 -10%) for the Modern Armor, it's easy to see how the Gunship will severely damage the higher base-strength Modern Armor despite its initial advantage. Modifiers from Promotions can dramatically change the outcome of combat in this way. If you want an idea how damage is calculated and are math-savvy, follow this link, but note that is based on Vanilla Civ 5 and things may have changed a bit since Gods and Kings, Brave New World, and all the patches in between. Ultimately, knowing how Combat Strength is calculated and making wise moves while at War will be enough for most Civ players to succeed.
Combat and Movement Bonuses Often Stack Upon Upgrade
As Units change type throughout the Eras, they may gain additional bonuses that still work. For example, an Anti-Tank Gun with several Promotions upgraded to a Helicopter Gunship can have multiple bonuses vs Armor, as there are different types of Bonuses that accomplish the same while these different Combat Bonuses do stack. Units that switch from Ranged to Melee or vice/versa may be upgraded to have both Blitz and Logistics for 3 Attacks. A Pikeman can earn the Woodsman Promotion, which allows it to move double through Forest - this Promotion is unavailable to Cavalry unless chosen while it is a Pikeman. When upgraded to a Lancer, it will retain this Promotion and continue moving through Forest at double rate (costing 1 move instead of 2). While I will not cover literally every example of these combinations that work (there are far, far too many Upgrades in Civ 5), you can use this information to make educated decisions when Promoting units that you know will be soon Upgraded to a more advanced variant.
Pillaging
Land and Naval Units can pillage Tile Improvements to heal 25 life and get Gold from enemy lands. Do this to cut off Food/Luxury/Strategic Resources and harm their Empire. This collateral damage can cause them to go into Unhappiness or suffer Combat Penalties.
Production-Focused Cities: You can get a +15% Production boost for Naval Units with Seaports, and all Land Units can be produced 15% faster with a Forge. However, Forges require Iron to be nearby. When you have the opportunity, focus a City like this on Production. Get its Population up with an internal Food Trade route while giving it plenty of Mines/Quarries/Lumber Mills. It should also have the Heroic Epic (for Barracks in all Cities) to give those Units the Morale Promotion for +15% Combat Strength. Adding a Stable will let you produce Mounted Units even faster, for they will receive the bonus from the Forge and Stable at once.
I learned from some playtesting that land-based Melee (sword/spear) and Cavalry are the only Units that can get 2 Production bonuses: from a Forge + Warrior Code in the case of Melee, and Forge + Stable for Cavalry. Ships do not count as melee even though their attacks may be, same goes for Cavalry - so they don't benefit from Warrior Code. Therefore, with the right buildings you can get a 30% Production Bonus for Cavalry, 30% for Melee, 15% Naval. Thankfully, Forges work for Land units even in the Information era. This, along with Seaport is displayed as +15% bonus for Unit domain. Other bonuses are displayed as for Unit Class.
Of course, this ignores any Production bonuses you get from Ideological Tenets, which will add to the Production of these Units. You can learn more about that below, or simply see the guide to Ideologies and browse Tenets.
Faith Purchasing
You can purchase Pre-Industrial Land Units with Faith if you take the Holy Warriors Follower Belief. Units cost 10x their Production Cost in Faith. This is a handy belief for Warmongering Wide empires. Production Cost is listed for every Unit type on those individual pages, so add a 0 to the cost to know the Faith cost. Completing Piety allows you to choose a Reformation Belief. Picking Religious Fervor will let you buy Post-Industrial Land Units. Religious beliefs can also grant Combat Bonuses near Enemy/Friendly Cities that follow your Religion.
Social Policies, Religious Beliefs, and Ideological Tenets that Boost Military
One of the best places to look to improve your Military is the Honor Social Policy Tree. There, you can earn a Free Great General, boosts to production of any unit that counts as Melee (swinging a weapon, but not gunpowder), and 50% extra Experience from all Combat (even while Defending). While the +15% Adjacent Unit bonus is helpful, one of the best Policies here is one that reduces the Gold cost of Upgrading Military. You will also gain +2 Culture and +1 Happiness for having a Garrison (unit stationed in the City). This will help with Border expansion and may offset Unhappiness that stacks up quickly when you are Warmongering or playing Wide. Finishing the tree grants Gold from kills, which can be incredibly helpful in allowing you to upgrade your Units or purchase Buildings and City-State Alliances.
Adopting the Exploration Social Policy will give your Naval Units extra Sight and Movement. Also, there is +3 Production in Coastal Cities to aid in producing your Navy.
As for Ideological Tenets, there are useful Policies in all three Ideologies. The best for Warmonger gameplay and boosting your Units by far is Autocracy, as its primary focus is boosting your Empire's Military and even grating Happiness for many Military buildings. You will find reduced Gold costs for purchasing Units, improved damage from Wounded units, and faster Production of Military Units along with +15 starting Experience. Look to the Ideology Guide to learn more about Tenets that may be helpful, depending on your playstyle and the situation in the game.
On to the Unit Guides!
Special Unit Promotions will be discussed within the Guides to those Unit Types to avoid this Guide growing too large and allow people to submit comments relevant to each class of Unit. I feel no need to cover every Promotion in the game, but will focus on those Promotions that stand out. Look to the next parts of this Guide to learn more about each type of Unit in Civilization 5: Brave New World.
| Melee | Ranged | Siege | Mounted & Armor | Naval | Aircraft & Missiles |
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I have a guide to Warmongering planned, where I'll talk more about strategies and condense some of the information from these pages, while providing some extra tips.