Civilization 6: Secret Societies Guide (What They Are & How to Use Them) (2024)

Civilization 6’s new game mode for this month’s New Frontier Pass introduces 4 Special Societies to the game that the player can discover and ally with. These groups operating from the shadows bestow powerful bonuses and unique buildings and units to civilizations that join them. This game mode is only available to those who have either the Rise and Fall or The Gathering Storm expansion, as secret societies requires mechanics introduced in these expansions to function.

Related: Civilization 6: How to Play as the Mayans

Only 1 secret society can be picked per game, so players must choose wisely before they commit to one. But which underworld group is the best to pick? This guide will look at how to join one of these secret societies, as well as explain their benefits so players can narrow down which one is right for their civilization.

How to find and join Civilization 6’s Secret Societies

In order to join a secret society, players must first find a member for initiation. It’s at random, but they can be found after clearing a barbarian encampment, exploring a tribal village, discovering a natural wonder, or meeting a city-state for the first time. These are all things the players normally do in Civilization, except with the secret societies mode there’s an added bonus: the chance to discover a hidden organization! Building scouts early has always been an important strategy in Civilization 6, but it’s even more important in this game mode to meet the secret societies as early as possible. The sooner they’re met, the sooner players can benefit from their unique bonuses. Not only that but meeting new societies reveals which civilizations are allied with them.

Once players have met a society, they’re given a governor title. This can be used to recruit the society, which shows up in the governor screen. However, once a society has been chosen, players can’t back out; they’re committed to that society for the rest of the game. It’s important to know what kinds of bonuses each society grants, and which one compliments the player’s civilization the best, so joining the first one that’s met isn’t always the best option. To make the society stronger, players will need to invest their governor titles to upgrade them. What society players join also impacts diplomacy with foreign civilizations, as those a part of the same society will view each other more positively than those who aren't.

Civilization 6’s Secret Societies

There are 4 different societies players can join. Below is an overview of all 4, and what types of civilizations they benefit:

Sanguine Pact

These sunlight fearing militants that instill terror in others and aid aggressive players in their military endeavors. Those that ally with the Sanguine Pact receive a unique Vampire unit to help with their conquest. They gain more combat strength every time an enemy unit dies next to them and can be used over the course of the game thanks to their scaling base combat strength (based on the strongest unit the player has at that moment, which changes throughout the game). Vampires can each build 1 Vampire Castle, which serves as a defensive fort and has yields equal to all adjacent tiles. When placed correctly, this improvement is incredibly powerful! Civilizations that lean towards domination, like Scythia, will find powerful allies with the Sanguine Pact, and those with strong tile yields will make the most of their Vampire Castles. Players that aren’t going for domination might find the other societies more useful in the long run, but the Sanguine Pact are still worth checking out.

Owls of Minerva

An elite group of wealthy individuals that manipulate politics behind the scenes, players looking to improve their economy and engage in espionage will want to befriend this group. Owls of Minerva replace banks with Gilded Vaults, which grant bonus culture and increase trade route capacity if the city has a harbor (only 1 trade route capacity per city). This society will also add more government policy slots permanently, an economic and wildcard, letting players have more flexible governments throughout the game. This secret society is a solid pick for every victory type as any play style can benefit from its bonuses. Every civilization could use more gold and government slots, but civilizations that gain bonuses from trade routes, like Egypt and the Mali, will appreciate these bonuses the most.

Hermetic Order

Founded by alchemists, the Hermetic Order is a group that advances research in unorthodox ways. Joining them lets players see the unique Ley Line oddity, a resource on the map that makes adjacent districts stronger and grants bonus yields later in the game based on how many Great People the player has earned. Their unique university, the Alchemical Society, grants bonus production and great merchant points in addition to the usual science yields. Players seeking a science victory will appreciate this boon, and because science progression is important for every game of Civilization, so will most other civilizations in the game. Those that have a knack for recruiting Great People, like Brazil and Sweden, will have stronger Ley Lines, so consider joining the Hermetic Order when playing those civs.

Voidsingers

A cult that worships an ancient god from the dark depths, this society grants several faith-based bonuses. The Old God Obelisk, which replaces the monument, grants 4 faith and a slot for any great work. This means that players will have an easier time finding places to display their great works, like paintings and relics, as Theater Square buildings and certain wonders are normally the only way to exhibit them. Voidsingers will eventually grant bonus culture, science, and gold equivalent to how much faith a city yields (20%), making them especially handy for civilizations that yield a lot of faith. They also grant their allies a Cultist unit later in the game, during the Industrial era, that can sap away a little loyalty from enemy cities, which makes them more likely to rebel. Cultists also provide a relic once all their uses are used up. Relics are normally hard to obtain, so civilizations that gain bonuses from relics, like Kongo, Khmer, and Poland, will want to ally with the Voidsingers to take advantage of their abilities more often. Any civilization that focuses on religion should highly consider allying with this secret society to make their faith game even stronger.

Next: Civilization 6: How to Play as Gran Colombia

Civilization 6is available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One