Diplomatic Favor (Civ6)

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Diplomatic Favor (sometimes called Favor for short) is a new type of special currency in Civilization VI: Gathering Storm. It represents your state influence power before other leaders in the world and is used mainly in the World Congress.

Use

It can be said that Diplomatic Favor and City-State Influence are the two sides of the same coin: diplomatic power. But while Influence (and the agents that channel it - the Envoy Envoys) represent a simpler type of diplomatic power, designed to serve with minor civilizations, Diplomatic Favor represents the high-level maneuvers used to manipulate other major leaders, and that ultimate diplomatic body, the World Congress, where these leaders battle for supremacy.

Diplomatic Favor is used to 'purchase' additional votes during every session of the Congress. The more Favor a civilization has amassed, and decides to spend, the more votes it will be able to field for a particular Resolution, Treaty or any other necessary decision. Given the huge implications certain Resolutions may have for a nation, depending on their current state and goals, the ability to swing a vote in their favor may mean the difference between victory and defeat. And ultimately, each nation will be able to win Diplomatic Victory points and head towards the brand new Diplomatic Victory!

Of course, with so much at stake, it is no wonder that leaders start 'trading' Diplomatic Favor as they would commodities or Gold. Thus, trading between leaders is the second main use for Diplomatic Favor. In fact, since the World Congress doesn't start meeting before the Medieval Era, and trading may happen as soon as you meet a leader, trading Favor well precedes using it for its primary purpose!

Earning diplomatic favor

Diplomatic Favor is earned mainly through government activity and high-level cooperation with other game entities. Note that the keyword here is cooperation: those warmongers who only think about conquest will have much fewer opportunities to earn Favor (and in fact may discover they are losing favor!). Thus, a player who aims to influence world affairs through the World Congress should also aim to conduct (largely) peaceful policies in the interest of everyone - the true basis for a Diplomatic Victory.

There are three main sources of Diplomatic Favor, which provide a steady income:

1. Governments. Each type of government provides a number of points of Diplomatic Favor equal to its tier each turn. For example, Monarchy is a Tier 2 government and provides 2 points of Diplomatic Favor per turn, while Democracy, a Tier 3 government, provides 3 points per turn. This is the most reliable and steady source of Diplomatic Favor.
2. Suzerainty. Being the Suzerain of any city-state provides +1 point/turn per city-state. It can be increased to 2 points/turn per city-state if you have the Országház Wonder. Of course, this trickle is lost as soon as you lose the Suzerain status.
3. Alliances. Having an Alliance provides points per turn depending on the level of Alliance. Again, points are awarded for each separate active Alliance.

You can also win (or lose) Diplomatic Favor by trading with other leaders, as shown above.

Additionally, Diplomatic Favor may be earned in a number of other special cases:

• The Pagoda religious building provides +1 Diplomatic Favor/turn; this is a steady trickle.
• When you liberate a city and return it to its original owner you earn a lump sum of Favor;
• When you score well enough in Scored Competitions initiated through the World Congress; again you earn lump sums;
• When you complete the Carbon Recapture project;
• Every time you make a diplomatic promise to another leader, for example when he asks you not to spy on him/her, or not to convert his cities anymore, and you accede.

Losing diplomatic favor

After the Antarctic Late Summer Update you can also lose Diplomatic Favor each turn! There are two main cases when this happens:

• When you have inflicted too many Grievances Grievances on other players. Now the other leaders' disapproval of your warmongering will be expressed not only via relationship penalties, but also by inflicting a negative Diplomatic Favor flow per turn. It stands to reason that the more Grievances Grievances you've inflicted, the greater the negative penalty will be (it could reach as much as -10/turn).
• When you're producing too much CO₂. In this case your blatant disregard for the planet's future will also cause a negative flow in Favor, since you're perceived to threaten the whole of humanity on an entirely different level. You will receive -1/turn Diplomatic Favor penalty for every 3 pollution point higher than average. This penalty caps at 20.
• With the May 2020 update, you additionally receive a -5/turn Diplomatic Favor penalty for each Original Capital city you occupy.

Each turn your positive and negative Favor sources are compared, and the difference is applied to your current Favor pot. It is fully possible that you have a negative favor rate, in which case you will get stuck at 0 Favor until you manage to do something to earn a lump sum. Which will eventually dissipate again.

Strategy

Diplomatic Favor is the key to the World Congress! If you have no accumulated Favor, then you will only have a single vote for each item on the Congress' agenda, which all but guarantees resolutions will always go against you. Even the most callous and powerful player may find it difficult to deal with all possible damages this will inflict.

You have two main ways to get Favor: earning it through normal accumulation, or buying it through Trade. Under normal circumstances earning some Favor per turn shouldn't be a problem; this however, changes when you reach the Industrial Era and pollution penalties kick in. Unless you're a 'green maniac' (you know, using only Hydroelectric Dams, or no Power at all) you will be polluting, and this means you will get negative Favor flow. Some Suzerain bonuses and an Alliance or two will easily offset this, though.

Much more difficult is to counter the Capital occupation penalty, especially for domination players. They will lose -5 favor per each capital they control, which quickly adds up to all but impossible penalty. But even for a normal player who had won an early war and conquered a single capital, it may turn impossible to get a positive Favor flow, especially when carbon emissions penalty is added! So, consider well if you want to conquer Capital cities at all - the price to pay may turn out to be too high, especially if you're striving for a Diplomatic victory!

Fortunately, you can always go the second way and buy Favor. That is, if you maintain some relations with someone. But hey! If you're a domination monster, you should be bathing in riches, and even your most bitter enemies will agree to sell you some Favor for exuberant sums of money!

And if neither accumulation or trade work, there's always chance to win Competitions for some Favor. Try to use it before it trickles out due to negative flow, though.