Espionage (Civ6)

Espionage is a game system in Civilization VI which allows undercover activities in other civilization's cities, such as stealing technologies, Gold or even Great Works. The system has been greatly expanded, compared to Civilization V: Gods & Kings, and is now pretty similar to the one from Civilization: Beyond Earth.

Espionage mechanics

Espionage becomes possible in the Industrial Era, thanks to Civics development. The Diplomatic Service Civic allows you to train your first Spy; and subsequent Civics (and the Computers tech) will allow you to maintain more than one. Note that you can always maintain a certain maximum number of Spies in your empire, similarly to Traders.

Spies

In Civilization VI Spies are almost like other units - they must be produced in cities (via the normal Production queue), and moved around. They could also get killed, or Captured. Note that you can never have more Spies then your current empire's development allows!

Spies take quite some time to produce, but this time may be halved with the Machiavellianism Social Policy. Also, each Spy has a unique name to help you distinguish him or her from his colleagues.

Spy activity

Spies act in cities. All cities you have already discovered (including your own) may serve as their targets, and what exactly they will do depends on the city you send them to.

Spies aren't moved like regular units; they jump from city to city using air, sea, road, or foot travel, each with their own travel time. You may send a spy to any city you have revealed, regardless of any actual physical constraints - they are clever, they will find a way. The only difference is how many turns they'll take to arrive to their destination. Whenever you are prompted to choose this destination, the dialogue will reveal all possible target cities, the districts they have, the time it will take to move there, and what possible Operations the Spy may undertake. Once established in a city, a spy can begin their mission.

Spy experience

Spies begin at the Recruit level and may gain levels from successful offensive operations or capturing an enemy spy. Upon reaching level 2, spies may also earn special promotions. These usually make them more effective at certain types of missions, or at remaining undetected during missions. The level of a Spy also increases his general chances of success at what he is doing. Here are the spy levels:

• Recruit (starting level)
• Agent
• Special Agent
• Secret Agent
• Master Spy

Mission Details

Espionage missions

When a Spy arrives at his Destination, he is offered a list of possible Missions. Their range depends on the Districts his destination city has. When you choose certain mission, a Mission Briefing screen will appear, listing the Mission duration, the chances of Success, Failure and the chance of the Spy being Captured or Killed.

There are some common missions which a Spy can always undertake:

• Gain sources
  • Location: City Center
  • Effect: Spies in this city operate at 2 levels higher for 24 turns.
• Listening post
  • Location: City Center
  • Effect: Increases Diplomatic visibility with this civilization by 1 rank.

The other possible missions depend, as mentioned above, on what Districts this city has. Each type of District (or at least most of them) allow a respective mission:

• Siphon Funds
  • Location: Commercial Hub
  • Effect: The Spy will steal the Gold income this District has accumulated for the duration of the mission. That means that richer cities/districts will yield more.
• Great Work Heist
  • Location: Theater Square
  • Effect: The Spy will attempt to steal a Great Work residing in the District. If there are no Great Works here, this Mission cannot be executed.
• Sabotage Production
  • Location: Industrial Zone
  • Effect: The Spy will sabotage (Pillage) all buildings existing in the District at the same time. The District itself is not sabotaged!
• Steal Tech boost
  • Location: Campus
  • Effect: The Spy will steal the Boost (this is the same as Eureka moment) for a technology you don't have yet. Cannot be executed if this civilization hasn't discovered any techs you don't have.
• Recruit Partisans
  • Location: Neighborhood
  • Effect: The Spy will cause some barbarian units to spawn around the city. These can be the very powerful mechanized infantry (depending on the age).
• Disrupt Rocketry
  • Location: Spaceport
  • Effect: The Spy will sabotage (Pillage) the Spaceport District. Any Science Victory project that city was currently undertaking would be postponed until that spaceport is repaired.

Finally, the Spy can be assigned to your own cities on Counterspying missions. You have to select further which particular District he will protect. Note that adjacent districts will also benefit from his vigilance. If an enemy Spy is acting in one of those Districts, there is a much higher chance than normal that he be caught.

Mission duration

All missions have uniform duration. Unlike Civilization V: Gods & Kings, there won't be large periods of time a spy will pass without apparently doing anything (such as going 60 turns trying to steal a tech). The missions now are quick, brutal and effective - the results will come much quicker, but the enemy will also have more chances to catch your spy. The above-mentioned Machiavellianism Policy may speed them up even more.

Mission failure

If for whatever reason your Spy doesn't manage to complete his mission successfully, there is a chance he will be discovered. If this happens, the target civilization's leader will become quite pissed off, and immediately demand you seize spying on them. He will also gain a Casus Belli against you.

Furthermore, there is a chance the Spy is not only discovered, but also fall under immediate danger of arrest. At this point you will be prompted to select an option for him to try and escape. There are four possible options, each one offering lesser possibility of success (that is, being more dangerous), but greater speed:

• Airplane (requires an Aerodrome District in this city) - The spy attempts to fly away. Very dangerous, because the police always watches Airports! But he will take only 1 turn to return to HQ.
• Ship (requires a Harbor District in this city) - The spy attempts to escape by ship. Quite dangerous, since the enemy police always watches ports too. He will return in 2 turns.
• Car (always available) - Somewhat dangerous, but the police usually has trouble watching all roads leading out of the city. The spy will return in 3 turns.
• On foot (always available) - Not very dangerous. Who can surround the entire city with agents? The spy will return, however, after 4 turns.

If the spy manages to escape, he will appear in your Capital Capital after the respective number of turns, ready for a new assignment. If he was discovered right after stealing something, he may have LOOT for you; otherwise he will return empty handed.

If not, however, he may be killed (at which point he leaves the game), or he may be captured and imprisoned. In a very Cold war-reality style, you can then attempt to exchange (trade) him and regain him. This is a very good option if he was a high-ranking Spy with lots of experience. Or, you can simply let go and train a replacement Spy!

Captured Spies

As mentioned above, Spies risk being captured by enemies. This may happened both when your spies act in foreign lands, and when foreign spies act in your lands. When a Spy is captured, he is thrown in jail, but not killed. His original owner could then offer to 'trade' with the nation who captured the spy, securing his release and return to active service. If the trade goes through, the Spy is immediately returned in its original owner's Capital Capital, ready for a new assignment. If not, the Spy is held indefinitely, but he can be traded for again at any time.

Strategy

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