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The Hermetic Order is one of four Secret Societies in Civilization VI, exclusive to the Secret Societies game mode, introduced in the Ethiopia Pack. They are comprised of unorthodox scientists and alchemists. Their work focuses on Science Science, Great Person Great People, and resources.

Introduction[]

Hermetic Order (Civ6)

Hermetic Order icon

A wandering mystic appears at your palace. His body is covered in writing of a kind that you have never seen before; the symbols even seem to shine of their own accord. He begins to lecture your courtiers about the hidden alchemical properties of matter: about how mercury can be induced to flow towards the sound of birdsong, how elemental sulfur can be rendered out of sacred texts, and about the hidden resonance of certain stones in moonlight. He asks you, "do you, too, seek to know the true nature of things?"

After Joining[]

Much that was hidden to you is now revealed. Matter is vibrant: metal and stone thrum with secret influences, starlight can be focused to illuminate essential fluids, and the earth itself pulses with energy and light. An entire wing of the palace is a bustle of alchemical activity, and you have learned to live with the occasional explosion.

Overview[]

Similar to the other Secret Societies, Hermetic Order membership lasts the entire game. Once joined, players will unlock a new Governor with four unique titles. This Governor operates on a national scale, thus granting bonuses to the entire empire without being assigned to a city.

Hermetic Order membership reveals Ley Line Ley Lines, a new map resource. They give major adjacency bonuses to District District and grant bonus yields whenever a Great Person Great Person is earned. Members can also build the Alchemical Society, a University replacement that has all of the base University effects, plus extra Great Merchant Great Merchant points, Great Engineer Great Engineer points, increased Production Production, and Gold Gold.

The Hermetic Order's base chance of sending an invitation after you discover a Natural Wonder is 100%. However, as with other societies, this chance will get slightly smaller with every other civilization that joins this society (meaning "popular" societies will be less likely to send you an invitation).

Titles[]

Promotion Title Unlocked by Effect
Neophyte Discover a Natural Wonder (100% chance). Reveals the Ley Line Ley Line resource on the map.

Ley Line Ley Lines give a major adjacency bonus to all specialty districts.

Adept Reach the Medieval Era. Allows you to construct the Alchemical Society, a powerful replacement of the University.
Magus Reach the Industrial Era. For every Great Person Great Person earned, Ley Line Ley Lines receive +1 yield equal to that Great Person Great Person's district type. Great Admiral Great Admirals and Great General Great Generals earn +1 Science Science.
Aiwass Reach the Atomic Era Unlocks Occult Research, a city project that provides Gold Gold while active. When completed, it grants Great Person Great People points, and Science Science for every Ley Line Ley Line in the city.

Strategy[]

The Hermetic Order is by far the least reliable of the four Secret Societies, despite being substantially improved by the buffs to Ley Line Ley Lines and changes to their spawn locations. Their bonuses kick in and peak much later into the game compared to the other three societies, and they revolve heavily around Ley Line Ley Lines, a new resource that only their members can see. The glaring issue with Ley Line Ley Lines is that you have no idea where they are or how many of them are available near your location until after you accept the invitation to join. In a single-player game, you can reload a save game if the Ley Line Ley Line spawn is unfavorable to you, but in a multiplayer game, there's no going back. Furthermore, for four eras straight, Ley Line Ley Lines are little more than dead tiles that take up space in your empire, have no yields, and cannot be improved. They do provide a major adjacency bonus to every district built nearby, but that hardly justifies picking the Hermetic Order when you consider what the Initiation bonuses for the other three societies are. Come the Industrial Era, Ley Line Ley Lines can grant a lot of yields based on how many Great Person Great People you've earned, but if you've earned so many Great Person Great People that each Ley Line Ley Line is overflowing with yields, you're most likely winning the game by such a large margin that the number of Ley Line Ley Lines in your territory is irrelevant. It's a classic case of a "win-more" factor: if you're winning, it helps you win faster, but it's definitely not impactful enough to turn a losing game around. And again, that doesn't take into account how many Ley Line Ley Lines you own, which is entirely dependent on map generation!

The Hermetic Order's Alchemical Society is also less impactful than the Voidsingers' Old God Obelisk and the Owls of Minerva's Gilded Vault. It has two main selling points over the University it replaces: it grants Gold Gold based on the adjacency bonus of its Campus, and it grants 1 Great Engineer Great Engineer point and 1 Great Merchant Great Merchant point. Compared to the Gilded Vault's Culture Culture bonus, the Gold Gold bonus is quite a bit worse. Ignoring the fact that generally 1 Culture Culture is worth more than 1 Gold Gold, even if you play as Korea and can easily build a Seowon with a +4 adjacency bonus, that extra 4 Gold Gold is only enough to pay the maintenance cost of the district, the Library, and the Alchemical Society itself. Most other civilizations have a much harder time building Campuses with a +4 adjacency bonus, so the only thing the Alchemical Society consistently has going for it is an extra Great Engineer Great Engineer point and Great Merchant Great Merchant point - which, while helpful, still pale in comparison to all the bonuses other societies reward their members with the Ritual title.

Recommended civilizations[]

Without Great Person Great People, Ley Line Ley Lines are dead tiles that you want to avoid more than use as leverage for your empire. Any civilizations/leaders which have the ability to generate a lot of Great Person Great People, or a unique district which they want to build in every city to earn Great Person Great People points, can work decently well with the Hermetic Order. The most notable ones are Sweden, Brazil, Scotland, Russia, and Greece, and Gran Colombia's guaranteed Comandante Generales give them an edge in getting more Science Science from Ley Line Ley Lines. Colonialist and naval civilizations such as England and Phoenicia (and to a lesser extent, Australia, Indonesia, and Spain) can also work well with the Hermetic Order, since they have a lot of cities (which translates into a lot of Great Person Great People) and they can seek out Ley Line Ley Lines far from their core territories to found cities without fear of Loyalty pressure. As mentioned above, however, the Hermetic Order's unreliable bonuses and clear inferiority to other societies mean that almost all of these leaders/civilizations can work at least as well with another society: for example, England under Eleanor of Aquitaine should definitely pick the Voidsingers, Victoria and Philip II can go for the Sanguine Pact for a domination game, diplomatic Kristina can choose the Owls of Minerva, and Indonesia can choose the Voidsingers to bolster their religious strength.

One civilization that may benefit more than others from the Hermetic Order is Vietnam. They can build districts only on tiles with Woods, Rainforests, or Marshes, all of which prevent Ley Line Ley Lines from spawning. Finding Ley Line Ley Lines and surrounding them with districts will enable the Vietnamese to earn much higher adjacency bonuses than they would easily be able to otherwise.

Civilopedia entry[]

Especially in times of great social change, when new knowledge and new ways of being show great potential to change the way that we live, societies often arise based around the cultivation and protection of this secret, world-transforming knowledge. While they might at first look like scientific societies, these orders were different in that they focused on the collection of secret knowledge, not its application. We can see examples of such societies in medieval Europe, Southeast Asia (especially as concerns tantric Buddhism), and East Asia; from ancient times to the present day. Here, the Hermetic Order seeks to model a late medieval alchemical society, as well as mystical/religious organizations that grew up in the later 19th century.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was an English group concerned with cultivating esoteric knowledge around the early 20th century. For inspiration, the Order drew upon a variety of sources: medieval European (“hermetic”) magic, Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), Egyptian and Greek myth, and individual revelation. Devotees – most famously the English occultist Aleister Crowley - focused on expanding their mystical knowledge via astral travel, clairvoyance, and other magical practices, and the movement attracted a body of individuals seeking a greater truth that they felt was lacking in an increasingly rational and disenchanted society. The Order drew in a wide body of influential people, including Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes), the English horror author Algernon Blackwood, the Irish author Bram Stoker (creator of Dracula), and others. Chapters of the Order exist today, and the Order’s practices have been influential on the development of many New Age religions, as people still seek a greater truth.

Related achievements[]

Voice of Aiwass
Voice of Aiwass
Earn all Governor promotions for the Hermetic Order Secret Society.
Aleister Crowley claimed to have heard a voice of a non-corporeal intelligence who is then named 'Aiwass.'
Civilization VI Secret Societies [edit]
Titles Special Unlocks
Hermetic Order NeophyteAdeptMagusAiwass Alchemical SocietyLey LineOccult Research
Owls of Minerva InitiationRitualIndoctrinationMaster Plan Gilded Vault
Sanguine Pact TasteRising HungerVoivodeEndless Night VampireVampire Castle
Voidsingers MelodyChorusCanticleSymphony CultistDark SummoningOld God ObeliskRelic of the Void
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