Unique ability (Civ5)

Back to game concepts

Unique abilities are a new feature added into Civilization V that give civilizations certain bonuses. Unique abilities were made to replace traits from Civilization IV (most likely to make civilizations more unique instead of two civilizations sharing one similar bonus).

All updates made to unique abilities in Gods & Kings apply to Brave New World as well.

Civilization	Ability Name	Effects
American	Manifest Destiny	All land military units have +1 sight. 50% discount when purchasing tiles.
Arabian	Trade Caravans (Vanilla and ) Ships of the Desert ()	Trade Caravans: Trade routes provide +1 Gold. Oil resources are doubled. Ships of the Desert: Caravans gain 50% extended range. Your Trade Routes spread the home city's religion twice as effectively. Oil resources are doubled.
Assyrian	Treasures of Nineveh	When a city is conquered, gain a free technology already discovered by its owner. Gaining a city through a trade deal does not count, and it can only happen once per enemy city.
Austrian	Diplomatic Marriage	Can spend Gold to annex or puppet a City-State that has been your ally for 5 turns.
Aztec	Sacrificial Captives	Gains Culture for the empire from each enemy unit killed.
Babylonian	Ingenuity	Receive free Great Scientist when you discover Writing. Earn Great Scientists 50% faster.
Brazilian	Carnival	Tourism output is +100% during their Golden Ages. Earn Great Artists, Musicians, and Writers 50% faster during their Golden Ages.
Byzantine	Patriarchate of Constantinople	Choose one more Belief than normal when you found a Religion.
Carthaginian	Phoenician Heritage	All coastal cities get a free Harbor. Units may cross mountains after the first Great General is earned, taking 50 HP damage if they end a turn on a mountain.
Celtic	Druidic Lore	+1 Faith per city with an adjacent unimproved Forest. Bonus increases to +2 Faith in cities with 3 or more adjacent unimproved Forest tiles.
Chinese	Art of War	The Great General combat bonus is increased by 15%, and their spawn rate is increased by 50%.
Danish	Viking Fury	Embarked units have +1 Movement and pay just 1 movement point to move from sea to land. Melee units pay no movement point cost to pillage.
Dutch	Dutch East India Company*	Retains 50% of the Happiness benefits from a Luxury Resource if your last copy of it is traded away.
Egyptian	Monument Builders	+20% Production toward Wonder construction.
English	Sun Never Sets	+2 Movement for all naval units. Receives 1 extra Spy.
Ethiopian	Spirit of Adwa	Combat bonus (+20%) when fighting units from a civilization with more cities than Ethiopia.
French	Ancien Régime (Vanilla and ) City of Light ()	Ancien Régime: Cities provide +2 Culture until you discover Steam Power. City of Light: Museum and World Wonder theming bonuses are doubled in their Capital.
German	Furor Teutonicus	Upon defeating a Barbarian unit inside an encampment, there is a 67% chance you earn 25 Gold and they join your side. Pay 25% less for land unit maintenance.
Greek	Hellenic League	City-State Influence degrades at half and recovers at twice the normal rate. Hidden: Greek units within City-State borders do not cause a loss of Influence and heal as if they were in friendly territory.
Hunnic	Scourge of God	Raze cities at double speed. Borrow city names from other in-game civs. Start with Animal Husbandry technology. +1 Production per Pasture.
Incan	Great Andean Road	Units ignore terrain costs when moving into any tile with Hills. No maintenance costs for improvements in Hills; half cost elsewhere.
Indian	Population Growth	Unhappiness from number of cities doubled; Unhappiness from number of Citizens halved.
Indonesian	Spice Islanders	The first 3 cities founded on continents other than where Indonesia started each provide 2 unique Luxury Resources (and can never be razed).
Iroquois	The Great Warpath	Vanilla and Gods & Kings: Units move through Forest and Jungle in friendly territory as if they were Roads. These tiles can be used to establish Trade routes upon researching The Wheel. Brave New World: Units move through Forest and Jungle in friendly territory as if they were Roads. These tiles can be used to establish City connections upon researching The Wheel. Caravans move along Forest and Jungle as if they were Roads.
Japanese	Bushido	Units fight as though they were at full strength even when damaged. +1 Culture from each Fishing Boat and +2 Culture from each Atoll.
Korean	Scholars of the Jade Hall	+2 Science for all specialists and for all Great Person tile improvements. Receive a tech boost each time a scientific building/Wonder is built in the Korean Capital.
Mayan	The Long Count	After researching Theology, receive a bonus Great Person at the end of every Maya Long Count calendar cycle (every 394 years). Each bonus person can only be chosen once.
Mongolian	Mongol Terror	Combat Strength +30% when fighting City-State units or attacking a City-State itself. All mounted units have +1 Movement.
Moroccan	Gateway to Africa	Receives +3 Gold and +1 Culture for each Trade Route with a different civ or City-State. The Trade Route owners receive +2 Gold for each Trade Route sent to Morocco.
Ottoman	Barbary Corsairs	Vanilla and Gods & Kings: Moving adjacent to a Barbarian naval unit has a 50% chance of converting it to your side and providing a reward of 25 Gold. Pay only one-third the usual cost for naval unit maintenance. Brave New World: All melee naval units have the Prize Ships promotion, allowing them to capture defeated ships. Pay only one-third the usual cost for naval unit maintenance.
Persian	Achaemenid Legacy	Golden Ages last 50% longer. During a Golden Age, units receive +1 Movement and a +10% Combat Strength bonus.
Polish	Solidarity	Receive a free Social Policy when you advance to the next era.
Polynesian	Wayfinding	Can embark and move over Oceans immediately. +1 sight when embarked. +10% Combat Strength bonus if within 2 tiles of a Moai.
Portuguese	Mare Clausum	Resource diversity grants twice as much Gold for Portugal in Trade Routes.
Roman	The Glory of Rome	+25% Production towards any buildings that already exist in the Capital.
Russian	Siberian Riches**	Strategic Resources provide +1 Production and Horses, Iron and Uranium Resources provide double quantity.
Shoshone	Great Expanse	Founded cities start with additional territory. Units receive a 15% combat bonus when fighting within their own territory.
Siamese	Father Governs Children	Vanilla: Food and Culture from friendly City-States increased by 50%. Gods & Kings: Food, Culture, and Faith from friendly City-States increased by 50%.
Songhai	River Warlord	Vanilla: Receive triple Gold from Barbarian encampments and pillaging cities. Embarked units can defend themselves. Gods & Kings: Receive triple Gold from Barbarian encampments and pillaging cities. Land units gain the War Canoe and Amphibious promotions, strengthening them while embarked.
Spanish	Seven Cities of Gold	Gold bonus for discovering a Natural Wonder (bonus enhanced if first to discover it). Culture, Happiness, and tile yields from Natural Wonders doubled.
Swedish	Nobel Prize	Gain 90 Influence with a Great Person gift to a City-State. When declaring friendship, Sweden and their friend gain a +10% boost to Great Person generation.
Venetian	Serenissima	Cannot gain Settlers nor annex cities. Double the normal number of Trade Routes available. A Merchant of Venice appears after researching Optics. May purchase in puppeted cities.
Zulu	Iklwa	Melee units cost 50% less maintenance. All units require 25% less experience to earn their next promotion.

^* This ability was formerly called "East India Company."
^** This ability is called "Motherland Calls" in the game manual.