Due to its prerequisites and potential friction against the neighboring civilizations in the process, aReligious Victorycan be quite tricky to win for players ofCivilization 6, especially when they are trying to earn it in a multiplayer game session. Other experienced human players will immediately be alert for any kind of attempt to win with a Religious Victory.
However, some civilizations can gain a Religious Victory out of their sheer advantage that no other players can stop, even when they can gain a slight advantage. Between their massive Faith output and reliable ways of spreading religion, these civilizations can be relied on to consistently earn a Religious Victory.
Updated May 31, 2025 by Matt Weideman:The vast number of leaders in Civilization 6 thanks to the multiple expansion packs is truly impressive, and it can be difficult to figure out which leader a player might want to try out next. This list was expanded to include a few more entries, suggesting leaders that can be used to achieve a Religious Victory, even if they may seem like they are more suited to a different strategy at first glance.
13Gran Colombia
Race to Convert Cities with Extra Movement Speed
While domination is the more obvious path to victory for Gran Colombia, their simple yet effective civilization ability is surprisingly helpful for a Religious Victory. All units, including Apostles, Missionaries, and Gurus get a bonus to their movement speed which gives them an edge when multiple leaders are racing to convert cities.
Since Apostles start with a free promotion, they normally have to wait a turn before they can leave their home city. However, Simón Bolívar’s units don’t end their turn when they are promoted, so Gran Colombian Apostles can start moving as soon as they are made. The extra turns of movement can make the difference in a close race to a Religious Victory, which makes it a decent fallback option for players to keep if Domination Victory becomes too difficult.
12Spain - Philip II
Colonize Foreign Continents and Use the Spanish Inquisition
Philip II has a phenomenal defense against other players vying for a Religious Victory in his mighty Inquisitors. They remove 100 percent of foreign religions in the city when they are used, which means that players don’t have to worry as much about their cities being converted by foreign missionaries. Instead, they can use just a small handful of Inquisitors to slow other players down while spreading their empire onto a different continent than where they started.
Spain is particularly powerful when crossing continental boundaries because crossing these lines means buffs to new cities they found and international trade routes. This is where Spain truly shines, as the extra yields to Faith from this ability will make it easy to snowball into a Religious Victory or give them an edge in a different type. Philip II players who are fortunate enough to spawn near two different continents can start this snowball effect very early on and quickly become impossible to defeat when it comes to religion.
11Indonesia - Gitarja
Indonesia gets many different boosts when settling on the coast or near lake tiles. Since they start out on the coast, they have a very strong start to the game, which makes gunning for a Religious Victory an easy route to take. Gitarja’s religious units don’t spend movement when embarking or disembarking, so they move faster from one landmass to another than other civilizations' units.
Indonesia also gets a boost to Faith from coastal and lake tiles, which means that they start generating faith on the very first turn, just by settling their first city. These tiles also give a slight boost to Holy Site Adjacency, which also helps the early start to spreading Indonesia’s religion. Gitarja’s combination of boosts makes for an easy way to get an early lead on a Religious Victory, especially when playing on a map with islands or lots of coastal territory.
10Japan
Build Holy Sites Quicker Than Others
One of the best ways to acquire a quick Religious Victory is to build a large number of Holy Sites to gain Faith, and playing as the Japanese under Hojo Tokimune is one of the best ways to do it. His unique ability enables various districts to be built at half the time, including the precious Holy Sites for a Religious Victory. The quick construction of Holy Districts can also enable them toquickly acquire a strong Pantheonthat is usually taken at the first few turns.
Moreover, the Japanese innate perk of having more bonus adjacency than other civilizations makes them one of the strongest civilizations to try winning a Religious Victory. By having well-planned cities to build a huge adjacent bonus for several Holy Sites, Faith generation will not be a problem at all for them to spread their religion. With these bonuses, players will need to pay close attention to what districts Japan is currently building in a game ofCivilization 6.
9Arabia - Saladin (Vizier)
Found a Religion No Matter What
Arabia’s ability guarantees that they receive the last Great Prophet, which means that they don’t have to race to build Holy Sites in time to recruit one. Because of this, Arabia players can focus on Science, Gold, or Production in the Ancient and Classical eras and still get to found a religion, giving them a well-rounded start.
Arabia’s worship building is cheaper as well, which means that they can easily stack their cities with them and boost their Faith output very quickly. Since Arabia’s Science output is boosted by cities that are converted to their founded faith, players are highly motivated to spread their religion as quickly as possible. This also means that Arabia can easily aim for either a Science or Religious Victory and pivot between them as needed without losing momentum.
8Ethiopia
Rapidly Generate Faith Through Various Means
As one of the civilizations that can generate a massive amount of faith, Ethiopia becomes one of the contenders that can suddenly achieve a Religious Victory if their efforts in generating Faith are left unchecked. They can generate Faith through various means, including improving resources and having international trade routes from a city with improved resources. This will allow them to focus on building cities near useful resources, be it luxury, strategic, or even bonus resources, as it allows their Faith generation to snowball on a high scale.
Moreover, they can focus on generating Faith while still acquiring Culture for powerful policies and Science for thebest technologies inCivilization 6, as long as the cities are founded on hills. With these bonuses, a game with Ethiopia will need closer attention as they will be able to achieve victory silently without other players noticing their slow but steady approach to spreading their religion to the world.
7Khmer
Acquire Huge Faith Generation with Productive Cities
Having productive cities with a huge population is always one of themost important things to do inCivilization 6. Consequently, these productive cities will be able to produce the desired yield for the player to acquire their victory type, which in this case, is the Religious Victory. TheKhmercan provide such a solution with its rapidly growing cities and unique Prasat building.
By having their cities near rivers and placing an Aqueduct near them, the Khmer are able to acquire a lot of Faith generation for every population of the city. Moreover, the unique Prasat also generates more Faith than the usual Temple, making it more convenient for them to acquire more Faith in the long run andenhance their Religionas a result.
6India - Gandhi
Benefits From Other Religious Beliefs in Cities
In aCivilization 6game, a player can expect to compete with other civilizations in all aspects of the game, including in the Religion part, as other civilizations will be trying tospread their Religion as well.Indiacan use this to their advantage, as its cities receive all the follower beliefs of all Religions, not just the biggest Religion.
Moreover, their Missionaries can spread Religion with 2 more charges, which is incredibly useful when trying to gain a Religious Victory. India can also try to convert cities passively via their trade routes, as the pressure is doubled due to their unique Civ ability.
5Georgia - Tamar
Use Dramatic Age Policies For a Religioous Advantage
Achieving a Golden Age or at least a Normal Age during a game ofCivilization 6is crucial as it allows the player to gain more advantages and keep their civilizations snowballing into the newer ages. This doubly applies toGeorgia, as their bonuses are tied to Golden Ages, which in turn can be used to gain more advantages by using either Dedications or Wildcard bonuses dedicated to Religious Victory.
Moreover, the Tsikhe which replaces Renaissance Walls, enables Georgia to safely focus on acquiring Faith without having too much reliance on the military side of the game, as it safeguards them from any attemptedinvasion from warmongering neighbors.
4Poland - Jadwiga
Convert Cities With Innocous Culture Bombs
AlthoughPolandis a strong civilization to play, players will need to focus onone victory type only, as the all-rounder bonuses might divert a player’s focus on one victory type. With their unique ability to take other civilizations' territory and convert them instantly to their Religion with Culture Bombs, Poland can safely convert cities without generating Grievances.
Moreover, acquiring Relics will be more beneficial for Poland players to focus on generating more bonuses in Gold, Culture, and Faith, making it easier for them to build Missionaries and Apostles to convert other civilizations' cities.
