On the Final DLC of Civ 6’s New Frontier Pass

Well, folks, here we are: the last stop on the ten-month-long journey that has been Sid Meier’s Civilization VI’s New Frontier Pass. This is a bittersweet article for me to write, in all honesty. On one hand, I hoped Civ VI would keep getting new major DLC past the end of the New Frontier Pass, even though I know full well how unlikely that is. On the other hand, once this article is published, at least I’ll no longer have to worry about falling behind in terms of covering each new content pack in a timely manner. You may remember that I’ve struggled a bit with that in the past.

In any case, we’ve once again got some DLC to discuss, so let’s get on with it. In keeping with the theme of virtually every paid DLC pack in the New Frontier Pass, this final pack contains three main selling points. Namely, it offers a new Civ, a new leader for said Civ, and a new optional game mode that will help you keep your gameplay fresh… or, in the case of this new mode in particular, perhaps “fresh” isn’t the word I’m looking for.

I think, just for a change of pace, I’m going to break my usual tradition when it comes to articles on the New Frontier Pass by discussing the new game mode before the new Civ or its leader. You may recall that within my news report on this DLC from March 16th, I mentioned that Firaxis made a fairly big deal out of this new game mode. The new optional gameplay alteration is known as “Zombie Defense Mode.” That’s what I was alluding to when I said I wouldn’t quite declare that the mode helps you keep your gameplay “fresh;” zombies aren’t exactly known for their impeccable personal hygiene, after all.

In the aforementioned article, I commented that this mode is a fairly considerable risk on the part of Firaxis depending on how the gameplay mechanics introduced by Zombie Defense Mode are implemented and received by players. The concept of that risk is why I wanted to begin this article by discussing Zombie Defense Mode before anything else. Has that risk paid off? Well, for me personally, I think the answer to that is more complicated than I hoped it would be.

As things stand right now, I don’t quite know how I feel about Zombie Defense Mode. I can confidently say I don’t outright hate it, but I know that’s not exactly glowing praise. My feelings toward this mode are more complex than those I expressed quite a while ago when Civ 6’s “Red Death” battle royale mode was introduced. Simply put, I don’t think I like this mode at present, but it may grow on me if I were to give it more of a chance.

The primary reason I think I dislike Zombie Defense Mode is that its gameplay seems awkward in some respects. For example, in my first (and so far only) game with this mode toggled on, a massive horde of zombies assembled right outside my capital city in approximately the late Classical Era. Considering I had recently watched as masses of zombies overran and destroyed two city-states near my territory, I thought I was doomed.

That is, I thought the end of my empire was nigh until, to my considerable confusion, the zombies proceeded to just stand there for three entire in-game eras. They made no effort to attack and simply remained in place until I eventually assembled a force to attempt to eradicate them. At that point, I found out the hard way that the zombies gained “mutation strength” over time. This made them significantly more powerful and rendered my (admittedly rather outdated) military unable to defeat them without some upgrades. Even then, my armies of tanks couldn’t clear out that zombie horde without taking heavy damage.

There were several occasions during the game in question where I genuinely wondered whether or not I would have to somehow find a way to use nuclear weapons on my own cities in order to rid my territory of the living dead once I developed that kind of firepower. I know the game wouldn’t let me do that, but even so, that idea leads me to a second reason I believe I dislike this game mode.

Zombies, not unlike standard barbarians, tend to become more of a nuisance than a challenge over time. I’ve found myself much more likely to simply be annoyed by their presence rather than terrified. I’m not even sure the weaker ones make decent cannon fodder for earning your first few military units their first promotion.

What I’m trying to say is that it isn’t good when the leader of any in-game Civ (AI or otherwise) simply rolls their eyes in exasperation when informed of the presence of zombies rather than instructing an aide to fetch the leader’s brown pants, if you catch my drift. However, I don’t mean to imply that Zombie Defense Mode completely lacks any interesting aspects whatsoever.

For example, you can build new tile improvements exclusive to this mode in order to slow down the advancement of the undead. These tile improvements serve as defenses which cause moderate damage to any zombies that occupy the same tile. The first defense, the standard Trap, is unlocked upon researching the Construction technology. Defenses can be put in place by Builders, and they grow progressively more sophisticated from that point; they don’t seem to affect non-zombie units, however.

What really intrigues me, though, is the fact that Firaxis thought to include methods whereby you can (theoretically) use a massive wave of zombies to your advantage if you know what you’re doing. You see, in any game in which Zombie Defense Mode is enabled, you have access to two new city production projects which are similar to Campus research grants and the like. These projects, known as “Turn Undead” and “Dark Signal,” allow you to temporarily assume direct control of all zombie units within the territory of whichever city just completed either of these projects.

In case this helps illustrate my point, these projects are just like the act of levying the military of a city-state, except that they don’t cost any Gold or require you to maintain Suzerain status. The only differences between Turn Undead and Dark Signal are that the former costs less Production and allows you to control zombies for fifteen turns, whereas the latter allows you to control zombies for thirty turns in exchange for a slightly higher Production investment.

In my experience, it normally takes no longer than a turn or two to complete these projects in larger, more fully-built cities. As I alluded to earlier, I’ve found that you can use these projects to your advantage in a number of ways. For example, if you’re engaged in a war with a neighboring Civ, you can send your newly-controlled undead legions into enemy territory to give your foe something else to deal with. For a bit of extra fun, I like to do this while laughing maniacally and shouting at my mindless minions to “go forth and destroy,” but that’s entirely optional.

Alternatively, if you don’t have an immediate use for a horde of ravenous zombies, you can simply take control of them and move them as far away from your territory as possible in the time during which you can order them around. Let them become someone else’s problem when they snap out of whatever mind control method you used on them. After all, you didn’t ask for there to be zombies terrorizing your empire, and it’s not like you’re secretly a master necromancer or anything.

I think I’ve said almost all I can presently say about Zombie Defense Mode, at least for now. Except for one final humorous note: if someone were to create a mod for Civilization VI on the Steam Workshop that enables player-controlled zombies to perform the iconic dance from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” I would be simultaneously overjoyed, yet not the least bit surprised. Now that I’ve discussed Civ VI’s implementation of zombies at considerable length, I think it’s time to switch gears and discuss this DLC pack’s new playable Civ and its leader.

When I wrote the news report shortly after this DLC was announced, certain members of Civilization VI’s development team made it clear that the Civ in this pack was one of the most-requested Civs by the game’s community. The Civ in question is none other than Portugal. I would imagine that after Portugal’s representation in Civilization V as led by Maria I, Civ fans wanted to see what Firaxis could do with Portugal in the context of the newest game in the franchise.

During the time of the announcement, the identity of this iteration of Portugal’s leader was unknown. As you probably expect given that the DLC is out and playable, the leader has now been revealed. Portugal’s helmsman (pun intended) is not Maria I, but João III. His leader-specific ability, called “Porta do Cerco,” has three primary beneficial effects. The first of these is the most intriguing. This ability dictates that Portugal permanently has Open Borders with all city-states.

The second aspect of João III’s leader ability stipulates that all Portuguese units receive +1 Sight. Finally, there’s what I think is potentially the most useful part of the “Porta do Cerco” ability: the fact that it grants Portugal an additional trade route capacity whenever Portugal meets another Civilization. That’s particularly important because of Portugal’s unique ability that isn’t tied to having João III as its leader.

The passive trait in question, known as “Casa da Índia,” also has three main parts to it. Firstly, it presents a mandate that Portuguese trade routes can only be sent to coastal cities or cities that have a Harbor district. However, in exchange for having to contend with that restriction, Portugal receives +50% of all yields from all active trade routes thanks to this passive. Lastly, this ability also dictates that Portugal’s trader units have +50% range over water and can embark onto sea tiles as soon as they’re unlocked.

These traits aren’t the only unique things Portugal brings to the metaphorical table. The Portuguese empire also possesses a unique building, tile improvement, and naval melee unit. The unique building is known as the Navigation School. It replaces the standard University and provides a handful of bonuses. Every Portuguese city that contains a Navigation School is granted +25% Production toward naval units. Additionally, Navigation Schools provide Portuguese cities with +1 Science for every two Coast or Lake tiles, as well as +1 Great Admiral point per turn.

I’d like to quote a popular song by a certain legendary band in order to assist in introducing Portugal’s unique naval melee unit. As Freddie Mercury once famously sang it, “I want it all, and I want it Nau.” All puns aside, the Nau serves as a replacement for the standard Caravel. Each Nau can be promoted once immediately after construction and has a lower maintenance cost than that which it replaces. Additionally, the Nau has two charges which allow it to construct Portugal’s unique improvement.

That’s right, folks: the tile improvement known as the Feitoria, can only be constructed by an early-to-mid-game naval unit as opposed to by Builders. The length of time it takes for the Nau as a unit to become technologically obsolete is the primary reason why I think you should take advantage of its abilities while you can. The Feitoria provides +4 Gold and +1 Production. Additionally, the presence of a Feitoria dictates that trade routes sent to any city which contains a Feitoria also gain +4 Gold and +1 Production. That may sound like a nice bonus in theory, but be aware that there’s a rather significant catch.

The Feitoria is unusually picky about where and under what circumstances it can be built. By that, I mean that a Feitoria can only be constructed on tiles adjacent to Luxury or Bonus Resources which are within the territory of other Civilizations, or city-states with whom you have an active Open Borders agreement. Furthermore, it must also be built on a Coast or Lake tile adjacent to land and not adjacent to another Feitoria. As a final bonus of sorts in exchange for dealing with these rather specific restrictions, the Feitoria cannot be removed once it is built.

The requirement that you maintain Open Borders with any foreign power whose territory you wish to construct a Feitoria in is likely a significant reason behind João III passively granting Portugal permanent Open Border agreements with all city-states. Due to that passive ability, you have a guaranteed way to construct and benefit from your unique improvement. I think it’s clear that you’re limited in certain respects while playing as Portugal in that you cannot trade with any city at any time. However, I would argue that this isn’t such a big deal if you know how to use the strengths of the Portuguese empire to your advantage.

As an example of what I mean by that, consider the aforementioned facts that Portugal automatically gains an extra trade route capacity upon meeting a new Civ for the first time, and gains +50% to all yields from all eligible trade routes. Although you’re essentially forced to hope that your neighboring Civs build many coastal cities with Harbors so that you can trade with them, you’ll likely find that most (if not all) trade routes available to you are quite profitable due to those bonus yields.

If you can locate at least a small handful of foreign cities or city-states to which you’re allowed to send trade routes, you’ll often find that trading with those cities would grant Portugal upwards of twenty to thirty gold per turn, if not more. That isn’t even mentioning other potential bonus yields, like Science, Faith, and Production. This, combined with the fact that Portugal is virtually guaranteed to remain able to send legions of trade routes to any eligible cities, means that the Portuguese empire can quickly become quite wealthy indeed.

There you have it, my friends! I think I’ve managed to provide a decently long spiel about the final DLC pack of Sid Meier’s Civilization VI’s New Frontier Pass. Now that I’ve completed this article, though, I must admit that I’m not sure what to do with myself going forward. After all, I won’t have any more major DLC packs to look forward to every other month, unless Firaxis eventually decides to make another season pass for Civ VI. I sincerely hope that happens. I don’t want to feel as though the game has been forgotten or abandoned anytime soon.

On a final note, I’m strongly considering creating a review of the New Frontier Pass as a whole now that everything it has to offer is available. Whether that review will be in written or video form (or perhaps even both) remains to be seen. Keep an eye out for that if you wish. For now, though, I’ve still got plenty of reason to take one more turn. For what it’s worth, I hope you do as well!