In Galactic Civilizations IV, Influence is a powerful (and often overlooked) tool in many players’ arsenals. Influence controls the spread of your civilization’s borders and, with a high enough Influence, will allow you to overwhelm another civilization’s borders and even flip their worlds to your control. If played correctly, Influence can enable players to defeat opposing civilizations without ever going to war.
As a 4X player, my playstyle often revolves around economics and wealth. I love to amass huge quantities of gold or credits and spend my way to victory. To shake things up, I wanted to explore a different playstyle focusing on victory through Culture and Influence.
My goal: Conquer an Enemy Civilization through Non-Violent Means
My first step on this path was picking my Civilization.
I decided to choose the Phalenoids.
Both “Likeable” and “Persuasive,” the Phalenoids have a natural advantage in Diplomacy. Phalenoid Citizens also prefer to befriend other species and receive an Approval bonus when sharing worlds. And, of course, the Phalenoids have the unique “Nocturnal” ability which provides a 15-month alternating cycle of buffs.
During the “Season of Waking,” the Phalenoids receive boosts to Manufacturing and Growth, while in the “Season of Dreaming” they receive boosts to Research and Influence.
To further enhance my odds of success, I opted to raise the “Influential” trait to its highest setting and subtracted a point from “Brutal.”
From the outset at turn 1, the buffs provided by the Nocturnal ability’s “Season of Waking” allowed me to build a strong foundation. The +20% Growth lent itself to rapidly expanding my population and colonizing many nearby worlds. +20% to Manufacturing enabled the rapid establishment of districts.
With these effects combined, I established manufacturing and research engines in my home world – a prerequisite for unlocking Influence-improving technologies and improvements.
Soon after, I encountered the Torians. They would quickly become the target of my cultural conquest.
To enhance my Influence Growth as early as possible, I adopted the Heart of the Empire and Cultural Values policies. Additionally, I opted to spec into the Egalitarian Ideology for its free colony ships and Influence-boosting traits.
Starting on turn 16, my Civ entered the “Season of Dreaming” and gained a 20% boost to Influence growth. This effect bolstered the already rapidly growing Influence on both my Core Worlds. Sensor Array Orbital Improvements, technologies like Xeno Entertainment, and Cultural Districts enhanced my strategy – particularly on Naledi I.
The planet “Naledi I” sat in between two competing Torian Core Worlds, and its rapidly growing Influence allowed it to quickly flip the majority of either planet’s Zone of Control (ZoC for short.)
The power of this Influence was enough to initiate rebellion on the neighboring Torian planets as early as turn 30. Around the same time, I became aware of the Torian’s steadily increasing dissatisfaction with my growing cultural influence.
To prevent relations from souring to the point of war, I established several trade routes, utilized the Goodwill Tour Executive Order, and researched the Emissaries and Diplomacy technologies to gain diplomatic bonuses. This strategy worked long enough for me to greatly improve my Culture-focused Starbases and steadily eat away at the Torian ZoC.
By turn 62, I had eaten away most of the Torian ZoC.
...And by turn 68 they had declared war. I had flown too close to the sun and war was inevitable.
The war waged and all the while my Influence grew – and by turn 74 I had completely subsumed the ZoC of both neighboring Torian Colonies. Around that time, as many as 75% of the citizens on either planet were rebelling due to my Influence.
On the opposite front, I aimed to conquer the Torian home world beyond my Influence-generating range.
I used the “Propaganda” invasion tactic as it technically stuck to my goal of a non-violent victory and managed to take over the Torian capital of Toria before too long.
Unfortunately, Naledi I changed hands to the Torians around the same time – and while I reconquered it soon after, the damage had been done. The percentage of rebelling citizens on both neighboring planets had reset dropping to a measly 1%.
This painful loss meant I could no longer wait for the colonies to flip – they would both fall to the same Propaganda that brought down Toria before them.
On turn 104, I conquered the final Torian colony – earning me a bittersweet victory.
I had won, but not in the manner I had set out to.
...And yet there was a silver lining.
A minor faction, the Thalan, had spawned on a planet within my ZoC and had declared war on me the moment it arrived. A mere 10 turns into its existence, 34% of the planet’s population was already rebelling. There was hope for a non-violent takeover yet.
New Cultural Starbases poured Influence onto the planet and turn by turn the rebellion percentage ticked up. Then disaster strikes – the Thalans were at war with the Festron! And the Festron began their invasion of the planet.
It came right down to the wire. The Invasion had been underway for several turns and the percentage was 99%.
And BOOM! Sweet victory, the planet was mine.
After a long 118 turns, I had finally conquered a planet without ever setting foot.
In conquering Koit II, no fleets or troops were lost, no planetary defenses were fought, and no invasions were staged. The cultural conversion of Koit II even allowed me to circumvent the restriction of one invader of a planet at a time - as the Festron had begun invading and would have prevented my own.
The ability to capture huge swaths of another civilization’s ZoC isn’t without risk. During my conquest of the Torians, I was able to march my Starbases progressively closer to their core worlds until they were mere tiles away.
The largest pitfall of this strategy is the gigantic Diplomatic de-buff that results. Opposing civilizations do not appreciate your encroachment into their territory and onto their planets. The further you push, the closer they come to declaring war and striking back.
Despite its drawbacks, this strategy is very effective at winning wars before they start. Proximity to these foreign planets allowed my Starbases to exert additional Influence – pushing each planet to rebel and accelerating the countdown to when they flip to my control. By capturing these planets this way, you can ignore the risks of combat and the negative effects of war weariness. And when war does arrive, you have a powerful advantage with Starbases positioned so close: each one can be equipped with defenses ready to destroy enemy fleets. The final great advantage is the ability to station your own fleets tiles away from an enemy planet safely within your own ZoC.
By playing a strong defensive game and letting your Influence continue to build the pressure, you can make victory inevitable. Each planet you flip contributes to your growing Influence. The wider your ZoC, the fewer resources and options enemy civilizations will have. The longer a war drags on, the closer each planet gets to flipping to your control.
Play smart and you too can expand your Influence across the stars!
