Civilization VI Secret Societies: Sanguine Pact guide

Civilization VI Secret Societies is a game mode that came out with the Ethiopia Pack. It introduced the concept of Secret Societies in the form of governors whose promotions give us powerful bonuses, access to new buildings, units and improvements. This article will focus on The Sanguine Pact strategies and perks.

The Sanguine Pact are a militaristic regime, they like blood and are pretty much vampires. Strategically it could be argued that they are the most powerful secret society released. They are of great help when it comes to war.

The Sanguine Pact governor promotions

The Sanguine Pact exclusive tile improvement: The Vampire Castle

Effects:

• Duplicates yields from adjacent tiles and adds them to its own. These yields are provided directly to the capital.
• Occupying unit receives +4 Defense Strength and automatically gains 2 turns of fortification (+6 Defense strength)
• Allows the ability to teleport units between them (Upon reaching the Atomic Era)

Restrictions:

• Cannot be adjacent to another Vampire Castle
• Initial limit of two per civilization, increases to 3 with Indoctrination (Industrial Era) and 4 with Master Plan (Atomic Era)

Strategy:

Vampires don't lose build charges forever when they build Vampire Castles, their build charges numbers depend directly on how many Vampire Castles your Civilization has and how many it can build. For instance, if you are in the Industrial Era (up to 3 Vampire Castles allowed) and you have built 2 Vampire Castles, all your Vampires will have 1 build charge; and if one of your Vampire Castles gets removed, then all of your Vampires will gain an extra build charge. In the same way, if one of your Vampires builds a Vampire Castle, then all of your Vampires will lose 1 Vampire Charge.

Vampire Castles can't be removed by Vampires, only Builders and Military Engineers can do it. Take this into consideration when a war starts, as you want to move your Vampire Castles closer to combat, because Vampires respawn in the closest Vampire Castle when their health falls to 1 (in the capital if there are no Vampire Castles).

Vampire Castles give great yields if placed correctly, and even if not they still grant a substantial amount. This is how it works: At the moment of placing the improvement all adjacent yields are added together, then doubled and that is the amount your capital receives every turn. Keep in mind it doesn't matter if adjacent tiles are improved or pillaged after placing the Vampire Castle, the amount of yields will stay the same. It doesn't matter if the Vampire Castle is outside your borders, it will still work for your capital.

In economic terms the Vampire Castle is much better than the Hermetic Order's Ley Lines, which requires that the Industrial Era is reached and a decent amount of Great People has been earned, while the Vampire Castle only requires that the Medieval Era is reached (and the Sanguine Pact governor is promoted) to be available. Also the yields are comparable or better without requiring winning the game (earning lots of Great People) beforehand. 

The Sanguine Pact exclusive unit: The Vampire

The Vampire is a melee unit with variable Combat Strength (starts at 20), 2 Movement and 2 Sight. It heals 50 HP from pillaging enemy tiles, but receives reduced passive healing. Also, it cannot die.

Abilities:

• Can construct Vampire Castles, up to 4 charges
• Gains 1  Combat Strength when a unit dies in an adjacent tile (uncapped)
• Gains 1  Combat Strength when a barbarian dies in an adjacent tile (capped at +10 Combat Strength)
• Retreats back to the nearest Vampire Castle when brought down to 1 HP
• Heals 50 additional HP when pillaging

Attributes:

• Has the same  Combat Strength as the strongest military unit the player has built (including formations and naval units, excluding aircrafts)
• Cannot form Corps or Armies
• Cannot gain experience or promotions
• Has reduced passive healing
• Up to 4 Vampires available to a Civilization per game, each granted by unlocking a new title of the Sanguine Pact governor
• Cannot be bought or produced in cities

Civilization VI Vampire FAQ

How strong can Vampires get in Civ 6?

Infinitely strong, Civ 6 Vampires gain +1 combat strength when an adjacent unit dies, and while the strength they get from barbarian deaths is capped at 10, the strength they gain from enemy civs -including Free cities- is not capped.

How do you permanently kill a Vampire in Civ 6?

By capturing their capital when they're inside it, by killing them when they are on a Vampire Castle, by nuking them -ask gandhi, he knows more about it- and by radioactive fallout. In all the aforementioned ways vampires won't respawn.

The Sanguine Pact: Strategy

Early game

There is a 70% chance of meeting the Sanguine Pact if you clear a barbarian camp, chance goes down for every civilization that meets the Sanguine Pact, so if you want to make sure of meeting them the earliest you have to go search barbarian camps immediately. Producing 2 Slingers or Slinger+Scout is advised.

Once you meet the secret society a Vampire will appear in your capital. Take it to fight barbarians immediately, as Vampires gain +1 Combat strength for every barbarian that dies adjacent to them (capped at 10).

Declare war: When there are no more barbarians around declaring early war (or pissing enemy civilizations enough) is well advised, as your Vampire gains Combat strength for every unit that dies adjacent to them (uncapped), early war doesn't punish with too much grievances and even if you don't conquer enemy cities you are likely to receive a beneficial peace treaty. 

Try and build a Campus in a place with good adjacency bonuses. In an indirect way science benefits Vampires heavily, as they have a strength (before bonuses) equal to that of the strongest unit produced in your empire. Rushing Horseman or Swordsman will make it so your Vampire jumps from 20 to 36 Combat strength.

Ignoring religion or building Holy sites is recommended if you're not playing a Civilization that relies on Faith output. If you're playing on deity difficulty then there are even more reasons to ignore religion. 

Medieval Era

In the Medieval Era the Sanguine Pact gives you access to its exclusive tile improvement, the Vampire Castle, which you should immediately build near your opponents as it not only grants yields equivalent to twice the sum of yields in adjacent tiles, but it also serves as a place of respawn for your Vampires.

Try and build as many Campuses as possible, our goal in this part of the game is rushing technologies that will allow us to produce better units, such as the Knight, which will make your Vampires have a base Combat strength of 48.

Again, either declare wars or make it so other civs declare war on you. If we have chosen the Sanguine Pact as our secret society then we are not trying to win the game by being peaceful (although you can go for another types of victory by getting you ahead through war earlier in the game)

Industrial Era

Once the Industrial Era is reached you get access to the Indoctrination Promotion, which in the case of the Sanguine Pact makes it so you have 3 Vampires in your empire and increases the maximum of Vampire Castles builds to three. Also your Vampires now reduce the Combat strength of adjacent enemy units by 5. Pillaging movement cost for Vampires is reduced to 1.

The idea is to keep using your Vampires offensively, if their health reaches 1 they will respawn in Vampire Castles placed near the enemy civilizations and if there are enemy tile improvements nearby then Vampires will be able to heal themselves to full because pillaging not only recovers 50 HP, but is also now costs only 1 movement. 

Atomic Era

In the Atomic Era you will have 4 Vampires in your empire and the maximum amount of Vampire Castles increases to four. Also units can teleport between Vampire Castles, as if they were Aerodromes, but without the district's drawbacks.

The Sanguine Pact: Best Civilization synergies

The Sanguine Pact is a secret society that is meant for war. Civilizations that enjoy advantages in terms of warfare and science will see the most benefit.

Aztecs (Moctezuma)

The Aztecs start with Eagle Warrior, which has a Combat strength of 28, while the unit that it replaces, the warrior, only has 20 Combat strength. The idea while playing this civilization and the Sanguine Pact is to start wars very early, attacking with a Vampire and Eagle Warriors as soon as possible.

Gran Colombia (Simón Bolívar)

Gran Colombia has a lot of bonuses when it comes to units, such as 1 extra movement for all units, which in Vampires is even more overpowered. Also Comandante General, which is a type of Great People unique to Gran Colombia, will make it so your Vampires grow even stronger.

Scythia (Tomyris)