Nuclear weapons (Civ6)

Nuclear weapons, or nukes for short, are immensely powerful, late-game area-of-effect weapons in Civilization VI. To be able to build and use them, players first need to research Nuclear Fission and complete the Manhattan Project (which unlocks the Build Nuclear Device project). Later, in the Information Era, even stronger nukes become available after researching Nuclear Fusion and completing Operation Ivy (which unlocks the Build Thermonuclear Device project).
== Nuclear Device Types ==
There are two categories of atomic weapons: the Nuclear Device and the Thermonuclear Device. Both can be built as a city project in any city once the requisite projects are unlocked, and both require the resource to produce (1 in vanilla Civilization VI and Rise and Fall, more in Gathering Storm). There is no limit on the number that a player can build, as long as they have enough to support them. Second Strike Capability, a Military Policy Card introduced in Rise and Fall, can help with this by cutting nuclear device maintenance costs in half.
Once a Nuclear or Thermonuclear Device is created, it is added to the player's inventory and can then be used by any unit or improvement capable of deploying it on the map. This includes bomber aircraft, Nuclear Submarines, and the Missile Silo. Nukes may be launched at any tile within range of the launch vehicle.
 Nuclear Devices have a blast radius of 1 (i.e., the target tile and all adjacent tiles) and apply fallout for 10 turns. When deployed from a Missile Silo or a Nuclear Submarine, they have a of 12; when deployed by a Bomber or Jet Bomber, they are dropped on the target from above and have the same as the unit that delivers them. They cost 14 per turn to maintain (and 10 to produce in Gathering Storm).
 Thermonuclear Devices have a blast radius of 2 and apply fallout for 20 turns. When deployed from a Missile Silo or a Nuclear Submarine, they have a of 15. They cost 16 per turn to maintain (and 20 to produce in Gathering Storm).
== Nuclear Destruction ==
When an atomic weapon is detonated, several things happen to all the hexes within the blast radius:
* Citizens "working" the affected tiles are eliminated.
* Units occupying the affected tiles are destroyed, including . This is the only way in a normal game that can be killed.
* All tiles affected are contaminated with radioactive fallout.
* All tile improvements are pillaged.
*Any wonders are pillaged.
* Any s and buildings in the affected tiles are also pillaged.
* Any unfinished s are destroyed and removed from the map.
* Any City Centers or Encampments caught in the blast radius will have their HP and Defense Strength reduced to 0. Healing is impossible and Repair Outer Defenses is unusable while the fallout lasts.
In addition, the world reacts with horror to the use of this doomsday device. In vanilla Civilization VI, the user suffers a severe warmonger penalty with the AI leaders; in Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm, their use also triggers a Nuclear Emergency - the longest and most serious of the Emergencies.
=== Nuclear Fallout ===
After a nuclear attack, radioactive fallout will contaminate every tile affected by the blast. Any units (except Giant Death Robots) that end their turn in a contaminated tile take 50 damage each turn. cannot be applied to anything in tiles containing contamination, such as repairing buildings and districts. Tiles that are contaminated cannot be worked by the city until the contamination timer expires or until the tile is cleaned.
Nuclear contamination can be cleaned from affected tiles by Builders, Military Engineers, or any other unit that has at least 1 remaining build charge. Cleaning a contaminated tile takes 1 build charge.
Any city tiles not directly affected by the nuclear blast will still function normally and contribute to the city's yield.
Note that in Gathering Storm nuclear contamination may also happen as a result of a nuclear accident, caused by a Nuclear Power Plant.
== Strategy ==
Nuclear weapons are even more powerful and terrifying than they were in Civilization V. Not only do they kill off some of the Population of the cities they target, they also completely deplete the HP and Defense Strength of any City Centers in the blast radius, making it easy for even the weakest melee attacker to approach and capture a city after a nuclear strike. Just be aware that the fallout in the tile will damage said unit if not taken care of.
In addition to preventing affected tiles from being worked, the fallout left behind by nuclear weapons prevents any or purchasing of units or buildings in districts on those tiles. This means that a few well-placed nukes can completely shut down a city, rendering it and its districts inoperable for several turns and leaving its owner with fewer available resources even if the attacker decides not to capture the city.
There are just two major drawbacks to nuclear weapons: using them counts as a declaration of war against any civilization or city-state whose territory or units are in the blast radius, and they are the single greatest source of war weariness. Players should be careful not to make heavy use of nuclear weapons unless they have large numbers of in their empire, or they may soon find themselves having to put down rebel uprisings.
Certain units can intercept nuclear weapons, depending on their point of origin. Destroyers, Battleships, Missile Cruisers, and Mobile SAMs can protect adjacent tiles from nuclear strikes, and fighter aircraft and all units with Anti-Air Strength will prevent bomber aircraft from delivering nukes if they do at least 50% of the bomber's HP in damage.
== Gallery ==
File:Domination Victory movie screenshot 4 (Civ6).jpg|Nuclear weapon detonation seen in the Domination Victory movie
== Related achievements ==
== See also ==
* Nuclear weapons in other games
Category:Game concepts (Civ6)