Apocalypse (Civ6)

Apocalypse is the first game mode in Civilization VI, introduced in the Maya & Gran Colombia Pack. It is focused on disasters and climate change, and includes a new unit, two new disasters, a new Scored Competition, and an end-game Apocalypse phase. It requires the Gathering Storm expansion to play.
== Mechanics ==
The Apocalypse game mode turns up the heat of almost all changes introduced by the Gathering Storm expansion, forcing the player to really take disasters and climate into account, especially towards the end of the game. In this mode, the Disaster Intensity is set to 4 (Hyperreal), with all disasters even more intense and frequent than the Hyperreal setting of a normal game. This means more frequent disasters which inflict greater damage.
Next, the mode introduces a new support unit, the Soothsayer, which can trigger disasters and comes with special s. In order to earn additional promotions for Soothsayers, players will compete in a new Appease the Gods competition, which triggers randomly throughout the game independently of the World Congress. During the competition, the Soothsayer will have a special ability to sacrifice nearby military units to an active Volcano. Using Soothsayer charges will add 50 units of carbon each time (the opposite of a Carbon Recapture project), damaging the climate even before is discovered.
Two additional types of disasters are also introduced: Solar Flares, a global disaster; and Comet Strikes, which signify the impending end of the world.
Climate Change will start at Phase I instead of None (10% Ice is lost and sea level starts at 0.5 meters), making it more likely to reach the more severe stages. The global temperature increase starts at 0° despite 2 Climate Change points being accumulated when the game begins, and will therefore max out at +3.0° instead of +4.0° compared to a regular game.
Phase	Points	Sea Level Rise	Coastal Lowland 	Polar Ice Melt	Fertility
(Storm or Flood)	Desertification
(Storm or Drought)
I 	2 	+0.5 m 	- 	10% 	Yes	No
II 	3 	+1.0 m 	1 m tiles flooded 	20% 	Yes	No
III 	4 	+1.5 m 	2 m tiles flooded 	30% 	Yes	No
IV 	5 	+2.0 m 	1 m tiles submerged	40% 	No 	No
V 	6 	+2.5 m 	3 m tiles flooded 	55% 	No 	Yes
VI 	7 	+3.0 m 	2 m tiles submerged	70% 	No 	Yes
VII 	8 	+3.5 m 	3 m tiles submerged	85% 	No 	Yes
When Climate Change reaches Phase VII, the world will enter the Apocalypse phase, where Comet Strikes will happen every turn until the end of the game. The other disaster unique to this mode, Solar Flares, will also occur much more often; this is the only disaster that affects the entire world at once. At this point, all other kinds of disasters become extremely unlikely (all four types of Storm, Forest Fires, and Droughts stop completely, and Floods and volcanic eruptions become exceptionally rare), giving way to only these two types of disasters to wreak havoc all over the map.
== Strategy ==
This is one of the most extreme modes in the game, in which you run the very real risk of losing at the very brink of victory. The dynamics of the Apocalypse mode are different than other modes: in most of the game you will feel few, if any, effects. Yes, disasters are more frequent and destructive, but you can get this in a normal game as well by setting the Disaster Intensity to max. A more serious change is the introduction of the Soothsayer, with its ability to create disasters on-the-fly. Use this unit as an insidious way to attack your competition - just send it into their lands and start causing Disasters to wreak havoc on their economy. Note that the disasters caused by the unit are special: they only cause damage, without the usual fertility increase. The Soothsayer itself is immune to the destruction the Disasters cause to every other unit; however, it has limited charges.
The most challenging part of the mode comes when Climate Change Phase VII kicks in. The Comet Strikes act as supercharged nuclear strikes - not only wiping out whole cities, but literally poking holes in the land, leaving unworkable Impact Zones in their wake. The practical effect of all this is that the game sets a de facto time limit for your achieving victory. Depending on luck (the strikes aim randomly at land tiles), you may survive for a long time while your enemies get destroyed, or you may suffer the same fate as them. It's all chance, and there's little you can do apart from trying to achieve victory as quickly as possible.
One thing you may do is to try to slow down Climate Change as much as possible. Of course, this means little or no generation until you gain access to renewables. And you can never be sure that your competitors will have the same behavior, so you may end up hopelessly outmaneuvered just because you had no while everyone else did.
Maybe the most challenging type of victory under this mode is Domination Victory, because it requires you to exercise activity all over the map until the very last moment of the game. Also, the comets may wipe out the cities you need to conquer, which will alter the target(s) for the Domination Victory. Finally, the new Solar Flare disaster is particularly destructive to advanced military units.
Conversely, the easiest victory type is Scientific Victory. You should simply strive to launch your Exoplanet Expedition as early as possible, at which point you just need to hold out until the required number of turns pass.
== Related achievements ==
== See also ==
* Apocalypse in other games
Category:Civilization VI: New Frontier Pass
Category:Apocalypse (Civ6)
Category:Game modes (Civ6)