Kandy

Strategy guide

Every natural wonder you discover hands you a Relic, and all Relics yield +50% Faith. Scout hard and early — each discovery is a free faith engine, and with Reliquaries-style setups the same relics also pump tourism. Suzerainty rewards map knowledge more than anything else.

Best civs & plans

Exploration-heavy civs and relic kits shine — Norway's early ocean access and Kongo's relic bonuses both cash in naturally.

Envoy plan

Kandy is a race against your own scouts. Every natural wonder found before you become suzerain is a Relic lost, so the three envoys must land in the ancient era, ideally from the first-meet bonus plus the envoy granted by Mysticism and early Influence Points. The religious envoy tiers soften the cost: one envoy adds faith to the capital and Shrines, which a Kandy player wants anyway for the faith economy the relics will feed. AI religious leaders do compete here, but usually later than you need them to, so an early three-envoy lead tends to survive until the medieval era. Afterward, decide whether the map still has unexplored wonders; if not, stop investing and let the relics you hold do the work.

Value by era

All of Kandy's upside is front-loaded. The ancient and classical eras, when scouts and early ships are still uncovering the map, are when most relics arrive, and a relic slotted into the Palace or a Temple immediately becomes faith that buys the first missionaries. Through the medieval era the fifty-percent faith boost keeps the accumulated relics relevant, and the Reliquaries belief or Mont St. Michel turns them into tourism and faith simultaneously. By the renaissance the map is mostly revealed and new relics stop appearing, though a late Cartography push into unexplored oceans can still find island wonders. After that the bonus is purely a multiplier on what you already hold; taking suzerainty late is only worthwhile if you already own several relics from other sources.

Pitfalls and how to protect it

Relics need slots. Without a Temple, the Palace holds one, and a relic earned with no empty slot is not granted to you, so a Kandy plan requires building Temples and, ideally, a wonder like Mont St. Michel or the Reliquaries belief to make them count. Players who reach three relics and then stop building holy infrastructure are throwing faith away. Do not delay suzerainty to save envoys for a scientific city-state; wonders discovered early are gone. On maps with few natural wonders, or on a Pangaea start where neighbors have already explored the continent, Kandy is a weak pick and a single envoy for the Shrine faith is all it deserves. Kandy is rarely attacked, but if it falls, the relics you already hold keep their base yield and only lose the bonus faith.

Envoy bonuses

• 1 envoy+1 Faith in your capital and in each Shrine you own.
• 3 envoys+2 Faith in each Temple and each Consulate you own.
• 6 envoys+3 Faith in each worship building and each Chancery you own.

Envoy bonuses are shared by every city-state of the same type.

Other Religious city-states

• Armagh
• Chinguetti
• Jerusalem
• La Venta
• Nazca
• Vatican City
• Yerevan

Related guides

• City-States and Envoys: Where Your Influence Should GoWhere envoys come from, how to spend the first handful, which city-state types match each victory plan, how to win and keep suzerainty against the AI, and when conquering a city-state is the right call.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
• Diplomatic Victory: Earning and Spending FavorA working plan for the Gathering Storm diplomatic victory: where Diplomatic Favor actually comes from, how World Congress sessions and votes turn into victory points, which emergencies, competitions and wonders matter, how to keep alliances alive, and when to spend favor versus hold it against a rival's lead.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
• Early District Planning: The First 100 TurnsHow to read city sites for future adjacency, decide between settling for yields now or reserving tile clusters, and know when a planned layout should be abandoned.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03