Vilnius

Strategy guide

Every Theater Square gets +50% adjacency for each level of your highest active alliance — up to +150% at level 3. Keep one alliance maxed — research or cultural alliances level passively — and your Theater Square adjacency stays at two and a half times its base for the rest of the game.

Best civs & plans

Culture-victory civs that keep long alliances — France, Sweden — hold the condition effortlessly; diplomatic play doubles as a culture multiplier.

Envoy plan

Envoys spent here before alliances exist are parked capital, so the first three should arrive with Civil Service or shortly after, once you have a partner willing to ally. From then on the cultural-type rewards pull in the same direction: Amphitheater culture at one envoy, museum and Consulate culture at three, Broadcast Center culture at six, all in the Theater Square cities whose adjacency the suzerain bonus is inflating. Six envoys is reasonable for a culture victory. AI cultural civs bid steadily for cultural city-states, so a two-envoy cushion is prudent; the trade routes you are already sending to your ally to raise the alliance level will not help here, so Amani and completed quests are the cheapest padding.

Value by era

Nothing happens in the ancient and classical eras, since alliances do not exist yet. The medieval era is the ramp: the first alliance starts at level one, which already switches on the first +50% for Theater Squares that mostly have one or two points of adjacency. Peak value is the Renaissance through the modern era, when a level three alliance held for a long stretch meets Theater Squares wedged between wonders and district clusters, and +150% on a high adjacency is several culture per district every turn. Late in the game the bonus remains fully live, so a late suzerainty is excellent for a player who already holds a maxed alliance and a row of Theater Squares.

Pitfalls and how to protect it

Alliances expire, and the day yours lapses without renewal is the day every Theater Square loses some or all of its extra adjacency — set a reminder for the renewal turn and keep relations good enough to re-sign. Pick a stable, distant partner so the alliance lasts. Theater Squares with poor adjacency gain almost nothing, so the bonus rewards deliberate placement next to wonders, not a Theater Square in every city. If Vilnius is captured, liberate it only if the alliance is still holding.

Envoy bonuses

• 1 envoy+1 Culture in your capital and in each Amphitheater you own.
• 3 envoys+2 Culture in each Art Museum, Archaeological Museum and Consulate you own.
• 6 envoys+3 Culture in each Broadcast Center and each Chancery you own.

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

Other Cultural city-states

• Antananarivo
• Ayutthaya
• Caguana
• Kumasi
• Mohenjo-Daro
• Nan Madol
• Rapa Nui

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