Persia
Nader Shah
Uniques and adjacency effects read from the game data.
Victory focusDomination
Kit at a glance
Nader Shah conquers on momentum: conquered cities feed his war economy through domestic trade, and his armies hit harder when attacking full-health targets. Persia under him is a serial campaigner — each triumphant war finances and sharpens the next one.
Opening: the first 60 turns
Nader Shah's Persia opens exactly like a militarist: Scout, Slinger, Warrior, Settler, Settler, then Mining, Bronze Working and Iron Working for Immortals, with the Satrapies trade route from Political Philosophy pointed at the capital as a domestic route, because Persia's domestic routes already pay extra gold and culture and this persona adds faith and gold on routes from cities he did not found. Build Archers alongside the Immortals and open each engagement against fresh, full-health enemies, which is the engagement his combat bonus is built around. The second city should be a hill city between the capital and the nearest rival with an Encampment planned, and the third should sit on a river for a Commercial Hub, since gold converts directly into the next army. Pairidaezas can wait until the first campaign is over.
Unique to this civilization
Unit
Immortal
Replaces Swordsman
Technology: Iron Working
Adjacency effects
No adjacency bonus — standard district rules apply.
How to play it
Strike first — his kit rewards attacking fresh, full-health units. Chain short victorious wars instead of one grinding slog, and run domestic trade routes from each conquered city to reinvest the spoils immediately.
Victory paths
Serial domination is the path: a short war, a peace, reinvestment, then the next war. Immortals with their ranged attack soften a defender, Archers or later Crossbowmen finish it, and every finished unit is a promotion and a cheaper next battle. Domestic routes returning gold and faith mean the treasury refills between wars without pausing production, and faith can go into Grand Master's Chapel purchases so the army regrows in a few turns. Persia's satrapy roads and internal routes keep redeployment fast across an empire that widens with each capital taken. When the coalition finally forms, the fallback is a culture push through Pairidaezas in the captured cities, which the enlarged territory makes surprisingly quick; science is the third option via captured Campuses.
Synergies: city-states, wonders, policies
God of the Forge for the Immortal push, or Religious Settlements if the neighbor is far. Kabul turns the finishing-blow habit into fast promotions, and Hattusa supplies iron and niter. Victor is the frontline governor and Magnus with Surplus Logistics sits at the route hub; Moksha is worth a title if faith purchases become the army's main source. Policy cards: Agoge into Conscription, Discipline early, then Retinues and Professional Army as upgrades pile up, with Caravansaries in the economic slot throughout. Wonders: Statue of Zeus, Terracotta Army and Alhambra for the wars, Kilwa Kisiwani for the city-state stack, and later Eiffel Tower for the Pairidaeza pivot.
Weaknesses and counters
Momentum-based kits die when momentum stops. A rival who keeps walls current and refuses field battles denies the finishing blows, and without kills the promotions and the war economy sit idle while war weariness climbs. The Immortal window is classical only, so a neighbor who reaches Crossbowmen and Pikemen with Bastions slotted turns the second campaign into a siege Persia is not built for. Unlike Cyrus, this persona pays full diplomatic price for surprise wars, so the coalition arrives sooner; declaring formal wars with a Casus Belli after denouncing is the cleaner route. Opponents should retreat wounded units out of reach rather than fortify them, and pillage the domestic routes feeding the war chest. Common errors: chasing kills into enemy territory with damaged units and starting the second war before the army is healed.
Similar civilizations
Related guides
- Domination: Building Cities That Feed a WarHow to lay out an empire for conquest in Gathering Storm: which cities become production cores, where the Encampment goes, the four classic attack windows, siege composition, holding conquered cities, and when to stop fighting and win another way.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
- Which Civilization Should You Play? Picks by Victory TypeThree to four leader picks for each victory type — science, culture, domination, religion, and diplomacy — with the reason each one teaches that victory well, plus flexible all-rounders and a guide to matching a civilization to how you actually like to play.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
- 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
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03