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AI improvements enhance sanction use, alliance handling, air-base actions, and naval production, accompanied by combat adjustments.

Other adjustments include indirect buffs to Chola and Maya, UI/UX refinements (auto-explore visuals, streamlined controls, better prompts), and broader AI behavior tweaks.

Resource generation and aging are stabilized to prevent resources from appearing or disappearing across transitions, preserving coastal resource diversity and adding age-specific rules.

New resources and terrain arrive, including Crabs, Cowrie, Pitch, Atolls, and Lotus, with reef updates and revamped ocean terrain affecting movement and defense.

Ocean features expand with Atolls and Lotus on Lakes, revised reef placement, and distribution of new resources with age-based yields and warehouse bonuses.

The ocean layer gains practical usage in the modern age with earlier access for Hawai‘i, alongside adjusted terrain like reefs and Atolls.

A major Civilization VII update, version 1.3.0, centers on naval and oceanic gameplay with Harbor buildings, a new Privateer unit, and broad naval balance changes alongside new ocean resources and terrain features.

Exploration Age unlocks the Privateer, pitched as the ultimate naval raider able to cross borders, raid trade routes, and attack regardless of diplomacy.

The Harbour building debuts as a base production hub, increases production for fishing boats, and serves as the new spawn point for naval units.

Additional changes span terrain and policy adjustments, production tweaks, and refinements to combat mechanics across multiple systems.

The changes are substantial but not expected to drastically alter the game’s reception, with Firaxis signaling further features, including a traditional alternative to the age-transition mechanic.

Civ balance updates buff Egypt, Songhai, Spain, Achaemenid Persia, Aksum, and Hawai‘i, while nerfing Mississippian, Qing, Great Britain, and Prussia for improved balance.

Civ and leader adjustments across Chola, Egypt, Great Britain (East India Company), Hawai‘i, Maya, Mississippian, Prussia, Qing, Songhai, and Spain align with historical identity and balance.

Players are encouraged to share feedback on the changes in the comments.

UI/UX improvements include better text alignment, tooltips, accessibility fixes, and smoother navigation in menus and production interfaces, along with platform-specific quality-of-life updates.

Coastal resources persist across ages; each map includes at least three coastal resources, with a new resource type appearing with each Age transition, and production effects tied to Warehouses.

Overall economy, infrastructure, and independent powers receive updates to city-building rules, resource generation consistency across ages, and coastal resource distribution.

Eight new Privateer-related narrative events, four new resource events, and additional Tides of Power DLC events, plus new audio assets for the DLC.

New wonders for Tides of Power—Great Lighthouse, Nan Madol, Great Blue Hole, and Mapu‘a Vaea Blowholes—offer coast/island-specific benefits and requirements.

As a special thank-you, Blackbeard (Edward Teach) is available for free from today through early January for Civ VII owners.

Naval combat is reworked with separate melee and ranged categories, and ocean tiles gain harvestable features like shallow atolls, crabs, and turtles.

Content Collection adds Edward Teach (Blackbeard), the Republic of Pirates with Flying Gang, Buccaneer and Sloop units, and Havana Harbor wonder, plus Tonga civilization, all part of the Tides of Power DLC bundle.

These wonders provide bonuses across trade, science, culture, and production.

Part One of the Tides of Power collection is free from today through early January, introducing the new civs and leaders, with Part Two arriving in December.

The release aligns with the Tides of Power civ collection, bringing Iceland, the Ottomans, and Sayyida Al Hurra as leaders in the second part next January.

Naval unit roles are reshaped: light ships like the Privateer lean melee, heavy ships lean ranged, submarines gain ranged strength and cannot attack land units, and fleet commands adjust interactions with pirates.

Additional naval balance tweaks emphasize shifted unit roles and updated interactions for more balanced sea warfare.

Twelve civilizations receive reworks, including Aksum, Chola, Egypt, Great Britain, Hawai‘i, Maya, Mississippian, Prussia, Qing, Songhai, Spain, and Persia (renamed slightly for differentiation).

Pirate abilities enable border crossing without Open Borders or War, raiding non-allied trade routes with slight diplomatic penalties, attacking non-allied units with minor relationship changes, and gold from defeated units proportional to combat strength.