Age Crisis Guide: Legacy Paths & Crisis Choices

The Age Crisis is the periodic shock that punishes unprepared empires and rewards planned ones. Understanding how crisis intensity is calculated lets you neutralize what looks like a random event into a manageable speed bump. This guide explains the mechanics and how to prepare.

What triggers a crisis

A crisis erupts at the end of each Age, and its severity is not random.

• Intensity scales with how few Legacy Paths you completed.
• Zero or one path means a harsh crisis with real penalties.
• Two paths is the safe floor that avoids the worst effects.
• Three or four paths yields a Golden Age instead of a crisis.

Types of crisis effects

Crises manifest in ways that hit your weak points, so broad preparation helps.

• Unrest and amenity drops in cities you neglected.
• Production slowdowns on districts you under-built.
• Military weakness if you skipped the military path.
• Economic shocks if you ignored trade and resources.

Preparing for the crisis

Treat the last ten turns of an Age as crisis prep, not as business as usual.

• Finish a second Legacy Path before the timer expires.
• Stock gold and builders to absorb shocks quickly.
• Garrison border cities so unrest does not invite war.
• Avoid starting a war right as the crisis lands.

Surviving a bad crisis

If you missed the paths, recover fast rather than panic.

• Spend gold immediately on amenities and buildings.
• Concentrate production on the worst-hit city first.
• Use internal trade to rush the cities that rebelled.

Quick reference: crisis rule

Finish two Legacy Paths every Age and the crisis becomes a non-event; skip them and you spend the next Age recovering. The choice is yours ten turns before the timer, not during the chaos.

Crisis and victory timing

A crisis can interrupt your victory sprint if it lands at the wrong moment, so time your push around it.

• Finish your victory project before the crisis weakens your cities.
• If the crisis is near, bank resources to absorb the shock.
• Avoid starting a war the turn the crisis hits.
• Use a Golden Age to accelerate the final sprint safely.

Reading the crisis meter

The crisis meter is your early-warning system; read it like a clock.

• Check it every few turns in the late Age.
• Count how many paths remain to safety.
• If short, divert production to the fastest remaining path.
• Treat a red meter as a ten-turn sprint, not a worry.

Golden Age planning

A Golden Age is the reward for over-preparing, and it pays for itself next Age.

• Aim for three or four paths when the map allows it.
• Bank the bonus and use it to open the next Age fast.
• A Golden Age can offset a weak start in the new era.
• Treat the Golden Age as a head start, not a trophy.

Crisis and diplomacy

A crisis is also a diplomatic moment; rivals may be weak too.

• Attack a rival weakened by their own crisis.
• Propose Congress resolutions while others are distracted.
• Use the chaos to grab city-states cheaply.
• Defend alliances so your own crisis stays manageable.

Crisis recovery speed

How fast you recover matters more than the crisis itself, so build recovery into the plan.

• Keep a gold reserve specifically for crisis shocks.
• Pre-build amenities so unrest clears in one or two turns.
• Concentrate recovery production on the worst-hit city first.
• Do not start new wars while still recovering.

Above all, treat the two-Legacy-Path habit as the single most reliable insurance in the game, because it turns a threatening crisis into a manageable speed bump every single Age.