Legacy Paths & Age Crises Explained

Legacy Paths are the scoreboard of the Age system. Completing them softens your Age Crisis and unlocks Golden Age bonuses, so understanding how they work is mandatory for any player who wants consistency rather than luck. This guide explains the four paths and how to plan them.

The four paths

Each Age offers four Legacy Paths, one per pillar of the game. You choose which to pursue.

• Science: research key techs and build tier-2 science buildings.
• Culture: complete civics and place a high-adjacency Theater Square.
• Military: win a declared war or clear independent powers.
• Economic: control a unique resource or run a set number of trade routes.

Why they matter

Legacy Paths are not side goals; they are the crisis-difficulty dial.

• Zero or one completed path triggers a Dark Age with penalties.
• Two paths is the safe floor that avoids the worst crisis.
• Three or four paths grants a Golden Age with opening bonuses.
• The bonuses compound into the next Age's early game.

Planning across Ages

The best players decide their paths two Ages early and build toward them deliberately.

• In Antiquity, commit to the paths your chosen civ supports best.
• In Exploration, finish them before the crisis timer forces a panic.
• Let the paths shape your district and wonder choices, not the reverse.

Recovering from a missed path

If a path slips away, recover without panic by pivoting production to the nearest achievable one.

• Switch a half-built wonder to a district that completes a path instead.
• Use a defensive war to grab the military path you skipped.
• Bank trade routes to snap up the economic path late.

Quick reference: the two-plus-one rule

Always target two paths that serve your victory and one flexible backup. That combination gives you a Golden-Age-adjacent outcome most games while keeping your build order focused on actually winning, not just on clearing the scoreboard.

Matching paths to your civ

Each civ leans toward certain paths. Forcing a mismatched path wastes production you could spend winning. Read your civ's bonuses and let them choose your paths for you.

• A science-flavored civ should always take the science path.
• A wonder-heavy civ finds the culture path almost free.
• A trade-bonus civ completes the economic path with spare routes.
• A combat-bonus civ can grab military while pretending to be peaceful.

Paths as a crisis shield

Treat the two-path floor as insurance, not ambition. Even when chasing one win, two paths keep the crisis from wrecking your plan.

• Always secure a second path even if your win needs only one.
• Track the crisis meter so you know how many paths remain safe.
• Trade for a third path only when production allows it cheaply.
• Never let pride in one path talk you into skipping the second.

Tracking the crisis meter

Keep the Age Crisis meter open every few turns. It tells you exactly how many paths you still need, turning a vague worry into a concrete checklist you can close out with a focused ten-turn push before the crisis arrives.

Path priority under time pressure

When the crisis timer is short, pick paths by completion speed, not by preference.

• The economic path via trade routes is often the fastest to snap up.
• The military path via independent powers needs no wonder.
• The science path is slow but safe if you started early.
• Skip the culture path last if a wonder keeps getting blocked.