If you’ve ever found yourself stuck picking between a faith-focused or culture-focused run in Civilization 7, the Siam faction is the perfect middle ground you didn’t know you needed. I’ve put over 25 hours into testing Siam civilization 7 playthroughs across every difficulty setting, and I can confidently say it’s one of the most flexible, underrated picks for new and veteran players alike. This guide breaks down all of Siam’s unique perks, common mistakes to avoid, and actionable strategies to lock in wins no matter what playstyle you prefer.
Siam Civilization 7 Unique Bonuses and What They Actually Do
First, let’s break down Siam’s core perks so you know exactly what you’re working with before you even start your first turn. Most new Siam civilization 7 players undervalue the faction ability, Monarchy of the Golden Land, at first, but it scales better than almost any other faction ability in the game. It gives you +2 faith and +1 culture for every city-state you are suzerain of, plus 50% extra yields from any city-state envoys you send. That might not sound game-changing in the first 30 turns, but it stacks incredibly well with mid-game policies to give you a huge yield lead over other factions.
Their unique unit is the War Elephant, which replaces the heavy chariot. It has +5 combat strength against melee units and doesn’t suffer movement penalties when crossing forest or hill tiles. It’s perfect for defending your early borders if you spawn near aggressive factions like Rome or Mongolia, and you can even use it to take a few early enemy cities if you want to pivot to a domination win later. It’s also 20% cheaper to produce than a standard heavy chariot, so you don’t have to sacrifice too much growth to build one if you need it.
Their unique building is the Wat, which replaces the temple. It gives +3 extra faith, +2 culture, and +1 housing, on top of the standard temple yields. It’s far cheaper to build than a regular temple too, so you can get your faith economy up and running way faster than most other factions. The extra housing is a nice bonus too, as it lets you grow your cities faster without wasting production on extra early housing buildings.
Best Early-Game Strategies for Siam Playthroughs
Your first 50 turns as Siam will make or break your entire run, so you need to prioritize the right tasks from the start. Your first tech should always be Pottery, so you can unlock granaries to boost your city growth and get access to the early faith pantheon pick as soon as possible. Your first civic should be Early Empire, so you can unlock the first government plaza building and start generating envoys faster. Don’t waste turns on techs like Mining first unless you spawn next to a ton of stone or iron resources you need immediately.
You should send your first 3 envoys to culture or faith city-states first, no exceptions. Even if there’s a military or production city-state nearby, the extra yields from suzerain status for culture and faith will give you a way bigger head start than extra production early on. If you can get suzerain of two faith city-states by turn 40, you’ll be able to pick a strong pantheon like Religious Settlements to cut your settler production time by 30%, which lets you expand twice as fast as other players.
Don’t waste production on early military units unless you’re actively being threatened by a neighbor. The War Elephant is strong, but building one before you have 3 core cities set up will slow your growth way too much. You can usually get away with just one warrior for the first 30 turns if you place your cities on defensible hill tiles and avoid settling too close to aggressive faction borders.
Mid-Game Build Paths to Maximize Siam’s Strengths
Once you hit turn 100 and have 4 to 6 core cities set up, you can start leaning into one of three main win paths, all of which work incredibly well with Siam’s perks. The most straightforward is a culture win, since your Wat buildings and city-state culture bonuses will let you generate more tourism than most factions by turn 150. You can also go for a faith win, using your huge faith surplus to buy naturalists, rock bands, or even military units if you want to pivot to domination. If you want a more relaxed run, you can even go for a diplomatic win easily, since you’ll have way more envoys to use for world congress votes than other players.
No matter which win path you pick, there are a few non-negotiable policies and buildings you should unlock first to make your run way smoother:
- Merchant Confederation policy: Gives you +1 extra envoy for every trade route you send to a city-state, so you can hit suzerain status way faster without spending influence.
- Theocratic Government: Cuts the cost of religious units by 30% and gives you +2 extra faith per city, which stacks perfectly with your Wat yields to give you a massive faith surplus.
- World Congress First Envoy Bonus: Whenever the world congress votes on a city-state bonus, always vote for the extra envoy reward, as it lets you lock in suzerain status of high-yield city-states before other players can catch up.
One common mistake I see players make with Siam in the mid game is spreading themselves too thin trying to be suzerain of every city-state on the map. You only need 3 to 4 high-yield city-states to get enough bonus faith and culture to carry you through the late game, so don’t waste influence on city-states that give you gold or military bonuses unless they’re directly adjacent to your borders. It’s better to have 3 suzerain statuses with high-yield city-states than 6 partial envoy placements that don’t give you any bonus perks.
Common Siam Playthrough Mistakes to Avoid
Even with Siam’s strong perks, it’s easy to make small mistakes that derail your entire run if you’re not paying attention. The first and most common mistake is ignoring military production entirely in the early and mid game. A lot of players get so focused on sending envoys and building Wats that they don’t have any units to defend themselves when an aggressive faction like the Zulu or Rome declares war on them. You should always have at least 3 defensive units per 2 cities by turn 80, even if you’re playing a peaceful culture run. It’s way cheaper to build a few extra War Elephants early than to lose a core city to a surprise attack.
Another mistake is picking the wrong pantheon or religion beliefs for Siam. A lot of players pick beliefs that boost gold or production, but you should always prioritize beliefs that give you extra yields from city-states or extra envoy generation. The Envoy of the Gods belief, for example, gives you +1 extra faith per envoy you send to a city-state, which stacks with Siam’s base faction ability to give you huge faith surpluses early on. You can use that extra faith to buy builders or settlers early, which speeds up your growth even more.
Finally, don’t sleep on the War Elephant’s late-game utility. A lot of players replace them with knights as soon as they unlock the tech, but War Elephants are way cheaper to maintain and work incredibly well as defensive units for your border cities even into the industrial era. You can keep a few of them around to protect your backline while you focus on producing late-game tourism or faith units, so you don’t have to waste production on new defensive units every time you unlock a new military tech.
At the end of the day, Siam is one of the most forgiving, flexible factions in Civilization 7, perfect for players who want to try hybrid playstyles without being locked into a single win path. If you follow the strategies in this guide, you’ll be able to win on even Deity difficulty with Siam civilization 7 runs in far less time than you’d expect. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different win paths too—some of my most fun Siam runs were ones where I pivoted from a culture win to a domination win halfway through using faith-purchased tanks. Try it out in your next playthrough, you won’t be disappointed.