Civilization 7 – How To Get Artifacts Using Your Explorers

GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

The Modern Age in Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 represents an era of technological acceleration and industrial expansion, where civilizations pursue advanced warfare capabilities while simultaneously seeking to preserve historical knowledge. This dual focus creates unique strategic opportunities for players aiming to achieve cultural supremacy through artifact collection.

The artifact acquisition framework in Civilization 7 operates through the Geographic Society, which governs the Cultural Legacy mechanics during the Modern Age. Unlike earlier eras where holy relics could be obtained through various means, the Modern Age introduces specialized requirements. Explorers emerge as the exclusive archaeological units capable of excavating ancient ruins, requiring strategic deployment decisions that differ significantly from previous age approaches.

Successfully navigating the Cultural Legacy victory path demands meticulous execution of three critical phases. Players must coordinate civic research, unit production, and archaeological operations simultaneously while managing competing Modern Age priorities.

Phase One: Foundation Establishment

Begin by researching the Natural History civic, which unlocks both the Explorer unit and the archaeological mechanics system. This research typically requires 8-12 turns depending on your civilization’s culture output and existing civic advancements. Concurrently, initiate Explorer training in cities with barracks or military academies to accelerate unit production.

Phase Two: Infrastructure Preparation

Establish either a University or Museum in your core cities. These structures serve dual purposes: enabling the Research Artifacts action and providing display locations for recovered items. Position your trained Explorer adjacent to these cultural institutions and activate the Research Artifacts command, which reveals potential excavation sites across your explored territory.

Phase Three: Field Operations

Navigate your Explorer to identified dig sites, which appear as special ruin markers on the map. The excavation process consumes 3-5 turns and may be interrupted by enemy units or environmental hazards. Upon completion, you’ll acquire an artifact that must be transported to your University or Museum for formal display to activate its cultural benefits.

Seasoned Civilization 7 players can significantly enhance their artifact acquisition efficiency through several advanced techniques. Understanding the underlying mechanics enables more sophisticated cultural victory approaches.

Strategic Timing Optimization

Initiate Natural History research approximately 15-20 turns before entering the Modern Age to ensure immediate Explorer deployment capability. This forward planning prevents critical delays in the cultural victory race against competing civilizations.

Common Execution Errors

Many players mistakenly deploy single Explorers across vast territories, resulting in excessive movement turns between dig sites. Instead, maintain 2-3 specialized Explorer units operating in coordinated regional teams to maximize excavation throughput.

Museum Network Expansion

Establish cultural institution clusters across 3-4 core cities to create redundant artifact display capacity. This distributed approach protects your cultural investment from military conquests and enables faster cultural influence accumulation through geographic coverage.

Advanced tactical considerations include pre-positioning military units to protect excavation sites from barbarian raids and strategically timing artifact research during diplomatic windows to minimize interference from rival civilizations.

No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » Civilization 7 – How To Get Artifacts Using Your Explorers Master Civilization 7 artifact collection with strategic Explorer deployment and Cultural Legacy optimization