Quick Links
Total War: Pharaohtakes place at the beginning of the Bronze Age Collapse, a period in history when several established empires fell into decline all at once. The reasons for the Collapse are a subject of debate among historians, and ultimately far too complex to fully simulate, even in a game as detailed as this one.
Instead, Total War: Pharaoh uses a system called the Pillars of Civilization to show the decline of Egypt and Hatti. The Pharaoh’s divine mission is to maintain order in the world - will you prove up to the task and halt the Bronze Age Collapse?
What Are The Pillars Of Civilization?
The game begins tracking the status of the Pillars of Civilization onTurn Six, the first Shemsu Hor of the campaign. Rather than reflecting the status of a single empire, the Pillars of Civilization is a scoreshared by the entire world.you’re able to always see the current rating of the Pillars byclicking the banner below the resource bar.
The Pillars of Civilization score is derivedalmost entirely from the state of the world’s Cult Centers, the holy cities of each of the gods. Each deity has exactly one Cult Center, and it contributes to the Pillars of Civilization based on thecurrent level of its Governor’s Building:
Cult Centers that have been reduced to ruins, or whose Governor Building is only Level 1 or 2,contribute nothing to the Pillars of Civilization.There are19 Cult Centers in the world, and a twentieth can be built at Akhetaten (Amarna) if a player adopts theAncient Legacy Of Akhenaten.
There is only one other source of Civilization Score, and it’s fairly minor; the Pharaoh or Pretender whocontrolsthe city of Mennefercan equipDeshret, the Red Crown of Lower Egyptto add 10 points to the current Civilization Score. By contrast, Irsu’s faction canreduce the Civilization Stateby using his Command on the campaign map.
All Cult Centers are easily identified on the map by the ornate circle around them.
Prosperity, Crisis, And Collapse
When the Pillars of Civilization reach specific thresholds, the current Civilization State will change. Civilization can be in one of three States;Prosperity, Crisis, and Collapse.The campaign starts with the world in Prosperity, but that usually changes quickly.
Every faction in the game gets modifiers based on the current Civilization State. Generally, as the Pillars of Civilization fall the settled factions will suffer penalties while the invader factions will get bonuses.
480 or higher
345 to 479
344 or lower
Irsu’s Command power lets himtemporarily count his faction as Tribal Nomads. This heavily incentivizes him to lower the Civilization State, rather than try to preserve it!
Events
Each turn, there is a chance that an Event will take place in one of the world’s regions. Events can beBlessingsorCrises, and will positively or negatively affect their region for several turns. Only one event can happen at a time. The lower the Civilization State, the more likely an event is to be a Crisis when one occurs.
How To Prevent The Bronze Age Collapse
It’svery likely that the world will reach Collapseat some point during each campaign; wars between factions, plus the never-ending onslaught of invaders from the sea, the highlands, and the desert, will take their toll on the world’s Cult Centers. However,if the Cult Centers are rebuilt, the Pillars of Civilization can recover - even all the way back to Prosperity!
When the Civilization State changes, it cannot change again for five turns, even if the Civilization Score would cross a threshold. Furthermore, Civilization State only changes at the beginning of a turn.
The Cult Centers are spread throughout the world, but areprimarily concentrated along the Nile and on the coast of Canaan.By taking control of these areas, thenbuilding up and protecting the Cult Centers, you can halt or even reverse the Collapse. Be warned, though; the Sea Peoples and Tribal Invaders will target these cities, and likely burn them to the ground if they win a siege, forcing you into costly and time-consuming repairs once they’re driven off.
