Humankind: Classical Era guide — Trade, free peoples, battles, and the Huns

The Classical Era in Humankind

Humankind‘s Classical Era is a “make or break moment” for you. This is when new conflicts arise. You could curb the ambitions of a rival empire, or you could find yourself left in the dust.

From one era to the next

From the Ancient Era onwards, you’ll need to acquire seven Era Stars before you can advance. You can choose to play the game as you see fit, but completing tallies that match the affinity of your chosen culture for that era will award more Fame points. Here are some examples:

• Agrarian – Have more population/units.
• Aesthete – Amass more influence.
• Builder – Construct districts.
• Expansionist – Territories attached to cities.
• Merchant – Amass more money/gold.
• Militarist – Kill a sufficient number of units.
• Scientist – Research a certain number of techs.

Note: Our civilizations and cultures guide already discusses all the emblematic (i.e., unique) quirks that each culture has, as well as the affinities or archetypes that give more bonuses and extra features. Here, I’ll simply provide tips about my ideal picks.

Classical Era pick: The Huns

Assuming you chose the Harappans during the Ancient Era, there’s a good chance that you’ve grown your population considerably. It also means that you’ve got a bunch of tribal units that got turned into Runners. You should, eventually, conduct a Harappan Runner Rush to take out at least one AI enemy.

As for the Classical Era in Humankind, my favorite culture/civ, bar none, are the Huns. Previously mentioned when I covered the Victor OpenDev build, the Huns have the following quirks:

• Legacy Trait: Formidable Steeds – +2 combat strength for cavalry units.
• Emblematic District: Ordu – Outposts are turned into Ordu. They cannot be attached to cities.
• Emblematic Unit: Hunnic Horde – These nomadic horsemen have 22 combat strength and 6 movement points. Since they’re nomadic, they can pillage improvements to grow and spawn new units. Also, the “Multi-Move” perk lets them move continuously while ignoring zone-of-control (they may move -> attack -> move during their turn in battle). Oh, and they’re technically ranged skirmishers. Although they need to be next to a target to attack, they don’t receive damage.

The Huns have ridiculous synergy among their uniques and especially with the Harappans that you picked beforehand. With the Harappans focusing on food and population growth, you can expect your outposts to have extra population. If you have at least a couple of outposts that aren’t attached to cities, these will turn into Ordu. You can then click on each to instantly raise 4x Hunnic Horde units (they cost 4x population).

Alternatively, you can use the Militarist action, “Iron Reserves,” to instantly raise a militia army in a city. Then, bring that squad to an Ordu and disband it to give the Ordu 4x population instantly. You should be able to raise 4x Hunnic Horde units again. Your horsemen will be able to ravage your opponents because the AI has a hard time countering cavalry at this stage in Humankind‘s campaign even on higher difficulties. Make sure you pillage all the improvements you see for additional resources and extra unit spawns.

Note 1: Hunnic Hordes require at least one horse strategic resource node that’s active before they can be recruited in cities or spawned in Ordus. The only exception is when they’re spawned via unit growth when pillaging.

Note 2: Since the Huns are a Militarist culture, you’ll want to kill as many hostile units as possible to amass more Militarist Era Stars. Extra Agrarian, Expansionist, and Merchant Era Stars are also possible because of your conquests, pillaging, and freely spawned units. You can maximize the Fame points that you receive during this stage of Humankind before you switch to the Medieval Era.

What about other cultures?

Assuming the Huns are already taken, I would suggest the following alternatives:

• Celts – They give a food bonus that’s in keeping with your Agrarian selection from the Ancient Era (Harappans).
• Greeks – They’ll provide you with science so you can catch up in the tech race.
• Achaemenid Persians – You’ll get some extra stability, money, and influence.

All right, let’s go to the next part of our Humankind Classical Era guide to talk about other tidbits such as diplomacy, trade, free peoples, and warfare.