HUMANKIND 2 WALKTHROUGH
A beginner's plan for your first full six-era run
🏁 BEFORE YOU START
Almost every new-player mistake is a timing mistake, not a build mistake. Before turn one, decide your victory condition and turn order.
Pick a Victory Condition
Domination punishes slow starts, Score rewards steady era sums, Wonder demands a late build. All three are in the strategies guide.
Choose a Manageable Map
A small map lets you finish the Ancient era without fighting. A large map teaches the systems and breaks you later.
Plan Your Culture Line
Decide your first two culture swaps before you play. They set your Science, army, and economy for half the game.
🏹 ANCIENT ERA
Turns 1-8: Food and Scout
Pick a start with a river and two workable Grassland tiles. Set the capital to Food, scout with one unit, build only a Granary or Military unit.
Turns 9-16: Your First Culture Swap
Your first unlock comes from Ancient era Science. A Military culture like the Romans buys safety, a Scientific one like the Greeks a faster clock.
Turns 17-28: Second Settlement
Found your second city on good Food within eight tiles of the capital, ideally on a river. Build a Granary, then switch the capital to Production.
Turns 29-40: Prep the Era End
Enter the Classical era with Science banked, two cities producing, and a three-unit army. Most first-hour losses come from entering with one city.
⚔️ CLASSICAL ERA
The Classical era is about turning two cities into four, and conquest beats settlement. A captured city comes with territory, buildings, and Population.
- • Put a district in every city before building a second. One per settlement beats two in one city.
- • Keep an army of five to six units and one Support unit, per the army guide.
- • Take one rival city, then make peace and rebuild. Two wars back to back leave no Production.
- • Unlock a third culture in the era's last third so you enter the Medieval with options, not a forced pick.
📚 MEDIEVAL ERA
The Medieval era is the widest fork in the game: religious, scientific, Military, or trade. New players under-invest in Science and reach the Renaissance with nothing.
Faith or Science, Not Both
A religious culture like the Franks converts Holy sites into Faith and stability, if you settled near sacred ground. If your cities are ordinary, go scientific.
Save Production for the Wonder Push
Research a National Wonder in the Medieval era so it is ready to build in the Renaissance, checking costs in the wonders guide.
🎯 RENAISSANCE ERA
The Renaissance is where expansion becomes cheap and Diplomacy starts to pay. Trade routes move Science and Culture, and Influence shapes a border.
- • Open borders with one neighbour, keep formal peace with another. Influence on a border tile beats a defender unit.
- • Have a National Wonder well underway by the era end, since Industry eats all your Production.
- • Reach four to six solid settlements, not eight sprawling ones. This is the last cheap moment to prune territory.
- • In multiplayer, negotiate long-term peace terms now while both sides have trade goods.
⚙️ INDUSTRIAL ERA
Industry gives you Production chains but doubles Population. The era is won by comfortable cities, not large ones.
Happiness Before Size
A Population jump without new Food, Housing, and luxuries produces unrest. Build extra districts in the era Population grows.
Place Industry With Mines
An Industrial district next to mines and a road is worth several isolated ones. If the British are active, their Industry bonus multiplies the chain.
🚀 MODERN ERA
The final era is short and the wonder race is the point. Modern Era wonders are the costliest projects in the game, so a Wonder win needs saved Production.
- • Decide the Modern wonder in the last Industrial turns, then strip optional builds so Production goes in.
- • A Scientific or Economic culture in the Modern era protects the build site and speeds the era clock. Pick for defence.
- • If you are not on a Wonder run, switch to score: tidy territory, keep cities productive, and spend the rest on Influence.
- • Check every wonder requirement in the wonders guide before the era ends.
📊 ERA GOALS BY THE NUMBERS
| Era | Settlements | Districts | Units | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient | 2 | 1-2 | 3 | Survive, unlock culture two |
| Classical | 3-4 | 4-6 | 6 | One city, then rebuild |
| Medieval | 4-5 | 7-10 | 7 | Faith or Science, commit |
| Renaissance | 5-6 | 11-15 | 8 | Trade, Influence, Wonder |
| Industrial | 6-8 | 16-24 | 9 | Happy Population, Industry |
| Modern | 8-10 | 25+ | 10 | Finish a Modern wonder |
❌ COMMON BEGINNER MISTAKES
Unlocking Cultures You Never Use
Science spent on a culture you skip is the commonest waste in the game. Every unlocked culture also adds upkeep you pay every turn.
Starting a Wonder in the Ancient Era
The Production cost dwarfs the effect that early. Save wonders for the Medieval and Renaissance eras.
Settling Instead of Conquering
New players found a city every time they can, ending the Classical era with six scattered settlements and no army. One conquest gives the same land.
Ignoring Stability
A city with unhappy citizens contributes nothing and can defect in multiplayer. Check the city panel often and treat unrest as production loss.