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| Civilization: Beyond Earth created by Firaxis Games. Images used for educational purposes only. |
Civilization: Beyond Earth has a number of ways to win, and probably the strangest among them is the Transcendence Victory. The de facto Victory for Harmony players, Transcendence requires the player to contact the massive organism that lives within the planet itself. How? Well, let’s find out.
Step One: Research
Compared to some other Victories Transcendence is pretty straightforward and doesn’t require a lot of planning, but that doesn’t make it easy. Your first major obstacle comes in the form of three technologies that need to be researched, in any order, to move on to the second step.
- The first is Swarm Intelligence, a third-tier tech found beneath Artificial Intelligence (directly down from the Habitation, first-tier tech where every player begins). Not too bad - pass through Ecology / Engineering (Ecology is the better choice for Harmony players), jump through Computing, and research Artificial Intelligence to get at it.
- The second is Transgenics, a fourth-tier tech that’s up and to the right of Habitation. You can skip through Genetics and Genetic Design to get to it, or you can take a slightly longer course through Alien Sciences, Alien Ethics, and out to Artificial Evolution to research the tech. You’ll understand why the longer path might prove attractive in the next step.
- The third is Nanorobotics, a fifth-tier tech to the far left of Habitation. Physics / Engineering (I recommend Physics), Robotics, and Nanotechnology provide a fairly clear-cut path.
Researching these three techs will get you a fair distance into the challenge, but not the whole way. Next you need to max out your Affinity.
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| Transgenics on the Tech Tree. You'll need Transgenics to complete the Transcendence Victory. |
Step Two: Maximize Harmony
In order to construct the Planetary Wonder necessary for completing this Victory you need to raise your Harmony Affinity to Level 13. You can complete a few quests to achieve this, but for the most part you’ll be researching appropriate techs to raise your level. The techs you can research for this purpose are as follows, in roughly this order:
- Alien Biology
- Swarm Intelligence
- Alien Adaptation
- Photosystems
- Tissue Engineering
- Swarm Robotics
- Exotic Matter
- Alien Domestication
- Alien Hybridization
- Designer Lifeforms
- Nanorobotics
- Metamaterials
- Alien Evolution
It’s wise to route your tech purchases in such a way that you pick up Harmony points alongside the techs listed in the first step. Not only will this cut down on the time needed for the second step, you’ll receive valuable Affinity levels that will allow you to upgrade your units and properly defend the subject of the next step.
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| The Mind Flower, a key component of the Transcendence Victory. Protect this sucker or you fail. |
Step Three: Construct and Defend the Mind Flower
Once you reach Level 13 of Harmony you’ll reach the final goal of the Affinity, namely the construction of the Mind Flower. This Planetary Wonder is a necessity for completing your Victory and winning the game. It’s constructed as a branch of one of your cities, requiring an empty space (or the elimination of one of your existing improvements) in your territory. Unlike most other buildings, the Mind Flower can be directly attacked without going after the city it’s in, and if an enemy unit steps on the Mind Flower it will immediately disappear.
Ouch. Once you’ve successfully constructed a Mind Flower you’ll need to maintain it for roughly thirty turns, minus a small amount for each Mind Stem you’ve constructed in your cities. It is highly recommended that you set up a large number of troops in sites adjacent to the Mind Flower, as well as on the Flower, to protect it from potential enemy incursions. Do this whether you’re at war or not. Building alliances in advance will help protect your colony from wars, as well as potentially provide you with allies if you do get into a war. Survive long enough with an unmolested Mind Flower and you’ll earn your Victory; lose the Mind Flower at any point and you’ll have to start over.
Having trouble maintaining a Mind Flower? Here are some tips for survival:
- Establish your Mind Flower far from coasts. This will prevent enemies from targeting the structure with long-range weapons. (As far as I can tell you can’t destroy the Mind Flower with long-range weapons, but this will keep your defenders safe.) This will also make it more difficult for opponents to find your Mind Flower. Build in the core of your territory, not on the edges.
- If possible, establish the Mind Flower in a bottleneck, such as in a mountain range.
- Surround your Mind Flower in Miasma, if possible. Some of your opponents will not be protected against Miasma, and the extra damage may be enough to soften your opponents enough for a kill. Your Harmony units will also benefit from extra healing.
- Befriend any local Alien Nests in advance. Aliens may not actively protect your Mind Flower, but they’ll get in the way of enemy armies and, at the very least, buy you some time.
- Last, don’t be afraid to replace valuable improvements with a Mind Flower if it means setting your Flower up on a superior hexagon. Victory is worth more than a few more jots of Power.