Civ 7: How To Play Jose Rizal (Best Strategy For Every Age)

Jose Rizal is among the most unique leaders in Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 due to his one-of-a-kind Narrative Events that can be taken advantage of across the Ages. His Pambansang Bayani ability allows him to gain additional Culture and Gold bonuses when receiving rewards from Narrative Events, and he gets additional Narrative Events that happen more frequently. These are a driver of Jose Rizal’s Celebration strategy, making him unlike any other leader in the game. He is built for a Cultural Diplomatic approach, which can be taken in all sorts of directions.

Jose Rizal’s unique Narrative Events should be utilized to increase Happiness and build strong Culture output. In turn, this means he can take advantage of the abundant social policy slots that will open up. Every Celebration unlocks a social policy slot, making it possible for Happiness to outpace Culture and having a shortage of available policies or traditions, so building up Culture alongside Happiness is your best bet.

How To Set Up Jose Rizal For A Cultural Or Militaristic Victory

Equip The Forget-Me-Not Memento & Choose Maya For Antiquity

The goal for Jose Rizal is to increase Happiness in Civ 7 and play into his Celebration abilities. While the Forget-Me-Not Memento is ideal (10 Happiness per Age for completing Narrative Events), if you don’t have access to it, take a Diplomatic and/or Cultural Attribute point for maximum benefits to a Happiness build. Alternatively, Culture-boosting Mementos are equally useful, as Happiness will not be in short supply. Either way, there are multiple options for starting Civs depending on how you want to play it, but one of the top synergistic options is Maurya because of the major Happiness features.

Maya, Rome, and Greece are all viable for Jose Rizal as well in Antiquity; he can pursue Cultural or Militaristic paths effectively. Recommended Civ choices across the Ages for Jose Rizal are Maurya in Antiquity, Hawai’i in Exploration, and Siam in the Modern Age, with the ultimate goal of achieving a Cultural Victory in Civ 7 and avoiding war through Diplomacy. Generally speaking, you should take Happiness bonuses towards Celebrations as Narrative Event awards whenever possible, since there will be considerably more of these than the average campaign.

Best Strategy For Jose Rizal In The Antiquity Age

Use Maurya’s Unique Quarters For Happiness Toward Celebrations

Maurya has a unique Settler unit, the Nagarika, that will start you off with an automatic +2 Happiness in every Settlement. If you took the Diplomatic Point for a Memento (Treaty of Kadesh), this will give you another +1 and set you on the best path. Government choice is critical here and will define your strategy, given Celebration options are tied to Government. For a Cultural strategy, take Classical Republic to get a Wonder Production bonus during Celebrations. You’ll want to mind the Settlement cap as well, and place Settlements near Coasts to set yourself up for Hawai’i in Exploration.

Unlock the Mauryan Unique Civic, Acharya, as soon as possible to establish the Matha Unique Quarter in all of your Settlements. Combined, the Happiness yields from the Dharamshala and Vihara buildings (total +6 Base Happiness per Settlement) and the Matha bonus (+10% Happiness in that Settlement) are an incredible advantage and will give you an onslaught of Celebrations to boost Wonder construction and more.

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Maurya can choose two Pantheons; Monument to the Gods and Earth Goddess/Sacred Waters (depending on terrain) are ideal options. Further increase Happiness and maintain positive relationships with Allies using Endeavors, and try to avoid conflict (though establishing a healthy corps of Purabhettarah units won’t hurt).

Best Strategy For Jose Rizal In The Exploration Age

Hawaii Gains Happiness On Fishing Boats

Hawai’i can increase Happiness further to drive Celebrations in the Exploration Age using Fishing Boats; you’ll want to try to place as many as possible during Growth Events. Establish a Religion as early as possible, venturing into the Distant Lands to start gathering Relics while working to increase Happiness on the home continent. Hawai’i’s unique Leiomano units can help if things get heated and wars break out, as they provide Culture when defeating units. The Kahuna missionaries are also extremely useful and can be used as Medics to heal units during wartime, while also awarding additional Gold for spreading Religion.

Take advantage of Mauryan Traditions from the previous Age that increase Happiness or benefit from Happiness surpluses. Establish coastal Settlements in the Distant Lands to fully utilize Hawai’i’s unique Civic tree and Traditions. If you placed your Antiquity Happiness buildings in an ideal location, be sure to build over these with the new Exploration Age options to fully maximize tile yields. Select the Vipassana belief if possible, as it will give you an additional +4 Happiness per foreign Settlement following your Religion. Theocracy is an ideal Government choice to benefit from the Culture boost throughout the Age.

Best Strategy For Jose Riazal In The Modern Age

Siam’s Bang Improvement Increases Culture & Happiness

Siam’s unique Bang improvement increases both Happiness and Culture, and will be helpful in driving Celebrations in the Modern Age as you send Explorers out to uncover Artifacts. Siam can also befriend Independents automatically at a higher Influence cost, which in turn allows Jose Rizal to produce or purchase Uparats — Siam’s unique Great People. These have the potential to award automatic Celebrations (Itsarasunthon), increase Culture based on Suzerainty (Pinklao), or even convert an Independent Power automatically (Wichaichan), among other abilities.

With the Sakdina Tradition, you can increase Happiness by +2 for each City-State you’re Suzerain of, so make good use of their Itsapharahab automatic conversion ability. This is one of the most unique Independent Power abilities in the game, and can give Rizal a serious upper hand in the Modern Age. He can essentially steal an Independent Power from under other leaders’ noses if they are vying for Suzerainty and maximize Suzerain bonuses. It’s especially the case if Influence is not in short supply.

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To close out Jose Rizal’s Happiness run, the Modern Age’s Victory Conditions are all viable depending on the various strategies employed across the Ages. This guide focuses on a Cultural strategy, but Rizal can effectively pursue Science, Economic, and Military Victories due to his unique abilities and how flexibly he can use Celebrations to increase pretty much any of the main Resources. The overall strategy focuses heavily on increasing Happiness to drive Celebrations across Civ 7’s three Ages. Additionally, it bolsters various resources based on Government choice while leaning into Maurya’s, Hawai’i’s, and Siam’s unique Happiness features.

Grand Strategy

Turn-Based Strategy

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Released

February 11, 2025

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