Humankind, the new 4X game from Amplitude Studios, deals with civilisations a little differently to other strategy games like Civ 6. Instead of choosing a culture to play as throughout the game, you may select one of several different cultures available at the start of each era (although you don’t have to). After beginning the game as a Nomadic Tribe in the Neolithic Era, you may choose to play as the Egyptians in the Ancient Era, and then the Romans in the Classical Era, for example.
Your player-created avatar also reflects these choices in the attire they wear throughout the game. You can also turn your avatar into an AI persona, equipping it with archetypes, strengths, and biases that determine how ‘you’ play in games with other people, and export it so that your friends can play against your AI.
There are also a number of AI personas available as pre-sets, based on notable mythological characters from human history. These are who you’ll be competing with in single player games. Like you, they will choose different cultures throughout the ages, but will retain the same core identity, with their own archetypes, strengths, and biases. Here’s everything you need to know about the AI personas in Humankind.
Humankind AI personas – How to create your own
Your Humankind AI persona is a combination of your customised Avatar and your chosen archetypes, strengths, and biases. These traits are unlocked as you play – you can modify your AI persona at any time by going to ‘extras’ and then ‘community’.
Wondering how to import another player’s AI persona into your game? In the ‘community’ menu, you can connect your G2G account to the game and access their avatar sharing platform. When you log in to the G2G website in your browser, navigate to Humankind and then Personas, then search the Global Collection for the AI persona you want to import.
How to choose AI Personas
Upon starting a new game, you can choose to play against up to nine different competitors (depending on map size). As you add new slots to your game, these will automatically be filled by AI personas, with randomly assigned colours and insignias.
You can change any of these by clicking the ‘settings’ button on each card, where you can pick the persona, symbol, and colour, and also see each persona’s attributes and associated difficulty.
Humankind pre-set AI Personas
There are several different leaders available to play against, and some are exclusive to particular versions of the game. The Humankind AI personas available so far are:
Normal difficulty personas
Elissa
Otherwise known as Dido, the legendary founder of Carthage.
- Extrovert: eager to develop relationships with other civilisations
- Hateful: differences are a source of conflict; interacting with foreigners is painful
- Collectionist: -25% Influence required to unlock a cultural wonder
- Crusader: +2 combat strength on unit on territories influenced by other religions
Lucy
(pre-order bonus content)
Lucy, a member of the Australopithecus afarensis hominid species, who lived 3.2 million years ago and whose remains were found in 1974 in modern-day Ethiopia.
- Impulsive: deeds follow words
- Adaptive: willing to change plans
- Patron: -25% on patronage cost
- Master: +50% money on vassals
- Inclusive: wants to assimilate as many independent peoples as possible
Advanced difficulty personas
Agamemnon
The king of Mycenae in Greek mythology, who commanded the Greek forces in the Trojan war.
- Cruel: favours productivity over population
- Militarist: favours the use of military power
- Pioneer: -10% on outpost creation cost
- Colonialist: -25% on outpost creation cost
- Pilgrim: tends to space out their outposts
Boudicca
(pre-order bonus content)
The queen of the British Iceni tribe, who led an uprising against Roman invaders around 60 AD.
- Militarist: favours the use of military power
- Cool Headed: weighs the pros and cons before reacting
- Warlord: +2 combat strength on emblematic units
- Crusader: +2 combat strength on unit on territories influenced by other religions
- Avenger: Retaliates until extermination of the aggressor
Walinong Sari
A legendary Pahang Malay princess, famed for her martial arts mastery and beauty, and the subject of an eponymous folk song.
- Impulsive: deeds follow words
- Introvert: focuses on relationships with a few civilisations
- Completionist: -10% science on technology research cost
- Taskmaster: -20% industry cost on cultural wonders
- Prideful: systematically refuses demands
Beowulf
The legendary hero from the Geatish epic poem of the same name, known for slaying the beast Grendel.
- Militarist: favours the use of military power
- Risk Taking: tends to engage all their resources
- Lumberjack: +50% industry when clearing forests
- Pillager: 100% money gained per ransack
- Rusher: attacks others on sight
Mama Ocllo
An Incan fertility goddess who, according to legend, established the city of Cusco in Peru.
- Careful: favours a defensive playstyle
- Introvert: focuses on relationships with a few civilisations
- Expansionist: -25% attachment cost, -25% city merge cost
- Turtle: creates strong defenses on their borders
Arjuna
A legendary Indian warrior, one of the main characters in the epic Mahabharata.
- Loyal: will never betray their words
- Vindictive: never forgets what happened in the past
- Pawnbroker: +2 money on Market Quarters
- Geek: +10% science
- Avenger: retaliates until extermination of the aggressor
Makeda
The Ethiopic name for the Queen of Sheba, who appears in multiple tales, particularly the Ethiopian saga Kebra Nagast.
- Open: eager to learn from others and embrace diversity
- Trusting: acknowledges your efforts to build a solid relationship
- Patron: -25% on patronage cost
- Freerider: +2 combat strength on unit if rented army
- Inclusive: wants to assimilate as many independent peoples as possible
Victor
(deluxe edition content)
Victor Hugo, a nineteenth-century French literary icon who authored Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
- Benevolent: values the happiness of their people and their freedom
- Vindictive: never forgets what happened in the past
- Artist: +2 influence on Commons Quarter
- Collectionist: -25% influence required to unlock a Cultural Wonder
- Hipster: favours ideological positions that are the least taken by other Empires
Expert difficulty personas
Semiramis
A legendary Lydian-Babylonian queen who ruled Assyria.
- Committed: once a plan is established, it needs to be followed at all cost
- Wary: tends to doubt your intentions. You will need to deploy efforts to convince them
- Ideologist: +5 influence on Main Plaza
- Artist: +2 influence on Commons Quarters
- Stubborn: keeps their first culture for the whole game
Mu Guiying
A heroine from Chinese legend who was a steadfast warrior.
- Loyal: will never betray their words
- Vindictive: never forgets what happened in the past
- Master: +50% money from vassals
- Warlord: +2 combat strength on Emblematic units
- Hipster: favours ideological positions that are the least taken by other empires
Tjilbruke
The ancestor of the Australian Kaurna people of the Adelaide plains.
- Benevolent: values the happiness of their people and their freedom
- Pacifist: favours negotiation and trade over the use of weapons
- Charmer: +50 stability on cities
- Conservationist: +50 stability on forest tiles
- Peace and Love: wants to ally with everyone
Midas
In Greek mythology, a king famous for his ability to transform things into gold by touching them.
- Cool Headed: weighs the pros and cons before reacting
- Forgiving: errors of the past stay in the past. Focuses on the future
- Capitalist: +15% money per turn
- Merchant Prince: +100% income from trade links
- Luxurious: collects luxuries
Gilgamesh
The Mesopotamian hero of the Akkadian epic poem the Epic of Gilgamesh.
- Traitorous: will not hesitate to break treaties
- Adaptive: willing to change plans
- Warrior: +1 combat strength on Emblematic units
- Grafter: +5 industry on Makers Quarters
- To the End: will never surrender
Edgar
(pre-order bonus content)
Edgar Allen Poe, American writer and poet from the 19th century.
- Introvert: focuses on relationships with a few civilisations
- Wary: tends to doubt your intentions. You will need to deploy efforts to convince them
- Aesthete: +1 influence on Commons Quarter
- Geek: +10% science
- Lover: favours ideological positions similar to other Empires
Hopefully this arms you with everything you need to know about Humankind’s pre-set AI opponents.