Sid Meier's Civilization V/Technologies

Technologies are one of the major aspects of the game, as they indirectly affect how advanced you are in other aspects in the game. It also plays a key role in obtaining a Scientific Victory. Technologies require science to produce, which is rounded off into the number of turns needed. Changing the game speed will also change the cost of each tech, so the science cost displayed below only applies for the Standard game speed.

Ancient Era[edit]

Agriculture[edit]

Cost: 20
Leads to: Pottery, Animal Husbandry, Archery and Mining.
Enables Farm

Agriculture played a key role in creating the earliest human civilizations. It allowed humans to abandon a nomadic lifestyle and settle down due to the ability to maintain a reliable and lasting source of food. Quite fittingly, it is the technology you start with in the Ancient Era, and gives you the ability to create the Farm tile improvement, useful for providing more food to your population.

Pottery[edit]

Cost: 35
Prerequisites: Agriculture
Leads to: Sailing, Calendar, Writing
Enables Granary, Shrine (G&K)

Pottery is perhaps one of the oldest forms of art. By shaping clay and heating it, ancient humans could create brittle but useful containers. It opens up a bunch of new research possibilities as well as gives you two helpful buildings. The Granary is useful for early growth while the Shrine is an early source of faith.

Animal Husbandry[edit]

Cost: 35
Prerequisites: Agriculture
Leads to: Trapping, The Wheel
Reveals Horses, enables Pasture

Animal Husbandry is the act of domesticating animals, either for food or utility. It reveals horses, a major strategic resource used throughout the Classical to Renaissance Eras, that let you create mounted military units.

Archery[edit]

Cost: 35
Prerequisites: Agriculture
Leads to: Mathematics
Enables Archers and Temple of Artemis

Archery involves the use of a bow to launch a thin projectile, a skill used for hunting and for most wars before the discovery of gunpowder. It lets you train the earliest ranged units, the Archers, which can be used to defend your cities and pepper barbarians.

Mining[edit]

Cost: 35
Prerequisites: Agriculture
Leads to: Masonry, Bronze Working
Enables Mines and the ability to clear forests

Mining is the act of excavating and extracting useful elements and minerals from the earth. It lets you contruct mines and clear forests, both of which gives you boosts in production. Mines are also needed to take advantage of a bunch of strategic and luxury resources, from Salt to Uranium, though you won't be able to do that until later in the game.

Sailing[edit]

Cost: 55
Prerequisites: Pottery
Leads to: Optics
Enables Work Boats, Triremes, Great Lighthouse and Fishing Boats

Calendar[edit]

Cost: 55
Prerequisites: Pottery
Leads to: Theology
Enables Stonehenge, Stone Works and Plantations

Writing[edit]

Cost: 55
Prerequisites: Pottery
Leads to: Philosophy
Enables Library, Great Library and Open Borders

Trapping[edit]

Cost: 55
Prerequisites: Animal Husbandry
Leads to: Civil Service
Enables Circus, Trading Post and Camps

The Wheel[edit]

Cost: 55
Prerequisites: Animal Husbandry
Leads to: Horseback Riding and Mathematics
Enables Chariot Archers, Water Mill and Roads

Masonry[edit]

Cost: 55
Prerequisites: Mining
Leads to: Construction
Enables Walls, Pyramids, Quarries and lets you clear marshes

Bronze Working[edit]

Cost: 55
Prerequisites: Mining
Leads to: Iron Working
Enables Spearmen, Barracks, Statue of Zeus and lets you cut down forests

Classical Era[edit]

Optics[edit]

Cost: 80
Prerequisites: Sailing
Leads to: Compass
Enables Lighthouse and embarking

Philosophy[edit]

Cost: 100
Prerequisites: Writing
Leads to: Theology and Civil Service
Enables Temples, National College, National Epic, The Oracle and Research Agreement