Settler

Settler
	2
	106
Unlocked at	Agriculture
Abilities	May found cities
Notes	Halts growth while in production

The Settler is a Civilian unit available from the start of the game.

Overview

Pioneers drive civilization. While most are satisfied with the status quo, happy just to survive, in every culture there are a few hardy individuals willing to strike out on their own, to risk everything in the hope of finding a better life for themselves and their children. In the past, brave settlers have led humanity out of Africa and into Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas. In the future they may lead the way to the moon, Mars, and even beyond.

Strategy

The Settler is used to establish new cities. It cannot defend itself, so accompany it with a combat unit if there are any dangers around. Note that population growth in the city where this unit is being built is halted during the production, freezing on the "Stagnation" level (regardless of whether you're producing enough food or not).

A portion of surplus food is turned into production towards the Settler. The portion that is converted is significantly less once you go past a surplus of 4 Food. In a city with very few production tiles, it is advisable to have a surplus of 4 Food while building a Settler. In a city with a few production tiles, it is usually better to ignore food entirely since the city can't starve while building a Settler.

If a Settler is captured by another civilization, it will change to a Worker. This prevents you from capturing other civilizations' Settlers and using them to found new cities of your own.

Note that a city must have at least 2 Citizens before you can train Settlers there. In Gods & Kings and Brave New World, however, you can instead use Gold to instantaneously purchase Settlers.

All civilizations start with a Settler and one more unit (usually a Warrior or its replacement for that civilization). City-States also each start with a Settler, which they use on their first turn to found their actual cities. City-States cannot produce any Settlers aside from that initial one.

Unique Unit Replacements

Icon	Unit	Civilization	Abilities
	Horse Nomad	The Alans (Respendial)	+2 Movement Spawns a military version upon razing a city you founded Has strength based on current Era May be disbanded in cities for instant Population
	Mallku	The Aymara (Tupac Katari)	Doesn't stop Growth while trained. +1 Movement. Double Movement in Hills. +3 Sight. After founding a City the Mallku stays alive and earns the Great General promotion, but the unit is lost upon leaving friendly territory. +13% Production Cost.
	Migrant	Suebi (Rechilla)	Double movement in Forest Ignores enemy zones of control
	Pioneer	Cascadia (Osborne Russell) (Octoski)	May defend itself Extra sight Does not halt Growth when produced
	Tipairua	Tahiti (Purea)	Can embark into deep Ocean immediately +1 Sight when embarked Before Astronomy, ending turn on deep Ocean will throw the Tipairua onto a random Coastal tile
	Voanjo	Merina (Radama I)	+1 movement May be expended in conquered cities, automatically converting them to your Capital's religion, increasing their population, and automatically creating a free Courthouse in the city it was expended.