How to use treasure fleets in Civilization 7

Treasure fleets in Civilization 7 are a strange Exploration Age unit that will move treasure resources from distant lands to your homeland. You’ll need to work with treasure fleets if you’re going for the Exploration Age Economic Legacy Path and its milestones. They’re a key part of getting an Economic Victory as well. Our Civilization 7 guide will tell you what you need to research to unlock treasure fleets, where you’ll have to build to spawn them, and how to earn the Treasure Fleet Points you get from them. How to unlock treasure fleets in Civilization 7 Treasure fleets are an Exploration Age unit, so the first step to unlocking them is advancing out of the Antiquity Age into the Exploration Age. In the Exploration Age, you’ll have to research several nodes in the Tech tree. Some (in bold) are required and others (not bold) are the ones you’ll have to unlock on your way. You’ll need: * Astronomy * Cartography * Machinery * Heraldry * Feudalism * Shipbuilding. [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/Civ-7-Treasure-Fleet-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] You’ll also need a coastal settlement in a distant land. The definition of distant land is a bit nebulous, but it basically means a region (usually, but not always) on a different continent that is separated from your homeland by a deep ocean biome and has access to new resources. The Continent Lens in your minimap will actually show you if a continent has access to Treasure Resources. Once you’ve set up your settlement, you’ll need to build a fishing quay there. How to spawn treasure fleets in Civilization 7 Treasure fleets are odd units in that you can’t actually train them or buy them. You have to wait for them to spawn on their own. [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/Civ-7-Treasure-Fleet-4.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Treasure fleets spawn in the ocean near a coastal settlement in a distant land that has access (either through improving a resource or trade route) to Treasure Resources. You can see these in the “Resource” menu — it also tells you how long you have to wait for a treasure fleet to spawn. How to use treasure fleets in Civilization 7 Once a treasure fleet spawns in your distant lands settlement, you’ll have to move it to a coastal settlement back on your home continent. They move pretty slowly, so you’ll have to wait a bit for it to arrive. [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/Civ-7-Treasure-Fleet-3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] When the treasure fleet shows up in your home waters, you can click the new button to unload your Treasure Resources. Once you click that button, you’ll earn the Treasure Fleet Points that you need for the Exploration Age Economic Legacy Path and its milestones. For more Civilization 7 guides, see how to make trade routes and our explainer on distant lands. Plus, here’s a list of all victories and our recommendations for the best leaders to start with.