On Towards the Stars: Eurekas and Inspirations (Boosts)
Small optimizations lead to big gains over time
[This post is part of a larger strategy guide for Civilization 6]
Boosts auto complete 40% of the tech/civic that they apply to. That means that you could theoretically produce 40% science/culture boost than your opponent, and still keep pace if you're getting boosts and they aren't. As a result, even though some of the boosts are hard to get, it's generally worthwhile to try and get them.
The primary tactic for getting boosts is to switch off a tech/civic before fully completing it, until you need a specific tech or civic advance the tree. Here's a few examples to illustrate the idea:
You're almost guaranteed to get the boost for foreign trade (discover a new continent) if you're on a Pangaea map and you've built a scout. Completing the last 40% of foreign trade is, as a result, a total waste. When you reach 60% completion, switch to Craftsmanship.
You're similarly likely to get the boost to Early Empire (have a combined 6 pop). Finish 60%, and switch to State Workforce.
Sometimes, it's not worth completing a tech or civic immediately even if you have no idea whether you can get the boost. Astronomy is a great example — it only unlocks the Potala Palace wonder. Great wonder, but not one that you often need to race for. Astronomy can be boosted by building a university next to a mountain. I'll often want universities in all of my campuses, and it's likely those campuses will be near mountains because of campus adjacencies. So it's pretty likely that I'll unlock the boost for this tech eventually, but not as soon as I get to the tech. As a result, I'll often avoid completing Astronomy until I need a later tech that depends on it (say, Flight). In maybe half of my games, I'll switch off Astronomy and get the boost by accident later on.
This general thought process applies to all of your techs/civics. Before going past the 60% mark, see if you really need whatever that tech/civic unlocks. If you don't, and if you think the boost is relatively achievable by just playing the game out, switch to something else to save resources.
If you start paying attention to boosts, you'll quickly begin to identify which ones you can get every game, which ones you have to work for, and which ones are totally random.
For example:
You'll get the boost for Writing (meeting another civ) every single game.
You have to work to get the boost for Military Tactics (kill a unit with a spearman).
Getting the boost for Astrology (find a natural wonder) before you need to finish the tech is totally up to RNG.