You can get a max of 6-7 spies in Civ 5. Here’s the progression of how to max out your spies:

  • All civilizations (civs) get their first spy simultaneously. This happens after any civ reaches the Renaissance Era. England gets an extra one here from their civ ability.
  • Every era after that adds another spy to your roster. This time, you must actually progress through the eras on your own. That’s four more spies from the remaining four eras:
    • Industrial Era
    • Modern Era
    • Atomic Era
    • Information Era
  • You get an extra spy by building the National Intelligence Agency project. This becomes available after researching the “Radio” tech and building police stations in all of your cities.

    • Spy Assignments

    To give your spies an assignment, follow these steps:

    Step 1: Open the Espionage Overview by pressing its button at the top-right of the screen.

    Step 2: Press the “Move” button next to the agent that you want reassigned.

    Step 3: Select a city where you want to send your agent.

    Spy Missions

    Your spy’s assigned location determines their mission:

    MissionTargetActions / Results
    Counter-intelligenceOne of your own citiesYour spy passively adds a +33% chance of capturing enemy spies in their assigned city.
    Establish surveillanceA city-state or another civ’s cityAfter 5 turns, you can open up the target’s City Management Screen.
    Become diplomatsAnother civ’s capitalThe spy will become your ambassador to their assigned civ.

    You’ll also have expanded options with that civ during World Congress sessions.

    Steal technologyAnother civ’s cityYou can steal tech from another civ if they have one that:
  • You haven’t gotten yet
  • You’re able to currently research

    • The number of turns this takes depends on:

  • The target city’s science output
  • The level of counter-intelligence present
  • Your spy’s level

    • Note: There’s a high chance of your spy getting discovered, especially on the turn they successfully steal a tech.

    Rig electionsNon-aligned city-statesEvery 12 turns, your spy will increase your influence with the target while decreasing that of other civs’.
    Stage coup-d’etatCity-states allied with another civYour spy will attempt to replace the reigning regime with one that’s friendly to you. This results in the city-state becoming your ally.

    Spy Promotions

    Spies come in three skill levels:

  • Recruit
  • Agent
  • Secret Agent

    • Higher levels increase their success chance and speed in completing missions.

    They gain a level if they’re successful in these tasks:

  • Stealing tech
  • Countering enemy spies

    • Tip: Catching enemy spies is a much faster way of leveling up your spies than stealing tech. It’s also much safer, since your spies can’t be killed while doing counter-intelligence.

    Replacements

    Spies have a chance of getting “Killed in Action”.

    This only happens in either of these cases:

  • Getting caught stealing tech from another civ, or
  • Unsuccessfully staging a coup-d’etat in a city-state

    • If one dies, they’ll automatically be replaced by a new recruit around 5 turns or less.

    Tenets

    Spy-related tenets are available at the first level of all three ideologies:

    IdeologyTenetEffect
    OrderDouble AgentsDouble effectiveness of counter-intelligence against spies trying to steal your tech
    FreedomCovert ActionDouble the chance of successfully rigging city-state elections
    AutocracyIndustrial EspionageDouble the speed of stealing tech

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