Who you choose as your leader is one of the first big decisions you’ll make in Civilization 7. There are a few things to consider here, as every leader has their own strengths and weaknesses, and you’re stuck with them through all three ages of your game.
In this Civilization 7 guide, we’re going to give you some basic advice for what to think about when choosing your first leader, and then give you some recommendations on the best leaders to start with in Civilization 7.
What to think about before choosing a leader?
The main thing you want to consider when picking your leader is what kind of victory you’d like to achieve in Civilization 7. There are four main victory conditions:
Each victory has its own playstyle in Civilization 7. It’s a big decision, and you should make sure you understand the different ways to achieve victory in Civilization 7 before you pick the leader that will help you along that path. Check out our guide on all the different types of Civilization 7 victories before you pick.
Past the victory condition, you want to consider if you have any personal connections to these leaders and their nations of origin. Are you Italian or Italian American? Maybe give Machiavelli a spin on your way to an Economic Victory. Do you not really have a cultural connection to any leader but love the hit Broadway musical Hamilton? Then pick Lafayette and go for a Culture Victory.
Once you’ve come to a conclusion on what kind of victory you’d like to achieve, look in that victory’s section below to see what three leaders we recommend you try out first.
Economic Victories are all about enriching the world, but pocketing most of the cash for your own civilization. You want to select leaders who can generate a lot of Gold and Influence. With that in mind, there are three Economic leaders we recommend starting with:
- Xerxes, the Achaemenid
- Machiavelli
- Isabella
We’ll give you a brief explanation of why each of these leaders are worth a look below. And more details on how to get this type of victory, see our Economic Victory walkthrough.
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- +1 trade route limit with all other leaders
- Gain 50 Culture and 100 Gold when you create a trade route or road
- +1 Culture and Gold per age on unique buildings and improvements
Xerxes is able to have more trade routes with civilizations by default, giving him more resources and wealth without much work. He also instantly gains Gold (and Culture) when creating a trade route, and generates bonus Culture and Gold on unique buildings and improvements. These perks come together to create a leader who is able to quickly stack Gold, use that Gold to construct buildings, and then benefit from permanent Culture and Gold bonuses for the rest of the game.
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- +3 Influence per age
- Gains 50 Gold per age when your Diplomatic Action proposals are accepted, or 100 Gold when they are rejected
- Ignores relationship requirements for declaring formal wars
- Can levy troops from city-states you are not suzerain of
Being a morally bankrupt sneak is named after Machiavelli, so naturally he’s a great choice for an Economic Victory. He earns a ton of Gold when instigating diplomatic actions, and is able to defend himself (or take a quick opportunity for a surprise war) with the armies of city-states. This means you can play Machiavelli as a powerful diplomat who is able to enrich himself on every interaction. But, when diplomacy fails, you can get the upper hand with a surprise war that has no penalties, and you can use support troops from nearby city-states to help bolster your numbers
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- Gain 300 Gold every time you discover a Natural Wonder. This is doubled if the Natural Wonder is in distant lands
- 100% tile yields from Natural Wonders
- +50% Gold toward purchasing naval units
- -1 Gold maintenance for naval units
Isabella’s boosts aren’t very helpful in the Antiquity Age, but that’s okay because succeeding at the Economic Legacy Path in the Antiquity Age is very simple. Instead, her skills land more on benefits for Natural Wonders, scouting, and naval units. That will help a lot in the most difficult age for the Economic Legacy Path — the Exploration Age.
Military Victories are mostly about jumping in and out of wars and conquering settlements. You’ll leverage Gold and Production in order to build a massive army and take on the rest of the world. With that in mind, there are three Military leaders we recommend starting with:
- Ashoka, World Conqueror
- Charlemagne
- Harriet Tubman
We’ll give you a brief explanation of why each of these leaders are worth a look below. And for more details about how to get this type of victory, see our Military Victory walkthrough.
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- +1 Production for every 5 excess Happiness in cities
- +1% Production in settlements not founded by you
- Declaring a formal war grants a celebration
- +10 combat strength against districts for all units during a celebration
Ashoka is all about earning celebrations both through war and Happiness, which then gives him bonus combat strength while attacking districts. This makes him very capable when it comes to taking cities, which will enable you to increase your settlements and gain points toward your Legacy Path in multiple ages.
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- Military and Science buildings receive a Happiness adjacency for quarters
- Gain 2 free cavalry units, once unlocked, when entering a celebration
- +5 combat strength for cavalry units during a celebration
Charlemagne gains cavalry units whenever a celebration happens, and those units are more powerful throughout the celebration’s run. He also generates Happiness with military and Science buildings. This increased happiness on war-focused buildings will help you combat some of the rioting that can come during long periods of war. Plus it helps pave the way toward the next celebration, giving you even more units and power.
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- +100% Influence towards initiating espionage actions
- Gain 5 War Support on all wars declared against you
- Units ignore movement penalties from vegetation
Harriet Tubman takes an unconventional approach to securing a Military Victory, and is more about diplomatic espionage. What makes her really strong, however, is that she automatically starts at +5 War Support when others declare war on her, which is great, because being a warmonger makes it more likely for other civilizations to hate you and want to fight you — which ultimately gives you more opportunities to progress toward a Military Victory.
Science Victories are all about advancing your technology faster than the competition and winning the space race. You’ll leverage Science and Production to build launch pads and launch space projects. With that in mind, there are three Science leaders we recommend starting with:
- Benjamin Franklin
- Confucius
- Himiko, Queen of Wa
We’ll give you a brief explanation of why each of these leaders are worth a look below. And for more details about how to get this type of victory, see our Science Victory walkthrough.
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- +1 Science per age on Production buildings in cities
- +50% Production towards constructing Production buildings
- +1 Science per age from active endeavors you started or supported
- Can have two endeavors of the same type active at a time
Benjamin Franklin is able to stack Production and Science together very quickly, as he gets benefits for Science on every Production building (which he can also build faster), making his Science-per-turn income extremely high by the Modern Age. Since Science and Production go hand-in-hand, and help you build and research the space and aeronautics facilities you’ll need to win in the Modern Age, he’s a very easy choice for the Science Legacy Path.
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- +25% growth rate in cities
- +2 Science from specialists
Confucius’ benefits are simple, but very powerful. His cities grow faster, meaning he’s able to assign specialists at a faster pace. He also earns two bonus Science from every specialist, which makes him very good at completing the most difficult Legacy Path for Science players: the Exploration Age.
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- Gain a unique endeavor called Friend of Wei that can be performed in an alliance to grant you and your ally +25% Science
- +4 Science per age for every leader you are friendly or helpful with
- Can support endeavors for free
Himiko is able to take a more diplomatic path through the Science Victory, and has tools to help her increase relationships with allies (like bonus Science actions). This makes it less likely for her to be thrown into a war, which can really tank your Science yields and make victory more challenging to achieve.
Culture Victories are all about wowing the world with your civilization’s greatest achievements. You’ll leverage Culture and Production to study and build Wonders, missionaries, and explorers. With that in mind, there are three Culture leaders we recommend starting with:
- Augustus
- Lafayette
- Catherine The Great
We’ll give you a brief explanation of why each of these leaders are worth a look below. And for more details about how to get this type of victory, see our Culture Victory walkthrough.
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- +2 Production in the capital for every town
- Can purchase Culture buildings in towns
- +50% Gold towards purchasing buildings in towns
Augustus is all about spreading your Culture yields around the empire, as he’s able to make a lot of towns quickly and place Culture generating buildings in said towns. With Augustus, you can rack up a disgusting amount of Culture and Gold, which will help you race toward building the World’s Fair Wonder in the Modern Age.
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- Gains a unique endeavor called Reform, which grants an additional Social Policy slot. Supporting this endeavor also grants the other leader an additional Social Policy slot.
- +1 combat strength for every Tradition, but not policy, slotted in the government
- +2 Culture and Happiness per age in settlements. These effects are doubled in distant lands
Lafayette is able to stack his government with Social Policy slots, which really helps increase your power as you progress through the Civics tree and unlock more Social Policies. Lafayette also gains bonus Culture and Happiness in all of his settlements throughout the entire game. That’s not as flashy as some of the other leaders, but it’s also not conditional on him doing anything at all. Lafeyette just generates more Culture for every settlement he has, which will really help you push through the Civics trees in all ages.
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- +2 Culture per age on displayed Great Works
- Buildings with Great Work slots gain 1 additional slot
- Cities settled in Tundra gain Science equal to 25% of their Culture per turn
Catherine The Great is excellent at blowing through the Exploration Age and the Modern Age because of the bonuses she gets when displaying Great Works. But her best benefit is that she generates Science at 25% of her Culture yield on any cities established on tundra terrain. If you can swing a lot of tundra cities, you can win a cultural victory without falling as far behind on Science, which will be a major help in the long run — i.e., the one thing that Civilization 7 is all about.
For more Civilization 7 guides, see our guides to all victories and all Legacy Paths.
