There are greater than two dozen leaders in Civilization 7, and never all of them are created equally. Ergo, a Civilization 7 leaders tier record is all however important for parsing the variations.
Each chief is viable, positive. Nonetheless, some have extra to supply than others and open new alternatives for strategizing in consequence. Getting more cash and tradition from commerce routes provides you rather more freedom to plan your empire in comparison with simply getting some further fight power for befriending an unbiased energy.
Under, we’ve compiled a tier record rating all leaders obtainable in Civilization 7 at launch, together with Napoleon’s two variations which you could receive without cost by linking your 2K account to your platform account.
Civilization 7 chief tier record

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Our Civilization 7 tier record considers not simply what advantages are provided by a frontrunner’s expertise, however how versatile and broadly relevant they’re. For instance, Amina provides your army models a fight buff once they battle on sure tiles. That’s useful – if you wish to wage struggle in very particular circumstances. For those who’re enjoying on a map with few qualifying tiles, although, then her talent does you little good.
The place relevant, we’ve additionally famous when a frontrunner’s first memento makes them simpler to advocate. Leaders unlock these at stage two, so whilst you received’t get the advantages instantly, they’re typically value aiming for.
With out additional ado, right here’s the Civilization 7 tier record.
S-tier leaders in Civilization 7
The S-tier leaders in Civilization 7 have the perfect bonuses and supply extra flexibility to allow you to play the way you need, with fewer or no caveats in comparison with different leaders.

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Augustus – Cultural Expansionist
- +2 Manufacturing within the capital for each city
- Should purchase Tradition buildings
- +50 % Gold towards buying buildings in cities
Buying tradition buildings frees your Manufacturing queues for different tasks with out affected by penalties in civics analysis, and Augustus’ Manufacturing increase has a number of makes use of. Further Manufacturing within the capital permits you to flip your major metropolis right into a hub of Tradition, Science, Army output — no matter you want, with out having to rely as closely on tile enhancements. Settling or conquering further cities to extend that increase has the handy add-on impact of accelerating your gold reserves as properly, because the default city specialization converts manufacturing to gold. These cities will develop extra shortly as properly, because of the decreased value of shopping for buildings there.

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Ibn Battuta – Expansionist Wildcard
- Good points two wildcard attributes after the primary civic in all ages
- +1 sight for all models
- Has the distinctive endeavor Commerce Maps that permits you to see different leaders’ explored areas
Ibn Battuta’s expertise are easy. He will get wildcard factors and might see additional. That’s it, however that’s additionally all it must be. Having further attribute factors to spend as you see match provides you an early begin in whichever victory space you favor. Attribute factors usually accrue as you progress down a Legacy Path – which takes some time — they usually’re tied to these particular paths. With wildcard factors, you’re free to speculate further within the attribute sort you need to deal with or use them to cowl weak areas, and that’s fairly the benefit to have. Realizing the place different civilizations are and what they’ve already uncovered additionally makes planning your growth through the age of exploration simpler.

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Ahsoka, World Renouncer – Diplomatic Expansionist
- +1 Meals in cities for each 5 extra Happiness
- +10 Meals in all settlements throughout a celebration
- All buildings acquire +1 happiness adjacency bonus for all enhancements
This model of Ahsoka is extra versatile than his militaristic counterpart. Extra Meals results in extra alternatives to enhance your tiles, which stacks Happiness adjacency bonuses and makes it so celebrations happen extra often. What you do with that development is as much as you. You’re free to prioritize enhancements, develop city districts with extra specialists, and even simply use that bonus Happiness to offset struggle weariness if you wage unjust conflicts.

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Harriet Tubman – Diplomatic Militaristic
- +one hundred pc Affect towards initiating espionage actions
- Achieve 5 struggle assist on all wars declared in opposition to you
- Models ignore motion penalties from vegetation
Harriet Tubman permits you to play as a pest after which undergo no penalties when somebody decides they’ve had sufficient. Espionage actions provide you with free Tech or Civics and worsen relationships with different leaders, as does settling close to them, influencing city-states they’re all for, and principally anything that provides you a bonus over them. Civilization 7 classifies wars as simply or unjust relying in your relationship with the opposite nation. In the event that they’re hostile or unfriendly and declare struggle, they undergo no struggle weariness and, in consequence, no Happiness penalty of their cities. Not so with Tubman. Any struggle declared in opposition to her mechanically begins with sizable assist in her favor. She’s low-key one of many sport’s finest leaders for a Army Victory.

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Xerxes, King of Kings – Financial Militaristic
- +3 fight power for models which might be attacking in impartial or enemy territory
- Achieve 100 Tradition and Gold per age if you seize a settlement for the primary time
- +10 % gold in all settlements, which doubles in settlements you didn’t discovered your self
- +1 settlement restrict per age
Xerxes, King of Kings is simply barely extra difficult than his Achaemenid model within the sense that you need to wage struggle and declare cities by settlements or conquest to benefit from him. His fight power bonuses make that process simpler, although, and having the next settlement cap means you’re much less more likely to undergo Happiness penalties by buying too many settlements.

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Xerxes, The Achaemenid – Cultural Financial
- +1 commerce route restrict with all different leaders
- Achieve 50 tradition and 100 gold per age if you create a commerce route or highway
- +1 tradition and gold per age on distinctive buildings and enhancements
Xerxes, The Achaemenid makes it extremely straightforward to stack Gold and Tradition buffs simply by establishing commerce routes. All you might want to do is sustain with spending affect to extend commerce route limits, however seeing as most leaders – besides those that basically hate you – hardly ever reject this endeavor, it’s an easy process. He’s one of many best leaders to study the sport with, and the additional Gold provides you the pliability to prioritize no matter you need, whether or not it’s army spending or fast development.
A-tier leaders in Civilization 7
The A-tier leaders in Civilization 7 even have distinctive perks that make distinctive methods doable, although they arrive with some restrictions, reminiscent of being restricted by geography or pushing you towards enjoying in only one or two methods.

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Benjamin Franklin – Diplomatic Scientific
- +1 Science per age on Manufacturing buildings in cities
- +50 % Manufacturing towards establishing Manufacturing buildings
- +1 Science per age from energetic endeavors you begin or assist. Franklin also can have two endeavors of the identical sort energetic without delay with completely different leaders
Most main cities want a number of Manufacturing buildings, and having further Science on every, mixed with quicker development instances for Manufacturing buildings, is a free and simple approach to increase your analysis capabilities. Unlocking new applied sciences is as useful for Science Victories as it’s for Army Victories, so enjoying Franklin doesn’t go away you caught with one playstyle. The “diplomacy” a part of his designation solely exhibits up together with his first memento, unlocked at stage two, which supplies you 50 Affect for researching masteries within the Tech and Civic tree. Simply keep in mind that you simply received’t profit a lot from his endeavors perk till then.

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Hatshepsut – Cultural Financial
- +1 Tradition for each imported useful resource
- +15 % Manufacturing towards establishing buildings and wonders in cities adjoining to navigable rivers
It would take half an age to get Hatshepsut arrange, however when you’ve established commerce routes and a superb development community, she’s well-positioned for a cultural sweep. Imported assets give your cities bonuses anyway, and having +1 Tradition for every is nice incentive to maintain establishing commerce routes and stacking extra bonuses shortly. Hatshepsut’s first memento provides +1 Gold for imported assets as properly and helps make commerce cheaper. Her second perk depends on particular geography, however Civilization 7 tends to begin leaders with these geographic necessities in zones that favor them.

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Isabella – Expansionist Financial
- Good points 300 Gold each time you uncover a pure marvel, and 600 gold if the marvel is in distant lands
- +one hundred pc tile yields from pure wonders
- +50 % Gold towards buying naval models
- -1 Gold upkeep value for naval models
Enjoying as Isabella means exploring as a lot of the map as you possibly can, as quick as you possibly can to say house round pure wonders. It’s a matter of luck typically, relying on the place the map spawns them, so having a lot of her package heart on discovering them is a bit odd. The yields on pure wonders are exceptionally excessive already, although, and Isabella doubles them. Any metropolis you construct there’ll flip right into a hub of no matter yield the marvel affords – science, tradition, happiness, generally a mixture of the three. Constructing naval models is important within the age of exploration, and Isabella’s different two perks make it doubtless you’ll attain the Distant Lands earlier than anybody else.

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Machiavelli – Diplomatic Financial
- +3 Affect per age
- Good points 50 Gold per age when diplomatic motion proposals are accepted or 100 Gold once they’re rejected
- Ignores relationship necessities for declaring formal wars
- Can levy troops from city-states even if you aren’t their suzerain
Machiavelli has quite a bit going for him, however comes with one severe disadvantage: All his perks heart on utilizing Affect, and he has no particular approach to generate further affect. Enjoying him successfully requires cautious useful resource administration, however when you strike a stability between utilizing and hoarding affect, you possibly can find yourself with exceptional benefits unbiased of manufacturing and commerce routes. Simply be sure to don’t disperse unbiased powers, because you’ll want them for any wars you find yourself in.

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Pachacuti – Financial Expansionist
- All buildings obtain a +1 Meals adjacency for mountain tiles
- Specialists adjoining to mountains pay no happiness upkeep
Pachacuti is an attention-grabbing case. His benefits appear modest at first, however since he, like different leaders with particular geographic necessities, begins in a mountainous space, your first string of cities and cities are assured to have excessive development charges because of the additional meals. Prioritizing these for development and specialists in city districts means you find yourself with excessive science and tradition yields early, with out struggling any happiness penalties for it. It does require some inventive growth so these districts are close to mountain tiles, although.

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Lafayette – Cultural Diplomatic
- Good points the Reform endeavor, which provides an additional social coverage slot, and supporting the endeavor grants the opposite chief an additional coverage slot
- +1 fight power for each custom, however not coverage, slotted in authorities
- +2 tradition and happiness per age in settlements, and +4 in distant lands
Lafayette is an uncommon case who defies the labels Firaxis gave him. He’s a little bit of all the pieces, with bonuses to army power; incentives to develop quickly, particularly within the Exploration Age; and a possibility to stack extra coverage bonuses than some other chief, albeit on the expense of giving rivals a bonus as properly. His first memento additionally will increase happiness by two for every social coverage. He’s well-rounded, even when he doesn’t essentially excel at any specific factor.
B-tier leaders in Civilization 7
The B-tier leaders in Civilization 7 excel in a single space, however not a lot else. They’re nonetheless completely playable and more likely to win, although the bonuses they provide are, typically, much less spectacular.

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Amina – Financial Militaristic
- +1 useful resource capability in cities
- +1 Gold per age for every useful resource assigned to cities
- +5 fight power on all models in plains and deserts
Amina works extra successfully as an financial chief than a army one. Cities that aren’t your capital have restricted useful resource capability, particularly proper after they develop from a city right into a metropolis, and having that further slot makes coping with shortfalls in manufacturing or happiness a lot simpler. You’re not essentially making extra cash together with her second perk, although. Every commerce route you determine sends cash to a different civ’s chief, so having further Gold for every useful resource assigned to cities simply balances that outflow. Sure, +5 fight is a implausible perk – should you’re fortunate sufficient to have enemy civilizations positioned on plain and desert tiles. If not, you’re a bit out of luck.

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Ahsoka, World Conqueror – Diplomatic Militaristic
- +1 Manufacturing for each 5 extra Happiness in cities
- +10 % Manufacturing in settlements not based by you
- Declaring a proper struggle mechanically begins a celebration and grants +10 fight power for all models whereas the celebration lasts
This model of Ahsoka lives as much as his identify, although maybe to not his “diplomatic” tag. Enjoying because the world conqueror means both constructing shortly towards a society that helps common army output or planning forward to the Trendy Age and waging struggle then. Ahsoka can get his manufacturing increase by taking settlements from opponents, after all, however the simpler method is to make treaties with unbiased powers throughout antiquity and exploration, so that you keep away from happiness penalties. By the point the Trendy Age dawns, it is best to have an economic system and manufacturing output able to creating sufficient army models to maintain Ahsoka’s formal wars. He’s a enjoyable chief to play as, however maybe extra restrictive than most.

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Catherine the Nice – Cultural Scientific
- +2 Tradition per age on displayed Nice Works
- Buildings with Nice Work slots acquire an extra slot
- Cities settled in tundra tiles acquire science equal to 25 % of their tradition per flip
Catherine’s perks are extremely specialised, so profiting from them limits how one can play. You’ll must prioritize manufacturing as Catherine, so you possibly can hopefully construct extra wonders quicker through the Antiquity Age, after which select faith augmentations that present further tradition through the Exploration Age. That permits you to analysis new civics and their masteries quicker, which is among the predominant methods you get relics throughout that age. Her tundra bonus is much less restrictive than it sounds, although. The sport tends to all the time begin Catherine on tundra tiles, in order that Science bonus will apply to your first few cities on the very least.

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Confucius – Expansionist Scientific
- +25 % development price in cities
- +2 Science from specialists
Confucius’ expertise seem easy and even a bit restricted at a look, however focusing so closely on metropolis development and specialists creates an uncommon set of challenges that makes a match extra attention-grabbing. Specialists value Happiness, and selecting a specialist as an alternative of development exterior city quarters means you’re giving up meals or presumably manufacturing bonuses in favor of science and a bit of additional tradition. Balancing metropolis development, deciding which cities to develop, and punctiliously selecting insurance policies that offset specialist prices are rather more vital on this model of play. It’s not essentially higher than enjoying as one other chief, however it’s distinctive.

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Himiko, Excessive Shaman – Cultural Diplomatic
- +2 Happiness per age on Happiness buildings
- +50 % Manufacturing towards establishing Happiness buildings
- +20 % Tradition however -10 % Science; each results double throughout celebrations
This iteration of Himiko has little to supply exterior of constructing celebrations occur extra often. The objective is to benefit from your celebrations to spice up Tradition – or no matter else you may want, reminiscent of Gold – however you need to play cautiously or get fortunate with espionage. The Science penalty means most different civilizations will doubtless have extra superior army tech than you.

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Charlemagne – Militaristic Scientific
- Army and Science buildings obtain a happiness adjacency bonus for quarters (city tiles with two buildings)
- Throughout a celebration, good points two free cavalry models, if cavalry models are unlocked
- +5 fight power for cavalry models throughout a celebration
Charlemagne is a wonderful alternative if you wish to wage struggle, since few models outrank cavalry in Civilization 7 other than superior ranged models. His first perk comes with the unstated crucial of prioritizing meals assets in cities, so you possibly can develop them and develop city quarters extra shortly. He’s not a nasty chief, per se — only a bit plain.

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José Rizal – Cultural Diplomatic
- When gaining rewards from a story occasion, acquire an extra 20 Tradition and 20 Gold per age. Rizal additionally has further narrative occasions in comparison with most leaders
- +50 % celebration period
- +50 % Happiness towards celebrations
Rizal’s usefulness relies upon totally on what number of narrative occasions pop up throughout your sport. It helps that he comes with further occasions, however the quantity will fluctuate relying on which civilizations you select and the way you play. If nothing else, the frequency of celebrations means you get common bursts of additional yields, together with tradition.

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Napoleon, Emperor – Financial Diplomatic
- Has the Continental System sanction that reduces commerce route limits of the goal by one, which causes huge relationship penalties and prices extra to reject
- +8 Maintain per age for each chief you might be unfriendly or hostile with
- Can reject endeavors without cost
Emperor Napoleon is sort of a extra aggressive model of Harriet Tubman, however with barely worse advantages. His largest asset is the sanction that reduces commerce routes, which may play havoc with one other civilization’s economic system and their tradition output. Making them hate you is nice, although, because you get some further Gold for it and much more as soon as you fit his first memento.

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Trung Trac – Militaristic Scientific
- Achieve three free ranges in your first military commander
- +20 % commander expertise
- +10 % science in cities on tropical tiles, and the impact doubles if you declare a proper struggle
Trung Trac wants battle to perform successfully, however not like some leaders, she will get higher benefits, particularly together with her first memento. That merchandise provides her +1 Science for each commander stage, which is a useful little increase when you get your first commander and even after, since they stage up extra shortly. Trung Trac’s dwelling cities will produce extra science extra typically as properly, although her playstyle limits you to cycles of struggle and restoration.
C-tier leaders in Civilization 7
The C-tier leaders in Civilization 7 are rather more restricted than your different decisions, both within the playstyle they lend themselves to or with in how (not so) helpful their bonuses are.

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Friedrich, Baroque – Militaristic Cultural
- Achieve a Nice Work if you seize a settlement for the primary time
- Achieve an infantry unit if you assemble a tradition constructing
For a cultural-focused chief, Friedrich’s Baroque version has few benefits in that particular space. Constructing tradition with him requires sizable funding in army, and even then, you’re not getting a lot in return for all that battle. Capturing settlements is simpler with siege and ranged models, so whereas the free infantry unit from a tradition constructing is good, it’s not serving to on the conquest entrance. His first memento smooths over a few of these points by including +1 tradition for each army constructing, however he’s nonetheless one of many weakest decisions.

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Friedrich, Indirect – Militaristic Scientific
- Military commanders begin with the Advantage Commendation, which will increase their command radius by one tile
- Achieve an infantry unit if you assemble a science constructing
Indirect Friedrich is barely higher than his Baroque counterpart because of giving military commanders an additional tile of affect. He has nothing to assist put money into army manufacturing, although, and even his memento solely provides you +1 science for army buildings.

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Himiko, Queen of Wa – Diplomatic Scientific
- Has the distinctive Good friend of Wei endeavor that turns into obtainable when allied with one other civilization; Good friend of Wei grants Himiko and her ally +25 % science
- +4 science per age for each chief you might be pleasant or useful with
- Can assist endeavors without cost
Himiko’s Queen of Wa model requires a selected, difficult playstyle that depends closely on the endeavor system. Earlier than you get any of her perks, you need to enhance relations with different civs to the purpose the place they’re no less than pleasant, although ideally allied as properly. It’s a singular method to make use of affect and diplomacy, however issues typically crumble within the fashionable age. It’s important to decide a aspect when rival leaders declare struggle on one another, so no matter who you select, you’re shedding a few of these science perks over a state of affairs that’s out of your management.

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Napoleon, Revolutionary – Militaristic Cultural
- +1 motion for all land models
- Defeating an enemy unit offers tradition equal to 50 % of that unit’s fight power
Revolutionary Napoleon has much less going for him than his imperial model. He’s totally centered on fight and desires constant victories to get yield bonuses. You’re left with nothing particular if there’s no struggle taking place, and should you preserve steady battle, you need to plan rigorously to keep away from struggle favor turning in opposition to you and inflicting happiness penalties. Revolutionary Napoleon presents distinctive challenges, however he’s simply not a really robust alternative.

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Tecumseh – Militaristic Diplomatic
- +1 Meals and Manufacturing per age in settlements for each city-state you might be suzerain of
- +1 fight power for all models for each city-state you might be suzerain of
Tecumseh is simply useful should you prioritize bringing city-states into your diplomatic orbit, and even then, his bonus yields aren’t that spectacular.
For extra Civilization 7 guides, right here’s a rundown of all Legacy Paths and victories, together with walkthroughs on the way to get the Tradition Victory, Financial Victory, Army Victory, or Science Victory. We even have an inventory of the perfect leaders to begin with.