Civilization 6 has a hefty list of leaders added in post-game DLC, whether it be through the Rise & Fall Expansion, Gathering Storm, or the New Frontier Pass. Typically, it's a pretty hefty investment to get all of Civilization 6 and the DLC for it. However, PC players can purchase Civilization 6: Anthology, which includes the base game and the DLCs for the game all the way through the New Frontier Pass for a huge discount.
Many new players will likely be snagging this steal of a deal, but with so many leaders to choose from, it may be hard to pick a leader to start out with. There are certainly a lot of good choices, but there are a handful of leaders which have proven to be incredibly fun or powerful, which could be great for a new player to sink their teeth into. Here are five of the most interesting leaders in Civilization 6 that new players should try out.
Eleanor of Aquitaine (France)
Eleanor is one of the few leaders in Civilization 6 who can lead two different Civilizations. Eleanor can lead either France or England, but to have the most fun as Eleanor, France is the advisable choice. First, France's Civilization Perk is Grant Tour, which grants +20% Production towards Medieval, Renaissance, and Industrial Era wonders, and France gains double the tourism from any Wonder.
Ultimately Eleanor will be hurdling towards securing the challenging Culture Victory, and this perk will certainly help her do exactly that. There are a ton of powerful wonders in Civilization 6, and a few that will come in handy with how Eleanor can be played, so players should definitely take advantage of this perk when deciding what to build and when.
Eleanor's unique Leader Perk is Court of Love. Every Great Work in her cities exert 1 Loyalty pressure each to foreign cities within 9 tiles. If a city revolts as a result of Eleanor's Loyalty Pressure, they will not fall into a Free City, but instead immediately fall under Eleanor's control. The idea is that Eleanor will amass a large collection of Great Works, move them to a city within 9 tiles of an enemy, and take the city without having to raise an army to do so. In theory, Eleanor of Aquitaine could win a Domination Victory without ever going to war — and the cities Eleanor takes using her ability do not result in warmonger penalties.
This meshes really well with the Void Singer secret society, if players are using the Secret Societies game mode. Using the Cultists can lower loyalty within enemy cities, making it even easier for Eleanor to take them over (peacefully). While it is quite possible to take over an entire Civilization using her ability, players will likely stumble into a Culture Victory before that happens (unless players are on a small, landlocked map). It is one of the most fun, and wild ways to play Civilization 6, and every player should give it a shot at least once.
Joao III of Portugal
If players enjoy boats and having way more money than knowing what to do with, then Joao III is the perfect leader to play in Civilization 6. Joao III leads Portugal and can be one of the wealthiest leaders in the game thanks to his impressive naval trade routes. Portugal's Civilization perk comes at a bit of a trade-off. Portugal can only establish Trade Routes to cities on the coast or cities with a Harbor.
However, because of this, Portugal's Traders can embark immediately, have extended range for their Trade Routes, and have +50% bonus yields to the Trade Routes. This pairs well with Joao III's Leader ability, which grants all of his units +1 Sight Range, Open Borders with all City-States, and when Joao III meets another Civilization for the first time, he gains +1 Trade Route capacity.
The slight caveat to Joao III's strength is that it is heavily dependent on how many cities are either Coastal or have Harbors, but if players set up on a map setting with a lot of water, then Joao III's can really shine. Gold in Civilization 6 can lead to any number of victory conditions, if used correctly. With Portugal's unique infrastructure, the Navigation School, Joao III can produce Naval Units at a rapid pace, and if combined with the Venetian Arsenal, can lead to Joao III having an overwhelming Naval presence in the game.
The massive yields on his Trade Routes alone are worth giving him a shot, but Joao III has enough going for him that, on the right map seed, he can be immensely powerful and incredibly fun.
Kristina of Sweden
Great People are an incredibly boon in Civilization 6. There are many to choose from, each one has their own special bonus, and there can only be one of that Great Person per match. There are few Civilizations who can rival Great Person generation than Kristina of Sweden. Even more so, Kristina is one of Civilization 6's few leaders that has strong bonuses toward the elusive Diplomatic Victory.
Sweden's Civilization Perk is a real powerhouse. It grants +50 Diplomatic Favor every time Sweden recruits a Great Person, and Factories and Universities grant an additional Great Engineer and Great Scientist point respectively. While Sweden is in the game, three unique score competitions in the Industrial Era are added. If Sweden is set up properly, these are almost a guaranteed win.
Kristina's Leader Perk makes it even easier for her to achieve a Culture Victory. Buildings with at least three Great Work slots (and Wonders with at least two slots) are automatically Themed when the slots are filled. Theming is usually an arduous task that involves constantly moving around Great Works to different buildings and trading with other players. This bypasses this entirely to just give the bonuses outright without all the hassle.
She also gains the Queen's Bibliotheque unique building in the Government Plaza. This building grants +2 Great Writer Points, +2 Great Artist Points, and +2 Great Musician Points per turn. It also has 2 Great Work of Art slots and 2 Great Work of Music slots - a hot commodity in the early game that can help give early-game Tourism a boost. Kristina is incredibly powerful in both the Culture and Diplomacy game, so if you're at all interested in raking in the Great People, she's the leader to try.
Mansa Musa of Mali
Mansa Musa is often referred to as one of the wealthiest people to ever exist, and he plays just like that in Civilization 6. Mansa Musa is also one of the only Civilizations that can really thrive in the desert tiles on the map, which is a huge boon. The Malian Civilization Perk is Song of the Jeli, which grants City Centers +1 Faith and +1 Food for every adjacent Desert and Desert Hill tile.
Additionally, Malian Mines lose 1 Production, but gain +4 Gold. Mali can also purchase Commercial Hub buildings with Faith. However, Mali has -30% Production towards buildings and units. At first glance that may seem rough, but the idea of Mali is that you will almost always be purchasing buildings and units, so Production can be spent on other things, like initial District builds and Wonders. Pair these bonuses with the Desert Folklore Pantheon and a set of good Religious Beliefs and Mali can use Faith and Gold to pave the way to victory.
Mansa Musa's Leader Ability is Sahel Merchants. Musa's International Trade Routes gain +1 Gold for every flat Desert Tile in the sending city. Entering a Golden Age will permanently increase Musa's Trade Route capacity by 1. If Musa has established several cities around Desert Tiles, and has strong Commercial Hubs, these cities will print Gold for Musa and allow him to purchase anything he would ever need. There's a reason Mansa Musa is considered one of Civilization 6's most overpowered leaders, because Gold can go a long way to winning a game in any number of ways.
Teddy Roosevelt (Bull Moose) of America
In the Civilization fanbase, there is such a thing called "yield porn" — and no it's not as bad as you think. It refers to a time when playing Civilization 6 and you have tiles that have just an obscene amount of good yields. We're talking 5-6 different types of yields on one tile. Teddy Roosevelt, specifically the Bull Moose variant added in the Persona Packs DLC, can generate a lot of these tiles with proper city planning and districts.
Starting out with the basics, America's Civilization Perk (in the Gathering Storm ruleset) converts all Diplomatic (Green) Policy slots to Wildcard (Purple) Policy slots. America then gains +1 Diplomatic Favor per turn for each Wildcard Policy slot. This ability allows a lot of flexibility when it comes to Government Policy Cards, as Wildcard slots can hold any type of Policy Card. The bonus Diplo Favor per turn doesn't hurt either.
The real fun for Teddy begins when you take a gander at his Leader Ability: Antiquities and Parks. With this ability, all tiles with Breathtaking Appeal gain +2 Science when adjacent to a Natural Wonder or Mountain, and +2 Culture when adjacent to a Wonder or Woods. All tiles of a city that has a Natural Park gain +1 Appeal. Teddy is all about having high appeal tiles and using careful city planning to make sure that his tiles gain huge bonuses from being adjacent to Mountains, Wonders, Natural Wonders, and Woods. Woods can be easily achieved later in the game with the Conservation Civic, but the others will require careful settlement planning. This also pairs incredibly well with the new Preserve District, added with the Vietnam DLC, which raises the appeal of unimproved tiles and gives them a slew of high yields that scales well into the end-game. Teddy, with well planned out cities, can have an abundance of tiles that have so many yields it will make a long-time Civ player drooling.
Those are just a small number of the leaders available in the Civilization 6: Anthology, but they are some of the most unique and interesting Leaders to try out for those coming to the game for the first time, or those who are moving over from a previous Civilization installment now that Civilization 6 and its myriad of DLC is all bundled together. Whether another round of DLC is on the way or not is unknown, but if not, then it's the perfect time to start testing out all the new faces added with Civilization 6 and the DLC packs — and there isn't a much better place to start than with these five Leaders.
Civilization 6 is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.