Correct. If for instance you take Flatbow then suze another military IP, Flatbow won't be available anymore. The AI players can take suze bonuses too.
Are any civs or leaders by themselves weak? Are some too good?
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DogeEnricoDandolo
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Oh yeah I know that, but what I don't realize is that if someone takes Flatbow first, that option won't be available to me later.
Noble Zarkon
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Not "supposed to be" it actually is - each option can only be taken once as others have said.
Leucarum
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Did you use her +20/10% science? She has a tropical start bias making it easy to maximize and once you start stacking that with more +X% bonuses to science it adds up. I don't think she's top tier but that bonus is worth way more than what the Friedrichs get, or Bolivar. The commander buffs are a minor benefit IMO.
Fletchers_Requiem
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Honestly I'm having the exact opposite experience with the Fredericks that a lot of you all- I think Oblique Freddy is awful and I just do not enjoy playing him; the command radius buff feel almost negligible in the ancient era and I struggle to really get a solid foothold. Baroque Freddy, on the other hand, was one of the most fun games I ever had- especially when going down the Egypt - Bulgaria - Prussia path. Combine building wonders that contain great works/great work slots with taking over a few cities and you get an incredible snowball that lasts until the era reset- and by then, you're still likely to be far ahead of the AI thanks to future boosts and a large army size.
aelf
Ashen One
Not sure what you're talking about. Other than Xerxes KoK, Trung Trac is the leader I've performed best with. Granted I tend to shy away from fan favourites.
I find I tend to be strong in science with her. And the 3 free promotions is clutch on Deity. I don't fear being declared on by the AI, especially early game, and it makes for a high-level commander later on that will just roll the enemy.
Khmer and especially Chola are pretty much about their UUs. The Chola Kalam is insanely OP. You will destroy the AI navy and capture island settlements willy-nilly. For Khmer, its elephant is strong. I haven't done a comparison with other unique Antiquity cavalry, but it's much better than the Mauryan elephant.
queenpea
Emperor
I did love the Chola boat with its additional attacks. Fleet commanders level up insanely quickly as you basically destroy anything around you. I guess I was playing them wrong, and they only came alive after everyone declared war on my struggling trade empire.
Menocchio
Warlord
Having finally played Khmer, the whole time I found myself wishing I was playing Mississippians, who by this point are easily in my top three favourite Antiquity civs. The Baray is, for some reason, pure food, and in a not-uncommon worst-case scenario is just a +3 food tile improvement. I settled plenty of settlements with rivers, but few of those also had floodplains. The Mississippians outperform Khmer pretty solidly in their home turf of making tall cities, because they get very easy and early access to food and gold through their main civ ability and the delightful cash engine that is Shell Tempered Pottery. I'm surprised Barays have no other benefits, especially to happiness, which I felt a stifling lack of as Khmer compared to other civs I've played.
Their elephant is strong and surprisingly mobile, but their unique merchant is totally forgettable. Overall the Khmer feel like they're lacking a strong central identity, despite their supposed focus on specialists. Pretty much anything they can do, it seems to me, another civ in the same age can do better. It sure makes me miss their Civ VI incarnation after their late buffs, which made them into a wonderfully unique and powerful civ throughout the game.
Their elephant is strong and surprisingly mobile, but their unique merchant is totally forgettable. Overall the Khmer feel like they're lacking a strong central identity, despite their supposed focus on specialists. Pretty much anything they can do, it seems to me, another civ in the same age can do better. It sure makes me miss their Civ VI incarnation after their late buffs, which made them into a wonderfully unique and powerful civ throughout the game.
aelf
Ashen One
I'm finding Nepal surprisingly good for a Modern Age civ, which isn't saying much since the Modern roster is the least consequential, but still fun.
Strangely, I think having a large empire benefits a Nepal pick, since you're much more likely to have mountains just outside your borders. The extra production from the Highland Power Station helps with completing things like factories, not to mention the yields from mountain tiles in your borders. With fish, you can claim those pretty quickly if you hadn't already.
Khmer Charlemagne?
Strangely, I think having a large empire benefits a Nepal pick, since you're much more likely to have mountains just outside your borders. The extra production from the Highland Power Station helps with completing things like factories, not to mention the yields from mountain tiles in your borders. With fish, you can claim those pretty quickly if you hadn't already.
Yeah, I think Khmer is pretty lackluster as a whole. But I only realised how strong their elephant is as tier 2 cavalry when I faced them with Maurya. Makes me reassess my hitherto mostly peaceful approach when playing them.
Khmer Charlemagne?
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Leucarum
Deity
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They are my favourite modern age civ by far. They are actually something different. I kind of wish they were in exploration so there was a point to them being in the game.
Yzman
Deity
I'm playing my first game as Lafayette and he seems very...not good? I feel like I'm playing a generic leader.
Sagax
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He got nerfed pretty badly in the recent patch, effectively halving his previous strength. Stacking his CS bonus with Rome was one of the easy ways to conquer as much as you can in Antiquity and propel the rest of your game.
Navelgazer
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I think he's still OK, but yeah, he got pretty nerfed in the update. Before, he was one of the most exploitable leaders. Now he's more niche but you can still do things with him. He's best starting with an Antiquity civ whose strengths are in their traditions (Like Greece) or starting with Han into Ming, since the way you want to play Lafayette anyway largely negates Ming's malus. But yeah, he used to be a lot better than he is now.
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