Best leaders... and why ?

[Freidenker]

What are the best leaders, and why ?

I'm really curious to know, because many people seem to think Julius Caesar is a great leader. That's strange, considering that most people find both Imperialistic & Organized to be OK traits at best.

 

[ds61514]

I'm really curious to know, because many people seem to think Julius Caesar is a great leader. That's strange, considering that most people find both Imperialistic & Organized to be OK traits at best.

Julius Caesar isn't Rome's leader. Him and Augustus are just figureheads. The Praets are the real leaders of Rome.

 

[Percy]

It's bordering off-topic, but i've been disappointed in Praets. I've read here and there they were the be-all end-all of warfare, and when i tried conquering a city with 6 of them against 2 archers, they were slaughtered... I don't remember the specifics, but i must confess i was quite shocked.

 

[LightSpectra]

Assuming we're not counting UU/UB, just the traits: Darius and Boudica have the most broken trait combinations.

Second tier, I would say, are Elizabeth, Napoleon, Lincoln and Hannibal.

 

[Freidenker]

So, all the fuss around Julius is "only" because of the praetorians ?

 

[AlessioCerci]

^^^Yes. My favourites so far are Willem Van Oranje, Darius and Pericles.

 

[Sjaramei]

Napoleon, Charismatic is just awesome, happiness and better army whats not to like?

Organized the trait which keeps your war machine going. Keep cities as your army goes on, whip courthouses the minute revolt ends. (size 4 cities can whip courthouses with 2 pop loss after 1 turn building, thats huge)

Anyone saying Organized is just "ok" is most likely builders who don't war much. Every game i play a non-Organized leader i'm annoyed because i can't whip courthouses fast enough in most cities. (I'm not the raze everything player either, i like my empire big and growing borders fast )

Thats why Julius isn't as bad as it looks, cheap Settlers and faster Great Generals are ok, but when he gets Praetorians on top of it he just rocks and Rome marches on

Base your traits around your playstyle, Charismatic, Aggressive and Organized are all excellent traits for hostile expansion. (my preferred style ) So any leader having one of these is usually an excellent leader. Combine two of the above or with the other awesome traits Financial, Philosophical or even Industrious and you got an excellent leader to play. Protective, Imperialistic and Expansive are "ok" traits but not one you really want in the best leaders. Given right circumstances (UU like Praets or UB like Ikandhas (Zulu UB)) other leaders like Shaka and Julius shine too.

 

[Bjorn190]

Huyana capac is still a very strong leader.. IND got a large boost with all the new wonders, and wonders make or break cultural borders.. And if your warmongers, the quecha makes quick work of archers

But.. Darius.. hes good.. I also like the mayas That free spearman saves u from chatiot rushes

 

[facistal]

On Julius: Organized is a top tier trait, even more so in BTS.

Cheap courthouses and the ability to run one or two more cities before you get courthouses are big edges. I think its one of the trait that scales with difficulty. At higher difficulties, the maintenance penalties are more severe so it is more important.

Imperialistic sucks.

Preats are awesome, and the UB is top 10

Overall Julius deserves his high standing

 

[Veggiehater]

Assuming we're not counting UU/UB, just the traits: Darius and Boudica have the most broken trait combinations.

Second tier, I would say, are Elizabeth, Napoleon, Lincoln and Hannibal.

Those are all very good leaders but I'm surprised not to see Brennus (my personal favorite trait combo,) Ghandi or Ramesses II on that list. It could be that I'm a sucker for the Spiritual trait though.

 

[Alsn]

Spiritual/charismatic is pretty ok but given the fact that it doesnt really scream imba at the same time the celt UB/UU being largely useless it doesnt give him all that much "oomph" imo.

Edit: now free guerilla isnt exactly "bad" but i just always seem to have all the good spots for my cities when i play brennus(i play random usually) end up on tiles that arent hills! :|

 

[L4zXX0r]

Assuming we're not counting UU/UB, just the traits: Darius and Boudica have the most broken trait combinations.

Second tier, I would say, are Elizabeth, Napoleon, Lincoln and Hannibal.

Yeah Boudica is awesome. What's the best Boudica/Civ combo?

 

[sneaky]

Huyana Capac, Darius, Ragnar, Shaka, Augustus and Willem van Oranje are some of the best in the game

 

[Alsn]

Yeah Boudica is awesome. What's the best Boudica/Civ combo?

Duh, rome?

 

[futurehermit]

Strong traits: Charismatic, financial, philosophical

Good traits: Creative, spiritual, organized, aggressive, industrious

Any leader with 2 of the above traits is a good leader. Lincoln, Hannibal, and Elizabeth are great choices.

Average traits: Expansive

Mediocre traits: Protective, Imperialistic

However, a leader with subpar trait combos (e.g., Mehmed) can be enhanced with a strong UU (e.g., Janissary) and UB (e.g., Hammam). Leaders with a broken UU (e.g., praetorian) can be extremely powerful regardless of other factors.

 

[Harbourboy]

Try beating Deity with anyone other than Huayna Capac and you'll have your answer.

 

[rabidveggie]

I'd have to go with any Roman leader since Praet's always make me feel like I'm cheating when I use them, Darius or Cyrus because their unique unit is really good in numbers, and Darius is an awsome peaceful builder or warmongerer with Immortals, I like Cyrus because I can rush faster with the faster build time for settlers, and the charismatic lets me whip more often. Then I'd go with Huayna, cause his traits mix really well and Quechu's allow for a early warrior knock out. After that its really a toss up, probably Elizabeth though because financial is the best, and philosophical is nothing to sneeze at plus a good unique unit even after nerf.

You know what, every leader is good they all deserve a pat on the back... Except Tokugawa, what a piece of crap.

 

[Moxxa]

Whats with all the hating on expansive? I never found this trait to be weak or useless. It's at least on par with charismatic, IMO.

I like Pacal, Willem Von Oranje and Charlemange the best so far. As for who is the best? Anyone with Financial or Preatorians.

 

[Polycrates]

If we're counting leader+civ, then definitely Shaka - the best UU, the best UB, and traits that work really well for him. Looks kinda mediocre on paper but there's no other leader where everything just fits together so well.

If it's leader alone, then Brennus or Gandhi. Cha/Spi is very powerful - I would argue that it's the best pure warmongering combo over the whole game, plus both traits also help a lot with empire development in between.
And Phi/Spi is of course a perfect SE combo. Any leader with Spiritual is going to be great, really...

I also agree with Moxxa on Expansive - I wouldn't rate it as very top-tier (and I don't think it needed a nerf), but it can really get an empire off to a lightning start if you exploit it well, and that can be massively beneficial.

 

[Mutant]

I may not be as hardcore a player as some on here, but I enjoy warring and find Tokugawa to be the best for that purpose. His ability to beef up units is very handy - with feudalism/theocracy and barracks in every city you can start producing archers with +75 to city defense on top of their native abilities, and samurai with +50 to +80 to city siege. Couple it all with catapults and I find no cities can resist being taken over, it's just a matter of time. And then you drop your super city defending archers in and there's little chance of the AI taking it back.

I know most people seem to look down on Tokugawa, but that's what works for me in my noobie little world