Darius, The Best Leader.

[DMOC]

Yet another one of these best leader debates that will probably go nowhere.

PS: I support Darius, HC, etc. pretty much equally ...

 

[CivIVMonger]

He has it his way on the battlefield. Or something.

Are you talking about Charlemagne? Or is it a mint?

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Are you talking about Charlemagne? Or is it a mint?

Don't mind me, just making semi-obscure burger king references.

 

[fugazi]

I'm gonna give my main man Shaka some mad props too.

 

[CivIVMonger]

Don't mind me, just making semi-obscure burger king references.

What!?!?! Burger king jokes!!!

I might really be rolling on the floor laughing out load on this one!! ROFTLOL

Sorry.

 

[StuntedAzrael]

Roosevelt is very strong in archipelago maps. Fastest The Great Lighthouse in game with him.

 

[The Rook]

Another not mentioned much is Pericles. Creative and Phil he get's very fast libraries and thus extremely fast GS production. The UU has no early counter until HAs. The Odeon is pretty darned useful all the way through radio where it still get's additional bonus's for happiness (I don't remember which modern happiness wonder get's the bonus). Pericles is extremely strong in a spacerace or Culture game.

Pericles is also very strong for military games too. His UB makes the Construction beeline more tempting for early conflict. The Odeon is an absolute bargain at 40 hammers to assist growth whilst establishing culture, and may often justify a first build in a freshly conquered city. Cheap Libraries with Philosophical make it practical to accumulate gold whilst running scientists before getting a 75% with Academy bonus en route to Construction at around 1500bc. Pericles may lack a military trait, but fast Catapults combined with some stack defense will consistently give the AI serious grief on the offensive up to and including Immortal.

Philosophical has great synergy with Renaissance wars too with the old Philosophy, Education, Liberalism, Printing Press, Chemistry, Scientific Method bulbing path. Practically a dot map to State Property for some serious unit spam as you gradually transition your former GP farms into quality production cities.

Personally, I would probably rate Pericles the most versatile leader of the lot. Ability to rex combined with ability to research. Can effortlessly claim large continents with culture before backfilling, but can also make optimal use of minimal space via aggressive GP generation, which really just requires some food. No cheesy tactics or gambits required, just solid all around leader.

My only quibbles are the weak starting tech combination, and less than inspiring UU. The bonus against chariots is not enough to discourage me from building spears if mounted units are likely to be an issue. The free scout can be nice for extra gold and the ability to reveal further information on where to settle the capital. Unfortunately, Hunting and Fishing are not worker friendly on some maps.

 

[Charonicus]

I'm about halfway through my first ever game as Alexander. I gotta admit, I was surprised at how easily Rome and Germany fell to my phalanxes. And construction gives cats and the odeons for extra happy to counter that whipping penalty and a nice culture boost. Was a really enjoyable war. ^^ No wonder he's usually such a thorn in my side when I'm facing him.

 

[wioneo]

In my opinion financial is the strongest trait in the game for both easier research and more manageable expansion, and creative is pretty far up there for the almost assured victory of an early culture war to grab land and discounted libraries for faster early research. So I'm leaning toward Willem, and his caravaleons which have the capacity of transports and caravel powers. Also the dikes make up for the weak production in several coastal cities later on.

So Willem is the best in my book on traits alone, but his uu and ub give a nice bonus as well.

EDIT: Also whoever has landshkerfuffles is good too. It would really suck if the AI knew how to use those.

 

[bobbyboy29]

Just want to mention that while it's no terrace, I find Darius' UB very useful, especially in the industrial age. In my last game, the apothcary was giving +6 (i had the 4 necessary resources)which really helped me get some cheap factories and coal plants up. Even better i got that +4 from coal plant event that made the apothecary really really useful, so dont discount it!

 

[Earthling]

Lots of things are situational on the map - I do like how the Americans (Roose) excel at getting the GL, good logic there. I will continue to say that Rome (JC) is unequivocally the best solely because the Praetorian is overpowered, the only thing better/close is the AI-only Quechua rush. But Darius, HC, Hatty are all some of the better ones (early UU's a good theme here).

 

[mi6agent]

No one mention Zara ? Always win Culture War , can REX like mad and Drill 4 Rifles . Human and AI always do well with him

 

[futurehermit]

I have to agree that Darius is the best. As mentioned, he has it all: traits, starting techs, UU, and UB. No weakness, really. Of course his UU is situational--no early horses, no UU.

I always find that a leader either has good techs or good traits and not both, but Darius has both, which is awesome imo.

It's not so hard to claim land, but paying for it is a whole 'nother ball game. Darius has the easiest time of it.

 

[Duckweed]

The value of trait depends on the difficulty level and the map. I am never a fan of financial and I would not rate it as the best trait (but the top tier one it is) as most players did. Darius is one of the best in human hand, but as an AI, it does not do that well. So the real strong traits are those can be used well as a AI. For example, creative.

 

[DMOC]

Lots of things are situational on the map - I do like how the Americans (Roose) excel at getting the GL, good logic there. I will continue to say that Rome (JC) is unequivocally the best solely because the Praetorian is overpowered, the only thing better/close is the AI-only Quechua rush. But Darius, HC, Hatty are all some of the better ones (early UU's a good theme here).

Of course, we must assume we're not playing an isolated start game. Suddenly, Huayna and Gandhi soar in importance.

 

[Iranon]

I rate Huayna Capac above and beyond all others. The Quechua is very useful in otherwise ugly situations (massive barbarian activity, opponent too close for comfort), the Terrace is quite helpful for getting your cities up faster and remains useful for a long time (most captured cities immediately produce culture).

Darius is a strong contender for second place, but the competition is tough. Either Roman, Mansa Musa and Elizabeth also have a lot going for them.

 

[causeforconcern]

HC is by far and away the best leader in my books. Wiping out a couple of civ's immediately with your UU makes almost any game easily winnable. His UB is one of the best in the game- basically giving you the creative trait. He starts with Mysticism which means an early religion can be founded if you are that way inclined. The industrious trait seems to polarize a lot of people one here but I've always been a wonder builder so it suits me fine.

My one issue with him is that I never want to be anyone else

 

[mi6agent]

without Horse HC > Darius
with Horse Darius > HC

 

[The Rook]

It's not so hard to claim land, but paying for it is a whole 'nother ball game. Darius has the easiest time of it.

This is the main issue I have with Darius. He seems the perfect leader for an "easy" map.

When there is an abundance of land to claim peacefully, or some soft neigbour to harass with Immortals, Organised and Financial reap their full benefit. With a cramped/crowded map where survival is the priority I'd probably take the less popular Sitting Bull over Darius.

 

[Crusher1]

Of course Darius is the best - that's why someone scored over 1,000,000 points in an Immortal game with him. The quicker movement allows for early pillaging of military resources from multiple AI's (easily 4+ at once) and lets you pick them off more effortlessly.

JC would be the no brainer for 2nd.