Leader Discussion - Hatshepsut

[disjointaccount]

Next up is (aside from, arguably, Fritz), the first leader we've come to who's received a major buff since launch - Hatshepsut.
Her leader ability is God's Wife of Amun, which is a two-parter:

• +1 Culture per Age for every unique Resource (previously was every imported resource)
• +15% Production towards the construction of Buildings and Wonders in Cities adjacent to Navigable Rivers

Her attributes are Cultural and Economic, giving her access to the Cultural Exchange and Open Markets endeavors, along with events for attribute points upon slotting a Tradition and researching cartography (per this post).
She has a starting bias for desert terrain and navigable rivers.
Playing as Hatshepsut unlocks Abbasid (otherwise unlocked by improving 3 Camels) and Songhai (otherwise unlocked by having 3 settlements with at least 3 navigable river tiles each) in the Exploration Age, and Mughal (otherwise unlocked by improving 3 Salt or having trade routes with at least 4 unique civilisations) and Buganda (otherwise unlocked by having 2 settlements with their city centre adjacent to a lake) in the Modern Age.
As an AI leader, her agenda is Wonders of Iteru - Decrease Relationship by a Small Amount if you have more Wonders than Hatshepsut. Increase Relationship by a Medium Amount if you have less Wonders.

So what are everyone's thoughts? Likes/dislikes? Strengths and weaknesses? Fun strategies? Good civs to pair her with?

 

[Leucarum]

Honestly, I think her best trait is a navigable river bias. If you know you want to play Songhai or Shawnee, you don't have many options. As those are two of the exploration era civs which I like I've found I play her more than I would for her abilities alone.

That said, her improved culture bonus is nice enough early game where every drop of culture really helps.

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

She’s maybe the most passive leader in the game, and by extension, one of my least favoriite.

 

[Daigotsu Max]

She's my highest level, but probably because
1. Playing her with Egypt in Antiquity is like my favourite combo, with the addition of navigable rivers in Civ 7 it truly feels like you're recreating Egypt around large rivers and building wonders
2. I got to visit her mortuary temple in Egypt last year, so I feel a connection

 

[Menocchio]

Most leaders have something they can do that no other leader can: Friedrich has his GWs from conquest; Pachacuti has free specialists adjacent to mountains. Hatshepsut doesn't really have that. +15% production to buildings on navigable river cities is a solid buff, but it's really geographically locked, on top of navigable rivers just not really being that great. Their yields start middling and only improve significantly with floods (reset on Age transition) and they cause pain when you're trying to layout your buildings and quarters.

Overall I tend to rate leaders and civs pretty low when they depend on geography for their abilities to function, unless they just need a broad category like hills or coast. I'm not against geographic abilities at all, but I think they ought to be stronger to compensate for the fact that you very well might not have any cities that fulfill their requirements.

 

[Berrern]

Overall I tend to rate leaders and civs pretty low when they depend on geography for their abilities to function, unless they just need a broad category like hills or coast.

I used to think along those same lines, until I played a game with Catherine. WOW - that Tundra bonus is absolutely incredible! And transitioning to Russia in the Modern age was just complete overkill. But I had a lot of fun!

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

I used to think along those same lines, until I played a game with Catherine. WOW - that Tundra bonus is absolutely incredible! And transitioning to Russia in the Modern age was just complete overkill. But I had a lot of fun!

The funny thing is I don’t even think that’s the strongest part of Catherine’s ability

 

[Menocchio]

I used to think along those same lines, until I played a game with Catherine. WOW - that Tundra bonus is absolutely incredible! And transitioning to Russia in the Modern age was just complete overkill. But I had a lot of fun!

Tundra is a broad category (and it seems like 3/4 of my starts are there regardless of civ/leader...), and Catherine's bonus is exactly what I was thinking of when I said "stronger to compensate." A civ like Songhai relies on both deserts and navigable rivers, and doesn't get a bonus that scales particularly well with the relative rarity of their ideal geography.

 

[Lord Lakely]

I have not played this leader yet. I don't like Navigable Rivers as a start bias and I dislike playing Egypt. So even though Hatshepsut is one of my favourite leaders in this game *based on her history*, she's one of my least favourite in terms of the general interest her abilities conjure up. +1 Culture per resource is okay very early on (especially for pantheons), but pop a few goodie huts with your Scout and you're ahead of her, you know?

I suppose she's fun if you play her with Aksum, but I don't find Aksum that exciting to play either lol.