Leader Discussion - Xerxes, The Achaemenid

[disjointaccount]

At last, rounding out these threads (for now), we have Xerxes, The Achaemenid.
His leader ability is Silk Road, which is a four-parter:

• +1 Trade Route Limit with all other leaders
• +10 Trade Range
• +50 Culture and 100 Gold per Age when you create a Trade Route or Road
• +1 Culture and Gold per Age on Unique Buildings and Unique Improvements

His attributes are Cultural and Economic, giving him access to the Cultural Exchange and Open Markets endeavors, along with events for attribute points upon researching Code of Laws and Authority (per this post).
He has a starting bias for desert terrain.
Playing as Xerxes unlocks Abbasid (otherwise unlocked by improving 3 Camels) and Mongolia (otherwise unlocked by improving 3 Horses or having 3 siege units) in the Exploration Age, and Qajar (otherwise unlocked by having a settlement with at least 5 specialists), Mughal (otherwise unlocked by improving 3 Salt or having trade routes with at least 4 unique civilisations), and Russia (otherwise unlocked by having 3 settlements in tundra terrain) in the Modern Age.
As an AI leader, his agenda is Lord of Coin - Decrease Relationship by a Medium Amount if player has a greater or equal number of Trade Routes compared to Xerxes. Increase Relationship by a Small Amount if player has fewer Trade Routes than Xerxes.

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

I'll probably do some kind of summary/ranking thread now that we're done all these, but I'll maybe wait til after the second half of Tides of Power, since it seems a bit redundant to do it while we still know a leader's coming. But until then at least, thanks to everyone for all the fun discussions!

 

[Leucarum]

My default choice for leader. Didn't expect him to be my number 1 during the previous, but turns out I like playing the trading game and he just does it really well. His boosting of UIs is also really, really good with any civs that can spam them. Perfect leader, no notes.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

He is one of my favorites. I enjoy playing him with Silla, Mississippians, Chola, and Qing.

 

[pjotroos]

My default choice for leader. Didn't expect him to be my number 1 during the previous, but turns out I like playing the trading game and he just does it really well. His boosting of UIs is also really, really good with any civs that can spam them. Perfect leader, no notes.

Yep, he really is top tier. Four abilities, all of them versatile, all of them good. The extra trade limit ability is so strong in modern, I'm using his memento that grants it if I'm not playing him.

King of Kings is one of the best leaders in the game, but only the second best Xerxes.

 

[Siptah]

The two Xerxes are imho the most fun way of having two personas out of the current roaster. With the others, I always have a clear favorite (e.g., Baroque over Oblique; WC over WR). But with Xerxes, I think I like both similarly – just that they are geared towards a different game style.

 

[disjointaccount]

I'll go a little against the grain and say he's not one of my favourites. I recognise he's strong; it's just that what he does isn't really my kinda playstyle. I keep meaning to try a game with him, Serpent Mound, Ubudiah Mosque, and whatever civs have good spammable UIs, but I never feel like it as I just don't put that much stock into improvements. Combine that with not loving pacifist, trade-heavy games, and the result is that while Xerxes-A is good at what he does, what he does isn't something I'm particularly interested in

 

[Nic@Melbourne]

A fav. Surprised how strong he is.
Silla!

 

[Sagax]

Muh boy! As a UI-spammer no matter how bad they are, he was the first leader I got to lvl 10. Don’t forget that his bonus also applies to the UIs granted by city states, so you’re not limited to just your civ uniques.

Extra trade route capacity is also welcome, especially in Antiquity when Influence is scarce and I’d rather not spend it on anything other than IPs and supporting endeavors (and as of 1.3.0 - rejecting any ill-timed sanctions, because some AIs are now spamming those).

 

[Kurtbob]

My fave. First to get to level 10. Love matching him with Axum to spam UIs and make my neighbors happy with trade routes. No wars and I coast on culture and gold to the end.

 

[magicq99]

My default choice for leader. Didn't expect him to be my number 1 during the previous, but turns out I like playing the trading game and he just does it really well. His boosting of UIs is also really, really good with any civs that can spam them. Perfect leader, no notes.

The same with me. Initially his abilities sounded very boring to me. And they probably are boring, but still very useful with any civ in any age imho. He has become the default choice for me as well, if I am not particularly keen on any specific play style.

 

[Leucarum]

The same with me. Initially his abilities sounded very boring to me. And they probably are boring, but still very useful with any civ in any age imho. He has become the default choice for me as well, if I am not particularly keen on any specific play style.

I mean, his playstyle is quite specific in some ways... But it's also pretty universally useful unless you want to be a total warmonger.