Greetings, I'm looking for any and all opinions on the question above, whether you're a Settler or Deity player, or anything in between.
As a Monarch player myself, here are my personal Top 3:
1. Hannibal of Carthage: I love this leader! I got my first win on Monarch with him, and since then, there have been many more. His trait combo (Financial/Charismatic) is great. Financial for an ecomonic advantage throughout the whole game, Charismatic for the early happiness and warmongering (way better than Aggressive or Protective). If you get Ivory (non-Isolation ofc) it's almost a free win, plus the flavor
He can do well on all types of maps, although water maps are more suited to his Civ. His early game expansion can be a bit tricky, since he has no production boost and no easy barb defense, but once you are over the hump, he's very powerful and a lot of fun to play!
2. Pericles of Greece: Has great synergies which feel very rewarding. He is the only leader where I can get Cuirassiers ~1000AD with consistency, since he just pumps Great Scientists out like crazy, and if you can get the Pyramids, and go into early Rep, he out-techs the AI's (on Monarch) even harder. His starting techs (Fishing/Hunting) are weak, so similarly to Hannibal he potentially faces some early game problems, but being Creative and getting free border pops helps a lot. He also does well on most maps.
3. Catherine of Russia: Imperialistic/Creative just means that I'm able to grab a lot of land quickly, although the usefulness varies depending on the quality of said land. Although she isn't particularly great at anything besides expansion, I often manage to squeeze neighboring AIs, even sometimes denying them key strategic resources, thus making them an easy target. She is definitely more suited to land heavy maps, I usually play her on Pangaea.
Looking forward to your takes!
As a Monarch player myself, here are my personal Top 3:
1. Hannibal of Carthage: I love this leader! I got my first win on Monarch with him, and since then, there have been many more. His trait combo (Financial/Charismatic) is great. Financial for an ecomonic advantage throughout the whole game, Charismatic for the early happiness and warmongering (way better than Aggressive or Protective). If you get Ivory (non-Isolation ofc) it's almost a free win, plus the flavor
He can do well on all types of maps, although water maps are more suited to his Civ. His early game expansion can be a bit tricky, since he has no production boost and no easy barb defense, but once you are over the hump, he's very powerful and a lot of fun to play! 2. Pericles of Greece: Has great synergies which feel very rewarding. He is the only leader where I can get Cuirassiers ~1000AD with consistency, since he just pumps Great Scientists out like crazy, and if you can get the Pyramids, and go into early Rep, he out-techs the AI's (on Monarch) even harder. His starting techs (Fishing/Hunting) are weak, so similarly to Hannibal he potentially faces some early game problems, but being Creative and getting free border pops helps a lot. He also does well on most maps.
3. Catherine of Russia: Imperialistic/Creative just means that I'm able to grab a lot of land quickly, although the usefulness varies depending on the quality of said land. Although she isn't particularly great at anything besides expansion, I often manage to squeeze neighboring AIs, even sometimes denying them key strategic resources, thus making them an easy target. She is definitely more suited to land heavy maps, I usually play her on Pangaea.
Looking forward to your takes!
