The Best Domination Leaders In Civilization 7

Summary

Civilization 7 has both military and domination victories, with distinct leader abilities for each.
Machiavelli’s economic and diplomatic perks aid in warfare despite not being militaristic.
Xerxes excels in domination victories with combat strength boosts and gold production benefits.

Since the dawn of the Civilization franchise, domination victories have been available. After all, if you wipe out all your opponents, it is pretty obvious who has won. In Civilization 7, there is both a military victory and a domination victory, which involves conquering all the cities of your opponents.

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These victories are different enough that they require different leader abilities. A domination victory is reliant on pure military prowess and expanding your empires, but you’ll also have to balance happiness in the settlements you conquer with the need to conquer even more settlements. Luckily, there are some leaders that make this a bit easier.

8

Friedrich, Baroque

Fredrich in his Baroque persona posing in Civilization 7.

Friedrich’s Baroque persona grants you a great work whenever you capture a settlement for the first time. This cultural boost can be nice to have and boosts your civilization’s development. However, this is about where his military abilities end. You can absolutely use this persona for a domination victory, but his advantages are rather limited compared to other leaders on this list.

His abilities mostly involve increasing cultural output, though he is technically labelled as a militaristic leader.

You cannot get a domination victory in the antiquity age, due to how foreign lands work. You’ll have to wait until at least the exploration age.

7

Napoleon, Revolutionary

Napoleon’s Revolutionary persona is a great option for a domination victory. He gets extra movement for all land units and culture whenever he defeats an enemy unit. Both of these will help him quickly expand, and you’ll enjoy a nice culture boost while you’re at it.

He can work very well for a more aggressive culture victory, too. If you find a domination victory out of reach due to an opponent’s large army, you can always re-focus on going after a cultural victory instead.

6

Machiavelli

Machiavelli’s “Il Principe” ability offers economic and diplomatic advantages, such as increased gold per age for each leader you are unfriendly or hostile with. You also receive extra gold for every diplomatic action proposal that is accepted (and even more for those that are rejected).

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While gold doesn’t necessarily equal military power, you do need gold to pay for army upkeep. Machiavelli also ignored relationship requirements for declaring formal wars, and he can levy military units from city-states you aren’t Suzerain of. All of this can add up, even if he isn’t technically a militaristic leader.

5

Xerxes, King of Kings

Xerxes talking in his intro trailer for Civilization 7.

Xerxes is one of the best leaders in Civilization 7, and he performs wonderfully for a domination victory. His units get increased combat strength whenever they’re attacking in neutral or enemy territory. This makes offensive wars much easier to carry out.

He also receives culture and gold when you capture a settlement for the first time, and this benefit scales with each age. Gold production is increased across his whole empire, and increased even more in settlements that weren’t founded by him. All this extra gold makes it easier to fund your army and buy more units whenever you find yourself in a tough spot.

Focus on building and upgrading military commanders early to establish a formidable presence. You keep them between ages, and they can be very helpful later on.

4

Friedrich, Oblique

Friedrich in his Oblique persona posing in Civilization 7.

Friedrich’s Oblique persona works far better for a domination victory than his Baroque one. He gets an automatic boost to army commanders, which all start with a merit commendation. This increases their command radius range, allowing them to level up faster.

He also receives a new infantry unit when you construct a science building. This allows you to build up your army while keeping your science production high, too. Science is extremely important for a domination victory, as you’ll need to keep your troops at least on par with your opponents.

3

Charlemagne

Charlemagne smiling in his reveal video for Civilization 7.

Charlemagne has a few abilities that are useful in a domination victory. For one, he gains free cavalry units at the beginning of each celebration, and all cavalry units receive increased combat strength during a celebration. Cavalry are some of the most powerful units in the game, and this bonus can be even bigger when you pair Charlemagne with cavalry-focused civilizations.

Charlemagne also has some happiness-boosting abilities. Happiness can be hard to juggle when you have a big empire, so it’s particularly useful during a domination victory.

Sustained warfare can lead to decreased happiness, impacting your empire’s stability. Look for happiness bonuses wherever you can.

2

Augustus

Augustus isn’t a military-focused leader. However, he enjoys increased production in the capital of every town that you own. This allows you to pump out military units very quickly, especially after you conquer a civilization or two. The key is to have very few cities, though. You want as many towns as possible.

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He’s also able to purchase buildings in towns for less gold, making it easier to upgrade them. He can also purchase culture buildings in towns, which can often only be purchased in cities. While neither of these abilities focus on the military, they do make handling larger empires much easier.

1

Ashoka, World Conqueror

Ashoka posing on the leader selection screen in Civilization 7.

Ashoka’s “Devaraja” ability offers diplomatic and militaristic benefits. For instance, he gets increased production in settlements you conquered instead of founded, and even more production for excessive happiness. This enables him to produce military troops and buildings very quickly.

He also gets a large increase in combat strength against fortified districts when in a celebration, which only adds to his military prowess. Because many of these benefits are reliant on happiness, though, it’s important that you manage happiness properly, especially when you’re conquering large areas.