Best Culture Leaders Tier List

There are 26 total Leaders in Civilization 7, but when it comes to the best Culture Leaders, there are a few standouts who can make it easier to achieve a Cultural Victory. Though every Leader can achieve any Victory type if you play into it, some have an easier time achieving the Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern Age Cultural Victory conditions thanks to powerful Culture Leader abilities.

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Civilization 7: Best Modern Age Civs, Ranked

The best Modern Age Civs in Civ 7 are those that can earn a Victory Condition without too much hassle, and some make it easier than others.

This list of the best Leaders in Civ 7 for a Cultural Victory is based on each Leader’s ability to complete these Cultural Legacy Path requirements efficiently. Each Leader comes with unique bonuses that can help you build towards a Cultural Victory faster, but be sure you fully understand how these abilities work – the best Culture Leaders Civ 7 offers are only powerful if you play into these unique Leader abilities.

5

Himiko, High Shaman

Cultural, Diplomatic

Himiko, High Shaman is one of two Personalities for Himiko in Civ 7. This side of the Leader adds Happiness and Production towards Happiness Buildings, and because excess Happiness helps progress to the next Celebration, she will unlock Celebrations more often than most Leaders. What makes her one of the best Culture Leaders in Civ 7 is her innate 20% bonus Culture across her entire empire – which is doubled to 40% during a Celebration.

If you can get lots of Happiness buildings in your Settlements, and build a strong Culture base, the Culture bonus from Celebrations will trigger more often and send your empire careening through the Civics tree, which will unlock Culture Victory requirements faster.

4

Augustus

Leader Attributes: Cultural, Expansionist

Augustus is a Leader who favors expansionist playstyles that establish a lot of Towns and only a few Cities. Having Cities generally helps meet Culture Victory requirements throughout all Ages for various reasons. But because Augustus can purchase Culture Buildings in Towns and gains Gold toward all Buildings in Towns, having only a few Cities doesn’t hinder his ability to rush the Civic tree.

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Civilization 7: Best Exploration Age Civs, Ranked

In Civ 7, the best Exploration Age Civs are those that can achieve Exploration Legacy Paths quickly to get you ready for Victory in the Modern Age.

With Augustus, you don’t have to spend Gold on converting Towns to Cities to house more Relics and progress other Victory Conditions. Establish a wide empire, build up your Gold reserves, and buy Culture Buildings in every Town you settle to rush Civics and gain a major advantage over other players.

3

Xerxes, the Achaemenid

Leader Attributes: Cultural, Economic

Like Himiko, Xerxes has two Personalities. His default Personality (Xerxes, King of Kings) offers Military and Expansionist abilities, but this DLC-exclusive personality focuses instead on Economy and Culture. As Xerxes, the Achaemenid, you gain an extra Trade Route limit with all other Civs, and every time you establish a Trade Route or a Road, you get 100 Gold and 50 Culture.

These bonuses stack with each Age for a total of 200 Gold/100 Culture in Exploration, and 300 Gold/150 Culture in the Modern Age for each Trade Route.

This is a great source of Culture, but eventually you will run out of Trade Routes. Thankfully, his second ability grants extra Culture and Gold (for each Age) on Unique Buildings and Improvements. If you play as The Achaemenid, rush the Merchant Civic in each Age, and focus son building your Civ’s Unique Buildings and Improvements, to get more Culture and surge ahead of enemies on the Civics tree.

2

Hatshepsut

Leader Attributes: Cultural, Economic

Hatshepsut is a leader who has a simple, but very powerful, Culture ability. For every Resource you import via Trade Routes, your empire will generate 1 Culture. She also gains Production towards Buildings and Wonders that are placed next to Navigable Rivers, a terrain type she has a starting bias for.

Related

Civilization 7: Best Antiquity Age Civs, Ranked

The best Antiquity Age Civs in Civ 7 are those that have the easiest time achieving one of the four Antiquity Age Legacy Paths in Civilization 7.

Hatshepsut’s Production bonus is a massive boon in the Antiquity Age when Wonders are required to win the Cultural Legacy Path. In the Modern Age, this +1 bonus is granted when you import Factory Resources even if you can’t slot them, granting a significant late-game Culture boost to help players rush through the Civic Tree and unlock Explorers faster.

1

Catherine the Great

Leader Attributes: Cultural, Scientific

Catherine the Great is the best Culture Leader in Civ 7 because of how well her Culture generation scales throughout the entire game. Essentially, if you can secure Great Works quickly in all Ages, you will surge ahead of opponents as you generate enormous amounts of Culture and leave everyone else in the dust.

She gains +2 Culture per Age (so +4 and +6 in Exploration and Modern, respectively) on all displayed Great Works. Codices, Relics, and Artifacts count as Great Works, which you need to collect to reach the various Culture Legacy Path requirements (except in Antiquity). Because of her bonus to Great Work buildings that adds an extra Great Work slot, you’ll hardly ever run out of room to display everything you acquire.

She also has a bonus to Science for Cities that are in Tundra terrain, so be sure to settle new settlements in Tundra tiles to gain 25% of your Culture as Science there. This helps Catherine keep up with other Leaders on the Tech Tree as she focuses nearly exclusively on each Age’s Culture requirements.

Grand Strategy

Turn-Based Strategy

4X

Franchise

Sid Meier’s Civilization

Released

February 11, 2025