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With Civilization 7‘s inaugural major update, Ada Lovelace, the game’s first post-launch leader, is here. We’ve been giving the brilliant 19th-century lady’s gameplay a whirl, and we’re pretty impressed with what we’ve seen. Our guide, which will be a work in progress for the foreseeable future, will begin by touching upon Lovelace’s role in the Antiquity Age.
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Which civs are best for Ada Lovelace, and why? What general approach should you take, up to and including Victory Path(s)? All that and more in this, our very own Civ 7 Ada Lovelace guide. Slight spoiler: prepare yourself for science. A great deal of science.
Ada Lovelace Overview
Ada Lovelace is, as anyone remotely familiar with her would have anticipated, naturally suited toward a Scientific Victory. Yet there’s a neat wrinkle in this: she’s also pretty good at Cultural Victories. Her key traits synergize the two to a strong degree.
- Cities gain +2 Science per Age when you complete a Civic Mastery. This resets at the start of each Age.
- Gain Culture equal to 50 percent of your total Science per turn when you complete a Technology Mastery.
As you can see, then, this is all about reaping the rewards from Masteries. In case you’re unfamiliar, Masteries are the second-tier versions of many Techs and Civics. Not every one of them will have these, but a high number of them do.
Therefore, it’s important not to skip ahead in your Tech and Civic Trees as you press forward throughout each Age’s offerings. Whereas with most leaders, there are ample reasons to beeline, Ada Lovelace benefits far more from a highly thorough approach.
Don’t worry overmuch about losing out on key aspects by slowing down in this fashion. There’s plenty to be gained from Masteries in their own right, and the bonuses you’ll be receiving from Lovelace’s boons will keep you at a steady pace in hitting each “regular” Tech and Civic.
Best Civilizations To Use With Ada Lovelace
Civilization 7 offers a decent number of civs in each Age which will sync up with either Scientific or Cultural acumen, but you’ll be limited in choices for Ada Lovelace and other leaders until you’ve achieved certain things. Thankfully, this won’t affect much in her case.
Maya (Antiquity Age)
The Maya are by far the best choice if you intend to capitalize most on Ada Lovelace’s Scientific boosts, which in our estimation, you really should. Fulfilling a Scientific Legacy Path in the Antiquity Age should be a cinch for the Maya even without a leader’s specialization.
- The Palace gains 0.5 Science for adjacent Vegetated Terrain tiles. Obviously, this only adds up so much, and it’s entirely dependent on your starting position. Reset the game if you can’t take advantage of this, as you’ll obviously want to maximize any civ’s potential.
- +30 percent Production toward Mundo Perdido. This Wonder provides +1 Happiness and +1 Science to Tropical Terrain in its Settlement. Again, try to be choosy in your starting position, though the good news is that most locations with Vegetated Tiles shouldn’t be far from Tropical Tiles, and they may well be Tropical Tiles.
- The Jalaw Unique Building provides +3 Happiness as well as +1 Cultural Adjacency for Quarters and Wonders.
- The Maya’s other Unique Building, the Kuh’Nah, is arguably more relevant: it offers an amazing +4 Science, +2 further Science if placed on Vegetated Terrain, and +1 Science Adjacency to Wonders. No two ways about it – this adds up rapidly.
- The perks don’t stop there. If you construct both Unique Buildings in the same district, you’ll unlock the Maya’s Unique District, the Uwaybil K’uh. Every time you research a Tech, the Settlement will gain Production equal to 15 percent of its cost. And, well, you’ll be doing that a lot.
The Maya even have two Unique Units, both of which are rather excellent, though neither will contribute to this already sky-high Science pull.
Stay tuned – we’ll have an update soon!
