The DLC train for Sid Meier's Civilization 6 is still chugging along as the second wave of the Leader Pass is now live. This is the second of six waves that will be expanding the leader pool greatly, and anyone who owns the base game plus all the DLC can join in on the fun at no extra cost. While many players believed that the final wave of the New Frontier Pass would be the end of Sid Meier's Civilization 6 support, Firaxis does not seem to be ready to close the door on this six-year-old game quite yet.
The second wave of the Leader Pass is being called the Great Commanders pack. These three leaders are supposed to represent powerful commanders from throughout history that led their respective nations to glory. Each one serves as an alternate leader for one of the many playable civilizations, and they are available to try right now. They are all built to create new playstyles and challenge even the most veteran of Civilization players in brand-new ways.
Ieyasu Tokugawa
Ieyasu Tokugawa serves as an alternate leader for Japan, and he operates very differently from Hojo Tokimune. While Tokimune is focused on building a compact coastal empire with powerful religious and cultural development, Tokugawa is more focused on creating domestic trade routes. His unique leader ability is called Bakuhan, and it provides many bonuses to trading domestically. International trade routes suffer a 25% penalty on yields, but domestic trade routes make up for that. Players can earn culture, science, and gold for every specialty district in a target city, and every city within six tiles of the capital are 100% loyal. Anyone who does not own either of the expansion packs will have a different effect that replaces the loyalty with extra amenities. Players who want to take Tokugawa for a spin will have to stay small and secluded if they want any chance at winning.
Nadar Shah
Nadar Shah replaces Cyrus as the leader of the Persians, and he seems to be a great choice for anyone who wants to wage war. Persia has always had a war focus in Civilization 6 as Cyrus could quickly strike during surprise wars and integrate other civilizations pretty fast, and Nadar Shah seems to continue this trend. Instead of being able to quickly strike down enemies, Shah's special ability gives Persian forces an edge in battle. The ability is called Sword of Persia, and it gives units bonus combat strength if they are attacking full health enemies. On top of that, any city that Persia conquers gets bonus faith and gold via domestic trade routes. This makes him very viable on the world stage, and players who are seeking domination victories may want to take him for a spin.
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman the Magnificent serves as an alternate version of the Ottoman's leader Suleiman, but this version is given a few teaks that really help set it apart. Suleiman the Magnificent replaces base Suleiman's unique governor ability with various bonuses that shake up the Ottoman playstyle. The new leader ability is called The Magnificent, and it gives extra science and culture when players are in a Golden or Heroic Age. Outside a special age, units will gain bonus combat strength against any other civilization that is also not in a special age. This ability will force players to strategize whether they want to enter a Golden Age and boost their science, or if they are ready to wage war against their neighbors.
The Great Commanders pack is available in Civilization 6 right now for anyone who wants to try them out. Players who have all the previous DLC can grab this pack for free, and everyone else has to spend $19.99 if they want to get access to all these new leaders.
Sid Meier's Civilization 6 Leader Pass is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.