There are a lot of new things to learn in Civilization 7, but before all of that, you have to make one of the most important decisions of a playthrough: your Leader. For beginner players, or players who aren't used to how Civ 7 works, some of the best Leaders to choose at the start aren't necessarily the most overpowered ones, but the ones that are easiest to learn.
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These five best beginner Leaders for Civ 7 feature relatively simple mechanics that are easy to remember and take advantage of. At least one best starting Leader for each Legacy Path is recommended, except for the Military Victory, which features two possible routes: creating settlements, or taking them over.
1 Hatshepsut
Cultural/Economic
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God's Wife of Amun: Adds Culture for every imported Resource. Increased Production towards the construction of Buildings and Wonders in Cities adjacent to Navigable Rivers.
Recommended by the Civilization 7 devs themselves as the best beginner Leader, Hatshepsut is a simple Leader to understand. She favors the Cultural Legacy Path with her boost to Culture from every Imported Resource, which will become unlocked with the Code Of Laws Civic and the Merchant unit.
As long as you settle new towns and cities next to Navigable Rivers, which is one of Hatshepsut's Starting Biases, you will pump out Wonders in every age and propel yourself to a Cultural Victory in every Age.
2 Confucius
Expansionist/Scientific
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Keju: Increased Growth Rate in Cities. Increased Science from Specialists.
If you're interested in trying for a Science Victory, Confucius is a great starting Leader choice in Civ 7. His abilities are incredibly simple, but incredibly powerful.
Your Cities will grow significantly faster, allowing for higher Yields, more Specialists, and other benefits of a high population City. The boost to Science from Specialists will make the Exploration Age Science Legacy Path a breeze.
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Though he doesn't have any complex special mechanics, Confucius is arguably the best Science Leader in Civ 7. Specialists matter a lot in the Exploration and Modern Age for pumping up Science, and with higher Growth, you'll be able to capitalize on adjacencies in all Quarters extremely fast.
3 Augustus
Cultural/Expansionist
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Imperium Maius: Adds Production in the Capital for every Town. Increased Gold towards purchasing Buildings in Towns. Can purchase Culture Buildings in Towns.
Augustus is a great leader for players who want to settle a lot of cities, but don't want to manage all of them. Thanks to the new mechanic in Civ 7 for Towns, you can found settlements that will primarily fuel your Capital (and Cities), but can only acquire new buildings with Gold.
Favoring the Cultural Legacy Path, playing as Augustus is relatively simple. Rush through the Civic tree to increase the Settlement Limit, settle as many Towns as you possibly can, and pump out Happiness buildings to keep your civilization happy as you inevitably go over the Settlement Limit.
Because of his tendency to acquire lots of Settlements in the Antiquity Age, Civ 7 players will find the Military Legacy Path easy to acquire with Augustus – even without conquering any other settlements.
4 Amina
Economic/Militaristic
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Warrior-Queen of Zazzau: Increased Resource Capacity in Cities. Increased Gold per Age for each Resource assigned to Cities. Increased Combat Strength for all Units on Plains and Desert tiles.
The best Economic Legacy Path leader for beginner Civ 7 players is Amina. Though the extra Combat Strength is nice, especially because her starting biases include both Plains and Desert, it's the extra Resource Capacity and Gold boost that makes her so great for beginners.
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In the Antiquity and Modern ages, having lots of Resource Slots in your Cities is essential to complete each Legacy Path (and get an Economic Victory in the Modern Age). If you want to try to go all-in on gold, settle lots of Cities, acquire as many Resources as you can through trade – especially Jade – and watch as the gold pours in.
5 Charlemagne
Militaristic/Scientific
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Father of Europe: Military and Science Buildings receive a Happiness adjacency for Quarters. Gain a set number of free Cavalry Units, once unlocked, when entering a Celebration. Increased Combat Strength for Cavalry Units during a Celebration.
Though a Military Victory is easy to acquire with Augustus and his expansionist playstyle, Charlemagne is the best beginner leader in Civ 7 for players who want to achieve a Military Victory the traditional way – conquest.
His first ability is a little confusing, but essentially, any Military or Science building that is placed next to a Quarter (a tile with two Buildings) will also produce Happiness. This is great for maintaining a large army and conquered settlements.
Focus on Happiness, and place your Science and Military buildings smartly, and every time you enter a Celebration from excess Happiness you will get free Cavalry Units. These units are stronger than normal during a Celebration, so pump up Happiness and start Wars around the time you enter a Celebration to absolutely decimate all who stand in your path.
Sid Meier's Civilization VII
- Released
- February 11, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Firaxis Games
- Publisher(s)
- 2K
- Franchise
- Sid Meier's Civilization
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC
- Genre(s)
- Grand Strategy, Turn-Based Strategy, 4X
