the 5 best leaders for a domination only strategy in civ 6

The 5 Best Leaders for a Domination-Only Strategy in Civ 6

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Of all the paths to victory in Civilization VI, none offer the visceral satisfaction of total domination. It’s a strategy of raw power, tactical genius, and relentless momentum. It’s the thrill of seeing your unique unit steamroll an unprepared neighbor, the satisfaction of capturing a rival’s capital, and the ultimate glory of being the last civilization standing on the world stage. But a domination-only approach isn’t for the faint of heart. It requires a singular focus, a war machine that never stops, and, most importantly, the right leader at the helm.

Choosing a leader purpose-built for conquest is the single most important decision you’ll make. The right abilities can transform a standard army into an unstoppable juggernaut, providing crucial advantages in combat, logistics, and economy that sustain a global campaign. This guide cuts through the noise to identify the absolute five best leaders for a pure domination strategy. We’ll break down precisely what makes them so terrifyingly effective, providing a detailed game plan from the first turn to the final victory screen. Prepare to sharpen your sword and redraw the maps of history.

What Forges a God of War? The Anatomy of a Top-Tier Domination Leader

Before we crown our top five, it’s crucial to understand the criteria. What separates a decent military leader from a true world-conqueror? It boils down to a few key pillars that work in synergy to create a cascade of military superiority.

  • Early Game Onslaught: The ability to strike hard and fast is paramount. A leader who can field a powerful army in the Ancient or Classical era can cripple neighbors before they have a chance to build high walls or field their own unique units. This initial snowball is often the key to unstoppable momentum.
  • Game-Changing Unique Units (UUs): A powerful UU creates a critical window of opportunity. Whether it’s a super-powered warrior replacement or a fast-moving horseman that terrifies early-game armies, these units are the tip of the spear. The best UUs aren’t just slightly better; they fundamentally change the calculus of warfare for the era they’re in.
  • Unrelenting Momentum: One successful war is good. A perpetual war machine is better. The best domination leaders have abilities that help sustain the offensive. This can manifest as bonuses to healing, reduced war weariness, loyalty boosts in captured cities, or economic advantages tied directly to conquest. They make war profitable and sustainable.
  • Superior Logistics and Combat Strength: Raw power matters. Passive combat strength bonuses, extra movement points, or advantages from terrain and flanking turn an even fight into a decisive victory. Leaders who make their entire army inherently better, faster, or stronger have a persistent edge throughout the game.
  • A Self-Sustaining War Economy: War is expensive. A leader who can fund and produce a massive army without their empire collapsing is essential. This might come from unique buildings that boost production, abilities that grant gold from kills, or mechanics that reward constant aggression with science and culture, preventing you from falling behind while your armies are on the march.

The leaders on this list don’t just tick one or two of these boxes; they masterfully combine several, creating a symphony of destruction that is incredibly difficult for any opponent to withstand.

The 5 Best Leaders for a Domination-Only Strategy in Civ 6

Here they are: the five sovereigns of the battlefield. We will dissect their strengths, outline their path to victory, and reveal why they are the ultimate choices for players who believe diplomacy is best conducted by the sword.

5. Basil II (Byzantium)

Kicking off our list is a leader who proves that faith and fire are a terrifyingly effective combination. Basil II turns religious fervor into a weapon of war, making his conquests feel like a divine crusade. His unique approach combines two of the game’s most powerful mechanics—religion and military—into a single, focused assault.

Why He Excels at Domination

Basil’s power is rooted in his leader ability, Porphyrogénnētos.1 This allows his light and heavy cavalry units to do full damage to cities that are following the same religion as Byzantium. This completely changes the nature of sieges. Normally, cavalry is poor at taking cities. With Basil, a swarm of knights can melt a city’s health bar as effectively as a row of catapults.

This synergizes perfectly with Byzantium’s civilization ability, Taxis. This gives all units +3 Combat Strength for each Holy City converted to Byzantium’s Religion (including their own). As your faith spreads, your entire army becomes stronger. Furthermore, spreading your religion automatically spreads your combat advantage.

His unique units seal the deal. The Tagma, a replacement for the Knight, grants a powerful +4 Combat Strength or Ranged Strength aura to all nearby land units.2 A few Tagmas leading a charge make your entire army significantly deadlier. The Dromon, an early naval unit replacing the Quadrireme, has increased range and gets a massive +10 Combat Strength against other units. This allows for early coastal domination and sets up naval invasions with ease.

Strategic Breakdown & Game Plan

  • Early Game: Your immediate priority is securing a religion. Build a Holy Site first and rush for a Great Prophet. Your goal is to found a religion and begin spreading it to your nearest neighbor’s cities. Build a few Dromons to clear out any coastal barbarians and harass your neighbors, preparing for a coastal assault.
  • Mid Game: This is where Basil II comes online. As soon as you unlock the Tagma at Military Tactics, your crusade begins. Your strategy is simple: send Apostles and Missionaries to convert a rival’s cities, then follow up with a wave of Tagmas and supporting units. The Tagmas will shred the city defenses while buffing your entire army. Because you founded the religion, you can choose beliefs that further aid your conquest, like Crusade (+10 Combat Strength in foreign cities of your religion).
  • Late Game: Continue the pattern. Use your faith generation to purchase units with Grand Master’s Chapel or land units with the Jesuit Education belief. Your cavalry remains relevant for city attacks throughout the game. Focus on conquering entire civilizations in holy wars, leveraging your ever-growing Taxis combat bonus to overwhelm even technologically superior foes.

Key Synergies

  • Government & Policies: Theocracy is the obvious choice. Use policy cards like Chivalry (faster production of heavy cavalry) and Simultaneum (doubles Holy Site adjacency).
  • Wonders: The Hagia Sophia is a must-build for the extra religious spread. The Mahabodhi Temple provides extra Apostles to accelerate your conversions.
  • Game Mode: Basil becomes even more terrifying in Secret Societies mode by choosing the Voidslingers. The Cultists they provide can be used to reduce city loyalty before your invasion, making them easier to hold.

Basil II offers a unique and incredibly powerful path to domination.3 He requires a slightly different build order focused on faith, but once his holy war machine gets rolling, it’s a divine storm that few can weather.

4. Tomyris (Scythia)

If your philosophy of war is “quantity has a quality all its own,” then Tomyris is your queen. She is the master of the early-game swarm, capable of fielding an army twice the size of her opponents’ and overwhelming them with sheer numbers before they can even think about building walls.

Why She Excels at Domination

Tomyris’s entire kit is designed for a lightning-fast rush. Her leader ability, Killer of Cyrus, is twofold. First, her units heal up to 30 hitpoints upon killing an enemy unit.5 This allows her army to stay on the offensive, rolling from one kill to the next without needing to pause and heal. Second, her units receive a +5 Combat Strength bonus when attacking wounded units. This makes her excellent at finishing off foes and synergizes perfectly with her swarm tactics.

Scythia’s civilization ability, People of the Steppe, is the core of her strategy.6 It allows her to receive two units for the price of one whenever she trains a light cavalry unit or her unique unit, the Saka Horse Archer.7 This is arguably one of the most powerful military abilities in the early game. An army of 10 Saka Horse Archers can be produced in the time it takes a rival to build 5 regular archers.

The Saka Horse Archer itself is a fantastic unit. It’s a Classical Era unit that doesn’t require Horses, has 4 movement points, and a ranged attack. They are the perfect tool for harassing enemies, pillaging tiles, and overwhelming early armies with a hail of arrows. Finally, the Kurgan, her unique improvement, provides Faith and Gold, helping to fund her military and potentially secure a helpful religious belief.

Strategic Breakdown & Game Plan

  • Early Game: Your game plan is a straight line to war. Your first priority is researching Archery and Horseback Riding. Build a few Slingers early for defense, but your main focus is producing Saka Horse Archers as soon as possible. Your build order should be almost entirely military. Use the Agoge policy card for a +50% production boost. Once you have a swarm of 8-10 Sakas, identify your weakest neighbor and declare war. Don’t bother with siege units; your goal is to kill their army in the field.
  • Mid Game: Use your Saka swarm to completely devastate your opponent. Pillaging their lands for gold and science is crucial. Your units’ healing ability allows you to be relentlessly aggressive. Focus down enemy units one by one to trigger the healing and leverage your +5 combat bonus against wounded foes. Once their army is gone, you can surround their cities and slowly chip them down. By the time you conquer your first neighbor, you should have a massive army and a huge territorial advantage.
  • Late Game: The challenge for Tomyris is transitioning her early advantage. Your Saka Horse Archers will eventually become obsolete. You must use the lead you gained to tech up to more powerful cavalry units like Knights and Cavalry. Your “build one get one free” bonus applies to all light cavalry, so Coursers and Spec Ops are also on the menu. The goal is to leverage your massive early empire to fund a modern army and finish off the remaining capitals.

Key Synergies

  • Promotions: For your Sakas, the Volley promotion (+5 Ranged Strength against land units) is a top priority.
  • Great People: A Great General is a game-changer for your Saka swarm, providing extra movement and combat strength that makes them even more deadly.
  • Suzerainty: Becoming the suzerain of Chinguetti grants your trade routes extra Faith for every follower in the destination city, fueling your Kurgan yields.

Playing as Tomyris is a thrilling, high-tempo experience. If you love the idea of commanding a thundering horde that blots out the sun, she is an unparalleled choice.

3. Simón Bolívar (Gran Colombia)

If Tomyris is about overwhelming numbers, Simón Bolívar is about overwhelming speed. Gran Colombia is arguably the fastest civilization in the game, and in warfare, speed is life. Bolívar’s army can outmaneuver any opponent, strike from unexpected angles, and achieve a level of strategic mobility that is simply unmatched.

Why He Excels at Domination

The foundation of Gran Colombia’s power is their civilization ability, Ejército Patriota, which grants a staggering +1 Movement to all units. This bonus is active from turn one and affects every unit you ever build, from settlers and builders to scouts and Giant Death Robots. This seemingly simple bonus is transformative. Your armies can cross difficult terrain faster, reinforce fronts more quickly, and chase down fleeing enemies with ease. It also means your units can often move and attack in the same turn when others cannot.

Bolívar adds another layer of speed with his leader ability, Campaña Admirable. Each time you enter a new era, you gain a free Comandante General. These are unique Great People units with powerful passive and active abilities. For example, Francisco de Paula Santander provides +5 Combat Strength to all units within 2 tiles, while Antonio José de Sucre can instantly grant a free promotion to a unit. These generals are incredibly powerful and you get them for free, keeping pace with opponents who have to spend resources on Great General points.

Their unique unit, the Llanero, replaces the Cavalry but is cheaper to produce, has lower maintenance, and gets a +4 Combat Strength bonus for every adjacent Llanero. A stack of Llaneros is a terrifying force. Furthermore, they fully heal when in range of an activated Comandante General. This combination of speed, power, and healing creates an unstoppable mid-to-late game mounted force.

Strategic Breakdown & Game Plan

  • Early Game: Your extra movement makes early scouting incredibly effective. Find tribal villages, meet city-states, and locate your neighbors faster than anyone else. This early information is a huge advantage. Your warriors and archers can outmaneuver opponents, allowing for favorable engagements and easy pillaging.
  • Mid Game: The Industrial Era is your golden age. As soon as you unlock the Llanero, it’s time to conquer the world. Build a large force of them and keep them grouped together to maximize their adjacency bonus. Use your free Comandante Generals to lead the charge, providing combat buffs and strategic options. Your +1 movement allows your siege units, like bombards, to keep pace with your fast-moving Llaneros, creating a perfectly synchronized and devastating assault force.
  • Late Game: Your momentum should be overwhelming by this point. The +1 movement bonus remains incredibly powerful, allowing your tanks and modern infantry to blitz across the map. Your free Comandante Generals continue to provide an edge, ensuring your army is always buffed and ready for the next conquest. The goal is to use your superior mobility to fight wars on multiple fronts, capturing the final capitals before anyone can mount a serious defense.

Key Synergies

  • Government & Policies: Oligarchy provides a +4 combat strength bonus to your early units. Later, a government with many military policy slots is ideal. Use Logistics to enable movement after attacking, which, combined with your base movement, is incredible.
  • Promotions: For the Llaneros, focus on the promotions that enhance their combat strength and survivability.
  • Wonders: The Terracotta Army can grant promotions to your entire existing army, making your already powerful units even stronger. The Alhambra provides an extra military policy slot and a free promotion for any unit built in its city.

Simón Bolívar is pure velocity. He plays a fast, aggressive game that rewards bold maneuvers and strategic positioning. If you believe the best defense is a lightning-fast offense, Gran Colombia awaits your command.

2. Genghis Khan (Mongolia)

No list of great conquerors would be complete without the Great Khan himself. Genghis Khan is the undisputed master of cavalry warfare in Civilization VI. He turns his mounted units into an extension of his will, supported by a powerful economic and intelligence network that makes his conquests ruthlessly efficient.

Why He Excels at Domination

Genghis Khan’s leader ability, Mongol Horde, is simple and brutal: All cavalry class units receive +3 Combat Strength and have a chance to capture defeated enemy cavalry class units.8 That +3 bonus is a significant advantage in any engagement, but the ability to capture enemy units and add them to your own army for free is what creates a true snowball effect. Your army literally grows larger with every victory.

This is amplified by Mongolia’s civilization ability, Örtöö, which creates a Trading Post in a destination city as soon as you start a trade route, rather than waiting for it to complete. More importantly, it grants extra Diplomatic Visibility and +3 Combat Strength for all of your units fighting against that city’s civilization. This is your core mechanic: establish a trade route with your intended victim, gain a massive combat advantage, and then strike.

His unique building, the Ordu, replaces the Stable but provides an additional benefit: it grants +1 Movement to all cavalry class units trained in its city. It also provides experience points to these units, allowing them to gain promotions faster. A city with an Ordu and an Encampment becomes a super-factory for elite, fast-moving cavalry. His unique unit, the Keshig, is a fast, powerful Medieval-era ranged cavalry that can escort slower units like siege weapons, keeping them safe.

Strategic Breakdown & Game Plan

  • Early Game: Focus on building up your economy and establishing trade routes. Your goal is to identify your first target. Once you’ve chosen them, send a trader. The instant it’s sent, you gain Level 2 Diplomatic Visibility (you can see their entire territory and military) and a +6 combat bonus (+3 from the trade route, +3 from visibility). This is a massive advantage. Use Horsemen to clear out their army while you prepare for the main assault.
  • Mid Game: This is your prime window of power. Your Keshigs, buffed by a Great General and the Ordu, are a mobile death squad. Pair them with Knights or your newly-captured enemy cavalry. Use the Keshigs to pick off enemy units from a distance and protect your siege units as they break down city walls. Your economy should be strong from your trade routes, allowing you to fund a large, professional army.
  • Late Game: While your Keshigs will lose their punch, your core abilities remain potent. Continue to use trade routes to gain a combat advantage against your final opponents. Your cavalry, tanks, and even helicopters will benefit from your +3 combat bonus and the movement from the Ordu. Leverage your massive empire, built on the back of your mid-game conquests, to field a technologically superior modern army and secure the win.

Key Synergies

  • Policy Cards: Chivalry and Maneuver are essential for producing and training your cavalry faster.
  • Religion: The Crusade belief is incredibly powerful for Genghis. Establish a trade route, convert their cities, and you could be attacking with a +16 combat bonus (+6 from Örtöö, +10 from Crusade).
  • Great People: Zhang Qian and Marco Polo are Great Merchants who grant a free trade route, accelerating your strategy. Great Generals are, of course, a must-have.

Genghis Khan is a master strategist. He rewards planning and intelligence gathering with overwhelming military force. Playing him feels like you’re a true tactician, dismantling your opponents with surgical precision before crushing them under the hooves of your Mongol horde.

1. Alexander (Macedon)

There can be only one king of conquest, and his name is Alexander. He is not just a strong domination leader; he was designed from the ground up to do nothing but wage perpetual, successful war. Every single one of his abilities synergizes to create a military machine that is not only powerful but also completely self-sustaining. He is, without question, the best leader for a pure domination victory.

Why He Excels at Domination

Alexander’s leader ability, To the World’s End, is the single best domination ability in the game: cities do not incur war weariness. This completely removes one of the main brakes on constant warfare. While other leaders must sue for peace to let their amenities recover, Alexander can wage war from the Ancient Era to the Information Era without a single citizen complaining. He also fully heals any city he captures that contains a world wonder, a nice thematic bonus.

Macedon’s civilization abilities are just as incredible. Hellenistic Fusion provides a Eureka for each Encampment or Campus district and a Tech Boost for each Theater Square or Holy Site in a captured city. In other words, conquest is your science and culture generation. You don’t fall behind while warring; you actively leap ahead.

He comes with two unique units. The Hypaspist replaces the Swordsman, gets +5 Combat Strength when besieging districts, and receives 50% extra support bonus. They are incredibly tough city-takers. The Hetairoi replaces the Horseman, is faster, has higher combat strength, and receives a Great General point on kill. It also spawns with a free promotion if adjacent to a Great General. They are elite, general-led shock troops. Finally, the Basilikoi Paides unique building replaces the Barracks and provides science for every unit trained in its city, further fueling your tech advantage through military production.

Strategic Breakdown & Game Plan

  • Early Game: Your path is clear. Rush Bronze Working for Hypaspists and Horseback Riding for Hetairoi. Build your Basilikoi Paides in every city. Your goal is to launch your first war as soon as you have a small force of your unique units. You don’t need a huge army; their raw power is enough. Your Hetairoi will generate Great Generals for you, which in turn makes your next Hetairoi even stronger.
  • Mid Game: Your snowball is now an avalanche. Every city you capture provides you with a burst of science and culture, allowing you to unlock the next generation of units faster than your opponents. Because you have no war weariness, you can immediately pivot from one conquered civ to the next without pausing. Your only limiting factor is the physical time it takes for your army to march across the continent.
  • Late Game: You should be far ahead in technology. The science and culture you’ve gained from conquering half the world will allow you to field tanks and bombers while others are still using cannons. Your lack of war weariness remains a huge advantage, as late-game wars can cripple other civilizations’ amenities. Your path to victory is a simple, brutal march to the remaining enemy capitals.

Key Synergies

  • Government & Policies: Oligarchy is the perfect early government, boosting the combat strength of your Hypaspists and Hetairoi. Later, Fascism provides a massive combat bonus.
  • Wonders: The Terracotta Army is phenomenal for Alexander, as it promotes your entire army. The Alhambra is also a top-tier choice for the extra military policy slot.
  • The Entire Game: Literally everything you do is synergistic. Build an army, get science. Go to war, get more science and culture. Capture a city, get even more. Alexander’s gameplay loop is a perfect, self-reinforcing engine of conquest.

Playing as Alexander is the purest expression of the domination playstyle. He is a force of nature, a leader who makes war not just a means to an end, but the very engine of his civilization’s progress.

Universal Domination Strategy: Tips for Any Leader

While choosing a top-tier leader is a massive advantage, victory is never guaranteed. Core strategic principles will always apply.

  • Master the Siege: Don’t just throw your melee units at walls. In the early game, build Battering Rams to allow them to damage city defenses. As soon as you can, build Siege Towers to allow them to ignore walls completely. Later, Catapults, Trebuchets, Bombards, and Artillery are essential for breaking down city defenses from a safe distance. A balanced army with a strong siege component will conquer far more efficiently.
  • Pillaging is Your Economy: War is profitable if you make it so. Use fast-moving units like cavalry to pillage enemy tiles. Pillaging a Mine or Quarry gives Gold. Pillaging a Farm heals your unit. Pillaging a Campus or Holy Site provides a burst of Science or Faith. A campaign of aggressive pillaging can cripple your enemy’s economy while funding your own.
  • Loyalty is a Weapon: When you capture a city, it will exert loyalty pressure on nearby enemy cities. Use the governor Victor with the Garrison Commander promotion to solidify your hold on captured territory. Use policy cards like Limitanei to boost loyalty in cities with a garrisoned unit. You can even use spies on the “Foment Unrest” mission to flip enemy cities without firing a shot.

A domination victory is a testament to your strategic skill, and with one of these five leaders at your command, you have the ultimate tools for the job. Whether through the holy fire of Basil II, the endless horde of Tomyris, the unmatched speed of Simón Bolívar, the tactical genius of Genghis Khan, or the perpetual war machine of Alexander, the world is yours for the taking. Now go forth and conquer.