The new 4x strategy game Ara: History Untold (Steam, Xbox Game Pass) starts with 42 leaders of civilizations. Which is the best leader? MyMMO strategy expert Schuhmann has a clear recommendation.
What do leaders and civilizations do in Ara: History Untold? In Ara, you don’t choose a civilization but a leader who automatically represents your civilization. If you choose Bismarck or Hildegard of Bingen, you are playing Germany. There are no special units or such significant gameplay mechanics tied to your leader choice as in Civilization 6 that depend on your selection of a leader.
Nevertheless, the leaders change the game mechanics. Each comes with a “major trait,” which is unique depending on the leader, and 3-5 “minor traits,” affecting individual skills.
Our favorite for the title of best leader is the Korean, “Sejong the Great.”
The best leader in Ara: History Untold gives you an unfair advantage
Why is Sejong the Great the best leader? Sejong the Great has 3 minor traits, all of which are positive and useful in the game:
- 10% more research in the capital, providing a technology boost especially at the start of the game.
- 20% more production in all cities – Always a nice bonus.
- 15% more strength in spreading religion – Religion offers many small bonuses, some strong and some useless. At each new level of religion, you have the choice between 3 bonuses. We recommend “Hellenism” because it allows for easy temple construction.
The “great bonus” of Sejong the Great is that he gives 25 points of city knowledge and happiness in all cities for 10 rounds once a masterpiece is created.
Weaving houses and their upgrades give 10 city knowledge as soon as paper is invented – this is not so important.
The key to victory in Ara: History Untold is masterpieces
This is the right tactic with him: This will surely be nerfed later, but you simply place the first paradigm (in English: Paragon) you receive in your capital to write books there.
Other paradigms you receive should also be placed in the appropriate facilities. You use one for “5% chance for more paradigms,” and you gradually fill the other two advisor positions with your favorites.
However, the most important aspect of playing with Sejong the Great is the paradigms you deploy as authors, musicians, or weavers.
Because relatively quickly, you have a constant stream of masterpieces that provide you with a permanent 25 city knowledge and happiness in all cities. This is a strong advantage that is easy to trigger, and throughout the course of the game, you will have no issues with happiness in your cities; this was never a topic in my game, and “knowledge,” or the research bonus, is useful.
This allows you to focus more on aspects such as health (which regulates growth) or security (which determines the strength of your army) when expanding and managing your cities. And you can adjust your buildings and bonus resources accordingly.
Sejong the Great offers you an enormous advantage as a leader. We don’t know how long this will remain effective, but with Sejong the Great, it should be possible to have a good start in Ara: History Untold and dominate the opponents.
If you want to read more about famous leaders and how to use them effectively in 4x strategy games, we recommend this article: Steam: I am obsessed with the perfect start in Civilization 6 and have been loading the same save for 2 years
