Leaders tier guide

[Ghostlight]

Just for fun I thought I might rate the various leaders. List is below. I've omitted the Explore ability since they all have it. Also, some leaders have 2 ratings because their power varies wildly depending on when you get them offered to you (early vs lategame). Possible ratings are:

S tier: absolutely OP
A tier: Really strong always
down to
D tier: Crap

Let me know if I missed anyone and also where you disagree with my rating.

Here we go....

Alex Madiba
- Farm +5 Food.
- Convert a not-owned Water deposit into Ocean.
- Passive: Increases your Nitrates production by 1 for every 3 new Nitrates you start producing.
My Comment: This leader's strength depends hugely on when you are offered them. Food is the king resource in the game as it facilitates everything you do. However, the 2nd ability is garbage and you should never use it, as tapping a Water node with a Mine is almost always stronger than adding to Ocean. There are far easier way to add Ocean.
My Rating: Early to mid-game = S; Any later than that = B

Anastasia Dromedo
- Research all Projects suggested this Turn for free.
- Convinces the Population of a City that Mars should become Independent.
- Passive: When you found a new City, gain +5 Support per Turn if it is the first City in its Climate Zone.
My Comment: Very situational and very tricky to use well but a powerhouse if you can make her work. Passive is... OK.
My Rating: B

Arthur Foster
- Select a Resource deposit. Mine 10 of that Resource, with a bonus of +1 for large deposits and +2 for gigantic deposits.
- Destroy 5 Rocks for free this Turn.
- Passive: Increases your Tritium Production by 1 for every new 2 Tritium you start producing.
My Comment: Oh so good at sorting out your resource shortfalls and allowing you to build whatever you want to build next REALLY fast. 2nd ability is reasonable but situational. Passive is very good too.
My Rating: S

Thomas Foster
- Select a Resource deposit. Mine 5 of that Resource, with a bonus of +1 for large deposits and +2 for gigantic deposits.
- Construct Supply Station for free.
- Passive: Increases your Silicates production by 1 for every new 3 Silicates you start producing.
My Comment: This is essentially the early game version of Arthur above. You will only see Thomas in the early game though (I assume the game stacks the deck), so he is guaranteed amazing. In fact, probably the best early game leader you can draw? His 2nd ability is very good and offers a lot of Power saving precisely when you need it, but comes with a hidden opportunity cost in that you didn't get to use the first ability (hence saying the Station is free is not really true). Regardless, each ability compliments the other perfectly, since the amount of Power you have will dictate which one you will want to use and they are both excellent.
My Rating: S

Ayesha Khatri
- Construct Sewage Treatment Plant for free.
- Convert 3 Silicates to +10 Titanium.
- Passive: Removing a Rock provides +1 Titanium.
My Comment: Sewage Plant is meh and very situational. However everything else she does is simply outstanding. Convert Silicates every turn you can.
My Rating: S

Dejah Robinson
- Provide 3 random Resources in each of your Space Projects. Only applied once per Space Project.
- Start construction of Space Hotels.
- Passive: New Location upgrades that provide Support or Comfort of Living provide +2 Support per Turn.
My Comment: That little clause of only being able to provide resource for space programs once each is the killer here, other wise she'd be an easy S. In the right situation though she is a game-saver. Also, Space Hotels are excellent projects to build.
My Rating: B, but very very close to A

Aishe Jäger
- Propose 2 Lifeforms, choose one. This action can be performed 5 times.
- Reduce the Heat requirement of a Lifeform by 1. This action can be performed 1 time.
- Passive: Constructing Animal Spreader buildings costs 40% less Water.
My Comment: A strong leader but only if you need to spread Life and are ready to do so.
My Rating: B

Flora Norouzi
- Propose 2 Lifeforms, choose one. This action can be performed 7 times.
- Reduce the recharge time of all Lifeform Spreader buildings by 1 Turns.
- Passive: Constructing Plant Spreader buildings costs 40% less Nitrates.
My Comment: A strong leader but only if you need to spread Life and are ready to do so.
My Rating: B

Misha Kiyama
- Propose 2 Lifeforms, choose one. This action can be performed 3 times.
- Reduce the base spread duration of a lifeform by 15%. This action can be done 1 times.
- Passive: Constructing Bacteria Spreader buildings costs 40% less science.
My Comment: A strong leader but only if you need to spread Life and are ready to do so.
My Rating: B

Isabella Torres
- Propose 2 Lifeforms, choose one. This action can be performed 7 times.
- Reduce the Rain requirement of a Life Form by 1 (minimum = 1). This action can be performed 2 times
- Passive: Increases your Oxygen production by 1 for every new 4 Oxygen you start producing.
My Comment: Same as the three above, basically. Though with arguably the best of the 2nd abilities of the four Life-based leaders. (Too many such leaders in the game I think)
My Rating: B

Gustav Mirzoyan
- Generate 5 Power.
- 2 more Projects are proposed this Turn. Gain +3 Science.
- Passive: Increases your Science production by 1 for every 7 Robots you construct.
My Comments: Two great abilities but you'll often want them both. Agonising choice. This leader is stronger the earlier you get him as Power is a major bottleneck early game..
My Rating: Early to mid-game = S; Any later than that = A

Henry Carnegie
- Gain +4 Atmosphere and +4 Heat.
- Choose a Mine, it immediately produces +5 Heat and +5 Atmosphere as well as -25 Support per Resource it mines. Can only be done once per Mine.
- Passive: Constructing Mines costs 25% less resources.
My Comments: Firstly, I think the 1st ability renders the 2nd ability pointless. OK yes you can get progress on Terraforming well before you have any right to. However only really matters if you NEED Terraforming (so a bit weak for Red path for example), and I am not convinced either of his abilities is better than a plain old Explore. Passive is so very meh.
My Rating: C

Hong Tao
- Gain 2 Water, Titanium, Tritium, Nitrates, and Silicates.
- Construct Trade Center for free.
- Gain +1 Power per Turn for every 10 new Expansions you acquire.
My Comments: 2 absolutely outstanding abilities (Trade Centres are very strong). Happily you'll only want to (or more accurate, be able to) use the 2nd ability a few times, allowing you to indulge in the first most of time. Mmm. Indulgence....
My Rating: S

Hope O'Malley
- Select a city. Gain +10 Support per Population. Each City can only be selected once.
- Spend 8 Water and gain +80 Support.
- Passive: Gain +1 Support per Turn for every 8 new Buildings you construct.
My Comments: So very situational. If you are desperate for Support she can save your game. Otherwise you generally want to draw her as late as possible and that "once per city" is a bummer. 2nd ability is overall weak as you rarely have 8 Water to spare (again, unless you are Support-starved then it can be great).
My Rating: When Support-starved mid- to late-game = S; Any other time = C

Jagrav Varman
- Select a city. Gain +10 Support per Population. Each City can only be selected once.
- Construct Astral Temple for free.
- Passive: Gain +1 Support per Turn for every 20 new Resources you transport to progress a Space Project.
My Comments: Everything said above about Hope applies here to Jagrav, including the fact that the 2nd ability is under-whelming (Astral Temple is pretty weak).
My Rating: When Support-starved mid- to late-game = S; Any other time = C

Nailya Bolatbek
- Select a City. It produces its Support again. Each City can only be selected once.
- Construct Embassy for free.
- Passive: Increases your number of Trade Routes by 1 for every 3 new Trade Route you set up. Trade Routes from adjacent Mines don't contribute.
My Comments: Another variant of the two leaders above and again the power level is higher the later you draw this leader. The 2nd ability is under-whelming (Embassy is pretty weak). A better passive here though.
My Rating: When Support-starved mid- to late-game = S; Any other time = B

Jorge Dromedo
- Destroy 2 rocks for free this turn.
- Construct Modular Apartments for its food cost only.
- Passive: Constructing regional buildings costs 15% less Resources.
My Comments: Useless really. Saving 6 Power from rock clearing might be OK very early game but it sucks any later. Also, Modular Apartments are absolute garbage. Reason being that you rarely if ever want Population building beside each other, but more importantly this leader is the only way to get such a building; there are no such Projects in the card deck. Hence getting 2 of them can be tricky.
My Rating: D

Léna Kertész
- Spend 4 Water and gain +50 Support
- Construct Local Art Gallery for free.
- Passive: If you have 800 or more total Support, gain +1 Project Suggestion and +1 Project Research per turn. You will also be able to store 2 extra Projects.
My Comments: 2 weak abilities (Art Galleries are not good being very situational indeed, and you rarely have Water to spare). She is saved by a good passive if you are playing well enough to have 800 Support
My Rating: If you have 800 Support = A; otherwise D

Maryam Fayed
- 3 more Projects are proposed this Turn. Gain +4 Science.
- Construct Drone Hub for free.
- Passive: Increases your Power production by 1 for every new 6 Power you start producing.
My Comments: Drone Hubs are bad due to the opportunity costs. However if you desperately need that one expansion right now, this is a fast and cheap way to get it. Fortunately her 1st ability is quite strong all game.
My Rating: A

Svetlana Rossi
- Select a City. It produces all its Resources a second time and generates -5 Support per Population. Each city can only be chosen once.
Urban Planning - Get 2 Habitation Module Projects and 1 Skyscraper Project.
-Passive: Gain +1 Support per Turn for every 13th, 14th, and 15th new Building you construct in each City.
My Comments: Two situational abilities, however in the situations where they will apply they can both be quite powerful. However the resource production ability is absolutely garbage early game. And just be sure to bin those Skyscrapers for the +1 Science.
My Rating: Early game = B; any other time A

Tariq Fayed
- Select a City. It produces all its Resources a second time and generates -5 Support per Population. Each city can only be chosen once.
- Construct Police Station for free.
- Passive: Increases your Water production by 1 for every new 3 Water you start producing.
My Comments: Similar to Svetlana above, but with a slightly weaker 2nd ability. Police Stations are situationally average in power. This makes this one weaker than Svetlana.
My Rating: Early game = C; any other time B

[Aenima]

Man ! thats a long read ! and its cool that you put that effort
After having cleared almost all actual scenarios i cant agree with everything, just quickly concerning Thomas Foster. His 2nd ability is just amazing. Try him again knowing this ; place the station and you will be able to explore departing of that point, so if you play correctly and explore, then move the building where you explored (or other place) and start again. All your exploration will only cost 1 energy each turn instead of 2 or 3, and sometimes more. All the energy you will save will help to play more efficiently.
I will probably also depend on the strategy you use to explore.
I'll be back when i have more time =) HF during your plays.

[Ghostlight]

I did like and use that ability early on in my experience with the game (dare I say when I was a noob?) I now consider it a trap and I prefer to plant new cities to achieve the same thing. I think that is a much stronger play, and the Exploration hub actually works against it. Plus I just cannot resist his +5 to +7 resources because that is just so incredibly OP early game. Finally the Hub occupies a precious early-game free location where I'd much prefer to drop a Landing Pad or actual Power source or whatever.

Additionally I very very VERY rarely spend more than 2 Energy exploring anyway. Satellites do all the heavy lifting. I typically go for 3+ Satellites as quick as I can.

Nevertheless, many thanks for the opinion, I look forward to more, especially if you have finished all the Mastery 6 paths, since you are ahead of me in progress (just a little).

[Ghostlight]

Originally posted by Aenima:

Man ! thats a long read ! and its cool that you put that effort

I confess I cut and paste most of it from elsewhere. Only the My Comments and My ratings bits were actually written by me. :)

[Lantantan]

Arthur is actually S++ tier. Dropping 3 supply stations early, WHICH YOU CAN MOVE, mean all your future exploration cost 1 energy instead of 2 to 5.

[Lee Adaama]

Can you kind post screenshots of each leader details. Like the leader screen for each leader? Thanks a lot.

[Ghostlight]

Originally posted by Lantantan:

Arthur is actually S++ tier. Dropping 3 supply stations early, WHICH YOU CAN MOVE, mean all your future exploration cost 1 energy instead of 2 to 5.

OK I rewrote Arthur and bumped him to S. However, you'd have to go a long way to convince me that using THREE extremely rare and precious early game expansion points for Stations when they could have been other, more permanent things that contributed all game is a good idea. Remember also that those Stations are not remotely free - that's a trap, they cost you 5 to 7 resources OF YOUR CHOICE. This is extremely expensive given it's early game.

Appreciate the input.

[Ghostlight]

Originally posted by Lee Adaama:

Can you kind post screenshots of each leader details. Like the leader screen for each leader? Thanks a lot.

That sounds like a lot of work and rather large. Can I instead refer you to this guide: https://techraptor.net/gaming/guides/terraformers-leader-guide

[Jasper]

Nice! Just to let you guys know, we're removing the option to relocate the supply station from Thomas soon, as that was not the intention when designing this skill so now it can be exploited a little indeed

[Lantantan]

Okay bump poor Arthur back to A tier. I'd argue removing supply movement is too harsh a nerf. Recommend instead of only making one maximum.

[Ghostlight]

Can't it move itself like any other building, with the usual 2 turn penalty?

[Jasper]

Originally posted by Lantantan:

Okay bump poor Arthur back to A tier. I'd argue removing supply movement is too harsh a nerf. Recommend instead of only making one maximum.

Haha, perhaps it is, but I personally don't think so. You can save up quite some power with this building, but we can re-assess it later if rebalancing is required.

Originally posted by Ghostlight:

Can't it move itself like any other building, with the usual 2 turn penalty?

Buildings on the planet relocation time is equal to the distance (so 1 distance away is only 1 turn), hence the exploit.

[Ghostlight]

I'm OK leaving him at S to be honest. I just got him in my current run and in honour of this discussion I picked him to try out the Expansion Station a bit more. I couldn't. lol. Just couldn't. His 5+ resource ability is just so darn strong. Early game, he just rushes you on to the next thing you want to build efficiently and quickly.

This game is all about timing and snowballing. The earlier any building goes into play, the stronger that building is. Buildings going up in the first dozen turns are among the strongest in the game. So imo, anything that can rush early buildings like Arthur can is therefore a force to be reckoned with. He can stay at S for that alone.

[Lantantan]

Nice tier list, I think everything's nearly spot on!

Oh fyi for completeness, the supply station doesn't need to be in your own territory, it crucially can be built and functions outside controlled territory, so that section of the tierlist needs a lil update. But yeah I don't see myself using it post nerf when the resource boost is so very powerful.

Shoutout to Aishe for being the better of the life advisers IMHO. Heat is prolly the hardest stat to raise consistently atm. This allows for many of the better bacteria (or bunnies) to be used right from the start.

[Ghostlight]

Originally posted by Lantantan:

Oh fyi for completeness, the supply station doesn't need to be in your own territory, it crucially can be built and functions outside controlled territory, so that section of the tierlist needs a lil update

OK that makes a huge difference, and I didn't know that.

I withdraw everything I said about that ability and will update the text.

Jeez, Arthur has TWO absolute S tier abilities right now. In fact the choice between the two makes itself here: if you have a lot of Power, take the resources; if you have dwindling Power drop a Station for a big saving in future Power. Very very nice design there devs.

I will not count the nerf till it happens though.

[Ghostlight]

Major Update: It's actually Thomas we are talking about, not Arthur. Ooops.

And I have demoted Henry Carnegie to C having played with him in my last run.