Developer Firaxis announces the release date for Civ 6’s Rulers of the Sahara DLC and previews the new leaders coming to its 4X strategy game in February. The fourth pack included in Civilization 6 Leader Pass consists of two leaders for Egypt as well as a second pick for Mali, which was first introduced in Civilization 6 with the Gathering Storm expansion.
Ramses II, known as Ramses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the 19th dynasty of Egypt and is widely considered to be one of the most powerful and influential rulers in history. His arrival means he’s only been absent from Civilization 3 (where Egypt was ruled by Cleopatra and Ramses appears as their military leader), having appeared as their leader in every other game in the series to date. . Ramses in Civ 5 has a knack for building wonders, using them early on to lead to scientific or cultural victory, so we expect to see something similar here.
The life of one of the founders of the Mali Empire, Sounddiata Keita, is told in a historical poem called Soundiata Epic, so maybe we’ll see that reflected in the culture bonuses. You will need to own the Civ 6 Gathering Storm DLC to play as Keita, as he rules the Malian civilization featured in this expansion. Most Leader Pass players have probably already purchased it (or the Civilization 6 Anthology Edition, which it’s included in), but keep that in mind if you want to give Keita a try.
Meanwhile, Cleopatra already appears in Civilization 6 as the initial ruler of Egypt, but her Ptolemaic variant Cleopatra will give her a revamp with a new set of bonuses and unique units. Given the slightly vague name, it’s not immediately obvious what your specialization will be here. Civ 6 base Cleopatra emphasizes strong military and trade routes, so perhaps the most direct nod to the Ptolemaic dynasty means we’ll see a greater focus on building your own cities and people.
Civ 6 Rulers of the Sahara release date is February 16. As part of the Leader Pass, the Rulers of the Sahara DLC is free for players who own Civilization 6 Anthology Edition or those who purchased all content included in this edition prior to the release of the Leader Pass. Firaxis also previously noted that the remaining two packs are due out until March, so expect to see the Great Builders and Rulers of England packs soon enough.
It will be interesting to see if this latest release means a revamp of the best Civ 6 civs. In the meantime, check out the best Civ 6 mods for plenty of ways to further expand one of the best 4X games on PC.