With all of the new civilization reveals behind it, Firaxis Games has now announced the brand new leader, Eleanor of Aquitaine, that will arrive to Civilization VI along with the Gathering Storm expansion. There is a twist, however, where instead of being an alternate leader for a single faction, she can be chosen as the leader of either England or France.
This is a first for the franchise, giving players the opportunity to use the same leader for multiple civilizations. Interestingly, her leader ability stays the same while her appearance changes depending on what civilization she is leading.
Eleanor's leader ability is Court of Love, which makes Great Works situated in her civilization's cities lower the loyalty of any foreign cities nearby. Cities that leave their empires from loyalty loss will also skip the Free City stage when flipping to Eleanor's civilization if she was the one putting the most pressure on them.
As the national abilities, unique buildings, and units of both France and England remain the same while playing as Eleanor, players will have to devise new strategies for making use of her Court of Love ability with the civilizations' own specialties.
Unless Firaxis has something hidden planned, this announcement will be the final reveal by the studio before the Civilization VI: Gathering Storm expansion launches, which is slated to happen next week on February 14. The expansion costs $49.99 and is available for pre-order through Steam.