#Leverage

Leverage is a new currency that represents the amount of diplomatic capital you have over another Empire. You accrue Leverage mainly by sending out your Agents out to foreign lands to collect it, although there are also alternative ways to generate it.

On the map

Whenever an Empire has a Grievance against another, there is an opportunity to gain Leverage against the one responsible for creating the Grievance. Empires deciding to investigate around the location of a Grievance may find a Leverage Intel Curiosity, which will provide Leverage to whomever picks it up. However, other Empires may beat you to it, so make sure you get there first.

For most Empires, only Envoy, Spy and Spymaster Units are allowed to pick up Leverage Intels to gain Leverage. However, Empires with the Diplomat Affinity may use any Unit to collect them.

You will be able to see and collect Leverage Intels for all Grievances where you are not the offending party. This includes the Grievances you hold against others, but also those that the rest of the world’s Empires have against each other! As conflicts ebb and flow, different locations may become “diplomatic hotspots” throughout the game.

For a broader view of where Leverage Intel Curiosities can currently be found, you can toggle the Intelligence view, where the location of Leverage Intels will be visible even at the maximum zoom level.

Other sources

If it is not currently practical to travel to the location of a Leverage Intel to gain the edge against an Empire, there are always alternative ways to obtain some Leverage:

• If you are ready to renounce a Grievance instead of harboring a grudge, this will provide you a small amount of Leverage against the offending Empire.
• You may sign the Diplomatic Cooperation Agreement with Empires who seem skilled at accumulating Leverage. The terms of this Agreement will provide you with 50% of the Leverage collected from Leverage Intels by the other Empire, and vice versa.
• You may also command your Agents to Siphon another Empire’s Embassy, which will provide you with some Leverage on the Embassy’s owner for every turn that the action is maintained.
• Diplomat Affinity Empires can gain Leverage on Empires whose Units stay within a Demilitarized Territory, at the rate of one Leverage per Unit per Turn.
• Once the Congress of Humankind is formed, Surprise War declarations will give a large sum of Leverage against the declaring Empire to all other Empires.