Interior of Elite empire, showing gilded buildings
An empire can reach the status of being an Elite Empire if it has performed certain actions through the course of the game. Only ten empires can be elite at any given time, and if a new empire makes it onto the list, the last empire is placed in the "demotion zone." Right now, it appears that the only actions that will grant an empire elite status is if the empire is one of the first ten to reach the Classical age or if the empire reaches rank 1 (as shown in the cultural section of the social overview tab).
Being elite grants stronger and faster military units as well as generally increased performance from buildings (such as more wood production boost from a sawmill). However, this increased value also comes with an increase in cost of materials to build/train them (though time does not appear to be affected). Elite units and buildings have a + appended to the end of their name and the preview picture associated with each has a gold frame around it. In addition, buildings appear "gilded" in that they typically have a gold trim in various locations (e.g. the roof).
List of Elite Empires[]
Exterior view of Elite empire showing gilded City Center and roads
Napolean:
- Gomu Gomu No
- Your empire
- Snneah Chomh
- Blue
- Journey Through Time
- Solaris
- Vocaloid
- Enora
- Far End
- Angelos
- The Ulaid