Rate the Wonders - part I: Ancient/Classical Wonders

Ancient Era

7 - Great Library: despite the buff, it's not as good as it used to be, in no small part because going for early wonders can be an expensive mistake.
4 - Mausoleum of Halicarnassus: too situational - nice to have if you have the luxuries, but I won't bother unless I have at least 2 Stone and 1 Marble.
7 - Pyramids (requires Liberty): very good to go for if you happen to go Liberty, but it's not worth opening the tree for. Also can give you a nasty surprise in the form of negative GPT.
3 - Statue of Zeus (requires Honor): not a Domination player, so I never build this. I notice the AI doesn't seem to love it quite as much as it used to, though.
6 - Stonehenge: nice to have, but with Piety, not essential.
8 - Temple of Artemis: this was my go-to early Wonder pre-BNW: it stacks beautifully with Hanging Gardens and Fertility Rites. Sadly I haven't yet managed to build it in either of my two games so far, thanks to poor planning on both counts.

Classical Era

5 - Colossus: I haven't yet had the coastal start needed for this. I can see its merits, though.
5 - Great Lighthouse: Likewise.
4 - Great Wall: Haven't built this in BNW yet either. Pre-BNW, I mostly built it to prevent someone else from getting there first, and if anything I see less reason to build it now.
8 - Hanging Gardens (requires Tradition): very good to have if you can get it. It's a little easier to get than before, since the AI doesn't seem to go Tradition as often as it used to. Dipping into Tradition just to build it can be dangerous, though.
9 - Oracle: I love this Wonder and will build it whenever I can. Even now, a free SP is too good to pass up.
6 - Parthenon : OK, but not essential for a culture victory.
7 - Petra : as with pre-BNW, when the opportunity is there for Petra, you really want it, but when it's not, it's not worth going out of your way just to get it. The free Caravan makes it, if anything, more tempting than before. It's a bit of a must as Morocco (desert buffs and free trade route? yes please!)
5 - Terracotta Army : I'm very intrigued by this one. I haven't yet managed to build it - the AI liked it before and loves it now, and I tend to concentrate on the top half of the tree - but it sounds pretty good.

Great Library 7

On reflection, after originally feeling not a lot had changed with the Library, the fact that it's the first theming Wonder and has an ongoing effect (other than valuable GS points), improves the Library quite a bit.

Indeed its value for science might be marginalised in comparison - it's become still harder to get on higher difficulties because some AIs now heavily favour rushing to tourism (and hence Drama & Poetry, with Writing as a prerequisite), while conversely Writing is no longer the default early tech it once was. The calculation for its science boost still doesn't work in the GL's favour: you need to rush it, potentially sacrificing a lot for an early-game tech that will give you little if any beaker advantage over the competition, while setting you back substantially if you miss it. I now only aim for it on 'accessible' difficulties (which for me means Emperor) if I'm focusing on the GW slots, and/or focusing on accumulating GS points fast.

Mausoleum of Helicarnassus 8

I've done well without it, so it's not essential, and usually by the time you start getting GPs in numbers it's too late to assist with early-game money worries. Where you can take advantage, +2 gpt from stone or marble is valuable, and the gold boost from using GPs is always strong nonetheless. The AI seems to accord it higher priority than in the past, but not excessively so - this is readily-accessible on Immortal, often without actively rushing Masonry.

Pyramids 5

I've always found the Pyramids situational. On the plus side they lose little if any utility from being tied to Liberty, and they're probably the lowest-priority Wonder in the game for the AI (I've had games where they aren't built until the Industrial Era). On the downside unless I play very wide I find them of somewhat limited use. The 25% improvement speed bonus shouldn't be dismissed, but I rarely find it warrants the investment, and combined with the two free Workers, even in large empires I often find my Workers run out of things to do - particularly since I'll usually already have one Worker by the time I hit Masonry, and the early game when the boost from the Pyramids is most useful is usually the time when I least want to build them due to other commitments. This latter is a more severe constraint in BNW than before, with the need to build trade units and amphitheaters early in the game.

Statue of Zeus 3

This is no longer the only Wonder that doesn't produce GP points, but nevertheless I wasn't a fan before and tying it to the little-used Honor opener does it no favours. Taking cities just isn't difficult enough for this to add value (in BNW the AI seems worse at defence than ever), and warmongers want to build extra units instead.

Stonehenge 6

Stonehenge serves one function, and one function only: to get a pantheon up quick. BNW's Piety tree costs it a lot of this value, and once the pantheon is up there are better options for faith generation. I also now rarely beeline Calendar quickly enough for it to be helpful. It does seem a much lower priority for the AI now, so is usually achievable, but in general I'd rather use the hammers to focus on granaries, workers or other things that will set me up better for building Borobodur or Djenne (or settlers to expand and take more advantage of half-price Shrines).

Temple of Artemis 7

It's early and it's a growth bonus. The only reason I'd rank this less than excellent is that, again, the really early-game Wonders compete with all the non-Wondrous early development you need to get started. As such, focusing on Artemis can set you back at a key game stage and this is a fairly high AI priority, so you will need to take it early. I almost always try for it with a Tradition start, however.

Colossus 8

While the fact that they're situational will ultimately mark down all of the coastal Wonders, given the new trade mechanics you'll want a coastal city. In that coastal city, you'll want the Colossus. As coastal cities are often also those other civs can most easily access (or at least will want to, because sea trade is more lucrative), you'll see quite a markup from trade routes sent to the Colossus' city as well.

Great Lighthouse 7

The Lighthouse will always be more situational than the Colossus, because it takes an islands map to really shine. I usually take it where available, but in all honesty that's mostly because the basic lighthouse is so essential rather than because the Wonder is. It's a very nice bonus, but somewhat dispensible on most maps ... however I give it 7 rather than 6 because on any map where you do need a navy, this is a situationally very strong Wonder.

Great Wall 2

This is the reason why "Very poor" and "never build ever" are not mutually exclusive. The Great Wall is poor, AND I never build it. In principle it should be slightly more effective now, since barbarians are so ubiquitous and some of them ride horses, but if you have problems with barbarians it may be because you're building this instead of defensive units. On the flipside, much reduced AI aggression makes this already marginal Wonder of still less value in most cases.

Hanging Gardens 10

Despite results of a previous poll where it lost out slightly to Petra, I maintain that the Hanging Gardens is the best Wonder in Civ V. If anything, linking it to Tradition actually improves its utility, since it's no bar to players (most of whom take Tradition by default) but it actually makes the Wonder accessible on higher difficulty levels, where this previous AI favourite is now more rarely taken.

The Oracle 9

I find myself beelining the Oracle less, mostly because I usually now go Drama & Poetry before Philosophy. The changes to culture don't really diminish its value - the Oracle was always useful for a culture victory, but at that game stage it was far from the major consideration. A free social policy is a free social policy, and while many more late-game Wonders provide the same service it remains the early game where this boost is most valuable. It also remains one of only two ways to obtain GS points pre-Education, and the better and more generally available of the two.

Parthenon 8

Just imagine how different opinion on the Terracotta Army would have been in G&K if it was at Drama & Poetry. The Parthenon is, after all, much the same thing, the free Great Work giving it identical culture output to the old TA. Of course, the Parthenon is also in a different game context, where 6 culture per turn is much more meaningful due to the lower base output of most other culture sources. The slight tourism boost, at a time when you can otherwise build a Writer's Guild and start populating your Great Library, National Epic or amphitheaters, is a somewhat trivial bonus in comparison but helpful for early culture victory in combination with other effects, but the culture bonus makes this a useful Wonder for any victory condition.

Petra 9

I find the new Petra harder to judge than the old one. Linking its gold effect to trade makes it more powerful in the right circumstances, but needing a city with both desert and good trade opportunities makes maximising value from Petra highly situational. Of course you'll want to build it in a desert if you have one anyway, even if you don't use it to trade - Petra always was best in production cities given its synergy with desert hills.

Downside: I'd rather have the free amphitheater back (thematically as well as practically) than a caravan, as by the time Petra comes about you may well have stocked up on land trade.

Terracotta Army 7-8

Clearly amazingly good in principle, however in practice this seems to go quickly and so forces you to build when you're likely to have few units, of few types, not to mention limited funds to support the upkeep of additional magic units. I see few situations where you'll get more than three units from this, and it's only really going to be of value for warmongers.

seancolorado said:

Too lazy to think of numbers but two wonders I think received big boosts in BNW and are very, very powerful:

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus - It's easy to roll a start with a lot of stone in the area and that early gold is crucial and can really help you snowball. (If you are going for a religion combine that with the Faith from Quarries, and then the Stone Works and you have an insane city). Also, with the new Great Artists, Writers, Musicians you are getting more bang for your buck with that +100 gold

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Venice likes the GM points, too. Lots of these ratings still seem to be based on the way the Wonders worked in G&K (and I thought the Mausoleum was underrated then).

Enrico Swagolo said:

6 for regulars, 5 for Venice - Hanging Gardens (requires Tradition): +6 Food and provides a free garden in the city where the wonder is built. - I think this wonder is slightly overrated. A naval trade route costs less, doesn't piss off Ramesses/Harald (Denmark gets HG almost every game it's in), and gives you more food. Of course getting both would be great, but you'd have to beeline Mathematics because of how hard this one is to get.

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You forgot to uprate this for Indonesia (free candi). Good point regarding naval trade, however that's situational and eats up a trade route, also doesn't produce GE points. It's also on a different tech path.