jray
King
So you get Polytheism and wonder about the wonders. What should you go for, Parthenon or Temple of Artemis?
Here is a summary of the benefits of each (in Warlords v2.08). The GPP/Turn benefits are explained in the attached graphs.
Parthenon
Here is a summary of the benefits of each (in Warlords v2.08). The GPP/Turn benefits are explained in the attached graphs.
Parthenon
- Yields more net GPP/turn (than ToA) in the city with Parthenon if and only if you have at least 4/10/16/22 raw GPP/turn there already
- The "4" is for a non-philosophical leader without National Epic or Pacifism
- The "10" is for any one of {philosophical, National Epic, Pacifism}
- The "16" is for any two
- The "22" is for all three
- (The attached graphs show the "4" and "10" cases)
- Empire-wide increase in GPP/turn of 50/25/17/12.5%
- The "50%" is for a non-philosophical leader without National Epic or Pacifism
- The "25%" is for any one of {philosophical, National Epic, Pacifism}
- The "17%" is for any two
- The "12.5%" is for all three
- Slightly higher cost (400 vs. 350 hammers at Normal speed, 14% more)
- Slightly higher culture (+10 vs. +8)
- Emphasized less by AI civs, and thus possible to build later
- City more likely to generate Great Artist (adding 2 raw artist GPP/turn)
- Yields more net GPP/turn (than Parthenon) in the city with ToA if and only if you have less than 4/10/16/22 raw GPP/turn there already
- The "4" is for a non-philosophical leader without National Epic or Pacifism
- The "10" is for any one of {philosophical, National Epic, Pacifism}
- The "16" is for any two
- The "22" is for all three
- (The attached graphs show the "4" and "10" cases)
- City gets +100% trade route income, +1 hammer and +1 gold (raw, and subject to multipliers)
- Slightly lower cost (350 vs. 400 hammers at Normal speed, 12.5% less)
- Slightly lower culture (+8 vs. +10)
- Great Merchants conducting trade mission in city with ToA get +100% gold (thus here's a reason you might want someone ELSE to build it!)
- Prioritized by AI civs, and thus hard to build later
- City more likely to generate Great Prophet (adding 3 raw prophet GPP/turn) and Great Merchant (adding 2 raw merchant GPP/turn)
- Unless your primary goal is to guarantee yourself a specific type of GP a bit faster, Temple of Artemis is usually better because of the benefits to the city (extra raw trade route income/hammers/gold) and the short-term GPP boost in the city.
- Plus, you might just get away with sneaking in the Parthenon after the ToA!
- If you only want to boost the GPP/Turn in a different city whose GP type you are controlling explicitly (or same city, if it's artists), then Parthenon is better.
- For example, one city with the Parthenon can help another city with the Great Library get a Great Scientist in 33% less time (assuming no philosophical leader or National Epic or Pacifism)
- But, the benefit of Parthenon is diminished by the presence of those +100% GPP mulitpliers. The "33%" factor becomes "20%" with one, "15%" with two, and "11%" with all three.
- Although it's counter-intuitive at first, note that "33% less time" is the same as "50% faster". IMHO, comparing time shortenings is more informative than comparing speed increases.
- Aspiring Cultural Victors might also prefer the Parthenon because of its boost for Great Artists.
- Yet another exception would be a non-philosophical civ with well-established GPP's in multiple cities in a large empire without a noteworthy city deserving of the ToA's benefits.
- If you have more than one of: philosophical leader, National Epic and/or Pacifism
- Then things are skewed even MORE in favor of ToA, since the +50% GPP from Parthenon amounts to seriously diminished returns. When a substantial GPP multiplier is already in place, it's better to increase the raw base (ToA) than add a small amount to the multiplier (Parthenon).
- Reasons to favor Parthenon:
- You want to boost the GPP/turn in a different city going for a specific GP type.
- You are hell-bent on accruing loads of other GPP/turn well before you get Chemistry
- You plan to generate your Great People from multiple cities
- You're building it in a weak city (e.g., a non-coastal non-capital or capital without Bureaucracy, without many production/gold/science mulitpliers planned for the short term) that won't benefit much from the extra raw trade route income, hammers, and gold
- You want Great Artists (best for cultural victories, border culture struggles, and lightbulbing religious/cultural techs)
- You have existing GPP that you don't want to dilute as much
- You're willing to gamble that another civ will build the ToA in a large faraway city you can get to, and you plan to send Great Merchants there for the extra gold.
- You have poor production capability in the city (and thus will take a long time to build it... which is okay since Parthenon is not as cherished by AI civs)
- Reasons to favor Temple of Artemis:
- Your leader is philosophical
- You plan to build National Epic in the same city well before Chemistry
- You plan to run Pacifism well before Chemistry
- You aren't going to focus on accruing loads of other GPP/turn in the city before you get Chemistry
- You're building it in a city with good multipliers (e.g., a capital city running Bureaucracy with a Forge/Library and possibly Market/Grocer/Bank planned soon, even better if coastal) to take advantage of the extra raw trade route income, hammers, and gold
- You're okay with increased likelihood of Great Prophets and Great Merchants
- You have good production capability in the city (and thus will have a good chance to beat the AI to it) and/or you'll get a head start
- As always, things depend on the situation. The best an article like this can do is provide generalizations.
- In Warlords v2.00 (original release), the two wonders cost the same (400 hammers at Normal speed).