Is it worth building the Great Library now that it's been buffed with R&F?

[Leathaface]

I was watching the wonder guide of "Square Triangle Mouse" and he brought up that when you now build the Great Library, you receive a random tech boost after another player recruits a Great Scientist. (you also now get +1 Great Writer points per turn.)

Getting a random tech boost whenever another player recruits a Great Scientist sounds powerful, if that lasts the entire game. So even if you were to ignore that you receive Tech boosts to all Ancient and Classical era technologies, it sounds like it could be worth building.

 

[Cedbird77]

I did not know that. I'm Civ V it was my favorite Wonder. It is back as my favorite now. Indeed that is powerful and worth it to me now.

 

[ezzlar]

Ah, I was about to ask about my empire's sudden boosts!

 

[acluewithout]

Do you get eurekas from your own Great Scientists? If not, it’s probably not worth it.

The Library still has its previous problems with Eurekas for Ancient and Classical techs. The new bonus seems very slight. If you’re pushing science, you’ll get most scientists anyway, and you’ll already be chasing most of the Eurekas you need. If you’re not chasing science, then what do you care?

But. You could always just build it because it’s cool. That’s how I end up with the Colossus most games.

 

[Martinus]

Do you get eurekas from your own Great Scientists? If not, it’s probably not worth it.

The Library still has its previous problems with Eurekas for Ancient and Classical techs. The new bonus seems very slight. If you’re pushing science, you’ll get most scientists anyway, and you’ll already be chasing most of the Eurekas you need. If you’re not chasing science, then what do you care?

But. You could always just build it because it’s cool. That’s how I end up with the Colossus most games.

I think you are looking at it the wrong way. It is *not* a wonder for you if you are pursuing a Science victory. It *is* a wonder for you if you are pursuing another victory, especially (but not just) Cultural. Sure, it may look counter intuitive at first (especially if you consider that you get the inspiration for the tech that allows building the Great Library by building two Campuses) but consider being for example Sparta, building a few Acropolis and raking in Culture from kills - then you get rush to it quickly without even getting the Inspiration - and then not have to focus on Science but staying competitive. Plus the Great Writing slots are always the ones you lack early on if you focus on Culture game.

 

[acluewithout]

Okay. Maybe.

 

[UWHabs]

There's always a few scientists I skip, so you have to imagine getting a few tech boosts is probably like the equivalent of getting a generic great scientist at some point in the game.

To me, I don't think I would rush out to get it now, but if it lags, it might be worth it, especially as mentioned if you're not going for a crazy science game. Like, I'm not going to build it as Korea, but especially if you're going for a culture victory it could be a great wonder to have.

 

[Rosty K]

It still usually gets built by someone before I'm even in a situation where I could consider sparing resources to build it.

 

[Tech Osen]

China is also a good candidate for it, since it can be builder rushed.

 

[Mojo85]

I enjoy getting it but on Deity it’s always built before I can research the tech. I wish it had more writer slots though, it’s a freaking library, it’s job is to literally hold writing in a giant building, it should be able to hold more than an amphitheater.

 

[Archon_Wing]

It's very strong, especially for a cultural victory but it's also good the higher difficulty you play due to great scientists going faster. Problem is that the wonder itself goes extremely quickly. and you need very good culture + 2 campus inspiration to get it in time.

 

[Onii-chan]

Took me a couple R&F before I noticed that too

I would say yes, it is actually. Perhaps not a top tier wonder still but I would say it's quite good now, at least on higher difficulties

 

[SammyKhalifa]

I enjoy getting it but on Deity it’s always built before I can research the tech. I wish it had more writer slots though, it’s a freaking library, it’s job is to literally hold writing in a giant building, it should be able to hold more than an amphitheater.

You can't "store" any books at all in a regular library. I wonder what's in them, then.

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

You can't "store" any books at all in a regular library. I wonder what's in them, then.

Science journals.

 

[RealHuhn]

Is it even possible to build it on Deity? This sounds pretty cool but just like Hanging Gardens and Stone Henge it's probably impossible to build, sadly.

 

[Xur]

very rare that I even get a chance to build a wonder. The AI prioritizes them like crazy.

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

very rare that I even get a chance to build a wonder. The AI prioritizes them like crazy.

This might be one of the reasons why catching up to the AI on Deity is easier in Civ 6 than in other iterations.

 

[UWHabs]

very rare that I even get a chance to build a wonder. The AI prioritizes them like crazy.

I think it depends on the civs in the game. My current game is at immortal, but basically nobody was building wonders. Great Library was probably built around turn 100, hardly any other wonders have been built either. I think I built the Pyramids around turn 80 or 90, just finished Terracotta Army at like turn 140, and just started the Colosseum at turn 160 (we'll see if I end up completing it, though). Now, granted, Deity may be a whole different story, but I seem to have gotten lucky in my current game that the AI really doesn't care about wonders.

 

[LobstaBoy]

I like what others have pointed out, prioritizing the Great Library when going for anything but a SV. In my experience on Deity it can be rushed in time with a little luck and Magnus. The example of Greece using it to stay competitive in science would in theory be useful.

 

[arthur486]

For me it depends on victory type I'm aiming for as well as game difficulty. When playing for SV below Emperor it really does not help as I manage to get ALL the GS's starting from the Medieval era. So as said above, it's mostly useful when not pursuing a SV, and it becomes increasingly useful at higher difficulties, as the AI's are able to recruit more of the GS for themselves.