INTRODUCTION
Many people will remember the days of past Civ editions in which the Wonders available were hotly pursued by almost every player. You could get yourself a free building in every city with the right Wonder, you could spend less time worrying about happiness, and you could gain the satisfaction in knowing your opponents didn’t get those free technologies from Darwin’s Voyage.
In Civ IV, however, it is not a wise idea to chase every Wonder that can be built. While it’s true that Wonders are still powerful, they are now better served as fitting into a player’s strategy for a particular game.
This guide will go over the Wonders that can be built in Civ IV and give some guidelines as to which strategies each Wonder best fits into.
GENERAL NOTES ABOUT BUIDLING WONDERS
When you are thinking about pursuing a Wonder, keep the following in mind:
• What is your strategy for the game and will the Wonder benefit that strategy?
• Can you commit to building the Wonder without taking away from other items your civ may need? (infrastructure, military, more Settlers, etc.)
• Do you have an appropriate resource to speed up production of the Wonder, and do any of your opponents have it as well?
• Does your civ possess the Industrious trait, and do any your opponents have it as well? (Industrious civs get a 50 percent production bonus when buildinga Wonders.)
• How long has it been since you and/or your opponents have acquired the technology needed to build the Wonder? (The longer you wait to build a Wonder after acquiring the tech for it, the more likely your opponents will have long since started building it.)
If, after considering these things, you decide to pursue a Wonder, then you should decide which city is going to build it. Sometimes it may not always be your most productive city, meaning you will likely want to have some forests you can chop to speed up production.
If you have the Slavery civic enabled, you can “crack the whip” to finish production of a Wonder, but bear in mind that it will cost a lot of population points to do so, and the option usually won’t be available until the Wonder is nearing completion. If you have the Universal Suffrage civic enabled, you can spend gold from your treasury to finish production, but it will cost a lot of gold, unless you rush buy when the Wonder is nearing completion.
If one of your cities produces a Great Engineer, you can use it to contribute toward either the completion or partial completion of a Wonder. A Great Engineer contributes a set number of hammers to a wonder, depending on map size, game speed and other variables. This is enough to finish most early wonders in one shot. For later wonders, it might be enough for 3/4, 2/3/, 1/2 or even less.
If an opponent beats you to a Wonder, any hammers you have accumulated toward production of that Wonder are converted into gold that is added to your treasury.
Bear in mind that every wonder generates points for a particular Great Person, so if you are trying to generate a certain type of GP in a city, you may wish to avoid building a Wonder there that would generate a different type of GP. (Example: Stonehenge generates points for a Great Prophet, so you may not want to build that in a city designed to generate Great Scientists.)
WORLD WONDERS
World Wonders are those Wonders that can only be built once by one civ. Some of the Wonders have their effects expire after you discover a certain technology (although they will still generate GP points and produce Culture), and if you acquire that technology before you or another civ completes the Wonder, you will not be able to build it.
WORLD WONDERS
STONEHENGE
Cost: 120 hamers.
Tech needed: Mysticism
Obsolete with: Calendar (in Vanilla and Warlords), Astronomy (in BTS)
Production Speed Doubled By: Stone
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Prophet Points
Effect: Free Obelisk in every city, centers world map
Stonehenge doesn’t take long to produce as far as World Wonders go, but those who choose to build it need to do so early. This means, if your strategy involves building multiple cities as quickly as possible, or building military for an early rush on an opponent, you probably won’t have the time to devote to building the Wonder before an opponent does. Those who opt to found an early religion can benefit from the Great Prophet points the Wonder generates and use that Prophet to create a Holy Shrine. Creative civs don’t need to build Obelisks to expand their borders, so this Wonder isn’t as necessary for those civs.
PARTHENON
Cost: 400 hammers
Tech needed: Polytheism (in Vanilla and Warlords), Aesthetics (in BTS)
Obsolete with: Chemistry (in Vanilla and Warlords), Scientific Method (in BTS)
Production Speed Double By: Marble
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Artist
Effect: Great Person production in all cities increased by 50 percent
Parthenon can be useful for players who want to generate a lot of Great Persons, although some players will argue it is better to be a Philosophical civ. The Wonder could be used to help boost a GP farm, but some will argue the GA points it generates can “pollute” that GP farm by producing Great Artists that a player may not want. Those who intend to grab a Cultural victory may find the Wonder useful in helping to generate more GAs.
GREAT LIGHTHOUSE
Cost: 200 hammers
Tech needed: Masonry
Obsolete with: Corporation
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Merchant
Effect: Two additional trade route per coastal city
Two things to bear in mind with this Wonder: A Lighthouse is needed in the city before it can be built (and you need Sailing to build a Lighthouse) and there is no resource that can speed up its production. Great Lighthouse is fairly popular on Archipelago maps, not as popular on Pangaea maps. It provides the most benefit to players who have a lot of coastal cities… if you have just one, it’s not as beneficial. Additionally, trade routes can vary greatly in value. If you are on an isolated island or continent, you'll only have trade routes with yourself. In this case, it's really not worth building the Great Lighthouse. On the other hand, if you are in contact with many other civilizations, and have Open Borders agreements with more than one of them, this Wonder rises in value as it's possible to have trade routes wth multiple civs. The Great Lighthouse recieves a boost from Astronomy (which allows trans-ocean trade routes), so if you build it, make Astronomy a priority. It is rendered almost useless by Mercantilism, which closes off foreign trade. If you are planning to run a specialist economy, or are Philosophical, Mercantilism is attractive, so that makes the Lighthouse a bit less interesting. On the other hand, Mercantilism's effect only appears in the midgame, when this wonder is nearly obsolete anyway.
PYRAMIDS
Cost: 450 hammers
Tech needed: Masonry
Production Speed Doubled By: Stone
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Engineer
Effect: All government civics are available to the player
Pyramids are an expensive Wonder for their era, so most players will not pursue them if they don’t have Stone. The Wonder is sometimes pursued by players who are running a Specialist Economy so they can run Representation early in the game. Because the Wonder generates Great Engineer points, it’s possible to use the Wonder to generate an early GE to help finish another early era Wonder.
ORACLE
Cost: 150 hammers
Tech needed: Priesthood
Production Speed Double By: Marble
Great Persons Points Per Turn: Two Great Prophet
Effect: One free technology to the civ that completes it.
Oracle is now a scaled down equivalent of Darwin’s Voyage/Theory of Evolution from past Civ games. That being said, it is a Wonder that shouldn’t be considered a “must have” if it means diverting from the strategy you are running (example: if you are not pursuing the techs for early religions, you are not likely to get to Priesthood in time to build Oracle). Oracle can be useful in acquiring key techs… at the lower levels, Civil Service is a tech that can possibly be acquired. There is also the Oracle-Metal Casting slingshot that some players will sometimes use to generate a Great Engineer to get the Pyramids built in one turn.
COLOSSUS
Cost: 250 hammers
Tech needed: Metal Casting
Obsolete by: Astronomy
Production Speed Doubled By: Copper
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Merchant
Effect: Water tiles in every city the player controls generate +1 commerce
Colossus is another Wonder that gains usefulness on Archipelago maps, less so on Pangaea maps, and is dependent on the number of coastal cities you have. It also may be better for civs that have a lot of seafood resources within the Big Fat Crosses of their cities. Some players argue that this Wonder is not as valuable as the Great Lighthouse as you need to work water titles in order to take advantage of the Wonder’s benefit, when it may be better to work non-water tiles instead. You must have a Forge in the city you wish to build the Colossus.
THE HANGING GARDENS
Cost: 300 hammers
Tech needed: Mathematics
Production Speed Doubled By: Stone
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Engineer
Effect: +1 health bonus in every city. Additionally, when the Wonder is built, each city under the player’s control receives an additional population point.
Hanging Gardens can be a useful Wonder for increasing health in cities as well as for generating Great Engineers. The city that builds it needs to have an Aqueduct first, so players that have plenty of health resources may never need an Aqueduct in a city, and thus may never build the Wonder. When captured, the Wonder will provide the health bonus to the civ that captures it, but not the population bonus.
GREAT LIBRARY
Cost: 250 hammers
Tech needed: Literature
Obsolete by: Scientific Method
Production Speed Doubled By: Marble
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Scientist
Effect: Two free Scientist specialists in the city it is built.
Great Library is a popular Wonder among players, considered by most to be the perfect anchor for a Science/Research city. The free Scientist specialists, combined with the points the Wonder produces for Great Scientists, can help produce a long run of Great Scientists in the city the Wonder is built. Often, players will use those GSs to “light bulb” techs such as Philosophy, Paper, and in some cases, Education, on the way to pursuing Liberalism.
HAGIA SOPHIA
Cost: 550 hammers
Tech needed: Engineering
Obsolete by: Steam Power
Production Speed Doubled By: Marble
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Engineer
Effect: Worker speed increased by 50 percent
Hagia Sophia can prove beneficial for players who have claimed or conquered a lot of territory and need many improvements, or have a lot of jungle to clear. The Wonder provides the benefit of the Serfdom civic without having to switch to that civic. Players looking to generate Great Engineers can also benefit from the GE points Hagia Sophia generates. In many games, though, the Wonder tends to get bypassed as players are often concentrating on building military or infrastructure, or have their attentions focused on other Wonders.
CHICHEN ITZA
Cost: 500 hammers
Tech needed: Code of Laws
Obsolete by: Rifling
Production Speed Doubled By: Stone
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Prophet
Effect: All cities the player controls receive a 25 percent defensive bonus
Chichen Itza is a wonder considered by many to be weak and not that useful. The AI does not often try to take control of a player’s cities unless it senses the player is very weak, and most players will see to it that they have a strong military to prevent that from happening. In multiplayer games, human players are smart enough to bring along plenty of catapults, and the defensive bonus Chichen Itza provides can be stripped away by Cast just like any other bonus. The best use for the Wonder may be for those players who are pursuing a religious strategy and want to produce many Great Prophets.
ANGKOR WAT
Cost: 500 hammers
Tech needed: Philosophy
Obsolete by: Computers
Production Speed Doubled By: Stone
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Prophet
Effect: All Priest specialists produce one extra hammer. Additionally, the city that builds the Wonder may turn three citizens into Priests.
Angkor Wat is only useful for players pursuing a religious strategy. A player who is not intending to generate Great Prophets won’t get much use of the Wonder because that player will not be interested in running Priests. For those who do want to run Priests and generate Prophets, the production bonus the Wonder grants can be beneficial.
NOTRE DAME
Cost: 650 hammers
Tech needed: Music (in Vanilla and Warlords), Engineering (in BTS)
Production Speed Doubled By: Stone
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Artist
Effect: +1 happiness per city under the player’s control on the same continent the Wonder is built.
Notre Dame can provide a nice bonus for increasing happiness, but players can usually remedy that with resources, civics and religion. Where this Wonder really shines is for players seeking a Cultural victory, as the Wonder itself generates a lot of culture per turn. Since players aiming for a Cultural victory will beeline to Music for the free Great Artist, it’s pretty easy for them to pick up this Wonder along the way.
SISTINE CHAPEL
Cost: 600 hammers
Tech needed: Theology (in Vanilla and Warlords), Music (in BTS)
Production Speed Doubled By: Marble
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Artist
Effect: Every specialist generates an additional two Culture points per turn
Sistine Chapel is considered to be a “must have” Wonder for players pursuing a Cultural victory. Not only does the Wonder generate plenty of culture, but Artist specialists can generate even more Culture than they normally do, and other specialists, whether taken from the population or from Great People settled in the cities, get the bonus as well. While the Wonder can provide a benefit to people running a specialist economy, such players never build it as Theology is not a priority for those running SE (but it does provide a nice bonus for SE players who capture another civ’s city that has the Wonder). People who seldom use specialists (even if that type of player is rare, given the power specialists have) will have no use for Sistine whatsoever.
SPIRAL MINARET
Cost: 550 hammers
Tech needed: Divine Right
Obsolete with: Computers
Production Speed Doubled By: Stone
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Prophet
Effect: All state religion structures generate +1 commerce
While Spiral Minaret certainly is a wonder coveted by those pursuing a religious strategy (particularly for the Great Prophet Points), it can benefit anybody who has adopted a state religion and is building plenty of temples, monasteries and cathedrals. That being said, you need to have a state religion adopted to benefit from the Wonder. Players who intend to switch to Free Religion as soon as it is available to them will not benefit from the Minaret. Additionally, Divine Right is a tech considered by some to not be imperative to research.
VERSAILLES
Cost: 800 hammers
Tech needed: Divine Right
Production Speed Doubled By: Marble
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Merchant
Effect: Reduces maintenance costs in nearby cities resulting from distance from the palace
Versailles serves the same function as Forbidden Place (a National Wonder available to everyone). It can be useful to players who have an empire that is so large, even Forbidden Palace isn’t enough to control maintenance issues, as well as for players who intend to generate a lot of Great Merchants. However, players with large empires can generally get more benefit by beelining to Communism to switch to the State Property civic. As with the Minaret, Divine Right is a tech that some players never bother to research. One possible strategy is to let an AI civ build it, then conquer that city, thus giving you the reduced maintenance cost in a city that is likely to be some distance from your lands. The only caveat is that you won't have any control over its location.
TAJ MAHAL
Cost: 700 hammers
Tech needed: Nationalism
Production Speed Doubled By: Marble
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Artist
Effect: Triggers a Golden Age for the player who builds it
Taj Mahal can be useful to any player who prefers not to use Great People to start Golden Ages. Players seeking a Cultural victory can also benefit from the Great Artist points generated. This Wonder is pretty popular among AI civs, so timing the Wonder to be built for a specific time frame can be risky. Taj Mahal is not a “must have” Wonder, despite its benefit, as while a Golden Age can help give you a short-term boost, it’s still possible to win a game without ever having a Golden Age.
STATUE OF LIBERTY
Cost: 1500 hammers
Tech needed: Democracy
Production Speed Doubled By: Copper
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Merchant
Effect: One free specialist in every city on the same continent as the Wonder
Statue of Liberty is a very popular Wonder among players as it can benefit just about any strategy. Specialist Economies benefit from additional scientists, Cultural players can add another Artist, and so on. SoL allows players to continue to get the benefit from the Mercantilism civic while not losing out on foreign trade routes, and the Great Merchant points are a nice bonus for players wanting to generate them. The Wonder does require a Forge in the city you wish to build it in, and given that it costs so many hammers, it’s best to build it in your top production city if possible.
PENTAGON
Cost: 1250 hammers
Tech needed: Assembly Line
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Engineer
Effect: All new units receive +2 experience points, regardless of which city they are built.
Players looking to finish up a Conquest or Domination victory in the late game have much to gain from Pentagon. Combining this Wonder with civics such as Vassalage and Theocracy means units that are produced in cities without Barracks come out with 6 experience points for Level 3 right away, and in a city with Barracks, these units will be Level 4 (10 experience points). The Great Engineer points can help players who are looking to generate those Great People to help finish other late Wonders, but players who are more interested in pursuing a peaceful victory may opt to pass on Pentagon and concentrate on other builds. There is no resource that can speed up the building of the Wonder
KREMLIN
Cost: 1000 hammers
Tech needed: Communism
Obsolete by: Fiber Optics
Production Speed Doubled By: Stone
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Artist
Effect: “Hurry production” costs are reduced by 50 percent
Players who are running Universal Suffrage can really benefit from the Kremlin, as cutting the amount of gold needed to hurry production in half can go a long way to pumping out more units or buildings. While it can also benefit players who run the Slavery civic, by the time the Kremlin is available, most players are switching to Emancipation to curtail unhappiness. If a player never intends to run Universal Suffrage, building the Kremlin is a waste of time. While the Wonder does generate Great Artist points, most players pursuing a Cultural victory are running the Cultural slider at 100 percent and aren’t pursuing Communism, hence they don’t plan to build the Wonder.
BROADWAY
Cost: 800 hammers
Tech needed: Electricity
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Artist
Effect: The player who builds it gets access to the Hit Musical luxury. The number the player receives varies based on the size of the map. Additionally, the city in which the Wonder is built has it cultural output increased by 50 percent.
Broadway is most useful for players who are pursuing a late Cultural victory and looking for that one final push for one of the cities to reach Legendary Culture. Other players can benefit as well, such as those who are pursuing late Conquest or Domination victories and are looking for a way to counter unhappiness from War Weariness. It is not a Wonder to drop everything else to build, as if another civ builds it, it’s usually easy to get the Hit Musical luxury in trade. Broadway can not have its production sped up by any resource.
EIFFEL TOWER
Cost: 1250 hammers
Tech needed: Radio
Production Speed Doubled By: Iron
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Merchant
Effect: Free Broadcast Tower in every city the player controls
Eiffel Tower is fairly popular among players, as the free Broadcast Tower is useful for generating Culture, and players then don’t have to research Mass Media (which is required for Broadcast Towers) if they are not planning to pursue a Diplomatic victory. For those seeking a Cultural victory, Eiffel Tower is more useful than Broadway or Rock N’ Roll in the final push to get cities to reach Legendary Culture, as its effect applies to all cities. The Great Merchant points are a nice bonus to those generating those Great People.
ROCK N’ ROLL
Cost: 800 hammers
Tech needed: Radio
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Artist
Effect: The player who builds it gets access to the Hit Single luxury. The number the player receives varies based on the size of the map. Additionally, the city in which the Wonder is built has it cultural output increased by 50 percent.
Rock N’ Roll’s benefits are similar to those Broadway provides, except most players seeking Cultural victories will not build it as their games have been won by the time they can start building it (and if they haven’t, they are more likely to concentrate on Eiffel Tower). The Wonder’s production cannot be sped up by a resource.
HOLLYWOOD
Cost: 1000 hammers
Tech needed: Mass Media
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Artist
Effect: The player who builds it gets access to the Hit Movie luxury. The number the player receives varies based on the size of the map. Additionally, the city in which the Wonder is built has it cultural output increased by 50 percent.
Of the three late-game Wonders that provide a luxury, Hollywood is the one few players build. Those seeking Cultural wins have usually won their games by this point, players wanting a Diplomatic victory will pursue United Nations, and other players aren’t likely to bother with Mass Media because it is a dead-end tech. There is no resource that can be used to speed up Hollywood’s production.
UNITED NATIONS
Cost: 1000 hammers
Tech needed: Mass Media
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Merchant
Effect: The player who builds is assured to be a candidate in elections for Secretary General
The rule of thumb to always follow with United Nations is this: If you want a Diplomatic victory, build it. Even if you have the largest population, it’s a good idea to build UN to assure that you will be a candidate for Secretary General in case another civ slips past you in population late in the game. Those who are not pursuing a Diplomatic victory can pass… even the Great Merchant points generated aren’t a good enough reason to build the Wonder. The Wonder’s production cannot be sped up with any resource.
THREE GORGES DAM
Cost: 1750 hammers
Tech needed: Plastics
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Engineer
Effect: Every city on the same continent the Wonder is built receives a power plant.
Three Gorges Dam is the equivalent of Hoover Dam from past Civ games. It needs to be built in a city along a river. The Wonder is most useful for players pursuing a Space victory as it can help give an extra boost to production and the player doesn’t need to spend time building power plants in each city that will build spaceship parts. The Great Engineer points are a nice bonus, but one can easily get a Great Engineer at this point by beelining to Fusion. Its production cannot be sped up by any resource.
THE SPACE ELEVATOR
Cost: 2000 hammers
Tech needed: Robotics
Production Speed Doubled By: Aluminum
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Scientist
Effect: Spaceship part production increased by 50 percent in all cities.
Simply put, if you want a Space victory, get this Wonder. The AI does not put Robotics as high on its list as other Space techs, so most players will find it easy to beeline to Robotics, get the Wonder started, then head straight to Fusion to claim the free Great Engineer, finish production of the Space Elevator from there, then backtrack to get other needed techs to finish building the spaceship. Because the game is nearly won by the time Space Elevator is finished, the Great Scientist points generated are just gravy. Bear in mind, though, that the Wonder must be built in a city located at a latitude of at least 30 degrees.
WORLD WONDERS ADDED IN WARLORDS
THE GREAT WALL
Cost: 250 hammers
Tech needed: Masonry
Production Speed Doubled By: Stone
Great Person Points Per Turn: One Great Engineer (in Warlords), two Great Spy (in BTS)
Effect: Prevents barbarians from entering your borders on the continent it is built, chance for Great General emergence increased by 100 percent for combats that take place within your cultural borders.
The Great Wall can be a good defensive move for players who want to keep barbarians from entering their borders and pillaging improvements, and it is particularly cheap if you have Stone. It can also be useful for generating a Great Spy early in the game. The Great General benefit tends to get less usage, as most players planning to go to war will take the battles outside their borders, although it is possible to engage in a defensive war to start, then take the battle outside the borders.
TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS
Cost: 400 hammers
Tech needed: Polytheism
Obsolete by: Chemistry
Production Speed Doubled By: Marble
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Merchant
Effect: Income from trade routes increased by 100 percent and a free Priest in the city it's built.
The Temple of Artemis can be useful for generating additional commerce from trade, but really has its biggest benefit when you have a lot of foreign trades. In terms of Great Person generation, it's a double-edged sword, as while the Wonder itself generates points toward Great Merchants, the free Priest generates points toward Great Prophets. It can be useful to those pursuing a strategy that revolves around founding many religions.
UNIVERSITY OF SANKORE
Cost: 550 hammers
Tech needed: Paper
Obsolete by: Computers
Production Speed Doubled By: Stone
Great Person Points Per Turn: Two Great Scientist
Effect: +2 research for all buildings associated with your state religion
University of Sankore can help boost your research, provided you have adopted a state religion. Those adopting a state religion can consider placing this Wonder in the same city as the Great Library to generate more scientists, and it does have some use for a specialist economy. It doesn't serve much use if you never adopt a state religion, though.
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I'll do some work on the guide tomorrow.
I am nervous!
