Most Useful Wonder

rrhal · Nov 24, 2009

There is only one must have wonder - Michelangelo's Chapel. It might be different if you don't play deity but happiness management is so important at that level. I like Marco Polo's next - Its the best source of techs and the maps are a real bonus.

I never build the great library, I let the AI build the Apollo program for me - I get the same benefit from this wonder if I build it or the AI builds it.

Ali Ardavan · Nov 24, 2009

Peaster said:
It's pretty meaningless to ask which tool is most useful, without specifying a task.

Peaster is right on. What WOWs are more useful, or for that matter many other such questions such as which units are more useful, depend entirely on:
1. Your goal (typically either maximizing the score or minimizing the number of turns played.)
2. Your strategy (typically Conquest, Landing, or OCC)
3. The map

What is useful in a conquest game is not necessarily useful in a landing game. What is useful for maximizing score is not necessarily useful for minimizing the number of turns played. What is useful on an Archipelago is not necessarily useful on a Pangea.

Rowan · Jan 2, 2010

The great wall is one I like to have.

:beer:

srynas · Jan 10, 2010

No mention of the "United Nations"? This wonder has proven to be very valuable for managing the "at war" situation. By the time I get to where you can build the UN, the AI civilizations have begun to gang-up on me. Through the UN I can minimize multiple wars and devote more resources to city building.

Rowan · Jan 10, 2010

srynas said:
No mention of the "United Nations"? This wonder has proven to be very valuable for managing the "at war" situation. By the time I get to where you can build the UN, the AI civilizations have begun to gang-up on me. Through the UN I can minimize multiple wars and devote more resources to city building.

Yes mate, I find it very useful.

seangregorycarroll · Feb 2, 2010

Anyone have a link to a list of all the wonders and exactly what they do?

Prof. Garfield · Feb 2, 2010

In most cases the civlopedia is accurate. There are 3 wonders I can think of where there are mistakes.

Bach's: This actually affects all cities, not just those on one continent.

Copernicus': This actually doubles science output of the city.

Newton's: This actually increases science output by 50% and only if the city has a library, university or research lab.

Duckboy7 · Jun 1, 2010

Best is Leos then Apollo then Pyramids then Polo's then down to SETI Program

Prof. Garfield said:
In most cases the civlopedia is accurate. There are 3 wonders I can think of where there are mistakes.

Bach's: This actually affects all cities, not just those on one continent.

Copernicus': This actually doubles science output of the city.

Newton's: This actually increases science output by 50% and only if the city has a library, university or research lab.

But what about Manhattan Project If you build it everyone else (Even you can) Build Neuclear Bombs. That is horrible :sad:

WildPony · Jun 1, 2010

Prof. Garfield said:
In most cases the civlopedia is accurate. There are 3 wonders I can think of where there are mistakes.
...
Newton's: This actually increases science output by 50% and only if the city has a library, university or research lab.

Hey that's a nice idea for a thread. Pointing out all the inaccuracies in civopedia. :goodjob:

I actually did some first hand research on Isaacs and found.... ta daaaa

that it doesn't touch basic science at all. If you have no buildings and no wonders and your science is 10... when you then build isaac's, it is still 10! What isaac's does is doubles all science buildings and doubles the copernies benefit. So...

City with nothing has 10 science.
City with only isaacs still has 10 science.
City with with only library has 15. Library + isaacs = 20 (10+5+5).
City with only library and uni has 20. Add isaacs to get 30. (10+5+5+5+5)
City with only library, uni and copernies has 40 (copernies doubles everything incl. base sci)
City with libr, uni, Copernies and Isaacs = 70. (10+5+5+20+30)

Of course Ikes will double the benefits of the research lab too as will copernies.

I think folks never noticed this because they always build libr/uni/copernies before Isaacs and it is far less eye catching at that point. When you build Isaacs in an empty city and notice no change, everything within you is screaming "WTH !!"

In One-City games human vs. human, Copernies is so overwhelmingly powerful that it is summarily banned. One guy wanted to include it and i told him he could have any 5 wonders and i'll take Copernies. I think he had Colossus, Isaacs, Magellans (sea game), Leos and HG. He was so joyful and confident, but Copernies is so powerful that i crushed him :goodjob:

.

Ali Ardavan · Jun 1, 2010

WildPony said:
City with libr, uni, Copernies and Isaacs = 70. (10+5+5+20+30)

That would be 60 not 70.
For a complete explanation of how these two wonders work see:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=101323

WildPony said:
In One-City games human vs. human, Copernies is so overwhelmingly powerful that it is summarily banned. One guy wanted to include it and i told him he could have any 5 wonders and i'll take Copernies. I think he had Colossus, Isaacs, Magellans (sea game), Leos and HG. He was so joyful and confident, but Copernies is so powerful that i crushed him .

Wow! I am a big fan of Copernicus but I would not have been able to guess this.

WildPony · Jun 1, 2010

Ali Ardavan said:
That would be 60 not 70.
For a complete explanation of how these two wonders work see:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=101323

Oh boy, you're right Ali. I actually did this 5 years ago and tried to go from memory so i'm quite rusty. Isaacs has no effect on Copernies, but Copernies has an effect on Isaacs, so that last calculation should be 10+5+5+10 (isaacs) +30 (copernies) = 60.

This was my original post on the subject about 5 years ago which was accurate :hammer: