Most useless UB other than Dun

[dgonaz]

Are there any unique buildings (other than the Dun) that you find a complete waste of time even with unrestricted leaders? There are several buildings I love because there give almost national wonder level effects (Salon, Pavilion, Forum, Dike, Fetoria), others that are just plain effective at what they do (Rathus, Seowon, Hippodrome, ect) but then there are those buildings that just don't make you feel special about them. My personal dislike is the Madrassa, followed by the Shopping Mall. (Remember don't count the Dun we know it is bad already)

 

[Permanganate]

IMO, the Citadel's worse than even the Dun. The Dun can be very useful on Highlands maps...the Citadel has a minor bonus (+xp for siege units) on top of a lousy building (Castle, which goes obsolete very quickly and comes at a time when you have lots of other things to be building).

After that, the Research Institute. Like the Laboratory, it's little use in BtS - you'll have completed most of the SS parts before you get the tech for this building. As for the bonus, what are you going to use the free scientists on, Future Tech?

Most of the rest have some use. For example, the Mall is a nice building, it just comes very late. If the game is still in the balance by that stage of the game, it can help.

 

[LightSpectra]

Supermall. That late in the game, happiness isn't an issue.

 

[Cookie Crumbs]

The Madrassa does indeed seem weak, especially if not playing Unrestricted leaders. Saladin's Spritual and Mysticism means early temples for your priest needs. I can see a Creative leader making good use of it, though, for early conquest: the extra hammers and gold can help keep the war machine going.

The Shopping Mall is actually not too bad IMO: 20% gold boost comes in handy late in the game with Corporations, and if you're playing Roosevelt you can grab the electric wonders for extra happiness. Its main problem lies in how late in the game it comes, even if this is alleviated slightly by how supermarkets are a higher priority after Assembly Line (for health).

The Citadel sucks, though. Obsoleted early and gives EXP for units that can't even kill on attack.

I think nearly all of the UBs have their uses, provided you leverage them properly.

 

[LightSpectra]

Oops, I forgot about the wealth bonus.

Let's go with the obelisk, then.

 

[MacGyverInSpace]

4 xp 50% withdraw longbowmen are not useless.

 

[Monkeyfinger]

The way to use the madrassa is to go for priesthood and writing, build one, run priests, and be sure to get code of laws before the great prophet comes out. Have the prophet build a shrine to the CoL religion. Forget trying to get polytheism or meditation first and running a priest from the temple of that religion, even with mysticism as a starting tech winning that race is HARD.

Anywho, the Babylonian garden is pretty trashy. Mild health boost attached to one of the worst buildings in the game? Pass.

 

[zenspiderz]

The Madrassa is not totally useless. some plus points ..

- it allows you to generate GP points for a GP to bulb a later religion even if you didn't found an early religion (which is likely on harder levels even with mysticism) or build a Prophet producing wonder..

-It replaces libraries which comes very early and are generally useful to have in many cities.

-Quite a potent culture bonus for little hammer expenditure.

Best uses are for a religion based culture win using a SE. Saladin works reasonably well with this UB as spiritual is quite a good trait for an SE (alright not as good as philo IMHO) and protective is reasonably useful for a culture win as culture vic leans towards a defensive style of play. It is a pity saladin lost his philo trait with warlords onwards. oh well I suppose one could play unrestricted ghandi of arabia!

 

[seasnake]

I like the Dun.
The citadel's problem is it expires too soon. It should go to artillery, so all cannon get bonuses (which is very helpful in a conquer campaign).
However, because it has such limited life in time when buildings are coming two at a time, it is my least favorite as well.

EDIT: Actually, til artillery would be a bit long, looking again at the tech tree. Instead, it should go to chemistry, keeps them effective until the end of their era.

 

[Lurking Liu]

Duns are fine. Free promotions don't cost you anything, after all, and walls are quite useful by themselves.

Just because a unique building isn't broken doesn't mean it's worthless

Citadel is probably the weakest, though. Castles are good, note that I normally play Marathon, but I don't think they're clutch enough to be worth turning into a unique building... Ziggurats (?) are my personal choice, though. Courthouses are great, I'm not saying they aren't, but getting them one tech early... It's just not exciting, in my opinion.

 

[Jormungandr]

Courthouses are great, I'm not saying they aren't, but getting them one tech early... It's just not exciting, in my opinion.

1. They're cheaper.
2. It's one earlier, considerably cheaper tech.
3. Combined with Gilgamesh's creative trait it can lead to some pretty mean landgrabbing earlier than anyone else can manage it.

 

[Polycrates]

In defense of the Obelisk/Madrassa (which I consider top-tier UBs):

The main use of these (which justifies them on their own, I feel) is that they can be used to lightbulb Theology very early. You're almost guaranteed Christianity if you want it, and just as importantly you get Theocracy for some serious extra power in early warfare (and as Spiritual civs, you can leveage that very well). Plus you get first crack at the Apostolic Palace if you want it, it makes a good tech for trading to others in your religion, and if circumstances are right, it lets you go straight to Paper for Sankore or delay Civil Service outright on a quick run to Liberalism.

If you're very good (or lucky) with your timing, a second prophet can actually be used to bulb most of Civil Service too.

The next use is that it can beome VERY difficult to generate a prophet after about your third or fourth GP, which presents a problem if you want a shrine in the mid-to-late game (eg Taoism/Islam or a captured Holy City). Two extra prophets allowed can help a lot with this.

Third, if you build Angkor Wat, you can run priests like engineers and get a nice hammer bonus.

Fourth, if you're not totally picky about what GP you generate, you can have 4 instead of 2 specialists in a city before CoL, and thus generate GPs faster. Great for a second GP, where you can potentially bulb either Philosophy or Civil Service as soon as you reach CoL.

Fifth, the Madrassa gives +4 culture, which can let you settle close to enemy civs and win the border wars, and can be worth chopping in straight away without bothering about a monument.

The Dun is also great - fast-moving, hill-attack-bonus, 50% withdrawal longbows and crossbows are very nice to have, especially teamed up with the Gallic.


The worst for me is the Salon, because I never play culture games and I don't want my GP pools polluted with filthy artists. I understand how it's good for others though

 

[Lurking Liu]

1. They're cheaper.
2. It's one earlier, considerably cheaper tech.
3. Combined with Gilgamesh's creative trait it can lead to some pretty mean landgrabbing earlier than anyone else can manage it.

Eh, I know, I know... In practice, it's good. But I honestly can't bring myself to wave a little "Ziggurat, YAY!" flag. If it did even ONE thing differently, I'd be its biggest fan. But, then, I suppose if it did even ONE thing differently, it'd be broken, so there you go...

 

[Spearthrower]

I personally rate the Ziggurat as one of the most powerful buildings precisely because you get to do something different than any one else.... you get a rein on your economy from considerably earlier - obviously as I play Marathon games this makes a HUGE difference.

I also like Duns for Highland maps, but in a normal game they're nothing special.

Citadels have most proved to be useless in my games, but I like the idea of +exp for artillery!

Gardens seem pointless.

 

[snipafist]

Supermall. That late in the game, happiness isn't an issue.

Disagreed. Those 3 extra happiness points can go a long way towards making late-game wars using representation or universal suffrage manageable before you descend into war-weariness hell. Don't forget the extra +20% wealth, while you're at it.

 

[BYC]

Any UB that allows for specialists can't be that horrible. Obelisk is quite good, especially with Ramses and Stonehenge. Early GPPs are really really important for the most part as they can lead to any number of uses.

Japan's shale plant always seemed fishy to me.

 

[DigitalBoy]

I think the Madrassa is pretty damn good. Provides a ridiculous amount of specialist slots for generating great people, and it doesn't go obsolete like the obelisk does. I also think the Babylonian garden is OK. Not as good as the Ottoman hammam, Greek odeon, or Mayan ball court, but not terrible.

I'm trying to convince myself that the French salon isn't complete garbage. I mean, it looks good (especially since none of the French leaders are philosophical, making the salon a cheaper university), but it comes so late, and the culture bonus seems ineffective on a 150-hammer building.

Japanese shale plant seems kind of meh also.

 

[KaytieKat]

Hi

I agree with shale plant. Not just because its benefits not ALL that great but with big nerf to all coal plants in BtS from more yucky faces makes it MORE harmful than it is helpful to use. At least before BtS it was probably a "meh" buliding but now it is just plain "ewwwwww"

Kaytie

 

[axident]

Castles/Citadels. I rarely have time to build them at all, so it's a useless UB to me.

 

[snipafist]

I think the Madrassa is pretty damn good. Provides a ridiculous amount of specialist slots for generating great people, and it doesn't go obsolete like the obelisk does. I also think the Babylonian garden is OK. Not as good as the Ottoman hammam, Greek odeon, or Mayan ball court, but not terrible.

I'm trying to convince myself that the French salon isn't complete garbage. I mean, it looks good (especially since none of the French leaders are philosophical, making the salon a cheaper university), but it comes so late, and the culture bonus seems ineffective on a 150-hammer building.

Japanese shale plant seems kind of meh also.

The Salon works wonders when you run Representation. With Salons, Mercantilism, and (hopefully) the Statue of Liberty, all your cities have 3 free specialists, all of which are producing +3 beakers per turn. It's nasty as hell, trust me. It's also a great way to expand culture in newly-captured cities. It's basically a slightly pricier theater that provides more culture, +25% research, and +3 beakers. Nice.

I don't like the Shale Plant at all. I avoid building coal plants like the plague, as the unhealthiness generated by them is nigh-insane. I can't imagine why I'd ever want to use them at all, much less be stuck with them if I want to use my unique building.