Rate the Wonders - part II: Medieval/Renaissance Wonders

[Enrico Swagolo]

Medieval Era:

9 - Alhambra: Provides all units constructed in the city the Drill I promotion (Combat bonus in rough terrain). Adds a free castle as well as a +20% boost to Culture in the city which it was built. - a great wonder, but very hard to get without running away even in medieval era.

1 - Angkor Wat: Culture and Gold cost of acquiring new tiles reduced by 25% in all cities - worst wonder in the game I think. Would be 0, but typically a CS will ask you to complete it and the influence makes it somewhat sweetened.

6 - Borobudur: Must be built in holy city. 3 free Missionaries appear. +5 faith. - cool to quickly spread your faith.

8 - Chichen Itza: Length of Golden Ages increased by 50%. - you forgot about +4 happiness.

5 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): All missionaries born in this city may spread a religion 3 times instead of 2. Provides a free mosque in the city in which it was built. +3 faith. - eh it's okay because of the free mosque (assuming you didn't get a mosque belief), otherwise missionaries aren't too hot. Maybe if you took missionaries-remove-religion reformation...

7 - Hagia Sophia: Generates a Great Prophet and provides a free temple in the city which it was built. +3 faith. - a bit too late, because by this time I already have a Prophet and probably enhanced religion, but it's nice. If you went piety you can get +5 faith+3gold+3culture tile with him, or spread the religion to some cities.

8 - Machu Picchu: +25% Gold from Trade Routes. Must be built within 2 tiles of a mountain inside your territory. - cool but hard to get.

10 - Notre Dame: +10 Happiness and +4 Faith. - A great wonder, but very, very hard to get.


Renaissance Era:

10 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): Two extra delegates in the world congress. Unhappiness from number of citizens in non-occupied cities reduced by 10% - insanely hard to get, but it's one of the best wonders in the game. When you have a lot of pop, the -10% unhappiness will really matter.

5 - Globe Theatre : 1 free Great Writer appears near the City where the Wonder was built. 2 slots for great works of writing. - okay for cultural

5 - Himeji Castle: +15% combat strength for units fighting in friendly territory. Provides a free castle. - it's okay, but it being way too hard to get combined with the fact it's not too hot renders it kinda bad.

10 - Leaning Tower of Pisa : +25% boost to Great People generation in all cities and generates a Great Person of your choice - great but hard to get in BNW. Very hard even.

8 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): A Great Scientist appears near the city which it was built and 50% more Science from research agreements - it's a great wonder, but other civs rarely have the money for research agreements when I play. Still, great.

6 - Red Fort : Defensive Buildings in all Cities are 25% more effective - it's okay-goodish but kinda an overkill with the never-very-aggressive BNW ai. Also very hard to get, so forget it.

10 - Sistine Chapel: +25% Culture in all cities. 2 slots for great works of art. - a great wonder giving a lot of culture, protecting you from tourism, assisting in getting social policies...

5 - Taj Mahal: +4 happiness. Starts a Golden Age. - it's okay.

7 - Uffizi : 1 free Great Artist appears near the City where the Wonder was built. Contains 3 slots for great works of art. - it's good for cultural, but it's obvious - you took this SP tree, you want culture/tourism.

 

[PDMX]

Medieval Era:

2 - Alhambra: Provides all units constructed in the city the Drill I promotion (Combat bonus in rough terrain). Adds a free castle as well as a +20% boost to Culture in the city which it was built
3 - Angkor Wat: Culture and Gold cost of acquiring new tiles reduced by 25% in all cities
5 - Borobudur: Must be built in holy city. 3 free Missionaries appear. +5 faith.
6 - Chichen Itza: Length of Golden Ages increased by 50%
5 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): All missionaries born in this city may spread a religion 3 times instead of 2. Provides a free mosque in the city in which it was built. +3 faith.
8 - Hagia Sophia: Generates a Great Prophet and provides a free temple in the city which it was built. +3 faith.
6 - Machu Picchu: +25% Gold from Trade Routes. Must be built within 2 tiles of a mountain inside your territory.
9 - Notre Dame: +10 Happiness and +4 Faith


Renaissance Era:

5 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): Two extra delegates in the world congress. Unhappiness from number of citizens in non-occupied cities reduced by 10%
4 - Globe Theatre : 1 free Great Writer appears near the City where the Wonder was built. 2 slots for great works of writing.
0 - Himeji Castle: +15% combat strength for units fighting in friendly territory. Provides a free castle.
7 - Leaning Tower of Pisa : +25% boost to Great People generation in all cities and generates a Great Person of your choice
4 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): A Great Scientist appears near the city which it was built and 50% more Science from research agreements
0 - Red Fort : Defensive Buildings in all Cities are 25% more effective
6 - Sistine Chapel: +25% Culture in all cities. 2 slots for great works of art.
6 - Taj Mahal: +4 happiness. Starts a Golden Age.
3 - Uffizi : 1 free Great Artist appears near the City where the Wonder was built. Contains 3 slots for great works of art.

 

[sonicandfffan]

Just a quick note about the Grand Mosque, it increases missionary spreads by 1. But Borobodur gives you 6 free spreads. Both cost 300 hammers.

So you need to churn out 6 missionaries to get an equivalent reward from Grand Mosque. You want to spread early so borobodr is usually more valuable. And Borobodur gives more faith.

 

[Ikael]

Medieval Era:

7 - Alhambra: A kind of a "jack of all trades" type of wonder. I like it.
0 - Angkor Wat: Worst wonder in the game by a long margin.
2 - Borobudur: Poor man's Djenne Mosque
7 - Chichen Itza: Very useful for any type of victory, a must for Brazil and Persia
6 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): Great for religious heavy type of games, bad for almost any other playstyle
3 - Hagia Sophia: The "prophet reset" thing kills this wonder. Far too situational
7 - Machu Picchu: It comes very handy for wide empires
9 - Notre Dame: Utterly awesome wonder


Renaissance Era:

8 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): Versatile, useful for both tall and diplomatic empires, my kind of wonder <3
4 - Globe Theatre: A very limited, far too specific wonder
3 - Himeji Castle: Poor, like most defensive wonders
8 - Leaning Tower of Pisa : Vital if you are aiming for a culture victory now that it is so much dependant on great works, if not, it is just a really sweet one
7 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): Useful wonder all around, since science helps almost any type of victory
1 - Red Fort : Why does this thing exist? I mean, what is its in-game purpouse, then again?
10 - Sistine Chapel: Probably the best wonder in the game
6 - Taj Mahal: Nice, but far too costly for what it is
7 - Uffizi : Useful for non cultural gameplay, vital if you are going for it

 

[de_baser]

I play on Immortal. A lot of these are situational and depend on context as well as availability, but i certainly do have my favourites:

Medieval Era:
6 - Alhambra: Decent, but usually ungettable
0 - Angkor Wat: I'm surprised this one remained unchanged from G&K. Just useless.
8 - Borobudur: Good. Effect can be compared to a free GP - 3 missionaries are worth 900 faith!
9 - Chichen Itza: I never manage building it, but i often end up capturing the city that did!
6 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): Not really a fan, but the effect is useful!
7 - Hagia Sophia: Far more useful effect, useful for small empires with crappy faith.
10 - Machu Picchu: Love this for its availability, i love how it looks on the map and i love it even more when playing Arabia!
10 - Notre Dame: Never not great. Always balances out the happiness deficit from that medieval war i always end up in. One of my favourites.

Renaissance Era:

5 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): BEAST in vanilla, not that great in BNW
6 - Globe Theatre : Decent, but not a particularly special effect.
4 - Himeji Castle: AI always beelines gunpowder, effect negible
9 - Leaning Tower of Pis: So good. And so many options! (i usually get GE and another wonder!)
6 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): Sure. But slightly overrated, IMO. Not always i do a lot of RA's.
3 - Red Fort : Never build this myself, but attacking an AI who has this in modern is a drag!
10 - Sistine Chapel: Awesome effect, usually available, even better in BNW! Love this.
4 - Taj Mahal: Another boring effect, not really something to prioritize. Should be buffed, maybe with slots for artifacts or something.
5 - Uffizi: Costs more than its worth. Demands careful planning and saving up on Artists in order to get the theming bonus right. I prefer the Louvre, as exploration SP opener is better.

 

[sonicandfffan]

Thanks to everyone for contributing to these, I'll tally these and set up the next one soon, so keep the ratings coming.

 

[Lixion]

6 - Alhambra: Provides all units constructed in the city the Drill I promotion (Combat bonus in rough terrain). Adds a free castle as well as a +20% boost to Culture in the city which it was built
It's actually quite good but the AI seems to snap it up fast. Besides, Chivalry isn't really worth beelining to get this.
0 - Angkor Wat: Culture and Gold cost of acquiring new tiles reduced by 25% in all cities
Never built it before, don't see a reason to either
6 - Borobudur: Must be built in holy city. 3 free Missionaries appear. +5 faith.
The one time I built it, it got me a crapload of GPT from converting my continent and combined with Tithe. 3 free missionaries is exceptionally strong if you're decently quick to a religion or the AI hasn't spread theirs alot yet.
7 - Chichen Itza: Length of Golden Ages increased by 50%
This is really strong but impossible to build without thr AI beating you. Get it by capturing the city that has it.
2 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): All missionaries born in this city may spread a religion 3 times instead of 2. Provides a free mosque in the city in which it was built. +3 faith.
I've never opened Piety and so never experienced this wonder. But from the looks of it, this+Borobudur if you can get it looks to be extremely powerful.
5 - Hagia Sophia: Generates a Great Prophet and provides a free temple in the city which it was built. +3 faith.
Really situational, if the GP is really needed this could be good.
9 - Machu Picchu: +25% Gold from Trade Routes. Must be built within 2 tiles of a mountain inside your territory.
An absolute necessity for a wide empire imo. Get if if you're able to.
7 - Notre Dame: +10 Happiness and +4 Faith
It comes on the same tech that gives you trebs, so its a great happiness boost to a warmongering civ. Not really required for pursuing other VCs though. And the AI seems to snatch it fast.



Renaissance Era:

10 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): Two extra delegates in the world congress. Unhappiness from number of citizens in non-occupied cities reduced by 10%
Great wonder all around. I usually open patronage if i think i can snatch this. 2 delegates and the happiness boost is strong.
3 - Globe Theatre : 1 free Great Writer appears near the City where the Wonder was built. 2 slots for great works of writing.
Always snapped up by the culture pursuing civ. Never got around to building it. And if anything, snatching artifacts is a better way to generate tourism and easy theming bonuses in Museums, so imo not worth wasting your hammers on.
5 - Himeji Castle: +15% combat strength for units fighting in friendly territory. Provides a free castle.
This + bunch of Xbows = safe empire. But unfortunately, nothing to offer beyond that.
10 - Leaning Tower of Pisa : +25% boost to Great People generation in all cities and generates a Great Person of your choice
An extremely versatile wonder that can be used to pursue any kind of VC. This is totally worth beelining Printing Press; and the AI doesn't seem to like it that much (playing Emperor/Immortal, I've only missed it once.)
8 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): A Great Scientist appears near the city which it was built and 50% more Science from research agreements
Great for SV and worth a shot because Rationalism-Secularism is good and the AI never seems to open Rationalism.
0 - Red Fort : Defensive Buildings in all Cities are 25% more effective
Never built it so can't tell. From the looks of it it isn't very worth it either.
7 - Sistine Chapel: +25% Culture in all cities. 2 slots for great works of art.
Used to be essential in G&K for a CV. Now it's lost some of its luster, but Great Artifacts are easy to acquire and you can obtain the theming bonus here.
4 - Taj Mahal: +4 happiness. Starts a Golden Age.
Only built it a few times. But the GA comes too early for the civs to take advantage of it (Brazil) or is not overly useful (Persia). 4 happiness is nice, though.
8 - Uffizi : 1 free Great Artist appears near the City where the Wonder was built. Contains 3 slots for great works of art.
Fill this with artifacts/artworks. 3 slots for great works is great since artifacts are easy to obtain.[/QUOTE]

 

[BroOfTheSun]

Medieval Era:

8 - Alhambra: Provides all units constructed in the city the Drill I promotion (Combat bonus in rough terrain). Adds a free castle as well as a +20% boost to Culture in the city which it was built -- Great wonder. Gives you defensive bonus with the castle, offensive bonus with the free promotion, and extra culture. 3 affects in one wonder is amazing.
4 - Angkor Wat: Culture and Gold cost of acquiring new tiles reduced by 25% in all cities -- I personally like this wonder when playing tall and going tradition. The extra large borders make it great to defend cities, take up resources, and prevent AI from building cities close to you in mid/late game. Added effects when combined with Great Wall.
3 - Borobudur: Must be built in holy city. 3 free Missionaries appear. +5 faith. -- Doesn't seem that great to me. The +5 faith is nice. Missionaries don't do much and this wonder is best taken early.
6 - Chichen Itza: Length of Golden Ages increased by 50% -- A couple extra turns of golden age are nice, but this comes at a time when there are so many things to build. I usually pass this wonder to use the hammers to continue settling my empire.
7 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): All missionaries born in this city may spread a religion 3 times instead of 2. Provides a free mosque in the city in which it was built. +3 faith. -- Another good, situational wonder. Good for spreading your religion throughout the game. With the free mosque, that means your city gets +6 faith, +2 culture, and +1 happiness from finishing this wonder. Lots of bonuses for building this.
5 - Hagia Sophia: Generates a Great Prophet and provides a free temple in the city which it was built. +3 faith. -- Lesser version of the Great Mosque of Djenne (since it doesn't require Piety). Good for early spread of your religion.
5 - Machu Picchu: +25% Gold from Trade Routes. Must be built within 2 tiles of a mountain inside your territory. -- I usually rarely build it because I don't have mountains, or someone beats me too it since my mountain city is still small. There are plenty other ways to get gold.
10 - Notre Dame: +10 Happiness and +4 Faith -- +10 Happiness is amazing no matter what strategy you use.


Renaissance Era:

9 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): Two extra delegates in the world congress. Unhappiness from number of citizens in non-occupied cities reduced by 10% -- The more I play BNW, the more I start to see that those 2 extra delegates can help you achieve any type of victory. Starting to think this is a must.
6 - Globe Theatre : 1 free Great Writer appears near the City where the Wonder was built. 2 slots for great works of writing. -- I think this wonder is good for the extra culture you get with the writing slots. Also one of the earliest wonders with a tourism bonus that you can fulfill (since you probably have Great Works of Writing at this point). The early tourism will translate to more ideology pressure later.
2 - Himeji Castle: +15% combat strength for units fighting in friendly territory. Provides a free castle. -- Awful bonus. You're better off spending the hammers on extra units for defense.
8 - Leaning Tower of Pisa : +25% boost to Great People generation in all cities and generates a Great Person of your choice -- Great choice. I usually hard build this wonder, pick a Great Engineer, then pop the GE for another wonder I want.
6 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): A Great Scientist appears near the city which it was built and 50% more Science from research agreements -- There are a lot of ways to get science now. This wonder isn't as great anymore. I would rather control the World Congress, and enact Scholars in Residence.
4 - Red Fort : Defensive Buildings in all Cities are 25% more effective -- Not that great, but it makes your cities pretty much indestructible.
7 - Sistine Chapel: +25% Culture in all cities. 2 slots for great works of art. -- Extra culture is great. One of the early wonders to contain art slots.
5 - Taj Mahal: +4 happiness. Starts a Golden Age. -- Doesn't seem worth it just for the golden age. Happiness is ok. Situational wonder.
7 - Uffizi : 1 free Great Artist appears near the City where the Wonder was built. Contains 3 slots for great works of art. -- 2nd best tourism wonder behind the Louvre.

 

[kaspergm]

Medieval Era:

9 - Alhambra: The free promotion is great (easy access to March can really make a difference if you want to go conquest) and the culture is great.
1 - Angkor Wat: I'm giving this a 1 because I think it generates a Great Engineer point?
6 - Borobudur: Haven't tried this yet, but it looks like a good wonder although you start besides someone who's really aggressive with their religion. Missionaries suck when a city is already converted.
9 - Chichen Itza: Extremely powerful and almost impossible to get.
7 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): The fact that the bonus no longer applies to Great Prophets purchased after Industrial and that it now requires Piety takes this one down a lot. Which was good, because it used to be super powerful.
4 - Hagia Sophia: Low priority most often. I guess it can help you secure a religion if you're really pressed for faith.
8 - Machu Picchu: Will give you A LOT of Gold. Great for wide empires.
9 - Notre Dame: Who can say no to 10 non-local happiness? The faith is just the icing on the cake.


Renaissance Era:

10 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): The extra delegates can secure you pretty much life-long leadership of World Congress, and even without those, this was one of the stronger wonders in the game imo.
3 - Globe Theatre : Not a very good wonder imo. I generally don't have enough Great Writings to full all my Amphitheatres anyway, so the extra slots on this one are not that urgent.
8 - Himeji Castle: While defensive wars are generally not the hardest to win in this part of the game, the bonus is still useful, plus the wonder gives you 2 Great Engineer points, which can help you a lot in getting more wonders.
10 - Leaning Tower of Pisa : Probably the most unbalanced wonder in the game. Always save a Great Engineer to snatch this wonder if possible, claim the 25 % bonus and spawn a new Great Engineer.
8 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): Very strong wonder except if you are playing a warmonger game.
6 - Red Fort : While the bonus is nice although generally unnecessary, more often I want to get this to avoid my enemies getting it!
7 - Sistine Chapel: Quite powerful wonder in cultural games. Doesn't go too fast, so put it in a secondary city to get the nationwide bonus and harvest the Aesthetics bonus for cities with a wonder.
5 - Taj Mahal: Decent, but not great.
4 - Uffizi : A bit of a challenge this one, the Great Art slots can be nice, but the theming bonus is challenging to achieve.

 

[megistatos]

Medieval Era

5 - Alhambra: Now that culture points don't directly contribute to culture victory it's not quite what it used to be.
0 - Angkor Wat: I only build this when there's nothing else to build.
5 - Borobudur: Decent to get a religion spreading but nothing speacial.
6 - Chichen Itza: Vital for Brazil and Persia. Decent for everyone else.
5 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): If you're spreading heavily then good, otherwise useless.
7 - Hagia Sophia: Saved my recent culture game with Brazil where after finding Eldorado and being the first civ to get two cities, I failed to get a pantheon. The Great Prophet gave me a religion and it became really powerful.
4 - Machu Picchu: Situational and pretty average.
6 - Notre Dame: I find this comes at a time when happiness is hard to come by and helps ease the transition to the later game when policies start giving loads of happiness.


Renaissance Era:

10 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): Vital for playing wide, decent when playing tall, and now helps with the World Congress. Arguably even better now that it's easier to get as not all civs take Patronage.
3 - Globe Theatre : Hasn't impressed me, though there aren't many other ways to theme writings.
1 - Himeji Castle: It's only early in the game that defence can be a problem.
8 - Leaning Tower of Pisa : Useful for any victory condition and even better now there are more GP types.
9 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): A must for quick teching.
1 - Red Fort : See Himeji Castle.
6 - Sistine Chapel: Good solid wonder.
4 - Taj Mahal: Below average but good for Brazil.
5 - Uffizi : A definite build if playing for culture, but otherwise stay away!

 

[DaNuke]

10- Alhambra: Provides all units constructed in the city the Drill I promotion (Combat bonus in rough terrain). Adds a free castle as well as a +20% boost to Culture in the city which it was built
1 - Angkor Wat: Culture and Gold cost of acquiring new tiles reduced by 25% in all cities
3- Borobudur: Must be built in holy city. 3 free Missionaries appear. +5 faith.
5 - Chichen Itza: Length of Golden Ages increased by 50%
5 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): All missionaries born in this city may spread a religion 3 times instead of 2. Provides a free mosque in the city in which it was built. +3 faith.
8 - Hagia Sophia: Generates a Great Prophet and provides a free temple in the city which it was built. +3 faith.
5 - Machu Picchu: +25% Gold from Trade Routes. Must be built within 2 tiles of a mountain inside your territory.
7 - Notre Dame: +10 Happiness and +4 Faith


Renaissance Era:

8 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): Two extra delegates in the world congress. Unhappiness from number of citizens in non-occupied cities reduced by 10%
7 - Globe Theatre : 1 free Great Writer appears near the City where the Wonder was built. 2 slots for great works of writing.
5 - Himeji Castle: +15% combat strength for units fighting in friendly territory. Provides a free castle.
8 - Leaning Tower of Pisa : +25% boost to Great People generation in all cities and generates a Great Person of your choice (Towen of Pisa > Great engineer > Porcelain Tower)
10 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): A Great Scientist appears near the city which it was built and 50% more Science from research agreements
6 - Red Fort : Defensive Buildings in all Cities are 25% more effective
8 - Sistine Chapel: +25% Culture in all cities. 2 slots for great works of art.
6 - Taj Mahal: +4 happiness. Starts a Golden Age.
8 - Uffizi : 1 free Great Artist appears near the City where the Wonder was built. Contains 3 slots for great works of art.

 

[Teaf]

Medieval Era:

8 - Alhambra
1 - Angkor Wat (worst 'wonder' in the game)
8 - Borobudur
7 - Chichen Itza
6 - Great Mosque of Djenne
5 - Hagia Sophia
4 - Machu Picchu
5 - Notre Dame

Renaissance Era:

7 - Forbidden Palace
7 - Globe Theatre
6 - Himeji Castle
8 - Leaning Tower of Pisa
5 - Porcelain Tower
4 - Red Fort
9 - Sistine Chapel
3 - Taj Mahal
9 - Uffizi

 

[Petiscator]

Medieval Era:

4 - Alhambra: I like its bonuses. On the other hand, it is almost impossible to get. In almost all my games, I lost it by 1 turn...
2 - Angkor Wat: I like to build it, but it isn't very useful and comes at a time I'd rather be pumping universities.
8 - Borobudur: Reads "spreads your religion to your whole empire and more". Specially useful when allied with GMoD. Requires a religion, though.
6 - Chichen Itza: Good for Persia and Brazil, nice to have, goes by very fast.
5 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): I don't usually go down the Piety road. It could be useful.
7 - Hagia Sophia: Doesn't have a religion? Now you do! It is also my favorite IRL wonder
4 - Machu Picchu: Good, but situational.
7 - Notre Dame: Love it, but goes by fast.


Renaissance Era:

9 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): I'd rate it so high even without the bonus. The delegates are great in the early WC!
4 - Globe Theatre : I like to build it, but only if I have extra time. When I get to Printing Press, I usually go to Pisa first, though... I might spend Pisa's engineer on this.
1 - Himeji Castle: Never build it. Gunpowder is one of the last things I research when I get to the renaissance. Not so useful. Could go this route if I'm Ethiopia or the Shoshones.
10 - Leaning Tower of Pisa : GP % generation bonus is great! Also, it gives you a versatile bonus that could be almost anything. Usually get an engineer.
7 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): I recently learnt its beauty. Nice.
3 - Red Fort : I like the Red Fort only if I'm playing a turtle game. Don't usually go for it on other ocasions.
5 - Sistine Chapel: Culture bonus is nice. Would definitely go for this on a culture game.
7 - Taj Mahal: Good! Expensive!
4 - Uffizi : Nice, if I'm going for culture. Otherwise, Taj > Uffizi.

 

[Stalker0]

I'm surprised how back and forth alhambra is rated.

For me its super strong just because it gives you immediate access to tier 3 promotions, and then soon after tier iv. Now its true that it is near impossible to get, but that's because the AI recognizes its value

 

[Dtekkar]

Medieval Era:

6 - Alhambra: Provides all units constructed in the city the Drill I promotion (Combat bonus in rough terrain). Adds a free castle as well as a +20% boost to Culture in the city which it was built
20% culture is a nice boost, and the military bonus is second only to brandenburg for military production. A city that gets Alhambra will want to pump out melee and cavalry the rest of the game whenever possible.

3 - Angkor Wat: Culture and Gold cost of acquiring new tiles reduced by 25% in all cities.
Most of the time, it is questionable, but for America and Russia, it is pretty sweet. Might be one of the worst in game wonders, but also underrated because the impact is subtle. With ideological pressure severely limiting how wide you can settle, having more total tiles to grab strategics and luxuries is a nice bonus. People rarely give credit to the Angkor Wat they picked up in a medieval conquest for that 7 oil tile 5 rings away that they happened to pick up & now dominate/survive with. But it is not that great, and there are always bigger fish to fry at this phase of the game, meaning you rarely can come back for this one.

9 - Borobudur: Must be built in holy city. 3 free Missionaries appear. +5 faith.
Instantly spread your religion to your neighbors & permanent FPT bonus too, good stuff. What a head start this gives! Speed is everything, and Borobudur missionaries spreading into empty cities often sets the religious boundaries for the rest of the game in your section of the world. Getting out there before target atheist cities hit 10 pop means 1 spread is all you need to become dominant, and Borobudur is often just in time to catch 8-9 pop cities. With those dominant cities in an otherwise atheist region, interconnected pressure will keep them dominant, spread to the rest over time, and deter other players future attempts at spreading into the region because of the small following you have already accumulated in each city of the region. Borobudur squarely secures your section of the map early, great for religions with faith buildings or Holy Warriors.

7 - Chichen Itza: Length of Golden Ages increased by 50% +4 Happiness
This was already a nice wonder, but the extra culture from golden ages has more significance now than it did. With the World Congress golden age game and great artists on their own GP point curve, you generally get more golden ages than you used to. And it is obviously extremely useful to Persia & Brazil. On higher difficulties, you aren't building it, you have to go a-conquerin'.

8 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): All missionaries born in this city may spread a religion 3 times instead of 2. Provides a free mosque in the city in which it was built. +3 faith.
Great Mosque is for aggressively spreading your religion for founder beliefs, and it is quite powerful. You can often win cities by attrition even though you got beat to the punch. Unfortunately, the founder beliefs aren't particularly lucrative, and the follower beliefs that don't have a faith cost, that would permit early missionary spam - i.e. not buildings or holy warriors - are not nearly as good as the buildings. Other than that, it's great; with a heavy FPT investment, your religion really can take over the world.

5 - Hagia Sophia: Generates a Great Prophet and provides a free temple in the city which it was built. +3 faith.
An option to limp into a late religion while investing very little. If you have a religion, you have other wonders to vie for, but a GP is always nice.

7 - Machu Picchu: +25% Gold from Trade Routes. Must be built within 2 tiles of a mountain inside your territory.
A huge boost to a wide empire, worth 100GPT to me in my last game.

8 - Notre Dame: +10 Happiness and +4 Faith
That is a lot of happiness. And everything a religious warmonger needs, though good luck getting this.

Renaissance Era:

10 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): Two extra delegates in the world congress. Unhappiness from number of citizens in non-occupied cities reduced by 10%
Scaling happiness is phenomenal, two delegates allows you to dominate diplomacy for an era, sometimes 2.

4 - Globe Theatre : 1 free Great Writer appears near the City where the Wonder was built. 2 slots for great works of writing.
Writers are excellent, but writing slots aren't hard to come by, and consuming them isn't bad, either. Nice if you can get it, but hardly essential.

3 - Himeji Castle: +15% combat strength for units fighting in friendly territory. Provides a free castle.
If you beelined this side of the tech tree, you want to be attacking, not defending. Though your newly conquered cities do count as friendly lands, which can aid in peeling their grip off your contested new puppet. If you didn't beeline military techs, you won't get this wonder. It is a nice boost, but there is so much to build at this phase of the game that you won't have time for this.

10 - Leaning Tower of Pisa : +25% boost to Great People generation in all cities and generates a Great Person of your choice.
One of the best wonders in the game. Not only is 25% great people generation a strong boost, but it lets you take a great engineer and rush another wonder for free, too. And being able to choose the GP means you can fill a theming bonus on the spot, grab the last religion, and more.

8 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): A Great Scientist appears near the city which it was built and 50% more Science from research agreements
Research agreements are a shadow of their former self, especially with the ideology system meaning half the world instantly hates you come modern era. It is still a substantial bonus, and a free great scientist is still pretty nice, though.

2 - Red Fort : Defensive Buildings in all Cities are 25% more effective
Not a priority. Not useless, though.

7 - Sistine Chapel: +25% Culture in all cities. 2 slots for great works of art.
The go-to cultural wonder, helps everyone tall and wide get policies, resist ideologies, and theme up some pressure of their own.

5 - Taj Mahal: +4 happiness. Starts a Golden Age.
Yeah it's alright. Overshadowed by other, more significant wonders at that same tech, like:

6 - Uffizi : 1 free Great Artist appears near the City where the Wonder was built. Contains 3 slots for great works of art.
Artists are what you want for a cultural VC, and this is a pretty darn good theming area overall. Not required, per se, but you should want it.

 

[Old Joe]

Medieval Era:

10 - Alhambra: Provides all units constructed in the city the Drill I promotion (Combat bonus in rough terrain). Adds a free castle as well as a +20% boost to Culture in the city which it was built
i always specialize my cities too much, and as for culture city is a must have, and also for troops building during wars. is good for any kind of game
1 - Angkor Wat: Culture and Gold cost of acquiring new tiles reduced by 25% in all cities
even playing russia frequently i'v build it few times probably. it just easier to secure resources by other means than loong term borders speading. It should be at very start of the game to make sence, and should have more bonuses. probably even make it some national wonder instead, than i maybe consider to build it in some potential areas of coal, oil etc
4 - Borobudur: Must be built in holy city. 3 free Missionaries appear. +5 faith.
for religious game, and i dont like it much, but 5faith is pretty good for small game settings
2 - Chichen Itza: Length of Golden Ages increased by 50%
i don't see much point of it, i never rely on golden ages
5 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): All missionaries born in this city may spread a religion 3 times instead of 2. Provides a free mosque in the city in which it was built. +3 faith.
must have for religious game.
2 - Hagia Sophia: Generates a Great Prophet and provides a free temple in the city which it was built. +3 faith.
for religious game this wonder is late, faith for this times is already no problem somehow
8 - Machu Picchu: +25% Gold from Trade Routes. Must be built within 2 tiles of a mountain inside your territory.
i like it, i have many cities usually, and also i often have time to build it even in small city for many turns of easy going. ai builds it fast only in capital near mountain
7 - Notre Dame: +10 Happiness and +4 Faith
it's good overall for any game. 10 happiness And faith


Renaissance Era:

6 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): Two extra delegates in the world congress. Unhappiness from number of citizens in non-occupied cities reduced by 10%
it's nice now, thou w/o BNW i would'v rate it about 3-4 even tand ot play wit many cities, but now those delegates, and i just like to compete with all these congresses
5 - Globe Theatre : 1 free Great Writer appears near the City where the Wonder was built. 2 slots for great works of writing.
must have only for culture game, and i playing it often, but bonuses might be just a bit bigger.. 3 gw slots maybe
5 - Himeji Castle: +15% combat strength for units fighting in friendly territory. Provides a free castle.
good fo mp and small game settings of constant wars
7 - Leaning Tower of Pisa : +25% boost to Great People generation in all cities and generates a Great Person of your choice
great people to choose is usually very usefull, and also thier generation, overall nice for any game
7 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): A Great Scientist appears near the city which it was built and 50% more Science from research agreements
heh, w/o BNW i also rates it about 3-4 only for scientist, but now those agreements! from some turn AI tend to propose them constantly. thou it not worth for small games
2 - Red Fort : Defensive Buildings in all Cities are 25% more effective
i don't like it, usually by its time you have adequate flexible defence even if you playing peacefull game
9 - Sistine Chapel: +25% Culture in all cities. 2 slots for great works of art.
i like culture, and this one very good for any game with fair amont of cities. it just gives you quicker and more social policies and so options for any strategy
2 - Taj Mahal: +4 happiness. Starts a Golden Age.
rarely build it, only if never left to build
4 - Uffizi : 1 free Great Artist appears near the City where the Wonder was built. Contains 3 slots for great works of art.
even thou i like culture games it somehow duplicate other wonders

 

[wigwam]

Practically everybody who has annotated their scores has remarked that Chichen Itza is particularly useful to or important for Persia. This is only true if you're planning a military-focused game. If you're not at war, you get the exact same bonus from Chichen Itza that everybody else does: five more turns per Golden Age (and your workers move faster, which, yes, is actually pretty sweet). It's good for Persia in the same way that the Porcelain Tower is good for Babylon. A free Great Scientist and an RA bonus are nice if you're already focusing on science, but they don't actually interact with the Babylonian UA in any way. Similarly, five more turns on Golden Ages that are five turns longer already is fine, since you're probably going to be making an effort to crank out Golden Ages, but the bonus combat strength and movement are the only part of the Persian UA that Chichen Itza actually affects.

The Taj Mahal, on the other hand, is 50% better for Persia than it is for everybody else; they, Brazil, and whoever builds Chichen Itza are probably the only civs who should bother with it. It's particularly effective if you're warmongering as Persia, because you're going to have a harder time generating natural Golden Ages—a Persian warmonger will definitely want both Chichen Itza and the Taj Mahal, whereas peaceful Persian players can skip the former.

 

[Dtekkar]

Practically everybody who has annotated their scores has remarked that Chichen Itza is particularly useful to or important for Persia. This is only true if you're planning a military-focused game. If you're not at war, you get the exact same bonus from Chichen Itza that everybody else does: five more turns per Golden Age (and your workers move faster, which, yes, is actually pretty sweet). It's good for Persia in the same way that the Porcelain Tower is good for Babylon. A free Great Scientist and an RA bonus are nice if you're already focusing on science, but they don't actually interact with the Babylonian UA in any way. Similarly, five more turns on Golden Ages that are five turns longer already is fine, since you're probably going to be making an effort to crank out Golden Ages, but the bonus combat strength and movement are the only part of the Persian UA that Chichen Itza actually affects.

The Taj Mahal, on the other hand, is 50% better for Persia than it is for everybody else; they, Brazil, and whoever builds Chichen Itza are probably the only civs who should bother with it. It's particularly effective if you're warmongering as Persia, because you're going to have a harder time generating natural Golden Ages—a Persian warmonger will definitely want both Chichen Itza and the Taj Mahal, whereas peaceful Persian players can skip the former.

I agree with the main point, that mathematically they should be going for things that take advantage of the UA directly, but aligning advantages of the same type is still valuable as any choices down the line become stacked. If you have a great artist that you can turn into a golden age or a great work, if you have chichen itza & freedom & persian UA taking the golden age becomes very lucrative. Or the games project 500 happy. Or Taj Mahal

 

[Bagi]

Not sure why anyone would prefer Djenne over Borobudur, missionaries are all about the early game and Borobudur really lets you kickstart your religion. Basically it lets you focus on spending faith towards other stuff like pagodas, if you get religious texts or the itinerant preachers beliefs you'll barely even need to build missionaries after Borobudur.

The one situation where I would prefer Djenne is if I get a really isolated island start or everyone around me has their own religion and I don't want to upset them too much, then I aim for the better long term missionaries. But in most cases Borobudur is king.

 

[Homewrecker]

Medieval Era:

5 - Alhambra: Very strong if you're rolling with one huge city. I think there are better things to build otherwise.
0 - Angkor Wat: The only thing that warrants this as a wonder is that you wonder why anyone would build it.
6 - Borobudur: Great if you're going for religion spam, obviously bad otherwise. Does its job well.
9 - Chichen Itza: Required for Brazil and Persia. Very useful otherwise. Probably don't bother otherwise as the AI rushes it fairly hard.
6 - Great Mosque of Djenne (requires Piety): Gives 6 faith, 2 culture, 1 happiness with the free mosque. While it doesn't provide the immediate missionary spam Borobudur does, it offers additional benefits to compensate. Good if you use missionaries.
5 - Hagia Sophia: I'm split. It'd be great if it came earlier but by this point you likely have your religion. Nice if you've foregone religion up to this point and you still want to grab one.
7 - Machu Picchu: Still great for wide empires.
10 - Notre Dame: Fantastic for any empire, though even more so for wide/warmongers. Better have a GE for this one higher difficulties though.


Renaissance Era:

10 - Forbidden Palace (requires Patronage): Again, incredible for wide empires based on the happiness bonus alone. The extra delegates push this over the top into borderline OP.
6 - Globe Theatre : Solid for a culture victory, especially if you want to go tall as you need all the slots you can get.
2 - Himeji Castle: The best part about this is probably the 2 GE points. Maybe better in MP.
10 - Leaning Tower of Pisa : Absolutely fantastic. Build a wonder, get another wonder, and +25% GP generation.
7 - Porcelain Tower (requires Rationalism): Great for science victories but always a solid choice. Less incredible than before as it seems the AI doesn't always have large lump sums of gold, at least midgame.
0 - Red Fort : Barf. AI loves it and if the AI is doing significant damage to your city you have other worries.
7 - Sistine Chapel: A little less generally applicable than the Porcelain Tower, but also with a more consistent bonus.
6 - Taj Mahal: A little early for the GA to be really good, but also comes with 4 happiness.
5 - Uffizi : Very solid for culture victories but I don't think anyone else needs it.