Relative difficulty/competition of building wonders

[sa1vy]

I thought this would be helpful for planning which wonders you might want to plan getting/beeline for. Definitely looking for other people's thoughts and opinions on this. Preferably deity, but immortal or emperor gameplay could also be helpful. But please also comment what I can do to make the list better, like changing/adding tiers, or whatever. This is all just a ballpark estimate based on my games so far, as well as some bits I've gathered from random threads.
Note: Playing as China was not taken into account because their unique ability allows them to get almost any Ancient/Classical wonder they want.
Updated: April 24, 2017 for Spring patch

Literally impossible:
Stonehenge

Extremely unlikely:
Chichen Itza
Oracle
Great Pyramids

Unlikely, but possible if AI is uninterested:
Petra
Broadway
Hanging Gardens
Hagia Sophia
Terracotta Army
Mahabodhi Temple
Big Ben

Varies greatly:
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
Mont St. Michel
Potala Palace

Usually possible if you beeline/prioritize:
Sydney Opera House
Huey Teocalli
Colossus
Bolshoi Theatre
Cristo Redentor
Hermitage
Ruhr Valley

If you want it, it's usually yours:
Great Lighthouse
Eiffel Tower
Colosseum
Alahambra
Forbidden City
Venetian Arsenal
Apadana
Oxford University

AI practically never builds
Great Library
Estádio do Maracanã
Great Zimbabwe

Note: Wonder difficulty within tiers is ordered from most difficult (highest spot), to easiest (lowest spot).

 

[Bro]

I quess this is a median of all of the civs. Varies really greatly depending on which one you play. For example, the first two era wonders are relatively easy to get as China.

 

[hongyu20]

The only way to actually get Stonehenge on higher difficulties is if you play China and rush 2 workers , especially diety , AI can probably get it done by turn 25 .

 

[Bobfregman]

Good list. I'd move Forbidden City into "Usually possible if you beeline or prioritize". In my games I've noticed forbidden city definitely goes a little slow for it's era but generally not on the same level as the others in the category. The AI will definitely go for it, you can't procrastinate on it too much. The Colosseum I'd consider moving into one of the more available categories. I agree it tends to vary but I get it in more than half of my diety games, it's definitely way easier than the Hanging Gardens or Big Ben. I'd move the Great Library down to "The AI practically never builds". On diety I've had several games where the Library was still available in the information age. I presume this is because the AI already has all the techs it gives boosts to before they can build it.

 

[ShinigamiKenji]

Hmm, I've had a few that had Great Library gone early and others late. I'd put it in the "Varies Greatly" category, especally since I'm usually able to build Colosseum by turn 100. Same with Great Lighthouse.

 

[sa1vy]

There is an annoyingly large number that can be placed into "Varies Greatly" :/
I think they reshuffled the AI priorities again with the last patch, so I think waiting for the dust to settle a bit would be good before I move around any. That is, if I get enough input from people to make a list. This thread is a month old, and I figured people just weren't interested, so I hadn't done anything with it since. But if people are interested, I can start keeping more careful track, like write down what turn each wonder was built on for each game.
Boy, if I could get my hands on the development data from Firaxis...

 

[Chibisuke]

I've gotten Petra both of the last two games I attempted it on deity. I am thinking it is more possible than not as long as you go for it asap.

 

[Bobfregman]

I find Petra to be gettable as well but it's is, imo, pretty unlikely to be in a situation where you can grab Petra in a city that makes sense for it. Unless they reshuffled the AI priority on it they will generally place Petra in any old desert tile in their empire, regardless of whether the city actually benefits much from it, meaning that it's very tough for you to get it without putting it in one of your cities where it's equally as useless.

 

[Chibisuke]

Yea, Petra is still situational in that respect. If you start a game with your capital near a bunch of desert (especially desert hills) it can be massive. In one of my games my starting settler was near a desert but not right at it. I moved him and didn't settle until turn 3 to ensure I got maximum coverage. That was the game where I found out that Uluru was also in that desert. I got Petra and now my capital is a major powerhouse.

 

[gettingfat]

I'll lower Pyramid and Oracle by one or two categories. They are easier to get than chicken pizza.

Petra is difficult mainly because the AI civs don't care if it's built in suboptimal location.

 

[sa1vy]

I'll lower Pyramid and Oracle by one or two categories. They are easier to get than chicken pizza.

Petra is difficult mainly because the AI civs don't care if it's built in suboptimal location.

Chicken pizza. lol.
I agree this is why Petra (and the Pyramids) are so difficult. Even if they have just 1 desert tile they can still zero in on building it.

I haven't really played enough lately to get a feel for things after this Australian patch. If we get a couple more people to offer input on this I'd feel pretty good about moving stuff around, though.

 

[4N4C0ND4]

chicken pizza.

Rofl this definitely made my day!

Currently finishing a pre patch game, nothing really amazing to notice considering wonders.
About to see if the venitian arsenal is still "bugged" or not.

 

[ShinigamiKenji]

Huh, did they bug Venetian Arsenal with this patch? It was working for me pre-patch.

 

[4N4C0ND4]

I can confirm, still working as 2 boats per city regardless. It was a game started pre patch though, but the wonder was finished post patch.

 

[oedali]

I'd lower Pyramids by one or two categories.. due to flat desert requirement most of the time AI doesn't get the chance to build it and it's very possible even on high difficulty

 

[kamex]

I play Emperor and I would put everything into 'Usually possible if you beeline/prioritize' with the exception of Stonehenge which is borderline impossible unless playing China (and still a low chance with China).

I think we need a patch to make Stonehenge more accessible.

 

[Chibisuke]

Yea, I actually just started a game where I easily got both Petra and Pyramids back to back. The last 4 games I have started, I got Petra 3 out of 4 times on deity. I think if you semi-rush it, you are likely to get it. Not guaranteed, since an AI with a desert start might rush it faster, but it definitely seems to be one of the more obtainable wonders.

 

[Chibisuke]

Also, by way of comparison, I've noticed that Petra and Pyramids seem to be significantly easier to get than Terracotta Army. AI seems to put high priority on Terracotta Army, and it makes it even more difficult for the player that it requires encampment + barracks/stable. Certainly not impossible, but the AI is more likely to get out an early encampment with barracks.

 

[joncnunn]

Great Lighthouse: On Island Plates map on Deity currently marked as "If you want it, it's usually yours" it gets built quickly. It either needs moved to Colossus (varies greatly) or alternatively they both need split into on an island type map vs not on one.

I'd also agree with the poster that says to lower Pyramids; it's flat desert requirement and that varies wildly. In any case Petra generally gets built by the AI before it.

 

[sa1vy]

Ok, since there's been a fair amount of talk on this lately, I'll update it soon. I don't have a whole lot of experience on maps besides continents, but it makes sense that wonders priorities would vary depending on map type. Not sure how I should reconcile it. Maybe put the wonder in multiple tiers, with asterisks noting map type.
I'll probably get to it late this weekend, because I have a ton of other stuff going on right now.