What is your favorite wonder?

[SoonerJBD]

Not the most optimal or the one you like most that you can usually get. What is your favorite wonder based on purely subjective criteria like how cool the effect is?

I probably go with Petra. It just makes desert cities into powerhouses, particularly if you get a great location with salt and sheep and/or desert folklore. Plus it looks freaking cool.

 

[inthesomeday]

Probably Pyramids, really good with Citizenship. I also like Mausolleum, saves you with the liberty finisher +100 gold if you're in the red

 

[danaphanous]

My favorite wonders are the ones that take effect for your entire empire and thus really change things. I can live without the nice but local ones for the most part but really miss the empire-wide ones.

late game wonders favorites are: Statue of Liberty and the ISS wonders for their dramatic effect on specialists empire wide! They are OP! Shame they come so late but I guess it's only fair.

Early game wonders I'm gonna have to go with Pyramids like inthesomeday. I find myself REALLY missing the tile improvement discounts if I don't get it as workers are so slow early game otherwise. With a good workforce it can make dozens of turns of difference in getting your infrastructure up and cities growing and productive, the free workers basically give you back the wonder cost in hammers as well so unlike other wonders it isn't really hurting your build order to build it either. You needed those workers anyway. And the tile discount helps for the rest of the game. The early GE point usually means I'll get a GE later for a rushed Renaissance wonder as well. Almost everything about it is great and a no-brainer for a wide empire. Pretty much every other ancient and classical wonder I can live without.

Mid-game I have several favorites. Probably the most novel are the leaning tower of pisa and the forbidden palace though. Both have some major empire-wide effects that are super-nice. Sistine chapel is real nice too.

 

[inthesomeday]

Ancient: Pyramids
Classical: Oracle
Medieval: Chichen Itza
Renaissance: Leaning Tower of Pisa
Industrial: Big Ben
Modern: Statue of Liberty
Atomic + Information: ...Hubble???

 

[donkeyfish]

Alhambra & Brandenburger Gate - in Ulundi

 

[gobbledydook]

Alhambra & Brandenburger Gate - in Ulundi

Pfft, If you can't win before you get Chivalry, you don't deserve to win as Zulu

 

[killmeplease]

petra

 

[SoonerJBD]

Totally agree on Pyramids. The synergy with the Liberty tree giving you super fast improvements is just totally game altering. And it kind of the textbook example of an ancient wonder.

I actually love the effect of Terracotta Army, but it is virtually impossible to build it in a way that it actually helps. I only ever made it happen once, but I got it built just after I opened machinery and chivalry. Got a free knight, crossbowmen, compound bowmen, swordsman, pikeman, spearman, catapult and chariot archer. I have no idea why none of the AIs built it. It's worthless with just early units, and AI never seems to let it go unbuilt very long, so I've never seen it again.

 

[SoonerJBD]

Forbidden Palace is up there. The happiness boost along with the extra votes in World Congress are fantastic.

I also really like Pentagon. Combined with social policies, makes it really cheap to bring any old units up to modern standards.

 

[komodowaran]

Great Wall

it's just to OP in War and prevents enemys from using Generals to stop your Generals

 

[Callonia]

Definitely Stonehenge. It allows any civ that isn't faith based to participate in faith race.

If not Stonehenge, then Neuswatchestein castle. Because I like castles. And I like Castles that make me money and happier even better.

 

[HughFran]

So hard to answer as they can be situational depending on what play style you have adopted for a certain game. As people have mentioned so far, Pyramids are awesome when playing wide and the AI doesn't seem to favour building it so you always have a chance to get it. Forbidden Palace is also awesome but the AI always snatches this one so I rarely get to build it. If I am playing tall I will always try for a Temple of Artemis/Hanging Gardens combo and then combine these with Tradition and growth based Pantheons.

Other Wonders I really like getting are Oracle, Petra, Notre Dame (never get to build this as the AI always beats me to it), International Space Station. There are some I have left out but I'd say two thirds of Wonders are very useful in different situations but there are also quite a few that I never build and aren't worth investing in such as Cristo Redentor, Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat, Terracotta Army but I guess it's all a matter of preference!

 

[kaltorak]

Tower of Pisa

 

[claudiupb]

Alhambra is probably my favorite, but I rarely manage to build it. The Drill promotion is very strong even though it's just for melee units. It enables building units that come with double cover right from the start. And later on if with Brandenburg or just go with Autocracy you can get units with 4 promotions, and there are a lot of combinations. You can get Paratroopers/X-COM with blitz that can attack in the same turn they para-drop. Or Tanks with Repair, or Mobility, etc.

And then it also gives 20% extra culture in that city which is most likely your capital. It's really great if you have a tall empire with all your guilds in one city.

 

[Fatusblobus2]

Only just got ancient wonders and I'm loving temple of artemis - 10% growth for all cities for the entire game is great, and now liberty is my preferred SP tree if I can grab it. Difficult to get on immortal/deity though

 

[Kriogen]

...What is your favorite wonder based on purely subjective criteria like how cool the effect is?
...

Machu Pichu in the middle of Lake Victoria.

 

[WackenOpenAir]

Pyramids
With a bad workforce it can make dozens of turns of difference

corrected.

 

[sunbeam]

Temple of Artemis overall.

I always try to build the Great Wall (mainly so I don't have to go up against it).

Gotten a lot of mileage from Brandenberg Gate. And as someone else said, Forbidden Palace. Can't imagine trying to win a diplomatic victory without that one.

 

[Convict]

Colossus for me. Petra and Machu Piccu also good but if you don't have a desert or a mountain then you cam rule them out.

Love Statue of Liberty and then Hubble Space Telescope.

 

[SoonerJBD]

I quite like the Louvre, though I rarely build it. It's such a massive culture boost, especially if you fill out the aesthetics tree and double the bonus.

I also like certain wonders for certain Civs. Oracle for Poland lets you pull off some crazy social policy strategies. Great Lighthouse for England. I like wonders that enhance the bonuses you are already getting from a Civ and/or social policies like Liberty and Pyramids.