madscientist
RPC Supergenius
This article is simply about discussing World Wonders, the basics and some general strategies in using them. It is not meant to be inclusive of all stategies (ie I am not discussing SE, CE, a priest economy etc...) but more of a summary of benefits of the wonders. Before I post the Summary, a thread will be started in the main strategy forum to discuss the wonder in general. Please feel free to join that discussion if you want, and there is no time limit as to when an thread can be bumped. Finally, I will present them in the general order that they are available.
STONEHENGE (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=325736)
Cost: 120
Culture: + 8
+ 2
towards a prophet
+100% production with stone
Prerequisite: Mysticism
Abilities:
Free monument (or UB equivalent) per city
centers the world map
Obsolete with Astronomy
Strategies:
1) The free monument means easy border pops. Not useful if your creative or have an established religion that will spread quickly enough.
2) You get the free UB if you are Ethiopia, Native America, or egypt. Note, the free UB with disappear at astronomy while built ones still survive and provide culture.
3) A free happy face for charismatic leaders.
4) It is the first wonder and will double culture to +16 in 1000 years. Very helpful for culture wins.
5) Favors getting an early Prophet which can shrine an early religion or be settled for a valuable early +2 and +5 
. Has good synergy with the Oracle for further increasing prophet points. Also the early Prophet can be used to bulb theology to found a religion, adopt theocracy, and first crack at building the AP.
6) While stone speeds up production, the wonder is generally built before it is hooked up.
7) Since the wonder comes so early a choice must be made between early settlers and Stonehenge.
8) Leaders who start with mysticism have a big headstart over the others for this wonder.
9) AI denial. The AIs (who are not creative) are notoriously slow in getting border propr, so no reason to give them free ones. Also, you may want to keep SH away from Egypt/Ethiopia/Native America.
10) Teh requirements for building the Statue of Zues (3 monuments) is automatically fullfilled.
THE ORACLEhttp://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=326094
Cost: 150
Culture: + 8
+ 2 towards a prophet
+100% production with marble
Prerequisite: priesthood
Abilities:
Free Tech
Obsolete immediately
1) Since it requires the mysticism/meditation or polytheism/priesthood line it's not the easiest early tech to get from an AI. But if you found an early religion, your far along.
2) Hyuna Capac has a special advantage here as he's the only IND leader to start with mysticism!
3) As with Stonehenge it provides Greaterson Points, thus if you manage both you can get Prophets alot faster! Even if there is no stonehenge the chances of getting a shrined religion are pretty high (see below on techs).
4) Howver, the important part of The Oracle is getting that free tech. I will include free techs to get in groups. It is not inclusive but meant to be a guideline, consider your difficulty in pickign a tech and remember if you get greedy the AI may pluck this wonder away from you.
USUAL (Metal Casting, Monarchy, Code of Laws, Mathematics, Alphabet, Aesthetics, theology) require basic worker techs or prerequisites of the oracle itself.
MODERATE (Currency, Calander, Construction) requires math or alphabet
CHALLENGING (Civil Service, Fuedalism, Machinery, Philosophy) requires 1 or 2 early major techs.
HEROIC (Education, Divine Right) those taken in the lore of Civilization IV and the stuff of legonds! Threads may be written on obtaining these!
GREAT WALL http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=326227
Cost: 150
Culture: +2
+ 2 towards a Great Spy
+100% production with stone
Prerequisite: Masonry
Abilities:
Prevents Barbarians from entering culture borders of your empire (not just the graphic Great Wall) on your continent.
+100% Great general production within cultural borders.
Generates +2 Great Spy Points
NEVER goes obsolete!
Strategies/Synergies
1) Keeps barbarians out, what's not to like! It means fewer defenders needed in the early part of the game. Also forces the barbs to harass the AI.
2) The +100% GG production within culture border has nice synergy with other traits for defensive wars. Imperilaistic can get 400% GG points for battles within culture barders. Charismatic leads to faster promotions, and Protective leads to stronger defenders to get that needde XP.
3) Those 2 Great Spy Points are the major way to get an espionage game going. Popping an early Great Spy is very valuable and can change the game's direction more than any other early Great Person (not always but often enough), and if you miss the Great Wall you have to wait until courthouses to run 1 spy specialist. Sometimes this reason alone is a good reason to build the Great Wall. Also a PHIL leader could benefit from this wonder to run an espionage economy.
4) Capture the Great wall? Well you have instant extra GG production as the AI tries to recapture their city! Bring along a few defense promoted units to secure it while the enemy attempts a failed counter attack.
5) About other wonder synergy, there is not much. Spoiler other wonder pools with GSpy points or vice versa is not much good here. So teh great Wall is a wonder that does very nicely standing on it's own!
6) Building it! Well, it's cheap enough to build straight, yet delayed enough where you can get close stone on-line (since the Great wall needs masonry enyway). You can also chop it out fairly easily.
The Pyramids http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=326457
The grand-Daddy of the anceint world wonder! ANd it's a costly one.
Wonders abilities
Cost: 500
Culture: + 6
+ 2 towards a Great Engineer
+100% production with stone
Prerequisite: Masonry
Opens up all government civics! (Heriditary Rule/Representation/Police State/Universal Sufferage)
Never obsoletes but useless once you get the techs unlocking those civics.
Strategies
1) Happiness is no longer an issue once you get the wonder, providing you adopt HR or representation.
2) Use Representation to fuel a very early and powerful SE game (scientists with double beakers!).
3) Adopt Police State for the extra military production and greatly reduced war-weariness.
4) It is a very expensive wonder and alot of people only go after it if IND and/or have access to stone. There is also a sneaky was to get a Great Engineer to rush it by Oracle slingshotting Metal Casting and then buildign a fast forge in another city and run an engineer.
However, Synergies are massive with this wonder, paticularly wonders/traits
Wonders:
1) With the the Oracle Slingshotting Code of Laws you can have caste and representation super early for a devastating SE game.
2) The early GE opens up the option to rush build certain wonders that follow a certain strategy (Great Lighthouse for an SE, the AP for religious diplomacy, etc...)
3) Building the hanging Gardens and Hag sophia (whatever it's name) can get you a very large GE producing city early on.
4) Statue of Zues, while you have decreased WW using Police State you can inflict vicious WW on the enemy with this wonder combo.
5) Great Lighthouse/Collossus/Temple of Artmetis. Sounds odd but those are alot of Great Merchant producing wonders, and if you spam out alot of them you can use US to buy alot of military or buildings.
Traits
1) Philosophical: Because of the potential for such a strong SE game, this helps by getting a very large number of Great Scientists faster for furious bulbing.
2) Spiritual: Switchign civis can be pretty valuable here. Caste/Reprentation to HR/slavery, to Police State/Vassalage/Theocracy, to US/vassalage/theocracy.
3) Warring traits are bolstered by the early Police State option.
4) IND. Well to build the silly thing
STONEHENGE (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=325736)
Cost: 120
Culture: + 8
+ 2
towards a prophet+100% production with stone
Prerequisite: Mysticism
Abilities:
Free monument (or UB equivalent) per city
centers the world map
Obsolete with Astronomy
Strategies:
1) The free monument means easy border pops. Not useful if your creative or have an established religion that will spread quickly enough.
2) You get the free UB if you are Ethiopia, Native America, or egypt. Note, the free UB with disappear at astronomy while built ones still survive and provide culture.
3) A free happy face for charismatic leaders.
4) It is the first wonder and will double culture to +16
in 1000 years. Very helpful for culture wins.5) Favors getting an early Prophet which can shrine an early religion or be settled for a valuable early +2
and +5 . Has good synergy with the Oracle for further increasing prophet points. Also the early Prophet can be used to bulb theology to found a religion, adopt theocracy, and first crack at building the AP.6) While stone speeds up production, the wonder is generally built before it is hooked up.
7) Since the wonder comes so early a choice must be made between early settlers and Stonehenge.
8) Leaders who start with mysticism have a big headstart over the others for this wonder.
9) AI denial. The AIs (who are not creative) are notoriously slow in getting border propr, so no reason to give them free ones. Also, you may want to keep SH away from Egypt/Ethiopia/Native America.
10) Teh requirements for building the Statue of Zues (3 monuments) is automatically fullfilled.
THE ORACLEhttp://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=326094
Cost: 150
Culture: + 8
+ 2
towards a prophet+100% production with marble
Prerequisite: priesthood
Abilities:
Free Tech
Obsolete immediately
1) Since it requires the mysticism/meditation or polytheism/priesthood line it's not the easiest early tech to get from an AI. But if you found an early religion, your far along.
2) Hyuna Capac has a special advantage here as he's the only IND leader to start with mysticism!
3) As with Stonehenge it provides Greaterson Points, thus if you manage both you can get Prophets alot faster! Even if there is no stonehenge the chances of getting a shrined religion are pretty high (see below on techs).
4) Howver, the important part of The Oracle is getting that free tech. I will include free techs to get in groups. It is not inclusive but meant to be a guideline, consider your difficulty in pickign a tech and remember if you get greedy the AI may pluck this wonder away from you.
USUAL (Metal Casting, Monarchy, Code of Laws, Mathematics, Alphabet, Aesthetics, theology) require basic worker techs or prerequisites of the oracle itself.
MODERATE (Currency, Calander, Construction) requires math or alphabet
CHALLENGING (Civil Service, Fuedalism, Machinery, Philosophy) requires 1 or 2 early major techs.
HEROIC (Education, Divine Right) those taken in the lore of Civilization IV and the stuff of legonds! Threads may be written on obtaining these!
GREAT WALL http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=326227
Cost: 150
Culture: +2
+ 2
towards a Great Spy+100% production with stone
Prerequisite: Masonry
Abilities:
Prevents Barbarians from entering culture borders of your empire (not just the graphic Great Wall) on your continent.
+100% Great general production within cultural borders.
Generates +2 Great Spy Points
NEVER goes obsolete!
Strategies/Synergies
1) Keeps barbarians out, what's not to like! It means fewer defenders needed in the early part of the game. Also forces the barbs to harass the AI.
2) The +100% GG production within culture border has nice synergy with other traits for defensive wars. Imperilaistic can get 400% GG points for battles within culture barders. Charismatic leads to faster promotions, and Protective leads to stronger defenders to get that needde XP.
3) Those 2 Great Spy Points are the major way to get an espionage game going. Popping an early Great Spy is very valuable and can change the game's direction more than any other early Great Person (not always but often enough), and if you miss the Great Wall you have to wait until courthouses to run 1 spy specialist. Sometimes this reason alone is a good reason to build the Great Wall. Also a PHIL leader could benefit from this wonder to run an espionage economy.
4) Capture the Great wall? Well you have instant extra GG production as the AI tries to recapture their city! Bring along a few defense promoted units to secure it while the enemy attempts a failed counter attack.
5) About other wonder synergy, there is not much. Spoiler other wonder pools with GSpy points or vice versa is not much good here. So teh great Wall is a wonder that does very nicely standing on it's own!
6) Building it! Well, it's cheap enough to build straight, yet delayed enough where you can get close stone on-line (since the Great wall needs masonry enyway). You can also chop it out fairly easily.
The Pyramids http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=326457
The grand-Daddy of the anceint world wonder! ANd it's a costly one.
Wonders abilities
Cost: 500
Culture: + 6
+ 2
towards a Great Engineer+100% production with stone
Prerequisite: Masonry
Opens up all government civics! (Heriditary Rule/Representation/Police State/Universal Sufferage)
Never obsoletes but useless once you get the techs unlocking those civics.
Strategies
1) Happiness is no longer an issue once you get the wonder, providing you adopt HR or representation.
2) Use Representation to fuel a very early and powerful SE game (scientists with double beakers!).
3) Adopt Police State for the extra military production and greatly reduced war-weariness.
4) It is a very expensive wonder and alot of people only go after it if IND and/or have access to stone. There is also a sneaky was to get a Great Engineer to rush it by Oracle slingshotting Metal Casting and then buildign a fast forge in another city and run an engineer.
However, Synergies are massive with this wonder, paticularly wonders/traits
Wonders:
1) With the the Oracle Slingshotting Code of Laws you can have caste and representation super early for a devastating SE game.
2) The early GE opens up the option to rush build certain wonders that follow a certain strategy (Great Lighthouse for an SE, the AP for religious diplomacy, etc...)
3) Building the hanging Gardens and Hag sophia (whatever it's name) can get you a very large GE producing city early on.
4) Statue of Zues, while you have decreased WW using Police State you can inflict vicious WW on the enemy with this wonder combo.
5) Great Lighthouse/Collossus/Temple of Artmetis. Sounds odd but those are alot of Great Merchant producing wonders, and if you spam out alot of them you can use US to buy alot of military or buildings.
Traits
1) Philosophical: Because of the potential for such a strong SE game, this helps by getting a very large number of Great Scientists faster for furious bulbing.
2) Spiritual: Switchign civis can be pretty valuable here. Caste/Reprentation to HR/slavery, to Police State/Vassalage/Theocracy, to US/vassalage/theocracy.
3) Warring traits are bolstered by the early Police State option.
4) IND. Well to build the silly thing
? If you're not confident with the oracle this is a decent way to do it...if you can get SH early enough.
) for differing level.
