Your 5 World Wonders

[LegioCorvus]

I'm curious. If you could only pick 5 wonders to build in any given playthrough, what would they be?

Here's a tentative list I came up with, but after the first 3, I couldn't think of any that were really "essential," so I just listed most beneficial to my play style.

1) Oracle
---Probably have to drop this at higher difficulties, but the Metal Casting leap is great.

2) Statue of Zeus
---I just prefer not to have to fight against it.

3) The Great Library
---Just all around helpful.

4) Statue of Liberty
---I'm usually too busy fighting to get this, but it's great when I do.

5) Space Elevator
---If I'm limited to five choices, this goes on the list for those rare games that go long.


Your choices?

 

[catfish99]

I usually do not go for the earliest wonders, though the Pyramids sometimes is a viable play. In many games, though, you can overrun someone who builds Gerat Wall/Pyramids and have the benefits without the hammer investment. My first play is usually to go after the Great Library. I'll then often go after Nationalism for the Taj Mahal. Later game wonders I target are Liberty and Al Gore. The other late gamers are victory target dependent - Pentagon and Kremlin for conquest/domination, Eiffel Tower for cultural, Space Elevator for spaceship. (Although I will build the elevator sometimes even without a spaceship run, just to deny it to the spaceship leader.

 

[Silu]

Very rarely I build 5 wonders in a single game, but if I had to pick just 5 I'm ever allowed to build (very, VERY rarely there would be a single game I would build all of these in ) :

- The Great Lighthouse, no-brainer. Can make or break games like no other wonder can.

- 'Mids, almost as good a best-case scenario as GLH, and more solid on average. The stars have to align to be able to build these without having the opportunity cost be too high, though.

- The Great Library, always very helpful if you can afford to get it.

- The Kremlin, can sometimes mean 33% more units for that deciding critical lategame war rampage.

- Taj Mahal, not nearly as great as the others but can be a very nice bounty if you get to Lib a monopoly Nat. I probably forget a better 5th pick.

Space elevator is very rarely worth going to Robotics for, it will just delay the shipbuilding both science- and production-wise.

 

[FriendoftheDork]

Hmm...

Pyramids (altough if I don't have stone I might not be able to get it)
Parthenon (only in mods where it doesen't obsolete)
The Great Library (low cost, nice advantage)
The Great Lighthouse (only if you have a large percentage of coastal cities)
The Great Wall (cheap, early GS or GE)

 

[AveiMil]

In terms of Multiplayer the Great Wall is pretty awsome.

- Great Wall
- The Oracle
- The Pyramids
- The Kremlin
- Taj Mahal & MoM together.

 

[DigitalBoy]

I rarely build five world wonders in a single playthrough, but if I had to choose five that I could build ever:

Mausoleum of Mausolus: More so for Philosophical leaders, but this wonder generally gets me at least one extra golden age. I'm sure I've had at least one game with three GP initiated golden ages and a fourth from the Taj Mahal, giving me two extra golden ages from this wonder.

Taj Mahal: A "free" and very well timed golden age. Revolt-free civic switch to Nationhood, and lots of worked tiles at this point in the game to leverage the bonus tile yield. Good synergy with Mausoleum of Mausolus.

The Great Library: Self-explanatory really.

The Oracle: I rarely actually build this wonder, but in the games I do, the free tech is a pretty huge advantage.

Notre Dame: Kind of an underdog as far as wonders go, but if I have stone and research Engineering early, I make a shot for this wonder.

 

[Yared]

I prefer capturing wonders

 

[Windsor]

I prefer capturing wonders

Then you must really enjoy the oracle and the taj mahal

 

[Absolute Zero]

- The Oracle: I almost always build this, it's cheap, not too difficult to get, and can fit into different game plans
- The Great Library: Just helpful overall, and can lead to many Great Scientists
- Taj Mahal: Like the Oracle, just nice to have, and versatile
- Stonehenge (if not Creative): Saves me all those Monument hammers, and I don't have to go out of the way to get it (depending on start)
- Apostolic Palace: depending on situation, it can win the game, or still be a great benefit

Do shrines count? Because the shrine of a popular religion can yield hundreds of gold (after multipliers) and really boost your economy.

 

[bestsss]

the great lighthouse;
the pyramids
the kremlin
the jesus dude

mausoleum of maussollos

 

[Yared]

Then you must really enjoy the oracle and the taj mahal

Don't take me for an idiot. It's unbecoming.

 

[mariogreymist]

1 - Great Lighthouse - Easily the most powerful wonder in the game, on any map with a fair bit of coast. Every time I've had Infantry in 1500, it was thanks to the glh. EVERY TIME.

2 - The Pyramids - If I need to explain, you won't understand.

3 - The Kremlin - Cheap hurried production is a big advantage, and applies to multiple civics.

4 - The Great Library - Because nothing aids victory more than being ahead in tech.

5 - Cristo Redentor - This is a tough pick, and one I wouldn't make with SPI leaders (obviously). Late warmongering can be aided enourmously by the combination of this wonder and the Kremlin (US.Vassalage/Theo). This can produce a powerful army for tech-parity warring and do it in short order. Because swapping civics with a large kingdom is such a drain, without this wonder it is regular to field armies without experience or very slowly...neither choice is particularly compelling. (bonus points for getting this AND the Pentagon) It also aids diplomacy, allowing one to cave into crazy demands on civics/religion for a few turns.

 

[Thain Esh Kelch]

It seems like I have misunderstod the point in The Great Lighthouse.. Could someone explain to me what exactly is so good about it?

 

[mariogreymist]

It seems like I have misunderstod the point in The Great Lighthouse.. Could someone explain to me what exactly is so good about it?

With the glh, you get two extra trade routes in every coastal city. So when you build it, it is best to build as many coastal cities as possible, often spacing them 3 tiles apart, only going to 4 to take advantage of resources and nearly never to 5. The trade generated in these cities is translated into . There are some scenarios that make it more powerful than others, the most powerful being overseas foreign trade accessible pre-astro. Second, is isolation with multiple landmasses (even a few 1-tile coastal islands will make it pop big-time). If you spam coastal cities, you will find that 1/3-2/3 of your total economy will be from trade, even if you build lots of cottages. (more if you don't)

EDIT: For anyone who wants to see a good glh situation for themselves, here's a game I started this evening (after posting the original message) that will demonstrate the utility of the glh. This is a overpowered starting locale, offset slightly by the nearby presence of Monty and Shaka and somewhat further off presence of Ragnar. Try playing this start once with the glh and once without it and see where you are tech wise at 1500 AD. It is a Marathon game on a huge map, so if you're not into the big games, it's not for you. (The start is so strong that I both built the glh and went on a major immortal rampage)

 

[AveiMil]

The trade generated in these cities is translated into .

The trade is which is generated into either , , and all depending on your slider settings.

 

[mariogreymist]

True, but the benefit of having all that trade so early is its ability to develop a dominating tech lead by the 1200-1500AD range.

 

[Fleme]

I used to be a huge Pyramids freak and I guess I still am to an extent but in terms of what to choose early, I'd opt for the GLH over the 'mids these days. That said, my list is, in order of preference and personal usefulness:

1) Great Lighthouse. Simple, wins games.

2) Pyramids. Obvious reasons.

3) Great Library. Again, obvious reasons.

4) Apostolic Palace. I must point out, however, that I don't build this myself. I just take the option to spread said religion all over the place for the +4

5) Cristo Redentor. While late game civics changes are not frequent, an anarchy will cost up to 2000 beakers per turn so the reasoning is right there.

Honorable mentions to go The Hanging Gardens, Notre Dame and Taj Mahal

 

[Pacifist46]

Of course, it is entirely dependent on the map, game end etc but:
1) Pyramids
2) Great Library
3) Great Lighthouse
4) SoZ
5) Collosus

 

[jdp29]

I'd go with Leonardo Davinci's workshop from CiV II. That's probably all I'd need. Oh, maybe a time machine so I could port it to CiV IV.

 

[catfish99]

Space elevator is very rarely worth going to Robotics for, it will just delay the shipbuilding both science- and production-wise.

I see this a lot, but building the Elevator can save over 6000 hammers, and Robotics also allows Mech Infantry, a really useful unit for endgame wars.
Since I build all five of the thrusters and casings if I go space ship, I typically turn five cities over to parts production after popping Composites and Superconductors. The weakest of these cities might take six turns or so to build a part, so cutting off three turns at a minimum will get me to break even.