What Ancient Wonders to build?

[DeletedUser7733]

Ancient Wonders gave me the biggest headache in this game. So many of them to pick from and such a big decision to make because once built and upgraded it’s very hard to say goodbye to the invested KPs.

When I started the game and asked what others think about it, everyone recommended different AWs to build but they all agreed on Golden Abyss. It’s small, it gets unlocked very early in the game and who doesn’t need population? So I built one and after that I ended up procrastinating and build very few of them. I have three of them and I am at the end of Amuni. I wouldn’t recommend it as it reduces supply of seeds a lot but I have event buildings to make up for that (Inno doesn't offer them any more).

Now, when a new player asks me what AW to build, I answer Golden Abyss and then tell them to go through all AWs regardless of when they get unlocked and pick the ones that align with their strategy the best and wait for them. I wouldn't recommend to build too many of them as space is very precious in this game.

What is your strategy and what AWs do you build to get what you want?

 

[DeletedUser6967]

I build a lot of them, mainly for trading purposes (I can't win fights for the life of me)

I have the:
-Golden abyss
-Tome of secrets (to be deleted in orcs)
-Endless excavation
-Mountain halls

I am planning to build:
-Blooming traders guild
-prosperity towers

 

[DeletedUser7744]

I find the Golden Abyss to be great: it's relatively small in size, it offers POP, and gives a modest amount gold. Perfect for beginners. Not to mention that it's pretty popular, so you'll get many investment opportunities that leads to quick rune payout. I'm currently hunting for Needles, from what I read they can help to buff up my troops in Tourney. I don't scout much though so the Tome of Secrets doesn't interest me.

A word of caution though: IMHO, AWs belong to end-game contents, so new players/begineners shouldn't sacrifice all of their resources just to build one, just let it build "naturally." (ie. rewards from Tourneys, events, etc.) Advise them to focus on building the crucial infrastructure first. (Workshops, Residences, T1-T3.)

 

[Killiak]

Whichever ones that work for you, and which you can fit.

That said, square for square, there are some AW's that you simply MUST build, because their benefits are so much better than what you can regularly achieve.

Golden Abyss (population per square is huge)
Watchtower Ruins (culture per square is huge)
Sanctuary/ Monastery (culture again)
Dragon Abbey (the mana per spell is so useful in guest races)

It's a short list, but all the other AW are situational to your preferred style of play. You could argue that Mountain Halls should be in this list, but it's considerably larger than a GA and as such harder to place (and level).

 

[DeletedUser]

Choose what works best for you, on my main large cities I have all but:

Crystal Lighthouse/Great Bell Spire - I rarely do NH manually as the app is so much easier, and as they nerfed the chest rewards that was it for me
Thrones of the High Men - only useful if you want the points for the ranking, but if you aren't a high level then its not worth the space
Enar's Embassy - once the broken shard bar is full then it will sit with its broken shard waiting for collection, easier to build and sell unwanted AWs
Sunset Towers - I don't get help chests (as above) and don't need to bother about seed decay, currently have 388k+ seeds in my main city

I'm primarily a full-on autofighter in tournaments and I negotiate on the World Map, so I want the best of both worlds and free troops is always a bonus!

 

[Pauly7]

I say all of them!... but the most important thing is to take the time to upgrade them all. Those AWs which look weak to begin with, such as the Tome of Secrets, become much more powerful at higher levels.

Play style does affect choices of course, but for me that just means the choice of where to concentrate the upgrades rather than whether to build them at all.

One example is Prosperity Towers. Now I have it upgraded a few levels it easily pays out more tools per square than the best workshop I can own - so it's a no-brainer.... aaand it's upping my PoP spells to 235%.

And for anyone who fights in provinces or tournaments I can't stress enough how good Sanctuary / Martial Monastery is and equally so, Needles of the Tempest. Needles makes the light ranged troops more powerful whilst at the same time ramping up the training speed of the barracks.

There are actually a couple of wonders that I took a conscious decision not to build and one of those was only because I think it looks too silly, but these are very much the exception for me.

 

[Pauly7]

Crystal Lighthouse/Great Bell Spire - I rarely do NH manually as the app is so much easier, and as they nerfed the chest rewards that was it for me

With this I find that even though it was nerfed that it's worth it just for the increase in NH duration. This works very well levelled up in combination with the Watchtower Ruins.

Thrones of the High Men - only useful if you want the points for the ranking, but if you aren't a high level then its not worth the space

I agree with you on this, actually, though for me I have it front and centre in the middle of my city just because I think it looks so grand.

Enar's Embassy - once the broken shard bar is full then it will sit with its broken shard waiting for collection, easier to build and sell unwanted AWs

That was one of the two I decided not to build.

 

[m4rt1n]

I agree that Enar's Embassy is a pointless AW currently following the addition of other buildings that provide Broken Shards.

I did make a suggestion thread a while ago that it should be revamped in some way.

https://en.forum.elvenar.com/index.php?threads/enars-embassy.8878/

I have built so far everything up to and including Sunset Towers, with the exception of Enar's Embassy and Thrones of the High Men. The latter I plan to build near the end of my game after the hopefully upcoming Chapter 14.

 

[DeletedUser4149]

i think that building too many wonders is a mistake. that means less space for portals, less kp to go around to good wonders, and fewer wonders that you can build and junk to forge runes.

the embassy is at least halfway useless if you have plenty of other wonders to use to get broken runes, like what i mentioned above.

the tome needs 900 to 1000 kp before it awards 2 kp per day. that sounds like a waste of kp and space to me. also, it takes me 3 days to scout.

excavation is halfway useless once you have your relic bonus at the 700% maximum.

building a throne was my biggest mistake i've made in this game. a willow, a garden of harmony, or just about any other large cultural piece would have been more useful than this piece of junk. it's very good for players who have push accounts though. it was worded poorly when i built mine. it said its power is increased every time you build or upgrade a wonder. that isn't nearly as accurate as saying that its power is based on the total levels of your wonders. the original wording implied that it would do more if it was built before you upgraded and built many of your other wonders.

the amuni wonders and the one that boosts a training grounds all seem crappy to me too.

 

[RainbowElvira]

excavation is halfway useless once you have your relic bonus at the 700% maximum

Relic production of the Endless Excavation is next to nothing. But even at level 1 its supplies production outperforms my level 31 workshops by far even at 170% culture bonus. And it is smaller at the same time. Definitely a "must have" independent of play style, IMHO.

Other great wonders I have:

Golden Abyss - always
Prosperity Towers - if you can be on at least twice a day
Watchtower Ruins - if you need culture (always?)
Mountain Halls - if you have a decent amount of manus (not sure, more than 6 total?)

Wonders I once built and tore down because they didn't justify the space they occupied:

Enar's Embassy - I had this wonder just a few minutes, because I wanted the avatar
Maze of the Dark Matter - it's huge, it's ugly, the benefits are tiny - one of the worst wonders
Elvenar Trade Center - not as bad as the Maze, more ore less useful in Elementals. Seed producing event buildings are better, though

The Blooming Trader became obsolete with the availability of Trading Outpost and Portal Spells.
All military wonders are more or less useful, currently I have Needles of the Tempest, Martial Monastery, Dwarven Bulwark, Shrine of the Shrewdy Shrooms and the Flying Academy.

 

[Deleted User - 341074]

It's worth noting that with the rebalance a while back that the golden abyss should NOT be the go to advice given to new players.
Each situation should be analyzed as the benefits are now based on your working population which means that the GA gives less pop per square than a normal house until around the end of chapter 5.

The first wonder a player should build for efficiency is the Tome as it is most powerful in the early game.(but remains better than a workshop for almost every playstyle in every chapter)

 

[DeletedUser5976]

the GA gives less pop per square than a normal house until around the end of chapter 5.

Yes I did notice this with my new city. And unless the new player is very much into tournaments and gets the relics for max bonus as fast as possible with the help of a supportive FS they will be having trouble upgrading Abyss to have more benefit out of it.

But having it and putting a few kp in it whenever you're tech locked is helpful in the future if you have the space.

I didn't build the Tome (except for breaking rune shards) since I want to build AW that I will keep and upgrade and as scouting times get longer the usefulness of the Tome decreases for me.

 

[Pauly7]

I like my Tome. Admittedly it takes a couple of days for me to get my £300k scouting prize, but work that back and compare it to the amount a workshop is paying out... not bad really. Plus having 3 or more extra KP a day is also a winner once it is levelled up a few.

Since my last post here I've also thought about the Thrones of the High Men a little more, which I admitted that I only owned because I think it looks cool.... However, looking at it again right now it gives me about 5,300 in culture. If one were to be building a solely culture building (which I don't often), then 5,300 would be a pretty decent building.... and it definitely can't be overlooked the 13k culture I'm getting from The Sanctuary.

 

[DeletedUser5976]

Admittedly it takes a couple of days for me to get my £300k scouting prize, but work that back and compare it to the amount a workshop is paying out... not bad really.

Of course it isn't bad, but I'm either low on supplies or almost full and a big amount at a time most of the time doesn't work that well for me. Also when I have to choose where to spend my kp (since I can't upgrade them all to the max) I chose Prosperity Towers instead.

 

[Lelanya]

Ahh almost all of them have their uses. Golden Abyss
Needles of the Tempest
Sanctuary/Martial Monastery
Watchtower Ruins
Mountain Halls
Prosperity Towers
Shrine of the Shrewdy Shroom
Flying Academy
Dragon Abbey
Temple of the Toads
(I have no further recommends, as I am still working Elementals)
I also love Heroes Forge
Tome, Lighthouse, Enar's I would say put in but do not level as you will be selling it for space down the road. That said, all Wonders work better with a couple of levels on them.
The best are, all of the above, but the 2 that give culture are excellent, as is MH & DA. Never skip an opportunity to build and level those.

 

[Pauly7]

There's actually a topic of conversation which often comes up and that is Mountain Halls vs those AWs that improve combat. Personally I will always lean towards the latter because if you compare an extra level on Mountain Halls with the ability to win just one extra tournament encounter in a level 20 province rather than catering it with the extra goods MH has given you, then you can see just how useful improved combat can be.

 

[DeletedUser3571]

I would suggest for everyone to build
Abyss - small with great population and coins
Watchtower - massive culture
Prosperity tower - good supplies (great if you use POP spells)
Dragon abbey - instant mana
Mountain hall - more goods and population (not sure on this as shape can be awkward)

If tournament orientated i would suggest these 3 as a must have
Needles - allows you to train barracks troops faster (most used units) and gives boost to archers
Sanctuary - Gives health boost to all units (i also like the culture it gives)
Bulwark/Shrooms - allows you to train more troops at a time (i favour shrooms)
If you have room you can always add the aw's that boost the strength of the other troops or provides free troops.

If you don't like to spend KP's on aw's then Elvenar trade centre is good for the seeds you miss from the collection bonus.

 

[Deleted User - 341074]

The absolute worst wonders are imo:

• Maze/Enars-every event offers a building that is far far better per square at mana production.
• Thrones- not terrible for culture, but every KP invested would better be spent elsewhere.
• Blooming trader- if you win 1 trading post per event you are better off than having a level 11 BTG. And you save 17 squares. No, the wholesale reduction isn't great, go buy KP instead
• Pyramid-craft a vallorian vallor or 2 instead.
• LoGN- very niche wonder with a fatal flaw: you need buffs on mana buildings which generally arent your best culture buildings. If someone has a strategy where this wonder makes sense, I'd love to hear it.
• Sunset towers- this wonder comes far too late to be of any use. The need for seeds drops dramatically in Amuni, so if there isn't a massive increase in seed requirements for chapter 14 it's a rather pointless wonder.

Then come the other culture wonders. If you like the super efficient culture&pop hybrids from events and get about 30-40%+ of your pop from them, then you will have no need for pure culture buildings in your city meaning the watch tower and lighthouse combo has no value as you won't need any culture buffs to hit 150% bonus- this is an especially effective strategy for players in more casual FS where they can't count on a lot of visits as they will see a better return after about 20-30% pop from hybrids.
If, for some reason, you don't do events, or choose other event buildings than the hybrids, then YMMV.

"No brainers"

• EE, PT, ToS. Each of them are better than workshops at level 1(with extremely rare exceptions like making bread 24/7, only collecting from PT once a day, and 72H+ scout times)
• Shrewdly shrooms- this building is an absolute must have if you want to use military. Even at level 1 it's better than a third armory, and it takes up zero pop.
• Dwarven bulwark-generally KP invested in the shrewdly is better than the dwarven bulwark, but you might unlock the bulwark months earlier which makes this a great wonder until then, and if you level it, it's not worth deleting.
• Needles-again, only military, but most troops come from barracks, and once you reach a point where your barracks level is always at max, then the only way to get more troops is this wonder(or crafting)
• Monastery/sanctuary after the shrewdly this is hands down the best military wonder. The only way to gain an advantage over the enemy in tournaments is to have buffed troops, and this is the only wonder that buffs all of them.
• Mountain halls- any build that has at least 6 factories is better off building a MThall than building a 7th factory. The more factories the better it is, and that's not even counting the pop it gives you.
• Golden abyss-as mentioned above, once this gives better pop per square than a house (around chapter 5/6) it's an obvious win.

Special mention

• Dragon abbey-a really cool wonder where you can get instant mana by spamming spells. The problem is that crafting might get better and better and the CC spell doesn't give mana. Also, you need to run your magic academy pretty much 24/7 to build up enough spells to make it useful meaning a greater commitment to the tournament for needed relics. Finally, you can't really use this as your only mana source and use spells often( like constant PoP or MM)
• All other military wonders. If you get heavy into the tournaments, then you'll want to start adding in either the wonders that shore up your weak spots (human heavy ranged+toads) or doubles down on your strengths (dogs+victory springs) as space allows.
• Elvenar trade center- good for getting needed seeds in elementals, but much less needed in Amuni...but the boost to MM is quite powerful, so I'd say it's playstyle dependent.

A quick note about the "build them all" strategy: it's true that every wonder is better than not having it(ignoring space efficiency), but if you build them all then you will largely have luck dictate which ones you can level up.
Without some skipped wonders like the lighthouse or thrones that you can use to smash runes and fill wanted wonders, you need a combination of luck, patience or diamonds to get the runes you need.