Mykans Guide - Wonders

[Mykan]

This guide forms part of a larger guide Mykans Guide

Wonders
The first wonder technology is available in the second chapter with more wonders unlocked later in the technology tree. The wiki has a good section on wonders here. Wonders by era:

• Secret Ancient wonders - bonus portrait for building wonder
  • Golden Abyss
  • Tome of Secrets
• Ancient wonders of Tempest - bonus portrait for building wonder
  • Endless Excavation
  • Needles of the Tempest
• Elven/Human Ancient wonders - Race specific, special backdrop image for your town when built
  • The Bell Spire (Human) / Crystal Lighthouse (Elven)
  • The Sanctuary (Human) / The Monastery (Elven)
• Forgotten Ancient Wonders - bonus portrait for building wonder
  • Watchtower Ruins
  • Thrones of the High Men
• Dwarven Ancient Wonders - Special backdrop image
  • Dwarven Bulwark
  • Mountain Halls
• Fairies Ancient Wonders - Special backdrop image
  • Prosperity Towers
  • Blooming Trader Guild
• Orcs & Goblins - bonus portrait for building wonder
  • Heroes’ Forge
  • Shrewdy Shrooms
• Wood Elves - bonus portrait for building wonder
  • Enar's Embassy
  • Flying Academy
• Sorcerers & Dragons
  • Maze of the Dark Matter
  • Dragon Abbey

The maximum level for a wonder is level 20.

Runes
You need to collect a set of 9 runes for any wonder you wish to build and you will need these sets again for levels 6, 11 and 16.

Earning Runes
Runes are gained from:

1. Completing provinces
2. Rewards for top contribution to someone’s wonder (You get none for your own wonder)
3. Tournaments
4. Some quests (very rare)
5. Events (Summer Solistice)

Rune Wheels
Each wonder has its own rune wheel to record how many runes you have, which ones you have activated and how many broken shards you have.

While assembling a set of runes any duplicate rune will shatter. A collection of 10 broken runes can be exchanged for 1 guaranteed rune for any wonder of your choice. These are best used for the last rune in the wheel, but that is not always possible. Choose carefully which wonder is best to get a guaranteed rune for. If you do not convert the 10 broken shards into a new rune any extra broken shards are lost.

Leveling wonders
Wonders can increase in power in 2 ways:

• Upgrading
• Based on progression of your town

Upgrading
Each wonder needs a certain amount of research using Knowledge Points, (“KP”), before it is ready to upgrade to the next level. Once a person has a wonder technology unlocked they donate to anyone's wonder, whether they are in your fellowship, discovered or undiscovered players. You can also donate KP to your own wonders.

Each wonder provides a certain amount of rewards for the top contributors to the wonder. These rewards are bonus KP and a rune of the type of wonder contributed to. Other than specific quests or broken shards there is no other method of obtaining a guaranteed rune for a specific wonder. Runes received for wonders not yet researched are stored until you unlock the related technology.

Rewards for completing the research are paid out at the time the research completes.

Town progression
Wonders can also develop as your town progresses. Many bonuses are based on a percentage of various things, Max coin/supply storage, provinces explored, squad size, working population and required culture. As wonders are based on a % some wonders may only give a very small bonus at the time of unlocking them and will only be more powerful later.

Methods of leveling wonders
There are a number of different methods for leveling wonders and you will need to find a method that suits you best. (credit to katwijk for much of the information)

1. Do it yourself
2. Direct swap
3. Round robin
4. Endless KP swap
5. Spreadsheet assisted pool

Do it yourself
This is fairly straightforward. You put your own points into your wonder to level them up. You will get no bonus KP or runes. If you are lucky fellowship members or random neighbours may throw in the last couple points to take the rewards. The big downsides are the time to level and no rewards for leveling a wonder.

Direct swap
You find a person willing to swap KP with you and you put an greed amount or % of KP into each others wonder. This can be done by also putting points into your own wonders, like 40/40/20 with the 20% coming from other people trying to earn the remaining. This is very simple and easy to manage and you should both get top contributor to the other person’s wonder but it can take a while to level.

Round robin
There can be a number of variations but basically a small group of people agree to all contribute to each other's wonders. This could be A gives to B who gives to C who gives to A or it could be we all give to A on Monday and B on Tuesday, etc. The time for a payout can be long and the group can be prone to “snipers” taking the rewards. These methods tend to be easy to monitor but do have fixed contributions.

Endless KP swap
Usually within a fellowship an agreed amount of KP is determined and you donate to the last person who posted in the thread. This method is also very easy to manage but can be the slowest for getting rewards and your are invested in multiple wonders all over the place. If you are on an international server then the time zones can impact your ability to participate quickly as you are waiting for someone to donate to your wonder often finding your donations might go outside the scheme. The fixed KP amount of the swap can also be a hindrance if you have a lot of KP to swap as you are reliant on others to invest before you can invest in them.

Spreadsheet assisted pool
This method is more complicated to manage, but very effective. All donations to the pool are tracked and members focus on a small number of wonders at a time. This can mean rewards for leveling wonders are realised very quickly, within a couple days. There is also the added benefit of a team approach which can be great for fellowships who want a team spirit. With no fixed contribution you have the flexibility to adjust to your game needs and know your contributions will be returned. This is also the only method that allows people who do not have a wonder to contribute prior to building their wonder.

@Katwijk has 2 posts explaining how a spreadsheet system would work along with his analysis of the different methods of levelling wonders.
Katwijk Analysis of KP clubs - This also includes an explanation of a spreadsheet method
Katwijk Explanation of a spreadsheet method
Crazy Wizards Website Lists known reward payouts for each wonder

 

[Mykan]

Which wonders to build?
As you build your town, earn runes and unlock wonders you will need to decide which wonders to build. Do you build them all? Or are certain ones better suited to your strategy? Other than the space to build a wonder and the knowledge points to level them there is no real downside for any wonder. Ranking points per square is also a major benefit for wonders and will not be discussed below as a benefit for a specific wonder.

Golden Abyss
This wonder occupies a 3x3 space. It provides gold and population with the ability to be better than your residences. This can give your population a boost without the need to have culture buildings to support it. The population bonus is based on a % of your working population (not total population). The gold bonus is a % of your main hall storage capacity.
You also receive a unique portrait.

Tome of Secrets
This wonder occupies a 4x4 space. It provides supplies per scout and additional knowledge points. More than most wonders this is one that has a greater benefit the sooner you get it, before you scout a lot and the longer you have it due to the KP bonus. Over the course of 12 months this wonder at level 1 provides you an additional 365 KP and at level 16+ an additional 1,460 KP. This is a 4%, 8%, 12.5% or 16.6% faster generation of KP. Over time this wonder can help you progress in technology or build wonders faster than a person who does not have it. The supplies bonus is based on your main hall storage capacity.
You also receive a unique portrait.

Endless Excavation
This wonder occupies a 5x4 space. It provides supplies and additional relics per province. This can give your supplies a boost without the need to have population or culture buildings to support it. The extra relics will also help your boosted goods produce quicker or keep your magic academy fueled with relics. The supplies bonus is based on your main hall storage capacity.
You also receive a unique portrait.

Needles of the Tempest
This wonder occupies a 3x5 space. It provides better Light Ranged units and faster barracks production. The enhanced ability of Light Ranged units will help you in provinces and tournaments. With smaller squad sizes then your enemy in certain tournaments this wonder gives you superior quality troops when faced with superior quantity.
You also receive a unique portrait.

The Bell Spire (Human) / Crystal Lighthouse (Elven)
This wonder occupies a 6x4 space. Increases the neighbourly help rewards and increases the time of the polish effect on your culture buildings. The help reward is goods from one of your boosted goods determined at random. The more people you visit regularly the more benefit you will earn from this wonder. The longer help time on culture buildings can be very useful whether you only have a few visitors a day or lots. If a few you are more likely to move towards a culture bonus, if many visitors your culture buildings will be full a lot and you will get more builder help or coins. The goods you receive is based on a percentage of provinces you have completed.
You also receive a unique backdrop image.

The Sanctuary (Human) / The Monastery (Elven)
This wonder occupies a 5x5 space. It provides health to troops and culture. The enhanced health of your units will help you in provinces and tournaments. With smaller squad sizes then your enemy in certain tournaments this wonder gives you superior quality troops when faced with superior quantity. The culture bonus is based on your required culture.
You also receive a unique backdrop image.

Watchtower Ruins
This wonder occupies a 4x5 space. It provides culture and a %boost to neighbourly culture help. If you are looking for strong culture this wonder will suit that strategy. The culture bonus is based on your required culture.
You also receive a unique portrait.

Thrones of the High Men
This wonder occupies a 4x6 space. It provides culture, ranking points and increase the ranking points from other wonders. The culture provided is equal to the ranking points it provides. If a high rank is your goal then you will want this wonder. If you have a lot of wonders and wonder levels than the culture bonus from this wonder could be helpful.
You also receive a unique portrait.

Dwarven Bulwark
This wonder occupies a 7x4 space. It produces units of your barracks light melee troops every 3 hours and increases your training size. The free troops will help you save supplies and use your barracks production for other unit types. The additional training size can potentially help you need 1 less armoury saving space, population and culture. Both bonuses are based on your squad size.
You also receive a unique backdrop image.

Mountain Halls
This wonder occupies a 3x8 space. It provides a boost to all manufactories and population. This can give your population a boost without the need to have culture buildings to support it. The enhanced production helps you produce goods faster and reduce the pressure to build additional manufactories. The maximum boost for goods is 700% which can only be exceeded by use of this wonder, providing you an economic advantage. The population bonus is based on a % of your working population.
You also receive a unique backdrop image.

Prosperity Towers
This wonder occupies a 5x4 space. It provides a boost to supplies and the duration of the power of provision spell. This wonder specifically focuses on helping you with supplies. The longer spell duration will also allow you to increase supplies and further enhance the efficiency of the magic academy. The supplies bonus is based on your main hall storage capacity.
You also receive a unique backdrop image.

Blooming Trader Guild
This wonder occupies a 3x7 space. It provides guest race portal production, lowers the trader fee with neighbours and increases the goods offered by the wholesaler. There is no other way to enhance guest race production so this wonder will speed up the collection of those rare resources and help reduce the pressure of space needed by guest race buildings to accumulate goods in a reasonable time frame. The other benefits enhance a more commercial/trading strategy improving the efficiency of using resources in the wholesaler or in trading with neighbours you are yet to discover.
You also receive a unique backdrop image.

Heroes Forge
This wonder occupies a 5x5 space. It provides a boost to Heavy Melee units and produces Orcs every 24 hours. The enhanced ability of your Heavy Melee units will help you in provinces and tournaments. With smaller squad sizes then your enemy in certain tournaments this wonder gives you superior quality troops when faced with superior quantity. The additional Orcs can save you supplies in producing them or in less pressure for more armouries. Orcs are used as a resource for province negotiation from ring 11 onwards and for certain building upgrades (Workshops) from the start of Era 8 onwards. Orc production is based on your completed provinces.
You also receive a unique portrait

Shrewdy Shrooms
This wonder occupies a 5x4 space. It produces units of your barracks light range units every 3 hours and increases the training size in your barracks based on your armoury levels. The free troops will help you save supplies and use your barracks production for other unit types. The additional training size can potentially help you need 1 less armoury saving space, population and culture.
You also receive a unique portrait

 

[DeletedUser3297]

Following..

Lot of great information here that I would like to copy and paste in the chat box in the game. A lot of people don't come here, but it would help them out if they knew this

 

[Mykan]

An excellent wonder summary from @Thistleknot

I hope that I can give a general idea of the usefulness of the different wonders without too much bias. There are always trade offs and costs associated with having a wonder, but that is part of deciding how to play the game. Also keep in mind that the wonders are level dependent; they are more powerful at higher levels. My analysis does not go into the usefulness at higher levels, merely a synopsis at various stages of the game. I have defined the following stages: Early Game (Ages 1 to 3), Mid Game (Ages 4 to 6), and Late Game (Ages 7 and 8). Everything is based on the current version of the game as of 9/16/16. In other words, things will change after all of this is typed in.

Age 2 Wonders
Tome of Secrets (4x4) - KP/day and Supplies for Scouting
Early - extra KP is useful, bonus supplies easily available due to quick explorations
Mid - extra KP is useful, bonus supplies are at average to slow availability due to longer explorations
Late - extra KP is useful, bonus supplies are only available once every couple of days.
Note: This only gives 3 KP per day once you reach level 11

Golden Abyss (3x3) - coin/3 hours and extra population
Early - extra coin needed, extra population needed
Mid - extra coin useful, extra population needed
Late - coin is not needed as much, but can be useful at the wholesaler; extra population needed
Note: Best population/square at level 15 (about 288 people per square)

Age 3 Wonders
Endless Excavation (5x4) Extra relics/province conquered and supplies/24 hours
Early - extra relics easily available due to quick explorations, potentially useful for boosted goods, spell creations, and wonder upgrades; supplies much needed
Mid - extra relics are at average to slow availability due to longer explorations, potentially useful for boosted goods, spell creations, and wonder upgrades; supplies much needed
Late - extra relics are only available once every couple of days, , potentially useful for boosted goods, spell creations, and wonder upgrades; supplies much needed but are slow to get

Needles of the Tempest (3x5) Attack boost for Light Ranged Units and training speed increase
Early - Heavy ranged units just researched, light ranged units reliable; training speed increase useful
Mid - Heavy ranged units are more available, light ranged units are still viable; training speed increase useful
Late - Heavy ranged units are used in majority, light ranged units might be useful if the Needles is at level 15; training speed increase useful

Age 4 Wonders
Martial Monastery (5x5)/Sanctuary (5x5) % health increase for troos and extra culture
Mid - Needed for any combat; extra culture always useful
Late - Needed for any combat; extra culture always useful

Crystal Lighthouse (6x4)/Great Bell Spire (4x6) Boosted Goods for Neighborly Aid Given and % Increase of time for Neighborly Aid Received
Mid - Extra goods useful, dependent upon having neighbors to help and get help from; Longer cultural bonus is useful
Late - Extra goods useful, dependent upon having neighbors to help and get help from, not a lot a bonus goods for once per day; Longer cultural bonus is useful

Age 5 Wonders
Watchtower Ruins (4x5) % Culture bonus on Neighborly Aid received and Extra culture
Mid - Bonus culture useful; extra culture needed
Late - Bonus culture useful; extra culture needed

Thrones of High Men (4x6) Bonus ranking points
Note: This wonder should only be built if ranking is important to you
Mid - Dependent on having multiple wonders, preferably at high levels
Late - Dependent on having multiple wonders, preferably at high levels

Age 6 Wonders
Dwarven Bulwark (7x4) Extra Light Melee Units/3 hours and Increased training size
Mid - Extra free Light Melee Units are useful; increase in training size useful if you are producing troops
Late - Extra free Light Melee Units are useful, but Light Melee Units may not be used as often; increase in training size useful if you are producing troops

Mountain Halls (3x8) Relic boost and Extra Population
Mid - Relic boost is useful; Extra population is needed
Late - Relic boost is useful; Extra population is needed

Age 7 Wonders
Prosperity Tower (5x4) Spell of Provision duration increase and Supplies/3 hours
Late - Spell duration increase is useful; Supplies are needed

Blooming Trader Guild (3x7) Trader's fee decrease, Wholesaler trade value increase, and Portal production boost
Late - Trader's fee decrease is useful even if you are in a fellowship; wholesaler trade value increase is useful for coin/supply overflow; Portal production boost is extremely nice, but currently has a limited use

Age 8 Wonders
Heroes' Forge (5x5) Orcs/24 hours and Strength increase for Heavy Melee Units
Late - Because of the necessity of orcs, free orcs even once per day is useful; Strength increase for Heavy Melee Units is necessary for combat

Shrine of the Shrewdy Shrooms (5x4) Light Ranged Units/3 hours and Training size increase
Late - Extra free Light Ranged Units is useful but Light Ranged Units may not be utilized as much, Potentially more useful in conjunction with the Needles of the Tempest; Training size increase is useful.

Hope this helps and enjoy building your city.

 

[Sir Squirrel]

great info on the wonders!

Following..

Lot of great information here that I would like to copy and paste in the chat box in the game. A lot of people don't come here, but it would help them out if they knew this

I do a tip of the week in my fellowship to get info like this to all my members. I will be using some of this for my next tip! thanks.

 

[Mykan]

I did some calculation on the KP needed to level all existing wonders in the game as at today

Chapter I: 0
Chapter II: 9,258
Chapter III: 9,456
Chapter IV: 11,434
Chapter V: 10,733
Chapter VI: 11,888
Chapter VII: 10,310
Chapter VIII: 10,817

Total: 73.896 KP or 84,427 KP for all techs and wonders in the game.

On average a wonder takes 5,280 KP to level 15 so if you only want 4 wonders then 21,120 KP or go to wiki and add up the actual wonder(s) you want.

The points required for wonders verse techs raises some questions on strategy of should you rush to the end of the tech tree or split your focus. A single wonder takes just under 1/2 the KP of the entire tech tree, I discuss this aspect more in the strategy section of my guide.

 

[Maz Mellor]

An excellent wonder summary from @Thistleknot

Excellent indeed. Many thanks to you both for creating this very informative thread.

 

[Mykan]

Strategy and Wonders
Your game strategy will determine which, if any, wonders you build and when you decide to start leveling them. This section looks at different types of game strategy and which wonders might fit those different strategies.

The strategy approaches chosen to examine in relation to wonders are:

• Aesthetics (Beauty)
• Economic
• Scientific
• Military
• Rank

As each wonder offers 2 benefits it is possible for a wonder to be suitable to more than one strategy. At this stage the guide does not examine the suitability of each wonder for each strategy, simply if it fits within a certain strategy.

Aesthetics (beauty)
This strategy is more interested in the look of a town than the function of the buildings. As the saying goes" Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" so it is not possible to list which buildings will suit a particular persons strategy of this nature. In this case beauty could also be to obtain a unique character portrait. It is recommended that a person following this strategy look at the guide above with pictures of the portraits and backdrops along with the wiki for actual buildings to determine if certain wonders appeal to them. Note if you want the portraits only you can delete the wonder after it is built and still keep the portrait.

Economic
This strategy is looking for efficiency of buildings, an increase in coins, supplies, population, goods and trading. While some wonders could be said to provide efficiency due to a saving in supplies these wonders will be excluded for the purpose of this strategy.
Wonders to consider for this strategy are:

• Golden Abyss - Population and Coins
  
• Tome of Secrets - Supplies
• Endless Excavation - Supplies
• The Bell Spire (Human) / Crystal Lighthouse (Elven) - Goods
• Mountain Halls - Boosted goods production and population
• Prosperity Towers - Supplies
• Blooming Trader Guild - Trading
• Heroes’ Forge - While there is a military component to this wonder the production of Orcs as a resource is required for negotiation from ring 11 onwards and therefore considered an economic benefit

Scientific
This strategy is looking for benefits to KP production, relics, spells, culture and mana. Wonders to consider for this strategy are:

• Tome of Secrets - KP
• Endless Excavation - Relics
• The Bell Spire (Human) / Crystal Lighthouse (Elven) - Culture
• The Sanctuary (Human) / The Monastery (Elven) - Culture
• Watchtower Ruins - Culture
• Thrones of the High Men - Culture
• Prosperity Towers - Spells
• Enars Embassy - Broken Shards and Mana
• Maze of the Dark Matter - Mana
• Dragon Abbey - Mana

Military
This strategy is looking for military benefits from troop production, increase training sizes, faster production of military or enhanced troop quality
Wonders to consider for this strategy are:

• Needles of the Tempest - Troop quality and faster production
• The Sanctuary (Human) / The Monastery (Elven) - Troop quality
• Dwarven Bulwark - Free troops and training size
• Heroes’ Forge - Troop quality
• Shrewdy Shrooms - Troop quality and training size
• Flying Academy - Free troops and faster production
• Dragon Abbey - Free Troop quality

Rank
This strategy is looking for highest possible rank. Due to how score is recorded for wonders every wonder as it levels is worth a lot of ranking points. Some will be better per square then others however only one wonder, Thrones of the High Men, specifically focuses on rank as its benefit.

 

[DeletedUser5180]

The question has come up in my Fellowship...At what point do the backdrops appear after completing the AW's that accompany them? Do these AW's have to be completely maxed out to receive the backdrop?

 

[Mykan]

I am not certain of the answer, I would assume at the time the initial construction completes. If they have one of these AW's and no backdrop there might be a support issue. Even a level 1 wonder with 0 research points would have the backdrop.

 

[DeletedUser5180]

My initial thought was the same, that it would appear at the time of initial construction completion. I will have to contact support on this issue as we have multiple AW's completed that are supposed to have the backdrops to go with them and are in differing stages of upgrades with no backdrops on any of my Fellowship members' pages. Thank you for the quick response to the question.

 

[DeletedUser61]

In order to SEE the backdrops, your graphics must be at medium or high. They're suppressed in low resolution. That might be it.

 

[SoggyShorts]

Is thrones of the high men the last wonder that gives a new profile pic?

 

[DeletedUser61]

All but the ones on the cliffs yield portraits.

 

[Mykan]

Is thrones of the high men the last wonder that gives a new profile pic?

I understand the orc and wood elves do as well but I have not found their portraits yet.

 

[Tauriel Dragonwood]

Quick question. Is there a chance you can be given Rune Shards for offering neighborly help to your fellowship and neighbors?

 

[DeletedUser3942]

do you mean the treasure chest you may get while visiting? never had a rune in there

 

[DeletedUser5745]

Some of the newer players in my fellowship have not researched their ancient wonders but have received Rune Shards during the Snowflake Event. Will the Rune Shards they won be available when they have unlocked the Ancient Wonders Research?

 

[Mykan]

Yes they should be there when they get to that wonder. I know for sure at least with the first research that wonder runes for later wonders do stay there, this can occur winning a prize on later game wonders like dwarves prior to getting to that era.

 

[DeletedUser1996]

yes- they`ll still be there when the time comes to build their AW buildings.