Chronicles/Wonders

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The pinnacle of any Nation is the creation of a monument so great, so magnificent and awe-inspiring that it can truly be considered a Wonder of the world.

In Rise of Nations, these monuments are no less amazing than their real-life counterparts. As you can see from the bonuses listed below, wonders provide your Nation with a great many bonuses and are well worth the investment. You will also notice that each wonder has an associated point value. This value is used for scoring when attempting to achieve a Wonder victory -— in certain games, you will win as long as you or your coallition maintain a wonder point lead over other factions for a certain period of time.

There are 17 wonders in Rise of Kings, spanning three eras. Only one of each wonder may be built by all players. In other words, the first player to successfully build the Temple of Tikal will be the only player in the game with that wonder. This limitation when combined with being able to set the number of Wonder points needed for victory makes for some interesting strategy and gameplay. Some of the powers of wonders are so powerful as to rival even the national bonuses of other factions.

The 17 wonders are divided into several classes:

  • Free wonders are wonders that can be built by any faction. The Magnum Horologium is one such wonder.
  • Religious wonders are wonders that can be built only by a certain type of faction. For instance, Baitul Hiqmat, a Muslim wonder, can be built only by the Moors, Turks and Saracens, but nobody else.
  • Tribal wonders are wonders that can be built only by a certain group of factions. Almost every faction in Rise of Kings is part of a "tribal" group that has a wonder of its own. For instance, Hagia Sofia is buildable by the so-called "Levantine" group - meaning the Turks and Byzantines.

Dark Age wonders[edit | edit source]

Name Abilities Resource cost and wonder point contribution Period/Ethnicity Special remarks
White Tower
London.png
  • Functions as a Nobles' Court, allowing early access to its units but is stronger.
  • Trains Tower Warder Infantry with Centralisation
  • Food: 200
    Metal: 200
  • 3 Wonder points
  • Feudalism
  • Wales, Norse, England and Scots
  • The cost of this wonder is about the same as a Nobles' Court
  • +4 Fortification level to whichever region this wonder is played, up to a maximum of 8.
Aya Sofia
Ayasofia.png
  • Timber: 800
    Metal: 800
  • 6 Wonder points
  • Organised religion
  • Byzantium, Armenia, Russia

Marked with a "siege bonus" ability in rules.xml but is unknown what exactly this does.

Aachen Palatinate
Palatinat.png
  • Food: 200
    Knowledge: 290
  • 3 Wonder points
  • Scutage Taxation
  • France, Burgundy, HRE, and Hungary
Allows use of an additional army instead of spawning units in a campaign scenario.
Buddha Grotto Complex
Bamiyan.png
  • Increases all your building hit points by 50%
  • Your Wealth.jpg Wealth income increased by 66%
  • Raises your Commerce Limit for Wealth.jpg Wealth by +200
  • Spawns 3 Camel Raiders when complete
  • Wealth.jpg: 200
    Timber: 200
  • 4 Wonder points
  • Organised religion
  • Asians
Abbey
Abbey icon.png
  • Wealth: 400
    Metal: 400
  • 7 Wonder points
  • Organised religion
  • Christians
  • Spawns Religious Fanatics if attacked or attacking during a Holy War by non-Christian factions, each time you research religion if you are a Christian
  • Added tribute income if built in either Jerusalem; Galicia; or Latium.

Castle Age wonders[edit | edit source]

Name Abilities Resource cost and wonder point contribution Period/Ethnicity Special remarks
Detinets

Detinets icon.png

  • Increases your National Borders by +2
  • Attrition to enemy units in your territory increased by +33%
  • Forts and Towers upgrades 15% cheaper
  • Timber: 200
    Metal: 200
  • 4 Wonder points
  • Fortifications
  • Russia, Poland

Trains the following units:

Cordoban
Mezquita

Mezquita.png

  • Raises your Commerce Cap for Timber by +100
  • Increases Temple effects (on National Borders, Hit Points, and Attack Range) by 50%
  • Food: 400
    Metal: 400
  • 7 Wonder points
  • Darul Islam
  • Muslims
  • Spawns Ghuzat units at your capital during a Holy War whenever attacked or attacking a Christian faction
  • Spawns occur each time you research a religious tech, depending on the level.
Marine
Arsenal

Arsenal.png

  • Spawns 4 Sergeants when successfully completed
  • Functions like a Siege Workshop
  • You create ships 50% faster.
  • Increases your income from rare resources (in your territory) and Markets by 200%.
  • You receive the bonus ability of all unique resources in your territory, even if you don't have a Merchant there.
  • Trains Magistral Guard Infantry with Centralisation
  • Timber: 400
    Metal: 400
  • 4 Wonder points
  • Castle Age [2]
  • Level 4: Standing Army Military
  • Level 4: Compass Commerce
  • Sicily, Holy See, Venice
  • +2 tribute a turn for each colony you control
Deirul
Hiqmeh

Deirulhiqmeh.png

  • Increases Knowledge Production by +100
  • Granary, Lumber Mill, Smelter production upgrades are discounted by 50%
  • Metal: 400
    Knowledge: 700
  • 6 Wonder points
  • Encyclopaedia Knowledge production
  • Muslims
Confucian
Academy

Kongmiao.png

  • Spawns 3 Imperial Legates when successfully built
  • Reduces the non-Knowledge costs of research by 50%
  • Siege, Artillery and Supply units move 25% faster
  • Buildings are built 25% faster
  • Food: 400
    Knowledge: 700
  • 6 Wonder points
  • Castle Age [2]
  • Level 5: Political Theories Civics
  • Asians
Hidden ability: +1 wealth per South Sea Barque
Palace
District

Palace.png

  • Timber: 300
    Food: 300
  • 7 Wonder points
  • Imperial Mandate
  • Asians
In CtW: 3 Imperial Legates are spawned from your capital once this wonder is active.
Alhambra
Complex

Alhambra.png

  • Functions like a Barracks
  • Increases your commerce Limit for Food Food, Timber Timber, Metal Metal, and Wealth Wealth by +200
  • Increases the attrition damage to enemy units in your territory by 100%
  • Spies are created instantly
  • Metal: 800
    Wealth: 800
  • 6 Wonder points
  • Castle Age [2]
  • Level 5: Conduct of War Military
  • Saracens, Moors
Increases your population cap during times of Plague instead of spawning units in the Grand Campaign.

Imperial Era wonders[edit | edit source]

Name Abilities Resource cost and wonder point contribution Period/Ethnicity Special remarks
Angkor Wat

Angkor.png
  • Increases your Metal gather rate by 25%
  • Raises your Commerce Limit for Metal by 50
  • Cost of Barracks, Stable, and Dock units reduced by 10%
  • Spawns 4 War Elephants
  • Wealth: 800
    Timber: 800
  • 8 Wonder points
Grants the ability to train War Elephants from the Nobles' Court in CtW for all factions except China and Turkey
Grand
Cathedral

Cathedral.png
  • Knowledge: 1,200
    Wealth: 800
  • 4 Wonder points
  • Does not spawn units in the Grand Campaign, but prevents Christian vassals from deserting you (so long as you're Catholic).
  • Added tribute income if built in either:
    • Jerusalem;
    • Galicia; or
    • Latium.
Sagres
Point

Sagres icon.png

  • Reveals the entire map.
  • Knowledge: 1,200
    Timber: 800
  • 6 Wonder points
  • Centralisation Taxation
  • Spain, Portugal
  • +2 tribute a turn for each colony you control
Magnum
Horologium

Horologiummagnum.png

  • Spawns 3 Springalds when completed
  • Sets floors on trade price at market; ceilings on purchase cost at market
  • All research is instantaneously complete
  • Metal: 800
    Knowledge: 2,000
  • 7 Wonder points
Porcelain
Tower

Baoensi.png

  • Metal: 800
    Wealth: 1,000
  • 10 Wonder points
  • Engineering Construction
  • Coppicing Woodworking
  • Asians

Strategy[edit | edit source]

Because of how Wonders are set up, it is obvious that there are different ways to achieve a Wonder victory, and often, they will depend heavily on cooperation because not all factions can produce the same sort of Wonder. Asian factions clearly have the advantage in Wonder rushing, due to their large number of Wonders AND the vast number of Wonder points that they have and as a result, tend to favour booming (although it can be argued that Mongolia can both boom and rush well.

For the Western and Muslim factions, diplomacy thus is more important in comparison to booming. Picking allies with a vast number of wonders - especially the Mediterranean and Muslim factions - thus is the main strategy that you should follow. Conversely, if you fear your opponents may use wonders against you, prepare to wage pre-emptive wars against enemies the same powers before they grow too powerful enough to build Wonders.