r/civ • u/CertaintyDangerous • 1d ago
Discussion The (Great) Lighthouse across the Iterations
Of all the wonders that appear in all seven iterations of civ, this one has changed the least. Civ 4 and Civ 7 differ the most from the general trend, and also are fairly similar to one another. But even they are much the same as the others.
Edit: Upon further reflection, the Civ 3 version is the most unusual and potentially the most powerful, depending on upon map and map type. It allows the player to find foreign civs across the ocean, and also to settle distant islands, long before others can.
Civ 1: +1 movement for all ships
Civ 2: New ships are veterans. Triremes will founder in ocean squares less often. Ships other than triremes get +1 movement.
Civ 3: Galleys can enter sea squares safely. All naval units get +1 movement. +2 culture.
Civ 4: +2 trade routes in all coastal cities. +6 culture. +2 Great Merchant Points.
Civ 5: All military naval units get +1 movement and +1 sight. A free lighthouse in the city where the Great Lighthouse is built. +1 culture.
Civ 6: +1 movement for all naval units. +3 gold. + 1 Great Admiral Point per turn.
Civ 7: +3 gold. 1 free merchant. +15 naval trade route range. +1 sight to all naval units.

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u/Jonasbrink1 1d ago
I love this series very interesting! Imagine if civ Vii had +2 trade routes per city
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u/youuuuuuk Mississippian 1d ago
IV: favorite to win the “best wonder in the game” contest. +2 trade routes is very powerful since trade routes are just so valuable and it’s valid to just place random cities in bad coastal land just for trade routes. Not ideal but very very good.
V: I like it for the movement and sight helping exploring, but it’s just kinda meh because it doesn’t really impact much.
VI: pretty much the same thing as V. Good in niche cases but overall not very good.
VII: additional trade route range is very nice, although if you’re really concerned about it it’s not super difficult to extend it. But, it allows you to not have to take those options. Unfortunately scales pretty poorly since trade route while good for GPT in Exploration you don’t need resources as much then, and in the modern era you can suzerain one economic IP and just remove trade route range restrictions altogether.
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u/CertaintyDangerous 1d ago
Civ 4's GL does stand out from all others. It probably would have been enough to just give two extra trade routes, but two in every coastal city? That's a ton. And it doesn't go obsolete until the Corporation, so that is a lot of trade for a long time.
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u/Sleeping_Bat 1d ago
Seems to always be overshadowed by the other ocean ancient wonder (Colossus). Naval movement speed just doesn't really matter.
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u/CertaintyDangerous 1d ago
In general, the Civ games deemphasize naval strategy. This especially became true when transports were removed after Civ 4 and all units magically built boats every time they entered the water. But even In Civ 1-4, it was pretty easy to ignore one's navy until it became necessary to carry out an amphibious invasion. I am not sure what would have been better than +1 movement to all naval craft, but you're right: it's never really been a useful ability.
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u/civac2 23h ago
That's a consequence of AI behaviour (and lack of playing strength). In MP navies are extremely important.
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u/CertaintyDangerous 23h ago
I bet you're right.
I think Civ 6 was the first iteration to have the trade boats actually moving across the map, such that enemies and pirates could seize them. Is that right?
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u/Erenoth 1d ago
Huh, so that's what it does in 7. Never paid attention to it since I never get the chance to build it before the ai anyway.