Field of Glory: Empires – Tier Lists Guide

Cotton Field

A pretty straightforward ag structure, 5 Food plus a textile Trade Good (Cotton), with an interesting twist: they are pretty much limited to Egypt and India or thereabouts. The “Cotton Zone” consists of the following regions: Diospolis, Coptos, Alabastre, Meroe, Tungaria, Indus, Hydaspes, Oplana, Hyphasis, Mohenjo, Mallia, Tunkat, Suram, Sir, Bukaria, Sogdiana. This makes Cotton pretty rare, so if you get the opportunity to build this, do so. Combined with easy to obtain Wool and Flax, Cotton is a big boost to the Weavers Shop and the various Spinning Mills.

Farm

A solid 12 Food production if you get Wool and Cattle nearby (which is likely if you are creating a dedicated agricultural region). The Tier II upgrade Large Farm (which produces Grain for even more crazy Bonus food production) requires Open terrain, so optimal placement for this is Open terrain as well. However if you really think you could use that extra Food right now in a Hill or Swamp or Mountain region, go for it! 8-12 Food is not bad.

Flax Field

A very inexpensive ag structure, 5 Food plus a useful Trade Good with a nice textile Bonus for the Weavers Shop/Spinning Mills. Since Flax is Needed by Training Grounds/Barracks, and these tend to be located in provincial capitals, it is probably best to avoid building Flax Fields in capital regions (since Flax will be imported there anyways, probably netting you a few coins in internal trade as well).

Hemp Field

Another cheap ag building, which I like to build around Tar whenever possible for the extra Money. Hemp is Needed by the Harbor, so as you develop your coastline you might find yourself making a fair amount of Hemp cash in the mid to late game from internal trade.

Hunter Lodge

Limited to Forests with a difficult to obtain Bonus (Wild Beasts), these structures are pretty mediocre except maybe around the beast inhabited woodland regions of Germany. Also note the slight Manpower penalty. As far as the ranged unit manpower discount goes, keep in mind it will only count if the Hunter Lodge is in the region the unit is built (ie, provincial capital if in a province). For a non-Germanic power, probably the only reason you’d spend a building slot on this is the slim chance to upgrade to the Master Hunter (see below).

Master Hunter

An extremely rare upgrade to the Hunter Lodge that doesn’t become available all the time. The key selling point to this is that it is the only Fur producing structure in the game (and there are no structures that import Fur, either, making Fur super hard to get). Fur is a Trade Good with lucrative Bonuses for the Trade Post, Trade House, and Clothing Manufacturer.

Oil Mill

Another low cost, 5 Food ag structure, which produces Olive Oil. Like the Cotton Field, the Oil Mill is geographically constrained (the Olive Zone is: Malaca, Massilia, Epidamnia, Corcyra, Cephallonia, Beotia, Arcadia, Atticus, Ionia, Creta Occidentalis, Creta Orientalis, Phrygia, Parthenius, Issus, Tingitana, Musalamia, Oea, Sardinia, Latium, Aufidus, Lucania, Apulia, Bruttium, Heraei, Eryx, Lesbos, Chios, Bythinia, Orontes, Samarai, Lixus, Rusucuru, Saldae, Ampsaga, Tunes, Arsinoe, Achaia, Iudea, Byzacium, Thysdrus, Africa, Zeugis, Cyrenaica). Has a small Heath bonus too, which is nice. Olive Oil is Needed by the Garum Shop, and is a Bonus to the Tavern.

Orchard

5 Food with no sexy added Trade Good produced. However, it does grow more Food with certain Bonus goods (in fact, you need at least one Bonus good nearby to build it). However, it seems kind of lackluster unless there are at least two Bonus goods in the vicinity, ie, net at least 15 Food. At only 10 Food, a Farm is probably better (although the Orchard is admittedly far cheaper).

Ranch

Standard Tier I Ag structure: 5 Food and really useful Trade Good, Cattle is Needed by the Smokehouse and Tannery (and Cattle Pens if you’re Celtic), and a Bonus for the Farm, Caravan House, Tavern, Siege Workshop, and Caravansery (and Farmers Market if you’re Celtic). With so much utility, it’s a great idea to build these to get an even distribution of Cattle throughout your empire.

Salt Marsh

Another pretty straightforward ag structure, this one provides the usual 5 Food and produces Salt, and is limited to Swamps. There are other ways to get Salt however (see below).

Salt Mine

The Hilly version of the Salt Marsh (see above).

Shepherd House

5 Food plus a Trade Good, Wool is part of the triad of textiles (along with Flax and Cotton) that power the Weavers Shop and Spinning Mills. Also, super cheap. Cheap sheep!

Stud

5 Food and Horses. Horses as a Trade Good are not that much in demand in the early game, mostly from Stables (a Military structure), and as a Bonus for the Caravan House. Also allows the recruitment of camelry for those desert nations with dromedaries in their force pool.

Vineyard

5 Food and produces Wine, a good needed by the often lucrative Tavern, and a Bonus for a large amount of structures. Like Cotton and Olive Oil, however, you can’t just build these anywhere. The “Wine Zone” regions are as follows: Minius, Iberus, Labinium, Baleares, Pictonia, Aquitania, Remia, Nicaea, Provencia, Septimania, Istria, Etruria, Bruttium, Mosella, Rhenus, Aetolia, Lesbos, Chios, Lydia, Rhodus, Bythinia, Samaria, Rusucuru, Saldae, Granua, Sucro, Malaca, Garumna, Suessionia, Aeduica, Vocontia, Massilia, Corcyra, Cephallonia, Beotia, Creta Occidentalis, Creta Orientalis, Marestus, Taurica, Panticapeum, Ampsalis, Baetis, Mandubia, Rhodanus, Campania, Apulia, Etna, Heraei, Sicilia, Eryx, Illyricum, Mesembria, Chalybia, Lixus.

A general note about Health structures: Don’t underestimate the power of Health. Health will not only discount you the Food cost of a growing a new population, but will reduce the number of bad random population events (i.e., epidemics) and increase the number of good population events (i.e., population boom) the region will get.

Clear Water

5 Health for free. Not even a slot cost. OK, a tiny maintenance cost. But otherwise, FREE! As such, it works great as a “shuffle” pick when you don’t want to build anything else, but unlike a real shuffle, you get something out of it.

Herbalist

Cheap structure that not only boosts Health, but gives a bit of Manpower as well. So cheap, in fact, that like Clear Water I often take this as a pseudo-shuffle pick when there’s actually nothing else good to build. As with all Health buildings, higher population regions will get the most benefit out of them, due to the Food discount for pop increases.

Master Herbalist

A very rare upgrade to the Herbalist, best built in conjunction with good Orchards and Delicacy Shops. It is also a National Wonder (each country can only have one).

Needs Drugs & Herbs however, a rather scarce good that may or may not be in Trade Range. If it is, then that’s great news! Drugs & Herbs are a Bonus for the Trading Post, Secret Cult, Fortune Teller, Physician House, Pleasure Mansion, and Perfumery.

Salthouse

A pretty decent structure, 5 Food AND 8 Health! And it helps distribute Salt around the map. Salt is a bonus for the Fair (or Stoa), Market, and Garum Shop.

Sanitation

8 Health and it upgrades to an excellent structure, the Tier III Sewers. The Sewers upgrade is unique in that it is a zero slot upgrade of a one slot structure, meaning the upgrade will actually open up a slot! Something to keep in mind when planning here.

Smokehouse

Similar to the Salthouse, a solid 5 Food plus 8 Health and it helps distribute Cattle around your empire.

Swamp Draining

Kind of pricey for only 8 Health, it does every now and then unlocks the Tar Deposit in the Swamp region (see below).

Tar Deposit

A very rare byproduct of Swamp Draining, this Health structure is bit odd in that doesn’t actually provide any Health. It does provide some Infrastructure and the Trade Good Tar, which is a Bonus for the Hemp Field, Drydock, Shipyard, and others.

Brickwork

Good if Stone is around, meh if not. You could probably build this near Hills prior to having Stone, reasonably expecting either the commonplace Quarry or Clay Pit will come up soon to fulfill the Bonus.

Charcoal Pile

A bit of Infrastructure and Money, this structure produces Coal which is used by the Furnace, Weapons Manufacture, Forge, Arsenal, Great Arsenal and Great Forge to make extra Metal or Equipment. It is also a clever way to get Lumber out into arid and desert regions for Bonus purposes.

Clay Pit

Like the Quarry, this structure produces Stone and has a small Health penalty, but is not limited to Hills. Requires Public Works to be in place.

Copper Mine

Limited to regions with a Copper deposit, this structure will use that Trade Good to generate 5 Infrastructure and 7 Metal a turn for you.

Iron Mine

Limited to regions with an Iron deposit, this structure will use that Trade Good to generate 5 Infrastructure and 15 Metal a turn for you.

Lead Mine

Limited to regions with a Lead deposit, this structure will use that Trade Good to generate 10 Infrastructure and 4 Metal a turn for you.

Marble Quarry

Somewhat counter-intuitively, this structure does not produce Marble. It does use Marble as a Bonus good, however, and it is actually not great unless Marble is nearby. There are ways to discover new veins of Marble, however (see below).

Marble Vein

This is a rare structure unlocked by the Quarry. If it pops up I would definitely advise building it right away, as you may not get a shot at it again for a while. Marble is a very valuable Trade Good, Needed by the Noble District, and is an oft lucrative Bonus for the Marble Quarry, Oration Tribune, Large Quarry, Ceramics Works, Basilica, Thermes, Noble Gardens, The Mausoleum, Second Palace, Propylaea, and Koroplathos.

Public Works

One of the best structures in the game, I almost always build it the moment it pops up. Zero slots, 5 Infrastructure, land movement bonus, and it’s the prerequisite for a wide variety of very useful Commerce and Infrastructure buildings. Great for jump starting development in empty regions. And it upgrades to the even more incredible Regional Roads.

Quarry

Like the Clay Pit, this Structure produces Infrastructure, Stone, and a small Health penalty, but it is limited to Hills. It can unlock the very valuable Marble Vein however. It’s upgrade, the Large Quarry, is only situationally an improvement.

Sawmill

Limited to the Forest, this is a more expensive Lumber maker than Wood Cutting, but with double the Infrastructure output.

Tin Mine

Limited to regions with a Tin deposit, this structure will use that Trade Good to generate 5 Infrastructure and 7 Metal a turn for you.

Wheelmaker

Good if Lumber is around, meh if not. You could probably build this near Forests prior to having Wood, reasonably expecting either the commonplace Sawmill or Wood Cutting will come up soon to fulfill the Bonus (so yeah, this is more or less the Lumber version of the Brickwork). Also unlocks Chariot units for those countries that use them militarily.

Wood Cutting

This is the main source of Lumber in the game, as it can be built everywhere except Arid and Desert terrain. Note that you need to have Public Works set up first.

A general note on Military structures: Many offer an XP bonus or manpower or equipment discount to units created in the region. And it’s important to keep in mind that once regions are grouped into a province, all military production takes place in the provincial capital (the exception would be a province with a port-less capital, in which case a random coastal Harbour region is selected). This means Military unit creation bonus structures that find themselves outside a provincial capital are going to be severely depreciated as to their usefulness. Such structures would be good candidates for disassembly, in order to free up slots. It also goes without saying you probably want to avoid building such structures outside the provincial capital.

Archery

Cheap, with an XP bonus for ranged units. And it imports Wool. I like to build these in provincial capitals that offer special ranged Provincial units for construction. The Master Fletcher upgrade is awesome too (if you can get it).

Armorer

Lots of Equipment and Needs Leather, you can build these in any region of a province and still get full value, as Equipment is gathered and pooled provincially.

Castrum Elephantidae

A National Wonder, so each country only gets one. The Ivory production is certainly a nice added feature; Ivory is Needed by the Temple of Zeus, and is a sweet Bonus for Trading Tents, the Trade House, Glass Works, Satrape Palace and the Sculpture Shop (and Koroplathos).

Castrum Equitatum

Another National Wonder, so choose it’s location carefully. The capital of provinces that makes a Light or Skirmisher Provincial Cavalry unit would be a solid choice.

Master Armorsmith

A very rare and very powerful upgrade of the Armorer. How it works is, you park military units in it’s region, and each turn, one unit chosen at random is given “Noric Steel Armor” and has it Defense stat buffed by +1. You’ll be able to see the buff in the unit description, with a “(+1)” notation next to the stat. It’s a National Wonder, so you only get one; choose it’s location wisely.

Master Fletcher

Another extremely rare Master structure, this one affects missile units only. One random ranged unit located in the region will be issued “Reflex Bows” (or the equivalent for slings and javelins) and have its Attack, Defense and Movement stats buffed by +1 each turn. This is a one-of-a-kind National Wonder upgrade of the Archery structure.

Stable Master

This super rare upgrade of the Stables provides “Thoroughbred Mounts,” and each turn buffs a single random cavalry unit station in the region by +1 Attack.

Mercenary Recruitment Center

A structure that lets you buy Mercs in the region or province, which are rated as medium infantry and medium cavalry. Note however that Carthage’s mercenaries work differently, and can be recruited in their appropriate regions regardless of this building.

Palisade

Don’t expect too much from this structure; an army of medium size or above should be able to easily overwhelm its puny Urban Militia garrison with ease. But it will save you the embarrassment of losing a region to a roaming light cavalry force, so there’s that. It can also shelter damaged units from combat while your main army deploys outside.

It also upgrades to bigger and better things, so if there is even the remotest chance of enemy incursions or raids, this is probably worth a slot.

Stables

How much you want to prioritize these probably depends on how good your nation’s cavalry force pool is. If you have an awesome Heavy Cavalry unit to unlock, then of course you’ll want this. If OTOH you are, say, Rome and your cavalry kinda sucks, then why bother with these? Just absorb Cisalpina and recruit some top notch Provincial Celtic Cavalry instead. Note that you do not need the Stables to build a Provincial cavalry unit.

Training Ground

With zero slots, the Heavy Infantry unlocks,an upgrade and the XP bonus, there is really no good reason not to build one of these in every capital region, if you have no other option more pressing to build.

City Walls (Walls I)

A bit better garrisoned than the Palisade, but that’s about it. It does continue to upgrade at higher Tiers, however …

Weapons Depot

The increase in stockpile is nice. It is often advantageous to be able to build a lot of units in a single region in one turn, and the bigger stockpile allows you to do this.

Anchorage

Pros: Zero slot, no upkeep. Insanely cheap. 5 Money a turn. Upgrades to even nicer things. Helps in a siege.

Cons: None. Absolutely none! Build these on every coast (including lakes).

Blacksmith

Not a bad structure, especially with Iron and Copper nearby. The upgrade to this produces Tools, which is a very popular Trade Good for Bonus purposes. See the Tool Manufacture entry for more details.

Bronze Works

Great if Tin is in Trade Range. Terrible if it isn’t. There are less than a dozen regions on the map that produce Tin, and most are off in the boondocks. So, while you often wish you could use this to import this rare good, most of the times, sadly, you cannot.

Candle Shop

One of the Crafter shops, this is nice for helping to spread Wax around your empire, which give a healthy bonus to the basic Science buildings. Tricky to get the Bonus for this though (see Bronze Works above).

Caravan House

Easy to obtain Bonuses make this a pretty lucrative pick Money-wise, and the 10% Commerce bonus insures the structure will scale well into the later game. Definitely incentivizes picking the Market early on.

Coastal Market

Super cheap structure making the main cost here the Slot. Definitely worth it if you have Fish, debatably not worth it if you don’t. Be wary of thinking “oh, I’ll just build a Fishery down the road,” because the sheer number of Commerce structures available can make your planned Fishery elusive (especially if you built a Crafter District).

Copper Works

Like the Bronze Works, but this moves Copper around the map rather than Tin. Copper is much easier to obtain than Tin, making this a bit more useful. And it’s a Bonus for a vast amount of structures (see the Trade Goods section down below).

Crafter District

‘Holy fine print Batman, look at all the cool Commerce structures this unlocks! And zero slots! And 5 Money, AND a 10% Commerce bonus! Whoa!!! You’d be a FOOL not to build this the INSTANT it pops up!’ Well, hold on there partner, there is one tiny wrinkle you might want to consider first, and that is the massive number of unlocks.

There are some very important higher Tier Commerce structures not gated behind the Crafter District. The Bank comes to mind, which enables a certain powerful Decision; the Paved Road with it’s Trade Range increase; same deal with the Trade Port … you get the picture. If you’re angling for one of these structures, you may find the Crafter District more of a hindrance than a help, making it more difficult to “draw” your desired structure for construction.

Of course, if you find yourself in this predicament, you could always disassemble the Crafter District. Then even rebuild it after you got what you want. So yeah, about 97% of the time, you’d be a fool not to build this, the instant it pops up.

The Delicacy Shops

The Delicacy Shops come in four flavors, each with a different “Need,” the rest being Bonuses. With only a base 5 Money and a Decadence problem, Bonuses are the only way to make these worthwhile. The dream here I guess is to build one of a different type in three adjacent regions (you are not allowed to build more of one type per region), with the fourth delicious good being present naturally as well. Pull that off and you are earning a total 14 Money and 9 Culture per structure. Add a Master Herbalist for extra zest.

Fishery

Check to see if you have Fish already available in the area first, either from adjacent Fisheries or sea zones with natural Fish. If you don’t, then yes build this! 5 Food, plus Fish is a nice Bonus to the early game Coastal Market and Garum Shop. And there’s a good chance as your coastline develops, you’ll reap the 5 Money Bonus as well.

Furnace

Imports Iron and unlocks other metal importing structures as well, so pretty useful in getting your Metal economy booming.

Garum Shop

Good income for such a cheap structure, assuming you have Fish nearby, this also helps to spread Olive Oil around your empire for other Bonus purposes. Well, certain empires, anyways … the Need for Mediterranean-based Olive Oil means you probably won’t see this built in Ireland.

Harbour

An upgrade of the Anchorage, it’s important to keep in mind unlike the Anchorage, the Harbour DOES use a Slot. So unlike most other upgrade that replaces another building with a Slot, this WILL cost you a new Slot.

That being said, the Harbour is definitely worth a Slot. Leads to really good stuff, big help in sieges, boarding costs halved, and it imports Hemp, probably leading to some nice extra internal trade income from your nearby Hemp Fields (assuming there are no Carthaginians or other highly obnoxious trading countries nearby).

Market

Since you need at least one its Bonus goods present to build this, the Market will be worth at least 11 Money a turn, which is not bad for a Tier I structure. Get it up to 21 Money and its downright amazing. Couple that with unlocking the Caravans and spreading Pottery around, this a solid pick.

Master Blacksmith

A super rare structure, this gives huge Infra Bonuses for all sorts of nearby metal (which is likely as you had this unlocked by a Blacksmith). Note that the unit XP bonus only counts if the unit is built in the same region with the MB; so, if the region is part of a province, the MB will have to be located in the provincial capital.

Pirates’ Lair

Arrrrh! Built by some of the more uncivilized civilizations, this structure is both lucrative and FUN. Build this, then a decent sized pirate fleet of about a dozen ships, and your investment will quickly pay off. The only down side is the extra work involved in moving the fleet, target selection, and remembering to hit the Raid button. But the payoff in Money, slaves, and the despoiling of your neighbors regions without a formal DOW will make it all worthwhile.

Potters Workshop

One of the Crafter buildings, this will produce the Pottery Trade Good that supplies your Markets, and gives Bonuses to Mills and Ports.

Slave Market

Quite possibly the most important structure in the game.

At this point, I urge you all to double click on the game manual PDF, and read section 6.3.5, starting on page 95. READ IT COMPLETELY, AND READ IT CAREFULLY. If you don’t know this section backwards and forwards, then I guarantee you … bad things will happen.

Done? OK great! Now let me point out a couple things that might not be immediately obvious after reading about ‘Managing your Slaves.’ First, you need at least one Slave Market in your empire AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. If you’re playing a small nation that doesn’t already start with one, your first priority is to build one. Take the option to build it as soon as it appears, shuffling if necessary to get it to appear quicker. Don’t fool around on this! If you delay, and your army and/or navy starts winning battles (both offensive at defensive), pretty soon your capital will start accumulating slaves. And faster than you can say “I’m Spartacus!” your loyalty there will drop, Unrest will break out, and soon thereafter its bye-bye capital region.

Without that one Slave Market, you will be powerless to prevent this. With that one Slave Market, you are eligible to use the Slave Markets decision to sell off or redistribute unwanted slaves (you also need 500 Money in the bank, so building up that nest egg is another priority as well).

Think VERY carefully about building a Slave Market in your capital. One one hand, a reasonable amount of slaves there is a good thing, as they are Pop and Pop = building slots. And lots of building slots in your capital allow some really amazing structures to be built. OTOH, you are at the mercy of the Slave Markets Decision popping up in a regular and timely fashion, should the slave numbers become unreasonable. The good news is, it does tend to pop up fairly regularly.

How many Slave Markets should you have, beyond the first? Four is actually a good number, as it lets you max out the Slave Markets Decision to buy slaves. You could also justify going to ten as well, as that would allow the full ten to be redistributed if you made that particular Decision choice. I don’t see much point going beyond ten, however, so if you somehow manage to obtain more than ten I’d deconstruct the excess, so as to cut down on unnecessary Decadence.

Slave Workforce

A very rare structure that sometimes is generated by a Slave Market. It is basically dangling in front of you a carrot of 10 Food, 10 Infra and 3 Metal, at the cost of a building slot and making the possibly precarious loyalty situation in your Slave Market region even more precarious. It should be clarified that the Revolt risk increase is not a flat percentage increase; in other words, a 6% chance of revolt will go up to 7%, not 21%.

Tannery

One of the Crafter buildings, makes a bit of Money while importing Cattle and making Leather. Leather is Needed by the Armorer and Siege Workshop, and provides a Bonus to the Market, Fair and Clothing Manufacturer.

Trade Post

A Bonus-only structure similar to the Ag I Orchard, this can net you a fair bit of cash if you can manage to congregate the right goods in the same general area.

Trading Tents

Similar to the Trade Post, with a different list of goods more commonly found in the southern regions of the game map.

Usurer

A somewhat problematic structure (Loyalty hit plus Decadence) made worthwhile with a healthy Commerce bonus, plus that fact that it doesn’t take a slot. Obviously best reserved for high income regions.

Wax Workshop

Another of the Crafter buildings, this one will import Honey and produce Wax. The latter is a Bonus for many of the Culture/Science structures, and is Needed by the Candle Shop.

Weaver Shop

A Crafter enabled structure, this can actually generate a lot of Money from easily obtainable Wool and Flax. And if you’re lucky enough to live near the Cotton regions, all the better. This basic textile industry is a great way for cash poor nomad tribes to eventually make a decent amount of coin.

I’m going to pass over the various capital administration buildings in this Guide: Tribal Council, King’s Residence, Imperial Palace, etc., because those tend to be built automatically by the game. Thus you don’t really need to worry about them when making regional construction decisions. Just be aware that you will see them in your capital regions, both national and provincial, as Culture (Government) structures, and they sometimes call in or use Trade Goods as a Bonus. So plan around them accordingly …

Black Market

A very rare (and expensive for a Tier I) offshoot of the Gambling Ring, the most alluring aspect of this structure is the “Illicit Wares” perk, which occasionally triggers random events in the region, for good or for ill. Great if you like surprises!

Cult Site

One of the three main Tier I Religious structures, the Cult Site IMO has an edge over the others in that it has an upgrade path. It also unlocks the Secret Cult, which is a nice little zero slot structure. Also nice is the conversion bonus, handy if the region has a different ethnicity than your own. Personally, I always try to develop my regions to have at least one Religious structure, so as to take full advantage of the ‘Gods of Old’ Decision when it arises. Religious buildings also decrease the odds of a region getting hit with a national disaster random event as well.

Fortune Teller

Another Tier I Religious structure. As I mentioned above, having at least one Religious building in each region is great for facilitating the ‘Gods of Old: Religious Ceremony’ Decision, as well as appeasing the gods to prevent natural calamity. Personally I prefer to wait for the Cult Site, but with Drugs and Herbs present a case could be made to take this one instead.

Gambling Ring

A nice Loyalty bonus plus scale-able income from the Tax bonus, the big drawback to this structure is the icky Decadence. It does lead to the rare Black Market, however, which can be entertaining. Probably best limited to your high population regions, where the Loyalty and Tax bonuses will actually do some good.

Monument

The description of this structure implies that the “lure” of the zero slot will lead you Decadent calamity, but “bah!” I say. The 10 Culture income should more than make up for the 0.25 Decadence. Keep in mind, accumulated Decadence decays at rate of 10% per turn, so, an 0.25 structure like this will tend to top out at 2.5 Decadence; 10 divided by 2.5 is 4, which is a healthy enough CDR to not lose any sleep over. IMO.

So yep, I fearlessly build these all the time! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go swear in my horse as co-Consul …

Oration Tribune

One of the two Tier I (non-capital) Government building, the other being the Street Parlor. I kind of like having at least one Government building per region, so as to maximize the possibilities of certain Decisions (although this is not as important as having a Religious building IMO). Government building also help prevent a region from being hit with corrupt governor random events.

All things being equal, I prefer the Oration Tribune over the Street Parlor because the former has an upgrade path, and Marble is usually a much easier Bonus to obtain than Papyrus.

Pleasure House

Decadence plus a rather rare Bonus good, I would only consider this in regions that either are having or are heading to severe Loyalty issues. The upgrade to this (Pleasure Mansion) does “Need” Perfume, so that could be useful as a Perfume magnet if it’s near enough to import, I suppose.

Preceptor House

Ah, the infamous Preceptor House. Nothing better illustrates the divide between those rustic, western Celts and Italians who chisel crude words on stones and bronze tablets, and those urbane, educated eastern Greeks who effortlessly and effetely write their poetry and prose on fine parchment scrolls!

The structure is undoubtedly important for a couple of reasons: an upgrade path that will permit useful Science-based Decisions, and a LOT of early game Decadence reduction … hence you definitely WANT to build them. But it can be infuriating that those Egyptians and Seleucids are literally ROLLING in natural Papyrus, and can build these structures willy nilly … while everyone to the west of them must suffer sticker shock at the out-of-Trade-Range Papyrus costs. Unless you are playing Egypt or the Seleucids, in which case it’s kind of funny.

Secret Cult

A super rare Religious structure unlocked by the Cult Site, this will import Myrrh, so you’ll probably want Myrrh in Trade Range before you pick this. And Myrrh is great because it’s a bonus to the Temple, which the Cult Site upgrades to.

Other pros: Zero slots, 10 Culture, Decadence reduction, Drugs and Herbs Bonus and Loyalty! Cons: A Conversion penalty, and it turns into a pumpkin at Population 20.

Street Parlor

The other Tier I Government structure (non-capital), along with the Oration Tribune. I can only see building it if Papyrus was nearby, or I was really desperate for a third cheap Culture building to unlock Tier II structures.

Tavern

Not only does this have a small Loyalty bonus and potentially great income via some common Bonus goods, but it helps move Wine around the map. Wine is a Bonus for the Fair, Pleasure Mansion, The Coliseum, Summer Palace, Circus, Racing Track, Palace Guard, Circus Maximum, Second Palace, Farmers Market, and the Druid Covenant: Fertility. OK, admittedly most of these are fairly obscure, late-game, ethnicity-specific and one-of-a-kind, but you never know …

Theatre

Really expensive to build even considering it comes with a decent amount of Culture, it does upgrade to the even better (and four times costlier) Amphitheatre which can occasionally be useful as a Silk importer.

Worship Place

Not my favorite Tier I Religious structure (that would be the Cult Site) but I’d consider this instead if the Bonus goods Myrrh and Frankincense were present. But that does not happen often. It will of course help out during the Gods of Old religious Decision.

Tier II Agriculture structures are unlocked in a region by having at least three Agriculture structures already present.

Granary

Enabled by the Large Farm, this structure will yield a whopping 20 Food, since Grain springs forth from the Large Farm (although … theoretically, the Large Farm could be destroyed in a raid after you built the Granary, dropping its yield to 10, I suppose).

Irrigation System

It’s an upgrade to the Wells that often feels like a downgrade, because the loss in the old flat Food production is not offset by the new Food bonus percentage. Still, you are probably overjoyed to be building this, so as to finally get to it’s Papyrus producing upgrade, the reedy Irrigation Canals.

Large Farm

Roughly doubles the Food production of the basic Farm you upgraded from, and gives you the Grain Trade Good, that usually leads to more Bonuses from the Seeds Storage and the now enabled Granary. The cornerstone of any Open ground megafood region.

Mill

15 Food with Pottery, this structure must be built on Grain, so becomes part of your dedicated Food producing region strategy. The Loyalty bonus is helpful if you are drawing in lots of slaves via a Slave Market to work the fields.

Seeds Storage

The other basic structure that you’ll want to build near your Large Farm, around Nuts and Seeds too if they are available.

Wells

5 base Food plus a scalable 8% Food bonus, they main attraction to this structure is its upgrade path, at the end of which glitters a solution to the western nations’ Papyrus problem (see the entry on the Tier I Culture structure Preceptor House as to the issue here).

Tier II Health structures are unlocked in a region by having at least three Health structures already present.

Aqueduct

An expensive yet powerful Health building, not only lowering the population growth threshold but increasing the local food production to get there, and leads to even more blockbuster Health structures.

Gymnasium

Health plus Manpower at a reasonable cost, and upgrades to the much more costly Stadium.

Physician House

This is something you’ll likely want to place in a Massive Wall + Fortress region, designed to tie down large enemy forces in years of fruitless siege operations. So yeah, VERY situational. The Hospital would be even better suited in this situation, so you’ll probably want to upgrade as soon as you get the chance.

Preserved Foodstore

Like the Physician House, this is somewhat of a niche structure, especially tailored to servicing a large peacetime army camp region. The free supplies take the load away from the local peasants, giving them more real Food to grow with. And the upgrade Logistics Depot will do this even better. The free supplies extend to adjacent regions and ships in port as well.

Lastly, the many Bonus goods are not too hard to come by mid-game, typically giving this building a very nice Money income.

Public Baths

This doesn’t look too amazing, because of Decadence and the fact Perfumes tend to be hard to come by for the Bonus. But wait ’till you see the upgrade to this, the Thermes!

Wash House

Just a basic, boring 8 Health. Still, it’s quite cheap and thus useful if you’re trying to get to the Tier III Health structures quickly.

Tier II Infrastructure structures are unlocked in a region by having at least three Infrastructure structures already present.

Builder Hall

A sizable 22% Infrastructure bonus for a moderate Manpower hit, which can eventually be upgraded to the Builder Guild (with it’s enormous 40% bonus).

Gold Mine

Sited on top of a Gold deposit, this will generate an astounding 50 Money a turn, and even more if Silver and Copper are nearby as well. Minor downsides include a slight Loyalty loss, and a Revolt risk gain.

Land Expansion

You’re basically using Infrastucture to build another slot, which is great because if you are invested up to Tier II Infrastructure buildings, then surely you are need of slots to have more room to spend your large Infrastructrure on. There’s a natural synergy at work here, which is why I always jump at the chance to build this. The only negative I see here is that the upkeep is a tad high.

Large Quarry

Probably the worst upgrade in the game. Without getting the Bonuses, why would you build this? The Quarry is Stone plus 10 Infra, and this is … Stone plus 10 Infra.

So you really need the Bonuses to make this even worthwhile. Marble you can possibly get from nearby natural Marble or a Marble Vein, but Sulfur might be tough. Sulfur is rather sparse, I have to say, and does not have a call-in structure. Good luck getting both. 225 Infra is a lot to spend for such a small increase, although admittedly since it is an upgrade, it won’t cost you a slot.

Regional Roads

The big brother to the Public works, it is needed for lots of things including all non-country-specific Tier III “Great” structures. Plus it will likely give your region its first permanent Trade Range increase. Combine that with the Commerce bonus and better road movement, this is pretty much a must-build for every seriously developing region in your empire. It is simply too good not to build, IMO.

This would be a good time to digress a bit on my personal overall building strategy for FOG: Empires (yours may vary, of course). Generally, I try to take advantage of provincial pooling of resources, and build my regions in each province with a particular specialty in mind. For example, an Open terrain region will become my Food producer, heavily lopsided towards Green structures. A Hill might be my Infrastructure region, a coastal region dedicated to Commerce buildings, etc.. My provincial capital is usually split between Health, Military and Culture structures.

I do start, however, by giving each of my regions some basic Infrastructure with which to build things. Specifically, I’ll build Public Works, plus two other Tier I Infrastructure establishments (it doesn’t really matter which). Now that I’ve unlocked Tier II Infrastructure, eventually Regional Roads will pop up, and I’ll build that as well. At this point, I’ve invested 2 slots into Infra buildings, freeing the remaining slots for my specialty (although I will try to build one Culture (Religious) structure per region as well, for Decision purposes).

Regional Roads are in essence the cornerstone of every region, allowing fast travel and superior trading throughout my empire.

Silver Mine

Sits atop a Silver deposit and spits out 30 Money a turn, even more with Gold and Copper in the vicinity. It has the same Loyalty and Revolt drawbacks as the Gold Mine.

Warehouse

Another structure for dedicated Infra regions, where it will almost certainly get the Stone and Lumber Bonuses.

Tier II Military structures are unlocked in a region by having at least three Military structures already present.

Barracks

Has some nice improvements over its predecessor, but it is a bummer that this upgrade will cost you a slot (Training Grounds is zero slot). Still, if you are one of those nations with Manpower issues (like Carthage) you’ll probably want these regardless.

Castrum Cataphractae

Like the other Tier I ‘Castrums,’ this is a unique National Wonder (one per nation) so take care to place it in a region where you anticipate churning out a lot of Heavy Cavalry.

City Guard

A very situational build, designed for fortified cities you fully expect the enemy will try to assault. Three extra defending units isn’t too bad in such a limited frontage situation. But if no enemy army ever comes, then you just wasted resources on lost taxes and higher Decadence.

Coastal Fortress

Just try to conquer Rhodes or Syracuse if you want good first hand knowledge of what this baby can do … when combined with a Major Harbour and other defenses. Note that this “fortress” doesn’t actually add any wall levels to your defense, it just makes siege hits a whole lot harder to get and bolsters the garrison by one unit. It can also inflict effectiveness damage to blockading ships.

Military Store

A nice Stockpile, but the upkeep is a bit steep. The upgrade to Army Provisioner is interesting, if you are one of those countries chronically short on Manpower, however.

Siege Workshop

Like the Coastal Fortress, but not limited to coasts. It can also generate a healthy amount of Equipment via commonly available Cattle and Wool.

Solid Walls (Walls 2)

At Wall Value 2, walls are starting to become respectable here, making an enemy army think twice before hitting that assault button. But a large amount of appropriate troops (ie, non-Phalanx) can probably still storm it. Probably.

Large Walls (Walls 3)

At Walls Value 3 I am finally beginning to feel mostly secure from an instant assault by an enemy army just entering the region. Mostly.

Weapons Manufacture

With one wondrous exception (the Archimedes Workshop) this structure (and its upgrade) are the only ways you can produce the Weapons Trade Good. This makes the building hard to say no to when it appears, despite its huge cost. Celtic nations are particularly hungry for Weapons, as their ubiquitous zero slot Celtic Craftsmen use it as an Infra Bonus.

Tier II Commerce structures are unlocked in a region by having at least three Commerce structures already present.

Bank

Needs Gold, which can be a good or bad thing depending on the region’s distance to Gold. Still, its large income will probably cancel out the out-of-range Gold cost, and you might still want one Bank (albeit a slightly unprofitable one) somewhere in your empire for the purpose of allowing a powerful trade Decision.

Bloomery

You’ll almost certainly get Iron Bonus, because you need a Furnace to build this thing in the first place. So that makes this worth a considerable 5 Money, 17 Metal and 8 Culture. Oh, and it imports Coal, which benefits your Furnace. Synergy!

Caravansery

An upgrade from the Caravan House, which means one way to look at this structure is that it costs zero slots (since it is replacing something that already occupies a slot) and nets you 2 Money, a Bonus 2 Money for Horse and Cattle, and a 6% Commerce bonus. Is this worth 160 Infra? Eh, maybe, depending on how much that extra 6% is actually worth. But if you have nothing better to build, an upgrade never hurts.

Ceramics Works

Made possible by that great enabler the Crafter District, this structure will make you a good deal of Money, possibly some Culture, and produce Ceramics. Ceramics is Needed by the Major Temple and Great Temple, and is a hefty Bonus for all sorts of non-tribal capital buildings and palaces, plus other hoity-toity structures like the Noble Gardens and Basilica.

Clothing Manufacture

Another Crafter structure, this will take the Cloth you made from the Spinning Mills and turn it into more Money, oftentimes a lot of Money thanks to Bonuses.

Coin Maker

Pretty self-explanatory: If you manage to accumulate a lot of precious metals in one general area, you can make lots of money with this (even more with the Mint upgrade).

Commercial Port

A structure made possible by the Harbour. The Money potential is undeniably good, but lets be honest: what really makes this structure eyebrow-raising is that Trade Range bonus. And the fact that it has an upgrade with an even greater Trade Range bonus!

Drydock

Another offshoot of the Harbor, and co-exists with the Shipyard, this acts more like a Military structure than a Commerce structure. Think you might be in deadly war of attrition with another naval power anytime soon? If not, this slot might well be put to better use.

But if you ARE in such a war, well, combined with the Shipyard that makes for a 40% Equipment discount on ships. Which will put you well on the way to ruling the waves.

Dyeing Mill

This Crafter structure imports Purple and produces Dye, a Trade Good Needed by Abu Simbel (a wonder in Egypt) and a Bonus for the Market, Clothing Manufacturer, Ceramics Works, Commercial Port and Trade Port. Makes good Money too when placed near your Spinning Mills and Silk.

Fair

The Fair is one of those structures that needs at least one of it’s Bonus goods present to be built. The Bonuses themselves are not that hard to come by, and multiple ones can add up to a lot of Money. Helps move Pottery around the map too, so highly recommended.

Forge

Makes Money and a bunch of Metal, and also is another Copper importer (alongside the Copper Works). And Copper is a Bonus for a vast number of structures (see the Trade Goods section).

Major Harbour

An upgrade to the Harbor with many improvements, most notably a reduction in boarding costs from two movement point to one. And that Siege Resist will make any attempt to besiege an unblockaded port an exercise in futility.

Mint

A sizeable upgrade to the Coin Maker that throws in a 14% Tax bonus as well. The only thing better than lots of money is more money!

Shipyard

Like its sibling structure the Drydock, this Commerce building seems more Military in nature, what with the Equipment production and discount for ships. But this does produce the Sails Trade Good, which is Needed by the Drydock, Commercial Port and Trade Port, and will be a Bonus for your nearby Fisheries.

The Spinning Mills

The Spinning Mills work in a similar fashion to the Delicacy Shops, with one type importing a good and the other types having the other goods in the same group of goods as a Bonus. In this case there are three goods in the group: Cotton, Flax and Wool, and hence we have three types: Spinning Mill (Cotton), Spinning Mill (Flax), and Spinning Mill (Wool).

Unlike the Delicacy Shops, these textiles mills actually produces a useful Trade Good, Cloth, which is needed by the Clothing Manufacturer and a Bonus for the Market, Dyeing Mill and Amphitheatre.

Note that Cotton is a geographically constrained Trade Good, so quite often wont be available. In that case you can pair Flax and Wool at their respective mills, making 19 Money (8 + 11); OR build the Cotton Mill anyways, eat the out-of-range costs (6 x 3 = 18), and collect the base income plus the two Bonuses, which would net you 12 Money (8 + 11 + 11 = 30; 30 – 18 = 12). Any way you do it, you’ll make Money and produce Cloth. Which is good.

Tar Workshop

One of the Crafter family of Commerce buildings, this will produce 10 Money and Tar. It’s a much easier way to get Tar than the Tar Deposit you occasionally get from Swamp Draining. And Tar has its uses, most notably as a Bonus for the Hemp Field, Drydock and Shipyard.

Tools Manufacture

Unsurprisingly, this structure manufactures Tools, plus a decent amount of Money, Metal, and probably Infrastructure. The thing about Tools is, there are a lot of structures that use it as a bonus, but no structure uses it as a call-in until you get to the Tier III Builder Guild (and the Hellenic Asklepieion). This means if you want to try to create a network of Tools spread across your empire for Bonus purposes, you’re going to have to do it by building a network of these. Which means early game, you’ll want to lay down a network of Blacksmiths.

Trade House

Like the Orchard and the Fair, this structure revolves around getting many Bonus goods; indeed, you’ll need at least one Bonus present to build the thing in the first place. And oh what a Bonus! At 15 Money each, you’ll know when’s a good time to build this when you see it.

Tier II Culture structures are unlocked in a region by having at least three Culture structures already present.

Amphitheatre

A very expensive upgrade to the Theatre, this is pretty good if you can actually pull in Silk. The idea here is, you build this near your textile commerce area, giving the Dyeing Mill and Clothing Manufacture there the Silk bonus. The Spinning Mills nearby return the favor by generating Cloth, earning you an extra 10 Money on top of the large amount of Culture the flat 15 plus 15% bonus gives you. Synergy!

It’s worth noting that the Amphitheatre (and the Greek Odeon) are the only structures that import Silk, and can also be used to draw Silk into Trading Tents and Noble Districts.

Basilica

A little bit of Bonus culture, a little bit of Loyalty … and the only structure in the game (along with its upgrade, the Great Sanctuary) that imports Frankincense.

The Frankincense is the big deal here, because Frankincense is a natural resource that does not get produced by any other structure (except via an event-given Emporium). So if you want Frankincense somewhere else, you’ll need to use a Basilica to Need it over.

And you probably do want Frankincense elsewhere, as it is a Bonus for the Temple and its upgrades, the Perfumery, and the Trading Tents, among other structures.

Courthouse

This is why I like Oration Tribunes. They upgrade to a strong Decadence remover, that also lowers Revolt risk a bit. The only downside here is that this has no resource production whatsoever (and since it is an upgrade, the Marble Bonus from the Oration Tribune disappears as well).

And if you really want to impose law and order to stomp out Decadence, check out the upgrade to this …

Gambling Arena

The upgrade to the Gambling Hall with even more sin and Decadence, you only really want to build this if your population is large and your Loyalty low. In which case, most certainly build this … 12 Loyalty is huge.

Gladiator School

Pros: Gladiator trainees form 1 combat unit to defend the city from assault; massive Loyalty bonus.

Cons: -8 Money, 0.30 Decadence, -1 Manpower, increased Revolt risk (although the +16 Loyalty makes dropping below 50 Loyalty much less likely, so does this matter?)

And it imports Weapons, which is a pro or con depending on the availablity of Weapons. If I have Weapons, I’ll build this in my overpopulated, troublesome national capital, for the Loyalty bonus.

Noble District

Another structure that provides a large Loyalty bonus in exchange for a large Decadence penalty. The bottom line here is, if you want to create huge cities, you are going to have to pacify them with these, paying the price down the road in Decadence. How you deal with “down the road” is one of the things that makes this game so interesting.

Pleasure Mansion

Yet another structure that provides a large Loyalty bonus in exchange for a large Decadence penalty. An upgrade to the Pleasure House, this also has some common Bonus goods generating extra Money, and imports Perfume. The Perfume will come in handy as a Bonus if you have a Public Bath/Thermes in the region as well, which is not too unlikely as both types of structures are prime picks for large cities.

School

An upgrade to the Preceptor House with a bump up in Decadence reduction and a small Wax Bonus. It is also waypoint on the way to an Academy, of which it is great to have at least one of in your country, as that will unlock a very good science-related Decision.

Scriptorium

A Science building like the Preceptor House and its upgrades, this structure also Needs Papyrus but instead of Decadence reduction, goes all in on Culture.

Temple

A pretty straightforward upgrade to the Cult Site, with strong Bonuses to Culture if you can manage to get Myrrh and/or Frankincense in or adjacent. The Conversion bonus is fairly strong too. On that subject: Because of the way the conversion mechanic works, sometime you need some sort of bonus in order to boost the ethnicity switch chance above 0% … which makes structures like this situationally very valuable.

Thalassan Temple

If you are on a coast, you might get a chance to upgrade your Cult Site to one of these nautical-themed temples instead. This could be very useful for importing Coral. On top of that, Fish is so plentiful the Bonus is almost assured. No help on local Conversions, but there is some Decadence reduction in its place.

Tier III Agriculture structures are unlocked in a region by having at least six Agriculture structures already present.

Irrigation Canals

At long last … Papyrus! As a paperless western nation, you will obviously want this in a good central location in your empire, so as to fulfill the needs of as many educational buildings as you possible. The income gain will likely be dramatic, as out-of-trade-range deficits get converted into new internal trade surpluses.

The 10 Food and the 25% Food bonus is nothing to sneeze at either; this is a Tier III structure so you’ll have built at least 6 Agriculture structures in the region already, to take advantage of that hefty bonus.

Large Mill

A pretty run-of-the-mill upgrade to the Mill, basically doubling all its benefits.

Logistics Depot

If your Preserved Foodstore isn’t giving enough free supply to the local army you have camped in a region, you can build this to get even more free supply. The combined 60 supply from both structures should suffice. Although it goes without saying, the region would have to invest heavily in both Agriculture (Tier III) and Health (Tier II) to draw each of them.

Plantation

If your Large Farm isn’t large enough, you could always upgrade to this. A Mill of some sort can help deal with the Loyalty problem.

Tier III Health structures are unlocked in a region by having at least six Health structures already present.

Hospital

The Hospital is the only non-unique structure that imports Drugs and Herbs, a hard to get natural Trade Good that’s a Bonus for quite a few structures such as the Trading Post, Secret Cult, Fortune Teller, Physician House, Pleasure Mansion, and the Perfumery. This alone makes it interesting. But it is also interesting for its ability to accelerate healing of damaged military units parked in the regions.

Sewers

As I mentioned earlier under Sanitation, upgrading to Sewers will actually gain you a slot via the power of undergrounding. Sewers are also just about the only structure that Needs Lead, which is a Bonus for the Forge, Tools Manufacture and Arsenal.

Stadium

And upgrade to the Gymnasium with proportionally higher benefits, plus a Conversion bonus thrown in as well. Note that many of these Tier III structures are beginning to include a -10 Money surcharge. But if you’ve developed your economy wisely, you should be able to absorb this.

Thermes

The Rolls Royce of Health structures. A very expensive upgrade to the Public Baths, with superior Health, Loyalty, Bonuses and Decadence.

Tier III Infrastructure structures are unlocked in a region by having at least six Infrastructure structures already present.

Builder Guild

And upgrade to the Builder Hall with a whopping 40% bonus to Infrastructure. Expensive as hell but probably worth it, IF you plan on building lots more stuff in the region or province. Requires Tools, but by this time, you’ll probably have some within Trade Range, somewhere.

Land Reclamation

The upgrade to Land Expansion, this is everything I said about its Tier II predecessor Land Expansion, except this is buying two slots instead of one.

Deep Iron Mine

An expensive upgrade to the Iron Mine. The thing is, I’ve never played a game where Metal supply was an issue towards the later stages, so, build this if you have nothing better to build? Although that Health penalty is kind of disturbing.

Large Warehouse

A large upgrade to the Warehouse (not much more to say, really).

Tier III Military structures are unlocked in a region by having at least six Military structures already present.

Army Provisioner

An upgrade to the Military Store that imports Weapons, and reduces the Manpower and Equipment costs of new unit significantly. Expensive with a very high upkeep. If you are Manpower deficient like Carthage or Sparta this could help with your Manpower woes, but note that unit maintenance costs remain unchanged. It could also be useful in creating a lot of Heavy Infantry in a short amount of time, due to the Equipment discount.

Arsenal

An upgrade to the Weapons Manufacture that gives a Metal discount on new units. I’ve never run into Metal issues late game, so I’m not sure you’d ever want or need to upgrade to this (unless you’re aiming to build a Great Arsenal?).

Fortress

Lots of additional defense capability as well as Equipment production, great for that region you are paranoid about losing. It can also deal up to 4 effectiveness damage a turn to besiegers.

Greek Fire Tower

And if the Fortress wasn’t enough to relieve your paranoia, there’s always this structure you’ve just unlocked. Combined, the Fortress plus GFT will add 6 Siege Resist and four additional defending units. It is also the only building that can deal effectiveness damages both to besiegers (soldiers) and blockaders (ships).

Max the Walls and add a Coastal Fortress and a Major Harbour, and I think it’s fair to say you’ve just recreated the medieval walls of Constantinople in classical times.

Military Academy

If you’d like to experience this structure in action on Turn 1, just play Sparta, they start with one. The Leader force pool bonus is not to be underestimated; getting dealt an excellent general is often the key to winning close battles.

Military School

Can only be built atop a Training Ground and Weapons, this structure costs a lot of money and gives a wide array of moderate advantages. It does lead to a “Great” structure, which has a +2 Leader force pool bonus and the extra Legacy gain such structures bring with them.

Urban Guards

And upgrade to the City Guards, giving an extra unit and slightly less Decadence. As with the City Guards, I’d rate this a highly situational pick, but if you’ve already built the City Guards I guess you’ve determined the situation applies. This also imports Weapons.

Massive Walls

This is pretty much the end of the line in Wall technology (except for the upgrade, which is a world wonder). If you want to do more, you can; see my musings above on the Greek Fire Tower.

Tier III Commerce structures are unlocked in a region by having at least six Commerce structures already present.

Glass Works

One of the many crafty structures unlocked by the Crafter District, this has a bunch of Culture Bonuses and makes Glass. Glass is a fairly useful Trade Good, used as a Bonus in Preserved Food, Ceramics Works, Commercial Port, Hospital, Fortress, Trade Port, Necropolis, and Horologium. Unfortunately, Glass lacks a call-in structure, so any Glass Bonus will have to come from adjacent structures.

Jewelry Shop

Another top tier Crafter structure, this will produce Money, and is one of the two main sources of the Luxury Trade Good (the other being the Sculpture Shop/Koroplathos). Luxuries are Needed by many wonders and Palaces, including most notoriously the Seleucid Satrape Palace. The poor Seleucids, they start with only one Luxury source, in Persia. Which means all the provincial capitals too far away from Persia get hit with a whopping 3 x 10 = 30 Money out-of-Trade-Range surcharge. Ouch.

Paved Road

Pretty darn expensive, but it is a Trade Range increase in heavy Commerce region, so you’ll probably want to build this as soon as you get the chance. Note however that the Trade Range is really only going up by +1, due to this being an upgrade of the Regional Roads.

Perfumery

Another Crafter offshoot, this can generate some Bonus Money from rare-ish goods, and produces Perfume. Perfume doesn’t have a tremendous amount of utility, however; it is Needed by the Pleasure Mansion and a Bonus for the Pleasure House, Public Baths and Thermes. The Decadence of this structure is a downside too.

Sculpture Shop

Another spawn of the Crafter District, and the other main Luxury producer besides the Jewelry Shop. The Greek version of this structure is the Decadence-free Koroplathos.

The Emporiums

…and others.

These structures are enabled by a trade Decision … a very expensive trade Decision. However, the expense is frequently worth it, as these Emporiums will PRODUCE (not import) a randomly selected, often hard-to-get Trade Good that can fulfill Needs and Bonuses you never dreamed you’d ever see fulfilled.

After you enact the Decision, one of the following Emporiums, chosen randomly, will become available to you to build as a Tier III Commerce structure:

Silk Emporium
Ivory Emporium
Myrrh Emporium
Coral Emporium
Wild Beasts Emporium
Amber Emporium
Frankincense Emporium
Furs Emporium
Papyrus Emporium
Drugs Emporium
Purple Emporium
Marble Emporium
Sulfur Emporium
Naphta Emporium

Now, this is important: If you have a region eligible to build a Tier III Commerce structure and it has no building project it is working on at the time you make the Decision, then the randomly selected Emporium has a 50% chance to immediately become your Commerce selection for that region. A shuffle will also work, provided the region is still shuffling the turn after you make the decision (so, a 2+ turn shuffle).

If a region is working on a structure at the time, the new Emporium can still some up later, but it will be a very rare structure, so you likely won’t see it for a while (if at all). So, the timing of making this Decision is crucial! Just make sure you clear or shuffle the building queues in as many Tier III Commerce regions as you can before selecting the Emporium Decision.

Trade Center

Placed in a seaport with lots of produced goods, that +5 Acumen will make you a lot of Money and ♥♥♥♥ off most of your neighbors. (Steam edited a bit of colorful language I see; in case you are wondering, the word begins with a “p”).

Trade Port

An upgrade to the Commercial Port, you jump at the chance to build this ASAP due to the +1 bump up in Trade Range.

Just to give you an idea of the power of Trade Range, lets assume your base Trade Range is 3, and you’ve developed Regional Roads in your mainly Commerce coastal region. Then you get a Trade Port. Your Trade Range is now 6, and if your coastal region borders a coastal sea zone adjacent to the Mare Ionium, you now are able to import Papyrus from the Nile Delta (assuming your not at war with Ptolemy, of course). Notice that this includes coastal cities in western Greece, Sicily and even southern Italy. Hot!

Tier III Culture structures are unlocked in a region by having at least six Culture structures already present.

Academy

The upgrade to the School, and an absolute Decadence slayer. Good Culture generation as well, plus is useful in certain science-based Decisions. And it upgrades to a “Great” structure. Needs Papyrus (of course).

Circus

Massive Loyalty increase in exchange for massive Decadence. Decent money too, but getting direct access to Wild Beasts may be difficult. If the +30 Loyalty is doing its job, you wont need to worry about the Revolt chance increase.

Horologium

Unlocked by the Academy, the big selling feature here seems to be the zero slot. To be honest though, I’ve actually never managed to build one of these, so I’m thinking … there might be an easter egg event tied to this structure? I get that feeling from the structure description (I could be wrong, however).

Major Temple

A big upgrade to the Temple that Needs Ceramics. In fact, the Major Temple (and its Great upgrade) is the only Ceramics importer in the game. Ceramics is used as a Bonus in the Basilica, Noble Gardens, and all sorts of palaces and other empire-ruling structures. So, your national capital is likely a pretty good place to build this.

Necropolis

A big investment in slots (two!) but can generate a significant amount of Culture, and does draw in Myrrh for use in your Temples.

Noble Gardens

Potentially a good bit of Culture with the right Bonuses present, but with a significant Decadence problem. My thoughts on this are the same as those concerning the Monument: Take the Culture gain and divide it by the Decadence x 10 (in this case, 5) to see if the resulting ratio is reasonable enough to stomach this. It probably is. Unlike the Monument, however, this structure will actually cost you a slot.

Prison

Good all around crowd control stats and Decadence reduction makes this a fine pick for your more unruly urban centers.

Racing Track

A crowd pleaser similar to the Circus, with even more Decadence.

Tribunal

The upgrade to the Courthouse, with a nice bump up in Decadence reduction. The Revolt risk reduction is pretty strong too.

[This section will be completed at a later date.

“Great” structures are Tier III “National Wonders” (each country can only build one of each type), that are generally very powerful and usually confer a small per turn Legacy income. They include the Great Mills, Great Hospital, Medical School, Great Mine, The Great Engineering School, Great Military School, Great Arsenal, Palace Guards, Great Forge, Great Mint, Great Trade Emporium, Great Shipyard, Royal Court, Great Justice Court, Palace Library, Great Academy, Great Temple, Great Sanctuary, and the Pleasure District.]