Ultimately, the GBs you choose to build will be determined by your individual play style. Other players can give you some insight into why they did or did not build certain GBs to help you decide, but in the end it comes down to what you think will best benefit your game. Still, there are some GBs that can be said to be staples for certain play styles, as outlined here. This is definitely just the basics though, if you want something more in-depth, please check the comprehensive guide to GBs instead.
- Statue of Zeus (Zeus), Cathedral of Aachen (COA), & Castle del Monte (CDM) •
These are otherwise known as the “fighting trifecta”. Generally speaking, if you like to get through GE via fighting, attack your neighborhood, or fight to win sectors in GvG; you need this combination of buildings. Ideally, you want to get them to level 10 as soon as possible for maximum fighting benefit without needing extra BPs yet. Having all three at level 10 grants you 30% attack and defense bonus each while attacking, for a total of 90%. That boost can make a huge difference! In addition, COA will give you a lot of coins, and CDM produces FPs. So when you’re ready to level beyond 10, CDM is the prime target for extra FPs.
- Temple of Relics (TOR) •
If you’re avid in GE beyond the minimum requirement set forth by the guild, this is a great addition to your town. Easy to build and level, it gives you the opportunity to find relics along the way in GE each week. Those relics can contain things you have no use for, but occasionally you get the rare treat of 100FPs, Terrace Farms, Ritual Flames, and more. Essentially, really nice things to make your town that much better.
- Alcatraz (Traz) •
This building is HUGE, and that can be really off-putting to the idea of actually building it. If you’re at all interested in getting serious with GvG battles, or want to fight further in GE (like tier 4), this GB can really make a difference. Paired with nothing but rogue hideouts, you can amass a rogue army and prepare to take over the world in just a few simple weeks by getting it to level 6 or higher. Hit level 12 with this bad boy and you’ll be getting 10 random unattached troops from randomly selected barracks in your town. Not to mention with it being such a great tourist attraction, you get a lot of happiness from this building.
- Arctic Orangery (AO) and Kraken •
Once you have your fighting trifecta, both are a nice addition. AO is recommended to get first, with Kraken eventually following. Both are FP producers, and both assist you in battle. AO gives you the chance multiple times during fights against troops of the same era as what you’re using to deal 150% damage, often resulting in one-hit-kills. Makes battling easier. Kraken on the other hand offers the opportunity at the beginning of a set number of battles to randomly kill one enemy troop, meaning you have less to fight. Together they make quite the tag-team duo!
- St. Basil’s Cathedral (Basil) and Deal Castle (Deal) •
These are best only built if you’re looking to use them for home defense, and then only if you intend to crank them to level 10 or beyond. At level 10, either building will give your defending army an additional 30% attack and defense. They also offer support to the Guild Pool based off these numbers, which can be helpful to GvG (but isn’t totally necessary either). Basil gives an additional bonus of coins, and Deal will bring in medals.
- Terracotta Army (TA) •
Terracotta Army is a Virtual Future GB that is the first to have a feature called Advanced Tactics. This is a boost on your attack and defense for both your attacking army, and your defending army! So it gives you a boost while attacking, and it supports your home defense. It’s a GB that you’re likely going to want regardless of if you’re a fighter or not, but it’s one that would be considered a bonus on top of your foundation GBs. Since it is a high-era GB, not only will it be difficult to obtain ahead-of-age, but it’s very expensive to level. It will give 2% for each level up to 10, and after that you get an addition 1% for every two levels you put on it. It’ll be great for boost, but because of the cost to level you’ll want to focus on getting your trifecta to 10, and maybe AO or Kraken, first.
- The Arc, Atomium (Atom), and Observatory (Obs) •
These three buildings all donate goods of your current age to the guild treasury, making them greatly appreciated by the guild as a whole when a member has one or more. Treasury donations help with GE and GvG, making these buildings invaluable for that alone. Undeniably, Arc is the most powerful of the three, and arguably the most powerful GB in the game. In addition to donating goods to the treasury, it also multiplies the rewards you earn for placing in ranks 1-5 on another player’s GB by a percentage. This goes for FPs, Medals, and BPs. A power level Arc (level 80) will multiply the rewards you get by 1.9 (for 90.1%). Observatory is the hardest to get, because the BPs can only be earned through special events and by winning them off other Obs. However, this is a small footprint at 3×3, and once leveled up it holds its own. In addition to treasury goods it offers points to the Guild Support Pool, and is the best GB for the support pool donation. Atomium is the final one in this trifecta, offering happiness in addition to treasury goods.
- Capitol, Habitat, & Innovation Tower (Inno Tower or Inno) •
These are the three population buildings, and each is vastly different in reasoning to own it. It’s typically agreed that Capitol is best kept only as a stepping stone to one or both of the other two, because it has a poor space-to-population ratio, and its additional bonus is just coins. Habitat boasts the best space-to-population ratio, but its additional bonus is also coins. Inno Tower on the other hand, while it isn’t as space efficient as Habitat, boasts FPs as its additional bonus which tends to make it a bit more popular in the long run. Many players often have both Habitat and Inno Tower to satisfy their population needs though, because it can get pretty costly in the higher ages.
- Lighthouse of Alexandria (LOA) and St. Mark’s Basilica (Mark’s) •
Of all the GBs that produce goods, these are considered the best two to have if you’re going to have them. Both will give you a certain number of goods a day for your current era (and in Modern and beyond you get unrefined goods), and both offer a percentage boost. LOA will boost the amount of supplies you collect from production buildings for a certain number of collections, and Mark’s will boost the amount of coins you collect for a certain number of collections each day. Eventually you may find yourself wanting to replace them for other GBs, but in the beginning of the game when your city is young they can be invaluable for keeping a healthy supply not only of goods, but of coins and supplies as well.
- Château Frontenac •
This GB is often underappreciated because it doesn’t seem like it does much. In actuality though, it does a whole lot if you work through the reoccurring quests regularly enough. Chateau will give a percentage increase to the rewards of coins, supplies, goods, medals, and diamonds that you receive from completing a quest. Higher level Chateau can be a game changer, and really help to keep your coffers looking full and happy. Like Arc, the percentage will increase with each level, so often high-level players will power-level their Chateau in the same way they did Arc. If you’re the kind of person who likes to do quests, and likes to get the rewards from quests, this is a great building to have.
There are certainly many other GBs, all offering vastly different rewards for having them, but these are usually the ones at the core of a city really making a noticeable difference in multiple aspects. Other GBs tend to be built based on personal preference and play style. Not to mention as some new items come out (like Terrace Farms), GBs that create goods and FPs become obsolete much faster if you’re able to get a few TFs or so because the time it takes to level them up to be worth the same amount is just not comparable. That doesn’t mean don’t build those GBs if you want them, just know you’ll need to be dedicated to make them worthwhile, and that likely means getting them above level 10.
Of all the GBs, there are two in particular that are considered a complete waste of goods, time, and space to build; regardless of what level you are. Those two buildings are Notre Dame and Colosseum. The rewards they give aren’t worth your time, energy, and resources to build. So fair warning, you should never plant either of these GB because you will almost certainly tear them down before long.
In addition, theOracleof Delphi that you now get as a beginning GB is one that has limited helpfulness, and you really don’t want to invest a lot of FPs into it and level it up, as you’re almost certain to tear it down sooner rather than later to make room for more useful items in your city.
Last Updated: July 13, 2018 | December 5, 2018
