Wonder (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the building in Age of Empires III. For the similar building in other games of the series, see Wonder.

Japanese wonder Torii Gates

Chinese wonders

Wonders are special buildings in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, exclusive to the Asian civilizations - the Chinese, Indians, and Japanese. Wonders are constructed to advance through the Ages.

Each of the five Wonders for each civilization provides unique functions and bonuses, special abilities, or shipments. As each Wonder can only be built once in a game, their shipments vary depending on the Age advanced, like the Tribal Council in The WarChiefs; the later the Age the Wonder is built, the better the shipment bonus provided.

The cost to build a Wonder corresponds to how much the player pays to advance to the next Age. If a Wonder is destroyed while it is being built, the resources spent are refunded. The maximum number of builders for all Wonders is 8. Destroyed Wonders cannot be rebuilt.

All Wonders have 5,000 hit points and are affected by technologies that benefit structures. The Agra Fort also counts as a defensive structure and is boosted by defense-related technologies.

In contrast to previous titles, Wonders do not feature in Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs. They are also completely different from their counterparts in Age of Empires and Age of Empires II.

Building time

Without any Villager building the Wonder, it takes 2 minutes (120 seconds) to go to the next age, except for the Fortress Age, which takes 2 minutes and 25 seconds (145 seconds). Each additional Villager tasked with building the Wonder will take some time off. The first 4 Villager will take off 10 seconds each, and the last 4 will take off 5 seconds each. For example, going from the Exploration Age to the Commerce Age with 8 Villagers building the Wonder will take $120 - 4 * 10 - 4 * 5 = 60$ seconds.

List of Wonders

Chinese

Wonder	Shipment	Bonuses
Confucian Academy	4 Chu Ko Nu 8 Arquebusiers 12 Arquebusiers 21 Arquebusiers	Automatically train Flying Crows
Porcelain Tower	-	Automatically generates resources (Resource generation rate depends on the Age it was built)
Summer Palace	400 food 1,000 food 1,500 food 2,000 food	Automatically spawns War Academy banner armies
Temple of Heaven	3 Villagers 1 Town Rickshaw 3 Rice Paddy Rickshaws 1,200 export	Allows Shaolin Master to heal injured units Transcendence active ability (heals all of the owner's units)
White Pagoda	4 Disciples 6 Disciples 10 Disciples 14 Disciples	Sacred Vault passive ability (increases Shaolin Master and Disciple hit points and attack, and the latter's train limit)

Indians

Wonder	Shipment	Bonuses
Agra Fort	2 Sepoys 5 Gurkhas 7 Gurkhas 14 Gurkhas	Acts as if it was a Fort Can be further upgraded to Delhi Gate and Red Fort respectively
Charminar Gate	2 Sowars 1 Mahout Lancer 2 Mahout Lancers 3 Mahout Lancers	Train Mansabdar units which enhances units of the same type
Karni Mata	200 food, 200 wood, 100 coin 400 food, 300 wood, 300 coin 400 food, 500 wood, 500 coin 800 food, 800 wood, 800 coin	Keepers of the Rats Aura (increases nearby villagers' gather rate)
Taj Mahal	500 coin 800 coin 1,500 coin 2,400 coin	Cease Fire active ability (temporarily stops all units from attacking)
Tower of Victory	400 wood 800 wood 1,200 wood 2,000 wood	Inspiration active ability (temporarily increases the hit points, attack, and speed of the owner's units)

Japanese

Wonder	Shipment	Bonuses
Golden Pavilion	3 Yumi Archers 6 Yumi Archers 10 Yumi Archers 16 Yumi Archers	Boosts one particular stats of the owner's land military units Has advanced Arsenal technologies
Great Buddha	1 Naginata Rider and 1 Orchard Rickshaw 3 Naginata Riders and 1 Orchard Rickshaw 5 Naginata Riders and 1 Orchard Rickshaw 9 Naginata Riders and 1 Orchard Rickshaw	Informers active ability (temporarily see all enemies' LOS)
Shogunate	400 XP 300 XP and Daimyo Masamune 600 XP and Daimyo Masamune 1,600 XP and Daimyo Masamune	Country in Chains passive ability (reduces the cost and train time of land military units) Retrains Daimyo
Torii Gates	1 Samurai and 1 Military Rickshaw 3 Samurai and 1 Military Rickshaw 6 Samurai 12 Samurai	Kami Worship passive ability (increases XP acquisition rate)
Toshogu Shrine	200 export 400 export 800 export 1,200 export	Acts as if it was two Shrines Tomb of Ieyasu passive ability (increases the resource generation rate of all Shrines)

	Age up methods in Age of Empires III
Politicians for European civilizations Commerce Age The Governor · The Imam · The Inventor · The Logistician · The Naturalist · The Philosopher Prince · The Quartermaster · The Medici Fortress Age The Admiral of the Ocean Sea · The Adventurer · The Bishop · The Ethiopian Queen · The Exiled Prince · The Gentleman Pirate · The Marksman · The Mercenary Contractor · The Mohawk Statesman · The Scout · The Sergeant at Arms Industrial Age The Cavalry Marshal · The Engineer · The Grand Vizier · The King's Musketeer · The Logistician · The Papal Guard · The Tycoon · The Viceroy · The War Minister · The Pope Imperial Age El Presidente · The General · The Black Duke · The Inventor · The Knight · The Mercenary Contractor · The Royalist · The Scottish Marshal Civilizations British · Dutch · French · Germans · Italians · Maltese · Ottomans · Portuguese · Russians · Spanish · Swedes Tribal Council members for Native American civilizations Commerce Age The Messenger · The Wise Woman · The Warrior · The Elder · The Chief Civilizations Aztecs · Haudenosaunee · Inca · Lakota Wonders for Asian civilizations Chinese Confucian Academy · Porcelain Tower · Summer Palace · Temple of Heaven · White Pagoda Indians Agra Fort · Charminar Gate · Karni Mata · Taj Mahal · Tower of Victory Japanese Golden Pavilion · Great Buddha · Shogunate · Torii Gates · Toshogu Shrine Federal States for United States Commerce Age Delaware · Massachusetts · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · Virginia Fortress Age Indiana · Kentucky · Maryland · New Hampshire · Tennessee Industrial Age California · New Jersey · Ohio · South Carolina · Vermont Imperial Age Connecticut · Florida · Illinois · New York · Texas Federal States for Mexicans Commerce Age Durango · Michoacán · Tlaxcala · Chiapas · Querétaro Fortress Age Sonora · Coahuila · Sinaloa · San Luis Potosí · Tabasco Industrial Age Chihuahua · Zacatecas · Tamaulipas · Guanajuato · Guerrero Imperial Age Oaxaca · Jalisco · Estado de México · Veracruz · Puebla Alliances for African civilizations Ethiopians Habesha · Jesuits · Portuguese · Somalis · Sudanese · Indians* · Oromo+ · Arabsx Hausa Akan · Berbers · Hausa · Moroccans · Songhai · Fulani* · Yoruba+ · Britishx * requires Fortress Age to be unlocked; + requires Industrial Age to be unlocked; x requires Imperial Age to be unlocked Unused options for Tribal Council members, Wonders, and Alliances can be used in future Age-ups.