[Question] Is the Hagia Sophia Worth It?

[DeletedUser28670]

Is the Hagia Sophia worth it? I have heard both extreme opinions (the Hagia is a great great GB bla bla bla!) and the other extreme (the hag has a worse track record than colo). Well, I'm here to ask. Would it be worth it for me to put up this GB in my city? A bit of info about me: I'm EMA, with zero SoKs. I do have K&Q statue and the Lord's Manor, but that's about it in terms of FP production for my city. I don't need happiness either; though I DO have a lot of cultural buildings. So, would the Hagia Sophia be... worth it for me?

 

[DeletedUser]

If you want plunder-proof FPs, along with Happiness that doesn't steal your aid from your SoKs and such, then the Hagia Sophia is the GB for you! And, if you act now, we'll throw in ridicule from idiots that don't know any better!

But seriously, get the Hagia along with the Alcatraz and Dresden, level them up, and you won't even need cultural buildings.

 

[DeletedUser26965]

I would say most of the top 10 players would say no.

Now let's look at the actual numbers; US Server, 23 Worlds, 98/230 43% of top 10 players have HS. The majority of those were level 10 or below. I doubt any of the top 10 do HQ.

Spoiler: HS by World Top 10 Players

View attachment 5151

A - 8
B - 5
C - 5
D - 7
E - 8
F - 8
G - 7
H - 3
J - 4
K - 8
L - 4
M - 7
N - 4
O - 2
P - 5
Q - 2
R - 2
S - 2
T - 2
U - 0
V - 2
W - 1
X - 2

 

[DeletedUser13838]

You only have to get it to level 15 before it has the same fp/tile as an sok. And being an EMA GB it is cheap to level.

 

[Algona]

Most hotly contested GB in the game. Here's thread that covers it pretty well:

https://forum.us.forgeofempires.com/index.php?threads/hagia-sofia-how-great-really-is.12326/

You can also search for threads that rate GBs.

 

[qaccy]

Most hotly contested GB in the game. Here's thread that covers it pretty well:

https://forum.us.forgeofempires.com/index.php?threads/hagia-sofia-how-great-really-is.12326/

You can also search for threads that rate GBs.

Is it really? I think the ToR might get that distinction.

Anyway, I'm partial to any GB that produces FP but on the whole, I'd rate it only average, maybe slightly above.

Pros:

• Very cheap, both in goods and FP cost.
• BPs are relatively easy to acquire.
• Both bonuses are useful in a practical sense, more than can be said about roughly half of GBs in the game.

Cons:

• Happiness value drops significantly as you move up in age - mine's level 22 and it's worse than unpolished culture buildings starting in the Future. Polished buildings beat it in Modern.
• The FP production isn't that great for such a large footprint.
• There are other GBs that in my opinion are more important to focus on levelling, meaning this one kind of sits around at an inefficient level for a long time.

To sum it up, I'd recommend skipping the Hagia for now. Get an Arc first and level that up. By the time you're done with that, you'll have an idea on the order in which you want to build/level up GBs.

 

[DeletedUser]

To sum it up, I'd recommend skipping the Hagia for now. Get an Arc first and level that up. By the time you're done with that, you'll have an idea on the order in which you want to build/level up GBs.

He's in EMA. Everybody says "get an Arc", but it's not always as easy as that. In fact, I ended up getting fooled by a player on Vingrid who claimed he would sell me the goods, but stopped answering my messages after I contributed to his GBs. The Hagia Sophia, however, is very doable for an EMA player, with immediate rewards. I always build the Hagia Sophia as soon as I get the BPs, the goods and the space.

 

[DeletedUser28670]

He's in EMA. Everybody says "get an Arc", but it's not always as easy as that. In fact, I ended up getting fooled by a player on Vingrid who claimed he would sell me the goods, but stopped answering my messages after I contributed to his GBs. The Hagia Sophia, however, is very doable for an EMA player, with immediate rewards. I always build the Hagia Sophia as soon as I get the BPs, the goods and the space.

Both of you have valid points: a friend of mine gave specific instructions on how to get a Arc in a FEW MONTHS. Hmmmm..... he did have an Arc in IA and told me the player he got the goods and the BPs from. On the other hand, I already have full Hag BPs and the goods for it (and I can make space for it whenever I want.) So...... I think I'll take a look at other threads concerning the Hag and watch half a week for the poll results, then I'll decide.

 

[Algona]

Is it really? I think the ToR might get that distinction.

Nah. Unless you're talking about being pissed off because the Tor did not deliver. Very few arguments about whether to build TpR or not, just whether it works,

As shown in the thread I posted and lots of other arguments over the years on the forum, there are very good players who legitimately disagree over whether to build Hagia.

 

[Mustapha00]

While I followed the herd and built it on my first three servers (and have it at level 10 on two and 9 on the other), I read the opinions of far more experienced players than I am and decided not to build it on my fourth server (and probably not on my fifth and last- I promise!- server either).

I cannot say that I have missed it at all. In my opinion, its footprint is far too large for its benefits. Your results, of course, may vary.

 

[DeletedUser25920]

Hagia is a nice GB (Happiness and FP are both useful), it is cheap in goods, and BP's are easy to get.
As it has been pointed out though, the issue is that its efficiency (happiness per tile, compared to other buildings) goes down as you progress through the ages.

So you should build the Hagia IF: you build it early (EMA), level it fast, and plan to progress *slowly* through the ages. Then the Hagia will have time to more than repay your investment in it, and it will be an extremely useful GB.

You should not build it, if any of the above conditions is not true (ie if one is already in LMA, CA or later (already too late), plan to leave it at level 3, or plan to move relatively fast through the ages.Then the Hagia will not have enough time to be really useful (which is to take care of your people's happiness while you are at EMA through, say, IndA, plus give you some extra fp).

I have been playing for 15 months and I am still in CA (and not planning to progress further any time soon). I built it at EMA and got it to level 5, then for most of HMA it was at level 7-8, at LMA at level 9, and at CA at level 10. I also have a high-ish Dresden, and never needed to bother with cultural buildings (until my Habitat got to level 7, and then I built one cultural building). To me the Hagia is worth its weight in gold. But that is because I stayed long in each age, levelling my GB's (including Hagia). You do not need to go as slow as me for the Hagia to be useful; but if you plan to move relatively quickly through the ages, then do not build it, because it will not have a chance to be very useful for long, and you can instead invest those FP's into other GB's.

 

[qaccy]

Nah. Unless you're talking about being pissed off because the Tor did not deliver. Very few arguments about whether to build TpR or not, just whether it works,

As shown in the thread I posted and lots of other arguments over the years on the forum, there are very good players who legitimately disagree over whether to build Hagia.

That does lend itself to the definition of being 'contested' though, does it not? Some folks think the relic rewards are worth having a shot at, others argue that it doesn't pay out (well) enough to justify the space - the same kind of argument being applied here. The ToR's just random and less tangible (as far as something digital goes towards being 'tangible') versus this GB providing a flat bonus and a consistent collection.

Anyway, the fair lady above did a pretty good job of further explaining when a Hagia's good to have around!

 

[DeletedUser28670]

Looks like most people are saying "YES"

Hagia is a nice GB (Happiness and FP are both useful), it is cheap in goods, and BP's are easy to get.
As it has been pointed out though, the issue is that its efficiency (happiness per tile, compared to other buildings) goes down as you progress through the ages.

So you should build the Hagia IF: you build it early (EMA), level it fast, and plan to progress *slowly* through the ages. Then the Hagia will have time to more than repay your investment in it, and it will be an extremely useful GB.

You should not build it, if any of the above conditions is not true (ie if one is already in LMA, CA or later (already too late), plan to leave it at level 3, or plan to move relatively fast through the ages.Then the Hagia will not have enough time to be really useful (which is to take care of your people's happiness while you are at EMA through, say, IndA, plus give you some extra fp).

I have been playing for 15 months and I am still in CA (and not planning to progress further any time soon). I built it at EMA and got it to level 5, then for most of HMA it was at level 7-8, at LMA at level 9, and at CA at level 10. I also have a high-ish Dresden, and never needed to bother with cultural buildings (until my Habitat got to level 7, and then I built one cultural building). To me the Hagia is worth its weight in gold. But that is because I stayed long in each age, levelling my GB's (including Hagia). You do not need to go as slow as me for the Hagia to be useful; but if you plan to move relatively quickly through the ages, then do not build it, because it will not have a chance to be very useful for long, and you can instead invest those FP's into other GB's.

I do fall into the "slow moving thru ages" category, so I think I'll be going on and putting Hag up.

 

[Algona]

That does lend itself to the definition of being 'contested' though, does it not?

No. The folk who complain about ToR quite often are the ones who habitually complain about anything including everything that has to do with random numbers.

The folk who disagree about Hagia include the top players in the game, people who know the game, people whose opinions can be disputed but should never be discounted. Folk like you, qaccy.

 

[DeletedUser]

I would say most of the top 10 players would say no.

I think if 43% have the Hagia Sophia, that's a pretty good indicator that it is personal preference rather than GB quality that determines whether it's worth having. If it wasn't worth having the percentage of top 10 players that have it would be much, much lower than that. What is the percentage on the Colosseum or Notre Dame?

 

[DeletedUser26965]

I think if 43% have the Hagia Sophia, that's a pretty good indicator that it is personal preference rather than GB quality that determines whether it's worth having. If it wasn't worth having the percentage of top 10 players that have it would be much, much lower than that. What is the percentage on the Colosseum or Notre Dame?

My guess is that some built it early in the games history, leveled it to 10 and simply just never got rid of it because well, it makes fp's and simply just got married to it, there weren't that many at all leveled beyond 10. Notice the trendline as newer worlds open up less top 10 players have one which indicates to me that as time goes on more people realize it's not worth building, or at least not worth having at the endgame. I'm speculating as much as any other, I say if you like it build the thing if you don't who cares. I'm never a big fan of "is it worth it" "should I build it" type questions, I aint you brother how could I know.