You're not forced to build all 4 wonders though. If you want to go to war then 2x HE is better than putting forges everywhere. Ignore the NE until later if you need settlers/workers.
2xHE is +200% to military units for 400 hammers base hammers before IND/marble reduction. 6 IND forges is 360 hammers for +150%.
Now add in the fact that you can choose 2 cities with the best production potential. Say 2 cities with a lot of forests, and it becomes even more powerful to stack the modifiers in 2 cities as opposed to multiple. This means less hammers spent on barracks too.
I think IND has so many options and tools for every situation now where it's almost never a "dead trait" while also having new-found potential to come up huge.
2xHE is +200% to military units for 400 hammers base hammers before IND/marble reduction. 6 IND forges is 360 hammers for +150%.
Now add in the fact that you can choose 2 cities with the best production potential. Say 2 cities with a lot of forests, and it becomes even more powerful to stack the modifiers in 2 cities as opposed to multiple. This means less hammers spent on barracks too.
I think IND has so many options and tools for every situation now where it's almost never a "dead trait" while also having new-found potential to come up huge.