Welcome to Mike Schaffer's AoE Page
Here you will find all the info, Tips, Stratagies, ect on Age of Empires.
Villagers
Villagers are the backbone of your entire game. They gather your food, cut your wood, mine your gold and stone
and build your buildings. As in WarCraft, the key to winning is in your villagers. Make many villagers! The more
villagers you have the faster you gather resources and the faster you can upgrade and pump out units. But don't
make too, too many villagers. Because of the 50 unit limit you won't have enough room to pump out enough
fighting units.
Academy
One word... buff. These guys, even the Hoplite, can give and receive ALOT of damage. There one main flaw is
their speed, they are slow as hell. A unit of archers or balistas (hell even catapults) will chew these up. Even with
the research of Aristocracy (speeds up academy units 25%) these guys are still slow. Use these guys only when
you are in a hand-to-hand combat situation, in that case these guys will clean up.
Archery
Archer units are very strong in this game. An archer rush in Warcraft 2 would be unheard of. But in AOE, archers
are buff. The Chariot Archer is awesome. He doesn't cost any gold to make! He has fast speed and his range is
the highest an archer can have. A Chariot Archer rush in the bronze age can be devastating, especially an
Assyrian Chariot Archer rush... scary! The elephant archer is a good unit for newbies. You can just stick a couple
in the middle of a battle and not have to worry about moving him around since he is so freakin slow. Horse
Archers are great, although they cost 70 gold. They give out serious damage and they are fast. In a combat
situation you can't just leave these guys in there to fend for themselves. The trick is hitting the enemy with a load
of arrows then running, drawing them towards you. Stop hit them again then retreating again. Also horse archers
have +2 armor against missile weapons, but this doesn't really mean much.
Barracks
Barracks Units are the most basic units in the game, they have no special bonuses like most of the other units
and they are fairly cheap to pump out (35 food 15 gp). But this guys suck when you get to the bronze age. A
hoplite can take out a Legion with about 20 hit points left. If you are low on gold go with the barracks units...
otherwise invest you gold into academy units. The speed difference doesn't matter much at all.
Siege
Siege weapons are for causing mass damage. There are two drawbacks to Siege Weapons, they are slow and they
can't defend themselves when an attacker gets in close. The ballista is great for backing up your units in an
attack. They have a high rate of fire (once every 3 secs or 1.5 secs in the case of Helepolises) and they don't hurt
your own men. Taking catapults into a battle to back you up will do you more harm than good. It can damage your
own men and rarely hits the enemy because the rocks travel fairly slow through the air. Catapults' main use is
taking out towers, walls, buildings, and protecting your town.
Priests
Priests have the power to heal your units and convert enemy units to your side. I've never really played a game
where priests made the difference. They are very helpful in the aspect that they heal, but conversion never made
a difference in a game. The most I converted in a game was 5 units, and it didn't really help me win. The thing
about priests is that they are slow as hell, they are expensive (125 gold!), and they are wimps when it comes to hit
points (50).
Stable
The scout is a very useful unit, it moves fast and it has a large radius of sight. The Chariot doesn't require any
gold to make, but I rarely use this unit. Its hit points are a little to low (100 hp) for me to use, but don't hesitate to
use Chariots when you are low on gold. Cavalry, Heavy Cavalry, and Cataphract have a huge offensive bonus,
they have +5 attack against infantry (barracks and academy units). Although a one-on-one with a phalanx is still
out of the question, it is still helpful. War Elephants are pretty sweet. They require alot of food (170) but with the
high hit points (600) and the high attack (15) this makes for a powerful unit. Again the flaw with the elephants is
that they are slow and archers will chew them up. Yet they have one more flaw... their attack strength is not
upgradable so it will always remain at 15, which still isn't that bad.
Stratagies
Tribe Stratagies
Tribe Strategies
Assyrian
This tribe rules all in the Bronze age! Hell this tribe just rules in any age, mostly the bronze though. The big bonus
for the Assyrians is the +40% Archery range fire rate and the +30% is also a pretty nice bonus also. In the Bronze
age a Chariot rush is devastating, send in a group of 15-20 chariot archers and there's not much your enemy can do
to stop you. The +40% fire rate will decimate anything that tries to attack your archers. Its almost a rule of
thumb... if you pick Assyrian you must archer rush! Although you don't have a Phalanx or Centurion, who cares!
Make hoplites to create a front line to slow down the enemy from getting to your archers.
Babylonian
This is basically just a camping, build-a-wonder-tribe. With the double wall and tower hit points plus the +30%
stone mining you can fortify your town extremely well. Babylonians only have the Hoplite and only the Cavalry and
Chariot for Stable units. They are terrible on the seas because they lack a Trireme. If you choose Babylonian just
stay at home, don't or rarely attack the enemy, and work on building defenses for building your wonder.
Babylonians can also pull of The Evil Babylonian Tower Rush!
Choson
I never really played as the Choson and before I said they sucked and were the worst tribe. Well, I was wrong.
Blackhat proved me wrong and sent me this intensive strategy guide for the Choson... Choson Strategies.
Egyptian
Not a bad tribe at all. Although their infantry sucks and they only have the stone thrower, the +20% gold mining
and the +33% Chariot bonuses make up for it. They key with the Egyptians is to make ALOT of elephants since
they are the Egyptian's most powerful ground unit. The +20% gold mining will really help you pump out those
elephants and priests. Another powerful aspect of the Egyptains is that Chariots get +33% hit points, this kicks ass
in the bronze age. Just rush the enemy town with with your chariot archers and chariots. In the Iron age you have
two pretty huge advantages for defense and attacking. 1) You have the Elephants which are pretty easy to pump
out with the +20% gold mining for attacking 2) The +3 conversion range is really helpful in defending your city.
When an enemy attacks you have your priests right in the center of your town... I recommend 6 or 7. When the
enemy attacks send out your elephants first, have the ememy beat on them for a while. While they are attacking
your elephants bring in your priests, KEEP THEM IN TOWER RANGE. Don't bring them out of the range of your
towers or their toast. Convert every enemy you can, the enemy will charge your priest but it will be converted by
the time it gets to your priest because of the +3 range or your towers will take it out. With 6 or 7 priests for the
time it takes for your 1st priest to restore his faith, you have gone through the other priests and are ready to
convert another unit with your first priest.
Greek
Not one of my favorite land tribes but they are strong on the high seas. On land they only have a bowman! Ack!
Your Academy units will get wasted even though they have +30% speed. Greeks Stable Units are OK with a
Cavalry and a Heavy Cavalry. They strength of the Greeks is in their navy. With a full selection of every ship and
a +30% bonus speed to warships, these guys will waste any other tribe on the sea, if you are not a newbie. It would
be stupid to just lead this ships into a naval battle and just leave them there. Take two catapult triremes, group
them, then hit the target, dodge what they fire back which is easy with the Greek speed, and fire back again.
Hittite
Hittes are great on the sea, EXCEPT in the iron age, then they get spanked by Triremes. The key to winning a
naval battle with the Hittites is by taking out the enemies dock as fast as possible before the iron age. Build tons of
war galleys then take out their other war ships easily then surround the enemy's coast to make sure they don't
build another dock. Use the +4 warship range to spray the enemys buildings and units near the coast with arrows.
If the enemy makes it to the iron age and has a dock you over looked you're screwed. On land the Hittites kick
ass! The double hit points for catapults rules, just send in a bunch of catapults into an enemy town (hell you can
leave them unguarded). Spread the catapults out alittle so one catapult can kill a unit attacking another catapult.
With the crazy hit points, it will take a lot of time for almost any unit to kill a catapult (especially a heavy catapult...
300 hit points!)
Minoan
Here is what was here before I got spanked by Moonstone who used Minoans...
The Minoans are pretty good on the sea with the -30% ship costs but they suck on land. They can't build a Balista
Tower, they can't even build a guard tower. They have crappy archery units, except the +2 range composite
bowman but that still sucks. They only have a Cavalry for Stable units but they do have all the adedemy units.
Man I got killed so bad by Moonstone, he hit me with those +2 composite bowmen and I didn't stand a chance.
Minoans are a very good tribe for archer rushing... I had to learn the hard way :) The trick to using the Minoans is
to upgrade fairly quickly and hit the enemy with the composite bowmen while they are still in the tool age. When I
looked at Moonstone's town I found that he set up 3 archer ranges. The double farm production let him pump out
all those archers without worry of using more wood to build farms.
Persian
Ah the Elephant tribe. This tribe kicks so much ass with the super charged elephants, they move 50% faster. Don't
have to worry about making Stable Units to take out a catapult, just send a elephant at it. The +50% Trireme fire
rate is really sweet too. There are two huge drawbacks to the Persian tribe though. They have -30% farming, this
hurts bad, because you do need alot of food for those elephants, this means more of your population is going to
have to be villagers to make more farms. Persians also lack a balista tower which hurts you for obvious reasons.
Phoenician
The Phoenician is a pretty well rounded tribe. The -25% elephant cost is pretty nice, this makes for a very good
newbie tribe. Lacking the Horse Archer makes the more experienced player not want to use this tribe. Phoenicians
are pretty good on the sea with the +65% Trireme fire rate. This trbe is very well rounded and that is why I
recomend this tribe for newbies to AoE.
Shang
When you are playing someone that is Shang expect either to kick their ass real quick or lose real quick. The
Shang's major bonus is that you can make 3 villagers for the price of 2. A person that plays as Shang and is good
with this tribe will hit you hard and early and most likely kick your ass. If someone sucks with Shang and you make
it to the bronze age they are dead. A good strategy for the Shang is by making alot of villagers and rushing the
enemy in the stone age.
Sumerian
The Sumerian is a pretty strong tribe, well very strong. They suck on the sea so don't even think about using them
on water maps. But on land they rule with the +50% catapult fire rate. Also the double farm production just rules
for obvious reasons :) When you charge a city with a group of academy units, war elephants, and catapults almost
nothing will stop you. Take out those towers and pesky archers twice as fast with your buff catapults.
Also Sumerians can be used to get an easy, fast win. Since Sumerian Villagers are as strong as clubmen its a good
stragegy to rush the enemy early with a bunch of Villagers. The way to do this most effectively is by first find out
where the berry bushes are then build a granary right next to them. Have 2 Villagers gather, 1 build a house, and
make another villager. After the house and villager is made put them all on the bushes and make another villager.
With your 5th and 6th villagers, put them on wood for houses then every villager after builds a house and gathers
food or hunts. With your 9th and 10th villagers, send them looking for the enemy village. when you hit 20 villagers
attack the enemy.
Yamato
This tribe would rock if it didn't like one important feature... the balista tower! It still is a great tribe without the
balista tower because of the -25% on all horse units (not just stable units, horse archers too) and because of the
+30% ship hit points. The key to winning with the Yamato is to continuely attack the enemy to keep him an the
defensive. With the cataphract, heavy horse, and centurion you can kick some serious ass (you'll never get all
these upgrades in one game but is still a great advantage).
Rushing
Rushing
Rushing is attacking your enemy very early in the game, hopefully you catch him off guard and are able to mess up
his economy by killing alot of his villagers. If you are real lucky you might totally beat your enemy in your first
rush. There are basically 4 different types of rushes: archer (the best!), axeman, scout, and villager.
Archer Rushing
With your first three villagers, send 2 out scouting the area for the berry bushes and wood. Make one of the
villagers build a house and create another villager. After the House is done you should have found your bushes and
wood supply put 3 of your villagers on the bushes and one on the wood. Your next 2 villagers should be placed on
the wood, make a storage pit near by. If your bushes are far away from your town center then you should make a
granary near the bushes instead of a storage pit near the wood. Keep making houses and villagers.
Send your 10th-15th villagers out scouting (one for each corner of the map and one for the center). When you have
25 villagers(1/2 on wood, 1/2 on food) upgrade to the tool age. Build a stable in your town and send 3 villagers near
the enemy town. Build 3 archery ranges out of your enemy's sight range. Send 2 or 3 scouts into your enemy's
territory and molest his villagers:) When your enemy sends his axemen after you run towards your archers. Have
your archers open fire on the axemen and your scouts attack them.
This should win the game for you if they had few units and a couple towers that could hurt your archers if you sent
them into the city to attack the axemen. If they have alot of units to take out your archers then you must improvise,
go for the villagers. Send the scouts in and locate where the villagers are. Discover holes in the defence and send
your archers through them and kill the villagers. When the axemen come in retreat and fire on them as they chase
you.
One more thing don't worry about range or armor upgrades at first, just pump out tons of archers. After you have
alot of archers go for the range upgrade and then the armor upgrade. This strategy is paticularly devistating when
you are the Assyrian or Hitte tribe. The Assyrian have a +40% fire rate for archer units. And the Hitte have +1
archery range unit attack which my not seem like alot but it is!
Axemen Rushing
Axemen rushing is pretty effective, but not as effective as the archer rush. When axemen rushing build a granary
first next to your berries. As always keep training villagers all the time and making houses. You're next building
should be a storage pit right next to your trees. Then when you have enough wood build two barracks, then go to
Tool age. Keep training your clubmen while you are in the middle of going to tool. Also before going to the tool age
you should have sent out 5 villagers to look for the enemy using the waypoints feature.
When you hit the Tool Age you should have 4 or so clubmen, send them near the enemy base , don't attack yet.
Upgrade to axe as soon as possible and train clubmen with the other barracks. As soon as you have upgraded to
axe send your for axemen into the enemys town. They almost always are off guard and have slim defenses if you
have upgraded quickly, and you should beat them pretty easily.
In one respect this is better than the archer rush in that you can pull this rush off VERY early. With the archer rush
you have to wait for your units to come out which takes some time. With the axemen rush you have 4 or so axemen
automatically as soon as you finish upgrading to axe as long as you had clubmen before the upgrade.
Scout Rushing
Believe it or not I have been Scout Rushed twice, only idiots scout rush. They cost 100 food which is alot! And I
only have to stick 2 villagers on a scout to kill it. Never scout rush unless you feel like losing.
Villager Rushing
I hate being villager rushed and I doing it. It makes for a fast, sucky game and usually ends up with the person who
was rushed flaming the one who villager rushed them. Of course the two main villager rushing tribes are the
Sumerian and the Shang. The Sumerian Villagers are as strong as clubmen and the Shang Villagers cost only 35
food.
Not much to explain about how to villager rush... just only build a storage pit and granary and don't upgrade to the
tool age.
Attacking
Attacking Strategies
Scouting
First of course you must know where your enemy is, thats a given. One important aspect of scouting is learning the
holes in your enemy's defense and finding out where his villagers are. To do this send one scout into your enemy's
town and run through it very quickly. Yes your guy will take a beating and might die but the information is worth the
100 food. One thing that you must remember is where his villagers are, they won't show up on the map after your
scout isn't in the area.
Before you attack you must take advantage of AoE's grouping feature. Do this by selecting a group of units and
press ctrl 1-9 to assign a group. To select a group press 1-9 to select the group assigned to the number. Hold shift
while selecting pressing 1-9 to group multiple groups.
The best way to group units is by method of attack (ranged and hand-to-hand) and the speed of the unit. For
example, cavalry-1, academy units, elephants-2, barracks units-3, horse archers-4, foot archers-5, elephant
archers-6, catapults-7, hand-to-hand units-8, archery units-9. This is just an example, I'm sure that there is a better
grouping method. This allows for dealing with problems that may arise quickly and easily. For example, uh oh here
comes a bunch of academy units, press 8 and withdraw your hand to hand units press 9 and open fire. Another
example, uh oh he has all his villagers making tons of towers in your attacking area. Press shift 8, 9 withdraw,
press 7 and attack the towers. As you can see grouping is essential in a successful attack.
Preparation
A very effective method of preparation before attacking is taking 5-7 villagers and making towers near the enemy
territory, out of tower range. Bring in a couple catapults and bomb the enemy's buildings, when the enemy comes to
take out your cats they get chewed up by your towers. This strategy backfires on you if your enemy has priests and
converts your catapults.
Also the other method of preparation is by scouting the enemy's area and finding exactly where his villagers are.
The Attack
Going for the Jugular
This is when your scouting pays off, with your knowledge of where your enemy's villagers are, you will ruin his
economy. As any War2 vet knows, always go for the peon line when attacking, the same goes for AoE. With your
knowledge from scouting you know where your enemy's fighting units are and where his towers are. Many AoE
players build their towers just facing your way which isn't to bright. Bring in your units to the flank of the town and
kill as many villagers as possible, use your archers. Then bring your archers to where many of your enemy's
villagers are and open fire. Always use archers, this way your guys don't have to chase down those villagers.
Offensive towering
I have to give credit to Smog for this idea, because after reading a strategy like this on his page I have been using
it ever since. When attacking the enemy's townbring in 5-7 villagers and build as many towers as possible. The
enemy won't attack your villagers because they are being attacked at the time. The towers will help you take out
your enemy. Remember, you can tell your towers which unit you can attack unlike warcraft 2. Just click on the
tower, then right click on the unit you want it to attack.
Priests
Priest Strategies
Priests are the most unused unit in AoE, because they have many, many disadvantages. They cost 125 gold! They
are slow as hell, they are wimps with 25 hp (50 hp after mysticism), and the upgrades for the priest also cost a tidy
sum. But when used properly priests are worth what they cost.
Upgrades
Polytheism - This upgrade is not worth it, even if the priest is still 40% faster this isn't gonna save him when he is
being attacked.
Mysticism - This upgrade is kinda worth it, 25 more hit points means absolutely nothing when being chased by an
enemy unit. If your priest is attacked its dead even if it has an extra 25 hit points. But this is helpful in converting
towers.
Astrology - This upgrade is one of the necessary upgrades for priests. When a priest tries to convert an enemy across the screen the enemy usually reaches your priest and kills him before he is done converting if its not an
elephant or academy unit. With Astrology slow to medium speed enemies are almost always converted before
reaching your priest. This upgrade is a definite to get.
Monotheism - Well if you have alot of extra gold I would get this upgrade, it may be worth it. This upgrade can sometimes be used against enemy priests but I never played a game when the enemy had many priests.
Monotheism is the BEST for converting towers. Below is my method for converting towers.
Afterlife - A great, great upgrade! Combined with Astrology priests may even be able to convert fast moving units before they get to him. The enemy has to run an extra 3 distance units before reaching the priests. In that time the priest most likely have converted it.
Fanaticism - Another bad upgrade, sure its nice that the priests also heal but the healing is not instantaneous like in War2. Whenever priests heal it should only be after a battle away from the enemy and the +50% healing bonus
doesn't mean a thing.
Converting Towers
This is a real fun, tricky, aggravating to your opponent tactic. The only way this will work is when towers are far
from each other, at most one other tower with in firing range of the tower you are converting. Bring two priests and
an elephant near the enemy's town. send your elephant near the enemy tower you wish to convert. It will begin to
peck away at the elephant, bring your enemy priest in really quick to convert that tower. Another tower may be
nearby to shoot up your priest but that shouldn't be that big of a problem if you have Mysticism. When the tower is
converted pull back. Have the priest that did nothing heal the priest that just converted the tower. And have the
priest that just converted the tower heal the elephant. Keep repeating this process on every tower, more than likely
you will lose that one priest but in the process you may be able to convert 3 towers. My best was 4 :)
Priest Defenses
Another great way to defend your town is by using priests. Hide 3 to 4 priests right in the center of your town.
When the enemy attacks have your priests convert anything in sight, especially units near catapults or balaistas,
therefore they will kill those pesky siege weapons for you.
When hidden deep with in the town it makes it harder for the enemy unit you are converting to get to get to your
priest. The extra time the enemy spends going around buildings is more time for your priest has to convert the unit.
The Two Priest Combo
Group two priests together and convert an enemy. The enemy unit goes back and forth between priests, not
knowing which one to attack. This is almost always a sure conversion.
This Site was Created and is Maintained By Mike Schaffer