Landmarks are one of the most crucial buildings players must construct in Age of Empires 4. Advancing through the ages is made possible by building these mighty structures. Best of all, no two Landmarks offer the same benefits for a particular faction, which gives players a bit more freedom in deciding what aspect of the economy/military they want to prioritize.

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Like everything else in Age of Empires 4, skilled players should consider planning in advance which Landmarks they want to build first. Whatever fans decide, these important structures must be protected at all costs, especially in skirmish matches where losing all of one's Landmarks results in defeat.

How Landmarks Work

Selecting A Landmark In Age Of Empires 4

Every civilization (except the Abbasid Dynasty), must build a Landmark to advance to the next age. Once the necessary resources have been collected, players have two choices for potential Landmarks. Only one is required to advance to the next age. The cost to build a Landmark at each age is:

  • Feudal Age – 400 Food & 200 Gold
  • Castle Age – 1,200 Food & 600 Gold
  • Imperial Age – 2,400 Food & 1,200 Gold

Landmarks often serve as fully functioning production buildings. They can act as defensive fortifications, military recruitment buildings, economic structures, and research stations. Choose the Landmarks that best fit one's playstyle to reap the maximum reward. When ready, assign Villagers to construct the desired Landmark.

Chinese Landmarks

Imperial Academy Landmark From Age Of Empires 4
  • Imperial Academy (Feudal Age, Economic) – Nearby buildings generate +100% tax gold.
  • Barbican of the Sun (Feudal Age, Defensive) – Fires a long-range hand cannon and adds arrowslits when garrisoned. Offers vision into stealth forests.
  • Astronomical Clocktower (Castle Age, Military) – Acts as a Siege Workshop. Produces siege engines with +50% health.
  • Imperial Palace (Castle Age, Economic) – Possesses a large sight radius. Activate to view the location of enemy Villagers for 10 seconds.
  • Great Wall Gatehouse (Imperial Age, Defensive) – Increases health of Stone Walls and Gates by +100%. Nearby troops on walls deal +50% damage.
  • Spirit Way (Imperial Age, Military) – All buildings can create previously achieved Dynasty units. Buildings near this Landmark produce Dynasty units at a -30% reduced cost.

Chinese Landmarks & Dynasties

Chinese Landmarks & Dynasties From Age Of Empires 4

It's worth noting that, unlike other civilizations, the Chinese can produce both Landmarks from the same age. Doing so advances the Chinese civilization to the next Dynasty. For example, if players build the Imperial Academy and the Barbican of the Sun, the Chinese civ will also advance from the Tang to the Song Dynasty.

Delhi Sultanate Landmarks

Dome of the Faith Landmark From Age Of Empires 4
  • Dome of the Faith (Feudal Age, Religious) – Produces Scholars at -50% cost from the Landmark.
  • Tower of Victory (Feudal Age, Military) – Melee and ranged infantry who move near this Landmark permanently gain about +15% attack speed.
  • Compound of the Defender (Castle Age, Defensive) – Infantry units can build Stone Walls, Gates, and Towers. Reduces Stone cost of buildings and their emplacements by -25%.

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  • House of Learning (Castle Age, Technology) – Grants no immediate bonus other than advancing to the next Age, but contains many unique economic and religious technologies.
  • Palace of the Sultan (Imperial Age, Religious) – Automatically produces Tower War Elephants. Garrison up to 4 Scholars in the Landmark to increase production speed.
  • Hisar Academy (Imperial Age, Technology) – Constantly generates Food based on total number of technologies researched.

English Landmarks

English Landmark From Age Of Empires 4
  • Abbey of Kings (Feudal Age, Religious) – Heals all nearby friendly units that are out of combat by +4 every 1.5 seconds.
  • Council Hall (Feudal Age, Military) – Produces Longbowmen at +100% speed from this Landmark. Contains Longbowmen upgrades.
  • The White Tower (Castle Age, Defensive) – Acts as a Keep with all the behaviors, technology, and bonuses.
  • King's Palace (Castle Age, Economic) – Acts as a Town Center with all the behaviors, technology, units, and bonuses.
  • Wynguard Palace (Imperial Age, Military) – Produce the Wynguard Army from the Landmark. Army includes one each of Man-at-Arms, Spearman, Longbowman, Knight, and Trebuchet.
  • Berkshire Palace (Imperial Age, Defensive) – Acts as a Keep with all the behaviors, technology, and bonuses. Possesses a +50% greater weapon range and double the number of arrowslits.

French Landmarks

Chamber Of Commerce Landmark From Age Of Empires 4
  • School of Cavalry (Feudal Age, Military) – Acts as a Stable. All of your Stables produce units +20% faster.
  • Chamber of Commerce (Feudal Age, Economic) – Acts as a Market. All Traders and Trade Ships return +30% more resources to any Market or Dock.
  • Guild Hall (Castle Age, Economic) – Generates and stores resources over time, the more resources stored the faster they are generated. Select between Food, Wood, Stone, or Gold.
  • Royal Institute (Castle Age, Military) – Houses all technologies unique to the French. Research is -20% cheaper here and ignores Age requirements.
  • Red Palace (Imperial Age, Defensive) – Acts as a Keep. Features high-damage Arbalest emplacements. Each garrisoned unit adds an additional Arbalest.
  • College of Artillery (Imperial Age, Military) – Provides immediate access to produce Royal Artillery, which do +20% more damage.

Holy Roman Empire Landmarks

HRE Landmark From Age Of Empires 4
  • Aachen Chapel (Feudal Age, Religious) – Inspires units in a large radius so long as a Prelate is garrisoned.
  • Meinwerk Palace (Feudal Age, Military) – Acts like a Blacksmith. Technology researched here costs -25% less.
  • Regnitz Catherdral (Castle Age, Religious) – Relics placed within the Regnitz Cathedral generate +200% Gold every minute. Holds 3 relics.

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  • Burgrave Palace (Castle Age, Military) – Acts as a Barracks that produces infantry 5 at a time.
  • Palace of Swabia (Imperial Age, Economic) – Acts as a Town Center. Produces Villagers +75% faster and -75% cheaper. Cost to build this Landmark is reduced by -20%.
  • Elzbach Palace (Imperial Age, Defensive) – Acts as a Keep with +50% health. All buildings within influence take -33% less damage.

Mongol Landmarks

Mongols Landmark From Age Of Empires 4
  • Deer Stones (Feudal Age, Military) – When set up, Deer Stones provide the Yam Speed Aura. Upon completion, instantly grants the Yam Network technology.
  • The Silver Tree (Feudal Age, Economic) – Acts as a Market. Can build Traders +50% faster and at a -50% reduced Gold cost.
  • Kurultai (Castle Age, Military) – When the Khan is nearby, the Kurultai heals all nearby damaged units and provides a +25% damage bonus for 30 seconds.
  • Steppe Redoubt (Castle Age, Economic) – Acts as a Ger. Gold dropped off at this Landmark is increased by +50%.
  • The White Stupa (Imperial Age, Economic) – Acts as an Ovoo and produces 240 Stone per minute without a Stone outcropping.
  • Khaganate Palace (Imperial Age, Military) – Spawns a cavalry army of Horsemen, Mangudai, or Lancers every 90 seconds.

Rus Landmarks

Kremlin Landmark From Age Of Empires 4
  • The Golden Gate (Feudal Age, Economic) – Allows the exchange of resources at a favorable rate. Generates an additional exchange every minute.
  • Kremlin (Feudal Age, Defensive) – Acts as a Wooden Fortress that comes with arrowslits, Castle Turret, and Castle Watch technologies.
  • Abbey of the Trinity (Castle Age, Religious) – Acts as a Monastery. Can produce Warrior Monks at half the cost and contains unique religious technologies.
  • High Trade House (Castle Age, Economic) – Generates Gold like a Hunting Cabin with the value increased by +200%. Spawns Deer every 60 seconds. Villagers can drop off Food at this building.
  • Spasskaya Tower (Imperial Age, Defensive) – Acts as a Keep with all weapon emplacements already in place and with increased health.
  • High Armory (Imperial Age, Military) – Decrease the cost of siege engines in nearby Siege Workshops by -20%. Contains unique siege engine technologies.

The Abbasid Dynasty & The House Of Wisdom

House of Wisdom Upgrades From Age Of Empires 4

The Abbasid Dynasty can't build Landmarks in the traditional sense. Instead, Abbasid players need to construct the House of Wisdom, available right from the start in the Dark Age. To progress to the next age, fans must build Wings to the House of Wisdom. Completing a Wing advances the player to the next age. They include:

  • The Trade Wing
  • The Military Wing
  • The Culture Wing
  • The Economic Wing

When a Wing is constructed, all of the unique technologies associated with that Wing become available for purchase. In addition, the Abbasids possess a Golden Age mechanic, whereby the number of other structures built near the House of Wisdom bestows bonuses to Villager gathering rates, production speed, and technology speed.

Age of Empires 4 was released on October 28, 2021, and is currently available on PC.

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