Highlights
- Study each civilization's strengths and weaknesses before choosing one to play. Understanding how a civilization functions is crucial for success.
- Advance to the next age quickly to unlock better units, upgrades, and buildings. Falling behind in age advancement puts one at a disadvantage.
- Always keep military units queued to ensure a constant flow of troops. Building multiple recruitment buildings and replacing troops quickly is key to overwhelming one's enemies.
In Age of Empires 4, knowing how to defeat one's enemy efficiently is the name of the game. Preparing for victory in Age of Empires 4 is a multilayered exercise. Players must balance the economy and the military effectively to achieve the best results.
For players who are new to the franchise, the game may seem overwhelming at first. Luckily, there exists a handful of tried-and-true strategies that can help fans achieve that glorious victory. No matter which civilization players lock horns with, these AOE 4 tips hold true regardless. With a little planning and a dash of boldness, fans shouldn't have too much trouble overcoming their foes.
Updated September 9, 2023 by Mark Hospodar: Age of Empires 4 is no longer limited to the realm of PC gaming. Xbox players can now enjoy the medieval RTS action that made the Age of Empires franchise a household name.
Regardless of whether players are experiencing the game on PC or console, many of the essential tips for a successful match remain the same. Fans who are always looking to improve their game may want to consider the following Age of Empires 4 tips to gain an advantage over their enemies.
15 Study Your Civilization Carefully
Choosing a civilization to play in AOE 4 is the first and most basic decision players make in the game before a match starts. However, it's a mistake to assume that each civilization behaves similarly. It's essential that fans read the description and study the tech tree of their chosen civilization before starting a match, especially against human opponents.
Every faction has a collection of strengths and weaknesses that make it unique. A player who mistakenly prioritizes a civilization's weaknesses is playing the game at a marked disadvantage. Thus, it's important to understand how each civilization functions before committing to one. It's not a bad idea to play through some practice runs in Skirmish Mode first to get a feel for each faction.
14 Advance To The Next Age Quickly
A surefire way to lose a match in AOE 4 is to fall too far behind one's opponents in terms of age advancement. A new age opens up a whole plethora of options when it comes to unit recruitment, upgrades, buildings, etc. In short, everything becomes better in a subsequent age.
Players have to keep up with their competition, otherwise, they will steadily become overmatched. Conversely, being one step ahead of one's enemies is an ideal situation. Smart players never forget about the next age and prepare accordingly when it comes to saving enough resources to make the transition.
13 Always Have Military Units Queued
At the end of the day, military force is required to triumph over the opposition. For that, large and powerful armies are necessary to overwhelm the enemy forces. Although building a significant force all at once is viable, fans need to keep their military machine running constantly.
A sound tactic that new players sometimes ignore is to always keep replacement troops queued at their respective recruitment buildings. In this manner, losses on the battlefield can be quickly replaced instead of having to waste precious time waiting for a new army to be built from scratch. Furthermore, building multiple barracks, archery ranges, stables, etc. is recommended rather than just one of each to help facilitate this process.
12 Don't Be Afraid To Use Hotkeys
Fans of strategy and RTS games undoubtedly have their preferences when it comes to utilizing hotkeys. It's understandable that some players may be a little hesitant to memorize or consciously employ hotkeys when they're so used to letting the mouse do most of the heavy lifting. However, if players want to take their game to the next level, especially competitively online, utilizing hotkeys is an essential skill.
Players shouldn't worry about speed when it comes to learning hotkeys. Like any kind of skill, fans should learn what each hotkey does and practice using them. After a while, speed will come naturally. Players who can wield hotkeys efficiently will come to realize that the management of their base is improved considerably. There's a hotkey for almost everything, so learning the ins and outs of the essentials will go a long way toward honing one's AOE 4 skills.
11 Optimize The Placement Of Buildings
One advanced tactic in AOE 4 is to pay extra special attention to the placement of one's buildings. Every faction benefits from some form of innate bonus, often in the form of a unique building. Knowing where to construct each building, as well as in what order, is a great way to establish an early advantage.
For example, the Abbasid Dynasty benefits from bonuses to Villager gathering rates and technology speeds based on how many structures are built around their House of Wisdom. Fans should keep information like this in mind before spending the resources to build structures.
10 Villagers. Villagers. Villagers.
The key to a successful win is an overpowered economy. To achieve that goal, players need to get into the habit of producing villagers right off the bat. A lot of them. Without a steady stream of resources, fans will be unable to produce the necessary military units and upgrades to trounce one's enemies on the battlefield.
Fans should start building 30-40 villagers as soon as possible. Remember to assign one or two of them to build houses to increase one's population limit. Consider purchasing upgrades from resource buildings to improve the speed and efficiency of villagers' tasks. Once the economy is booming, players can delete excess villagers to free up cap space for more military units.
9 Prioritize Food Early
All resources in AOE 4 are important but prioritizing food in the early stages of a match is essential. Why? Villagers, military units, upgrades, and advancements to the next age require food. Players must stockpile plenty of it to ensure a steady flow of soldiers to replace losses on the battlefield. Producing a large number of villagers, as outlined in the previous entry, will need a good deal of food as well.
Farming is one of the most reliable methods for collecting a constant supply of food. Build mills wherever open space is available inside one's base. If a water source is nearby, fishing is also an option. Hunting deer and collecting sheep is viable in the early game. Once they run out, switch to farming to keep the food flowing.
8 Build Mixed Compositions Of Units
The game stresses this fact quite a bit in the tutorials. That's because building a mixed composition of military units cannot be overstated. Combat is, of course, deadly. Throwing cavalry against spearmen, for instance, isn't going to work very well. Understanding the rock-paper-scissors nature of the game's combat is vital.
With enough houses and villagers, players can recruit a pretty significant number of military forces compared to previous games in the series. Possess a little of everything in one's army: archers, spearmen, swordsmen, cavalry, and siege engines. Every civilization also has its own special units unique to that culture. Build those as well to potentially exploit an opponent's weakness.
7 Make Use Of Scouts In The Early Game
For new players, the early stages of the match can often feel like the most hectic. After all, players have a lot of important things to consider, namely getting their bases up and running while managing the economy and recruiting the military. Nevertheless, one key aspect that beginners tend to ignore in the early going is sending out their scouts to explore the map.
Knowing the layout of the map is essential information in AOE 4. One of the most important elements to consider is figuring out where the resources are located. Players will need to expand to keep the resources flowing. But expand where? Fans need to locate additional resources but also must consider whether or not those resources can be easily defended. The early deployment of scouts is essential for not only clearing away the terra incognita but also figuring out where the map's essential resources can be found and how best to deny them to the enemy player.
6 Purchase Military Upgrades
The best thing about possessing a strong economy is that purchasing upgrades becomes a lot easier. Recruiting a large army is only the first step in the process. To make units even more effective, players must buy upgrades from buildings such as blacksmiths. Promoting a type of unit to the next highest tier should also be done as soon as possible once players advance to the next age.
The benefits of upgrades are obvious. More durable units don't need to be replaced as often. By the same token, deadlier units end fights a lot sooner. Upgrade buildings too, especially structures such as castles. Fully upgraded defensive emplacements can shred through enemy formations. The player's forces simply need to mop up the remainder.
5 Construct Castles In Strategic Locations
Just like in Age of Empires 2, castles in AOE 4 shouldn't be taken lightly. They're formidable structures that won't be demolished easily without the use of siege engines. Therefore, it's a good strategy, where applicable, to build castles at the entrances to one's base. Identify narrow chokepoints where foes have no choice but to tangle with a castle.
Placing castles behind stone walls is even better to frustrate enemy battering rams. Castles upgraded with further defensive improvements are highly recommended. They can annihilate entire enemy columns with startling ease. Garrison a small military force nearby to deal with any siege engines and let the castle take care of the rest.
4 Dominate The Map's Resources
In protracted matches, players will eventually run out of resources around their home base. Venturing further into contested territory is necessary, but also dangerous. Enemy raiding parties can decimate unprotected villagers and raze resource buildings, forcing the player to start from scratch.
However, gobbling up the map's resource points is an effective way to starve the enemy into submission. The enemy's loss is your gain, after all. Without the requisite materials, foes won't be able to replace their casualties in a timely enough manner. They'll be sitting ducks against the player's superior forces. Protect resource points with forward outposts, which will be discussed next.
3 Build Forward Outposts To Harass The Enemy (And Take Their Stuff)
New players may be a little hesitant to expand too aggressively beyond the confines of their base. A more advanced tactic, however, is taking the fight to the enemy right off the bat. This strategy, although risky, nets the player more resources while denying them to the enemy. It also puts fans in a prime position to disrupt their foe's economy.
This method essentially entails inching one's way towards the enemy base, while securing all the resources along the way. Build defensive structures around the newly acquired territory to protect the villagers. Construct a series of "mini-bases" composed of barracks, stables, archery ranges, and siege workshops to ensure a quick flow of troops to the front line. If one position gets destroyed, fall back to the previous one.
Have a constant stream of troops queued to raid enemy production buildings. Target enemy villagers whenever possible. Eventually, players will find themselves at the very gates of the enemy base, where it can be picked apart piece by piece. Of course, possessing a strong economy is vital for these aggressive tactics to work.
2 Set Rally Points Close To The Action
Another aggressive tactic that players shouldn't ignore concerns the placement of Rally Points. By default, recruited troops will idle outside of their respective buildings. While this is fine for players who intend on launching a single, grand assault on the enemy base, it can be detrimental for those involved in more chaotic, back-and-forth contests.
Two players who continually duke it out on the battlefield will experience constant casualties. With multiple buildings cranking out a constant stream of soldiers, players should consider regularly updating the placement of their Rally Points to focus on where the action is occurring. This way, reinforcements can be automatically fed into the melee without players having to constantly draw their attention back to their bases. There's still some micromanagement involved, but it's minimized when compared to the alternative.
1 Use Monks To Heal & Collect Relics
Utilizing a civilization's religious units during a match shouldn't be discounted. It's easy to overlook religious units amidst the hustle and bustle of building an economy and a military simultaneously. In particularly tough matches, having a monk or two nearby is beneficial.
First and foremost, monks can heal the troops in one's army, essentially serving as mobile medics. This helps by reducing the need to replace losses or having the army trek back to a friendly base to heal. Monks can also collect relics that, once secured inside a monastery, produce a supply of gold along with other resources if certain upgrades like Tithe Barns are made.
At the start of a match, make liberal use of the Scout to identify where relics are located so that one may secure them later. Lastly, religious units that possess a relic can attempt to convert enemies to the player's side.
Age of Empires 4 is currently available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.