Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 5: General Tips
• Method 2 of 5: Dark Ages
• Method 3 of 5: Feudal Era
• Method 4 of 5: Age of Castles
• Method 5 of 5: Age of Empires
• Tips
• Warnings

Ever wondered when playing Age of Empires 2, how does it happen - you haven't opened the cavalry yet, and the enemy is already building castles? There is one way, following which you will always have a lot of resources for building and researching anything. This strategy shows itself better on maps where there is a lot of land (good that you do not need to build docks and fleets) and does not depend on the bonuses of civilizations and the disadvantages of technologies and resources.

So, the average player starts with 200 food, wood, gold and stone. It is from this that the tactics outlined in this article will be based. And don't worry - no one will be in a hurry.

Steps

Method 1 of 5: General Tips

1. 1 Always create settlers. Settlers are the key to creating a thriving economy, for they collect resources and build buildings. By and large, if at some particular moment you do not have a queue to create settlers in the town hall, this moment is lost, especially in the dark ages. Remember that the first two minutes of the game for any civilization determine how far your economy will outperform opponents.
2. 2 Don't forget the troops! The economy is the economy, and the war is on schedule, as they say. Success in Age of Empires 2 depends not only on resources, but also on a strong and powerful army. Yes, before such an army you must have a strong and powerful economy, a fact. However, beware of invasions, especially during the feudal era, at the beginning of the era of castles and at the end of it. If you ignore the military aspect of the game (unless for the sake of building miracles), then you will lose.

Method 2 of 5: Dark Ages

1. 1 Immediately after starting the game, you must very quickly do the following::
   • Instantly build 4 settlers in the town hallby spending all 200 food units. Click on hotkeys, by default it is H (Latin) to select the town hall and C to create a settler. First, the choice of the town hall, then the creation of the settler. The fastest way is to first press H, then press Shift + C. Shift means that 5 units should be added to the queue. And this is perhaps the most important pattern for using hotkeys throughout the game.
   • Send two settlers to build houses... This will temporarily increase the population to 15, allowing you ... to create more settlers! Do not build houses with one settler, let both work on the same house at once, so as not to knock down the queue of creating settlers. When the houses are built, have these two build a sawmill by the forest - your scout should have found the forest by the way.
   • Select a scout and let him in aroundto scout the area. In the dark ages, it is very important to find 4 sheep as soon as possible. Perhaps you already see one of them, then send a scout to her. The sheep will be painted in your color, but you must send the scout to scout the area further. Berries, two wild boars, deer, deposits of gold and stone - that's what you need.
   • Have a settler chop down a tree at the town hall.
2. 2 When the four sheep come to the town hall, place two sheep behind the town hall and two next to it. Have the newly created settlers collect food from one sheep at a time. Divide the shepherds, if you run out of space, in two, and the place runs out. Moreover, let the woodcutter hand over the chopped and also take care of the sheep.
3. 3 Research the Loom technology when all four settlers are created. This will allow them to survive the attack of a wolf, which is especially important at high difficulty levels, where wolves are not wolves, but just beasts of some kind, and also, possibly, survive an attack on a wild boar. Your goal is to start learning the loom at 1:40 (1:45 if playing in multiplayer mode).
   • At this time, the settlers may start to finish with one of the sheep. Then just select them all and start collecting food from those that are next to the town hall, not behind it. The bottom line is that there are always two sheep next to the town hall so that the settlers do not have to go far.
   • After examining the loom, continue creating settlers. It may be necessary to select all the shepherds and send them to collect food so that there is enough food. When the population reaches 13, don't get lost - it's time to build another house.
4. 4 Build a mill next to the berry bushes with the help of one settler who is not busy with the extraction of wood. This will allow you to enter the feudal era and will give your civilization an additional source of food - not as fast, but more reliable. Note that the more settlers are created, the more of them you can send for berries. When the other 4 sheep are found (in pairs), repeat the procedure with the first 4 sheep.
5. 5 Lure the boars. You should switch to wild boars when the sheep are almost over. Choose one settler and attack the boar with it. The boar will run to the settler, let the settler run from the boar towards the town hall. When the boar is at the town hall, select the rest of the settlers who are butchering the sheep (or lounging if the sheep are out) and finish off the boar.
   • Be careful here, because wild boars are “wildly ferocious animals” that can kill a settler. In addition, there is always a risk that the boar will come back. In any case, time will be wasted, which is bad. Remember there are 2 wild boars nearby. When 130-150 food units remain in the first boar, it's time to send the settler (NOT the one who lured the first boar) to the next hunt.
   • Are you out of boars? Go for deer! Three settlers for one deer will be just right. Keep in mind that killing a deer is a trifling matter, but you won't be able to lure them closer.
6. 6 Continue creating settlers until you reach a population of 30. Keep building houses until there are enough for 35 people. Some new settlers must be sent into the forest, which is very important from the feudal era onwards. 10-12 settlers should work in the forest.
   • Build a mine next to the gold source located next to the town hall. Yes, in the feudal era, gold is not yet very necessary, but nevertheless it is necessary to build a mine in the dark ages (or at least during the study of feudalism). Why? Because the feudal era will fly by in the blink of an eye! Civilizations starting from -100 gold units are advised to take care of this issue in advance. However, there should be no more than 3 settlers on gold.
   • Farms will become the main source of food - but later. However, they can be built in the dark ages. One farm requires 60 units of wood, and several farms are required (you can't play much on berries and deer), so you will probably send some of the settlers foraging for food to harvest wood. Ideally, farms should be built around the town hall, so that in the event of an attack, the settlers would have a short run to hide. If you run out of space around the town hall - build around the mill.
7. 7 Explore Feudalism. To do this, your population must be 30.

Method 3 of 5: Feudal Era

1. 1 By going to feudalism, you must very fast do the following:
   • Take three woodcutters and build a market.
   • Choose one lumberjack and build a forge. Do not be surprised at this bias, the market is being built much slower, so three are needed there. When the market and the forge are built, send the settlers back to cut the forest - you have fulfilled the requirement to move to the next era for buildings.
   • Create 1 (maximum - 2) peasants in the town hall. Send them to the tree.
   • Don't study anything yet. Food and wood (indirectly) are important for the transition to the age of castles. All settlers who collect food from other than farms must be sent to the farms (except those who collect food from berry bushes).
   • The scout should not relax, especially when playing 1-on-1.
2. 2 Collect 800 gold. Considering how much food you've gathered through your feudal era research, this won't be a problem. Strictly speaking, by building a market, you should have 800 units of food and 200 units of gold (this is your goal). If you only create one settler, then you may need to fill 800 food through the market.
3. 3 Explore the era of castles. The feudal era is a transitional one, according to this strategy you will not stay in it for a long time.
   • As you explore the age of castles, learn mill and lumberjack technologies. When you move into the age of castles, you will probably find that you have little food. While exploring, set yourself (and your settlers) a goal of 275 wood. Build a mine near the stone mine and send two lumberjacks there. The stone is needed for the town hall and, later, for the castle. While exploring the age of castles, your population should be 31-32.

Method 4 of 5: Age of Castles

1. 1 In the beginning, everything is the same, something needs to be done very quickly:# * Choose three lumberjacks and build a new town hall in a strategically good place, preferably near the forest and deposits of stone and gold (if all three are nearby, then build there, there is no better place). If there is not enough wood, then save up to 275 units, then build. This is an extremely important step as your civilization can now build more settlers. Please note that the construction of the town hall also costs 100 units of stone. If you don't have them, exchange resources in the marketplace. For optimal growth in the age of castles, you need to build 2-3 town halls.
   • Create more settlers in the town hall. So that the flow of settlers created does not rest against the population limit, you need to constantly build houses. The house should be built by woodcutters. New settlers must be allocated to food, wood, and gold. It is also important that the stone is mined by approximately 8 settlers.
2. 2 Learn Heavy Plow Technology. It costs 125 food and wood, so you might want to wait a bit before exploring. Also, once you have accumulated more wood, you might want to repopulate the farms through the mill queue. Other technologies that can be learned so far are "Hacksaw", "Gold Mining" and "Wheelbarrow". Remember: while "Wheelbarrow" is being studied in one town hall, settlers should be built in others.
3. 3 Build a university and a castle. Universities are needed to study useful technologies related to economics and military science. When you have accumulated 650 stone, send four stonecutters to build a castle. If there is not enough stone yet, especially if they start to "rush" (attack) you, you can build a monastery or a military building of the era of castles. This will fulfill the building requirement for the transition to another era.
4. 4 Continue to develop.Keep building farms with new settlers. Re-seeding is important, as manual seeding is tiring and distracting, especially when you have to command troops to fight back the enemy. The built town halls should protect you from the need to build another mill.
   • Unlike mills, it is possible and necessary to build new sawmills, which is especially important in the era of castles. Rushers will target precisely sawmills, which are usually located outside the radius of the town hall. Accordingly, having given the order to hide at the sight of the enemy, you will be unpleasantly surprised - the settlers will not run to the town hall from the sawmill themselves. In addition, it is necessary to build sawmills also because the cut forest does not grow, the distance to the sawmill is gradually increasing, the settlers walk longer and longer, and this is extra time that is wasted.
   • Send settlers to mine gold... Accordingly, it is necessary to build new mines as well. If you do not constantly send settlers to the mines, then you will save 800 units of gold for a long time ... Sending settlers to mines in the era of castles is also important because it is at this time that you must begin to develop the army - and the army needs gold (for some civilizations with more expensive units, this is doubly true). The extraction of stone is now out of priority, since it is only needed for towers, town halls, castles, walls and traps.
5. 5 You can build a monastery to create monks. Relics that only monks can pick up serve as a constant source of gold for your treasury, which is especially useful when all the gold deposits have been dug up, and trading on the market has become ineffective.
6. 6 With at least one ally, build a trade caravan. This is a great way to make gold. The further the ally's market is from yours, the more gold you get in one trip. And this is not to mention the fact that the study of the corresponding technology doubles the speed of all wheelbarrows and carts. However, remember that caravans are especially vulnerable to cavalry attacks.
   • By the time you begin to study the transition to the age of empires, your population can be very different. The longer the game lasts, the more resources will be spent on the army, improvements and new technologies, and the less on the economy. However, remember that the population must still increase.
7. 7 Explore the Age of Empires. Again, when you do this, the question is controversial. Let's say you take your time and build an army (which is what you should do, unless you're playing in Wonder Race mode). Then the transition to the era of empires is approximately 25:00. It is advisable to study the transition to the next era in the very first town hall, the land around which is improved and developed. While exploring the transition to the era of empires, you can study the technology of the hand cart in another town hall (but for this you must first learn the wheelbarrow).
   • Often times, you will ignore the population limit. But one settler must almost constantly build new houses! However, it is not at all necessary that the settler be the same.

Method 5 of 5: Age of Empires

1. 1 From this point on, the military aspect of the game comes to the fore. Now you must continue to study new military technologies, improve units and create more and more troops for your mighty army. Here's what to look out for:
   • Still keep creating settlers! Ideally, you should have 100 settlers. At higher difficulty levels, as well as when playing against people, do not stop creating settlers - they will constantly die from attacks and raids. Distribute settlers for resources based on the resources you have. If you have 7000 trees and 400 food, then send a few lumberjacks to build farms and re-sow them. In the era of empires, wood becomes a less valuable resource, but food and gold - vice versa.
   • Explore the technologies of rotation cycles, double saw and gold mine. Stone mine technology is optional, not necessary.If there are a lot of resources, spend them better on troops. It is also helpful to study tower crane technology at university.

Tips

• Food statistics:
  • Sheep: 100
  • Boar: 340
  • Deer: 140
  • Farm: 250, 325 (Yoke technology), 400 (Heavy plow technology), 475 (Cycle rotation technology)
• Requirements for the transition to the next era (with the exception of only a few civilizations):
  • Feudal Age: 500 Foods, 2 Dark Ages Building.
  • The era of castles 800 food, 200 gold, 2 buildings of the feudal era.
  • Age of Empires: 1000 food, 800 gold, 2 buildings from the age of castles or 1 castle.
• Learn hotkeys and use them. This will make it much easier for you to build a thriving empire. Keep your left hand on the keyboard and do not forget about the Shift key, with your right hand, scroll and perform actions with the mouse.
• All civilizations are different, all have their own strengths and weaknesses. The Chinese start out with 3 additional settlers, but no food. Experiment with each civilization, learn to play with all of them.
• Have you been attacked? Have you started to rush? Press H, then B. This will order the settlers to take refuge in the nearest garrison building (town hall, tower, castle).
• As mentioned earlier, don't forget about the army! Build military structures, upgrade your troops, constantly research new military technologies. Build and upgrade defensive structures. For example, in feudal eras, you can build a tower next to a sawmill to prevent the rushers from slowing down your development.
• When playing in single player mode, you can hold H Shift C before starting the game. You will hear the sound of activating the town hall when you press H, even if you do not see anything. If you first wait for the game to start, then the goal “1:40” will be unattainable, you will get only “1:45” or “1:48”.
• The goals described in this article are achievable for one and all. Yes, beginners will have a little more difficulty, but the essence remains the same.
• Have each settler build a house at the start of the game to increase the population limit.

Warnings

• Watch out for rushers. There are three main types of rushers specializing in feudalism, as well as early and late castles.
  • Rusher-feudal lord at the beginning of the game will look for your settlement as a scout, looking specifically for a sawmill. He then flies archers, spearmen, and skirmishers to slow down your production by breaking the sawmill (not to kill the settlers). In the early stages, this will have a particularly negative impact on your economic development. The sawmill tower will help you deal with this problem, but only partially.
  • The most dangerous is the rusher, which comes at the beginning of the era of castles. He will bring with him 6-10 knights and a couple of rams, will begin to kill settlers at sawmills, mines and distant farms, destroying the town hall with rams. The pikemen will help you deal with the knights, as will the war camels - if you can build them. Infantry and knights can destroy rams (not the town hall - rams have a lot of armor).
  • Rasher, advancing at the end of the castle era, pursues the same goals, only in his hands a much more powerful army. Units will depend on the civilization the rusher is playing for.
  • You must recover from the attack as soon as possible, otherwise you will fall behind and lose. If you have a slow economy during the feudal era, then the end of the game is not far off. If you recover, you will thereby negate the effect of the attack for yourself, but your opponent, accordingly, will pay dearly for it. You can take advantage of his temporary weakness and arrange a counter-rush!
  • Rashers specializing in dark ages are rare. They are very skillful players, able to get their way in the conditions of the hard limits of the dark ages. They usually operate with four warriors and attack sawmills and gold mines. However, we emphasize once again that this is a rarity. Before the feudal era, you probably won't have to worry about rushers.