Table of contents
- Master Age of Empires 2 by learning the ideal strategies for each civilization from Dark Age to Castle Age!
- Master the game by focusing on the right strategies for each civilization: stable openings for Berbers, passive feudal ages for Bohemians and Britons, aggressive men-at-arms rush for Bulgarians, defensive play for Burgundians, infantry for Burmese, counter units for Byzantines, and wood bonus utilization for Celts.
- Master the game with the best strategies for each civilization!
- For unbeatable strategies, always check for updates and adapt your gameplay to stay ahead.
- Optimize your mid-game with range units, full wall for defense, and leverage your civ's unique strengths for a winning strategy!
- Master Age of Empires with these top strategies: Mayans thrive with Eagles and Archers, Mongols dominate with Scouts into Step Lancers, Persians excel with Scouts into Knights or Camels, Poles shine with Scout Rush and farming, Portuguese win with Archer-heavy gold units, Romans benefit from Scout Rush into Long Swords, Saracens succeed with Archers and Camels, and Sicilians rule with Fast Castle Sergeants.
- Master these strategies for each civilization and dominate your game!
- Master the game by knowing the best strategies for each civilization!
Master Age of Empires 2 by learning the ideal strategies for each civilization from Dark Age to Castle Age!
Hello everyone and welcome back to another video. Today, we are going to be talking about the ideal strategy for every civilization in Age of Empires 2. This will cover from the Dark Age, the start of the game, all the way up until the Castle Age. It will not discuss ideal compositions in the late game. If you want to know about those, check out the videos on the screen right now. Those cover late game compositions for every civilization in a similar style.
In this video, let's focus on the opening of the game up until the Castle Age for every civilization. With 45 civilizations to cover, we'll go through these alphabetically. There will be a timestamp for each civilization so you can save time and skip to your favorite ones to understand how to play them. By ideal strategy, I mean what you'd want to go for in pretty much every game if your opponent gives you the chance. Obviously, if you need to play a counter unit or a different strategy to avoid losing, then do that. For clarity, I'll be keeping in mind the format being 1v1 Arabia, which is the most popular format. However, this could apply to a wide number of maps, but it will mostly apply to 1v1s.
Let's hop right in, starting off with the Armenians. The ideal opening with the Armenians is probably the Scout Rush mixed in with some Spears. The nice thing is you can make Spears in the Dark Age, so as soon as you get your barracks up, you can already send a couple of Spears forward and put some pressure on your opponent. Following that up with your Scouts just feels so natural. You want to play towards Castle Age as quickly as possible and get to your fortified churches because that allows you to play Relic control with Warrior Priests. In Castle Age, you can easily play Knights for a while until moving on to some of your stronger units like maybe the unique unit or champion, or sometimes even Halberdier. The important thing is getting those relics and playing with the economy.
Moving on to the Aztecs, the ideal opening is some form of aggressive infantry, but my favorite is actually the Eagle Warrior combined with a range in Feudal Age. You can either go for Eagles plus Skirmishers when up against Archers or Eagles plus Archers when up against other civilizations. I also recommend that you play with a lot of infantry in Castle Age, specifically Eagle Warrior plus Pike, and mix that in with some monks. That is the best way to play Aztecs by far. The Eagle-Monk composition is so strong.
Next, we have the Bengalis. The best opening with the Bengalis is either the Scout Rush or the Archer Rush. I don't recommend playing any infantry with them because you really want to make use of the extra two Villagers you get in Feudal Age. The best way to do that is a fast Feudal into a solid Feudal opening, which is Scouts or Archers. It doesn't really matter what you go for; the important thing is that you don't get Knights in Castle Age. If you go Scouts, make sure you're going to transition into Light Cavalry and play with their Monks. If you go Archers, you'll be completely fine. No Thumb Ring, but you can easily go Archers into Crossbowmen and then transition into something like the Ratha or the Elephant Archer later on in Castle Age. Monk play is huge with this civilization, so definitely make use of those monks in Castle Age.
Moving on to the Berbers, the ideal strategy here is to get the stable units or Camel Archer in Castle Age. The best way to do that is a Scout Rush because that gives you the option to go into either the Genitour, the Camel Archer, or just more stable units like Knights, Camels, or Light Cavalry. This lets you go for a Camel Archer and Genitour easily because that stable gives you access to Bloodlines and Husbandry. On top of that, Berbers don't get a lot of bonuses in Feudal Age, so going for a stable opening and just chilling is probably the best course of action. You really pop off in the Castle Age onwards.
Master the game by focusing on the right strategies for each civilization: stable openings for Berbers, passive feudal ages for Bohemians and Britons, aggressive men-at-arms rush for Bulgarians, defensive play for Burgundians, infantry for Burmese, counter units for Byzantines, and wood bonus utilization for Celts.
Bohemians: The best strategy is most likely to open with archers and spears. I highly recommend that you play a passive Feudal Age with this civilization and try to get to Castle as fast as possible because that's where your civilization really comes online. You get to have a really smooth economy with your gold mining techs and stone mining techs coming in for free, and you can easily play chemistry expo or hand cannoneer in Castle Age, which is probably their best strategy. Hand cannoneers especially are extremely strong.
Britons: You have a very simple game plan. You want to play with archers as much as possible. Sometimes you need to mix in maybe militia or scouts, but the ideal strategy is probably just to open with a one-range archer opening and save up to Castle Age. Once again, a pretty passive opening, but your goal is to get to Castle Age where you have those extra range crossbow and cheaper town centers. This is the best strategy by far with Britons as it sets you up perfectly for the rest of the game.
Bulgarians: The best opening is actually an aggressive one, likely the Men-at-Arms rush. You get free Men-at-Arms, so going for two or three of these is probably the way to go. Even if Men-at-Arms is not the best strategy in the meta, Bulgarians can do it very effectively. I highly recommend you follow this up with a quick range and blacksmith or a stable to ensure that your follow-up aggression is also quite strong. A lot of army in Feudal Age is definitely the way to go with Bulgarians. You want to create an uneven game state to follow up with a Krepost rush and a lot of army in Castle Age and try to make the game as messy as possible, ensuring you come out with map control. It is very important to have map control to set up those forward Kreposts with Bulgarians.
Burgundians: My favorite opening is basically the nothing opening. You want to go up to Feudal Age and just wall up with maybe a stable or a couple of spears and nothing else. Play defensive and just pick up Bow Saw, sometimes even Heavy Plow. Let's assume you just go for a stable; don't even care to make too many scouts, just enough to survive. If you need to make a range and skirmishers to survive, just do it. The goal is to get to Castle Age and play Light Cavalry plus Monk or Cavalier plus Monk for relic control. That is the best course of action with Burgundians. The more passive you can play in Feudal, the better it is for your eco techs to kick in and get you ahead. Picking up those relics is the number one game plan with Burgundians, and once you do that, it's very easy to win the game.
Burmese: My favorite strategy is definitely something to do with infantry, since you get that +1 attack starting in Feudal Age. I highly recommend the two militia Feudal Drush. I think this is the best way to make use of the Burmese economy as well as the +1 attack, and it also doesn't sink you too much investment like the Men-at-Arms do. It also lets you follow up with a range or stable and just play a standard game from there with a little bit of an early punch.
Byzantines: We have a really simple game plan with skirmisher and spear rush being the best early game strategy. Getting into the Castle Age, you just want to continue with skirmishers and spears, like Elite Skirmishers, Pikemen, or switch to Camels. All of those units you get a discount on, and that is by far the best way to play Byzantines. Just use those counter units that you get a discount on and develop your economy until you can get to Imperial Age.
Celts: The best opening by far is the two militia Feudal Rush. I think this sets you up the best with Celts. Again, you could go for the Men-at-Arms rush like with the Burmese, but I personally prefer the two militia. I think it's less investment and lets you get onto Celtic ranges, which I think is the best part about the civilization in Feudal. Being on ranges is the best way to take advantage of the wood bonus, whether it's archers or skirmishers, and I think those units set up a nice siege play. Of course, you could also go stable and then go knight siege, but since you don't have Bloodlines, if you go that route, you have to go for kind of like a Hussar rush that can all-in.
Master the game with the best strategies for each civilization!
Moving on to the Chinese, by far the best opening is the Scout rush. It keeps you the most flexible, and the idea with the Chinese is just to survive the early feudal age and wait till your extra vills pay off, and you're just ahead by default. So, going Scouts and just controlling the game is completely fine. Scout is also the most versatile strategy, and so with the Chinese, that gets you to all other variations, which is the best way to go about the Civ.
Moving on to the Cumans, the best strategy in an ideal scenario is the 2TC play. It's simply the absolute best way to play Cumans, and sometimes it does have its downsides, but if you're able to do this uncontested, you will pretty much 100% win the game. Sometimes you do need to do like a couple Archer ranges or maybe a stable to just survive, maybe a few Spearman, whatever the case may be. All of those are worth it as long as you can survive and stabilize on 2TC, you'll be fine.
Moving on to the Dravidians, the ideal opening is resigning. No, I'm kidding. The actual best strategy for the Dravidians is the two range opening right away, where you're mixing in Archers and skirms. I think this is the best way to play the Civ because you're just going to get the best value out of your 200 wood from the start, and you're also getting onto a decent number of skirms, which is quite nice since your skirms fire faster. You can also mix in a couple Spearman if you're afraid of an early Scout rush, but the idea is you want to put as much pressure as possible with the Dravidians in order to take advantage of that power spike with extra wood per age.
Moving on to the Ethiopians, I highly believe the best strategy is simply a one range archers, wait till Castle age, and then go for Expo. You can also go for Expo plus one stable Knight and go for a forward siege for kind of like an Archer Knight Siege All-in push. But simply, the best strategy being archers into crossbow into whatever else is the best way to play the Civ. It's an Archer Civ.
Moving on to the Franks, we're going to spend very little time here. The best strategy is by far Scouts into Knights and even into Paladin. Truthfully, if you can do that, that's going to be the ideal Frank gameplay. Of course, usually, you run into counter units, but generally speaking, Scouts into Knights is the best game plan for the Franks. Sometimes you have to mix in some skirmishers or something else, but this is exactly what you're trying to go for most of the time.
Moving on to the Georgians, the best opening is by far the Scout rush. I highly recommend you go for a fast up into the Scout rush and take advantage of the healing Scouts like crazy. Into Castle, you want to develop your economy and get to Manasa as soon as possible. The faster you get to Manasa and start massing them up while maintaining your economy, you do want a good economy with churches and town centers, then you just win the game.
For unbeatable strategies, always check for updates and adapt your gameplay to stay ahead.
If you are checking out this video later, it is important to double-check if the units mentioned have been nerfed. This video might be a couple of years old. If the Manasa haven't taken a significant nerf, they are still going to be overpowered and the best unit that Georgians can go for. At the moment, they have no generic counter; you need something like a Muk to deal with them.
Moving on to the Goths, the best strategy is probably infantry, such as a two militia rush or men-at-arms. Equally good is the Scouts and Spearman Rush, which provides a nice standard Scout Rush with the extra hunt bonus and cheaper Spears to mix in. This is particularly effective in Scout Wars where Spearman get a lot of value.
For the Gurjaras, you might think the best strategy is to mass camels or go for Scouts in the Feudal Age. However, I highly recommend a one-range opening, playing towards Archer into crossbow plus camel in the Castle Age. Crossbow camel is an insane composition and definitely the way to go with Gurjaras in most games.
Regarding the Hindustanis, I highly recommend going for Scouts and staying flexible with the civilization. After the Scout Rush, you can either switch to archers and play very aggressively, taking advantage of their Scouts doing more damage to buildings, or go Scouts into camels or Scouts into Light Cavalry. Both strategies are effective.
For the Huns, the best strategy is Scouts into Cavalry Archer or Scouts into Light Cavalry. Scouts are perfect because they open up the door to all the good Hun units in the Castle Age. If you go Cavalry Archer, having the stable is beneficial. Opening Scouts and then walling up the base can make your opponent guess whether you will go for Knights, Light Cavalry, or Cavalry Archers, which is crucial for the Huns.
The Incas strategy is very similar to the Aztecs. The best strategy is Eagle plus range, specifically Eagle plus Skirmisher, due to the discount on all food units. Eagle plus Skirmisher or Skirmisher plus Spearman is the best opening for Incas. In the right circumstances, you can pick which one to go for, and in the Castle Age, you can pretty much do anything you want.
For the Italians, the best opening is either the Scout Rush or the one-range Archer play. Both lead to solid units in the Castle Age, with fully upgraded Knights and fully upgraded crossbows. The Italians are a very versatile civilization. However, I recommend avoiding infantry options because you want to take advantage of the faster Castle Age.
The Japanese strategy involves opening with men-at-arms and transitioning quickly to ranged units. The Japanese have a pretty bad late game, so it is best to gain an advantage and try to end the game early. They have amazing ranges in the mid-game, so whatever happens in the Feudal Age, you should end up with some form of ranged unit in the Castle Age, such as crossbows, skirmishers, or cavalry archers.
Optimize your mid-game with range units, full wall for defense, and leverage your civ's unique strengths for a winning strategy!
Moving on to the Khmer, the best opening is actually Scouts plus full wall. The reason why full walling is really important is because you don't have a Barrack. If you're up against other Scouts, you can't make Spearmen, so therefore, full walling is the best way to defend your base. It is also recommended to use houses to ensure safety when going for that Scout Rush. Scouts are highly effective with Khmer because you can make a bunch of farms that work super quickly and don't need to drop off food, meaning your food count is off the charts in the early game. This sets up your base perfectly for Khmer going into the mid-late game. Scouts into Knights, Scouts into Light Cavalry, or even Scouts into full Feudal with more Scouts are all great strategies because those farms are insane.
For the Koreans, the best strategy is spear skirmisher or one range archers. Avoid playing with infantry or Scouts as these units slow you down. The idea with Koreans is to spam as many wood units as possible because you get a heavy discount on those wood units. In the Castle Age, continue doing the same thing, but now you can mix in Towers or Siege if you want.
Next up are the Lithuanians. You have two main openings with this civilization: either go Scouts or spear skirmisher early on, or you can go for a spear skirmisher forward. The goal is to get two relics in the mid-game. In the Castle Age, aim to get maybe two monasteries or Castle Age Knights or Light Cavalry. Try to play for relics as much as possible. It is highly recommended to stay on one Town Center for a bit while fighting for those relics, then add more Town Centers afterward. This is generally the best game plan with Lithuanians.
For the Magyars, the best strategy by far is the Scout Rush. Cheaper Scouts and free forging make the Scout Rush insane. Going into the Castle Age, you can either transition into Light Cavalry or Knights, or you can go into Cavalry Archers. Both options are equally good and scale very well. With the Malay, the best strategy is the two militia Drush after the Feudal Age. This strategy is perfect because it takes advantage of your infantry armor coming in for free, making the militia only take two damage per hit from an enemy villager. This makes it very difficult for opponents to deal with. Avoid going Men-at-Arms as the civilization can't afford it in the early Feudal Age. The two militia Drush is the perfect compromise. Sending Spearmen forward with the Drush is also recommended to make the best use of the free armor. In the Castle Age, stick with either Elephants or range units, avoiding too many cavalry units as they don't bode well with the Malay.
For the Malians, the best way to play is with one range archers. Taking advantage of the gold bonus as quickly as possible is crucial. Going one range archers into crossbows in the Castle Age and then focusing on as many gold units as possible is the best strategy. The more you utilize the gold bonus, the better it is for you. In the Castle Age, the best strategy with the Civ is to take advantage of the gold bonus as much as possible. The more you utilize this bonus, the better it is for you.
Master Age of Empires with these top strategies: Mayans thrive with Eagles and Archers, Mongols dominate with Scouts into Step Lancers, Persians excel with Scouts into Knights or Camels, Poles shine with Scout Rush and farming, Portuguese win with Archer-heavy gold units, Romans benefit from Scout Rush into Long Swords, Saracens succeed with Archers and Camels, and Sicilians rule with Fast Castle Sergeants.
Next up, we have the Mayans. For the third time, the best strategy is Eagles mixed in with a range. However, unlike the Incas that prefer skirmishers, the Mayans should go for archers because their archers are cheaper. Therefore, Eagles plus archers is the best combo. In the Castle Age, you generally want to be on crossbows for the most part, or maybe Eagles in some scenarios. The ideal case scenario is you on crossbows with Mayans, and you want to boom to the Imperial Age where you can play with all kinds of gold units.
Next up, we have the Mongols. By far, the best strategy is Scouts into Step Lancers. If you can do this, it is insanely strong. You can also go for the cheesy Fast Castle (FC) Step Lancers, which is also really strong. However, this is a bit of a cheese strategy; it could either work really well or completely fail. Generally speaking, Scouts into Step Lancers is the safer way to do it, and Step Lancers for Mongols are absolutely busted. This is the best way to play the Civ by far at the moment. Otherwise, you can play Scouts into Cavalry Archers or Scouts into Mangudai. Whatever you do, just open Scouts and you will have a really good time with Mongols.
Next up, we have the Persians. The best strategy with this Civ is probably Scouts into Knights/Camels or Light Cavalry. This is the best way to play the Civ by far. A lot of people talk about Persian Cavalry Archers (CA), and while the tactics available in the Castle Age might seem nice, in practice, it’s not that good of a bonus and the upgrade itself is quite expensive. Therefore, I highly recommend you just play Cavalry units and boom towards something like Paladins in the late game.
Next up, we have the Poles. While the Poles can be a bit tricky, the best opening is probably something like the Scout Rush plus farming as much as you can. Additionally, going for a forward Tower Rush with the Civ is a really good opening as well, kind of tied with the Scout Rush. If you can go for a Tower Rush, it’s probably the way to go in many cases. If the map is not suited for a Tower Rush, then just go for Scouts and wall up your base, especially if you have a nice map. The more walls you get, the better, because securing those four walk farms is the best strategy by far with the Poles. In the Castle Age, you want to boom and play all-in Knights with that unique tech, which is the best way to play Poles in most cases.
Next up, we have the Portuguese. Similar to the Malians, the Portuguese want to play a one-range opening and use as many gold units as possible, starting with archers into crossbows, then into crossbow knights or crossbow siege. Whatever you do, make as many gold units as possible, as that is the best game plan with the Portuguese. You can also open with a couple of militias since you get a light discount on them, but honestly, I would skip that step entirely and open with just straight-up archers.
Next up, we have the Romans. The best opening with Romans is not infantry at all; it’s just Scout Rush. Going for Men-at-Arms and the Infantry armor is a bit of an over-commitment to the Feudal Age for my taste. Although it’s a powerful strategy, it’s kind of easy to stop if your opponent goes range. By going for a Scout Rush, you take advantage of the Roman's economy and can transition to Long Swordsmen in the Castle Age. The idea is that the Scout and spear opening is the most practical way to make use of the strong economy from the Romans and opens up your options in the best way possible.
Master these strategies for each civilization and dominate your game!
Saracens: The optimal opening strategy for the Saracens is quite similar to the Garas. Focus on range archers and avoid infantry. Construct a market and aim to advance to the Castle Age as swiftly as possible. Once in the Castle Age, you have two primary options: an Archer press Siege push to break into walls easily using your bonus, or crossbows and camels if you anticipate cavalry threats. The high HP of Saracen camels in early Castle Age makes this strategy almost an automatic win against cavalry. Saracens are currently very powerful, and employing these strategies will likely lead to significant success.
Sicilians: The best strategy with the Sicilians is the sergeant play. The Fast Castle Sergeant strategy is highly effective, despite being somewhat cheesy. This involves cutting villager production, building a dungeon with a few sergeants, and then sending those sergeants forward to construct more dungeons in your opponent's base. This is the most lethal opening for Sicilians. For a more standard opening, Scouts plus Spears is recommended as it allows for efficient farming and acquiring horse collar, though it’s not as strong as the Fast Castle all-in rush with sergeants.
Slavs: The most flexible and effective opening for Slavs is Scouts. This strategy can transition into either long swords with free supplies and gambison or Cavalry play plus Siege. The Scout Rush facilitates faster farming, making the transition into Knights or Siege optimal for late-game play. Slavs also benefit from faster-moving monks, making monks plus cavalry a potent combination. Use defensive skirmishers only when necessary; otherwise, focus on cavalry or infantry.
Spanish: The best strategy for Spanish involves getting to Conquistadors (Kongs). Regardless of your initial opening—whether it’s scouts, spear skirmishers, or even Spanish archers—your goal should be to transition to Kongs as soon as possible. Treat the Feudal Age as a phase to secure stone and advance to Kongs. The Conquistador is the Spanish's strongest unit, and combining it with missionaries, monks, or mangonels can create a formidable Castle Age push.
Tatars: Similar to the Huns, the Tatars should open with a Scout Rush and then transition into either steppe lancers, camels, light cavalry, or knights. However, the most valuable strategy is transitioning into Cavalry Archers (CA), as they benefit from free thumb ring and are extremely powerful. While stable units are also effective, focusing on CA will yield the best results. If necessary, a thumb ring expo by opening one range is a viable alternative, but CA scales better in the long run.
Teutons: The best opening strategy for Teutons is the Tower Rush. This approach sets you up well for the mid-game and mitigates mobility issues, as Teutons lack husbandry. The Tower Rush allows you to take advantage of free murder holes in the Castle Age and garrison many villagers in towers, making them very powerful in tower wars. If you prefer not to Tower Rush, an Archer opening transitioning into Scouts and Spears is recommended. This leads into knights, though without husbandry, it’s less effective. Opening with archers helps develop your base, and combined with cheaper farms, it provides a smooth transition into the mid-late game. Eventually, you should transition off archers.
Master the game by knowing the best strategies for each civilization!
For the Turks, there are a couple of equally good strategies. You can either go Scouts and play them like Huns, transitioning into knights, camels, or cavalry archers, or you can play them similar to Saracens with a one-range archer opening, taking advantage of their gold mining bonus. This can lead to archer plus camel or archer plus light cavalry in Castle Age. Both strategies are very effective, and relying on gunpowder should be reserved for specific scenarios. Their generic units and strategies are likely the best way to navigate the early game.
When it comes to the Vietnamese, many might think that a one-range archer opening is the best, but Scouts into skirmishers or skirmishers and spears feels like a superior strategy. Even Scouts into cavalry archers can be more effective than just one-range archers. The issue with straight archers is the lack of a solid Castle Age transition, leaving you stuck on crossbows and vulnerable to skirmishers. Transitioning to skirmishers after opening with crossbows feels redundant, so starting with spears and skirmishers or scouts into cavalry archers is more efficient.
For the Vikings, the best opening is a two-militia drush post-Feudal Age. This strategy leverages extra HP and early pressure, allowing you to seed numerous farms and take advantage of a strong early game economy. Playing passively after the drush and aiming for an economy-based Castle Age is optimal. The main goal is to reach a faster Imperial Age and win the game at that timing, doing some damage in Feudal and Castle Ages while focusing on economic advantages like free wheelbarrow and hand cart bonuses. The Vikings' late game is weak, so winning in early Imperial Age is crucial to avoid trouble.
That's going to do it for this video. I hope you find it useful as a resource to revisit for strategies with different civilizations.