Characters / Age of Empires IV

Here we're listing the civilizations from Age of Empires IV and their tropes.

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Generic Units

Units

• Cosmetically Different Sides: While still easily identifiable, compared to prior Age of Empires games, almost every generic unit (with the exception of land-based siege units) is visually consistent with their respective civilizations.

Villager

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• Home Guard: Villagers can act as the last line of defense in the event of an emergency, but will generally crumble before almost any military unit. Their durability, however, can be improved with the Textiles tech.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: Villagers can be male or female, but the stats for both are the same.
• Worker Unit: The backbone of your economy, being able to hunt, fish, forage, herd and farm for food, chop trees for wood, mine for gold and stone, and construct all buildings.

Trader

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• Worker Unit: The Trader has no combat capabilities whatsoever and instead travels between a home Market and either a Trade Post or another player's Market, gathering gold in the process (and potentially other resources with civilisation-specific bonuses).

Spearman

A generic Barrack unit dedicated to countering cavalry with their spears.

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• Anti-Cavalry: They wield large polearms that inflict bonus damage to cavalry and can brace their spears to stop any cavalry charges.
• Boring, but Practical: While very cheap to produce and generally disposable, Spearmen consistently remain a mainstay in any infantry force.

Man-at-Arms

A generic Barrack unit equipped with strong swords and heavy armor.

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• Heavily Armored Mook: The Man-at-Arms is a heavy infantry unit that boasts good survivability due to its high health and armor.
• Jack of All Stats: They're generally well-rounded infantry units that can reasonably hold their ground. That said, they're still vulnerable to armor-piercing Archery Range units and can be whittled down with anti-crowd siege weapons.

Archer

A generic Archery Range unit that serve as basic ranged units.

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• Annoying Arrows: The main weakness of archers is that their arrows only deal bonus damage against lightly-armored units, like Spearmen, and are ineffective against heavy units, like Men-at-Arms and Knights.
• Long-Range Fighter: Of all the generic Archery Range units, archers have the longest range, and are the only ones capable of firing from behind obstacles and walls.

Crossbowman

A generic Archery Range unit that wields crossbow to penetrate through heavy armor.

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• Anti-Armor: Crossbowmen deal bonus damage against heavy units, making them much better than Archers when dealing with armoured foes like Men-at-Arms and Knights.
• BFG: A non-firearm equivalent. All Imperial Age Crossbowmen, except for the Mongols, are equipped with cranequin crossbows, which allow them to draw their weapons with much higher draw weights, increasing the power of their bolts.

Handcannoneer/Handcannon Ashigaru

A generic Archery Range gunpowder unit that's available in the Imperial Age.

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• Anti-Armor: Downplayed. Even though they have no bonus damage whatsoever, Handcannoneers have higher attack overall, allowing them to tear through heavy units especially in bulk.
• Elite Mooks: They are significantly more powerful than other Archery Range units, but are also decidedly more expensive to train and only available in the Imperial Age.
• Glass Cannon: While Handcannoneers generally get cut down easily when in melee, their powerful attacks mean that, especially in bulk and with enough protection, enemies don't get a chance to even get close.

Scout

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• Alarm SOS: Scouts will loudly announce any opponent they detect, no matter where on the map they are.
• Army Scout: While the Scout's main role is self-explanatory, this also extends to being able to herd sheep, hunt game such as boar, and spot hidden units.
• Boring, but Practical: Despite having a very weak attack and being outclassed by almost every other unit, Scouts remain useful all throughout by virtue of their long line-of-sight.
• Defog of War: In addition to their standard role, Scouts can benefit from the Spyglass tech upgrade, which grants them significantly more line-of-sight.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: Non-Muslim Scouts can be male or female, but the stats for both are the same.

Horseman

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• Anti-Vehicle: Horsemen deal bonus damage to siege engines and are fast enough to close the distance and chase them down.
• Boring, but Practical: While only lightly armored, Horsemen are very cheap to train and can still serve as viable raiders and general workhorse cavalry well into the late-game.
• Fragile Speedster: The Horseman is a light cavalry unit without a lot of survivability, but its superior speed makes it excel at raiding and flanking.

Knight/Lancer

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• Elite Mooks: Knights and Lancers are heavily armored and well-rounded cavalry units, that also happen to be expensive to train in bulk.
• Jousting Lance: Knights and Lancers wield a lance from horseback. Said lances visibly shatter upon charging enemies, by which point they switch to swords in prolonged melee, and regain them after disengaging.
• Lightning Bruiser: Knights and Lancers hit harder than infantry, attack bonuses notwithstanding, are much more durable, and are faster.

Monk/Imam/Shaman/Shinto Priest

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• Enemy Exchange Program: When carrying a Relic, they can activate an ability that converts an entire army within an area of effect. Upgrading the House of Wisdom in the Imperial Age with the Culture Wing allows Abbasid Imams to convert an individual enemy without the need of a Relic (much like how conversion works in the first two games).
• Mook Medic: Monks can heal friendly units.
• Support Party Member: While lacking any offensive capabilities whatsoever, they can heal friendly units, convert enemy units (if carrying a Relic) and are the only units able to capture Sacred Sites.

Battering Ram

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• Anti-Structure: Battering Rams can cause enormous damage to structures, but cannot attack anything that isn't a building.
• Battering Ram: The Battering Ram is a stout log designed to demolish enemy buildings by repeatedly slamming into them. Rams are slow and can only attack in melee, but are capable of dealing great damage to buildings and are nearly impervious to archer (including tower) fire.
• Siege Engines: Dedicated Anti-Structure siege units that are cheaper and available earlier than most other siege units and far more durable. Their drawback is that they have to get in close to deal damage.

Springald

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• Anti-Vehicle: The Springald has a high attack bonus against other siege engines and ships.
• Crippling Overspecialization: They're strong against other siege weapons, and could be used to take down high-value targets in a pinch. They're generally ineffective against most other units, however, and can easily be swarmed.

Mangonel

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• Friendly Fireproof: Unlike the Age of Empires II version, Mangonels do not deal damage to friendly units within the area of effect.
• Siege Engines: They are flexible siege units whose range and damage make them effective against buildings and units.

Counterweight Trebuchet

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• Death from Above: Thanks to their size and reach, Counterweight Trebuchets are capable of attacks that bypass walls and most other obstacles.
• Long-Range Fighter: The Counterweight Trebuchet has the longest range of any non-unique unit in the game and excels at destroying buildings and units alike from afar, but also has a considerable minimum range.

Culverin

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• Anti-Vehicle: The Culverin excels at destroying other siege engines due to its bonus damage.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Much like Springalds, Culverins are effective against other siege weapons, and could be used to take down high-value targets in a pinch. Not so much with other units, however.
• Glass Cannon: While particularly vulnerable to enemy units, they can be quickly relocated, are fairly nimble, and don't need to be unpacked in order to fire.

Ribauldequin

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• Crippling Overspecialization: While effective in thinning enemy armies, Ribauldequins aren't effective in taking down structures due to their low-caliber ammunition.
• More Dakka: Much like its Organ Gun version in Age of Empires III, the Ribauldequin has multiple barrels that can whittle down masses of melee infantry before they could ever come close.

Bombard

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• BFG: Bombards are the largest generic gunpowder siege weapons in the game, which are capable of leveling structures and unit formations with ease.
• Logical Weakness: While a Bombard is powerful, it has a more pronounced reload time than the Counterweight Trebuchet and requires line-of-sight with its target to fire, which enemies can exploit easily without sufficient defenses.

Fishing Boat

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• Worker Unit: Fishing Boats gather food from sources on water, including deep-water fish that are out of Villagers' reach.

Transport Ship

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• Defenseless Transports: Transport Ships cannot attack (except Malian ones) and must be protected, because if they are destroyed, all units they carry die.

Incendiary Ship (Demolition Ship/Explosive Dhow/Explosive Junk)

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• Molotov Truck: Incendiary Ships are filled with explosives and are meant to blow up in the face of other targets on the sea. Even if sunk by the enemy, they still explode and deal full damage.
• Suicide Attack: Their sole purpose is to be floating bombs, capable of taking out other ships in a single stroke at the expense of themselves. The explosives used can be upgraded to not only be more destructive but also include a wider area-of-effect.

Archer Ship (Dhow/Galley/Hunting Canoe/Junk/Light Junk)

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• Army Scout: Archer Ships are fast and nimble enough that they serve as naval scouts in advance of their respective fleets.
• Fragile Speedster: Archer Ships are also designed to screen for Incendiary Ships and help support beachheads. They cannot, however, take too much punishment.

Springald Ship (Baghlah/Hulk/War Canoe/War Cog/War Junk)

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• Anti-Structure: Springald Ships have considerable bonuses against land structures, allowing them to serve as naval siege units in a pinch.
• Anti-Vehicle: Siege duties aside, they are specifically geared towards taking down Archer Ships.

Warship (Baochuan/Carrack/Xebec)

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• Elite Mooks: A single Warship can help turn the tide of a battle with its flexibility and firepower, though building one is a hefty investment.
• Logical Weakness: As powerful as these vessels are, they're still vulnerable to Incendiary Ships, and can be sunk in a single blast if neglected.
• Master of All: Warships are the most powerful and heavily armored generic naval vessels available, being capable of serving multiple roles in a fleet at once. This is offset by their expensive cost.

Civilizations

Abbasid Dynasty

Start the game with +50 Wood
Gather from Berry Bushes 30% faster but cannot gather from Boar, Berry carrying capacity increased by +3
Mills constructed near Berry Bushes turns them into Orchards, increases Food capacity by +100
Docks are -50% cheaper.
Advance in Ages by building wings from the House of Wisdom
Enter a Golden Age by building structures within the influence of the House of Wisdom, increasing resource gather rate, research times, and production speed
Landmark: House of Wisdom^note can be designated as a Home Market, further age advances are accomplished by constructing new Wings which house one unique technology per Age.
Wonder: Prayer Hall of Uqba

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• Anti-Cavalry: As with most RTS games, the Abbasid Camelry excel against enemy cavalry units, even having an aura that cause nearby enemy horse riders to deal less damage.
• Horse of a Different Color: Camels replace horses as the primary mount ridden by Abbasid cavalry.
• Mythology Gag: The Abbassid and Ayyubids' access to camel cavalry and swift hit-and-run tactics are very reminiscent of the Saracens from Age of Empires II, to which they're also a broad equivalent of.
• Odd Name Out: One of the three civilizations named after a state or ruling dynasty rather than the people or culture. In this case, it's the Abbasid dynasty, a caliphate which ruled large areas of the Muslim world until 1517.
• Renovating the Player Headquarters: Unique among other civilizations, the Abbasids and Ayyubids can only build one Landmark, namely the House of Wisdom. They advance in Age by adding new wings to the House of Wisdom, each giving distinct bonuses or units.
• Veganopia: As an Islamic state, the Abbasids and Ayyubids cannot gather from Boar. As a trade-off, they gather from Berry Bushes faster.

Abbasid Dynasty (Standard)

Technology, Camels, City Planning
Traders are 33% cheaper
Siege Engineering technology granted for free, Infantry units are able to construct Rams and Siege Towers within the Dark Age
Unique Units: Ghulam^note Man-at-Arms that attacks twice in quick succession, Camel Rider^note melee cavalry that excels against other cavalry that reduces the damage from nearby enemy cavalry, Camel Archer^note ranged cavalry that reduces the damage from nearby enemy cavalry
Landmark: House of Wisdom^note sole landmark which can be designated as a Home Market, further age advances are accomplished by constructing a choice of two variants of each type of Wing, which grant a mix of immediate and passive production bonuses
Wings: Culture Wing^note contains Preservation of Knowledge (reduces technology cost by -20%), Medical Centers (Keeps have a healing aura), and Proselytization (Imams can convert single units without holding a Relic), Economic Wing^note contains Fertile Crescent (Town Centers, Houses and resource drop-off buildings cost -25% Wood and Stone), Agriculture (Villagers gather from farms +25% faster), and Improved Processing (Villagers drop off +8% more resources), Military Wing^note spawns a set of military units upon construction, contains Boot Camp (increases health of all infantry by +15%), Composite Bows (reduces Archer reload time by -33%), and Camel Support (Camel units increase the armor of nearby infantry by +2), Trade Wing^note spawns Traders upon construction, contains Grand Bazaar (Traders return a selected secondary resource equivalent to 25% of their Gold income), Armored Caravans (grants +5 armor to Traders and Trade Ships), and Spice Roads (Traders return +30% more Gold)

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• A Commander Is You:
  • Unit Specialist (Camels): Their UUs are the Camel Archer and Camel Rider, light ranged and melee units that deal bonus damage to light melee infantry and cavalry respectively. They also reduce the damage by -20% to nearby enemy horse cavalry. Upgrading the House of Wisdom in the Castle Age allows Abbasid players to research Camel Rider Shields, which increases their melee armor by 3, while in the Imperial Age they can research from the same wing Camel Support, which increases the melee and ranged armor of units around Camels by 2. Finally, in the Castle Age, Abbasid players can research in the Blacksmith Camel Handling, which increases their movement speed by 15%, and Camel Rider Barding, which increases the melee and ranged armor of Camel Riders by 2. Outside of Camels they have a bonus for Archers and another for their Spearmen line, but that's it.
  • Unconventional: Unlike other civilizations which have 5 landmarks to build, the Abbasid have only one, the House of Wisdom, which can be upgraded with different wings in order to advance through ages, contains many unique technologies, and can trigger a Golden Age based on how many buildings are constructed within its influence. Golden Ages speed up resource gather rate, research times, and production. With this unique system, the Abbasid do not need to free up their Villagers in order to advance in Age, allowing them to maintain their economy. However, this does mean that losing the House of Wisdom is catastrophic for them.
  • Economist: Their Villagers are quite good gatherers: they gather from Berry Bushes 30% faster and carry +3 food. In addition, building Mills near Berry Bushes turn them into Orchards, netting more food. All of this can also be sped up if said Mill is built within the influence of the House of Wisdom whenever it enters a Golden Age (the same can be said for all other drop-off sites). All of this offsets the Villagers' inability to gather food from Boars. In addition, the Abbasid starts with 200 wood instead of 150, and their Docks are 50% cheaper. Upgrading the House of Wisdom in the Feudal Age with the Economic Wing allows Abbasid players to research Fresh Foodstuffs, which reduces the cost of Villagers by 50%, and Agriculture in the Castle Age, which speeds up Farm gathering for Villagers by 15%, and Improved Processing in the Imperial Age, which drops off 8% more resources.
  • Research: They age up without the need for Villagers by upgrading the wings on the House of Wisdom. They also enter a Golden Age by building structures within the influence of the House of Wisdom, increasing research times, and production speed. If they upgrade the HoW with the Culture Wing, they get access to Preservation of Knowledge, which reduces the cost of all future techs by -30%.
  • Diplomat: Their Land Traders are 33% cheaper. Upgrading the House of Wisdom in the Feudal Age with the Trade Wing allows Abbasid players to research Grand Bazaar, which allows Traders to return a secondary resource in addition to Gold, while doing so in the Castle Age allows them to research Armored Caravans, which gives 5 extra melee and ranged armor to Trade units, and doing so in the Imperial Age allows them to research "Spice Roads", which makes Trade units to return 30% more Gold.
• Mythology Gag: The Culture Wing's Imperial Age bonus of allowing Imams to convert individual enemy units by targeting them is how conversion worked in previous Age of Empires games.

Camel Rider

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• Mook Commander: After Camel Support is researched, Camel Riders increase the melee and ranged armor of nearby infantry.

Camel Archer

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• Horse Archer: The Abbasids are one of the few civilisations with access to cavalry archers (who, in their case, ride camels instead of horses).
• Mook Commander: After Camel Support is researched, Camel Archers increase the melee and ranged armor of nearby infantry.

Ayyubids

Adaptable, Camels, City Planning
Land Traders are -33% cheaper.
Unique Units: Desert Raider ^note camel unit that can switch between sword and bow attacks, Camel Lancer^note Lancer replacement that gains bonus damage from longer charges, Manjaniq ^note Mangonel with an area-of-effect attack ability that deals heavy damage to buildings, Tower of the Sultan  ^note siege unit that combines a Battering Ram with garrisoned Archers, Atabeg ^note support unit produced by the Trade Wing's Advisors branch, garrison inside military production buildings to buff produced units, Dervish^note Camel-riding Monk with a Mass Heal ability to heal nearby units in an AOE, Bedouin Skirmisher^note produced by the Trade Wing's Bazaar branch, javelin-throwing light ranged infantry effective against other light infantry, Bedouin^note produced by the Trade Wing's Bazaar branch, swordsman effective against other melee units
Wings: Culture Wing (Advancement^note cheaper and possesses a faster construction time than other Wings/Logistics^note Spawns Dervishes, improves their Mass Heal ability), Economic Wing (Growth^note spawns Villagers, increases the food capacity of Orchards in the Feudal and Castle Age, or improves Villager work rate in the Imperial Age/Industry^note grants Wood), Military Wing (Master Smiths^note makes the current Age's Blacksmith attack and armor technologies free/Reinforcement^note cavalry units can construct siege units, spawns Desert Raiders upon construction and every 2 minutes thereafter), Trade Wing (Advisors^note spawns Atabegs, the House of Wisdom can produce more Atabegs to replace any lost/Bazaar^note provides a trade opportunity every 3 minutes, costing Gold for a random offer of other resources, Traders, or the Bedouin units)

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• Cast from Money: The Structural Reinforcements ability, which temporarily increases the durability of a siege engine, costs wood to activate.
• Desert Warfare: The Ayyubids' House of Wisdom can produce Bedouin Skirmishers and Swordsmen as mercenaries through the Bazaar branch of its Trade Wing. These are lightly armored infantry units that excel in quick hit-and-run tactics.
• Difficult, but Awesome: The Ayyubids' bonuses and unit lineup, especially compared to the standard Abbasid one, are laden with various tricky abilities that require considerable micromanagement. Once mastered, however, these allow them to be incredibly flexible against myriad opponents.

Atabeg

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• Arbitrary Headcount Limit: It is possible to replenish lost Atabegs from the House of Wisdom, but not train more of them than when you first built the Advisors branch of the House of Wisdom's Trade Wing.

Dervish

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• Anti-Cavalry: The Dervish's camel mount reduces the attack of nearby horse-riding cavalry.
• Enemy Exchange Program: When carrying a Relic, they can activate an ability that converts an entire army within an area of effect.
• Mook Medic: Dervishes can heal friendly units.
• Support Party Member: While lacking any offensive capabilities whatsoever, they can heal friendly units, convert enemy units (if carrying a Relic) and are the only units able to capture Sacred Sites.

Desert Raider

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• Dual Mode Unit: The Desert Raider is armed with both a sword and bow and arrows, and can switch between them with a button.

Camel Lancer

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• Charged Attack: Compared to standard Knights and Lancers, Camel Lancers are weaker in sustained fights, but can charge faster, more often and for longer distances.
• Jousting Lance: Camel Lancers wield a lance when on the charge.

Manjaniq

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• Dual Mode Unit: The Manjaniq can swap between solid ammunition, which deals higher damage, and incendiary ammunition, which has a wider area of effect.
• Elemental Weapon: Manjaniqs can switch to a fire projectile mode, dealing damage in a wider area than kinetic ammunition.

Tower of the Sultan

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• Awesome Personnel Carrier: In addition to ramming buildings and firing arrows, the Tower of the Sultan can transport infantry, protecting them from archer fire.
• Battering Ram: The Tower of the Sultan incorporates a ram that attacks exactly like normal Battering Rams.

Chinese

Handcannon Slits technology replaces Defensive Arrowslits
Economic buildings generate taxes each time a resource is dropped off
Military buildings generate taxes each time a unit is produced or technology is researched
Enter a Dynasty by building both Landmarks from an Age, providing access to a passive bonus within each Dynasty
Chemistry technology granted for free within the Dark Age
Docks work 10% faster
Unique Units: Imperial Official^note economic unit able to gather Tax Gold from buildings and can improve their production, research and resource drop-off rates, Palace Guard^note Man-at-Arms with less armor but a faster movement speed, Zhuge Nu ^note Song Dynasty crossbowman that fires a volley of arrows, Grenadier^note Ming Dynasty short-ranged gunpowder infantry that deals splash damage, Nest of Bees^note gunpowder artillery that fires a barrage of rocket arrows
Unique Buildings: Village^note Song Dynasty House that provides quadruple the population, Granary^note Yuan Dynasty building that generates Tax Gold when Food is dropped off, increases the gathering rate of Farms in its influence, and can research economic technologies, Pagoda^note Ming Dynasty building that generates resources when a Relic is garrisoned in it
Wonder: Enclave of the Emperor

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• Discard and Draw: When a Chinese player switches dynasties, the bonus of the current Dynasty is replaced with the bonus of the new Dynasty, though any unlocked units or buildings remain unlocked.
• More Dakka: The Chinese specialize in gunpowder units, even gaining Chemistry for free in the Imperial Age. Many of their unique units use gunpowder, such as the Fire Lancer, Grenadier, and most notably the Nest of Bees. Moreover, Chinese Town Centers, Keeps, and Outposts have handgunners for defense by default.
• Splash Damage: As they specialize in gunpowder units, many of their units are able to deal area-of-effect damage.

Chinese (Standard)

Dynasties, Gunpowder, Taxes
Villagers construct defenses 50% faster and all other buildings 100% faster
Unique Units: Fire Lancer^note Yuan Dynasty cavalry that does splash damage when charging,
Landmarks: Imperial Academy^note produces Imperial Officials at a 30% discount, doubles the Tax Gold from nearby buildings/Barbican of the Sun^note Fires a long-ranged cannon, adds arrowslits when garrisoned, and can see into forests, Astronomical Clocktower^note acts as a Siege Workshop and produces siege engines with additional health/Imperial Palace^note has large sight radius and can reveal all enemy Villagers for 10 seconds, Great Wall Gatehouse^note must be built over Stone Walls, but doubles their health and increases the damage of nearby units on walls/Spirit Way^note all buildings can produce previously achieved Dynasty units, nearby buildings produce cheaper Dynasty units and research technologies 150% faster

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• A Commander Is You:
  • Balanced: The Chinese are a flexible civilization that can adapt to any situation via the Dynasty System, which unlocks unique units and technologies. To unlock a Dynasty, they must build both Landmarks for a given Age, which allows them to take both benefits without having to choose one over the other.
  • Ranger: The Palace Guard is their Man-at-Arms replacement, a heavy melee infantry unit that exchanges armor for movement speed. Both entering the Ming Dynasty by building both Castle Age Landmarks as well as the "Battle Hardened" tech grants them a grand total of +40% HP. They also have another Unique Unit, the Yuan Dynasty's Fire Lancer, a light cavalry unit effective against siege engines and buildings that comes with extensive sight range and an explosive charge attack. They have a powerful siege weapon, the Nest of Bees, that replaces the Mangonel, and fires a barrage of rockets, doing area of effect damage. The Song Dynasty gives them access to the Zhuge Nu, a light ranged infantry with a rapid burst attack effective against light infantry and cavalry units. The Ming Dynasty gives them access to the Grenadier, a Light ranged gunpowder infantry that throws grenades dealing area of effect damage. As for techs, "Thunderclap Bombs" (Dock, Imperial Age) grants Warships an additional "Nest of Bees" special attack, and "Pyrotechnics" (Archery Range, Imperial Age) increases the range of Handcanoneers by 1.5 tiles.
  • Turtle: Their Town Centers, Keeps, and Outposts (the latter via the "Handcannon Slits" tech, which also increases its LOS) use Handcannon Slits instead of Defensive Arrowslits. The Tang Dynasty unlocks the Village, an expensive house that provides 40 PU with a 3-build limit. "Extra Materials" (Keep, Castle Age) makes Stone Wall Towers and Outposts automatically repair nearby damaged Stone Walls at 20 HP/s.
  • Industrial: Villagers construct defenses 50% faster and all other buildings 100% faster. Imperial Officials can supervise buildings, speeding up unit production by 150%. In addition, the Song Dynasty improves Villager training time to be +25% faster.
  • Economist: Their economic buildings generate taxes each time a resource is dropped off on them (1 gold). Their military buildings generate taxes each time a unit is produced (4 gold) or a research is completed (32 gold). The Imperial Official can make drop off buildings receive 20% more resources. The Song Dynasty unlocks the Granary, a building that serves as a drop-off for food and increases gathering rate of nearby Farms. The Yuan Dynasty makes Villagers, Imperial Officials and Traders receive a 15% increase in movement speed and also unlocks the Pagoda, a building that houses Relics and generates resources as long as a Relic is garrisoned (again, up to 3 can be built). Finally, the "Ancient Techniques" tech (University, Imperial Age) gives Villagers a 10% increase (up to 20%) for every Dynasty the Player has reached.
• Lightning Bruiser: Palace Guards, the unique Chinese Man-at-arms equivalent, trade armor for faster movement speed, allowing them to close in more effectively against enemies.
• Magikarp Power: The Chinese's focus on tech, taxes and research becomes more pronounced as time passes, eventually allowing them to field upgraded armies and a robust economy that can overwhelm most enemies if left unimpeded.

Fire Lancer

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• Enhanced Archaic Weapon: Fire Lancers are Chinese cavalry units equipped with explosive gunpowder-tipped lances that maximize damage when charging.

Grenadier

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• Throw Down the Bomblet: The Chinese Grenadier is equipped with a throwable explosive, which deals area-of-effect damage.

Imperial Official

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• Badass Bureaucrat: Imperial Officials not only collect taxes from buildings in the form of gold, but can also improve their production, research and resource drop-off rates.

Nest of Bees

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• Macross Missile Massacre: The Nest of Bees is a medieval Chinese rocket launcher that fires multiple gunpowder-tipped arrows at masses of enemies.

Zhuge Nu

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• Automatic Crossbows: Chinese repeater crossbowmen return from the second and third games as a unique unit (now romanised using Pinyin as Zhuge Nu instead of Wade-Giles Chu Ko Nu). Their high rate of fire makes the Zhuge Nu devastating to many enemy units, but unlike in Age of Empires II they aren't as effective against armored siege weapons.
• Rain of Arrows: While individual bolts may not be too effective against armored enemies, the Zhuge Nu can fire multiple ones at any given time until they're disposed of.

Zhu Xi's Legacy

Dynasties, Taxes, Technology
Can train Palace Guards in the Dark Age.
The Dynasty restrictions on units and buildings do not apply.
Unique Units: Shaolin Monk^note Monk that sacrifices healing abilities for combat strength, possesses the "Body of Iron" ability to halve incoming damage, Yuan Raider^note cavalry unit unlocked at Zhu Xi's Library, extremely fast and deals bonus damage to economic units, Imperial Guard^note heavy cavalry unit unlocked at Zhu Xi's Library, powerful with an enhanced charge attack
Landmarks: Meditation Gardens^note passively generates resources based on nearby resource deposits/Jiangnan Tower^note acts as a drop-off site for Taxes, generates a free unit when a military production building or a Town Center is built, Shaolin Monastery^note Monastery that allows for the production of Shaolin Monks/Mount Lu Academy^note contains many unique upgrades for the Imperial Official, Imperial Officials collect Taxes at double the rate, 20% of Tax revenue is converted to Food, Zhu Xi's Library^note contains five powerful technologies that upgrade and unlock units, from which two can be selected to research/Temple of the Sun^note contains a trio of powerful passive abilities, of which one can be active at a time

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• Grenade Spam: Zhu Xi's Legacy makes up for its lack of Handcannoneers by having much more readily-available Grenadiers on hand to deliver area-of-effect damage. Unlike the standard Chinese civilization, said Grenadiers have no Dynasty restrictions whatsoever.
• Magikarp Power: Even more so than the standard Chinese civilization, Zhu Xi's Legacy has a strong emphasis on tech and research. While of little value early on, these can allow it to overwhelm enemies with highly-sophisticated units and powerful support abilities if left alone.
• Mythology Gag: The Meditation Gardens unique to Zhu Xi's Legacy functions similarly in terms of passive bonuses with the Chinese Porcelain Tower wonder in Age of Empires III.

Yuan Raider

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• Anti-Vehicle: Yuan Raiders deal bonus damage to siege engines and are fast enough to close the distance and chase them down.

Imperial Guard

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• Praetorian Guard: Zhu Xi's Legacy has access to the Imperial Guard, a unique and powerful cavalry unit.

Shaolin Monk

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• Healing Factor: The Shaolin Monk regenerates 1 hit point per second when not fighting.
• Warrior Monk: Shaolin Monks are powerful martial arts masters capable of enduring even the fiercest of attacks.

Delhi Sultanate

Elephants, Research, Religion
Gather from Berry Bushes 30% faster but cannot gather from Boar, Berry carrying capacity increased by +3
Mills constructed near Berry Bushes turns them into Orchards, increases Food capacity by +100
Scholar available in the Dark Age, first Madrasa constructed now grants 3 free Scholars
All technology is free but completes at a much slower rate. Scholars accelerate research speed
Infantry units can construct Palisades
Fishing Boats have a ranged attack, +50% HP
Unique Units: Scholar^note Monk that speeds up research when garrisoned in buildings, Ghazi Raiders^note Horseman that deals bonus damage against heavy armor, War Elephant^note heavy cavalry with high health and damage against units and structures, Tower Elephant^note heavy ranged cavalry with high health, Sultan's Tower Elephant^note upgraded Tower Elephant garrisoned by Handcannoneers instead of Archers/Crossbowmen, produced by the Palace of the Sultan Landmark
Landmarks: Tower of Victory^note permanently increases the speed of infantry produced in buildings within its influence/Dome of Faith^note acts as a Mosque, produces Scholars at half the cost, Compound of the Defender^note contains defensive technologies that ignore Age requirements, allows infantry to build Stone Walls, Gates, and Towers and reduces the Stone cost of buildings and emplacements/House of Learning^note contains many unique economic and religious technologies, Hisar Academy^note acts as a Madrasa, constantly generates Food based on total number of technologies researched/Palace of the Sultan^note automatically produces Sultan's Tower Elephants, and can garrison up to 4 Scholars to increase production speed
Wonder: Palace of Agra

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• A Commander Is You:
  • Guerrilla: Their Infantry units are able to construct Palisade Walls on the field. They also have a tech that increase their melee damage ("Honed Blades" from the House of Learning Landmark) as well as a Blacksmith tech ("Forced March") that gives them a special movement boost ability at the cost of not being able to shoot while said ability is active.
  • Ranger: Most of their Ranger capabilities center around their Tower Elephants, an Archery Range unit with two Archers that fire while the Elephant is moving, and can gain a big attack bonus against heavy units by upgrading them into Siege Elephants (replaces the Archers with Elite Crossbowmen) in the Imperial Age.
  • Unit Specialist (Unique Units):
    • Elephants: Two of their three Unique Units are the War Elephant (a heavy melee cavalry unit mounted with a spearman with high health and damage and a strong siege attack) and the Tower Elephant. In addition to the benefits of "Siege Elephant", their War Elephants also have another tech, "Armored Beasts", that grants them a melee/ranged armor bonus.
    • Scholars: They're the other Unique Unit, and are backbone of the Delhi Sultanate. For starters, they're available as soon as the Dark Age. They also have the ability to heal units, and they can speed tech research by garrisoning them in a Mosque. Furthermore, several techs improve them, with bonus as diverse as being able to capture Sacred Sites prior to the Castle Age as well as making them generate +50% gold ("Sanctity" from the Mosque at Feudal Age), a HUGE LOS increase ("All-Seeing Eye", also from the Mosque at Feudal Age), being able to be garrisoned in military buildings and speed up their workrate ("Efficient Production", Mosque, Dark Age), a speed bonus ("Swiftness", also from the Mosque, Castle Age), a temporary attack boost towards Scholar-healed units ("Zeal", Mosque, Imperial Age), and the ability to be garrisoned in Docks for up to 3 Scholars with the respective production boost ("Manuscript Trade", Dock, Dark Age).
  • Turtle: "Village Fortresses" (Keep, Castle Age), makes their Keeps act like Town Centers, (including unit production, population capacity and techs) and thanks to the House of Learning Castle Age Landmark, they have lots of defensive bonuses: "All-Seeing Eye", "Reinforced Foundations" (makes Houses and Town Centers house +5 population), "Tranquil Venue" (makes Mosques able to heal nearby friendly units) and "Lookout Towers" (increases sight range of Outposts +50%).
  • Industrial: Thanks to their Scholars and the aforementioned techs "Efficient Production" and "Manuscript Trade", if left unchecked, they can field a powerful and fully upgraded army.
  • Economist: Like the Abbasid Dynasty, they can't harvest food from Boars, however, they get Berry Bush gathering benefits and the Mills built around them turns them into Orchards. In addition, Fishing Boats can defend themselves from enemy ships with a ranged attack. They also benefit from the "Sanctity" (Mosque, Feudal Age, makes captured Sacred Sites to generate 50% more gold) and "Hearty Rations" (House of Learning Landmark, Imperial Age, increases Villagers' carrying capacity +5) techs.
  • Research: All technology is free but completes at a much slower rate, unless Scholars are garrisoned in Mosques to increase research speed. Mosques, Scholars and religious technologies available in the Dark Age (I). "Efficient Production" and "Manuscript Trade" extends these benefits to military buildings and Docks. Mosques cost -50%. Technologies being researched can also be paused and resumed.
• The Engineer: Their infantry can construct defensive structures, though they cannot construct Stone defenses without The Compound of the Defender.
• Going Native: By the Imperial Age, Delhi Sultanate units shift from speaking Classical Persian to Hindi, reflecting the growing influence of Indian culture.
• Magikarp Power: Their drawn out time to conduct research leaves them at a disadvantage in the early game, where others might spend resources to quickly outpace them. However, as they build out infrastructure of mosques and scholars, that extended research time is mitigated, and the fact that said research is free leaves them more resources to invest in other things like units. If they can survive to the late game, they can field an army of powerful War Elephants and have all their technology quickly maxed, turning them into a powerhouse.
• Mythology Gag: The Delhi Sultanate shares many of the same perks as the Hindustanis from Age of Empires II Definitive Edition, which it roughly corresponds to.
• National Weapon: Delhi Sultanate Men-at-Arms and Lancers can be equipped with curved talwar swords through the "Honed Blades" upgrade.
• Odd Name Out: One of the three civilizations named after a state or ruling dynasty rather than the people or culture. In this case, it's the Delhi Sultanate, an Islamic empire which ruled over large areas of the Indian subcontinent until 1526.
• Reduced Resource Cost: The Delhi Sultanate can research all of their technologies with no resource cost whatsoever, but instead pay for this with extremely inflated research times compared to other civilizations. They can reduce the research time penalty by garrisoning Scholars, their Monk equivalent, in their Mosques.
• Veganopia: As an Islamic state, they cannot gather from Boar. As a trade-off, they gather from Berry Bushes faster.

Scholar

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• Attack Speed Buff: Units healed by a Scholar temporarily gain attack speed with the Zeal technology.
• Garrisonable Structures: Scholars can garrison inside Mosques and Madrasas to increase research speed, which compensates for how the Delhi Sultanate can research technologies for free but at a much slower rate. After Efficient Production is researched, Scholars can also garrison inside military buildings to boost production speed.
• Enemy Exchange Program: When carrying a Relic, they can activate an ability that converts an entire army within an area of effect.
• Mook Medic: Scholars can heal friendly units.

Ghazi Rider

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• Anti-Armor: Ghazi Riders have a small attack bonus against heavy units, allowing the Delhi Sultanate to counter heavy units from the Feudal Age.

War Elephant

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• Anti-Cavalry: The War Elephant's rider wields a spear that deals bonus damage to cavalry.
• War Elephants: The first of the Delhi Sultanate's elephant units, the War Elephant is ridden by a soldier who complements the elephant's tusk attack with his spear.

Tower Elephant

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• Anti-Armor: The Howdahs upgrade replaces the Tower Elephant's riders' bows with crossbows, which deal bonus damage to heavy units.
• War Elephants: The Tower Elephant is the second elephant unit of the Delhi Sultanate, which both fights with its tusks and carries a howdah for archers on its back.

English

Defence, Longbows, Farming
Construct Farms for 50% less Wood. Farms near Mills gather 15%/20%/25%/30% faster
Vanguard Man-at-Arms available in the Dark Age
Stronger Villagers who wield short bows
Scout can construct campfires, granting +30% sight range to nearby units
Town Centers, Outposts, Towers, and Keeps provide the Network of Castles bonus, giving 25% attack speed to all affected units
Town Centers fire twice as many arrows
Keeps can produce all land military units
Military ships cost -10%
Unique Units: Longbowman^note  slow moving long-ranged Archer that can construct Palings to fend off cavalry, King^note unique unit produced by the Abbey of Kings landmark, a cavalry unit with an aura that heals himself and nearby out of combat units, Ranger^note tougher Longbowman produced by the Wyngard Palace landmark, Footman^note Man-at-Arms with bonus anti-cavalry damage produced by the Wyngard Palace landmark
Landmarks: Council Hall^note Archery Range that produces units at double speed/Abbey of Kings^note produces a free King upon construction and can produce replacements, heals nearby friendly units that are out of combat, King’s Palace^note acts as a Town Center with double health/White Tower^note acts as a Keep with double production and research speed, Berkshire Palace^note acts as a Keep with all projectiles having a 15 tile range, all arrows fired will be incendiary/Wynguard Palace^note produces a choice of four unit batches to train, including the unique Ranger and Footman
Wonder: Cathedral of St. Thomas

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• Alarm SOS: The English gain advanced warnings and defense perks from nearby Town Centers, Outposts, and Keeps via their Network of Castles bonus.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Generalist: The English are a well-rounded civilization that excels at defensive play and ranged combat and are easy to learn for new players. Their army boasts more durable Men-at-Arms and one of the best ranged infantry units in the game in the form of the Longbowmen. Lastly, should they choose the Wynguard Palace in order to advance to the Imperial Age, they can train small armies in batches, getting short groups ready to attack at a cheaper cost. The unique Wynguard units, the Ranger and Footman, are simple but well-rounded units that can enhance just about any army composition.
  • Ranger: Their main Ranger strength comes from their UU, the Longbowman. This archer has a higher range than even fully upgraded Archers and comes with the Defensive Palings ability, allowing them to prevent harassing Cavalry by stunning and damaging them. They can gain other abilities via the "Setup Camp" and "Arrow Volley" techs. Plus, their Villagers use a bow and arrow to fend off raiders, their military ships have a range bonus via "Admiralty" (Dock, Feudal Age), and their Counterweight Trebuchets gain an area of effect attack via "Shattering Projectiles".
  • Turtle: Their "Network of Castles" bonus encourages defensive play as their Town Centers, Outposts, Towers, and Keeps grant additional attack speed to nearby units (a bonus that can be increased with the Castle Age tech "Network of Citadels"), and not only do their Town Centers have twice the arrows, but their Villagers are armed with bows, making English towns much harder to invade in the early game.
  • Economist: They have cheaper Farms that gather faster near Mills (the gathering rate being age-dependent, going from 15% in Dark Age to 30% in Imperial Age), which allows them to better support their economy. Their Farms can also generate Gold in the Imperial Age with the "Enclosures" tech.
• Balance Buff: The February 2023 update granted the Abbey of Kings (which used to be the lesser landmark in comparison to the Council Hall) the ability to train a Hero Unit, the King, who's basically a moving version of the landmark, complete with the healing aura, and giving it more value as an alternative.
• Call to Agriculture: The English can lay down farms at half the normal cost, with those within the influence range of mills capable of producing more food over the Ages.
• Defog of War: English Scouts can build campfires, which, in addition to its natural line of sight, also boosts that of nearby allied units.
• Home Field Advantage: The Network of Castles bonus grants their units increased attack speed when near Town Centers, Outposts, Towers, and Keeps.
• Mercenary Units: The Wyngard Palace gives the English the chance to buy one of four armies with pre-built unit compositions. These are the Wynguard Army (2 Spearmen, 2 Crossbowmen, and 1 Trebuchet), Wynguard Raiders (3 Horsemen and 3 Knights), Wynguard Rangers (6 Rangers), and Wynguard Footmen (6 Footmen).
• Mythology Gag: The Imperial Age musical motif for the English takes several cues from the main theme of Age of Empires III, roughly coinciding with that game's Discovery/Exploration Age.
• Skill Gate Characters: Their straightforward defensive-favored playstyle and lack of complex mechanical gimmicks makes the English an ideal beginner faction.

Longbowman

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• Anti-Cavalry: Longbowmen have the ability to quickly drop Palings in front of them, which stop cavalry charges dead in their tracks and set them up to take ranged damage for a bit longer, which helps Longbowmen out against a traditional Archer counter.
• Rain of Arrows: The Longbowman's Arrow Volley ability increases their attack speed by 70%. In practice, they'll shower arrows upon enemies with impunity.

King

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• Hero Unit: The King is one of the few leader units available in a multiplayer game, a powerful cavalry unit that can heal friendly units, cannot be converted and is limited to one per player.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Unlike other games such as Age of Empires II, the King isn't afraid of taking it to the battlefield.
• Took a Level in Badass: Compared to his Age of Empires II incarnation, the King is not only capable of fighting back, but is generally much more useful fighting alongside his men on the battlefield.
• Warrior Prince: The King acts as a very tough Knight. His healing aura encourages you to have him in a supporting role during battle.

French

Trade, Cavalry, Keeps
Economic technologies are 30% cheaper
Trade Posts are revealed on the minimap at the start of the game
Traders can return any resource to the Market
Melee damage technologies are researched for free
Trade Ships return a 20% bonus of all resources
Unique Units: Royal Knight^note more powerful version of the Knight that gains bonus damage after charging, Arbalétrier^note stronger Crossbowman that can deploy a pavise, Galleass ^note ship with a powerful forward-mounted cannon, Cannon^note Bombard that does not need to deploy in order to fire
Landmarks: Chamber of Commerce^note acts as a Market, automatically trains one free Trader for every economic tech researched/School of Cavalry^note acts as a Stable and makes all Stables produce units faster, Royal Institute^note contains all French unique technologies regardless of age requirement and at a cheaper cost/Guild Hall^note generates and stores resources over time, Red Palace^note acts as a Keep with high-damage arbalest emplacements that increase in number with each garrisoned unit, and also activates an arbalest emplacement on all Keeps and Town Centers/College of Artillery^note produces Royal Artillery units which do additional damage above their normal counterparts, researches gunpowder and siege technologies, works 50% faster, and unlocks the Artillery Shot ability for all Cannons
Wonder: Notre Dame

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• A Commander Is You:
  • Spammer: If they play their cards well and position their buildings appropriately, they can churn out lots of cheap Cavalry and Archery units quite quickly. For the Cavalry, it's the combination of the Dark Age to Feudal Age landmark "School of Cavalry" and Keeps with regular Stables. For the Archery, it's the combination of Keeps and Archery Ranges.
  • Unit Specialist:
    • Cavalry: The backbone of the French cavalry is the Royal Knight, a Heavy Cavalier who gains bonus attack after a successful charge, with two unique techs increasing this bonus damage and giving them Regenerating Health. They also get a Stable-based landmark in "School of Cavalry", which allows Stables to churn out units 20% faster, with Keep-influenced stables also churning out their units 20% cheaper, allowing them to mass Cavalry units.
    • Archery: Not only they get the Arbalétrier, a Crossbowman with melee armor that can drop a Pavise for extra protection, but they also get two techs that considerably improve said melee armor as well as their attack reload speed. Plus, their Archery Ranges in range of Keeps allow them to churn out units 20% cheaper.
    • Siege: They're the only civilization with access to all generic siege units in some form. They also have an unique Bombard replacement, the Cannon, that doesn't require any setup time and deals extra damage; and a Castle Age to Imperial Age landmark, "College of Artillery", that can churn out Royal variants of Cannons, Culverins and Ribauldequins, as well as being able to research siege-based techs on a single place.
    • Naval: Their Springald Ship gets +1 armor. They also have an unique unit, the Galleass, and an unique tech, "Long Guns", that improves naval cannon damage.
  • Turtle: Their Town Centers work faster than others, the speed increasing with age. They have a Castle Age to Imperial Age landmark, "Red Palace", that acts as a Keep and enables Arbalests to be used in defensive structures.
  • Industrial: Units produced from an Archery Range or Stable within the influence of a Keep are 20% cheaper. The "School of Cavalry" Dark Age to Feudal Age landmark allows the Stables to produce units 20% faster.
  • Economist: Their Economy-based techs are 30% cheaper. Their Resource drop-off buildings cost 50% less. Trading units can return food, wood or gold to Markets. Trade Ships return 20% bonus consisting of all resources. The "Guild Hall" Feudal Age to Castle Age landmark stores and generates a specific resource, the resource generation increases the more resources are stored on it.
  • Research: Their Economy-based techs are 30% cheaper. Melee damage techs are researched at the Blacksmith for free after each age-up. The "Royal Institute" Feudal Age to Castle Age landmark houses all unique techs to the French. Unique tech "Enlistment Incentives" (Keep/Royal Institute, Imperial Age) further reduces the cost of buildings under the influence of a Keep by 5%.
  • Diplomat: All Trade Posts are revealed at the beginning of the match for them. Trading units can return food, wood or gold to Markets. Trade Ships return 20% bonus consisting of all resources. The "Chamber of Commerce" Dark Age to Feudal Age landmark acts as a Market and trains one free trader for each economic technology researched by the player.
• Born in the Saddle: The French excel in armored cavalry, with their Royal Knights being exceptionally powerful and available as early as the Feudal Age.
• Fleur-de-lis: Their flags are decorated with their national symbol.
• More Dakka: In addition to strong melee cavalry, the French also have access to strong gunpowder units by the Imperial Age.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The French have bonuses incentivizing the use of cavalry and Keeps, which are almost identical with those of the Franks in Age of Empires II.
  • The French affinity towards powerful gunpowder artillery by the Imperial Age also serves as a Call-Forward to their artillery-favoring incarnation in Age of Empires III, especially their late-game Revolutionary France path.
• Wooden Ships and Iron Men: The French have access to the Galleass, a heavily-armed oared gunpowder warship, as a unique naval unit.

Arbalétrier

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• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: The Arbalétrier can deploy a pavise for ranged protection.
• Mythology Gag: The Arbalétrier was originally intended to be part of the Franks' archer upgrade tree in Age of Empires II, only to be removed for gameplay balance purposes.
• You Are the Translated Foreign Word: The Arbalétrier is an improved version of the Crossbowman unique to the French. The word arbalétrier itself means crossbowman in French.

Cannon

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• Glass Cannon: Cannons are unique French siege units that are harder-hitting, yet more fragile, than generic Bombards.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: They can also fire and move without needing to unpack, make it somewhat more capable of avoiding Springalds and striking enemies where they least expect them.

Royal Knight

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• Dash Attack: Royal Knights, on top of their stronger stats, notably gain attack bonuses for charging straight onto enemy units.
• Healing Factor: The Chivalry technology allows Royal Knights to heal while outside of combat.
• Knight in Shining Armor: The Royal Knight is a superior version of the Knight and one of the best cavalry units in the game.

French (Standard)

Trade, Cavalry, Keeps
Faster Villager and Scout production per Age (10%/15%/20%/25%)
Archery Ranges and Stables within the influence of a Keep produce units for 20% cheaper

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• Reduced Resource Cost: French units from an Archery Range or Stable within the influence of a Keep are considerably cheaper.

Jeanne d'Arc

Trade, Cavalry, Hero
Unique Units: Jeanne d'Arc^note Hero unit who starts the game as a Villager, and evolves with each age-up, Jeanne’s Champion ^note heavy infantry excellent against Spearmen, become stronger when in close proximity to Jeanne d'Arc, Jeanne’s Rider ^note fast light cavalry with strong resistance to ranged attacks, become stronger when in close proximity to Jeanne d'Arc
Levels: Path of the Archer^note upgrades Jeanne to an Archer, will further upgrade to a Mounted Archer and a mounted Markswoman on future levels. Has the "Divine Arrow" ability for a high-damage single target attack/Path of the Warrior^note upgrades Jeanne to a Man-at-Arms, will further upgrade to a Knight and a mounted Handcannoneer on future levels. Has the "Holy Wrath" ability to deal AOE damage around her position, Champion Companions^note unlocks Jeanne's Champions/Rider Companions^note unlocks Jeanne's Riders, Field Commander^note upgrades "Rally Call" to now summon 7 of her chosen companion units, grants the "Strength of Heaven" ability to significantly empower a single unit/Gunpowder Monarch^note upgrades "Rally Call" to now summon a Cannon alongside her companion units, grants the "Valorous Inspiration" ability to greatly improve the attack speed of nearby units

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• Aggressive Play Incentive: As a soldier, since Jeanne d'Arc earns experience through combat, there's an incentive to keep her fighting as much as possible, creating a big risk/reward dynamic where keeping up with Age advances requires putting Jeanne in harm's way.
• Church Militant: Many of Jeanne's ability names reflect her piety
• Gameplay Ally Immortality: While Jeanne d'Arc can be taken down, she doesn't stay dead for long. After a set period of time, she can return to the fray with full health.
• Hero Unit: Jeanne d'Arc herself grows stronger with each age-up according to your decisions as she goes from a humble Villager to a gunpowder-wielding Knight.
  • In the Dark Age, Jeanne is a humble Villager without any special abilities. Unlike in her later forms, she earns experience via gathering resources and constructing buildings.
  • In the Feudal Age, she can either become an Archer or a Woman-at-Arms, each with a unique ability.
  • In the Castle Age, she mounts a horse with either a bow or sword depending on her previous choice, and can now choose to either have Jeanne's Champions or Jeanne's Riders as a companion unit, which can be built at Keeps or summoned to Jeanne's location with an ability.
  • In the Imperial Age, she now uses gunpowder and has a choice of an Ultimate Ability to add to her arsenal.
• Historical Badass Upgrade: As a hero, Jeanne is one of the strongest units in the game, even though her real life counterpart was reputed to have never killed a person.
• Magikarp Power: Jeanne herself starts out as a completely standard Villager differentiated only by a unique appearance. She eventually becomes one of the most powerful units in the entire game, capable of bolstering armies if not taking out enemy ones almost single-handedly.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: In addition to the usual system of aging up via building Landmarks, you have a choice on how Jeanne d'Arc should grow and evolve after she earns a certain amount of Experience Points. This gives the civilization a distinctly more Multiplayer Online Battle Arena-esque playstyle that is completely unique within Age of Empires.
• Odd Name Out: Unlike the other factions and variants, this is named specifically after one person. Namely, Jeanne d'Arc herself.
• Reality Is Unrealistic: Jeanne's affinity for gunpowder weapons by the Imperial Age isn't as farfetched as it sounds.
• Worker Unit: In the Dark Age, Jeanne functions like a Villager, and earns experience when constructing buildings or gathering resources.

Jeanne's Champion/Jeanne's Rider

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• Bodyguarding a Badass: Jeanne's Champions (Men-at-Arms equivalents with bonuses against Spearmen) and Riders (light cavalry effective at countering Crossbowmen) are unique companion units who gain stronger bonuses whenever in close proximity to Jeanne d'Arc, further emphasizing their roles as her protectors. Given how strong Jeanne herself becomes by the time they're available, however, chances are she's just as likely to be keeping them out of harm's way.
• Elite Mooks: These companion units are generally stronger than their Men-at-Arms and Horsemen counterparts, especially when fighting alongside Jeanne herself.
• Mutually Exclusive Party Members: Depending on which path Jeanne d'Arc follows, she could either have Jeanne's Champions or Jeanne's Riders as a companion unit, but not both.
• Necessary Drawback: Their presence is partly to account for Jeanne's vulnerabilities to Anti-Cavalry and Anti-Armor units.

Holy Roman Empire

Garrison Relics inside of Outposts, Keeps, and Towers to improve their sight range, weapon range, armor, and damage
Garrison Relics inside of Docks to increase attack speeds of all ships by 5% (maximum of 25%)
Cost of emplacements on Outposts, Wall Towers, and Keeps reduced by 25%
Villagers carry 40% more resources
Town Center gives the Emergency Repairs ability to buildings under its influence.
Unique Units: Prelate^note Monk that can inspire nearby units.
Landmarks: Meinwerk Palace^note acts as a Blacksmith with cheaper technologies, and also contains two unique cavalry technologies/Aachen Chapel^note inspires nearby units in a large radius when a Prelate is garrisoned, Regnitz Cathedral^note garrisoned relics produce quadruple the Gold every minute/Burgrave Palace^note acts as a Barracks that produces infantry 5 at a time, Palace of Swabia^note acts as Town Center that produces Villagers cheaper and faster, is cheaper to build compared to other Landmarks/Elzbach Palace^note acts as a Keep with additional health and reduces the damage taken by all buildings within influence
Wonder: Palace of Flensburg

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• Church Militant: The Holy Roman Empire get multiple bonuses revolving around religion. These include the unique Prelate unit being available right from the onset and several extra uses for Relics as defence and economy boosters.
• Germanic Efficiency: The Holy Roman Empire's unique system of developing buildings, resilient and dangerous special attack units, and their ability to quickly recover from attacks, allows the HRE to be a faction that can be played smoothly.
• Heal Thyself: All buildings within the influence of a Holy Roman Empire Town Center gain the Emergency Repairs ability, which causes the building to temporarily repair itself.
• Mighty Glacier: Many of the HRE's unique techs, bonuses, and mechanics emphasize both strong defensive structures and sturdy armor for its units.
• National Weapon: HRE Men-at-Arms can be equipped with either heavy maces or two-handed battle axes for extra damage through their respective tech upgrades. Researching both, meanwhile, gives them two-handed battle maces.
• Odd Name Out: One of the three civilizations named after a state or ruling dynasty rather than the people or culture. In this case, it's the Holy Roman Empire, a confederation of largely Germanic states in Central Europe that lasted until 1806.

Landsknecht

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• BFS: The Landsknecht wields a zweihänder that not only deals a lot of damage per attack, but also hits multiple enemies within a small area-of-effect. There's also a unique upgrade to Men-at-Arms that give them two-handed broadswords for similar effect.
• Glass Cannon: Compared to other HRE infantry, Landsknechte are more lightly armored and die relatively easily. They make up for it, however, by having a sweeping area-of-effect melee attack that can tear through packed formations.
• A Thicket of Spears: The Order of the Dragon's Gilded Landsknechte can be equipped with large, imposing zornhau halberds in place of their zweihänder swords, which also grant them an additional bleed effect to their melee attacks.

Prelate

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• Church Militant: The Prelates' Holy Inspiration ability can be upgraded to grant military units additional armor and damage.
• Mythology Gag: The Prelate's perks to Villagers and military units alike calls to mind the Egyptian Pharoah's ability to empower buildings in Age of Mythology.
• Support Party Member: In addition to performing the same roles as a generic Monk, the Prelates unique to the HRE and Order of the Dragon are able to "inspire" Villagers, greatly improving their gather and construction rates.

Holy Roman Empire (Standard)

Infantry, Religion, Defense
Start with a Prelate, -100 Gold
Prelate available in the Dark Age
Early Man-at-Arms available in Feudal Age
Unique Units: Landsknecht^note light infantry with a zweihander that does splash damage

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• A Commander Is You: The Holy Roman Empire combines an infantry-focused army with potent religious bonuses.
  • Brute Force: Their infantry such as Landsknechte and Men-at-Arms with Maces are hard hitting and robust.
  • Turtle: Their defensive structures have cheaper emplacements and can be further enhanced by garrisoning Relics inside of them.
  • Industrial: Their Prelates can be used to enhance their early game economy by inspiring Villagers, and can later on be upgraded to inspire military units as well.
• Carry a Big Stick: Their Men-at-Arms can be upgraded to carry two-handed maces, which give them an Armor-Piercing Attack.
• Logical Weakness: As formidable as the HRE's defenses and armored infantry can be, this also means that they're more vulnerable to hit-and-run tactics and simultaneous attacks on multiple fronts, especially given how slow said infantry can be.
• Necessary Drawback: The 'Start with a Prelate' bonus was introduced to help the HRE's Dark Age economy, as in competitive environments the need to sacrifice some Villager production to get a Prelate was a big deal, and the HRE was considered among the weakest early-game civs. Letting them start with a Prelate lets them get their economic benefits immediately without hurting your Villager production, which in-turn is considered powerful enough for the need to eliminate their starting gold to prevent their Dark Age economy from running away from everyone else.

Order of the Dragon

Quality, Infantry, Defense
Start with +50 Wood.
Villagers gather +25% faster and construct buildings +20% faster.
Infantry and Cavalry are "Gilded", being much stronger and possessing a unique associated upgrade, but also more expensive to produce and take twice the population.
Prelates cannot inspire Villagers.
Outpost sight range increased by +25%.
Unique Units: Gilded Villager^note Villager that gathers resources 28% faster and constructs buildings 25% faster, Gilded Spearman^note "Dragon Fire" upgrade adds area-of-effect damage to anti-structure torch damage, Gilded Man-At-Arms,^note "Golden Cuirass" grants a -20% incoming damage reduction when unit is below 30% health, Gilded Landsknecht^note "Zornhau" grants attacks a bleeding effect for 10 seconds, Gilded Archer^note "Dragon Scale Leather" grants +3 Ranged Armor, Gilded Crossbowman^note "Bodkin Bolts" grants +10 bonus damage against Siege units, Gilded Knight^note "War Horses" upgrade grants a -25% damage reduction to incoming damage when charging
Altered Landmarks: Aachen Chapel^note provides a small gathering bonus to nearby Villagers without the need to be garrisoned by a Prelate, Burgrave Palace^note acts as a Barracks that produces infantry 5 at a time, provides a discount on units but does not contain Technology

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• Bling of War: Compared to standard HRE units, the Order of the Dragon's gilded units are generally decked in ornate attire and armor which become even more ceremonial as they're upgraded, befitting its Elite Army status.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Said Bling of War donned by gilded units is consistently black with gold highlights. Being a chivalric faction, however, they're no more villainous than the player commanding them is.
• Elite Army: The Order of the Dragon's non-siege land units are 'gilded'—more expensive and powerful variants of standard units. According to the designers, the Order of the Dragon was created to be an Age of Empires version of a low-unit-count army of powerful units.
• Logical Weakness: Being significantly stronger than standard HRE units, the Order of the Dragon's arsenal comes at the cost of being more expensive to deploy and replenish.
• Skill Gate Characters: Their complete aversion to gimmicks aside from "units are expensive but very strong" makes them a very easy civilization variant to understand and learn.

Mongols

Aggression, Cavalry, Nomadic
Start with a packed Ger, -50 Wood
Start with maximum population limit and no need for Houses
Plunder +25 Food and Gold from igniting enemy buildings
All buildings can be packed up and redeployed to a new location
Early Horsemen in the Dark Age
Double produce units or research advanced versions of technologies using Stone from buildings within the influence of an Ovoo
Gain +10% Food, Wood, Gold, and Stone from trade routes with more Traders
Outposts increase move speed of nearby cavalry and Traders by +15%.
Transport Ships have +50% health and move +15% faster
Unique Units: Mangudai^note horse archer that excels at hit-and-run tactics, Khan^note unique fast heavy cavalry that can fire Signal Arrows to provide temporary buffs to nearby units. The Khan will respawn at your Town Center 120 seconds after dying, Kheshik^note Lancer available in the feudal age that restores health on successful attacks, Traction Trebuchet^note a cheaper and less powerful but faster version of the normal Counterweight Trebuchet, Hui Hui Pao ^note massive Trebuchet built by the Khaganate Palace with increased damage and range
Unique Buildings: Ger^note combined drop-off site for all resources, Ovoo^note  must be built over over Stone Outcropping to harvest Stone over time and allows other buildings in its influence to have double production or improved technologies, Pasture^note Mill replacement that produces sheep
Landmarks: Deer Stones^note provides the Yam speed aura when set up and unlocks the Yam Network technology when built/Silver Tree^note acts as a Market that can produce Traders faster and for a reduced Gold cost, Kurultai^note increases the damage of all nearby units, and applies an additional healing buff when a Khan is nearby/Steppe Redoubt^note acts as a Ger and increases the quantity of Gold dropped off at it, White Stupa^note acts as an Ovoo and produces additional Stone per minute without a Stone Outcropping/Khaganate Palace^note spawns a random batch of units periodically. These units are taken from the rosters of the Chinese and Rus civilizations, and also includes the chance of creating the unique Hui Hui Pao, with the production time depending on the type of units
Wonder: Monument of the Great Khan

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• A Commander Is You:
  • Guerrilla: They excel at hit-and-run military strategies. Their buildings are able to pack up and move, allowing them to follow their armies along the march.
  • Spammer: They are able to field vast hordes of cavalry due to them always having the maximum population without the need for houses as well as having increased production when near the Ovoo.
  • Ranger: They not only have access to the best ranged cavalry in the game, they also have early access to melee cavalry.
• Aggressive Play Incentive: The Mongols' penchant for cavalry, hit-and-run tactics and nomadic structures, as well as a noticeable lack of static defenses, encourage them to be constantly on the move against opponents.
• Anachronism Stew: Their Wonder is the Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue in Mongolia, which was only constructed in 2008.
• Base on Wheels: Befitting their nomadic nature, the Mongols can pack up and move most of their buildings.
• Born in the Saddle: The Mongols predominantly rely on cavalry units and their buildings can be packed up and moved around.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Owing to their nomadic lifestyle and cavalry focus, they have a noticeable weakness when forced to fight more static battles, especially with their lack of defensive options.
• Gender Is No Object: All their military units can be male or female without influencing their performance, reflecting the Mongols' nomadic lifestyle and penchant of having everyone pitch in to fight.
• Horse Archer: The Mongols have the Mangudai, and the Khan, a unit with the ability to fire a Signal Arrow, which strengthens and supports the Mongol army.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Due to their nomadic nature, the Mongols are the only faction that can pack up and move most of their buildings, allowing them to be as mobile as their armies. Instead of Farms, they build Pastures as their food source, which produces sheep at regular intervals. They cannot construct walls or defensive buildings of any kind, with the exception of outposts. This forces them to be aggressive or constantly on the move.
• Mercenary Units: The Khaganate Palace periodically gives you a random set of units, with most of the options notably coming from the unique unit lists of the Rus and Chinese: 5 Palace Guards, 5 Horse Archers, 4 Mangudais, 3 Rus Knights, 2 Warrior Monks, 1 Nest of Bees, or the Hui Hui Pao.
• Rape, Pillage, and Burn: The Mongols gain additional Food and Gold from plundering enemy buildings.

Hui Hui Pao

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• BFG: The Hui Hui Pao is a gigantic trebuchet that they can acquire via the Khaganate Palace, making up for their usual Traction Trebuchet being a lot smaller in comparison. It is inspired by the Battle of Xiangyang, which saw Muslim engineers construct massive counterweight trebuchets for the Mongol Empire's army, which contemporary sources credit with helping them win the battle, with Chinese scholars dubbing them the 'Hui Hui Pao' ('Muslim Trebuchet') in the process.

Khan

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• Hero Unit: The Khan is a mounted archer unit that excels at scouting and has several support abilities. Only one Khan can exist at a time, and after dying will eventually respawn at your main Town Center.
• Warrior Prince: The Khan, a unit built for supporting hit and run tactics and can use Signal Arrows to give nearby units a buff.

Rus

Expansion, Cavalry, Hunting
Generate Gold and increase Bounty level when killing animals
Higher Bounty level provides additional Food income from all sources
Early Knight available in the Feudal Age
Stronger Palisades with twice as much health
Villagers drop off +20% Wood when Lumber Camps and Town Centers are within a Wooden Fortress's influence
Fishing Boats do not have to return to a Dock to drop off Food
Unique Units: Warrior Monk^note mounted Monk with stronger combat capabilities and which can enhance nearby units, Streltsy^note Hand Cannoneer with a stronger melee attack and faster reload when not moving, Horse Archer^note mounted archer unit with a longer range but slower rate of fire compared to equivalent units, Lodya^note an umbrella term for their naval units, who carry the ability to convert themselves into any other naval unit, Militia^note Spearman with a lifespan of 80 seconds, created in batches of 6 by the Kremlin landmark
Unique Buildings: Hunting Cabin^note Mill that can produce Scouts and generate Gold from nearby forests, Wooden Fortress^note Outpost with additional health and garrison slots
Landmarks: Kremlin^note acts as a Wooden Fortress that comes with Arrowslits, Castle Turret, and Castle Watch technologies, and allows Militia to be produced at the Landmark Town Center/The Golden Gate ^note allows the exchange of resources at a favorable rate and generates an additional exchange every minute, High Trade House^note generates gold like a Hunting Cabin at quadruple the rate, spawns Deer every minute, and acts as a drop-off point for Food/Abbey of the Trinity^note acts as a Monastery that produces Warrior Monks at half the cost and contains unique religious technologies, Spasskaya Tower^note acts as a Keep with all weapon emplacements already in place and with increased health/High Armory^note decreases the cost of siege engines in nearby Siege Workshops and contains unique siege technologies
Wonder: Cathedral of the Tzar

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• Anachronism Stew: The Rus' flag is that of the modern City of Moscow, which was designed in 1995. That said, the image of the "yezdets" (a horseman or more specifically Saint George) killing a dragon has been a recurring heraldic motif throughout Russian history.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Ranger: The Rus primarily rely on their cavalry, having early Knights, Horse Archers, and Warrior Monks.
  • Economist: Their economy places great emphasis on hunting and the wilderness, with the Rus gaining further economic boons based on hunting bounties.
• Geo Effects: The Rus reap key economic benefits from their surroundings. For example, their Hunting Cabins generate additional Gold when near forest.
• Home Field Advantage: The Rus' bonuses and penchant for Wood incentivize utilizing the forests around their bases and settlements to their advantage, especially in terms of defense.
• Horny Vikings: Their Lodya naval vessels strongly resemble Viking longships, referencing the Norse-descended Rurikids who first united the Rus.
• Instant Militia: The Militia can act as a quick deployable line of defence against rushes and cavalry raids.
• Improvised Weapon: The Rus can turn their Springald Ships into makeshift Warships through the "Mounted Guns" tech.
• Logical Weakness: Their lack of Stone defenses mean that the Rus are more vulnerable to fire and otherwise forced to be more careful with securing vital strongpoints on a map. Their greater reliance on Wood also makes their bonuses more situational than other civs, particularly when they're on terrain that lacks significant forest.
• Mechanically Unusual Class: Due to their ability to gain gold and bonuses via hunting, Rus is by far the most active civilization in the Dark Age, having to go out and kill every animal they see as soon as the match begins. In turn, this forces their opponent to also go out and kill every animal they see first to deny the Rus of them. Essentially, the presence of the Rus always turns Age 1, which is supposed to be the slow buildup phase of the game, into an active race for who can kill more animals on both sides. Depending on the matchup, this can utterly wreck the opponents' build order, as they now have to fit in additional scouts for the sole purpose of stifling the Rus' growth.
• Mythology Gag: The Kremlin's Levy Militia mechanic is similar to the Militiamen mechanic from Age of Empires III.
• Nature Hero: Their playstyle puts much emphasis on their mastery of the untamed wilderness. Instead of Mills, they have Hunting Cabins which generate additional Gold from nearby forests and can produce Scouts that can hunt animals. The Russians also gain additional Gold from hunting animals via their Bounty system and have additional Food income from all sources. The Bounty system further encourages them to rely on hunting as their main source of income, for as it increases, Food and Gold income (the latter from Hunting Cabins) increases. This is also reflected in the fact that rather than build Stone defenses, they instead have more powerful Wooden defenses.
• Proud Hunter Race: The Rus have a strong preference towards hunting, with Scouts able to gain additional Gold from hunting via the Bounty system.
• Swap Fighter: Their Lodya naval units can transform into any other naval unit at any time for a small resource cost, which makes them remarkably flexible on the water.

Horse Archer

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• Hit-and-Run Tactics: Horse Archers are not meant to stand and shoot. Players need to ensure they stay out of the reach of slower units, which, if done correctly, means melee units will never get close to them.
• Horse Archer: The Rus are one of a handful of civilizations with access to mounted archers.

Streltsy

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• The Musketeer: The Streltsy, which replaces the Handcannoneer, carries both a musket for ranged combat and a poleaxe for melee attacks (and as a rest for their musket). A Streltsy reloads faster when they remain in one place.
• Mythology Gag: Streltsy become available in the late-game, roughly paralleling how the Strelet counterparts in Age of Empires III become recruitable from the onset.

Warrior Monk

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• Church Militant: Unlike other religious units, the Warrior Monk can fight enemies directly from horseback, and buffs nearby friendly units when doing so.
• Combat Medic: The Warrior Monk can both heal allied units and fight on the front lines.
• Enemy Exchange Program: When carrying a Relic, they can activate an ability that converts an entire army within an area of effect.
• Mook Commander: Their Saint's Blessing ability increases the attack and armor of all friendly units in range whenever the Warrior Monk attacks.
• Mook Medic: Warrior Monks can heal friendly units.

Introduced in the 25th. Anniversary update

Malians

Gold Economy, Infantry, Cattle
Veteran unit technologies are 50% cheaper
Houses construct twice as fast, are half the cost and support half the Population
Gold collected from completed Trader routes lower the research time of future technologies
Can produce Cattle at Mills
Movement speed of all ships are increased near Docks
Transport Ships attack with Javelins for each garrisoned unit
Cannot gather from Boar
Unique Units: Donso^note Spearman with a secondary ranged attack, Musofadi Warrior^note Man-at-Arms replacement, fast but fragile infantry that deal bonus anti-armor damage and are capable of Stealth, Javelin Thrower^note Crossbowman replacement that deals bonus damage to ranged units, Warrior Scout^note Veteran unit upgrade for the Scout that gives them the combat strength of the Horseman, Sofa^note fragile but cheap Knights, Musofaldi Gunner^note Handcannoneer substitute who is Stealth-capable
Unique Buildings: Deep Pit Mine^note must be built over Gold Deposits, passively generates Gold without depleting its source, and can increase its generation rate by building Houses and Mining Camps within its Influence, Cattle Ranch^note garrison Cattle to passively produce Food, Toll Outpost^note Outpost that generates Gold tax when a Trader or Trade Ship carrying Gold passes by
Landmarks: Saharan Trade Network^note acts as a Toll Outpost that comes with Arrowslits, generates Food equal to the Gold taxed from passing Traders and Trade Ships, and allows other Toll Outposts to generate Food equal to 50% of their own Gold tax revenues/Mansa Quarry^note passively generates either Gold or Stone, with the player being able to toggle between the two, Grand Fulani Corral^note nearby Cattle passively generate Food, including those garrisoned in Cattle Ranches/Farimba Garrison^note produces infantry units in batches of 5, with their Food cost converted to Gold and given a 10% discount, Fort of the Huntress^note acts as a Keep, grants nearby infantry units Stealth for 30 seconds, and gives Musofadi units First Strike which increases their damage on attacks that break Stealth/Griot Bara^note spend Gold on Festivals, which grant a temporary buff to either Food gather rate, military unit production speed, or siege and torch damage
Wonder: Great Mosque

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• A Commander Is You:
  • Guerrilla: On the unit side they tend towards fast and hard-hitting but fragile, with enhanced stealth abilities, a lack of heavy infantry, and other unique upgrades that push them towards a hit and run playstyle.
  • Economist: They have many bonuses towards both acquiring Gold and spending it. Their unit lineup and abilities encourage you to build fast and big to offset their relative lack of durability, taking advantage of their ease of generating Gold and Food.
• Amazon Brigade: The Musofadi units are all-female.
• City of Gold: The real world Mali Empire was legendarily opulent thanks to being a hub of African trade that sat on a bunch of gold deposits for good measure. This is reflected in-game by their unique buildings giving them an easy time acquiring Gold via mining and trade, and also by them having plenty of options with how to spend it. The Malians' love of gold is also represented by their buildings, most of which feature small gold ornaments or luxuries around them.
• Difficult, but Awesome: Due to their unconventional unit roster and lack of heavy melee options, the Malians are tricky for newcomers to learn. Their unpredictability and eccentric playstyle, however, can be powerful in the hands of expert players.
• Fragile Speedster: The general profile of their unique units are that they are fast and hit hard, but need to be careful if they are to survive counterattacks.
• Mechanically Unusual Class: Their unit lineup is extremely unconventional, lacking any heavy infantry and often giving them unconventional counters. The Musofadi Warrior is a nimble Glass Cannon anti-armor unit, effectively the complete opposite of the standard Man-at-Arms. Meanwhile, the Javelin Thrower swaps the Crossbowman's own anti-armor strength for anti-ranged damage. They lack the Horseman, instead having the ability to upgrade the Scout to the Warrior Scout as a way of filling that role.
• Mythology Gag: The Cattle Ranch is similar to the Gurjara's ability to garrison livestock in their Mills in Age of Empires II: Dynasties of India. If you consider it an honorary Age of Empires game, then the Animal Nursery in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds also had this ability.
• Necessary Drawback: Their "veterancy upgrades have a 50% discount" bonus is essentially there to offset the fact that a faction built around Fragile Speedsters risks falling behind in the late game. This bonus aims to help the Malians keep their units upgraded and competitive.
• Proud Merchant Race: The Malians excel in finding various means of earning Gold, be it through trade or economic bonuses.
• Stealth Expert: The Musofadi units have the ability to temporarily stealth even outside of stealth forests, letting them get the jump on units.
• Veganopia: As an Islamic state, they cannot gather from Boar. As a trade-off, they gather from Berry Bushes faster.

Donso

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• Anti-Cavalry: They wield large polearms that inflict bonus damage to cavalry and can brace their spears to stop any cavalry charges.
• Javelin Thrower: If an enemy is not already adjacent to them, the Donso will throw a javelin before engaging in melee combat. The javelin still deals bonus damage to cavalry and renders the Donso more effective against ranged cavalry than the Spearman is.

Sofa

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• Jack of All Stats: The Sofa is technically classified as heavy cavalry (like the Knight/Lancer), but is also unoffically called a 'medium' cavalry unit, between the Knight/Lancer and the Horseman (light cavalry). Compared to the Knight/Lancer, the Sofa is weaker in combat, but also cheaper and faster.
• Mook Commander: With Farima Leadership researched, friendly infantry near a Sofa move 15% faster.

Ottomans

Imperial Council, Military Schools, Siege
Start with +50 Stone and +50 Wood
Military and technology buildings are 33% cheaper
Training units and advancing in age creates Vizier Points, which can be spent to earn bonus units and tech
Influence from Blacksmiths and Universities provide extra military unit production speeds after each age up (+20%/+30%/+40%)
Trade and Transport Ships move 10% faster
Cannot gather from Boar
Unique Units: Mehter^note cavalry war drummer that enhances the attack and defence of nearby units, Sipahi^note Horseman with a long attack range and an ability to improve damage at the expense of increased vulnerability to melee attacks, Janissary^note Handcannoneer that deals bonus damage against cavalry and can repair siege units, Great Bombard^note expensive but extremely powerful siege weapon, Grand Galley^note Galley with the ability to transform into a Military School
Unique Buildings: Military School^note passively produces a chosen infantry or cavalry unit for free, but at a slower rate than normal
Landmarks: Twin Minaret Medrese^note acts as a Mill, spawns 4 Berry Bushes nearby that are harvested 50% faster and will respawn 120 seconds after being depleted/Sultanhani Trade Network^note acts as a Market, can garrison Traders to passively generate Gold, and spawns 3 Traders upon completion, Istanbul Imperial Palace^note doubles the rate that nearby buildings produce Vizier Points, and raises the Vizier Point limit by +2/Mehmed Imperial Armory^note produces siege units for free, but at a slower rate than normal, Istanbul Observatory^note acts as a University, increases the influence buffs from Blacksmiths and Universities by +100%/Sea Gate Castle^note acts as a Keep, all Keeps improve nearby Trader and Trade Ship movement speeds by +30% and their defence by +8
Wonder: Azure Mosque

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• Anachronism Stew: The eight-pointed star on their flag was an invention of a 1793 decree that standardised the flag of the Ottoman Empire; before then their flags lacked a star.
• Born in the Saddle: While not to the same degree as the Mongols, the Ottomans have access to strong light cavalry, reflecting their historical origins as pastoral nomads.
• Experience Points: Their Vizier Points system, where they earn points for aging up and training units, and spend them on Imperial Council members with unique bonuses. There are nine Imperial Council options spread across three tiers, with you needing to earn at least one tech from one tier to unlock the next. Under normal circumstances you can only earn up to five Vizier Points, so a bit of planning of what kind of bonuses you want is necessary.
• Going Native: Their buildings eventually incorporate Byzantine influences by the late-game, which historically mirrors the Ottoman Empire's consolidation by the time it reached the gates of Constantinople.
• Magikarp Power: The Vizier Points and Imperial Council system, which provide unique bonuses and Experience Points, are of little benefit in the early-game. Given enough time, however, these can give the Ottomans the upper hand in battle with production bonuses, large contingents of Janissaries and the largest gunpowder siege weapons available.
• Mook Maker:
  • An Ottoman Military School slowly produces units for free, which significantly alters how you organise your unit construction.
  • Blacksmiths boost military production buildings within range, allowing the Ottomans to produce military units much faster than other civilizations.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The Military School's passive unit generation previously appeared in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties as the ability of the Japanese Dojo.
  • The Vizier Points and Imperial Council system, in which they earn Experience Points to spend on technologies and one-time bulk production of units, is essentially a simplified version of the Age of Empires III Home Shipment system.
• Veganopia: As an Islamic state, the Ottomans cannot gather from Boar. As a trade-off, they gather from Berry Bushes faster.

Grand Galley

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• Mook Maker: Grand Galleys can be converted into floating Military Schools that slowly produce units for free, which are garrisoned onboard, while still capable of serving as heavily armed Transport Ships.
• Mythology Gag: The Grand Galley looks and functions almost identically like its Galley incarnation from Age of Empires III.

Great Bombard

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• BFG: The Ottomans’ Great Bombard is expensive to build but can effectively level structures and units alike.

Janissary

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• Elite Mooks: While available as early as the Castle Age, they are also among the most expensive troops available to the Ottomans.
• Glass Cannon: Compared to their incarnation in Age of Empires III, Janissaries have no melee capabilities, while their light armor makes them more vulnerable to ranged enemies. They are, however, very effective as ranged Anti-Cavalry and can still whittle down melee units with their muskets.

Mehter

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• Drums of War: The Mehter is a unique Ottoman cavalry unit that serves as a war drummer, enhancing the attack and defence of any nearby units.
• Support Party Member: While having no offensive capabilities, the Mehter is valuable for Ottoman armies, thanks to it buffs to friendly units.

Introduced in The Sultans Ascend

Byzantines

City Planning, Mercenaries, Defense
Has a fifth resource, Olive Oil, which can be spent to purchase mercenaries. Olive Groves, Fishing and Berry Bushes provide Olive Oil.
Traders provide Olive Oil on successful trades.
Collect bonus Stone for every building constructed.
Mangonel Emplacement replaces the Springald Emplacement on Outposts and Keeps, while Stone Wall Towers are automatically equipped with a Mangonel.
Transport Ships temporarily increase the movement speed of units after unloading.
Unique Units: Limitanei^note Spearman with a shield wall ability to dramatically improve defence at the expense of movement and attack speed, Varangian Guard^note Man-at-Arms with a "Berserker" ability to trade armor for damage, Cataphract^note powerful but expensive Knight with a "Trample" ability to damage enemies during a charge, Cheirosiphon^note Battering Ram that attacks via Greek Fire, Dromon^note Ship that attacks with Greek Fire that can linger on the water
Unique Buildings: Olive Grove^note Farm replacement that produces Olive Oil alongside Food, Cistern^note building that improves the water level of connected Aqueducts, Aqueduct^note provides bonuses to nearby buildings and Villagers based on its water level, Mercenary House^note production building for Mercenaries, units produced are determined by the Mercenary Contract chosen. Constructing the Mercenary House next to a Trade Post will decrease training time by -50%, and unlocks an additional two units selected at random.
Landmarks: Grand Winery^note acts as a Mill and a Monastery, serves as a drop-off point for food and improves the gather rate of Olive Oil for nearby Villagers/Imperial Hippodrome^note acts as a Stable, contains the "Triumph" ability to temporarily buff the move speed, damage and health regeneration of cavalry, Golden Horn Tower^note slowly produces random Mercenary units for free/Cistern of the First Hill^note acts as a Cistern, passively produces "Pilgrim's Flasks" which can be spent by individual non-siege units for a large health regeneration effect, Foreign Engineering Company^note grants access to siege units from other civilizations as Mercenaries; choice of the Chinese Nest of Bees, Mongol Hui Hui Pao, and French Great Bombard/Palatine School^note has a 30% chance to produce a Byzantine unique unit for free every time that unit is produced elsewhere
Wonder: Cathedral of Divine Wisdom

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• All Your Powers Combined: Thanks to the mercenary system, the Byzantines can recruit certain unique units from other factions as mercenaries.
• Anachronism Stew: Downplayed. The crest of the Palaiologos Dynasty tends to pop up in shields even in the eras before they chronologically came to prominence.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: The Dromon, a unique Springald Ship equivalent that utilizes Greek Fire, is an old Roman design that historically continued to see service with the Byzantines long after Rome fell. This is especially noticeable in the Imperial Age, as this ancient ship that wouldn't look out of place in AoE1 has to fight alongside renaissance carracks.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Industrial: The Byzantines have access to cisterns, which massively boost the gather rate and military production of any worker or building in their vicinity. While this bonus can take a while to get going, the Byzantines can churn out units like there's no tomorrow once they do. Further bolstering this are their Landmarks, which produce free mercenaries unit in the case of the Golden Horn Tower or extra copies of other units in the case of the Palatine School.
  • Science: The aforementioned cisterns also boost the research speed of their technologies, allowing the Byzantines to rapidly outtech their foes or play catchup if behind.
  • Elitist: Byzantine unique units tend to cost a fair bit more than the base units of other civs, which they make up for with greater stats. This is not always a straight upgrade, however. Only the Limitanei and Cataphracts are straight-up better than their base counterparts, while the Varangians have to trade some health for greater damage. The Cheirosiphon is situationally better than the base ram depending on whether they are garrisoned by Varangians or not. Furthermore, the Byzantine army roster is supplemented by mercenaries, who can get rid of any glaring hole in their base roster at the cost of being difficult to mass since they cost a lot in Olives and take a while to come out.
• Difficult, but Awesome: The Byzantines' bonuses and unique mechanics are tricky for newcomers, requiring careful planning to use well. Once mastered, however, these allow them to become both very versatile and near-impregnable in terms of defense.
• Going Native: Compared to their Classical Roman predecessors, the Byzantines speak some variation of Greek rather than Latin. Many of their unique units and upgrades also have Greek names.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: In addition to the Cheirosiphon, their Counterweight Trebuchets and Dromons are also capable of delivering payloads of Greek Fire.
• Healing Potion: By building the Cistern of the First Hill landmark, the Byzantines are able to heal their units in battle by drinking from the Pilgrim Flasks.
• The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: Thanks to their Instant Militia ability, Byzantine villagers can turn the table on raiding horsemen and take them down with spears.
• Informed Attribute:
  • For a faction that is described by the game as defense-focused, the Byzantines are arguably one of the least defensive factions. The problem comes from the fact that their strongest defensive bonuses, like the cistern's Praesidium influence and mangonel emplacements, only come to play in the late game and after heavy stone investments. Early on, not only do the Byzantines not have any significant defensive bonuses, they are also among the few civs to not have any military landmarks that can act as a keep, leaving them unable to obtain a defensive strongpoint by ageing up like many other factions. Even when the Byzantines do gain access to stone defense in Age 3, their reliance on stone to build cisterns in earlier ages often leaves them slightly strapped for it, making them unable to get their defenses up as quickly as others. By contrast, civs like the Rus, Chinese and English all have access to powerful defensive landmarks on top of not needing stone to boost their gather rate, allowing them to afford a much more extensive and earlier defense.
  • Furthermore, it's perfectly viable, if even recommended, to play the Byzantines as an aggressive faction; one of their Age I landmarks is the Hippodrome, which allows for the recruitment and buffing of horsemen as soon as the new age begins. Along with this, the Byzantines have two powerful technologies, Expilatores^note gives increased damage against villagers and make them drop gold for horsemen and Trapezites^note make any unit near a scout do more torch damage to buildings, which turn horsemen into peasant killing machines that can also quickly destroy buildings. If the enemy's base defense proves too much, the Byzantines can in turn send in the Limitanei, whose ranged resistance allow them to just tank the Town Center's arrows while they burn it to the ground. Such early aggression will give the Byzantines enough breathing room to grow into the powerhouse they are in the late-game.
• Instant Militia: Byzantine Villagers within proximity of a Cistern are capable of "Akritoi Defense", giving them a stronger spear attack and extra armor for 30 seconds, reflecting the historic role of non-professional militia in defending the frontier.
• Magikarp Power: The Byzantines' penchant for defenses, infrastructure and mercenaries aren't immediately obvious early on, especially given their greater reliance on Stone and Olive Oil leaving them potentially vulnerable. By the late-game, however, they can become a highly-entrenched force to be reckoned with, complete with a near-inexhaustible supply of mercenaries if allowed to stock up.
• Master of All: Survive to the late game, and the Byzantines will bloom into this. They get a whopping 26% bonus to every resource's gather rate, giving them an endless stream of resource to spam units from. Their production buildings have a 100% bonus to unit production, ensuring that they can train new men faster than the opponent can kill them. Their castles get a 25% damage reduction thanks to cisterns, and their towers come with mangonels to deal massive damage to blobs, making them extremely hard to assault once they get their defense up. Their military can counter virtually anything their enemy can come up with, thanks to the mercenary system giving them special counters to everything. They have access to all of the best artillery in the game (minus the great bombard) thanks to Foreign Engineering Company, giving them access to both the anti-building Royal Cannon and the good anti-infantry Nest of Bees. Anything the opponent is good at, the Byzantines are never far behind. The only problem is surviving until that point.
• Mercenary Units: Their central military gimmick is the ability to recruit units from other civilizations at the Mercenary House, spending a unique resource in Olive Oil to do so. The Mercenary House can have one contract active at a time, with a choice of Western (Longbowmen, Landsknecht and Streltsy), Eastern (Keshik, Ghulam and Tower Elephant) or Silk Road (Javelin Thrower, Camel Rider and Grenadier). When built near a Trade Post, it also grants access to a selection of random units available at that particular area.
• Mighty Glacier: The Byzantines are heavily geared towards defense, which is reflected in a strong emphasis on defensive mechanics and techs such as shield walls.
• Multinational Team: Thanks to the mercenary system, the Byzantines have the most culturally-diverse roster seen in the game, allowing for such weird combinations as French knights, Indian elephants and Chinese cannoneers fighting side by side.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The Byzantines can deploy powerful, heavily armored Cataphracts to crush their foes, functionally near-identically to their earlier incarnation in Age of Empires II. The Varangian Guard's standard equipment is likewise nearly identical to what the Viking Berzerk used in the same game.
  • Many of the voice lines, spoken in evolving dialects of Greek, hearken back to the Greeks of Age of Mythology.
  • The ability to deploy varied units unique to Trade Posts after building a Mercenary House close-by calls to mind how Native units are recruited in Age of Empires III.
• The Remnant: Formally known as the Eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantines have direct continuity to both Ancient Rome and the Hellenistic world. In-game, this is reflected in not only the units (with Dark Age units resembling Late Antiquity Romans) and architecture (including access to Aqueducts), but also in their mechanics.
• Zerg Rush: A viable tactic for them in the late game. Thanks to Byzantine villagers having a 26% bonus to gather rate and barracks a 100% bonus (on top of the blacksmith's 33% bonus) to training rate, late-game Byzantines can simply drown the enemy in an endless sea of cheap Limitanei or archers. This is doubly true if one picks the Palantine School as their Age IV landmark, which grants a 30% chance to create a free unit for every unit created in barracks.

Cataphract

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• Bling of War: On top of being heavily armored alongside their horses, Cataphracts acquire more ornate attire by the Imperial Age, complete with imposing face masks and Hellenistic cloaks.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: The Trample ability lets Cataphracts plow straight through the enemy line, allowing them to reach the enemy backline and attack their siege or ranged units. A spearwall can stop this, but a big enough Cataphract charge can plow through that anyway.
• Herd-Hitting Attack: Rather than charging individual targets like normal knights, Cataphracts can charge through an entire blob, dealing minor damage to anyone caught in the path. This may not be much individually, but 50 Cataphracts simultaneously charging through a herd will deal at least 500 damage to everyone in it, enough to kill anything short of an elephant many times over.
• Mighty Glacier: They are stronger and tankier than regular knights, but this comes at the cost of them being much slower.
• Master of All: While more expensive (and slower) than standard Knights and Lancers, Cataphracts are also much more durable and more resistant towards Anti-Cavalry units.
• Trampled Underfoot: Cataphracts have a trample ability, which allows them to deal area damage to nearby units while taking more damage in return.

Cheirosiphon

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• Awesome Personnel Carrier: Though it's mostly meant for destroying buildings, you can also use it as an effective transport of Varangian Guards. Thanks to the Byzantines' unique bonus, doing so increases the Cheirosiphon's armor by one with each Guard inside, making it incredibly effective at bringing the Varangian Guards close to the enemy unscathed. As for the awesome part, it's basically a medieval APC with flamethrower.
• Clown Car: Much like the regular ram, the tiny Cheirosiphon can carry 16 soldiers within it.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: The Cheirosiphon is equipped with Greek Fire, which sets buildings and the ground on fire, dealing damage to enemies that step on it.
• Morton's Fork: Once a Varrangian-garrisoned Cheirosiphon is coming at you, you're going to be at a net loss no matter what. If you don't destroy the Cheirosiphon, it burns down your buildings. If you destroy the Cheirosiphon, 16 full-health Varrangian Guards come out and start attacking you, having gotten there fully shielded from all attacks.

Limitanei

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• Anachronism Stew: The Byzantines' Limitanei spearmen are named after the Roman frontier troops of Late Antiquity rather than the Medieval period, though they visually and functionally resemble the Skutatoi they were supplanted by historically, especially after getting the Teardrop Shields upgrade.
• Cannon Fodder: Thanks to their relatively low cost, quick training time and durability against ranged attacks, Limitanei are meatshields par excellence. On their own, Limitanei will die in droves to virtually any melee infantry due to Shield Wall crippling their damage output. When used as disposable speed bumps to hold the enemy in place, however, Limitanei will quickly prove their worth buying time for your ranged and siege units to blast the enemy into pieces.
• Double-Edged Buff: While their shieldwall ability is on, they gain ranged resistance at the cost of a slower movement and attack speed.
• Odd Name Out: They are the only Byzantine unit with a Latin name, whereas everyone else either has a Greek name or the English translation of a Greek name (though to be fair, several of the Greek names, like Dromon and Cataphract, were also used by the Classical Romans).
• Stance System: Limitanei can form Roman legionary-style shield walls for extra protection and durability at the expense of unit speed and attack speed.

Varangian Guard

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• Cadre of Foreign Bodyguards: The Varangian Guard take after their real-life counterparts and serve as Nordic soldiers for the Byzantines. They can use their Berserking ability to trade armor for an increase in damage dealt, as well as construct transport ships when near a body of water.
• Double-Edged Buff: When Berserking, the Varangian Guard temporarily gains attack bonuses at the expense of armor.
• Glass Cannon: Varangians have reduced hitpoint compared to regular men-at-arms. In return, they have slightly better damage and higher attack speed. Their status as this can be bolstered further with the Berserking ability, which temporary makes them even squishier in exchange for a higher movement speed and damage.
• National Weapon: The Varangian Guard are equipped with longswords and round Nordic-style shields, echoing their Scandinavian origins. They can also use powerful two-handed battle axes when Berserking.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: They're basically Roman Vikings, being Norse adventurers armed and employed by the Eastern Roman Empire as full-time soldiers. To reflect their Norse heritage, all Varangians can build transport ships.

Japanese

Agriculture, Bannermen, Infantry
Town Centers can be upgraded into the Daimyo Manor and the Shogunate Castle to improve defenses, the harvest rates of nearby Farms, and the production cap of Samurai Bannermen.
Gold deposited by Villagers provides bonus Stone and vice versa.
Fishing Boats are cheaper to produce.
Unique Units: Samurai^note Man-at-Arms that possesses Deflective Armor that can periodically block ranged or melee attacks, Yumi Ashigaru^note a fast and cheap Archer, Mounted Samurai^note Lancer replacement with Deflective Armor, Onna-musha^note mounted archer unit that serves as a Crossbowman replacement, dealing bonus damage to heavy armor, Onna-Bugeisha^note light melee infantry with a long range but poor anti-armor damage, Shinobi^note produced by the Koka Township, can disguise themselves as Villagers and sabotage enemy buildings, and are equipped with a Smoke Bomb ability for short-distance teleportation, Ozutsu^note gunpowder unit produced at the Tanegashima Gunsmith featuring an attack with splash damage, Shinto Priest^note religious unit produced by the Floating Gate, Buddhist Monk^note religious unit produced by the Temple of Equality, reduces opponent's damage output and improves allied unit damage when using Conversion, Treasure Caravan^note trade unit produced by the Castle of the Crow capable of crossing both land and water, Samurai Bannermen^note a category of unit with a unique population limit that covers infantry (Katana Bannermen), cavalry (Uma Bannerman) and ranged (Yumi Bannermen). Each type of Samurai Bannermen buffs nearby units of the same type, and continues to provide buffs for 30 seconds after the Bannermen's death.
Unique Buildings: Farmhouse^note acts as both a Mill and a House, Forge^note acts as both a Mining Camp and a Blacksmith, Castle^note Keeps that come equipped with rocket emplacements, Daimyo Manor^note Town Center upgrade that produces Bannermen and improves the productivity of nearby Farms, Shogunate Castle^note Daimyo Manor upgrade that gives the buildings the traits of a Castle
Landmarks: Koka Township^note production building for Shinobi/Kura Storehouse^note acts as a drop-off point for all resources, and generates free Farms in its surroundings, Floating Gate^note religious building containing unique technologies that trains Shinto Priests, produces a Yorishiro artifact every four minutes, which can be placed in buildings to improve their production and strength/Temple of Equality^note religious building containing unique technologies that trains Buddhist Monks, Castle of the Crow^note Keep that produces the Treasure Caravan/Tanegashima Gunsmith^note produces a variety of gunpowder units, including the Ozutsu
Wonder: Tokugawa Shrine

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• Amazon Brigade: The Onna-Musha represent women who were considered to hold a warrior status. Likewise, the Onna-Bugeisha represent women who wielded naginatas into battle to defend their homes.
• Every Japanese Sword is a Katana: Actually a very noteworthy aversion. Only one unit, the Katana Bannerman, uses a Katana. The Samurai by default use naginatas, and later upgrade to use an ōdachi.
• Everything's Better with Samurai: Their Samurai serve as both their Man-at-Arms equivalent as heavy infantry and Knight equivalent as heavy cavalry, while their Bannermen units provide bonuses to nearby military units.
• Fatal Fireworks: Japanese Castles come equipped with primitive rocket emplacements that can harm incoming enemies from afar.
• Fragile Speedster: The Onna-Bugeisha are barely armored and thus can't take much punishment. They compensate for this, however, by being faster than most infantry and having longer-ranged melee attacks through their naginatas.
• Hand Cannon: Ozutsu, accessed through the Tanegashima Gunsmith, are a heavy gunpowder infantry unit equipped with a literal hand cannon much larger than what generic Handcannoneers and other unique civilization equivalents use. This also allows them to double as siege artillery in a pinch.
• Naginatas Are Feminine: The Onna-Bugeisha are warrior women who wield naginatas into battle.
• No-Sell: Each of the Samurai units (the Samurai, Mounted Samurai and Samurai Bannermen) come with the Deflective Armor passive ability, which can completely block a single attack before needing to recharge when not in battle.
• Mutually Exclusive Party Members: Depending on what Castle Age Landmark is built, the Japanese can train either Shinto Priests or Buddhist Monks with different bonuses and techs.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The Samurai's Deflective Armor ability is very similar to the ability of the Gurjara's Shrivamsha Rider in Age of Empires II.
  • By the Imperial Age, both the Japanese Spearman and Handcannon Ashigaru resemble a fully-upgraded Ashigaru Musketeer from Age of Empires III.
  • Japanese Town Centers can be upgraded into Daimyo Manors, Daimyo Palaces, and Shogunate Castles in a manner not too dissimilar to both the Fortified Town Centers in Age of Mythology, and Asian Castles in Age of Empires III.
• Skill Gate Characters: With their more streamlined resource-gathering and relatively straightforward emphasis on infantry, the Japanese are both easy for newcomers to grasp, and tricky for experts to master.

Atakebune

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• Fatal Fireworks: In addition to having similar firepower to generic Warships, Atakebune vessels also come equipped with rockets for long-ranged attacks.
• Wooden Ships and Iron Men: The Atakebune is a massive, imposing naval unit more akin to a floating castle than anything else.

Onna-Musha

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• Horse Archer: The Onna-Musha are lady warriors who fight on horseback with bows and replace the Crossbowman for the Japanese.

Samurai Bannermen

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• Bling of War: Samural Bannermen, who come in Katana, Yumi and Uma (cavalry) variants, are decked in more ornate, ceremonial armor (complete with men-yoroi face masks) compared to other Samurai units.
• Elite Mooks: Bannermen units are not only all Samurai, but are also more powerful than their mundane equivalents.
• Mook Commander: Samural Bannermen all passively increase the attack of nearby melee infantry, ranged units, or cavalry, depending on which type is concerned.

Shinobi

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• Fragile Speedster: Shinobi make up for their lack of meaningful armor with both speed and stealth, while also being capable of dealing strong melee damage if forced into close-quarters combat.
• Highly-Visible Ninja: Played With. Even when not disguised as enemy villagers, Shinobi don light attire based on the work clothes of Japanese peasants. Their head coverings and dark if not outright black hues of said clothing, however, still give them away.
• Ninja: Shinobi, unlocked with the Koka Township Landmark, are unique melee infantry that can disguise themselves as enemy villagers as well as specialize in espionage and sabotage.

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