Age of Empires 4: Tier list of all races

The choice of race is crucial to the outcome of your game in Age of Empires 4. To help you decide which faction is best for your play style, read on:

  • What races there are
  • What their bonuses are
  • What special units and buildings they have

Age of Empires 4 Tier List: The eight races at a glance

Eight races are available to choose from in Age of Empires 4. That's fewer factions than in Age of Empires 2, but the differences in bonuses, special units as well as buildings are all the more noticeable. And you can expect even more races to join the battlefield in the future.

These races are available in Age of Empires 4 (S Tier stands for the strongest faction, C Tier for the weakest race):

  • S Tier: French
  • S Tier: Rus, English
  • A Tier: Mongols
  • A Tier: Abbasid Dynasty
  • B Tier: Chinese
  • B Tier: Holy Roman Empire
  • C Tier: Delhi Sultanate

The French: Mighty knights on the march

The war-torn land of the French developed over the centuries into the most influential powers in Europe. Their foundation of the French military is formed by the powerful knights and especially strong siege weapons. Thus, they break through any enemy masonry.

In addition, a large part of the French troops can receive special upgrades. A special influence system can neatly reduce the cost of units from the stables and the firing ranges. This assumes that the buildings are located near a castle.

For resource management, on the other hand, they have special traders who can get urgently needed resources in the shortest possible time. In addition, economic technologies and mills and gold mines cost less.

The French also rely a lot on their military strength when it comes to landmarks:

  • The cavalry school is available to you from the moment you enter the feudal era. Here you can train knights. Optionally, you can also build the Chamber of Commerce, which ensures that merchants bring you additional resources.
  • The Royal Institute allows you to research all unique technologies in one place. Or, when you enter the Age of Chivalry, you can choose the Guild Hall. Here you can accumulate resources that will lead to more production.
  • Thanks to the Imperial Age, the Artillery School is at your disposal. Only here you can get the especially strong gunpowder units, which cause additional damage even without chemical technologies. Alternatively, you can use the Red Palace, which does more damage thanks to arbalesten gunners.

Besides the particularly strong siege weapons, the French have some imposing ground troops at their disposal.

  • The Arbalétriers are powerful crossbowmen who stick a shield into the ground in front of them to protect them from enemy archers.
  • The Royal Knights are heavily armored horsemen who, thanks to their lances, can break through any defensive line in a rush.

The Rus: The former Russia

The Rus were once subjugated by the Mongol invaders. Therefore, this faction goes through different stages from age to age. Initially Nordic and Slavic in character, Byzantine and Mongol influences are later added.

As a particularly nature-loving faction, the Rus understand almost perfectly how to use the environment to their advantage. Among other things, they are the most effective hunters, who also get gold by killing wild animals. By having a hunting lodge (instead of the normal mill), this race gets a gold and resource bonus for each animal hunted.

However, the Rus are not tame due to their closeness to nature. Later on, the faction relies on modern technologies, such as the firebox. They can also build particularly strong wooden palisades and wooden castles very early in the game.

Initially, the Rus landmarks are focused on trade and researching new technologies:

  • With the Kremlin, you build a wooden castle with unlocked technologies. This is an extremely powerful bulwark for entering the feudal era. On the other hand, if you want to boost the economy, choose the Golden Gate. This allows the Rus to get better conditions when trading at the marketplace.
  • If you want to continue to focus on the economy, you should build the High Trading House when you enter the Knight Age. It automatically generates deer to hunt and gold. The Abbey of the Trinity, on the other hand, improves your warrior monks.
  • In the Imperial Age, thanks to the High Armory, you'll get stronger siege equipment with special upgrades. For example, trebuchets and mangonels can be upgraded and mined instantly. The Savior Tower, on the other hand, is a keep that is always fully occupied.

As mentioned before, the Rus also have an impressive selection of special units:

  • From the mounted archers, you can easily see the Mongol influence on the Rus. As the name suggests, they are archers on horseback.
  • The strikers carry a hand cannon and an axe into battle. Thus, they do high damage from a distance, but can defend themselves very well in close combat.
  • The mounted Warrior Monks can not only pick up relics like the other Spirituals, but also fight themselves and give buffs to fellow soldiers.

The English: A Bulwark Nation

If there's one thing the English have mastered throughout history, it's defending their island from enemy invaders. This specialty of the British is also evident in Age of Empires 4.

The walls and masterful archers allow the English to truly withstand any onslaught and decimate enemy armies. This ensures that villagers also carry shortbows and the village center shoots more arrows at enemy units. In addition, outposts, towers and castles trigger alarms when enemy troops are nearby. This allows buildings and units to fire faster for a short time.

To keep production going as well, the English rely on an efficient food supply. This resource can be used to improve buildings and armies, among other things. Farms also cost less than those of the other factions.

Imposing landmarks also bring important bonuses to the English:

  • The Abbey of the Kings for advancement to the Feudal Age passively heals your units. Training your longbowmen is faster thanks to the Council Hall.
  • The Knight Age is also the age of castles like the White Tower. Here you can train all unit types of the English. The counterpart is the King's Palace, which functions like a village center.
  • Better and more productive farms are available to the English from the Imperial Age. In addition, these buildings still produce gold. The Berkshire Palace is a castle with a larger range and more space for units. If you choose the Wynguard Palace, on the other hand, it allows you to train the Wynguard army, consisting of a spearman, armourer, longbowman, tribok and knight.

In addition to the villagers equipped with bows, the English also have the longbowmen as a special unit. With long range, many upgrades and the ability to use stakes to protect themselves from enemy cavalry, they form a powerful backbone of any British army.

The Mongols: The nomadic way of life

The Mongols are the most aggressive race in Age of Empires 4. Here, attack really is the best defense. This is especially evident in the ability to relocate one's own settlement, which consists of gers.

Thus, it is no problem for the Mongols to develop new resources and escape from the enemy. Likewise, with their own production facility to set up near the enemy base and thus ensure a quick supply during battles.

Resource extraction is accelerated by the construction of obos and yurts. The Obos allow the complete renunciation of workers during the stone mining and constantly generate the profit of the valuable material without long walking distances.

Of course, landmarks are also available to the Mongols:

  • As you advance to the Feudal Era, The Silver Tree gives you the option to recruit merchants cheaper and earlier. Thanks to the deer stones, they as well as your cavalry will be accelerated for a short time.
  • Like the yurt, the steppe redoubt allows you to mine gold directly. You can get the landmark when you enter the knight era. Alternatively, you can also build the Kurultai. Together with a Khan, nearby units will be healed and cause more damage.
  • The White Stupa is available to you in the Imperial Age. This landmark generates stones without a stone deposit. Alternatively, you can build the Khaganate Palace. Here, mangudai, horsemen or knights are recruited every 90 seconds.

The Mongols rely on mounted fighters for their special units:

  • The mangudai are excellent archers on horseback who can retreat nimbly.
  • The Khan acts as a kind of hero unit, shooting signal arrows to reinforce their own units. They also use falcons as scouts.

The Abbasid Dynasty: The Great Islamic Empire

The Abbasid dynasty was long considered the center of the Islamic faith. Similar to the Delhi and the Chinese, this faction's greatest strength lies in its inventiveness.

To that end, the Abbasid dynasty relies on the House of Wisdom, which replaces all landmarks and instead builds a new wing as it ascends into a new age. Which of these four wings you build is completely up to you. Each wing gives you special technologies and units:

  • Economy: gives you new buildings and research to increase your resource extraction.
  • Culture: This wing gives you more research in the areas of medicine and faith.
  • Military: This wing gives you especially strong bonuses for your camel riders.
  • Trade: This wing allows you, among other things, to use the great bazaar, where you can get any resource.

As already mentioned, the Abbasid dynasty is the only nation that can rely on camel riders, including the camel archers, which deal high damage and can lower the damage of simple cavalry.

The Chinese: Masters of Gunpowder

Chinese dynasties are characterized by powerful armies and sophisticated engineering. This gives you a variety of strategies that can be further developed through the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. Which dynasty rules is determined by the era you are in. Consequently, you should adjust your play style accordingly.

  • The Tang Dyn asty focuses mainly on exploration and improves and increases the visibility of the scouts.
  • In the Song Dyn asty, you get a unique village building and the Zhuge Nu (crossbowmen). In addition, the production time is significantly reduced.
  • In the Knight era, you unlock the Yuan Dynasty. It allows you to build storehouses. The fire lance riders strengthen your army, which, by the way, has an increased movement speed.
  • The Ming Dyn asty is the last dynasty you can reach. You can now build pagodas and recruit grenadiers. In addition, all military units get a bonus to health.

The following bonuses come with the Chinese:

  • City planning: by triggering the dynasties you will get special unit bonuses and new special buildings.
  • Thanks to the economic progress of the Chinese, you start each round with additional workers who construct buildings faster.
  • Unlike the other races, you can build both landmarks on an age advancement.
  • Officials can be trained in the village center to collect taxes (gold) from other buildings.

The Chinese forces are most notable for their direct access to gunpowder. The following special units are gradually available to you:

  • Fire Lance Riders: the Chinese cavalry are equipped with fire lances and do a lot of damage to buildings.
  • Bees nests are effective siege weapons and can be considered as medieval rocket launchers.
  • Grenadiers are other gunpowder units that can destroy entire enemy armies.

The Holy Roman Empire: Germany in the Middle Ages

Until 1806, the Holy Roman Empire was the dominion of the German emperors. Those saw themselves as the heirs of the Roman Empire, which wanted to conquer Rome as the center of Christianity. For this, the Holy Roman Empire uses strong infantry units and priests. A very strong defense also characterizes this faction.

Moreover,their landmarks are not only imposing to look at, but also offer very valuable bonuses:

  • When advancing to the Feudal Age, you can build the Aachen Chapel. If a prelate is quartered here, his bonus expands to all surrounding productions. Alternatively, there is the Meinwerk Palace, which reduces the cost of your forge upgrades.
  • To enter the knight era, you can build the Burgrave's Palace. Here, five of all infantry units are trained at a time. On the other hand, if you are short of gold, you should build the Regnitz Cathedral. Here, conquered relics generate heaps of gold.
  • In the last age, your buildings will become even more robust against enemy attacks thanks to the Elzbach Palace. The Swabian Palace, on the other hand, is a new village center that trains inhabitants faster and cheaper.

The special units of the Holy Roman Empire are strong damage dealers and good support for your army:

  • Prelates are Catholic priests that are available to you right from the start. They heal and convert units and can carry the relics that are distributed on the map. They also boost the morale of your workers and thus boost the economy.
  • The Landsknechts are light infantry units with two-handed swords. They are fast and do high area damage.

Delhi Sultanate: Indian War Elephants

The Delhi Sultanate contains a variety of cultural blends throughout its eras. Thus, Afghan technologies can be found alongside Indian influences.

The development of technologies is the greatest strength of this faction. The Sultanate can perform several upgrades during each epoch and develop new technologies much more effectively than the other factions.

This means, above all, that vast amounts of resources can be saved, since all research is free. On the other hand, production times are longer. This is a big disadvantage, especially at the beginning of the game, since you can only rely on an effective defense. What luck that military units can build defenses.

Research and defense dominate the landmarks of the Delhi Sultanate:

  • The Dome of Faith ushers in the Feudal Age and allows you to produce scholars, who speed up your research, more cheaply. Alternatively, you can build the Tower of Victory, which makes your units in the area more powerful.
  • You'll unlock more economic and religious upgrades with the House of Learning. On the other hand, if you want to upgrade your defense in the Knight era, you should build the Defender's Complex. This will allow your infantry units to build walls of stone.
  • The Imperial Era lets the Delhi really strike out. The Sultan's Palace automatically produces the imposing War Elephants, while the Hisar Academy ensures that researched technologies automatically produce food.

Among the special units of the Delhi Sultanate you can fall back on the following troops:

  • The War Elephants do high damage to units and buildings.
  • Even better, however, are the tower war elephants, which have two additional archers and can thus attack from a distance.

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