In Art of War, you’ll learn how to quickly propel your economy off the ground, as well as how to both attack and defend in the early stages of the game, rather than waiting until you have a huge, diversified army. While campaign and skirmish missions can teach you strategy and tactics, the Art of War missions can prepare you for the demanding metagame in the multiplayer mode. But no matter which civilization you go with, it’s worth spending a little time completing the Art of War missions. It’s worth trying all of the civilizations, particularly since you can turn the difficulty down and just tool around with various builds. Other civilizations have a lot to offer as well, from the mobile Mongols, who can earn resources by sacking enemy encampments, to the technology-centric Delhi Sultanate, which can field mighty war elephants. You’ll know after a few games whether you gravitate toward economic or military tactics. But that versatility also means that the French are a great way to find your footing early on. If you go all-in on economics and find yourself under siege, it may be too late to switch gears and defend yourself effectively.
Their versatility can also be a little paralyzing. Granted, the French have drawbacks, including early-game vulnerability and the lack of a standout infantry unit. Melee upgrades for French military units are also free, which means that if you start researching them early, you could field a stronger late-game army than your foes, at a lower cost. The royal knight is a durable cavalry unit the arbalétrier is a rapid-firing archer the cannon is a siege weapon that can move and fire without having to pack and unpack first. The royal knight, arbalétrier and cannon are all unique to the French, and they provide the solid backbone for an invading army. Taken together, this means that the French can kickstart their economy early on, and have plenty of resources available later.Īssuming you can survive until the game’s late stages (which is not a guarantee remember, the French don’t have the English’s defensive buffs), the French also have some delightfully powerful units on their side. Relative to other civilizations, economic upgrades and resource drops also cost less for the French. The French can actually get off to a quicker start than the English, since villagers take 10% less time to produce - and that bonus only increases as you advance through the ages. But the basic setup is still the same: Create villagers, build dedicated resource drops, and slowly expand your territory while you grow your economy and army. To be fair, the French are a bit tougher to play than the English, focusing more on late-game dominance than early-game survival. The other one-star civilization in Age of Empires IV is the French. Alternatively, if you position your longbowmen behind attacking infantry or cavalry, you can pick off a lot of enemy units as they struggle to advance. A company of longbowmen behind a wall can make short work of invaders. Longbowmen don’t cost much to build, but feature excellent attack power and range. The English also have access to a unique unit: the longbowman. Finally, the English can build Men-at-Arms in the Dark Age, giving them access to a powerful melee unit much earlier than other civilizations. English military units fight better within range of town centers, outposts, towers and keeps, which means that early English settlements are relatively difficult to invade. Farms cost 50% less wood, and a nearby mill will boost gather rates by 15%. It’s classic AoE gameplay, from top to bottom.įurthermore, the English have significant early-game advantages, in both economics and warfare. To defend your town, you can build mighty stone walls and foreboding castles. You use those resources to field a balanced army of infantry, cavalry and archers. You create villagers, who build dedicated drop points to gather resources. While the English aren’t better or worse than any other civilization in the game, they are quite a bit more straightforward to play. If you play the campaign, the English are also the first civilization you’ll encounter. The English are one of two one-star civilizations in the game. One particularly helpful new feature is that the developers have assigned each civilization a difficulty level, ranging from one star (easiest) to three stars (hardest). The game features difficulty options to suit every skill level, as well as an approachable and educational campaign that makes it easy to understand the broad strokes of world history. If you want to play Age of Empires IV, though, rest assured that it’s an excellent starting point for the series.
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