__ __ ___ __ ___ ___ __ __ ___ __ ___ ___ ___ ( ) / _)( _) / \( _) ( _)( \/ )( ,\( )( ,) ( _)/ __) ___ /__\( (/\ ) _) ( () )) _) ) _) ) ( ) _/ )( ) \ ) _)\__ \ (___) (_)(_)\__/(___) \__/(_) (___)(_/\/\_)(_) (__)(_)\_)(___)(___/ __ __ ___ __ ___ _ _ __ _ _ __ ___ ___ ___ ( ) / _)( _) / \( _) ( ) ) ( )( \( )/ _)/ __) ( \ / __) /__\( (/\ ) _) ( () )) _) ) \ )( ) (( (/\\__ \ ) ) )\__ \ (_)(_)\__/(___) \__/(_) (_)\_)(__)(_)\_)\__/(___/ (___/ (___/ Version 0.8 by Armaced ************************************************** * Introduction * ************************************************** This FAQ was written partly by me and partly by contributors to the message boards on gamefaqs.com. In the case where content was taken from the message boards (often without editing), the author is credited by their gamefaq's tag. Please send any feedback to armaced at gmail dot com. ************************************************** * Table of Contents * ************************************************** 1. Version Control 2. Will I like this game? 3. Aging Up 4. How do I collect a relic? 5. Hiearchy Maps 6. Unit Caps 7. Units 8. Bonus Units 9. Abilities 10. Civilizations 11. Technologies 12. Walkthrough 13. Easy Empire Points 14. Training Grounds 15. Glitches ************************************************** * 1. Version Control * ************************************************** * 0.8 More differences from Advance Wars (technology, Amo, and Fuel). Broke that chapter into "Will I like this game?" and added comparisons to the PC version. Rewrote the "Hiearchy Maps" chapter, making it more general and adding a Heros segment. * 0.75 Update on glitch info from Majesco (User names should be 4 characters or more). * 0.7 Added obligatory ascii art header from http://www.network-science.de/ascii/ (Serifcap). Added "Easy Empire Points" chapter. Removed conversation segments from Civilizations chapter. Added relic chapter. * 0.6 Added Civilization chapter. Changed name of Advance Wars chapter. Moved Version Control chapter to top. Corrected name: Stone Age -> Dark Age. * 0.5 Completed Age 2 technologies. Added Age 3 technologies. Fixed bad info in Unit Cap (Relic income does not raise Unit Cap). Added "Should I get this or Advance Wars". ************************************************** * 2. Will I like this game? * ************************************************** This version of Age of Empires borrows many elements from Advance Wars and its PC heritage. The end product is something unique and distinct from both sources. However, if you have played either or both of the source games, you have an idea how this game plays. This section compares the game to it's heritage. ------------------------------------------------------------ Should I get this or Advance Wars? ------------------------------------------------------------ Age of Empires is different than Advance Wars:Dual Strike, but Advance Wars fans tend to like Age of Empires as well. The major differences: *Age of Empires lets you build buildings with your units, while Advance Wars only lets you conquer pre-made buildings. *Age of Empires incorporates history lessons, while Advance Wars is kind of anime-futurish. *Advance Wars has a map editor *Age of Empires has no navy *Age of Empires has both Black Map and Fog of War, while Advance Wars has only Fog of War *In Advance Wars, you must progress through the levels in Campaign mode in order, while Age of Empires allows you to replay any level once it is beaten. *Age of Empires has two resources: Food and Gold. They are replenished by Mills, Farms, and Mines. Advance Wars has only money, which is replenished by towns. *Advance Wars tracks statistics on the units like fueld and amunition, while Age of Empires ignores these stats. *Age of Empires has technology modifiers, allowing the player to research technologies and "Age Up". Both games are great. If you really can't decide, I would say go with Advance Wars. If you love it, come back and try this one when your bank account recovers. ------------------------------------------------------------ I love Age of Empires II on the PC. Will I like this game? ------------------------------------------------------------ As a fan of the PC version, you will probably miss the following features: * Navy - no Navy is the DS version * Wood and Stone as resources - DS version only has food and gold * Ability to research multiple technologies simultaneously (one per appropriate building) - DS lets you research only one per day, and you must have at least one of the required buildings, so there is no need to have, say, two Blacksmiths * Walls - No walls in the DS version * Castles that fire arrows at enemies - in this version they just sit there. * Petards - One of my favorite units - missing from this version * Diplomacy - Gotta pick your teams before the game starts * Multiplayer - This game has it, but since it is turn based, playing against a human = a lot of waiting for them to finish their turn. * Houses - here unit cap is determined by food/gold production, and it is very limiting * Some civilisations - this game has only British, Saracenes, Japanese, Mongols, and Franks * Sprawling towns - this version allows only a town center, four town buildings in adjacent squares, and four towers in the corners * Bombard towers - Ah, I miss those. Towers in this game are defensive only - they don't fight back I am sure I am missing some. However, I am a fan of the PC game, and I love this game as well. Turn based is fun, and having it with me all the time is great. ************************************************** * 3. Aging Up * ************************************************** You can find out what you need to get to any age by selecting "Age Up" from your town center. If you are not ready, it will be red, but you can still select it. When you do so, it will list how much food, gold, and research you need. For example, to age up from age 2 to age 3, you need Food: 1000 Gold: 1000 Research: 7 age 2 technologies You will need to build a Blacksmith near your town center to unlock most of the Age2 technologies. ************************************************** * 4. How do I collect a relic? * ************************************************** The relics resemble little broken orbs on the map. Once captured, they produce gold income for your kingdom. Only Monks may capture relics, so you must first advance to the castle age. Next, build a church near your town center and train a monk. Send the monk to the relic and select "capture relic" from the command screen. Then, have the monk cary the relic to a church and select "donate relic". Once the relic is deposited in the church, you will receive gold income from it each turn. ************************************************** * 5. Hiearchy Maps * ************************************************** * Basic hierarchy Infantry > Pike/Spearmen > Cavelry > Infantry So use cavelry to attack infantry, but those same cavelry will get dusted by pikemen, so take those out with infantry. * Siege Infantry > Siege > Buildings Siege takes out buildings, but Infantry take out Siege units. Cavelry can take out siege units as well (or villagers, monks, ranged, or any unit capable of attacking another unit), but infantry do the best work. * Ranged Cavelry (direct) > Ranged > Cavelry/Infantry/etc... (distance) A good ranged unit (archers) can take out any other unit at a distance, but suffers in direct combat. For that reason, cavelry is best for taking out ranged units, since they can get in close range fast. * Villagers Most everything > Villagers Villagers lose to everyone in battle (usually in one turn), but you need them to build buildings, and you need buildings to generate resources and other units. Attack stray enemy villagers - if you ignore them, they could build a new towncenter even while you are laying siege to the old one. * Monks Monks are not meant for battle, and will lose to most units in direct combat. Studying "Sanctity" helps keep them alive. Their healing ability can easily turn the tide in a battle. In combat, you should usually target the monks first - otherwise the battle will be an uphill effort. * Heros Joan > Minamoto > Saladin > Richard > Joan Khan is a ranged unit, who will lose to any of them at close range, but can take any of them from a distance. The heros all corespond to unit types Joan of Arc : Infantry Minamoto : Pikeman Saladin : Camel Richard : Cavelry Khan : Ranged If you have already lost your hero, you can build one at a church (for a steep price). However, you can also take out heros with regular units - but remember, hero's are strong, so be sure to exploit that hero's natural weaknesses, and you will probably need a few of the apropriate unit to finish the job. Take out Joan with cavelry Take out Richard with pikemen Take out Minamoto with infantry Take out Saladin with pikemen Take out Khan with cavelry Of course, you could use ranged against any of the heros. Just keep the ranged units guarded, and remember Khan can fight back. ************************************************** * 6. Unit Caps * ************************************************** The game will only allow you to have a certain number of units in play at any given time. This is known as the Unit Cap. The unit cap is calculated by the following formula: (Food Income + Gold Income) / 100 = Unit Cap It is important to note that the unit cap is calculated before technology bonuses (such as Advanced Mining, Horse Collar, Shaft Mining, Heavy Plow, or Crop Rotation) are applied. Also, the results are rounded up. You can raise your unit cap by increasing your food or gold income in one or more of the following ways: * Build more farms * Build more mills * Build more mines You can see your unit cap in the lower, left hand corner of the Empire Review screen. Example: 3/7 Villagers 1 Military 2 This says that your unit cap is 7. You currently have 3 units deployed, two of which are military and one of which are villagers. You thus can train 4 additional units of any type before hitting the unit cap. ************************************************** * 7. Units * * by caenyien * ************************************************** I will use this format: Unit name Unit type Bonuses Move Attack Defense Sight Range Specials Basics: Franks Age 1: Unit name: Militia Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: +33% vs. siege +33% vs Building Move: 7 Attack: 100 Defense: 100 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: None Unit name: Villagers Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: +33% vs. siege +33% vs Building Move: 7 Attack: 50 Defense: 50 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Build Unit name: Scout Cavalry Unit type: Cavalry Bonuses: +33% vs. Infantry +33% vs Ranged -50% Vs. Building Move: 12 Attack: 100 Defense: 100 Sight: 10 Range: 1 Specials: Scout Franks Age 2: Unit name: Archers Unit type: Ranged Bonuses: -50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 150 Defense: 100 Sight: 7 Range: 3 Specials: None Unit name: Skirmishers Unit type: Ranged Bonuses: -50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 110 Defense: 110 Sight: 7 Range: 2 Specials: Skirmish Unit name: Light Cavalry Unit type: Cavalry Bonuses: +33% vs. Infantry +33% vs Ranged -50% vs. Building Move: 10 Attack: 150 Defense: 150 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Plains Charge Unit name: Men-at-Arms Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: +33% vs. siege +33% vs Building Move: 7 Attack: 150 Defense: 150 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: None Unit name: Spearmen Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: +33% vs. siege +33% vs Building Move: 7 Attack: 100 Defense: 150 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Anti-Cavalry * Age 3: Unit name: Knights Unit type: Cavalry Bonuses: +33% vs. Infantry +33% vs Ranged -50% Vs. Building Move: 10 Attack: 200 Defense: 200 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Plains Charge Unit name: Camels Unit type: Cavalry Bonuses: +33% vs. Infantry +33% vs Ranged -50% Vs. Building Move: 10 Attack: 200 Defense: 200 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Desert Charge, Scares Horses. Unit name: Longswordmen Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: +33% vs Siege +33% vs Building Move: 7 Attack: 200 Defense: 200 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: None Unit name: Pikemen Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: +33% vs Siege +33% vs Building Move: 7 Attack: 150 Defense: 200 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Anti-Cavalry Unit name: Viking Berserkers Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: +33% vs Siege +33% vs Building Move: 7 Attack: 200 Defense: 200 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Frenzy Unit name: Crossbowmen Unit type: Ranged Bonuses: -50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 200 Defense: 175 Sight: 7 Range: 3 Specials: No Move & Attack. Unit name: Elite Skirmishers Unit type: Ranged Bonuses: -50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 150 Defense: 150 Sight: 7 Range: 2 Specials: Skirmish Unit name: Horse Archers Unit type: Ranged Bonuses: -50% vs. Building Move: 10 Attack: 150 Defense: 150 Sight: 7 Range: 2 Specials: None Unit name: Throwing Axemen Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: 33% vs. Siege 33% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 225 Defense: 250 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Skirmish, Woodsman Unit name: Persian War Elephants Unit type: Cavalry Bonuses: 33% vs. Infantry 33% vs Ranged -50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 200 Defense: 250 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Causes Fear Unit name: Celtic Woad Raiders Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: 33% vs. Siege 33% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 200 Defense: 200 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Causes Fear Unit name: Knights Templar Unit type: Cavalry Bonuses: 33% vs Infantry 33% vs Ranged -50% vs Building Move: 10 Attack: 200 Defense: 200 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Plains Charge, Zeal Unit name: Scorpions Unit type: Siege Bonuses: 50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 350 Defense: 250 Sight: 7 Range: 3 Specials: Units only, No Counter, No Move & Attack Unit name: Battering Rams Unit type: Siege Bonuses: 50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 400 Defense: 325 Sight: 7 Range: 3 Specials: Buildings only, No Counter. Unit name: Onagers Unit type: Siege Bonuses: 50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 275 Defense: 275 Sight: 7 Range: 3 Specials: No Counter, No Move & Attack * Age 4 Unit name: Elite Throwing Axemen Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: 33% vs. Siege 33% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 275 Defense: 300 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Skirmish, Woodsman Unit name: Two Handed Swordsmen Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: +33% vs Siege +33% vs Building Move: 7 Attack: 250 Defense: 250 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: None Unit name: Elite Pikemen Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: +33% vs Siege +33% vs Building Move: 7 Attack: 200 Defense: 250 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Anti-Cavalry Unit name: Archers Unit type: Ranged Bonuses: -50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 200 Defense: 200 Sight: 7 Range: 3 Specials: None Unit name: Arbalests Unit type: Ranged Bonuses: -50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 250 Defense: 225 Sight: 7 Range: 3 Specials: No Move & Attack. Unit name: Expert Skirmishers Unit type: Ranged Bonuses: -50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 190 Defense: 190 Sight: 7 Range: 2 Specials: Skirmish Unit name: Hvy Horse Archers Unit type: Ranged Bonuses: -50% vs. Building Move: 10 Attack: 200 Defense: 200 Sight: 7 Range: 2 Specials: None Unit name: Cavaliers Unit type: Cavalry Bonuses: +33% vs. Infantry +33% vs Ranged -50% Vs. Building Move: 10 Attack: 250 Defense: 250 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Plains Charge Unit name: Heavy Camels Unit type: Cavalry Bonuses: +33% vs. Infantry +33% vs Ranged -50% Vs. Building Move: 10 Attack: 250 Defense: 250 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Desert Charge, Scares Horses. Unit name: Elite Berserkers Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: +33% vs Siege +33% vs Building Move: 7 Attack: 250 Defense: 250 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Frenzy Unit name: Elite Woad Raiders Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: 33% vs. Siege 33% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 250 Defense: 250 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Causes Fear Unit name: Trebuchets Unit type: Siege Bonuses: 50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 370 Defense: 350 Sight: 7 Range: 3 Specials: Min Range 2, No Counter, No Move & Attack Unit name: Bombard Cannons Unit type: Siege Bonuses: 50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 325 Defense: 325 Sight: 7 Range: 3 Specials: No Counter, No Move & Attack (Notes: You need to research 'Chemistry' To raise these.) Unit name: Hand Cannoneers Unit type: Ranged Bonuses: -50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 300 Defense: 225 Sight: 7 Range: 3 Specials: No Move & Attack (Notes: You need to research 'Chemistry' To raise these.) Unit name: Champions Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: +33% vs Siege +33% vs Building Move: 7 Attack: 300 Defense: 300 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: None (Notes: You need to research 'Arena' To raise these.) Unit name: Paladins Unit type: Cavalry Bonuses: +33% vs. Infantry +33% vs Ranged -50% Vs. Building Move: 10 Attack: 300 Defense: 300 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Plains Charge (Note: You need to research 'Squire' to create Paladins) Unit name: Heavy Scorpions Unit type: Siege Bonuses: 50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 400 Defense: 300 Sight: 7 Range: 3 Specials: Units only, No Counter, No Move & Attack (Note: You need to Research Siege Engineers to raise these.) Unit name: Siege Rams Unit type: Siege Bonuses: 50% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 500 Defense: 375 Sight: 7 Range: 3 Specials: Buildings only, No Counter. Unit name: Elite Monks Unit type: Infantry Bonuses: 33% vs Siege 33% vs. Building Move: 7 Attack: 50 Defense: 200 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Improved Heal, Improved Convert Unit name: Elite Knights Templar Unit type: Cavalry Bonuses: 33% vs Infantry 33% vs Ranged -50% vs Building Move: 10 Attack: 250 Defense: 250 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: Plains Charge, Zeal Unit name: Elite Janissaries Unit type: Ranged Bonuses: -50% vs Building Move: 7 Attack: 300 Defense: 225 Sight: 7 Range: 1 Specials: No Move & Attack ************************************************** * 8. Bonus Units * * by IronTusk * ************************************************** Bonus units I've bought so far and what I think of them (granted, I'm only on the Japan campaign): -Dopplehander: Slightly stronger two handed swordsman, nothing too special -Welsh Bowmen: I like these guys a lot -Mons Meg: Haven't tried yet. Looks cool though -Genoese Crossbowmen: Absolute pwnage. Get now. -Swiss Pikemen: Really hurts mounted units bad -Dark Ram: Levels buildings like nothing else. Also it rules at holding chokepoints. Park it on a bridge and put a bunch of long range units behind it. ************************************************** * 9. Abilities * * by najdorf * ************************************************** Some units have special abilities that come into play when attacking or defending. This chapter outlines some of them and their effects. * Zeal: After any battle, you gain 20 HP (does not apply if you attack an inanimate object such as siege engine, farm, building). * Skirmish: Instead of defending as you normally would when attacked, you attack first against any unit with a range of 1 (does not apply if enemy also has Skirmish or has First Strike). * Cause Fear: ************************************************** * 10. Civilizations * * by treedweller15, et al * ************************************************** -------------------- Franks -------------------- This is a newbie oriented race, with disounts for Cavalry, Monks and Castles. You have the offensive potential to rush up and flank, cheap mobile healing forces and cheaper defensive monstrosities to fall back on should spearmen and the like show up. Not only that, but Franks only have a few select expensive units that have little impact on their overall typical strategy, making them well-rounded. Throwing Axemen are a powerful offensive unit, and they help teach newbs the importance of flanking and terrain, thanks to their bonuses when attacking from forests. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I also believe that they have the first strike, making them a forgiving unit if not positioned correctly. Joan of Arc is also a great hero for a newbie to learn the ropes of hero management with as there's minimal risk to using her persons almost anywhere. She can augment a large attack force well behind the front lines with Divine Purpose, heal herself with astounding effiency, soften enemy defenses or deal risk free damage to surrounding opponents, making Hero's and the like far less daunting to deal with. She also has great defense, which is a definitive plus. -------------------- Britons -------------------- This race is certainly the ultimate ranged civ, with their only stiff competition in this area being the Mongols. With discounts on common buildings like the Archery range and the Church, they recieve ready access to powerful Archers and healers. Though they do have powerful units at a range, they definately have the potential to shield their hordes with cheaper Longswordsmen, 2 Handers and Champions. This in mind, the Britons are pretty well-balanced unit-wise, with the capabilities to stave off most strategies with their typical units. However, their seige units are slightly more expensive, so it's harder (though only slightly) for them to press the assualt until the fire arrows upgrade. Longbowmen are fantastic, and encourage this Civ to hang back a bit and turtle up to enemy territory thanks to their Volley ability; it encourages them to keep ranged units protected and healthy or garrisoned in towns and Castles. Thanks to this unit, the Britons are pushed further into the defensive category. Richard is obviously meant to multitask, with an ability for almost any occassion. He can encourage front units to assualt with greater ferocity, increase the firing range of ranged units, train units for cheap on a TC when it counts and deal direct and risk-free damage to enemies. Coupled together, it would seem he's meant to stay back and benefit his army ahead of him thanks to his lack of a mobile healing power, but I could be incorrect in this obsevation. Overall, I see the Britons as a more defensive race with the capabilites to defend strongholds, towns, and mountain vistas with stunning ease, but they seem to have trouble when pressing forward into enemy territory. -------------------- Mongols: -------------------- Arn oddball race. They were strangely chosen to have a research discount, making them more apt and able to tech and reach higher levels of units than enemies, especially when taking into account Patron of the Arts. Despite their potential to advance forward, they have excellent early game potential, with cheaper stables, scouts, and light cavalry. This arrangement may seem paradoxical, but it ensures the Mongols with constantly have a slight edge over their enemies. The Mangudai exemplify the Mongol's readiness in every situation, and are incredibly mobile and have few weaknesses. They initially are quite weak, but once they have a few upgrades (easy for the Mongols) they become a force to reckoned with. They require few meatshields thanks to their first strike ability, and can easily flank and harrass enemy lines. Plus, Mangudai will likely be the first civ unique unit on the map thanks to their research abilities. Ghengis Khan is, like his whole race, an oddball. He's one of two heroes with 10 movement, and he's the only one that can fire from a range. He is however rather fragile, and has no healing abilities to speak of; this is partially made up through his first strike abilities fortunately, making him a dreaded sight on the field of battle. As hero powers go, his are quite good, but definately narrow in application. Patron of the Arts is an incredibly useful ability (especially in the early game) but it hurts his scouting and harrassment potential through making him camp on top of a TC; its use really depends on what kind of playstyle you adopt. Overwhelming Seige is quite nice, and a great help when pushing for an early win or when seige units are unavailable. Nomadic Travel is the perfect complement to a retreat or advance, though it will leave Ghengis behind or vulnerable. Mongol Terror is nice, but nothing special. As you can see, his powers are a mixed bag of situational abilities, but his range, mobility and harrassment capabilites cannot be overlooked. He's not a one dimensional hero however, and can help exemplify teching strategies where every last bit of resources count. As a whole, I see the Mongols as attempting to stay one step ahead of the opponent, thanks to a naturally strong early game and easier access to technologies. -------------------- Saracens -------------------- A race I haven't had much playtime as, but nevertheless I will relay my opinions on them. They seem to have a large focus on the acquisition of resources, most noteworthy gold. This gives them access to a large variety of expensive gold-heavy units such as monks, making them a race either about numbers or quality. They have cheaper Markets making them more likely to mix in Mercenaries and the like in their armies, making them rather unpredictable to boot. This isn't even taking into account the fact that Markets lower the trade rate, allowing them to their gold into vital food if a deficit ever comes up. Cheaper stables, light cavalry and seige units don't hurt either, and make them apt at pushing into enemy terrirtory with their economic superiority. This does come at a price however, and more expensive higher tier infantry and cavalry units do hurt a bit. Nevertheless a solid economy is the name of the game for Saracens. Mamelukes are a unit I particularily haven't had a whole lot of time with, but they certainly are powerful and can take on enemy Cavalry with ease; this helps make up for the late game cavalry deficit that most Saracen players will encounter. Desert charge is rather useful when it comes up, but it isn't a deal breaker for the already mobile and powerful unit. Saladin himself is a great hero with excellent powers. His high movement, attack and defensive capabilities make him an excellent anchor for offensive or defensive formations. His first power, Benefactor, certainly has huge implications for the Saracen player and gives them an undeniable early game advantage for expanding and holding resources in the early game. Directly adding 100 gold to the treasury every turn is more powerful than one would initially think, as it allows for easier grabbing of resources which has reprecussions throughout an entire game. This definately is worth keeping him back for most the early game. Rain of Arrows and Aura are defensive powers, and helps the economically inclined Saracens from losing important resources through holding the enemy at bay. Hit and Run is quite useful, allowing Saladin to send up a powerful strike force to flank enemies. So what keep Saladin in check? Simple; he has a vulnerabilty to Anti-Cavalry abilities, making it a risk to throw him forward. In fact, despite having a strong economy, Saracens encourage a lot of Cavalry, especially through Mamelukes making this vulnerability tough to overcome. A Saracen player must use the resources at their disposal to leap over this barrier, so they're overall a very worthy civ. So there's my opinions, feel free to refute them or agree. I know I left out the Japanese, but I was tired and they're popular enough anyways >_> -------------------- Japenese by Mr Strange and I_Cadfael -------------------- A defensive player, falls back on discounts for mines, mills, & farm bonus. They can building up a force of calvary and Samurai, keeping off the enemy with cheap pikemen and crossbowmen. The hero is essentially a super-pikeman, which means you have little to fear from fast units, which are always mounted. Combined with your solid healing power, Japan is a strong contender for an early game assault, supported by their hero. Japan also has a tremendous siege ability, giving most of your units on the map a huge bonus vs. buildings. This means that your hero can be supporting not only the nearby attacking force he leads, but also your secondary forces which are removing lightly defended mines and farms. ************************************************** * 11. Technologies * ************************************************** ---------------------- Dark Age: ---------------------- * Loom Prereqs: Town Center Cost: 50f 150g All Villagers get +25 DEF * Town Scouts Prereqs: Town Center Cost: 50f 150g Town Centers gain +4 Sight * Leather Soles Prereqs: Town Center Cost: 50f 150g Villagers gain +1 Move * Weaponsmith Prereqs: Barracks Cost: 50f 150g Militia gain +25 ATT ------------------------ Feudal Age: ------------------------ * Town Watch Prereqs: Town Center Cost: 95f 280g Improves Town Center DEF by +20% and Sight by +2 * Wheel Barrow Prereqs: Town Center Cost: 125f 375g Cost of buildings is reduced by 10% * Advanced Mining Prereqs: Mine Cost: 95f 280g +15% to Mine income * Horse Collar Prereqs: Mill Cost: 95f 280g +15% to food income * Scale Mail Armor Prereqs: Blacksmith Cost: 95f 280g +25% DEF for Infantry * Scale Barding Prereqs: Blacksmith Cost: 95f 280g +25% DEF for Cavalry * Fletching Prereqs: Blacksmith Cost: 95f 280g +25% ATT for Ranged Units * Padded Armor Prereqs: Blacksmith Cost: 95f 280g +25% DEF for Ranged Units * Forging Prereqs: Blacksmith Cost: 155f 470g +25% ATT for Infantry and Cavalry * Tracking Prereqs: Barracks Cost: 95f 280g +2 Sight for Infantry * Cartography Prereqs: Market Cost: 95f 280g +1 Sight for all units ------------------------ Castle Age: ------------------------ * Town Patrol Prereqs: Town Center Cost: 150f 450g +2 Sight and +20% DEF for Town Center * Hand Cart Prereqs: Town Center Cost: 150f 450g Cost of Building is reduced by 10% * Shaft Mining Prereqs: Mine Cost: 150f 450g +15% to Mine income * Heavy Plow Prereqs: Mill Cost: 150f 450g +15% to food income * Chain Mail Armor Prereqs: Blacksmith Cost: 150f 450g +25% DEF to Age 3 infantry * Chain Barding Prereqs: Blacksmith Cost: 150f 450g +25% DEF to Age 3 Cavalry * Bodkin Arrow Prereqs: Blacksmith Cost: 150f 450g +25% ATT to Age 3 Ranged Units * Leather Armor Prereqs: Blacksmith Cost: 150f 450g +25% DEF to Age 3 Ranged Units * Iron Casting Prereqs: Blacksmith Cost: 250f 750g +25% ATT to Age 3 Infantry and Cavalry * Conscription Prereqs: Barracks Cost: 150f 450g Cost of Infantry is reduced by 15 food and 15 gold * Husbandry Prereqs: Stable Cost: 150f 450g Cost of Cavalry is reduced by 15 food and 15 gold * Archery Tournaments Prereqs: Archery Range Cost: 150f 450g Cost of Ranged Units is reduced by 15 food and 15 gold * Mechanics Guild Prereqs: Siege Workshop Cost: 150f 450g Cost of Siege Units is reduced by 15 food and 15 gold * Banking Prereqs: Market Cost: 200f 600g + 5% gold Income and improved Trade Rate * Merchant Network Prereqs: Market Cost: 150f 450g Price for Mercenaries is reduced by 25% * Redemption Prereqs: Church Cost: 150f 450g Improves Heal ability of Monks and Elite Monks * Fervor Prereqs: Church Cost: 150f 450g Improves Convert ability of Monks and Elite Monks * Sanctity Prereqs: Church Cost: 150f 450g +25% DEF for Monks and Elite Monks * Murder Holes Prereqs: University Cost: 95f 280g +25% DEF for Towers * Masonry Prereqs: University Cost: 150f 450g +5% DEF for all buildings ************************************************** * 12. Walkthrough * * by MJEmirzian * ************************************************** Campaign 1 Mission 2: Sword of the Saint Difficulty: To �make Jean de Metz proud�, just kill the introductory enemies in the manner the tutorial instructs you to - you�ll hear them praise you after each one done correctly. Afterwards just plow through the opposition to reach the castle in short order. Campaign 1 Mission 3: From Peasant to General Difficulty: * Build a base, a second peasant, and crank out some units. Work the peasants around the map, attack Talbot to make him run, and then take the town hall out. Campaign 1 Mission 4: Breakthrough to Orleans Difficulty: * You have overwhelming forces for this map, so no worries about dying. The relic is randomly placed in a swamp somewhere on the map, and the hunting party is in a forest by the road heading to the south gate of Orleans. Campaign 1 Mission 5: Lifting the Siege of Orleans Difficulty: ** Start cranking out units and a second peasant. Try to get out Pikemen whenever they show up in the Market. You don�t need to worry too much about upgrading Age or Research here. Attack the northeast castle first, while holding off the northwest forces and eventually taking them out. Grab the farms, demolish the northeast castle, then mass units out to take all three routes on. Send a large number of units west to take out the final castle and rout the boss while plugging up the other two routes. The enemy has a lot of units but yours are stronger, so don�t be afraid to open fire. Reinforcements will continue from the four corners of the map, so keep a few units handy to take them on from the NW and NE. Campaign 1 Mission 6: Crowning of King Charles Difficulty: ** The relic spawns randomly in a swamp area, so save your game and look for it. Once you find it restart and go for it. You can build one peasant and one other unit, but that�s about it - save the rest for reaching/building the cathedral. Once it�s built, spam units and take on enemies on all sides. The boss attacks from the mid-southwest, and he�ll run away if you take too long to kill him. Campaign 2 Mission 1: Difficulty: ** Split your forces NW and NE, then converge on the boss, killing him last. Send 8 units nw and 6 ne, as the nw fight is slightly tougher. Once you�ve got the boss alone, send some injured units out to stand on the 4 bridges before finishing. Campaign 2 Mission 2: Difficulty: * Head northeast to start razing enemy grounds, there�s no real opposition in the map. It takes a while to reach age 3, scout the map for relics, capture them w/ monks, and take out the island castle to the northeast. Campaign 2 Mission 3: Difficulty: ** The point of this map is to stay healthy while taking enemies at a steady pace. Head northeast to take on the enemies by the pass, then take out the enemies coming towards you from the centre. Continue NE through the swamp (your mounted units can cross for some reason), recruit the monk, then proceed to take out enemy units in front of and around the temple. If you attack the temple all enemies will rush to defend it, so be ready. Don�t expose yourself or bite off more than you can chew. Campaign 2 Mission 4: Difficulty: ** 1/2 Rush forward to take out the initial spawn of armsmen and cavalry, then destroy the buildings. On day 10 the Emperor will start advancing his samurai/monks so stick your hero on the bridge to bottle them up (just have him heal himself). Try to clog up the southwest path as well. Leave enemy units near death and don't target their peasants.. you'll make an artificial bottleneck of units that the AI is too stupid to remedy by suiciding or joining. Campaign 2 Mission 5: Difficulty: ** � Mongol forces will arrive and charge west, then east, then west again. Build a stables and towers, gather resources, and build up forces to confront the attackers as they arrive. Paladins, elite samurai, elite monks, long range siege/crossbows (for the elite Mangudai) and elite pikemen should do well. The map doesn�t take very long but the fighting can be intense. Campaign 3 Mission 1: Difficulty: ** � In order to finish by day 30, you�ll need to rush and wipe out the northern enemy force, and apply pressure to the south to keep it from expanding. If you let the south grow too far, they�ll be too entrenched to take out later. Have Kahn and 2-3 other units up north slowly taking out new recruits and destroying the barracks/town hall, while other units move south and claim resources/attack. It will get messy - use the tactic of leaving enemies near dead to block up their hiring of new units. Campaign 3 Mission 2: Difficulty: ** This map is more about luck than anything. Just keep trying to convert the chieftains. Best to start northeast then work around ccwise. Nomadic travel is useful here for running in and converting while protecting the monks. ************************************************** * 13. Easy Empire Points * * by MNSpectre * ************************************************** There is a real easy way to accumulate empire points without plowing through the single player campaign. Just start up a hotseat game and instead of playing, just head straight for each other and fight until one side loses all their units and the game ends. You get 100 empire points for each "game". ************************************************** * 14. Training Grounds * ************************************************** If you find this game too hard, I think this is a good place to start getting familiar with the concepts. I am assuming you did well enough to make it through the first three missions of the tutorial. Start a game under the Empire Map section. Use the Bridge map against one opponent (Atilla) on Easy. Make sure you turn off all options so you can see the entire map, and make sure you select colors for the two teams that are easy to distinguish (like red and blue, as opposed to blue and cyan). This is a pretty easy map where you can practice "Aging Up" quickly and get familiar with the rock-scissors-paper nature of the battles. The strategy: First turn: * Build your first town center in a good location (near or on a road) as far south as your initial villager unit can walk. * Start sending your two initial militia units south picking up the free food and gold (marked on the map by sheep and spilled bags of gold) along the way The rest: * Build a mill and a mine as fast as possible, and try your best to research every turn. Be careful that you don�t spend so much on research that you can not build those first mines and mills, though. * Be sure to build farms around your first mill before you build additional mills. Resources are tight in the beginning. Mills cost more than farms, but produce the same profit every turn. * Build a couple extra units when you have the spare resources - leave one near the town center building the farms and barracks, let one spread out to build mines and mills on the remote resources, and send one south with your militia units. * Try to build a town center on the far side of the bridge - on the enemy�s side. You should be able to do this one or two turns after you reach the feudal age. This keeps the fight on their side while you get to soak up the resources from your side every turn without contest. * Once you get the new town center, build barracks next to it. If the enemy is sending cavalry at you, build spearmen - they cut through cavalry fast. Follow quickly with a stable and archery range. * Your old town center should never see battle, so build your blacksmith there. Also, when you reach the castle age, you can build your church and university there. This map should be pretty easy - practice beating it until you start getting board, then you can try upping the enemy AI, adding additional opponents, or new maps. I find this is a good place to cut your teeth. ************************************************** * 15. Glitches * ************************************************** There have been reports of glitches in the game. Usually, these result in the game freezing up, which can be annoying. However, sometimes the game freezes up while saving (almost always when using the "Save and Quit" function). This is particularly bad, because you should not attempt to restart the DS while it is writing to the cart. If the player attempts to restart the DS during a freeze while saving, this will corrupt the game. Most of the non-fatal glitches occur during battle animations - specifically, archers counterattacking onagers. To work around this bug, you can turn off battle animations, or avoid such battles. If you experience the "Save and Quit" freeze, do not restart the DS. Instead, try hitting buttons like a madman until you regain control. Try leaving the system alone for a few hours with the charger attached and see if the freeze clears. Basically, try anything you can think of short of restarting the DS or removing the cart. Things to avoid: * Do not "Save and Quit" * Have a User Name of at least 4 characters * Do not turn off the DS on any game if there is any possibility that the DS is still writing to the card. callmesir reported an update from NGreder at Majesco. Below is NGreder's post: -------------------- A Word from Majesco -------------------- Majesco is still investigating the topic. As new information comes in about this particular issue, all of it will be posted here. We are paying close attention to both the forums and the AOK issue at this time. Additionally in the short term we have a work around. The issue seems to be caused by use of the "save & quit" feature. Our suggestion at this time is to not use the "save & quit" option. Use the "save" option and when play continues simply power down the DS. Again I would like to ask that you please be patient with us here at Majesco during the time it takes to resolve this issue. -------------------- Another Word from Majesco -------------------- NGreder Update on the Age of kings Issue. Update Majesco has been investigating the issue in Age of kings. We have narrowed down the problem a bit and have another work around for the issue. The issue seems to be caused by having an empire name of 2 or 3 letters in length. To Avoid the loss of data and the Black screen issue our current suggestion is to edit your user profile. Make sure the profile is more than 3 characters long (That�s 4 or more letters or symbols) This work around should prevent any data loss while playing age of kings. Majesco would like to thank you for you patience and you patronage with us during this time. (((To edit your user profile select User Profile and then Edit)))
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