Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
Every guide here is built the same way: the build orders people actually play, strategies age by age, every tech-tree gap written out rather than glossed over, the campaign, and an honest look at how much of the design matches real history. Values are checked against the live patch, because most civilization guides online are quoting numbers that were changed years ago.
Pick a civilization
Six full guides so far. Each card shows the archetype, the map the civilization is happiest on, and roughly how demanding it is to pilot well.
Cavalry archer · most played
The fastest Dark Age in the game and the only siege that keeps up with the cavalry. Mangudai delete siege; Drill makes Rams travel like raiders. One of the thinnest tech trees in AoE2.
Read the Mongols guide
Cavalry
One plan, and a very good one: reach Castle Age, make Knights. Free farm upgrades, cheaper Castles and +20% hit points on every mounted unit. Completely predictable, still strong.
Read the Franks guide
Gunpowder & Monk
Almost every bonus lands after minute sixteen. No Crossbowman at all, then a Castle Age Conquistador many players rate the strongest unit of that age. Arena removes the weakness entirely.
Read the Spanish guide
Infantry
The whole civilization in one number: +33% infantry attack speed from the Feudal Age. The best Men-at-Arms rush in the game, double-HP fishing ships, and no Paladin or Bombard Cannon to finish with.
Read the Japanese guide
Infantry & Monk
No Stable at all, no gunpowder, no Halberdier — and still one of the most feared early games in AoE2. The best Monks in the game at 100 hit points, and Garland Wars to finish.
Read the Aztecs guide
Monk & elephant
You see every relic on the map from the first second, and monastery technologies cost half. Infantry that gets stronger every age — and the only civilization in the game without Leather Archer Armor.
Read the Burmese guide
Britons, Mayans, Teutons…
New guides are added regularly, written to the same standard — patch-checked values, real build orders, and the tech-tree gaps spelled out. Tell us which civilization you want next.
Side by side
The shortest honest answer: Franks if you are learning, Mongols if you like micro, Spanish or Aztecs if you mostly play Arena. The table compares all six on the things that actually decide a game.
| Civilization | Archetype | Best map | Unique unit | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mongols | Cavalry archer | Arabia | Mangudai | Demanding |
| Franks Beginner Civ | Cavalry | Any | Throwing Axeman | Easy |
| Spanish | Gunpowder & Monk | Arena | Conquistador | Medium |
| Japanese Beginner Civ | Infantry | Arabia | Samurai | Easy |
| Aztecs | Infantry & Monk | Arena | Jaguar Warrior | Medium |
| Burmese | Monk & elephant | Arena | Arambai | Easy |
A note on tier lists. Win rates move every patch and they describe the whole ladder, not your games. A civilization with a 47% win rate in the aggregate can be the right pick for you if its plan suits how you play — and the Franks' 51% comes partly from being the civilization beginners are told to pick. Read the strengths and weaknesses section on each guide rather than the number.
What is in every guide
01
Three per civilization, villager by villager, with cumulative numbering so there is no guessing which villager is which. Each one is tied to a map, because the right opening on Arabia is rarely the right opening on Arena.
02
What a civilization cannot build decides more games than what it can. Every guide lists the gaps building by building, struck through, rather than burying them in a sentence.
03
Most guides online quote values that were changed years ago. Mongol hunting went from 50% to 40%, the Franks' Castle discount from 25% to 15% in the Castle Age, Burmese Manipur Cavalry changed target entirely. Where a number has moved, the guide says so.
04
Each civilization's campaign scenarios with practical tips, plus an honest comparison between the design and the record — where it is accurate, where it is invented, and where it is knowingly wrong because the game is better for it.
