Valley of Kings

Valley of Kings is a Random Map in Age of Mythology. It is based on the real world Valley of the Kings where tombs were constructed for kings and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom over a period of 500 years.

Overview
Valley of Kings is one of the most dangerous random maps in Age of Mythology. This is mainly due to the presence of Bandit Migdols, which are similar to Migdol Strongholds but under the control of Gaia. These make scouting and rushes difficult as the reasonably powerful Migdols will fire arrows at any player that comes within range. They cannot be easily destroyed in the early game either as they have the Boiling Oil upgrade and any army with insufficient strength will suffer great losses.

But destroying a Bandit Migdol is extremely rewarding as they usually guard three large gold mines. These will be incredibly valuable as they are the only natural source of gold apart from the starting gold mines. Players are advised to advance to the Heroic Age as quickly as possible to train siege units to destroy the Bandit Migdols. Similar to Megalopolis, allies start close to each other so playing on the defensive is viable. Major gods that best stand a chance on this map include Hades, Gaia and Isis. Meanwhile, Thor can cast Dwarven Mine to be less reliant on guarded gold mines while Kronos can simply use Deconstruction to remove a Bandit Migdol, leaving the gold for the taking.

Environment
Egyptian symbols are frequent in this desert surrounded by cliffs. There are many statues of Pharaohs and lions but also skeletons of the unfortunate thieves who fell victim on the Migdols. Large forests of palm trees provide shelter for various African animals, including lions, giraffes, rhinoceroses, hippopotami and gazelles. There are also chickens near the starting Town Centers. A few ponds are found but they have no purpose other than to slow down armies.