Villager (Age of Empires)

Villagers are the backbone unit for every civilization in Age of Empires. Their purpose is to construct buildings and gather up resources for the use of the player to train units, build more and upgrade them as well as advancing Ages to unlock even more buildings, units and upgrades to train, build and upgrade. They can be trained from Town Center.



Tasks
Villagers can be assigned with different tasks which also changes their name to the corresponding job they are doing.
 * Builder -builds buildings
 * Farmer -gathers Food from Farm
 * Fisherman -gathers Food from fish schools near shore.
 * Forager -gathers Food from bushes
 * Miner -gathers Gold and Stone from their corresponding mines.
 * Hunter -kills and gathers Food from animals
 * Repairman -repairs buildings, boats and siege units
 * If they are attacking enemies or not yet assigned into any task, they will remain as "Villagers"

When attacked, hunters and villagers have an increased attack strength if Jihad is researched.

Buildings
Buildings which the villagers can build from Stone Age are: From Tool Age: From Bronze Age: From Iron Age:
 * House, Barracks, Granary, Storage Pit, Dock
 * Archery Range, Stable, Farm, Watch Tower, Small Wall, Market
 * Government Center, Temple, Additional Town Centers, Siege Workshop, Academy, Sentry Tower, Medium Wall
 * Wonder, Guard Tower, Ballista Tower, Fortification

Upgrades

 * Stone Mining increases the gather rate of stone mining.
 * Siegecraft further increases the gather rate of stone and also enables villagers to attack walls and buildings which they are otherwise unable to
 * Gold Mining increases the gather rate of gold mining
 * Wheel increases movement speed
 * Jihad increases strength

Civilization Bonuses
In some civilizations villagers have bonuses for some of their tasks.
 * Assyrian and Yamato villagers move 30% faster.
 * Egyptian villagers gather 20% more gold.
 * Sumerian villagers are tougher by 15 HP.
 * Babylonian villagers gather 30% more stone.
 * Persian villagers gather 30% more food from hunted animals.
 * Phoenician villagers gather 30% more wood. (This was reduced to 15% after the Age of Empires v1.0c / Rise of Rome v1.0a patch. )
 * Shang villagers are 30% cheaper. (This was reduced to 20% after the Age of Empires v1.0c / Rise of Rome v1.0a patch. )
 * Macedonian villagers have +2 line of sight.
 * Palmyran villagers are 50% more expensive but have armor and work faster.

History
Most people of ancient times lived out their lives working to make a living, primarily as hunters, gatherers, and fishermen originally, and later as farmers and herders. The agricultural revolution that began around 8000 BC freed more and more people from the daily pursuit of sustenance as food production became more dependable and efficient. New specialists included potters, metalworkers, builders, scribes, leather workers, woodworkers, traders, and professional soldiers. By the end of the ancient period, food production employed less than half the population within civilized culture.

Cheats
Putting in the cheat medusa in the chat box turns them into Dark Riders when they are killed by enemy units.