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
 * Woodcutter - gathers Wood from trees
 * Miner - gathers Gold and Stone from their corresponding mines.
 * Hunter - kills and gathers Food from animals
 * Repairman - repairs buildings and boats.
 * If they are attacking enemies or remain idle, they will remain as "Villagers"

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

Buildings
Villager can build the following buildings:

Stone Age: Tool Age: Bronze Age: 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
Market provides: Government Center provides with: Temple provides with:
 * Woodworking increases the gather rate of wood cutting.
 * Artisanship further increases the gather rate of wood cutting. Not available for Persians.
 * Craftsmanship further increases the gather rate of wood cutting. Not available for Macedonians, Palmyrans, Persians and Sumerians.
 * 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. Not available for Carthaginians, Egyptians, Macedonians, Persians, Phoenicians and Shang.
 * Gold Mining increases the gather rate of gold mining
 * Coinage further increases the gather rate of gold mining. Not available for Egyptians, Palmyrans, Persians, Shang and Sumerians.
 * Wheel increases movement speed. Not available for Macedonians and Persians
 * Architecture increases the building speed. Not available for Assyrians and Phoenicians.
 * Jihad increases strength. Not available for Greeks, Hittites, Macedonians, Minoans, Sumerians and Yamato.

Civilization Bonuses
In some civilizations villagers have bonuses for some of their tasks. What certain civilizations cannot build:
 * 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.
 * Phoenicia: 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 and are more resistant to conversion.
 * Palmyran: Villagers are 50% more expensive but have armor and work faster.
 * Minoan and Yamato: Villagers cannot build Fortifications, Guard Towers and Ballista Towers.
 * Persian: Villagers cannot build Academies and Ballista Towers
 * Carthaginians: Villagers cannot build Fortifications
 * Shang: Villagers cannot build Ballista Towers
 * Roman: Villagers cannot build Guard Towers and Ballista Towers
 * Macedonians: Villagers cannot build Fortifications and Temples



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.''

— The Age of Empires manual

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