Villager (Age of Empires II)

Like those from the previous installment, Villagers function as the backbone for all civilizations in Age of Empires II. They are trained from the Town Center, which decides whether they are male or female randomly, and perform tasks involving building construction and resource gathering with the addition of a new task, herding.

Every civilization, except for the Chinese and Mayans, begin each game scenario with three Villagers. These Villagers can be upgraded with the Loom and Sappers technologies. Spanish players can also research Supremacy that boosts their overall fighting skills, while Incan villagers can be upgraded by blacksmith upgrades (classified as infantry). Villagers function ineffectively in battlefield conditions and will cease their tasks when attacked, however, they are useful when positioned in the rear of an army, enabling them to repair damaged siege weapons. They are also the only units that can gather food from deer and boar upon killing them.

Tasks
Villagers may be assigned with different tasks. Accordingly, their titles will change to the corresponding task they are currently completing.
 * Builder - builds buildings
 * Farmer - gathers food from Farm
 * Fisherman - gathers food from fish schools near shore.
 * Forager - gathers food from bushes
 * Lumberjack - gathers Wood from trees
 * Miner - gathers Gold and Stone from their corresponding mines.
 * Herder - herds Sheep near Town Center or Mill, kills and gathers Food from them.
 * Hunter - kills and gathers food from wild animals
 * Repairer - repairs buildings, boats and siege units

If under attack, hunters and villagers have an increased attack strength.

Buildings
Villager can construct the following buildings:

Dark Age: Feudal Age: Castle Age: Imperial Age:
 * House, Mill, Farm, Mining Camp, Lumber Camp, Dock, Barracks, Outpost, Palisade Wall
 * Archery Range, Blacksmith, Market, Stable, Watch Tower, Gate, Stone Wall
 * Castle, Siege Workshop, Guard Tower, Fortified Wall, Monastery, University, additional Town Centers
 * Wonder, Keep, Bombard Tower.

Buildings certain civilizations cannot construct

 * Aztecs - Stables, Keeps and Bombard Towers.
 * Britons, Celts, Japanese and Saracens - Bombard Towers.
 * Franks, Mongols and Vikings - Keeps and Bombard Towers.
 * Goths - Guard Towers, Keeps, Bombard Towers, Stone Walls, Fortified Walls and Gates.
 * Huns - Houses, Guard Towers, Keeps, Bombard Towers and Fortified Walls.
 * Mayans - Stables and Bombard Towers.
 * Persians - Keeps, Bombard Towers and Fortified Walls.

Upgrades
Town Center provides: Lumber Camp provides: Mining Camp provides: University provides: Castle provides: Monastery provides:
 * Loom is likely the first technology to be researched by any player starting in the Dark Age. Costing 50 gold, Loom massively increases villagers' survivability by giving them +1 armor, +2 pierce armor, and +15 health. The Aztecs receive it free as a bonus.
 * Wheelbarrow makes villagers move +10% faster and carry +25% more resources.
 * Hand Cart further makes villagers move +10% faster and carry +50% more resources.
 * Double-Bit Axe makes villagers gather wood +20% faster.
 * Bow Saw further makes villagers gather wood +20% faster.
 * Two-Man Saw further makes villagers gather wood +10% faster. Not available for Aztecs, Celts, Franks and Mongols.
 * Gold Mining makes villagers gather gold +15% faster.
 * Gold Shaft Mining further makes villagers gather +15% faster. Not available for Goths, Japanese, Mayans Spanish and Teutons.
 * Stone Mining makes villagers gather stone +15% faster.
 * Stone Shaft Mining further makes villagers gather stone +15% faster. Not available for Britons, Franks, Huns, Japanese, Saracens, Turks and Vikings.
 * Treadmill Crane causes villagers to construct buildings 20% quicker. Not available for Britons, Byzantines, Chinese, Japanese, Mongols, Persians, Spanish and Vikings.
 * Sappers enables villagers to do +15 damage against any building when ordered to attack one. Not available for Byzantines, Franks, Japanese, Koreans and Saracens.
 * Supremacy further increases a villager's combat prowess, granting them +40 hit points, +6 attack strength and +2 armor/pierce armor levels. Only available to the Spanish.
 * Faith makes villagers 50% harder to convert.

Civilization Bonuses

 * Aztec villagers carry +5 resources.
 * Briton villagers gather 25% faster from herdables.
 * Celtish villagers gather wood 15% faster, herdables cannot be stolen within a unit's Line of Sight.
 * Chinese start with +3 villagers, but with.
 * Gothic villagers have +5 attack vs. wild boar, carry +15 meat.
 * Korean villagers have +3 Line of Sight. and build fortifications 25% faster (fortification building bonus only avaiable in The Forgotten expansion )
 * Mayans start with +1 villager, but with, natural resources last 20% longer.
 * Mongol villagers gather 50% faster from huntables.
 * Spanish villagers build 30% faster.
 * Turkish villagers gather gold 15% faster.
 * Villagers in a team containing Teutons are more resistant to conversion.
 * Incan villagers benefits from Blacksmith infantry upgrades
 * Indian Villagers  cost -5%/-10%/-15%/-20% in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Magyar Villagers kill wolves or equivalent with one strike.
 * Slavic villagers gather 15% faster from farms
 * Frankish villagers colect from bushes 25% faster ( only in The Forgotten expansion)

History
''The great percentage of people in the Middle Ages were peasants, serfs, and lowly villagers who gathered the food and did most of the work. They supported a relatively small class of religious leaders and nobleman who controlled the wealth and power of the community. The life of the peasant and serf was hard but improved as feudalism gave way to social systems that allowed the workers to retain more of their produce. Many peasants moved into the middle class of the growing cities. Those who remained on the farms saw their production and wealth increase thanks to specialization and many technological improvements in agriculture.''

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