Mayans/Strategy

The Mayans are an archer oriented civilization. Their archers decrease in cost every single age, making them the cheapest of any civilization. Their unique unit is the Plumed Archer, an archer with better hitpoints, armor, speed but lower attack. These units are very cost effective due to their durability. In groups their lower attack is mostly negated and if outmatched can easily escape due to their high speed. Plumed Archers work well when used in conjunction with Eagle Warriors, who can knock out cavalry units and siege weapons that can easily kill the Plumed Archers. Their Eagle Warriors gain an extra forty hitpoints with the Mayan unique technology El Dorado. This allows the Mayans to field a fast and durable force that can easily handle most threats. In terms of defense they are average in most respects but have the advantage of having cheaper walls, which are only half the cost. They also have a fairly effective navy having access to all naval technologies except for the Cannon Galleon.

However since they are a Mesoamerican civilization they do not have access to cavalry or gunpowder, which many see as a large disadvantage. Eagle Warriors offer a serviceable replacement but cannot match the damage output of heavy cavalry. However El Dorado provides a large boost for Mayan Eagle Warriors which allows them to fare better against them. Also like the Aztecs they do not have access to gunpowder units and as such are missing the Cannon Galleon, Bombard Cannon, and Hand Cannoneer. Their infantry are also fairly weak compared to other civilizations as they cannot research the Champion upgrade and are missing all the blacksmith upgrades that improve infantry armor.