Architecture (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the technology in Age of Empires II. For other uses of the term, see Architecture.

Architecture
Availability
Introduced in	Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Civilization	See table
Age	Imperial Age
Research
Researched at	University
Prerequisite(s)	Masonry
Food	300
Wood	200
Research time	70 seconds
Effect
Buildings +10% HP, +1 armor, +1 pierce armor, +3 building armor

Architecture is a technology in Age of Empires II that can be researched at the University once the Imperial Age is reached. Once researched, it strengthens all buildings (except walls, Gates, Farms, and Fish Traps) by providing +10% hit points, +1 melee armor, +1 pierce armor, and +3 building armor.

Note that building armor does not protect against all kinds of bonus damage against buildings; it reduces the bonus damage from units with an attack bonus against the building class only, such as siege weapons, ships, Villagers, Tarkans, and War Elephants. However, it does not reduce the bonus damage from units that only have an attack bonus against the standard building class, such as most infantry.

Combined with Masonry, buildings will have a total increase of +21% HP, +2 melee armor, +2 pierce armor, and +6 building armor. Despite lacking both Masonry and Architecture, the Byzantines have arguably the toughest buildings in the game due to their civilization bonus that gives all their buildings +40% HP in the Imperial Age.

Availability chart

Available	Unavailable
Bengalis Bohemians Britons Bulgarians Burgundians Burmese Chinese Ethiopians Franks Georgians Goths Gurjaras Italians Jurchens Khmer Koreans Lithuanians Malians Maya Persians Portuguese Romans Shu Spanish Turks Vikings Wu	Armenians Aztecs Berbers Byzantines Celts Cumans Dravidians Hindustanis Huns Inca Japanese Khitans Magyars Malay Mongols Poles Saracens Sicilians Slavs Tatars Teutons Vietnamese Wei

Civilization bonuses

• Chinese: Architecture is 15% cheaper.
• Italians: Architecture is 33% cheaper.
• Jurchens: Researching Architecture costs -75% wood and is 100% faster.
• Spanish: Receive 20 gold after researching Architecture.

Team bonuses

• Malians: Researching Architecture is 80% faster.
• Portuguese: Researching Architecture is 25% faster.

Changelog

The Age of Kings

• Architecture costs 200 wood, 300 stone.

The Conquerors

• With patch 1.0b, Architecture costs 300 food, 200 wood.

Definitive Edition

• Portuguese: With update 42848, all technologies are researched 30% faster.

Lords of the West

• Italians: With update 44725, Architecture is 33% cheaper.

History

“	The rebirth of masonry allowed the architecture of the Middle Ages to advance as well. New techniques for vaulting and support made possible the great cathedrals that stand as icons for this age. The famous architectural feature of this age was the flying buttress. This new element shifted part of the great weight of a cathedral's roof onto supports outside the walls, allowing great airy vaults to open over the center of the church. Massive load-bearing pillars left long open spaces between which beautiful stained glass windows could be placed.	”
—Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual

Trivia

• There are only nine scenarios in the Ensemble Studios-era campaigns (The Age of Kings and The Conquerors) in which Architecture can be researched, more than half of which are in Battles of the Conquerors: The Rising, A Perfect Martyr, King of Valencia, Reconquista, Tours, Hastings, Manzikert, Lepanto, and Noryang Point. Using cheats, it can also be researched in The Siege of Paris and Agincourt.