Barracks (Age of Empires II)

"Used to create and improve infantry. Required for Archery Range, Stable."

—Age of Empires II description

The Barracks is the first military building available for construction in Age of Empires II; prerequisite to building the Archery Range and Stable. It trains and improves infantry.

Tactics and placement Edit

As the Barracks is the first military building that enables a player to create military units it is highly important to have at least one as soon as the player can afford it in order to defend themselves. Having a Barracks early in the game is important even if the player does not intend to use infantry units (unless they are Khmer), because it is prerequisite to build Archery Ranges and Stables.

The Barracks is a vital building when performing early game rushes like the Dark Age rush and Feudal Age infantry rush. Also placing Barracks close to an enemy's base gives the player an edge to cut off distances for the troops as they can be created near to the opponent and attack more effectively since infantry units trained there move rather slowly (except for Eagle Warriors). When playing defensively the Barracks should be placed within fortifications in order to produce support units that can deal with many siege units, many cavalry units, and trash units.

In the Goths' case they must use their Barracks extensively for offensive and defensive purposes as their Barracks' work extremely fast, enabling them to mass infantry at an incredibly high rate. Defensively, Goths should always substitute fortifications with just Barracks as they don't have access to Stone Walls and Guard Towers.

Trainable units and technologies Edit

Clicking on the icon links to the corresponding page.

Blue: Units

Green: Technologies

Purple: Unique units

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The Goths can also train Huskarls at the Barracks once Anarchy is researched.

Availability grid Edit

The following table shows the availability of the units and technologies for every civilization. Unique units and units and technologies that are available to all civilizations are not shown in the table. An 'X' in the last column indicates that all units and technologies are available.

= Available

= Unavailable

Civilization											All
Aztecs
Berbers
Britons
Bulgarians
Burmese
Byzantines
Celts
Chinese
Cumans
Ethiopians
Franks
Goths
Huns
Incas											X
Indians
Italians
Japanese
Khmer
Koreans
Lithuanians
Magyars
Malay
Malians
Mayans
Mongols
Persians
Portuguese
Saracens
Slavs
Spanish
Tatars
Teutons
Turks
Vietnamese
Vikings
Civilization											All

Further statistics Edit

Building strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing
Weak vs.	Everything
Upgrades
Hit points	Masonry (+10%)  Architecture (+10%)
Armor	Masonry (+1/+1, +3 building armor)  Architecture (+1/+1, +3 building armor)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+4)  Town Patrol (+4)
Conversion defense	Faith  Heresy
Construction speed	Treadmill Crane (+20%)
Work rate	Conscription (+33%)  Perfusion (+100%, Goths only)
Other	Anarchy (allows creation of Huskarls, Goths only)  Forced Levy (Militia line only costs food, Malay only)

Civilization bonuses Edit

• Aztecs: Barracks units are created 18% faster.
• Burmese: Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
• Bulgarians: Militia line units are upgraded for free.
• Byzantines: Barracks have +10%/+20%/+30%/+40% HP in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Town Watch is free. Spearmen are 25% cheaper.
• Chinese: Technologies that benefit Barracks and Barracks technologies are 10%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Ethiopians: The Pikeman upgrade is free.
• Goths: Units trained at the Barracks are 35% cheaper starting in the Feudal Age. With Perfusion researched, researching Tracking, Squires, and Arson is 100% faster.
• Koreans: Spearman line costs -15% wood.
• Malians: Barracks are 15% cheaper.
• Persians: Researching Town Watch and Town Patrol is 10%/15%/20% faster in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Portuguese: The Militia line costs -15% gold.
• Slavs: Tracking is free.
• Spanish: Barracks are built 30% faster.
• Teutons: Barracks units get +1/+2 melee armor in the Castle/Imperial Age.
• Vietnamese: Conscription is free.

Team bonuses Edit

• A team containing Goths: Barracks work 20% faster.
• A team containing Italians: Condottieri are available at the Barracks in the Imperial Age.
• A team containing Malians: Researching Masonry, Architecture, and Treadmill Crane is 80% faster.
• A team containing Slavs: Barracks provide +5 population.