Blacksmith (Age of Empires II)

Blacksmith
Building information
Introduced in	The Age of Kings
Type	Research
Civilization	All civilizations
Age	Feudal Age
Use	Improves infantry, archers, cavalry
Required for	Siege Workshop
Construction
Wood	150
Construction time	40 seconds
Statistics
Size	3×3 tiles
Hit points	1,800 2,100 2,100
Melee armor	1 2 3
Pierce armor	8 9 10
Armor classes	Building Standard building
Line of Sight	6

“	Used to improve infantry, archers, cavalry, towers, Town Centers, Castles, and Viking Longboats.	”
—Age of Empires II description

The Blacksmith is a research building in Age of Empires II that becomes available once the Feudal Age is reached. The Blacksmith provides technologies to improve the attack and armor of infantry, cavalry, and archers. Defensive structures and some ships also benefit from the archers' attack upgrades.

Tactics and placement

As a building incapable of attacking or producing units, the placement of a Blacksmith must not be given much thought. All it needs to do is provide researches and optimally stand until it is done doing so. Once all necessary technologies have been researched, the Blacksmith is a completely useless building and can freely be deleted (unless it is walling out an area of importance, in which case it should be replaced). Having a Blacksmith is prerequisite to get access to the Siege Workshop. Losing the Blacksmith does not lose the access to the Siege Workshop. In some rare cases, having two Blacksmiths can be of help if time is of essence. But generally speaking, the Blacksmith researches fast enough to make a second one redundant.

Blacksmith upgrades are of key importance in any stage of the game and should be researched as soon as possible. Generally speaking, it makes more sense to upgrade the armor of melee units before their attack because that improves their fighting capabilities against ranged units as they live longer and can close the gap easier. For ranged units, it is the other way around, they should have the highest possible damage output in order to prevent melee units from reaching them at all.

Technologies

Clicking on the icon links to the corresponding page.

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Availability grid

The following table shows the availability of the technologies for every civilization. Technologies that are available to all civilizations (Scale Mail Armor, Padded Archer Armor, Forging, Iron Casting, Fletching, Bodkin Arrow) are not shown in the table. An 'X' in the last column indicates that all technologies are available. So 8 of the 37 civilizations have access to all Blacksmith upgrades.

= Available

= Unavailable

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

Further statistics

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%)

Civilization bonuses

• Bohemians: Blacksmiths cost -100 wood.
• Bulgarians: Blacksmith technologies cost -50% food.
• Burmese: Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
• Byzantines: Blacksmiths have +20%/+30%/+40% HP in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Town Watch and Town Patrol are free.
• Chinese: Blacksmith technologies and technologies that benefit Blacksmiths are 10%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Incas: Villagers benefit from Blacksmith infantry technologies (starting from the Castle Age).
• Italians: Researching Masonry, Architecture and Treadmill Crane is 33% cheaper.
• Koreans: Padded Archer Armor, Leather Archer Armor and Ring Archer Armor are free.
• Magyars: Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free.
• Malians: Blacksmiths are 15% cheaper.
• Persians: Researching Town Watch and Town Patrol is 10%/15%/20% faster in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Portuguese: Blacksmith technologies and technologies that benefit Blacksmiths are researched 30% faster.
• Spanish: Blacksmiths are built 30% faster. Blacksmith technologies cost no gold.

Team bonuses

• A team containing Bulgarians: Blacksmiths work 80% faster.
• A team containing Lithuanians: Researching Faith and Heresy is 20% faster.
• A team containing Malians: Researching Masonry, Architecture, and Treadmill Crane is 80% faster.

Changelog

The Age of Kings

• Blacksmiths always have 2,100 HP.

The Conquerors

• Heresy introduced.

The Forgotten

• Blacksmith HP staggered: 1,800/2,100/2,100 in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Incas: Villagers are affected by Forging and Scale Mail Armor starting from the Feudal Age.
• Magyars: Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free, but require a Blacksmith.

Rise of the Rajas

• Magyars: With patch 5.5, free Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace no longer require a Blacksmith.

Definitive Edition

• Bulgarians: Originally, Blacksmiths work 50% faster (as a team bonus). With update 42848, they work 80% faster, and all Blacksmith technologies cost 50% less food.
• Koreans: With update 42848, Padded Archer Armor, Leather Archer Armor and Ring Archer Armor is free.
• Portuguese: With update 42848, Blacksmith technologies and technologies that benefit Blacksmiths are researched 30% faster.

Lords of the West

• Incas: With update 47820, Villagers are affected by Forging and Scale Mail Armor starting from the Castle Age.

History

“

Iron-working technology had been learned by the barbarian tribes of Europe prior to the fall of Rome and was carried forward into the Dark Ages. Iron working was done at the blacksmith, named partially for the black iron worked there and for the black soot that covered the workers each day. At the blacksmith iron was forged and hammered into tools, weapons shields, and armor. The ability to make superior weapons and armor became a highly prized and well-rewarded skill. Blacksmiths, armorers, and weapon makers moved into the rising middle class.

”

Gallery

All Feudal Age Blacksmiths in The Age of Kings and The Conquerors

All Feudal Age Blacksmiths introduced in the HD expansions

All Castle Age Blacksmiths in The Age of Kings and The Conquerors

All Castle Age Blacksmiths introduced in the HD expansions

All original game Feudal Age Blacksmiths introduced in the Definitive Edition

All expansion Feudal Age Blacksmiths introduced in the Definitive Edition

All original game Castle Age Blacksmiths introduced in the Definitive Edition

All expansion Castle Age Blacksmiths introduced in the Definitive Edition