This article is about the Age in Age of Empires II. For the Age in Age of Empires IV, see Castle Age (Age of Empires IV). |
The Castle Age is the third Age in Age of Empires II. Upon reaching this Age, more buildings become available, including the Castle. Some of these buildings are related to the choice of new and powerful units, including three new unit types: siege units, unique units, and Monks. In addition, Age-related civilization bonuses also increase in effect, reinforcing the civilizations' unique tactics. A variety of both economic and military strategies are possible during this Age. The Castle Age is preceded by the Feudal Age and followed by the Imperial Age.
Strategy[]
The Castle Age is rather influential on the game. Military, defensive, and economic options begin to open up and deepen with increased numbers of buildings, technologies, and unit types. This is an age where small advantages can quickly snowball into large leads, as militaries and economies greatly expand and spare resources are tight.
Most notable among the new military units is the Knight, a powerful cavalry unit that can be immediately trained from Stables. The Knight and the Crossbowman, the upgrade of the Archer, are the typical backbones of a Castle Age military, each with its own unique sets of strengths and weaknesses. The Siege Workshop and Monastery also become available, which can create units such as the Mangonel and Monk. These four units can have a significant influence on a Castle Age strategy.
Economically, the ability to create multiple Town Centers causes Villager numbers to skyrocket. Defensively, the Castle aids the player's ability to pressure an opponent and relieve pressure on themselves.
As a result of the new choices available, the battle on the map intensifies and sieges become possible. Stone starts to become more important in constructing defensive walls and Castles, as does gold used for an increasing number of technologies, including 800 gold to age up to the Imperial Age.
Note: The list below is not cumulative, and only shows new units, buildings, and technologies that are activated when a player advances to the Castle Age.
Available buildings[]
Civilian buildings[]
- Monastery - trains and upgrades Monks
- University - building to research and upgrade structures and missiles
- Town Center1 - trains and upgrades Villagers
- Fortified Church - defensive Monastery that attacks enemies on sight (Armenians and Georgians only)
- The Town Center is also a defensive structure.
Military buildings[]
- Castle1 - trains and upgrades unique units and siege units
- Krepost1 - trains Konniks (Bulgarians only)
- Siege Workshop - trains and upgrades siege units
- The Castle and the Krepost are also defensive structures.
Defensive structures[]
- Guard Tower1 - Tower that attacks enemies on sight
- Fortified Wall1 - protects an area from enemy attacks
- Harbor2 - creates and upgrades ships and also attacks enemy on sight (Malay only)
- The Guard Tower and the Fortified Wall have to be researched at the University.
- The Harbor is also a military and a civilian building. Requires Thalassocracy.
Available units[]
Civilian units[]
At the Monastery:
- Monk - special unit used for healing, converting enemies, and gathering Relics
- Missionary - mounted special unit used for healing and converting enemies (Spanish only)
At the Fortified Church (Armenians and Georgians only):
- Monk - anti-cavalry unit
- Warrior Priest - Religious infantry that can fight, carry Relics, and heal allied units. (Armenians only)
Military units[]
At the Barracks:
- Long Swordsman ā Two-Handed Swordsman (Armenians only) - Champion (Armenians only) - heavy infantry unit
- Pikeman ā Halberdier (Armenians only) - anti-cavalry unit
- Eagle Warrior - scouting unit, also good against foot archers, siege weapons and Monks (Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans only)
- Huskarl - Anti-archer infantry (Goths only, after researching Anarchy)
At the Archery Range:
- Crossbowman - foot archer unit
- Elite Skirmisher - anti-archer javelineer
- Cavalry Archer - mounted archer unit
- Elephant Archer - slow and heavy mounted archer (Bengalis, Dravidians, and Gurjaras only)
- Hand Cannoneer - foot gunpowder unit (Bohemians only, after researching Chemistry)
- Slinger - anti-infantry unit (Incas only)
- Genitour - mounted Skirmisher (Berbers and allies only)
At the Stable:
- Camel Rider - anti-cavalry unit
- Knight ā Cavalier (Burgundians only) - heavy cavalry unit
- Xolotl Warrior (Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans only)
- Light Cavalry - light and quick scouting unit, also good against siege weapons and Monks
- Battle Elephant - heavy cavalry unit
- Steppe Lancer - light cavalry unit with a long weapon (Cumans, Mongols, and Tatars only)
- Shrivamsha Rider - light cavalry unit which can dodge projectiles (Gurjaras only)
- Tarkan - anti-building cavalry (Huns only, after researching Marauders)
At the Castle:
- Unique unit - a special unit only one civilization can train
- Petard - self-destructive anti-building and anti-siege unit
- Mercenary Kipchak (allies of Cumans with Cuman Mercenaries researched only)
At the Siege Workshop:
- Battering Ram ā Capped Ram (Cumans only) - anti-building siege unit that is almost immune to missiles
- Armored Elephant - anti-building cavalry & siege unit with high pierce armor (Bengalis, Dravidians, Gurjaras, and Hindustanis only)
- Mangonel - ranged siege unit with splash attack
- Scorpion - ranged siege unit with pass-through attack along a line
- Siege Tower - siege unit that can drop off units behind Walls
At the Dock/Harbor (the latter for the Malay only):
- War Galley - basic war ship
- Fire Ship - war ship with a flamethrower
- Demolition Ship - self-destructive vessel
- Longboat - war ship that shoots multiple arrows (Vikings only)
- Turtle Ship - heavy armored ship that fires a cannon (Koreans only)
- Caravel - war ship that shoots arrows with splash attack (Portuguese only)
At the Krepost (Bulgarians only):
- Konnik - heavy cavalry unit which respawns as an infantry unit upon death
At the Donjon (Sicilians only):
- Pikeman - anti-cavalry unit
Available technologies[]
Economic technologies[]
At the Town Center:
- Town Patrol - increases building LOS
- Hand Cart - makes Villagers more effective
At the Mill (Folwark for the Poles):
- Heavy Plow - gives Farms extra food and farmers +1 carry capacity
- Crop Rotation - gives Farms extra food (Burgundians only)
At the Lumber Camp:
- Bow Saw - increases wood-chopping speed
- Two-Man Saw - increases wood-chopping speed (Burgundians only)
At the Mining Camp:
- Stone Shaft Mining - increases stone-mining speed
- Gold Shaft Mining - increases gold-mining speed
At the Mule Cart (Armenians and Georgians only):
- Bow Saw - increases wood-chopping speed
- Gold Shaft Mining - increases gold-mining speed
- Stone Shaft Mining - increases stone-mining speed
At the Market:
- Coinage - decreases tribute fee (since patch 5.8; moved from Feudal Age)
- Banking - removes tribute fee (before patch 5.8 where it moved to the Imperial Age)
- Caravan - increases the speed of trade units by 50%
- Guilds - reduces commodity trading fee (Burgundians only)
At the Dock/Harbor (the latter for the Malay only):
- Gillnets - increases the working rate of Fishing Ships (since The Forgotten)
At the University:
- Masonry - strengthens buildings
- Treadmill Crane - increases construction speed of villagers
Military technologies[]
At the Barracks:
- Squires - increases infantry speed by 10%
- Arson - gives infantry +2 attack against buildings (since The African Kingdoms)
At the Archery Range:
- Thumb Ring - increases archer accuracy to 100% and rate of fire (since The Conquerors)
- Parthian Tactics - increases armor and attack against Spearmen of mounted archers (Persians only)
At the Stable:
At the Dock/Harbor (the latter for the Malay only):
- Careening - increases ship pierce armor by 1 and Transport Ship capacity by 5
- War Galley - Upgrades Galleys, Fire Galleys, and Demolition Rafts to War Galleys, Fire Ships, and Demolition Ships respectively
At the Blacksmith:
- Iron Casting - increases infantry and cavalry attack by +1
- Chain Mail Armor - increases infantry armor by +1/+1
- Bodkin Arrow - projectiles' range and attack increased by +1
- Leather Archer Armor - increases archer armor by +1/+1
- Chain Barding Armor - increases cavalry armor by +1/+1
At the University:
- Ballistics - increases accuracy when projectiles are fired at moving targets
- Murder Holes - removes minimum range of Castles and Towers
- Heated Shot - increases Castle and Tower attack against ships
- Chemistry - increases missiles and siege units and allows the creation of gunpowder units (Bohemians only)
At the Castle:
- Unique technology1 - special technology that only one civilization can research
- Not all unique technologies are military technologies.
Religious technologies[]
At the Monastery (Fortified Church for Armenians and Georgians):
- Redemption - Monks can convert siege units and most buildings
- Fervor - increases Monk speed
- Sanctity - increases Monk hit points
- Atonement - Monks can convert other Monks
- Heresy (die upon getting converted) - converted units die instead of taking the enemy's color
- Herbal Medicine - garrisoned units heal faster
- Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) - increases conversion resistance of all units
Civilization bonuses[]
- Bengalis: Spawn 2 villagers from every Town Center when they reach the Castle Age.
- Burgundians: Imperial Age economic technologies are available in the Castle Age. Castle Age economic technologies are available in the Feudal Age.
- Dravidians: Receive 200 wood when they reach the Castle Age.
- Ethiopians: Receive 100 food, 100 gold when they reach the Castle Age.
- Italians: Advancing to the Castle Age is 15% cheaper, 680 food, 170 gold instead of 800 food, 200 gold.
- Khmer: No buildings are required to advance to the Castle Age.
- Malay: Advancing to the Castle Age is 66% faster (96 seconds instead of 160).
- Persians: Town Centers and Docks work 15% faster in the Castle Age. Advancing to the Castle Age is 10% faster (145 seconds instead of 160).
History[]
ā | Castles began appearing across the landscape of Europe in the ninth century as local lords sought to solidify their power. Castles protected them from neighbors and provided a safe haven from which mounted warriors could ride out and control the nearby country. Typical of the Castle Age was the conquest of Wales by Edward I of England. By placing a series of massive castles at strategic points throughout Wales, Edward accomplished his conquest with a minimum of fighting. The castles were impregnable to the scattered warriors of Wales. English soldiers inside could ride out at their leisure and control the conduct of trade, gathering of crops, and collection of taxes. The Castle Age witnessed a rise in population, economic growth, increased trade, the Crusades to the Holy Land, a new interest in the arts, the rise of knights, and the formation of great kingdoms. | ā |
—Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual |
Ages in the Age of Empires series | |
---|---|
Age of Empires | |
Stone Age Ā· Tool Age Ā· Bronze Age Ā· Iron Age Cut: Prehistoric Age Ā· Republic Age | |
Age of Empires II | |
Dark Age Ā· Feudal Age Ā· Castle Age Ā· Imperial Age | |
Age of Mythology | |
Archaic Age Ā· Classical Age Ā· Heroic Age Ā· Mythic Age Ā· Titan Age | |
Age of Empires III | |
Exploration Age Ā· Commerce Age Ā· Fortress Age Ā· Industrial Age Ā· Imperial Age Revolution | |
Age of Empires IV | |
Dark Age Ā· Feudal Age Ā· Castle Age Ā· Imperial Age |