The Cistern of the First Hill is an economic landmark available to the Byzantines and Macedonian Dynasty in the Feudal Age, first introduced in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend. The landmark works differently for the two civilizations. For the Byzantines, it functions the same as a Cistern, in that it provides economic and other bonuses that scale with its water level and can be connected to a Cistern network with Aqueducts. It also grants all non-siege units the powerful Pilgrim Flask healing ability. For the Macedonian Dynasty, it is also classified as a support landmark, and can be tasked to either boost work rates or generate resources.
Special ability[]
Byzantines[]
| “ | Acts as a Cistern. Unlocks the Pilgrim Flask ability on non-siege military units which can be activated to increase health regeneration by 25 per second for 6 seconds. Flasks refill every 30 seconds to a maximum of 20 active flasks. |
” |
| —Age of Empires IV description for the Byzantines | ||
- Pilgrim Flask (Active): Non-siege military units can be activate it to increase health regeneration by 25 per second for 6 seconds. Each unit consumes one flask and has a 45 second cooldown before being able to use another flask. Flasks refill every 30 seconds up to a maximum of 20 active flasks. Six flasks are immediately available when the landmark is completed.
- Automatic Pilgrim Flask (Toggled): When toggled on, a unit will automatically consume one flask (if available) when their health drops below 30% of their maximum health
The other abilities are the same as the Cistern.
- Cistern Influence: The Cistern generates a 10 x 10 influence area which cannot overlap with that of other Cisterns, and which provides one of the following bonuses that can be chosen by the player for each Cistern. A building which overlaps the influence zones of two different cisterns can gain multiple bonuses at the same time, but cannot stack the same bonus multiple times.
- Conscriptio (Influence): All buildings within the influence of the Cistern produce military units production rate +20%/+40%/+60%/+80%/+100% faster depending on the Water Level
- Dialecticus (Influence): All buildings within the influence of the Cistern have +30%/+60%/+90%/+120%/+150% faster research rate depending on the Water Level
- Praesidium (Influence): All buildings within the influence of the Cistern take -5%/-10%/-15%/-20%/-25% damage depending on the Water Level
- Akritoi Defense (Active): When activated, all Villagers within a 9.5 tile radius gain a spear attack with +1/2/3/5 damage per Age and gain +2 melee and ranged armor for 30 seconds. Villagers do not need to remain within this radius to maintain this bonus. Additionally, Villagers that enter the radius after the ability has been activated will gain the bonus for however long is left on the timer. The Cistern of the First Hill has a separate 150 second cooldown for its Akritoi defense ability from standard Cisterns.
- Irrigated (Passive): Villagers within a 9.5 tile radius have +10%/+14%/+18%/+22%/+26% gathering rate per Cistern water level. This bonus is maintained for 20 seconds after the Villager leaves the aura. The bonus does not stack with multiple Cisterns.
Macedonian Dynasty[]
| “ | Charges an ability used for boosting the work rate of military and research buildings. If used on a Mining Camp, Lumber Camp, or Farm, begin earning 160 Gold, Wood, or Food over 60 seconds. Holds 9 charges. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description for the Macedonian Dynasty | ||
- Cistern's Favor (Active): Ability can be used on military production or technology buildings to increase their work rate by +150% for 60 seconds. If used on Mining Camps, Lumber Camps, or Farms, begin generating 160 Gold, Wood, or Food over 60 seconds. Each use consumes one charge. The landmark gains a charge every 90 seconds up to a maximum of 9 charges. 3 charges are immediately available when the landmark is completed.
Further statistics[]
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Court Architects (+30%) Fortifications (+5% per research tier, up to +30%,  Macedonian Dynasty)
|
| Aura and ability enhancements | |
|---|---|
| Damage resistance |   Praesidium (-5% per Cistern water level,  Byzantines)
|
| Other |  Field Stones (Generates 32 stone when built, Byzantines)
|
Changelog[]
- Originally, the Pilgrim Flask ability healed healed 25 hp/second for 10 seconds, had a 45 second cooldown per unit, had 10 maximum charges, spawned a new flask every 45 seconds, and started out with a single available flask. With patch 9.2.628, the ability heals 25 hp/second for 6 seconds, has a 20 second cooldown per unit, has 20 maximum charges, spawns a new flask every 30 seconds, and starts out with three flasks when the landmark is built. With patch 11.1.1201, it starts out with six flasks. With patch 12.1.2454, the flask cooldown was increased back to 45 seconds.
- Originally, the Dialecticus Influence enhancement increased research rate by 50% per Cistern water level and the 'Irrigated' enhancement increased villager gather rate by 5% per Cistern water level. With patch 9.2.628, the Dialecticus buff was reduced to 30% per water level and the Irrigated buff was increased to +10%/+14%/+18%/+22%/+26% gathering rate per Cistern water level.
Trivia[]
- Its real life counterpart is the Basilica Cistern, constructed by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century using around 7,000 slaves. It was made to provide a water filtration system to other buildings on the First Hill of Constantinople.
Gallery[]
The Cistern of the First Hill
Comparison of water levels in the Cistern
