Civilization (Age of Mythology)

This article is about the civilizations in Age of Mythology. For the civilizations in the other games of the series, see Civilization.

Age of Mythology features three distinct civilizations (also known as cultures or pantheons^{[note 1]} to avoid confusion with the major gods): Greeks, Egyptians, and Norse. The Atlanteans are added with The Titans. The Chinese were added to the Extended Edition with Tale of the Dragon.

Retold scraps the Tale of the Dragon Chinese at release, and reworks them later with Immortal Pillars. In addition, one as of yet unknown pantheon will be added in a second expansion pack.

Each civilization in the game has a unique gameplay style, as well as distinct buildings, units, sounds, and models. Each civilization also has a host of unique myth units, myth technologies, and god powers that they receive from their chosen gods.

Greeks[]

Main article: Greeks (Age of Mythology)

The Greeks are the starting faction in the Age of Mythology campaign and are the easiest to get used to using as they are most similar to the factions of other Age of Empires games. They have very powerful and unique heroes from their myths which are strong and immune to several Myth unit special attacks. A Greek player can only have four heroes present on the map at a time.

Economy[]

The basic Villager builds and gathers resources as well as worshiping at a Temple to gain the favor of the gods.

Military[]

Greek soldiers are stronger but more expensive than those of other civilizations, with more limited options for healing. The different unit types all have their own military building and each major god gets a unique unit, trained from the Fortress.

Society[]

Society is led by heroes, unique named figures of myth who have greater power to make up for their lesser numbers.

Worship[]

Gain favor by assigning Villagers to worship at a constructed Temple.

Egyptians[]

Main article: Egyptians (Age of Mythology)

The Egyptians are played in the second phase of the campaign. Egyptians have the advantage of mobile, non-god-specific healing through their Priests and Pharaohs.

Economy[]

Basic Villager unit builds and gathers resources. Their drop-off point buildings, as well as other non-military buildings, are free. Buildings that are not free cost gold instead of wood.

Military[]

Two types of non-siege military units, trained from Barracks and Migdol Strongholds. Barracks units are cheap but weak and are purely counter units, while Migdol units are more expensive but a lot more effective. They make use of exotic animals such as Camels and Elephants as well as Chariots.

Society[]

The Pharaoh is the ruler of Egypt. He can heal, attack monsters from a distance, and visit buildings to empower them, increasing their work and firing rate. Priests are spiritual leaders who can perform some of the Pharaoh's duties, but weaker, while being effective against myth units and weak in combat against human soldiers.

Worship[]

Gain favor by building Monuments. There are five Monuments each more expensive than the last, with every successive monument generating more favor.

Norse[]

Main article: Norse

The Norse are an aberration from other Age of Mythology civilizations and can take some getting used to. Their emphasis on mobility and offense is truly in the Viking spirit.

Economy[]

The Norse have two kinds of villagers: Gatherers and Dwarves. Dwarves are very good at mining but not as good as Gatherers at other tasks. Ox Carts serve as portable drop points for resources. Buildings (except for Farms and Houses) are built by infantry instead of villagers.

Military[]

Norse units are strong offensively, but weak on defense. Because infantry construct buildings, Norse can quickly build a forward base or occupy enemy territory without bringing vulnerable civilians into dangerous places.

Society[]

The Norse are led by Thanes, Hersirs, and Jarls. Hersirs are heroes while Jarls are powerful cavalry. Thanes are not featured as units, but are referenced in the Hall of Thanes technology.

Worship[]

Gain favor by killing enemies, with heroes earning more favor than regular units. This makes favor gain somewhat unreliable, so it must be used wisely. Hersirs and Godis generate favor passively too, so it is advised to have a good amount of them.

Atlanteans[]

Main article: Atlanteans

The Atlanteans are technologically advanced. Their units, both military and civilian, are powerful but expensive.

Economy[]

Atlantean villagers, Citizens, do not need to return to a building to drop off resources and are far more effective at gathering. However, each unit is more expensive.

Military[]

Advanced technology backed up with powerful myth units. Human soldiers can be upgraded to hero status at a significant cost, making them more powerful and effective against myth units.

Society[]

The Atlantean leader is the Theocrat. At the time of the Fall of the Trident campaign, the Atlantean theocrat is Krios and by the end of The New Atlantis campaign, Kastor is granted the role by Arkantos.

Worship[]

Worship the Titans, defeated long ago in the Titanomachy by Zeus and other gods. Their major gods are Kronos, Oranos, and Gaia. Favor is gained by building Town Centers (original)/scouting with Oracles (Retold) to spread Atlantean influence.

In the Fall of the Trident campaign, they worshipped the Greek god Poseidon, but after their patron deity turned his back on them, they found themselves abandoned, eventually finding a renewed pantheon in the Titans that they worshipped in the distant past.

Chinese[]

Main article: Chinese (Tale of the Dragon)

Economy[]

Chinese Peasants do not have multiple drop sites like their Greek and Egyptian counterparts, they use Storage Pit as a drop site for all resource types.

Military[]

Chinese military units are cheap and quick to mass, but are often specialized, so battalion composition is important. Unlike other civilizations, they have only one infantry unit, the Halberdier. Their most-used archer unit is the Chu Ko Nu, but other archers are also available. Chinese cavalry are all units that specialize in one aspect while being weaker in general.

Society[]

The Emperor is the leader of the Chinese. Armies are led by Generals.

Worship[]

The Chinese gain favor by building Gardens. They can generate every type of resource including favor but only one kind at a time. Only ten Gardens can be built, with Gardens after the first three becoming more expensive.

Trivia[]

The game data folders contain the following words that reference some civilizations appearing in the first Age of Empires game, as discovered by the community here.

// disable Xpack civs

// Civilization = Babylonians / hide from player

// Civilization = Sumerians / hide from player

// Civilization = Lorciferans / hide from player

// Unlock date = 12OCT2003

This is however blatantly a joke created by the developers to fool people who datamine the game, seeing as "lorciferans" are a type of microscopic sea creatures.

Notes[]

↑
In the terminology used in the original game as well as in the game manual:
- The word "Culture" refers to Greeks, Egyptians, Norse, etc.
- The word "Civilization" refers to the tech tree of a culture as well as one of their major gods, e.g. a Greek civilization worshipping Zeus. It is also used in Tale of the Dragon vendor pages to refer to the Chinese culture.
- The word "Pantheon" is used for the set of all the major and minor gods a culture can worship. It is also used in Retold pages and in-game encyclopedia to refer to the cultures.
- In the Treasury section of Retold, the in-game name for the Greeks, Egyptians, etc. is Pantheon. The internal files such as cultures.xml.xmb and major_gods.xml.xmb use the tag "culture" for these, and "civ" for the major gods.