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This article is about the gameplay element in Age of Empires IV: Knights of Cross and Rose. For the building in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean, see Commandery. |
The various Age-up options available for the Knights Templar
| “ | Historically, Templar Commanderies were established in nearly every European Kingdom acting as a source of power and prestige for the Order. With Knights of Cross and Rose, this system is brought to life with the Commanderie Age Up system, in which you can select one of three allies with each Age to receive a permanent bonus and unique unit. | ” |
The commanderie is an Age-up system in Age of Empires IV: Knights of Cross and Rose unique to the Knights Templar. When Ageing up to the next Age, the player is given a choice of three commanderie allies to choose from, each of which provide a unique bonus and a unique unit.
Allies[]
| Age | Ally | Bonus | Unit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Feudal Age |
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Knights Hospitaller | Increases the health of all land worker units by +30% and their speed by +10%. Increases healing from units by +30% |  Hospitaller Knight
|
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Kingdom of France | Land military units are produced +15% faster and cost -5% gold |  Chevalier Confrere
| |
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Principality of Antioch | Melee units gain +10% damage |  Serjeant
| |
 Castle Age |
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Angevin Empire | Fortresses and Docks gain +30% health |  Heavy Spearman
|
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Republic of Genoa | Pilgrims generate +30% gold |  Genoese Crossbowman
| |
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Kingdom of Castile | Human units near Sacred Sites gain +20% damage and regenerate health |  Genitour
| |
 Imperial Age |
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Kingdom of Poland | All cavalry gain +10% health and +50% charge damage |  Szlachta Cavalry
|
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Teutonic Order | All human gold units gain +2 melee armor |  Teutonic Knight
| |
 |
Republic of Venice | Reduces the change in the base buy or sell price by 75% when trading resources at the Market |  Condottiero Venetian Galley Venetian Trader
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Knights Hospitaller[]
Aging up with the Knights Hospitaller can provide extra durability to units for extended defensive fighting starting in the Feudal Age, with the healing bonus applying inherently to the Hospitaller Knights and with the extra worker health. The more important bonus is the increased worker movement speed, which can provide a significant economic boost by increasing resource collection rate. Only land units get affected by the bonuses; that is, Fishing Boats are not affected. Furthermore, the healing bonus only affects Monks and Hospitaller Knights, and does not boost any additional source of hit point regeneration, such as siege engine repair, Dock healing on ships, Fishing Boat repair on ships, or Sacred Site regeneration from the Kingdom of Castile.
Kingdom of France[]
Unlocking the Chevalier Confrere and gaining a 15% production speed bonus and 5% gold discount enables an aggressive Feudal Age strategy, using strong, mobile units to gain map control and raid, similar to how the French do with their Royal Knights, albeit to a lesser extent, since the Chevalier is not as strong. It is more offensive way to protect Pilgrims on their path to Sacred Sites. The production speed bonus and gold discount does not affect ships, so its utility on water maps is limited, nor does it affect Monks or field-built siege engines.
Principality of Antioch[]
While not specifically favoring a defensive or offensive strategy as much as the other Feudal commanderie options, choosing the Principality of Antioch can be forward-looking, as it eventually provides the most powerful heavy infantry and melee cavalry in the late game, increasing their cost efficiency. Additionally, due to their unique ranged melee attack, Serjeants can sometimes be troublesome to an unprepared opponent. They are especially effective at destroying siege engines from afar.
Angevin Empire[]
The Angevin Empire bonus is the most straightforward, and perhaps limited in use, out of all commanderie options. This commanderie option is chosen more for its unlocked unit - the Heavy Spearman - than its bonus. Docks rarely need extra hit points since they are not very expensive to build, and while adding additional health on Fortresses can help in the case where several have been built around a Sacred Site which needs defending, the bonus has to compete against a more flexible defensive bonus with the Kingdom of Castile, or a powerful economic bonus with the Republic of Genoa.
Republic of Genoa[]
Aging up with the Republic of Genoa sets up the Knights Templar for a strong mid- and late game, granting them an improved Pilgrim economy and unlocking a powerful unit which can perform a similar role to the Handcannoneer, which the Knights Templar otherwise lack. There are very few situations where this option is a bad choice.
Kingdom of Castile[]
On maps with a single Sacred Site, this commanderie option can provide an extra boost to defending the Site for a Sacred Site victory, using the Faith of Castile bonus it unlocks.
- Faith of Castile (Passive): All units except for siege engines within a 7.5-tile radius of the center of a Sacred Site (5-tiles from the edge) gain 20% damage, including bonus damage, and regenerate hit points at 1 per second. This includes workers and ships. The regeneration is not affected by the Knights Hospitaller healing bonus.
This commanderie choice also unlocks the Genitour, which is highly specialized against ranged units due to its anti-ranged bonus damage and high ranged armor. With a low base attack and relatively slow Rate of Fire, it is nearly useless against melee units.
Kingdom of Poland[]
The Kingdom of Poland provides a very strong bonus to late-game cavalry units, granting them extra hit points and a large amount of extra charge damage. Combined with Rule of Templars and the Principality of Antioch, this can result in charge attacks which hit harder than some siege engines. The Szlachta Cavalry is also a very strong and population efficient unit in its own right. This makes this commanderie option valuable on most maps, but especially so on larger team game maps where cavalry compositions tend to dominate and mobility is key.
Teutonic Order[]
Ageing up to the Imperial Age with the Teutonic Order provides a flat +2 melee armor boost to all human units that cost gold. Thus includes the Monk and inherently excludes the 'trash' units such as Spearmen, Archers, and Horsemen. Of the commanderie units that can be obtained along with the Teutonic Order, only the Genitour is excluded. The 'human' specification is not included in the Age-up description, but the bonus nevertheless does not apply to siege engines or ships. This commanderie option can be the most favorable for an infantry-focused lategame.
Republic of Venice[]
The Republic of Venice is the most economic-focused Imperial Age commanderie option. Venetian Traders can provide a valuable, population efficient method of generating extra gold. Additionally with this option, buying or selling resources at the market changes the increase or decrease in gold price with each trade by ±1 rather than ±4, making rebalancing an economy more efficient. The Venetian Galley is also the only long-range method available to the Knights Templar to deal with coastal defenses, while the Condottiero can be a strong option against certain unit combinations due to its unique unit typing and resistance.
Commanderie units[]
Commanderie units are unlocked at the production building appropriate for their unit type, e.g. the Barracks for melee infantry and the Stable for melee cavalry. The units all share in common the ability to benefit from the Fanaticism technology, and they have cheaper and faster upgrades compared to other units. Upgrading commanderie units to Veteran status costs only 50 food, 125 gold and takes 30 seconds, compared to 100 food, 250 gold and 60 seconds for most other units. Upgrading commanderie units to Elite status costs only 200 food, 400 gold and takes 40 seconds, compared to 300 food, 700 gold and 60 seconds for most other units.
Trivia[]
- The commanderie Age-up system is similar to the Alliance Age-up system in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - The African Royals.
