Deer

The Deer is a huntable animal in Return of Rome, Age of Empires II, Age of Mythology, Age of Empires III, and Age of Empires IV.

Age of Empires

Deer
Huntable animal
Introduced in	Age of Empires: Return of Rome
Hit points	8
Food amount	150
Recommended no. of hunters	2-4

Deer were introduced once Age of Empires game mode was launched in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome.

Age of Empires II

Deer
Huntable animal
Introduced in	Age of Empires II
Hit points	5
Speed	Walking: 0.74 Running: 1.4
Line of Sight	2
Collision size	0.3
Food amount	140
Decay rate	0.25 food/second
Recommended no. of hunters	2-4

In Age of Empires II, the Deer contains 140 food.

Deer run away when hunted and take two arrows to be killed. They come in packs of at least three. They are comparable in every aspect to the Gazelles in Age of Empires and were apparently edited from them.

It is advisable to either push them towards a Town Center or Mill with a military unit or build a Mill nearby and hunt them with at least two Villagers in order to save time.

Before researching Hand Cart and/or Wheelbarrow, the optimal number of Villagers to hunt Deer with is between 3 and 4. 3 Villagers gather most of the food from a Deer carcass, before returning to collect the rest, while 4 Villagers gather all the food from a Deer (not counting food lost from decay). 3 Villagers are more efficient if they are ordered to redirect to a fresh Deer after one trip; four gain more total food, but ultimately gather fewer resources over time because they aren't returning to a drop off point with maximum resources each trip.

Trivia

• All Deer in the game have antlers, but only males have them in real life and only for some months of the year because they shed and grow them annually.
• Although Deer are docile by default, they can be made to attack by using a trigger in the Scenario Editor. This is evidenced by a bug in the Vinlandsaga scenario that is caused when a Deer unwittingly walks into the tile previously occupied by Ornlu the Wolf. The "attacking" sprite of the Deer looks like a feeding Gazelle that shakes quickly, and causes only 1 damage after several seconds of attack.
• Though in-game Deer are not meant to be of a particular species, the antler shape most closely resembles the Virginia deer (Odocoileus virginianus), which is actually American. Virginia deer are also spotted as fawns but rarely as adults.
• Deer are present in all maps except African, where they are replaced by Zebras and Ostriches. This is consistent with the worldwide distribution of deer species.

Gallery

Reindeer with harness and red nose skin for Deer in Frosty Friends event

Age of Mythology

Deer
Huntable animal
Introduced in	Age of Mythology
Hit points	20
Population	1
Hack attack	4
Hack armor	35%
Pierce armor	0%
Speed	2.2
Food amount	200
Recommended no. of hunters	1

• Retold
• Original

“	Villagers can hunt wild animals for Food.	”
—In-game description

“	This animal can be hunted.	”
—In-game description

The Deer in Age of Mythology appears in herds, wandering the map in Greek territories. It appears in two varieties, a female and a male (with antlers). They are replaced by Gazelles on Egyptian maps, and Elk and Caribou on Norse maps.

The species represented is probably the roe deer (as suggested by its history section), but the male's antlers actually resemble more the Virginia deer.

History

“	Scientific name -- Capreolus capreolus Size -- about 60 lbs. Diet -- buds, leaves, ferns, grasses "Deer" is used as a generic term for any hoofed animal with antlers, but also refers to specifc species within that group. Like all species within the group, except caribou, only male deer have antlers. The European or Western roe deer is a small deer native to Scandinavia and Russia. They live in small groups and are seasonally territorial.	”
—In-game help section

Trivia

• Although the History section states that the roe deer is native to Scandinavia and Russia, it can in fact be found across most of Europe, including most parts of Greece and Anatolia.

Gallery

Two Deer in-game

Age of Empires III

Deer
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Hunted animal Resource
Civilization(s)	Mother Nature
Statistics
Hit points	20
Speed	2.0
Line of Sight	18
Resource amount	400 food ()
Gatherers	8

“	Medium herbivore.	”
—In-game description

In Age of Empires III, the Deer, this time appearing to be a white-tailed deer, has 20 hit points and can be taken down with two shots, or one with Blunderbuss. Its meat content is boosted to 400 food, making it a more appealing food source than e.g. the Berry Bush.

Gathering rates

Resource	Source	Gathering rate
		per second	per minute
All resources	Shrine	0.0665	3.99
Food	Hacienda	0.166667	10.00002
Wood		0.25	15
Coin		0.113334	6.80004

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Deer

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Hudson Bay Company	Delivers 16 Deer; villager auto gather 0.15 coin whilst gathering from hunted and herded animals, and 0.015 coin whilst gathering from other resources

• "Hudson Bay Company" is available to the British and French upon revolting to Canada.

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age
Forest Mother	Delivers 9 Deer

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
Pacific Pearl	Delivers 16 Deer and 1 Fishing Ground containing 10,000 food
Baja California Territory	Delivers 3 Settlers; Haciendas attract nearby hunted animals to improve its work rate

• "Pacific Pearl" is available upon selecting the Sinaloa Federal State.
• "Baja California Territory" is available upon revolting to Baja California.

United States

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Lewis & Clark Expedition	Delivers 1 Collection of Books (100 XP); reveals all treasures, resources, Trade Routes, and Native settlements, and enemy units' positions for 20 seconds

History

“

Scientific Name: Odocoileus virginianus Approx. Size: 120 lb. (hind); 220 lb. (stag) Diet: Buds, leaves, ferns, grasses "Deer" is used as a generic term for any hoofed animal with antlers, but also refers to a specific species within that group. Like all of these species, except caribou, only male deer have antlers. The white-tailed deer is found from southern Canada to as far south as Panama. They live in small groups and are seasonally territorial.

”

Trivia

• Although the History section names Panama as the southern limit of its distribution, the Virginia Deer can also be found in northern South America, from French Guiana to some parts of Peru.

Gallery

Deer, found in Carolina

The Deer's history portrait

Deer portrait in the Age of Empires III beta

Deer image from the Compendium section

Deer, found in Pampas, in the Definitive Edition

Age of Empires IV

Huntable Deer
Animal
Hit points	5
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Maximum food	350

“	Villagers are able to gather Food from Deer by hunting them. Deer flee a short distance when approached.	”
—Age of Empires IV description for Huntable Deer

Huntable Deer contain 350 food and have a gather rate of 0.825 food per second. They usually spawn in 'large' groups of seven, with two groups per player, but can also spawn in 'small', 'medium', and 'extra large' groups of three, five, and ten respectively with a differing number of overall groups. Deer packs can appear farther away from the Capital Town Center, and as such can be considered a higher risk food source, but also a higher reward due to their faster gather rate. The risk can be mitigated by researching Professional Scouts, which allows Scouts to kill Deer in one shot and move the carcass wherever they want. Deer will also run from any unit in the direction opposite that which they are approached. They will flee 1.5 tiles whenever any unit comes within 1 tile of them, with a random cooldown period of 14 to 20 seconds. Because, unlike Boars, they are not 'leashed' to a particular area and can continue running in one direction indefinitely, this allows them to be 'pushed' by military units to move them closer to a drop-off site and make gathering from them more efficient. However, trying to push them a significant distance is not realistically feasible due to their long flee cooldown time, so this strategy is best used to push Deer next to a nearby Mill or other drop-off site. Another strategy to maximize gather efficiency is to build a Town Center on top of a pack of Deer. The Deer will automatically move out of the way of the building's footprint, at which point they can be killed to prevent them from moving away further, leaving them right on the edge of the building. Because carcasses do not rot in Age of Empires IV, this does not decrease the total amount of food available, and it also does not matter which unit kills the Deer.

The Rus have the only currently available means of spawning Deer regularly, through their High Trade House landmark.

Deer resemble red deer (Cervus elaphus) in body and antler shape, but have a brighter spotted coat akin to fallow deer (Dama dama).

Changelog

• Originally, Deer fled 2.5 tiles when startled by units, with a cooldown of 1 to 8 seconds between movements, and military units could startle Deer from 1.75 tiles away. With update 14.0.4963, they now flee 1.5 tiles, with a cooldown of 14 to 20 seconds, and military units startle them from 1 tile away (the same as Scouts and Villagers).

Gallery

A group of Deer

Mongol Scouts with Deer after Professional Scouts

Animals in Age of Empires IV
Herdable animals	Herdable Sheep · Cattle (Malians only)
Timid huntables	Huntable Deer
Aggressive huntables	Huntable Boar
Predators	Wolf
Fish	Fish · Shoreline Fish
Cut animals	Bear · Crocodile · Fox · Zebra