Guard Tower (Age of Empires)

This article is about the building in Age of Empires. For the building in other games of the series, see Guard Tower.

Guard Tower
Building information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Tower
Civilization	All except Minoans, Romans, and Yamato
Age	Iron Age
Population	4 (Hittites and allies only) (since Return of Rome)
Use	Attacks enemies in range
Construction
Stone	150
Build time	65 seconds
Statistics
Size	2×2 tiles
Hit points	240
Garrison	5 (only Villagers)
Pierce attack	8
Rate of Fire	1.5
Range	8
Projectile speed	8
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	5
Armor classes	Buildings and Fire Galley (+90) Defensive structures Towers
Line of Sight	10
Building evolution
Upgrades from	Sentry Tower
Upgrades to	Ballista Tower
Upgrade cost	1,800 food, 750 stone
Upgrade time	150 seconds

“	Upgrade of the Sentry Tower. The Guard Tower has more hit points, attack strength and range.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Guard Tower is a tower in Age of Empires, the upgrade to the Sentry Tower available in the Iron Age.

Gameplay

To research its upgrade technology at the Granary, 300 food, 100 stone is required. This defensive building has 240 hit points, 6 attack, and 7 range and can be upgraded. It offers effective defense against Bronze Age units, but needs to be upgraded to the Ballista Tower to have any kind of effectiveness against Iron Age units. Almost every civilization can build this type of tower. The only exceptions to this are the Romans, the Minoans, and the Yamato.

Since Return of Rome, like all towers, Guard Towers can also be used to shelter up to five Villagers when the base is under attack. These garrisoned Villagers do not increase its combat power. No other unit can be garrisoned in towers.

Like all towers, Guard Towers are more resistant against stone throwing siege weapons than other buildings, having 18 additional armor against them (meaning they will do 10 bonus damage instead of 28).

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Infantry, archers, ships
Weak vs.	Siege units
Upgrades
Construction time	Architecture (-33%)
Hit points	Architecture (+20%)
Attack	Alchemy (+1)
Range	Woodworking (+1) Artisanship (+1) Craftsmanship (+1)
Accuracy	Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Line of Sight	City Watch (+3)
Upgrades	Ballista Tower

Civilization bonuses

• Babylonians: Guard Towers have +60% hit points.
• Choson: Guard Towers have +2 range.
• Macedonians: Guard Towers are four times more resistant to conversion.

Team bonuses

• Babylonians: Guard Towers are built 10% faster.
• Choson: Guard Towers have +2 Line of Sight.
• Hittites: Guard Towers provide +4 population room.
• Palmyrans: Technologies which benefit or upgrade Guard Towers are researched 30% faster.

Changelog

Age of Empires

• Guard Towers have 6 attack, 7 range.
• Guard Towers have construction time 80 seconds, 200 hit points, and 4 pierce armor.

Definitive Edition

• Guard Towers have construction time 72 seconds and 5 pierce armor.
• With update 38862, Guard Towers have 240 hit points.

Return of Rome

• Guard Towers have 8 attack, 8 range, and can garrison up to five Villagers.
• Team bonuses added:
  • Babylonians: Guard Towers are built 10% faster.
  • Choson: With update 93001, Guard Towers have +2 Line of Sight.
  • Hittites: Guard Towers provide +4 population room.
  • Palmyrans: Technologies which benefit or upgrade Guard Towers are researched 30% faster.
• With update 99311, Guard Tower build time decreased from 72 seconds to 65 seconds.

History

“	The tower discovered on the wall at the ancient site of Jericho served several purposes. It extended the visual range of lookouts that would be watching for the approach of raiders and other visitors. An early warning might have been the difference between a successful defense and the fall of the town. The tower was a superior firing position for archery. Bowmen shooting down had an advantage in range and penetration power of arrows versus enemies shooting up. Enemies hiding at the bottom of the wall may have remained visible to archers in the tower. The tower itself was an independent bastion that could serve as the defensive position of last resort if the wall was carried. The Guard Tower was a superior fortification, well- designed for holding out against attack and for bringing weapons to bear on an attacker.	”
—Age of Empires manual

Gallery

All Guard Towers in the original game. Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, East Asian.

Guard Tower (left) and Ballista Tower (right). Notice that their appearance are the same; however, the former fires arrows, while the latter fires Ballista bolts.

Roman Guard Tower in the original game up close

All Guard Towers in the Definitive Edition: Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, East Asian.

An Egyptian Guard Tower in the original game

Buildings in Age of Empires
Stone Age Starting Tool Age Bronze Age Additional Iron Age