Tree

Trees are the only natural resource that provides wood in the Age of Empires series, and are often grouped together in large clumps, making a forest. Trees are usually abundant throughout the map and are considered as one of the most common resources in the game.

Overview

Due to their abundance, trees can often be utilized as a shield from military invasions unless the enemy performs slash and burn techniques or mows it down with heavy siege weaponry, such as Siege Onagers.

Although trees are the easiest resource to gather, the small amount of wood it generates makes smaller maps susceptible to deforestation over time. This will make them rarer than food or gold since there is no other way to obtain wood apart from trading at the Market.

Depending on the type of map chosen for each game, different types of trees are available.

Age of Empires

Tree
Resource
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Wood	75 (Straggler) 40 (Forest)

“	Can be chopped for wood.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

Regular trees in Age of Empires yield 75 wood per unit, while Forest Trees yield 40 wood per unit. All trees have 25 hit points which must be eliminated to harvest wood. They are revealed in the mini map in a dark green color which is adopted in the later games. There are five different kinds of trees, each corresponding to different types of terrain: Palm Trees are found in the desert, Pine Trees and Forest Trees appear on grassy terrain, and Beech Trees and lone Oak Trees can be found close to coasts, or away from clumped forests.

Trees form an impenetrable natural barrier against most units. Villagers can slowly chop them down, which is the only way to harvest their wood. These late-game units can clear them away instantly using the attack ground command, although no wood is given:

• Heavy Catapult
• Juggernaut (before Age of Empires: Definitive Edition)

In the original and Definitive versions of the game, it is possible to destroy many individual "straggler" trees by constructing buildings on top of them. Forests are blocks to potential building sites, however, and some Forest Trees occur singly.

Return of Rome uses different tree types imported from Age of Empires II, which always block potential building sites. They have 20 hit points, and typically yield 80 wood, with some exceptions:

• Acacia: 120 wood
• Baobab: 160 wood
• Reeds: 40 wood
• Unnamed tree (eg. Tree A): 100 wood

Age of Empires II

Tree
Resource
Introduced in	Age of Empires II
Wood	125 (Straggler) 100 (Forest)
Gather rate	Approx. 23

In Age of Empires II, straggler trees yield 125 wood per unit, whereas most regular forest trees yield 100 wood per unit. Baobab trees, introduced in the The African Kingdoms expansion, contain the most at 200 wood per unit. However, because Baobab forests do not place a tree in every game tile, they end up having much less wood on average than other forest terrain. Trees in the second installment are more varied, have a more accurate size rendition, and are easier to chop, having only 20 hit points and taking bonus damage from Villagers which means two chops (one after researching Sappers) are enough to fell a tree.

Onagers have the ability to instantly attack specified areas on the ground and cut down trees, making them extremely useful in creating a path to somewhere that would otherwise be blocked by trees.

Apart from Villagers, the following units can remove trees by attacking them, however the wood is lost in this case:

• Onager (since The Forgotten) - Siege Onager
• Trebuchet
• Ballista Elephant - Elite Ballista Elephant (Khmer only)

If destroyed by the units above or if all wood from a tree has been gathered, buildings can be placed on the tile. For trees placed as single objects (as opposed to trees placed automatically as part of forest terrain), it is enough to just fell them.

Types

• Acacia: Introduced in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms.
• Bamboo Forest: Introduced in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.
• Baobab: Introduced in The African Kingdoms.
• Birch: Introduced in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes.
• Bush A.
• Bush B.
• Bush C.
• Cypress: Likely based on the Mediterranean cypress.
• Dead: Introduced in the Definitive Edition.
• Dragon: Introduced in the African Kingdoms.
• Italian Pine: Likely based on the Stone Pine.
• Jungle: A variant of Palm Forest introduced in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors.
• Mangrove: Introduced in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas.
• Oak: Introduced in The Age of Kings.
• Oak Autumn Snow: A variant of Oak Autumn with snow on the trees and the ground, also introduced in the Definitive Edition.
• Oak Autumn: A variant of Oak introduced in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, decorated with autumnal coloring.
• Oak Forest.
• Olive.
• Palm Forest: Introduced in The Age of Kings.
• Rainforest: Introduced in Rise of the Rajas.
• Reeds: Introduced in the Definitive Edition.
• Snow Pine: A variant of Pine introduced in The Conquerors.
• Special tree: Individual tree treated like an embellishment object rather than part of a forest, introduced in The Age of Kings. Only appears in campaigns.

Terrain

Forrest terrain works by having tree objects automatically spawn when creating the terrain in the editor. These trees can be manually removed or manipulated afterwards. Each forest terrain is listed with the non-forest terrain and trees that have the same appearance.

Forest Name	Terrain	Trees
Forest, Acacia	Dirt, Savannah	Tree (Acacia)
Forest, Autumn	Underbrush	Tree (Oak Autumn)
Forest, Autumn Snow	Underbrush, Snow	Tree (Oak Autumn Snow)
Forest, Bamboo	Underbrush	Tree (Bamboo Forest)
Forest, Baobab	Dirt 4	Tree (Baobab)
Forest, Birch	Underbrush	Tree (Birch)
Forest, Bush	Underbrush	Bush A Bush B
Forest, Dead	Underbrush, Snow	Bush C Tree (Dead)
Forest, Dragon Tree	Dirt 1	Tree (Dragon)
Forest, Jungle	Underbrush	Tree (Jungle)
Forest, Mangrove	Shallows, Mangrove	Tree (Mangrove)
Forest, Mediterranean	Underbrush	Tree (Cypress) Tree (Olive) Tree (Italian Pine)
Forest, Oak	Underbrush	Tree (Oak Forest)
Forest, Oak Bush	Underbrush	Bush A Bush B Tree (Oak Forest)
Forest, Palm Desert	Desert, Sand	Tree (Palm Forest)
Forest, Palm Grass	Grass 2	Tree (Palm Forest)
Forest, Pine	Underbrush	Tree (Pine Forest)
Forest, Pine Snow	Underbrush, Snow	Tree (Birch)
Forest, Rainforest	Underbrush, Jungle	Tree (Rainforest)
Forest, Reeds	Underbrush	Tree (Reeds)
Forest, Reeds (Beach)	Beach, Wet	Tree (Reeds)
Forest, Reeds (Shallows)	Shallows	Tree (Reeds)

Age of Mythology

Tree
Resource
Introduced in	Age of Mythology
Hit points	10
Wood	150

In the mini map in Age of Mythology, trees are shown as dark green in color. All non-Gaia forest trees contain 150 wood.

Several god powers are related to trees:

• Walking Woods (Njord) god power transforms trees (except Gaia Forest trees) into walking trees that attack any enemy units or buildings near them.
• Forest Fire (Freyja) sets selected trees on fire and damages nearby enemy units and buildings.
• Gaia Forest (Gaia) creates a small forest of 20 special aspen trees called Gaia Forest Trees, each containing 200 wood.
• Hesperides (Theia) spawns a tree that cannot be used as a wood source or destroyed (but can be captured by enemies). It trains up to five Dryads and shields against enemy god powers.

Age of Empires III

Tree
Resource
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Wood	150 / 300

Trees in Age of Empires III

In Age of Empires III, trees are found throughout the map and are shown in the mini map as dark green in color. The types of trees in the game depends on the map chosen for each game. The wide variety of maps in Age of Empires III makes the game have the most diverse natural setting in the series, ranging from cold tundras to the desert of the southwest. Each tree has 6 hit points and yields 300 wood.

Age of Empires IV

Tree
Resource
Introduced in	Age of Empires IV
Wood	150
Gather rate	starting from 0.75/s

“	Use Villagers to fell trees and gather Wood from this tree.	”
—In-game description

In Age of Empires IV, all trees yield 150 wood and the differences between them are purely cosmetic. As in previous games in the series since Age of Empires II, fallen trees cannot be built over until all of their wood is gathered.

Biomes

Unlike in previous games, the types of trees that appear do not vary by map, but by Biome, which the player can choose before starting a game. The table below lists all the Biomes available and the types of trees that appear on each one:

Note: Trees are listed roughly from most common to least

Biome	In-game description	Trees	Notes
Asian Subtropical	A representation of the lush subtropical forests found in China, stretching across Asia towards India.	Wild Bamboo Dead Bamboo Wild Dove Wild Larch Wild Elm Wild Gutta-Percha Dead Gutta-Percha Wild Huangshan Pine Wild Saxaul Wild Spruce Dead Willow+ Dead Elm+ Dead Spruce+
Asian Temperate	Our representation of a typical temperate forest from eastern China.	Wild Dove Wild Larch Wild Elm Wild Gutta-Percha Dead Gutta-Percha Dead Larch Wild Saxaul Wild Spruce Wild Birch Dead Willow+ Dead Elm+ Dead Spruce+ Dead Birch+
Chalk Downs	Based on the coasts of England and France, featuring the chalk-white cliffs and dirt.	Wild Elm Dead Elm Wild Oak Wild Willow Wild Birch Wild Spruce Dead Willow+
European Temperate	Our representation of the typical European temperate grassland.	Wild Spruce Wild Elm Dead Elm Wild Oak Dead Willow+
Gobi Desert	Based on the Gobi Desert straddling modern-day northern China and southern Mongolia.	Wild Spruce Wild Larch Dead Larch Wild Saxaul Dead Saxaul Dead Willow+ Dead Elm+ Dead Spruce+
Japanese Spring	A beautiful springtime environment dotted with cherry trees in bloom.	Cherry (Old) Cherry (Young) Dead Larch Wild Elm Wild Oak Dead Elm Dead Birch Wild Birch Dead Willow+ Dead Spruce+	Requires The Sultans Ascend
Mediterranean	Based on the Eastern Mediterranean coast.	Olive (Old) Olive (Young) Cypress Wild Elm Dead Elm Doum Palm Wild Saxaul Date Palm Wild Birchx
Sahara Desert	Based on the semiarid desert of north east Africa.	Date Palm Doum Palm Tamarisk (Wild) Tamarisk (Dead) Wild Elm Wild Saxaul Dead Saxaul+
Savanna	Based on the grassy plains of Africa and dotted with the iconic Acacia tree.	Acacia Wild Saxaul Doum Palm Tamarisk (Wild) Tamarisk (Dead)x Dead Saxaul+ Dead Elm+	Requires The Sultans Ascend
Steppes	Based on the great plains of the Mongolian steppe, and other Eurasian steppe landscapes.	Wild Spruce Wild Larch Dead Larch Wild Saxaul Dead Willow+ Dead Elm+ Dead Spruce+
Taiga Summer	Based on the deep woods that dominate Northern Europe and much of Russia.	Wild Spruce Wild Birch Dead Spruce Dead Elm Dead Birch Wild Elm Wild Oak Dead Willow+
Taiga Winter	A version of the taiga that represents the period of snow melt in early Spring.	Wild Spruce Dead Spruce Dead Elm Wild Elm Wild Birch Dead Birch Dead Willow+
Winter	A snowy, northern landscape in the chill of winter.	Snowy Pine Snowy Maple Dead Elm Snowy Cherry Dead Spruce Tamarisk (Dead)

⁺ Means that it appears only on the Black Forest map, in the marshy area which is initially inaccessible to players, and on Marshland.

^x Only on Black Forest.

Trivia

Tree icon

• There are some unused tree icons in the game files. The "Ghost Pine" might refer to Pinus sabiniana, a type of pine endemic to California, possibly indicating that a North American Biome was being considered for the game at some point.
• The generic tree icon, which appears in the UI for the Hunting Cabin, is the same as that of the Wild Elm Tree (medium).

List of trees

Tree	HP	AoE	AoE II	AoM	AoE III	Wood
Acacia Tree	20		X			150
Amazon Tree	6				X	300
Andes Tree	6				X	300
Araucania Tree	6				X	300
Bamboo	20		X	X	X	AoE II: 100 AoM: 150 AoE III: 150
Baobab	20		X			200
Bayou Tree	6				X	300
Beech Tree	25	X				40 or 75
Borneo Tree	6				X	300
California Tree	6				X	300
Caribbean Tree	6				X	300
Carolina Tree	6				X	300
Ceylon Tree	6				X	300
Dead Pine Tree	20			X		150
Deccan Tree	6				X	300
Dragon Tree	20		X			100
Forest Tree	AoE: 25 AoE II: 20	X	X			AoE: 40 AoE II: 100
Gaia Forest Tree	20			X		200
Great Lakes Tree	6				X	300
Himalayas Tree	6				X	300
Hispaniola Tree	6				X	300
Honshu Tree	6				X	300
Jungle Palm Tree	20			X		150
Jungle Tree	20		X	X		AoE II: 100 AoM: 150
Mangrove Tree	20		X			100
Marsh Tree	20			X		150
Mongolia Tree	6				X	150
New England Tree	6				X	300
Northwest Territory Tree	6				X	300
Oak Tree	AoE: 25 AoE II: 20 AoM: 20	X	X	X		AoE: 40 or 75 AoE II: 100 AoM: 150
Orinoco Tree	6				X	300
Ozarks Tree	6				X	300
Painted Desert Tree	6				X	300
Palm Tree	AoE: 25 AoE II: 20 AoM: 20	X	X	X		AoE: 40 or 75 AoE II: 100 AoM: 150
Pampas Tree	6				X	300
Patagonia Tree	6				X	300
Pine Tree	AoE: 25 AoE II: 20 AoM: 20	X	X	X		AoE: 40 or 75 AoE II: 100 AoM: 150
Rainforest Tree	20		X			100
Rockies Tree	6				X	300
Saguenay Tree	6				X	300
Savannah Tree	20			X		150
Siberia Tree	6				X	300
Sonora Tree	6				X	300
Snow Pine Tree	20		X	X		AoE II: 100 AoM: 150
Tamarisk Tree	5,000			X		0
Taproot	4,000			X		0
Texas Tree	6				X	300
Tree A	20		X			125
Tree B	20		X			125
Tree C	20		X			125
Tree D	20		X			125
Tree E	20		X			125
Tree F	20		X			125
Tree G	20		X			125
Tree H	20		X			125
Tree I	20		X			125
Tree J	20		X			125
Tree K	20		X			125
Tree L	20		X			125
Tundra Tree	20			X		150
Walking Acacia	300			X		0
Walking Bamboo	300			X		0
Walking Jungle Palm	300			X		0
Walking Jungle Tree	300			X		0
Walking Marsh	300			X		0
Walking Oak	300			X		0
Walking Palm	300			X		0
Walking Pine	300			X		0
Walking Snowy Pine	300			X		0
Walking Tamarack	300			X		0
Yellow River Tree	6				X	300
Yucatan Tree	6				X	300
Yukon Tree	6				X	300

Gallery

Different trees in Age of Empires.

Four different tree sprites in Age of Empires II.

A Villager cutting down a tree in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

A Siege Onager knocking down trees.

Trees in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition