โ | Opposing factions settle beneath a cliff shimmering in gold, and fertile pond beyond. | โ |
—In-game description |
Golden Heights is a hybrid map in Age of Empires IV, split between a small lake in one corner, a resource-rich plateau, and a depression running along two of the map edges separated from the plateau by a small, L-shaped cliff.
Features[]
The regions on this map are always arranged in the same way, with the small lake always in the West corner, and the area of lower elevation running along the northeast and southeast edges of the map. In between these two features lies the elevated 'Heights' part of the map. The cliff always forms an arrowhead pointing directly to the east corner of the map. In all team game sizes, two opposing players will start next to this cliff in the depression, relatively close together. In 2 vs 2, additional players are added across from each other close to the lake, while 3 vs 3 and 4 vs 4 will see the additional team members spawn along the north-south axis of the map in the middle of the plateau, with one directly in front of the other in 4 vs 4. This map only contains a single Trade Post, always in the east corner of the map. One of the two Sacred Sites is always in between the cliff and the east corner, and the other is close to the center of the map. Relics can spawn anywhere on the map, but one will almost always spawn close to the eastern Sacred Site, between the two players in the 1 vs 1 positions.
Resources[]
True to its name, all of the gold is located on the elevated portion of the map, clustered in the center, except for one or two starting Small Gold Mines. As a consequence, the stone is located more along the fringes of the map, close to the lake, cliff, and - especially in terms of Large Stone Outcroppings - the edges of the map. Deer and Boar more often spawn on the plateau, but can also spawn in the depression and between the two 1 vs 1 player positions. In team games especially, Boars prefer to spawn along the east-west axis of the map. The map features the standard Berry Bush distribution, with contestable bushes able to spawn anywhere. The lake only contains a small number of Deep Water Fish, so devoting too many resources to contest them may be risky. Shore Fish spawn in the lake as well, but in 4 vs 4 they are clustered close to the map edges. Golden Heights also features plenty of wood, with two large starting circular woodlines per player, and additional large and small woodlines and stealth forest patches dotting the map.