Guard Tower (Age of Empires)

The Guard Tower is the second best type of tower in Age of Empires. It is available first on the Iron Age, after upgrading the Sentry Tower from the Granary. To research the technology that provides this kind of tower, 300 food and 100 stone is required. This unit starts out with 200 hit points, 6 attack and 7 range. The stats can be upgraded. It offers effective defense against other 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. Like all towers, Guard Towers are more resistant against stone throwing siege weapons unlike other buildings, having 18 additional siege armor against them after accounting for building armor. Against Armored Elephants, Guard Towers have 16 extra armor.

Civilization bonuses Edit

• Babylonian Watch Towers hit points +75%.
• Choson Watch Towers have +2 Range

Upgrades Edit

Tool Age Edit

• Woodworking increases range by one point

Bronze Age Edit

• Artisanship increases range by one point
• Architecture decreases build time by 33% and increases hit points by 20%

Iron Age Edit

• Alchemy increases attack by one point
• Ballistics increases its accuracy
• Craftsmanship increases range by one point
• Can be upgraded to the Ballista Tower

History Edit

"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 Edit

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.

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