Age of Empires Series Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Info icon
This article is about the building in Age of Empires II. For the building in other games of the series, see Guard Tower.

Stronger than Watch Tower, with greater fighting ability.
Age of Empires II description

The Guard Tower is a tower in Age of Empires II that becomes available once the Castle Age is reached. Guard Towers are good against infantry and archers, but are quickly overpowered by siege weapons and cavalry charges.

Tactics and placement[]

The Guard Tower upgrade is a valuable improvement over the Watch Tower. It gives +480 hit points, armor by +1/+1, attack by +2, and anti-ship attack by +2. It does not cost any Stone that would otherwise detract from building more towers, although this does require a sizable amount of wood, especially because of the requirement for a University. Consider also researching Masonry at the same building for further increased armor and hit points.

Guard Towers are very useful and valuable for defending the player's settlement against enemy raiding parties. Turtling strategies usually require the use of several Guard Towers along with walls to create a strong fortification. Guard Towers should be placed in choke points to make them more effective or behind cliffs or forests. Guard Towers also work better if placed within range of each other or the range of a friendly Castle since both buildings will provide cover fire for each other. Using walls and Gates will also protect them to some extent from rams. In maps like Archipelago or Islands, it is a wise idea to have several Guard Towers near the shoreline to take down potentially dangerous enemy fleets and give some support to the player's fleet near the coast.

Offensively, Guard Towers can also be used for holding an important position on the map. In this regard, they are better than a Castle since they are cheaper and are built quicker. However, Castles retain the advantage of higher durability and higher damage output.

Guard Towers are highly vulnerable to long-range siege units and rams, making them significantly easier to destroy than Watch Towers were in the Feudal Age. To protect them the player should station melee units near their fortifications, or some Fire Ships that can deal with the Cannon Galleons in case of towers placed near the shore.

Garrisoned foot archers and Villagers increase the number of arrows Guard Towers fire, thus increasing the damage. Up to five (10 for the Teutons) foot soldiers (infantry and archers, although infantry do not increase the firepower) may be garrisoned in a Guard Tower. Garrisoned units slowly regenerate lost hit points.

Further statistics[]

Building strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Ships, archers, weak melee units
Weak vs. Siege weapons, Tarkans, Huskarls, War Elephants, Cannon Galleons
Upgrades
Hit points Masonry aoe2de Masonry (+10%)
ArchitectureDE Architecture (+10%)
UniqueTechCastle-DE Great Wall (+30%, Chinese only)
Attack FletchingDE Fletching (+1)
BodkinArrowDE Bodkin Arrow (+1)
BracerDE Bracer (+1)
ChemistryDE Chemistry (+1)
ArrowSlitsDE Arrowslits (+2)
HeatedShotDE Heated Shot (+125% attack against ships)
UniqueTechCastle-DE Yeomen (+2, Britons only)
UniqueTechCastle-DE Yasama (adds two extra arrows, Japanese only)
UniqueTechCastle-DE Svan Towers (+2, enables pass-through damage, Georgians only)
Range FletchingDE Fletching (+1)
BodkinArrowDE Bodkin Arrow (+1)
BracerDE Bracer (+1)
UniqueTechCastle-DE Eupseong (+2, Koreans only)
MurderHolesDE Murder Holes (eliminates minimum range)
Firing rate UniqueTechCastle-DE Stronghold (+33%, Celts only)
Accuracy BallisticsDE Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Armor Masonry aoe2de Masonry (+1/+1, +3 building armor)
ArchitectureDE Architecture (+1/+1, +3 building armor)
Line of Sight TownWatchDE Town Watch (+4)
TownPatrolDE Town Patrol (+4)
Conversion defense Devotion icon AoE2DE Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)
FaithDE Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
HeresyDE Heresy (die upon getting converted)
Construction speed TreadmillCraneDE Treadmill Crane (+20%)
Other HerbalDE Herbal Medicine (garrisoned units heal faster)
UniqueTechCastle-DE Detinets (Replaces 40% stone cost with wood, Slavs only)
UniqueTechImperialDE Crenellations (Garrisoned infantry fire arrows, Teutons only)
Upgrades KeepDE Keep

Civilization bonuses[]

Team bonuses[]

Changelog[]

AoE2-DLCicon-0 The Age of Kings[]

  • Guard Towers have 6 attack.
  • The upgrade to the Keep costs 500 food, 350 stone.
  • Guard Towers cost 25 wood, 125 stone.
  • Guard Towers have an attack bonus of +9 against camels because they share an armor class with ships.

AoE2-DLCicon-1 The Conquerors[]

AoE2-DLCicon-2 The Forgotten[]

AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African Kingdoms[]

  • Camels are moved out of the ship armor class, and Guard Towers lose their attack bonus against them. They now have +1 attack against them.
  • Arrowslits introduced. Initially, it becomes available in the Castle Age and gives Guard Towers +4 attack. With patch 4.8, Arrowslits moved to the Imperial Age and gives +2 attack.
  • CivIcon-Japanese Japanese: With patch 4.8, Yasama now gives Guard Towers two additional arrows.

Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas[]

AoEIIDE icon Definitive Edition[]

AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of India[]

  • With update 61321, Watch Towers have 850 hit points in the Feudal Age.
  • CivIcon-Celts Celts: With update 81058, Stronghold effect is 33% attack speed to Guard Towers.

AoE2Icon-MountainRoyals The Mountain Royals[]

  • With update 99311, the Guard Tower has a new unique icon. Before this, it had the same icon as the Keep.
  • With update 99311, Devotion was introduced.

History[]

The defensive tower continued to evolve during the Middle Ages by getting stronger, taller, and better designed for fighting defense. Whereas some earlier watch towers had been square, guard towers were usually round to eliminate a sharp corner that could be knocked off. Fighting positions at the top of a guard tower were improved to protect defenders. Hoardings extended out from the top, allowing defenders to reach the bottom of the guard tower with missiles. Entrances to guard towers were made more elaborate and more easily defendable.
Age of Empires II manual

Trivia[]

  • The Guard Tower model of the Native American civilizations is inspired by the Palace Observation Tower in Palenque.
  • The Mediterranean Guard Tower in the Definitive Edition is based on ancient Roman observation towers.
  • All Guard Towers have a square base except the Western European version, which is octagonal, and the Central Asian version, which is round.
  • Before the HD Edition, the Central European Guard Tower doesn't have a snow variant.

Gallery[]

Buildings in Age of Empires II
Civilian buildings
EconomicTowncenter aoe2DE Town Center · Dock aoe2de Dock · Fish trap aoe2DE Fish Trap · Mill aoe2de Mill · FarmDE Farm · Market aoe2DE Market · Lumber camp aoe2de Lumber Camp · Mining camp aoe2de Mining Camp · Feitoria aoe2DE Feitoria · Folwark Folwark · Ao2de caravanserai icon Caravanserai · AoE2 MuleCart Mule Cart
ResearchBlacksmith aoe2de Blacksmith · University AoE2 DE University
ReligiousAoE2 FortifiedChurch Fortified Church · MonasteryAoe2DE Monastery
MiscellaneousHouse aoe2DE House · Wonder aoe2DE Wonder
Military buildings
ProductionBarracks aoe2DE Barracks · Archery range aoe2DE Archery Range · Stable aoe2DE Stable · Siege workshop aoe2DE Siege Workshop · Dock aoe2de Dock
Fortified productionCastle aoe2DE Castle · Harbor aoe2de Harbor · Krepost icon updated Krepost · Aoe2-icon-donjon Donjon
TowerTowncenter aoe2DE Town Center · AoE2 FortifiedChurch Fortified Church · Outpost aoe2de Outpost · Watch Tower icon AoE2DE Watch Tower · Guard Tower icon AoE2DE Guard Tower · Keep icon AoE2DE Keep · Bombard tower aoe2DE Bombard Tower
WallPalisade wall aoe2de Palisade Wall · Palisade gate aoe2DE Palisade Gate · Stone wall aoe2de Stone Wall · Gate aoe2de Gate · Fortified wall aoe2de Fortified Wall · Gate aoe2de Fortified Gate
Scenario Editor buildings
AoE2-DLCicon-0 The Age of KingsBridge · MonasteryAoe2DE Cathedral · Wonder aoe2DE Dome of the Rock · Pyramid aoe2DE Great Pyramid · MonasteryAoe2DE Mosque · Pavilion big icon AoE2DE Pavilion · Pyramid aoe2DE Pyramid · Accursed tower aoe2DE The Accursed Tower · Accursed tower aoe2DE The Tower of Flies · Market aoe2DE Trade Workshop · Yurt thatch big aoe2DE Yurt
AoE2-DLCicon-1 The ConquerorsWonder aoe2DE Monument · SeaGateDE Sea Gate · Watch Tower icon AoE2DE Sea Tower · Sea Wall icon AoE2DE Sea Wall
AoE2-DLCicon-2 The ForgottenAmphitheatre aoe2DE Amphitheatre · Aqueduct aoe2DE Aqueduct · Wonder aoe2DE Arch of Constantine · Fortified wall aoe2de City Wall · Amphitheatre aoe2DE Colosseum · Keep icon AoE2DE Fire Tower · Palisade wall aoe2de Fortified Palisade Wall · Castle aoe2DE Fortress · Castle aoe2DE Poenari Castle · Wonder aoe2DE Quimper Cathedral · MonasteryAoe2DE Temple of Heaven · Wooden Bridge
AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African KingdomsBarricade aoe2DE Barricade · Fence aoe2DE Fence · Accursed tower aoe2DE Fortified Tower · 2de granary new icon Granary · Hut small aoe2DE Hut · Wondericon Palace (removed) · Aoe2de storage icon new Storage · Tent small aoe2DE Tent
AoE2-DLCicon-4 Rise of the RajasTent army small aoe2DE Army Tent · Wonder aoe2DE Gol Gumbaz · Wonder aoe2DE Sanchi Stupa
AoE2-DLCicon-5 The Last KhansWonder aoe2DE Aachen Cathedral · Chain aoe2DE Chain · Gate aoe2de City Gate · Wonder aoe2DE Dormition Cathedral · Wonder aoe2DE Rock Church · Wonder aoe2DE Sankore Madrasah · MonasteryAoe2DE Shrine · Wonder aoe2DE Tower of London
Dawn of the Dukes icon Dawn of the DukesAoe2de pagan shrine icon Pagan Shrine
AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of IndiaWonder aoe2DE Minaret of Jam
Advertisement