| 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.
Guard Towers are available to all civilizations except for the Cumans, Goths, and Huns.
Tactics and placement 
Edit
Towers are an essential part of any kind of fortification. 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 among the use of walls and Castles in order 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 the range of each other or within the range of a friendly Castle since both buildings will provide cover fire for each other. Also using walls and Gates will 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 in order to take down potentially dangerous enemy fleets and give some support to the player's own fleet near the coast.
Offensively, Guard Towers can also be used for front line support as in a retreat they can hold troops that can be healed once garrisoned and they also provide cover fire for offensively placed military buildings if they are placed near an enemy location. In this regard they are better than a Castle since they are cheaper and are built quicker.
Guard Towers are highly vulnerable to long range siege units and rams, so to protect them the player should have melee cavalry near to 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 Edit
| 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 (+10%) Architecture (+10%) Great Wall (+30%, Chinese only)
|
| Attack |  Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Chemistry (+1) Arrowslits (+2) Heated Shot (+125% attack against ships) Yeomen (+2, Britons only) Yasama (adds two extra arrows, Japanese only)
|
| Range | Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Murder Holes (eliminates minimum range)
|
| Firing rate | Stronghold (+25%, Celts only)
|
| Accuracy |  Ballistics (hit moving targets)
|
| Armor | Masonry (+1/+1, +3 building armor) Architecture (+1/+1, +3 building armor)
|
| Line of Sight |  Town Watch (+4) Town Patrol (+4)
|
| Conversion defense |  Faith Heresy
|
| Construction speed |  Treadmill Crane (+20%)
|
| Other |  Herbal Medicine (garrisoned units heal faster), Crenellations (enables garrisoned infantry to shoot arrows, Teutons only)
|
| Upgrades |  Keep
|
Civilization bonuses Edit
- Burmese: Researching Faith and Herbal Medicine is 50% cheaper.
- Byzantines: Guard Towers have +30%/+40% HP in the Castle/Imperial Age. Town Watch is free.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Guard Towers are 15%/20% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
- Incas: Guard Towers cost 15% less stone.
- Koreans: Guard Towers have +1/+2 range in the Castle/Imperial Age. The upgrade to the Keep is free.
- Malians: Guard Towers cost 15% less wood.
- Persians: Researching Town Watch and Town Patrol is 10%/15%/20% faster in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Spanish: Guard Towers are built 30% faster.
- Teutons: Guard Towers can garrison up to 10 units. Murder Holes are free.
Team bonuses Edit
- A team containing Bulgarians: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Guard Towers are researched 50% faster.
- A team containing Ethiopians: Guard Towers have +3 Line of Sight.
- A team containing Lithuanians: Faith and Heresy are researched 20% faster.
- A team containing Malians: University technologies that benefit Guard Towers are researched 80% faster.
Changelog Edit
The Age of Kings Edit
- Guard Towers have 6 attack.
- The upgrade to the Keep costs 500F/350S.
- Guard Towers cost 25W/125S.
- Guard Towers have an attack bonus of +9 against camels because they share an armor class with ships.
The Conquerors Edit
- The upgrade to the Keep now costs 500F/350W.
- Guard Towers gain an attack bonus of +2 against Spearmen.
- Herbal Medicine introduced.
- Heresy introduced.
- Britons: Yeomen introduced. It is only available in the Imperial Age.
- Teutons: Crenellations introduced.
The Forgotten Edit
- Guard Towers now have 7 attack.
- Britons: Yeomen moved to the Castle Age.
- Celts: Stronghold introduced.
- Japanese: Yasama introduced. It gives Guard Towers three additional arrows.
- Koreans: Guard Towers are now built 33% faster.
The African Kingdoms Edit
- 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 now gives +2 attack.
- Japanese: With patch 4.8, Yasama now gives Guard Towers two additional arrows.
Rise of the Rajas Edit
- Guard Towers now cost 50W/125S.
- Koreans: With patch 5.8, Guard Towers are now built 5% faster.
Definitive Edition Edit
- Koreans: Guard Towers are no longer built faster.
Trivia Edit
- The Guard Tower model of the Native American civilizations is inspired by the Palace Observation Tower in Palenque.
- All Guard Towers have a square base except the Western European version, which is octogonal, and the Central Asian version, which is round.
History Edit
"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
Gallery Edit
| Buildings in Age of Empires II | |
| Civilian buildings | |
|---|---|
| House · Monastery · Wonder | |
| Economy | Town Center · Dock · Fish Trap · Mill · Farm · Market · Lumber Camp · Mining Camp · Feitoria |
| Research | Blacksmith · University |
| Military buildings | |
| Barracks · Archery Range · Stable · Siege Workshop · Castle · Harbor · Krepost | |
| Towers | Outpost · Watch Tower · Guard Tower · Keep · Bombard Tower |
| Walls | Palisade Wall · Stone Wall · Fortified Wall · Palisade Gate · Gate |
