 |
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 can be upgraded from the Watch Tower at the University 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 foot archers, although infantry do not increase the firepower) may be garrisoned in a Guard Tower. Garrisoned units slowly regenerate lost hit points.
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Ships, archers, weak melee units |
| Weak vs. | Siege units, Tarkans, Huskarls, War Elephants |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 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) Svan Towers (+2, enables pass-through damage, Georgians only)
|
 Range
|
Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Eupseong (+2, Koreans only) Murder Holes (eliminates minimum range)
|
| Accuracy |  Ballistics (hit moving targets)
|
| Armor | Masonry (+1/+1, +3 building armor) Architecture (+1/+1, +3 building armor)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted)
|
 Attack speed
|
Stronghold (+33%, Celts only)
|
| Line of Sight |  Town Watch (+4) Town Patrol (+4)
|
| Build speed |  Treadmill Crane (+20%)
|
| Other |  Herbal Medicine (garrisoned units heal faster) Detinets (Replaces 40% stone cost with wood, Slavs only) Crenellations (Garrisoned infantry fire arrows, Teutons only)
|
Civilization bonuses[]
Bohemians: Chemistry is available in the Castle Age.- Bulgarians: Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer cost 50% food.
- Burmese: Researching Devotion, Faith, and Herbal Medicine is 50% cheaper.
- Byzantines: Guard Towers have +30%/+40% hit points in the Castle/Imperial Age respectively. Town Watch and Town Patrol are free.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Guard Towers are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age, respectively.
- Georgians: Guard Towers receive -20% damage (-40% instead of -25%) when fighting from higher elevation.
- Inca: Guard Towers cost -15% stone.
- Italians: University technologies that benefit Guard Towers are 33% cheaper.
- Jurchens: University technologies that benefit Guard Towers cost -75% wood and research 100% faster.
- Koreans: The upgrade to the Keep is free.
- Malians: Guard Towers cost -15% wood.
- Persians: Researching Town Watch and Town Patrol is 10%/15%/20% faster in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age, respectively.
- Romans: Guard Towers are built and repaired 5% faster.
- Spanish: Guard Towers are built 30% faster. Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer cost no gold. Researching technologies that benefit Guard Towers provides 20 gold each.
- Teutons: Guard Towers can garrison up to 10 units. Murder Holes and Herbal Medicine are free.
- Turks: Chemistry is free.
Team bonuses[]
- Bulgarians: Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer are researched 80% faster.
- Georgians: Repairing Guard Towers costs 25% fewer resources.
- Lithuanians: Devotion, Faith, Herbal Medicine, and Heresy are researched 20% faster.
- Malians: University technologies that benefit Guard Towers are researched 80% faster.
- Portuguese: Technologies that benefit Guard Towers are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Guard Towers are more resistant to conversion (+3 min, +1 max cycles).
Changelog[]
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.
The Conquerors[]
- The upgrade to the Keep now costs 500 food, 350 wood.
- 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[]
- Primary projectiles of Guard Towers 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[]
- 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.
- Japanese: With patch 4.8, Yasama now gives Guard Towers two additional arrows.
Rise of the Rajas[]
- All projectiles of Guard Towers have 7 attack.
- With patch 5.8, Guard Towers now cost 50 wood, 125 stone.
- Koreans: With patch 5.8, Guard Towers are built only 5% faster.
Definitive Edition[]
- Koreans:
- Guard Towers are no longer built faster.
- With update 42848, Panokseon is removed from tech tree and replaced by Eupseong.
- With update 42848, towers no longer have +1/+2 range in the Castle/Imperial Age.
Dynasties of India[]
- With update 61321, Watch Towers have 850 hit points in the Feudal Age.
- Celts: With update 81058, Stronghold effect is 33% attack speed to Guard Towers.
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.
Victors and Vanquished[]
- With update 111772, Guard Tower cost decreased from 50 wood, 125 stone to 35 wood, 125 stone.
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 didn't have a snow variant.
Gallery[]
