This article is about the building in Age of Empires II. For the building in other games of the series, see House. |
“ | Each House supports 5 units (villagers, military units, ships, Trade Carts). | ” |
—Age of Empires II description |
The House is a civilian building in Age of Empires II. It provides five population, making it one of the most essential buildings there are. If a House is destroyed, the population value it provided is lost (except for the Mongols after researching Nomads).
Houses are available to all civilizations except for the Huns, who start the game with the population at the maximum in exchange for -100 wood at the game start.
Tactics and placement[]
Apart from walls, the House is the cheapest building in the game. Its only purpose is to increase population capacity. In the Dark Age, the House is the very first building a player should build (unless they are playing as the Huns or the Chinese). In fact, building a House should be the very first thing to do besides creating new Villagers. When playing with standard settings, it is recommendable to build at least four Houses before advancing to the Feudal Age.
As Houses are cheap and built quickly, they are used in many circumstances as a wall replacement with the plus of support population, especially in early stages of the game to defend against a rush.
The Khmer have a very distinctive bonus that enables the player to use the House as a supportive building when defending from a raid, as they can garrison up to five Villagers inside (however unlike when garrisoned in Town Centers, towers, or Castles, the garrisoned Villagers do not shoot arrows). This helps the Khmer to minimize losses, so in their particular case, is advisable to build Houses next to busy working places. Also, if they want to substitute walls with Houses, they can move their Villagers inside their base through a House.
Houses are often built in clusters to save space for buildings and resource extraction. This optimizes the flow of units through the player's town, however, it also makes them particularly vulnerable to siege weapons such as Onagers or Capped Rams.
Aesthetically, Houses have three different variants that are randomly selected. In the Definitive Edition, the scroll wheel can be used to configure the variant used.
Upgrades[]
Hit points | Masonry (+10%) Architecture (+10%) |
Armor | Masonry (+1/+1, +3 building armor) Architecture (+1/+1, +3 building armor) |
Line of Sight | Town Watch (+4) Town Patrol (+4) |
Conversion defense | Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) |
Construction speed | Treadmill Crane (+20%) |
Other | Nomads (Houses do not lose their population room when destroyed, Mongols only) |
Civilization bonuses[]
- Burmese: Researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
- Byzantines: Houses have +10%/+20%/+30%/+40% HP in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Town Watch and Town Patrol are free.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Houses are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Incas: Houses provide 10 population.
- Georgians: Houses receive -20% damage (-40% instead of -25%) when fighting from higher elevation.
- Khmer: Up to five Villagers and Kings can garrison in a House.
- Malians: Houses are 15% cheaper.
- Persians: Researching Town Watch and Town Patrol is 10%/15%/20% faster in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Romans: Houses are built and repaired 5% faster.
- Spanish: Houses are built 30% faster. Researching technologies that benefit Houses provides 20 gold each.
Team bonuses[]
- Georgians: Houses cost 25% fewer resources to repair.
- Lithuanians: Researching Faith and Heresy is 20% faster.
- Malians: Researching Masonry, Architecture, and Treadmill Crane is 80% faster.
- Portuguese: Technologies that benefit Houses are researched 25% faster.
Changelog[]
The Age of Kings[]
- Houses cost 30 wood.
- Houses always have 900 HP.
- Houses have 0/1/2 melee armor in the Dark/Feudal/Castle Age.
The Conquerors[]
- Heresy was introduced.
The Forgotten[]
- Houses cost 25 wood.
- House HP staggered: 550/750/900/900 in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Mongols: Nomads introduced. Due to an unintended oversight, it gives +5 population even if a House foundation is destroyed.
Definitive Edition[]
- Fixed the issue which made Houses able to attack.
- Mongols: Nomads works as intended, and destroyed foundations no longer give population room.
Dawn of the Dukes[]
- With update 56005, Houses have -2/-1/1 melee armor in the Dark/Feudal/Castle Age.
The Mountain Royals[]
- With update 99311, Devotion was introduced.
History[]
“ | During the Middle Ages in Europe, peasants often kept farm animals in a separate room or on the ground floor of their houses. Merchants and craftsmen also used ground floors as a place of business with living areas above. Lords lived in larger manor houses with kitchens separated to reduce the risk of fire. The homes of lords in the Dark Ages were fortified before the advent of castles. | ” |
—Age of Empires II manual |
Trivia[]
- Houses and Gates are the only buildings that can be rotated in the Scenario Editor. In the House's case, each visual variant is internally stored as a rotation.