Two Villagers gathering from a Deer in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.
All huntable land animals in Age of Empires III
Hunting wild animals is an early means of gathering food throughout the Age of Empires games. These animals can be found alone or in groups all over most maps, coming in all shapes and sizes. Some animals flee when hunted, some will fight back, and others will hunt any Villagers that come near them.
The food held by huntable animals depends on the type of animal. After a huntable animal is killed, the quantity of food it provides slowly decreases, simulating decay. In Age of Empires, Gazelles rot at 0.25 food per second, Elephants rot at 0.2 food per second, and predators (e.g. Lions) rot at 1 food per second. In Age of Empires II, regular huntable animals (e.g. Deer) rot at 0.25 food per second, while aggressive huntable animals (e.g. Boars) rot at 0.4 food per second. In Age of Empires III, all huntable and herdable animals rot at a rate of 0.75 per second. In Age of Empires IV, animal carcasses do not decay, and can be transported by Scouts once the Professional Scouts technology is researched. Hunting is finite; as soon as the last animal is killed, there is no more hunting to be done.
Strategy[]
Villagers hunting an Ostrich in The African Kingdoms
Hunting is very attractive in the early game, as it requires few resources to set up, and its gather rate is faster than all other methods of obtaining food. Additionally, as it involves having Villagers roving across the map, it is normally best to get hunting out of the way before armies emerge.
Settlers gathering meat from a wild Elephant in The Asian Dynasties
In Age of Empires, players should not send military units to assist Villagers in hunting, since huntables killed by military units die without leaving any meat. In Age of Mythology, even if a military unit deals the killing blow to the animal, workers can gather food from them, as can Villagers in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (since update 153015). In the spin-off game Age of Empires Online, military units can also freely kill animals without any penalty, and food does not rot either.
In Age of Empires III, military units are unable to attack huntable animals directly, only artillery's area damage can damage and kill them. Like in Age of Mythology, Villagers can still gather food from animals killed in this manner.
Age of Empires[]
Villagers hunt wild animals with thrown spears, rather than their usual melee weapon. Food from hunting can be deposited at the Storage Pit or Town Center, but not at the Granary, which is reserved for foraging and farming.
In the original version of Age of Empires, each animal has a specific behavior set.
- Gazelles flee from player units, and also from Lions, which can hunt them down. Gazelles are triggered to flee when a unit is within two cells' range, although it can take a few moments before they notice. They can be triggered to flee immediately by attacking them, and they take two Villager spears to bring down. It is advisable to send a unit behind them to trigger their fleeing behavior, herding them towards a deposit building to minimize the gatherers' travel time. Gazelles typically occur in groups of 4-7, yielding 150 food each. This makes them a good source of food, but quite a micromanagement-intensive one.
- Elephants ignore all units - unless attacked, in which case, they charge the attacker, and can cause heavy damage if allowed to reach melee range. Elephants' aggressive response can be exploited to lure them close to a deposit building, to minimize the gatherers' travel time - however, they move slowly, so the attacker may need to occasionally stop to prevent the Elephant giving up the chase. They take 12 Villager spears to bring down, so it is strongly advisable to attack them with multiple Villagers. Elephants typically occur singly or in loose groups of 2-3 and yield an enormous 300 food each, which decays very slowly. Being so large, numerous Villagers can gather from an Elephant carcass simultaneously.
- Lions are predators, which attack player units (and Gazelles) that approach within three cells' range. Villagers upgraded with Wheel can outrun them, so may want to lure them close to a deposit building before bringing them down. Un-upgraded Villagers will inevitably take damage from any Lions they approach, unless they're able to bring them down before they enter melee range. When an un-upgraded Villager strays too close to a Lion, it is strongly advisable to deliberately target them, to bring them down as quickly as possible, which requires five Villager spear hits. Lions typically occur singly or in loose pairs, often somewhat close to other land animals. Unlike in Age of Empires II, Villagers can gather from predator carcasses, but it's a modest 100 food each, and decays rapidly.
- Crocodiles (Alligators before the Definitive Edition) are slow but aggressive predators, which attack player units that approach within five cells' radius. Their durability and 100 food yield are identical to Lions, and they deal similar damage if they manage to reach melee range, but they are far slower and can be triggered from a longer distance. They are among the slowest units in the game, making them poor candidates for luring over significant distances, so are mostly just a nuisance for Villagers attempting to build Docks. Before Return of Rome, they were almost exclusively found along shorelines, and usually singly.
All animals remain stationary throughout the game, unless triggered to attack or flee. Before the Definitive Edition, it was also possible for Villagers to hunt birds, but no food was yielded. The Tame Lion unit, accessible in the Scenario Editor, is treated as a military unit rather than a wild animal, so it also yields no food.
Each of the common huntable animals has an analogue in Age of Empires II, but they behave somewhat differently. Gazelles are analogous to Deer, but the latter return to their original location after fleeing. Elephants are analogous to Wild Boar, but the latter can outrun an un-upgraded Villager, whereas luring an Elephant requires the Villager to occasionally wait for the Elephant to catch up. Lions and Crocodiles are analogous to Wolves, but the latter don't yield food when hunted.
Alpha animals (King before the Definitive Edition), present in some scenarios or via the GRANTLINKSPENCE cheat code, behave a little differently to their common counterparts. All can detect units from longer ranges, except the Alpha Elephant, which, unlike the standard Elephant, will actively chase units that approach within four cells, like a predator. All are more durable, and all except the Alpha Gazelle deal more damage, so they should always be hunted by large groups. The Alpha Gazelle and Crocodile/Alligator move faster than their common counterparts. The Alpha Gazelle is also a far more valuable target than other animals, yielding a massive 400 food.
Return of Rome adds many animals from Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, which replace the existing animals on some maps, but have the same characteristics as the Age of Empires species. Return of Rome also alters the animal distribution across random maps, so predators are typically rarer, and aren't associated with particular geographic features.
The decay rates for animals are:
- Timid huntables decay at 0.3 food per second in Age of Empires and 0.25 food per second in Return of Rome.
- Dangerous huntables decay at 0.2 food per second in Age of Empires (applying to only Elephants) and in Return of Rome it is 0.4 food per second for Elephants and 0.2 food per second for others (including Elephant (Alpha)).
- Predators decay at 1 food per second in Age of Empires and in Return of Rome it is 1 food for Lions and 0.5 food per second for others.
Age of Empires II[]
Huntables in Age of Empires II can be broadly divided into two categories: regular huntables that attempt to flee attackers (Deer, Ostriches, Zebras, and Ibexes) and those that become aggressive towards attackers (Wild Boars, Javelinas, Elephants, and Rhinoceroses). Each of these should be approached using different strategies.
Regular huntables appear in groups of three or four on most maps. They flee when approached by any non-Gaia unit and continue to do so if pursued. If they are not chased for a short amount of time, they go back to their spawn point; while walking back, they cannot be manipulated to move in any other direction. Regular huntables carry 140 food, regardless of their subcategory. Based on the rate of resource degradation and the typical carrying capacity of hunters without upgrades, this means that four hunters are necessary to collect all of the food from a single animal without requiring a second trip to collect anything left behind, while three operate at maximum efficiency but leave a little food behind. This makes groups of four hunters ideal against these targets. The main exception is Goth hunters, whose extra carry capacity allows them to use groups as small as three villagers. Regular huntables flee when they are approached by any unit; this allows units such as Scout Cavalry to "herd" huntables in the direction of Town Centers and Mills for Villagers to shoot, resulting in less travel time for the Villagers.
Aggressive huntables require a different strategy. They will contain 300+ food each, but can easily kill a villager or two, even with Loom researched. The standard method for dealing with these targets is to send one villager out to prompt the aggressive herdable to attack them, and then retreat to a nearby Town Center or Mill where a group of other villagers are waiting. Once the target is within the Town Center's area or in immediate proximity to it, all nearby villagers should stop their current tasks and contribute to killing the boar. If the lure villager is injured, they can garrison inside the Town Center until the animal is slain. Once this is accomplished, half a dozen or so villagers can gather food from the target, with short-to-nonexistent trips to the adjacent Town Center or Mill reducing the amount of waste.
Mongols gather from huntables 40% faster, making this food source particularly attractive for them.
Huntable animals[]
Age of Empires[]
- Alligator / Crocodile (before/since the Definitive Edition)
- Elephant
- Gazelle
- Lion
- Crocodile (Alpha)
- Elephant (Alpha)
- Gazelle (Alpha)
- Lion (Alpha)
Return of Rome[]
Age of Empires II[]
Age of Mythology[]
The Titans[]
Immortal Pillars[]
Heavenly Spear[]
Tale of the Dragon[]
- Note: These huntable animals are not available in Age of Mythology: Retold.
Age of Empires III[]
| “ | Harvest for Food. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
| “ | Attracted to nearby Shrines. Enhances resources generated by Shrines. | ” |
| —Japanese in-game description | ||
The WarChiefs[]
The Asian Dynasties[]
Definitive Edition[]
The African Royals[]
Age of Empires IV[]
Civilization bonuses[]
Age of Empires[]
Age of Empires II[]
- Aztecs: Hunters carry +3 food.
- Goths: Hunters carry +15 food from hunting. Hunt lasts 20% longer.
- Jurchens: Huntables do not decay.
- Maya: Huntables last 15% longer.
- Mongols: Hunters work +40% faster.
| Animals in Age of Empires II | |
|---|---|
| Herdable animals |  Chicken ·  Cow ·  Goat ·  Goose ·  Llama ·  Pig ·  Sheep ·  Turkey ·  Water Buffalo |
| Timid huntables |  Arctic Fox ·  Arctic Hare ·  Argali ·  Deer ·  Gazelle ·  Hare ·  Ibex ·  Mouflon ·  Ostrich ·  Peacock ·  Red Fox ·  Wild Chicken ·  Zebra |
| Aggressive huntables |  Elephant ·  Iron Boar · Javelina ·  Rhinoceros · Wild Boar |
| Predators |  Arabian Wolf ·  Arctic Wolf ·  Black Bear · Brown Bear ·  Crocodile ·  Dire Wolf · Grey Wolf ·  Jaguar ·  Komodo Dragon ·  Lion ·  Polar Bear · Rabid Wolf ·  Snow Leopard ·  Tiger |
| Marine animals |  Box Turtles ·  Dolphin ·  Dorado ·  Marlin · Nessie ·  Oysters ·  Perch ·  Salmon ·  Shore Fish ·  Snapper ·  Tuna |
| Civilian animals |  Bactrian Camel ·  Camel ·  Donkey ·  Horse |
| Military animals |  Alfred the Alpaca ·  Furious the Monkey Boy ·  War Penguin |
| Hero animals |  Hunting Wolf ·  Ornlu the Wolf |
| Decorative animals |  Bird ·  Stormy Dog · Wild Bactrian Camel · Monkey · Penguin · Wild Camel · Wild Horse |
| Animals in Age of Empires IV | |
|---|---|
| Herdable animals |  Herdable Sheep ·  Cattle (Malians only) |
| Timid huntables |  Huntable Deer |
| Aggressive huntables |  Huntable Boar |
| Predators |  Wolf |
| Fish |  Fish · Shoreline Fish |
| Cut animals | Bear · Crocodile · Fox · Zebra |