Imperial Age (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the Age in Age of Empires II. For the Age of the same name in Age of Empires III, see Imperial Age (Age of Empires III).

Imperial Age
Availability
Introduced in	The Age of Kings
Civilization	All civilizations
Age number	4
Preceded by	Castle Age
Followed by	Post-Imperial Age (Random map/settings only)
Required buildings	Two of the following:  Monastery  University  Siege Workshop or a  Castle
Research
Researched at	Town Center
Food	1,000
Gold	800
Research time	190 seconds

Moving to Imperial Age.

A civilization in the Imperial Age

The Imperial Age is the fourth and final Age in Age of Empires II. It gives access to gunpowder units (except for the Aztecs, Huns, Incas, and Mayans) and heavy siege units.

Additionally, once the Imperial Age is reached, a Wonder can be built by any civilization. When playing a random map, Post-Imperial Age can be chosen as the Starting Age, which is the same as the Imperial Age, but with all technologies (available to each civilization) already researched.

The Imperial Age is preceded by the Castle Age.

Note: The list below only shows the units, buildings, and technologies that are activated when a player advances to the Imperial Age.

Available buildings

Civilian buildings

• Wonder - special building that grants victory when constructed and defended for 200 years
• Feitoria - generates resources (Portuguese only)

Defensive structures

• Keep¹ - Tower that attacks enemies on sight
• Bombard Tower¹ - powerful Tower (requires Chemistry)

1. Both the Keep and the Bombard Tower have to be researched at the University.

Available units

In the Imperial Age, only military units are unlocked.

At the Barracks

• Two-Handed Swordsman - swordsman unit
• Champion - swordsman unit
• Halberdier - anti-cavalry unit
• Elite Eagle Warrior - scouting unit, also good against archers
• Condottiero - anti-gunpowder unit (Italians and allies only)

At the Archery Range

• Arbalester - archer unit
• Heavy Cavalry Archer - mounted archer
• Elite Genitour - mounted anti-archer skirmisher (Berbers and allies only)
• Hand Cannoneer - light gunpowder unit (requires Chemistry)
• Imperial Skirmisher - anti-archer javelineer (Vietnamese and allies only)

At the Stable

• Heavy Camel Rider - anti-cavalry unit
• Imperial Camel Rider - anti-cavalry unit (Indians only)
• Cavalier - heavy cavalry unit
• Paladin - heavy cavalry unit
• Hussar - light and quick scouting unit
• Elite Battle Elephant - heavy cavalry unit

At the Castle

• Elite unique unit - a special unit only one civilization can train
• Trebuchet - powerful long-range siege weapon

At the Siege Workshop

• Onager - ranged siege unit with splash attack
• Siege Onager - ranged siege unit with splash attack
• Capped Ram - anti-building siege unit with splash damage that is almost immune to missiles
• Siege Ram - anti-building siege unit with splash damage that is almost immune to missiles
• Heavy Scorpion - ranged siege unit
• Bombard Cannon - siege unit with a long range (requires Chemistry)

At the Dock

• Galleon - basic war ship
• Fast Fire Ship - war ship with a flamethrower
• Heavy Demolition Ship - self-destructive vessel
• Cannon Galleon - gunpowder ship with a long range (requires Chemistry)
• Elite Cannon Galleon - gunpowder ship with a long range (requires Chemistry)
• Elite Longboat - war ship that shoots multiple arrows (Vikings only)
• Elite Turtle Ship - heavy armored ship that fires a cannon (Koreans only)
• Elite Caravel - war ship that shoots arrows with splash attack (Portuguese only)

Available technologies

Economic technologies

At the Mill

• Crop Rotation - gives Farms extra food

At the Lumber Camp

• Two-Man Saw - increases wood-chopping speed

At the Market

• Banking - removes tribute fee (since patch 5.8; moved from Castle Age)
• Guilds - reduces commodity trading fee

At the University

• Architecture - strengthens buildings

Military technologies

At the Archery Range

• Parthian Tactics - increases armor and attack against Spearmen of Cavalry Archers

At the Dock

• Dry Dock - increases ship speed and Transport Ship capacity
• Shipwright - makes ships cheaper and increases their creation speed

At the Castle

• Unique technology¹ - special technology that only one civilization can research
• Hoardings - increases Castle HP
• Sappers - increases the attack of Villagers against buildings
• Conscription - increases the working rate of Barracks, Archery Ranges, Stables, and Castles
• Spies² - see enemy Line of Sight
• Treason³ - see enemy Kings for a short time

1. Not all unique technologies are military technologies.
2. Spies is not available in Regicide and Deathmatch games.
3. Treason is only available in Regicide games.

At the Blacksmith

• Ring Archer Armor - increases archer armor
• Bracer - improves missiles
• Blast Furnace - increases infantry and cavalry attack
• Plate Mail Armor - increases infantry armor
• Plate Barding Armor - increases cavalry armor

At the University

• Chemistry - increases missiles and siege units and allows the creation of gunpowder units
• Siege Engineers - increases siege unit range and attack against buildings
• Arrowslits - increases Tower attack

Religious technologies

At the Monastery

• Illumination - Monks regain their faith faster after a successful conversion
• Faith - increases conversion resistance of all units
• Block Printing increases conversion range
• Theocracy - only one Monk must rest after a successful conversion

Civilization bonuses

• Byzantines: Advancing to the Imperial Age is 33% cheaper.
• Ethiopians: Receive 100 food and 100 gold when they reach the Imperial Age.
• Italians: Advancing to the Imperial Age is 15% cheaper.
• Khmer: No buildings are required to advance to the Imperial Age.
• Malay: Advancing to the Imperial Age is 80% faster.
• Persians: Researching the Imperial Age is 15% faster.

History

“	The rise of great kings and their quest for empire brought about the final segment of the Middle Ages that can be called the Imperial Age. The feudal system was being replaced by kings at the head of nations in England, France, Spain, and Scandinavia. Trade was booming and cities were growing in size and power. The Renaissance was underway in Italy and spreading across Europe. Technology and learning surpassed that of the ancient world. Firearms and other innovations brought an end to the military dominance of knights and castles. This end of the Middle Ages can be marked by several important events, including the Turkish capture of Constantinople, the discovery of the New World, trading contact by sea with Asia, and Martin Luther’s Reformation.	”
—Age of Empires II manual