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).

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, Cumans 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)

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

Available units[]

Only military units that are unlocked in the Imperial Age are shown.

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
Winged Hussar - light and quick scouting unit (Lithuanians and Poles only)
Elite Battle Elephant - heavy cavalry unit
Elite Steppe Lancer - light 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)
Houfnice - siege unit with a long range (requires Chemistry) (Bohemians only)

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

Not all unique technologies are military technologies.
Spies is not available in Regicide and Deathmatch games.
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 66% 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