Landmarks are a special mechanic used to advance through Ages in Age of Empires IV. They are similar to minor gods in Age of Mythology in that every civilization (or major god) gets two choices per Age from which to choose. However, landmarks are buildings to be constructed (and protected), rather than a mere pop-up to be selected. Most civilizations are limited to choosing only one of their two landmark choices per age.
In addition to the following, the starting Town Center for every civilization is also considered a landmark. This is reflected in their superior all-round stats.
To achieve a Landmarks Victory, one must destroy all enemy landmarks (including the starting Town Center). A landmark, once destroyed, can be "rebuilt" (actually repaired). All landmarks cost only wood to repair. This makes Keep-type valuable since, unlike standard Keeps, they do not cost stone, a generally more scarce resource, to repair.
Abbasid Dynasty[]
Rather than building different landmarks, the Abbasid Dynasty only has the singular House of Wisdom. The player is straightaway provided with a roster of four "wings". The House of Wisdom can be upgraded with different wings, one at a time, advancing in Age for every wing constructed (except for the fourth wing). Each wing has a set of three technologies, each of which has its own age requirement. The players can still research all 12 technologies in the end, and doing so unlocks the "All the World's Knowledge" Achievement. To make up for having fewer landmarks, the House of Wisdom increases in Hit Points every time a wing is constructed.
Culture Wing |
Economic Wing |
Military Wing |
Trade Wing | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Preservation of Knowledge | Fresh Foodstuffs | Boot Camp | Grand Bazaar | |
Medical Centers | Agriculture | Camel Rider Shields | Armored Caravans | |
Proselytization | Improved Processing | Camel Support | Spice Roads |
Ayyubids[]
Similar to the Abbasids, the Ayyubids have the House of Wisdom as their sole landmark. However, unlike their parent civilization, the player can further choose one of two branches to age up with for each wing, and each branch provides immediate benefits that scale up depending on which age it was built, rather than unlocking technologies to research. Furthermore picking a particular wing and branch does not unlock its benefits for all subsequent ages. Only those benefits from the age it was constructed can be obtained.
Byzantines[]
Dark Age[]
- Grand Winery - Acts as a Mill and Monastery. Provides a +60% Olive Oil production boost to farming Villagers within a 6.25 tile radius. Garrisoned Relics generate Olive Oil instead of Gold.
- Imperial Hippodrome - Acts as a Stable. Produces "Supply Points" every 30 seconds, up to a maximum of 45. Supply Points can be spent to activate the unique Triumph ability for one second per point collected. Triumph boosts the move speed and damage of all cavalry, while also granting them regeneration.
Feudal Age[]
- Golden Horn Tower - Automatically recruits unlocked mercenaries at no cost, but with a longer training time.
- Cistern of the First Hill - Acts as a Cistern. Provides a powerful healing effect via the Pilgrim Flask technology.
Castle Age[]
- Foreign Engineering Company - Allows the training of siege engines not normally available to the Byzantines by purchasing them with Olive Oil. Also provides unique upgrades to mercenaries from their original civilizations.
- Palatine School - Has a 30% chance to generate an additional, free unit from the core Byzantine roster of unique units when they are trained elsewhere.
Chinese[]
The Chinese are not restricted to build one landmark per age. Building the first landmark of a given age will advance the player's civilization as usual, and building the second one of the same age will unlock its respective Dynasty, unlocking unique units, buildings, and bonuses.
Dark Age[]
- Imperial Academy - Buildings within a 14x14 influence area produce +100% Tax Gold. Can also train Imperial Officials at a 30% discount (70 Food, 35 Gold). Serves as a Tax drop-off point for Imperial Officials.
- Barbican of the Sun - Acts as an improved Outpost with extra hit points, and a long range Handcannon Emplacement already installed. Can be upgraded with further Emplacements in later ages.
Feudal Age[]
- Astronomical Clocktower - Acts as a Siege Workshop. Produces siege engines with +50% hit points.
- Imperial Palace - Possesses a large sight radius. Using the Imperial Spies ability, enemy Villagers, Traders, Trade Ships, Fishing Boats, and Officials are revealed for 10 seconds. Serves as a Tax drop-off point for Imperial Officials.
Castle Age[]
- Great Wall Gatehouse - Acts as an improved Stone Wall Gate with extra hit points, and a Nest of Bees Emplacement already installed. Also provides all troops on any Stone Wall a +25% increase in ranged damage.
- Spirit Way - Upgrades Dynasty units two and a half times as fast and at a 50% discount. Whenever a Dynasty unit dies, nearby friendly units receive a 20% attack speed bonus for 10 seconds, and heal 20 health over 10 seconds.
Delhi Sultanate[]
Dark Age[]
- Dome of the Faith - Acts as a Mosque. Produces Scholars with a 50% discount (65 gold).
- Tower of Victory - All infantry produced from Barracks and Archery Ranges within the Scholar influence area have a permanent 20% increased attack speed.
Feudal Age[]
- Compound of the Defender - Enables infantry to build Stone Walls, Gates, and Towers. Also reduces the Stone cost of all buildings and Emplacements by 20%. Contains several defensive technologies, including ones that are normally only available in Imperial Age.
- House of Learning - Contains many unique economic, military, and religious technologies.
Castle Age[]
- Hisar Academy - Acts as a Madrasa, granting 3 free Scholars upon completion. Generates food based on the total number of technologies researched.
- Palace of the Sultan - Automatically produces Sultan's Elite Tower Elephants, a more powerful version of the normal Tower Elephant. Can garrison up to 4 Scholars to increase production speed.
English[]
Dark Age[]
- Abbey of Kings - Heals out-of-combat friendly units within a 7.5 tile radius at a rate of 6 hit points per second. Can also crown a King, a cavalry unit with a lesser version of the Abbey's aura.
- Council Hall - Acts as an Archery Range with a +100% production speed bonus.
Feudal Age[]
- King's Palace - Acts as a Town Center with increased hit points and garrison space.
- The White Tower - Acts as a Keep with increased garrison space and a +75% production speed bonus.
Castle Age[]
- Berkshire Palace - Acts as an improved Keep with much greater range and a stronger incendiary arrow attack.
- Wynguard Palace - Trains a variety of units in batches at a reduced cost, including the unique Wynguard Rangers and Wynguard Footmen.
French and Jeanne d'Arc[]
Dark Age[]
- Chamber of Commerce - Acts as a Market. Trains one free Trader for every economic technology researched.
- School of Cavalry - Acts as a Stable. All Stables produce units 20% faster.
Feudal Age[]
- Guild Hall - Generates and stores resources over time. The more resources stored, the faster they are generated. The rate is reset when a resource is collected.
- Royal Institute - Houses all technologies unique to the civilization. Research at the Landmark is 30% cheaper and ignores Age requirements.
Castle Age[]
- College of Artillery - Trains "Royal" versions of gunpowder siege units, which deal 30% more damage, and unlocks the Artillery Shot ability for Cannons. Also contains gunpowder and siege technologies. Trains units and researches technologies 50% faster.
- Red Palace - Acts as an improved Keep, with high-damage Arbalest Emplacements already installed. Garrisoned units add additional arbalests. Also unlocks Arbalest Emplacements on all Town Centers and Keeps.
Holy Roman Empire and Order of the Dragon[]
Dark Age[]
- Aachen Chapel - Serves as a drop-off location for all resources, and extends the Holy Inspiration buff across a 6.5 tile radius as long as a Prelate is garrisoned inside.
- Meinwerk Palace - Acts as a Blacksmith. Technologies researched at the Landmark cost 50% less and research 50% faster. Also contains several technologies unique to the Palace.
Feudal Age[]
- Burgrave Palace - Acts as a Barracks with a +400% production speed bonus.
- Regnitz Cathedral - Acts as a Monastery. Relics garrisoned in buildings generate 100% more gold.
Castle Age[]
- Elzbach Palace - Acts as an improved Keep with 50% more hit points. All friendly buildings within its influence take 33% less damage.
- Palace of Swabia - Acts as a Town Center. Produces Villagers 200% faster and with a 66% discount. The cost to build this Landmark is reduced by 20%.
Dark Age[]
- Aachen Chapel - Serves as a drop-off location for all resources, and provides a +15% gather rate bonus to Villagers within a 7.5 tile radius.
- Meinwerk Palace - Acts as a Blacksmith. Technologies researched at the Landmark cost 50% less and research 50% faster. Also contains several technologies unique to the Palace.
Feudal Age[]
- Burgrave Palace - Acts as a Barracks. Produces units 35% faster and with a 35% discount. Also researches technologies 35% faster.
- Regnitz Cathedral - Acts as a Monastery. Relics garrisoned in buildings generate 100% more gold.
Castle Age[]
- Elzbach Palace - Acts as an improved Keep with 50% more hit points. All friendly buildings within its influence take 33% less damage.
- Palace of Swabia - Acts as a Town Center. Produces Villagers 200% faster and with a 66% discount. The cost to build this Landmark is reduced by 20%.
Japanese[]
Dark Age[]
- Koka Township - Allows training of Shinobi.
- Kura Storehouse - Serves as a drop-off location for all resources, can garrison units, and contains all economic technologies available at the Farmhouse, Forge, and Lumber Camp. Periodically generates free Farms in the surrounding area. When Farms can no longer be created, the Storehouse generates Wood instead.
Feudal Age[]
- Floating Gate - Allows training Shinto Priests, and unlocks the Shinto Shrine, which contains unique technologies. Periodically produces Shinto Priests holding a Yorishiro, including one when constructed.
- Temple of Equality - Acts as a Buddhist Temple. Allows training Buddhist Monks, and unlocks the Buddhist Temple, which contains unique technologies.
Castle Age[]
- Castle of the Crow - Acts as a Castle. Periodically generates Treasure Caravans from neutral Trade Posts, which deliver a shipment of all resources.
- Tanegashima Gunsmith - Can train various gunpowder units, including the Ozutsu and the Ribauldequin. Produces "stockpiles" every 30 seconds, which can be used to instantly produce units at no cost.
Malians[]
Dark Age[]
- Saharan Trade Network - Acts as an improved Toll Outpost with extra hit points and Javelin Emplacement. Enables all Toll Outposts to generate Food in addition to Gold. Unlocks Javelin Emplacements on Toll Outposts.
- Mansa Quarry - Slowly generates 75 Gold or Stone per minute.
Feudal Age[]
- Grand Fulani Corral - Generates 20 food per minute for every Cattle within a 6.5 tile radius.
- Farimba Garrison - Unlocks or improves one unit in the Castle Age, and another in the Imperial Age, including potentially the Freeborn Warrior.
Castle Age[]
- Fort of the Huntress - Acts as a Keep. Applies stealth to all friendly infantry units within an 8 tile radius. Musofadi Warriors and Musofadi Gunners gain the First Strike ability, causing them to deal more damage when breaking stealth with an attack.
- Griot Bara - Enables the activation of a Festival which provides temporary benefits for a cost of 300 gold. Festivals provide global enhancements to Food gather rates, production speed, or damage of torches and siege attacks.
Mongols[]
Dark Age[]
- Deer Stones - Provides the Yam Network bonus, granting +15% speed to all units (except siege) within a 12.5 tile radius of the Landmark and any Outposts. Unlocks Khan's Hunters.
- The Silver Tree - Acts as a Market. Builds Traders 40% faster and at a 40% reduced gold cost.
Feudal Age[]
- Kurultai - Provides a 20% damage bonus and heals all damaged units at a rate of 1 hit point per second within a 10 tile radius.
- Steppe Redoubt - Acts as a Ger. Gold dropped off at this Landmark is increased by 50%.
Castle Age[]
- The White Stupa - Acts as an Ovoo without the need to be placed on a stone outcropping. Produces 240 stone per minute.
- Khaganate Palace - Regularly spawns a pseudo-randomly chosen group of units, most of which are not otherwise available to the Mongols.
Ottomans[]
Dark Age[]
- Twin Minaret Medrese - Acts as a Mill. Spawns 4 Berry Bushes, which replenish after 120 seconds if depleted. Villagers gather from these Berry Bushes 50% faster.
- Sultanhani Trade Network - Acts as a Market. Can garrison up to 10 Traders, generating 24 Gold per minute from each. Starts with 3 Traders already garrisoned.
Feudal Age[]
- Istanbul Imperial Palace - Doubles the amount of Imperial Council experience earned for training units within a 10-tile radius of the Landmark, and increases the maximum amount of Vizier Points from 5 to 8.
- Mehmed Imperial Armory - Produces siege units for free, but with a longer training time, in a similar fashion to the Military School.
Castle Age[]
- Istanbul Observatory - Acts as a University. Has a 14x14 influence radius which allows all military buildings to produce units 100% faster.
- Sea Gate Castle - Acts as a Keep. Traders within a 15 tile radius of any Keep gain a +30% movement speed bonus and +8 melee and ranged armor. This buff lingers for 15 seconds after leaving the aura.
Rus[]
Dark Age[]
- Kremlin - Acts as an improved Wooden Fortress with more hit points, and with Arrowslits, Castle Turret, and Castle Watch emplacements already installed. Produces "Supply Points" every 80 seconds, which can be used to deploy Militia at a cost of 55 food each.
- The Golden Gate - Produces "Supply Points" every 50 seconds, which can be used to trade resources like a Market, but at a fixed rate. Each point spent can sell 100 food/wood/stone for 150 gold, or buy 150 food/wood/stone for 100 gold.
Feudal Age[]
- Abbey of the Trinity - Acts as a Monastery. Reduces Warrior Monk cost by 50% and contains unique technologies that benefit the Warrior Monk.
- High Trade House - Generates Gold like a Hunting Cabin with the value increased by 400%. Spawns a Deer every 60 seconds. Villagers can drop off Food at this Landmark.
Castle Age[]
- High Armory - Reduces the cost of siege engines created by Siege Workshops within a 7.5 tile radius by 20%. Also contains several unique technologies that benefit siege units.
- Spasskaya Tower - Acts as an improved Keep with double hit points, and with Springald and Cannon Emplacements already installed. Also unlocks the building of Stone Walls, Gates, and Towers.
Zhu Xi's Legacy[]
As the Chinese variant, Zhu Xi's Legacy can also build both its landmarks per age. Just like the Chinese, building the first landmark of a given age will advance to the next age, and building the second landmark will unlock a new Dynasty with different benefits than the standard Chinese dynasties.
Feudal Age[]
- Meditation Gardens - Generates resources based on the number of Berry Bushes, Trees, Gold Mines, and Stone Outcroppings within an 8 tile radius. Depleting the resources does not reduce income from the Landmark, but enemy units within the radius will reduce it temporarily.
- Jiangnan Tower - Generates a free unit whenever a Barracks, Archery Range, Stable, or Town Center is built. Serves as a Tax drop-off point for Imperial Officials.
Castle Age[]
- Shaolin Monastery - Acts as a Monastery, but trains Shaolin Monks instead of regular Monks.
- Mount Lu Academy - Imperial Officials collect Tax twice as often and also collect an extra 20% of Taxes as food. Contains unique technologies that improve the Imperial Official.
Imperial Age[]
- Zhu Xi's Library - Contains five powerful unique technologies, out of which only two can be researched.
- Temple of the Sun - Provides one of four passive global military or defensive bonuses, which can be toggled freely.
Trivia[]
- Some landmarks have generic names which might refer to types of buildings/institutions which can be found in a city, rather than specific real-world monuments, while others have names which seem to refer to specific places and edifices. However, of the latter group, only a few, including the Aachen Chapel, Spasskaya Tower, Tower of Victory and Shaolin Monastery, bear the names of real-world structures. The name of the Mount Lu Academy landmark may refer to the White Deer Grotto Academy on Mount Lu, in China.
- Except Zhu Xi's Legacy, all variant civilizations use the same landmarks as their base civilizations. However, only Jeanne d'Arc uses them exactly the way the French do.
Gameplay elements in the Age of Empires series | |
---|---|
Age · Ability (II · M · III · IV) · Architecture set (II · III) · Area of Effect (Trample damage) · Armor/Resists (hack/melee · pierce/ranged · crush/siege) · Armor class/Tag/Unit type (I - original · I - Return of Rome · II) · Artificial intelligence · Attack (IV) · Attack delay · Attack ground · Aura (IV) · Auto Scout · Building (I · II · M · III · IV · AoE:DS) · Civilization (I · II · M · III · IV) · Civilization bonus · Cheat code (I · II · M · III · IV) · Conversion · Counter · Diplomacy · Gaia/Mother Nature · Game modes · Garrison · Gather Point · Healing · Hit points · Hotkey · Line of Sight · Mini map · Mobile building · Pass-through damage · Player · Population · Range · Rate of Fire · Regeneration · Relic (II · M · IV) · Repairing · Resource (Renewable resource) · Scenario Editor (I · II · M · III · IV) · Score · Signal Allies/Flare · Soundtrack (I · II · M · III · IV) · Speed · Stealth mode · Taunt · Technology (I · II · M · III · IV) · Technology tree (I · II · IV) · Terrain (AoE:DS · AoM:DS) · Town Bell · Trade (IV) · Tribute · Unit (I · II · M · III · IV · AoE:DS · AoM:DS) · Unit formation · Unit stance (III) · Upgrade (I · II · III · IV) · User interface · Victory · Villager Priority | |
Genie Engine | |
Frame delay · Full Tech Tree · Team bonus | |
Age of Empires | Ruins · Discovery |
Age of Empires II | Projectile duplication |
Bang Engine | |
Autoqueue · Multiplier · Snare | |
Age of Mythology | God (Major · Minor) · God power · Settlement |
Age of Empires III | Age-up methods (Politician/Tribal Council/Wonder/Federal State/Alliance) · Banner army · Consulate · Damage Cap · Home City · Home City Card · Inspiring Flag · Minor civilization · Promotion · Revolution · Target Lock · Trade Monopoly · Trade Route · Treasure |
Age of Empires IV | |
Generic | Fire armor · Influence · Landmark · Religion · Sacred Site · Variant civilization |
Civilization-unique | Bounty · Dynasty · Golden Age · Imperial Council (Vizier Point) |
If a gameplay element has different pages across games, like civilization, the individual pages are linked in brackets. |