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Line of Sight

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Los icon aoe3de
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A preview image of an Explorer's Line of Sight from Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition.

Line of Sight, often abbreviated to LOS, is a gameplay element in most strategy games. Line of Sight refers to the vision an object grants to its owner (and often allies and spectators, but rarely enemies) over the surrounding area, uncovering the Fog of War.

As both buildings and units are created, with the latter moving, the fog of war around them is cleared away. The death of a unit results in the fog of war recovering the area. Since units and buildings differ in their Line of Sight numbers, some are better for scouting than others and most Age of Empires games feature units that specialize in scouting.

Concept[]

While traditional board games provide perfect information to all participants, real-time strategy (RTS) games use the fog of war and Line of Sight to keep one players movements and decisions secret from the others unless scouted. Thus every player has their own field of Line of Sight which in general differs from that of other players while such fields are allowed to overlap each other. Areas of conflict are always inside of overlapping Line of Sight.

RTS games like Starcraft only hide information from opponents in a grey shroud while revealing knowledge of the map setup to all players. The Age of Empires series goes one step further. Maps are generated randomly and hide information from all players initially. Thus besides of the observation of the map initial exploration is required as well.

Fog of War[]

Removing the black fog is important to find the resources on which to rely once the player runs out of the starting resources, as well as to learn about the map setup for territorial ambitions and to find the enemies and sometimes even allies on the map, whereas removing the grey shroud is required to keep track of the other players actions and thus control over certain areas.

An exception to the rule of Line of Sight are ranged units. While they themselves in the Age of Empires series have Line of Sight matching or surpassing their range, other players will spot them when being hit by such ranged units even if the ranged units should be out of Line of Sight. For a short amount of time they are added to the victims players Line of Sight to show where exactly ranged attacks came from.

Age of Empires[]

This section is most likely incomplete and may need expansion. You can help by adding to it.

Age of Empires II[]

In Age of Empires II, Cartography allowed players to share Line of Sight of allies. With patch 5.7, it was removed from the game as a technology and its effects granted automatically upon construction of a Market. With update 73855, Cartography effects now apply at the start of the game on standard settings, thus making players share their ally's Line of Sight from the start of the game.

Units[]

Units Base LOS Max. LOS
Trebuchet 19 20
Elite Cannon Galleon 17 17
Cannon Galleon 15 15
Bombard Cannon, Houfnice 14 15
Monk (Monk with a Relic has 2 tiles less Line of Sight) 11 14
Elite Longbowman 10 14
Longbowman 8 13
Missionary 9 12
Galleon, Elite Longboat, Caravel, Elite Caravel 9 12
Onager, Siege Onager 10 11
War Galley, Longboat 8 11
Elite War Wagon, Genoese Crossbowman, Elite Genoese Crossbowman 8 11
Scout Cavalry, Light Cavalry, Hussar, Winged Hussar 4 10
Janissary, Elite Janissary 10 10
Mangonel, Scorpion line, Organ Gun, Elite Organ Gun 9 10
Crossbowman, Arbalester 7 10
War Wagon, Slinger 7 10
Elite Skirmisher, Imperial Skirmisher 7 10
Elephant Archer, Elite Elephant Archer 7 10
Galley 7 10
Hand Cannoneer 9 9
Elite Conquistador 9 9
Siege Tower, Hussite Wagon, Elite Hussite Wagon 8 9
Skirmisher 6 9
Plumed Archer, Elite Plumed Archer 6 9
Archer, Chu Ko Nu, Elite Chu Ko Nu, Rattan Archer, Elite Rattan Archer 6 9
Heavy Cavalry Archer, Mangudai, Elite Mangudai, Elite Genitour 6 9
Conquistador 8 8
Turtle Ship, Elite Turtle Ship 8 8
Elite Battle Elephant, Elite War Elephant 8 8
Eagle Scout 5 8
Ballista Elephant 7 8
Kipchak, Elite Kipchak 6 8
Cavalry Archer, Camel Archer, Genitour 5 8
Elite Tarkan, Arambai, Elite Arambai 7 7
Elite Gbeto, Flemish Militia 7 9
Trade Cart 7 7
Battle Elephant, War Elephant 7 7
Elite Throwing Axeman 6 9
Gbeto, Eagle Warrior, Elite Eagle Warrior, Condottiero 6 8
Elite Magyar Huszar 6 6
Fast Fire Ship, Demolition Raft, Demolition Ship, Heavy Demolition Ship, Trade Cog 6 6
Throwing Axeman 5 8
Two-Handed Swordsman, Champion, Elite Woad Raider, Elite Huskarl, Elite Samurai, Elite Teutonic Knight, Elite Berserk, Elite Jaguar Warrior, Elite Kamayuk, Elite Serjeant 5 7
Tarkan, Magyar Huszar, Steppe Lancer, Elite Steppe Lancer, Paladin, Elite Cataphract, Boyar, Elite Boyar, Konnik, Elite Konnik, Leitis, Elite Leitis, Keshik, Elite Keshik, Coustillier, Elite Coustillier 5 5
Camel Scout, Camel Rider, Heavy Camel Rider, Imperial Camel Rider, Mameluke 5 5
Fire Galley, Fire Ship, Fishing Ship, Transport Ship 5 5
Militia, Man-at-Arms, Long Swordsman, Spearman line, Samurai, Kamayuk 4 6
Knight, Cavalier, Cataphract, Xolotl Warrior, Camel Rider 4 4
Petard, Flaming Camel 4 4
Villager 4 4
Woad Raider, Huskarl, Teutonic Knight, Berserk, Jaguar Warrior, Shotel Warrior, Elite Shotel Warrior, Karambit Warrior, Elite Karambit Warrior, Serjeant, Obuch, Elite Obuch, Dismounted Konnik, Elite Dismounted Konnik 3 5
Battering Ram line 3 4

Buildings[]

Units Base LOS Max. LOS
Castle 11 20
Outpost 12 20
Watch Tower, Guard Tower, Keep, Harbor, Krepost, Donjon 10 20

Upgrades and bonuses[]

All upgrades that increase range also increase the Line of Sight by the same amount (but not vice versa). As such, the section is further divided. Unless mentioned otherwise, the technology is generic.

Line of Sight upgrades only
Range upgrades
  • Fletching, Bodkin Arrow and Bracer give +1 Line of Sight for Archer, Cavalry Archer, Skirmisher, and Galley lines, and most unique archers and ships. They also give +1 Line of Sight to defensive structures.
  • Block Printing gives +3 Line of Sight for Monks and Missionaries.
  • Siege Engineers gives +1 Line of Sight for all ranged siege units.
  • Aztecs: Atlatl unique technology gives +1 Line of Sight for Skirmisher line and Genitours.
  • Armenians: Cilician Fleet gives +1 Line of Sight for the Galley line and Dromons.
  • Britons: Yeomen unique technology gives +1 Line of Sight for foot archers. Foot archers (except Skirmishers) have +1/+2 Line of Sight in the Castle/Imperial Age.
  • Byzantines: Greek Fire unique technology gives +1 Line of Sight for Fire Galley line.
  • Franks: Bearded Axe unique technology gives +1 Line of Sight for Throwing Axeman.
  • Hindustanis: Shatagni unique technology gives +2 Line of Sight for Hand Cannoneers.
  • Khmer: Scorpions have +1 Line of Sight (team bonus).
  • Koreans: Eupseong unique technology gives +2 Line of Sight for Watch Tower line. Shinkichon unique technology gives +1 Line of Sight for Mangonel line.
  • Lithuanians: Hill Forts unique technology gives +3 Line of Sight for Town Center.
  • Magyars: Recurve Bow unique technology gives +1 Line of Sight for Cavalry Archer line.
  • Tatars: Timurid Siegecraft unique technology may give +1 Line of Sight for Trebuchet.
  • Teutons: Crenellations unique technology gives +3 Line of Sight for Castle.
  • Turks: Artillery unique technology gives +2 Line of Sight for Bombard Cannon, Cannon Galleon, and Bombard Tower.

Trivia[]

  • Despite Siege Engineers increasing range for ranged siege units only, it also gives +1 Line of Sight to the ram line and the Siege Tower.
  • For most units with range, their Line of Sight is simply . For all other remaining units, it is . The Fire Galley line is the only exception having Line of Sight.
  • Line of Sight for units and buildings is capped at 20 tiles so further bonuses or technologies cannot provide more.
  • "marco" and "polo" cheat codes can be used to reveal map and remove fog of war respectively. The cheat code "natural wonders" grants the Line of Sight of gaia.

Age of Mythology[]

God powers[]

Technologies[]

Common[]

  • Signal Fires (+6 building Line of Sight)
  • Carrier Pigeons (+6 building Line of Sight)
  • Line upgrades like Medium Infantry add Line of Sight to units as well. They are available for all human units and are divided into Medium in the Classical Age, Heavy in the Heroic Age, and Champion in the Mythic Age. Units available in later Ages might miss out on the first line upgrades.
  • Wall line upgrades like Stone Wall may also provide + 2 Line of Sight to walls.
  • Relic Pelt of Argus + 6 Line of Sight for units
  • Relic Harter's Folly + 2 Line of Sight for scouts
  • Relic Head of Orpheus + 8 Line of Sight for buildings
  • Relic Trios' Bow + 2 Line of Sight and range for archers
  • Omniscience grants Line of Sight over all players on the map. Its price depends on the amount of hostile units and is only affordable in the very late game or when one of the players is facing defeat and should already have resigned. Thus it helps the winning players to avoid searching the whole map and ending the game.

Greeks[]

Egyptians[]

Norse[]

Atlanteans[]

Trivia[]

  • Classical Age cavalry provide very little Line of Sight. Both the Greek Hippeus and the Norse Raiding Cavalry grant only 8 Line of Sight while Villagers provide 14, infantry 16, and ranged units even more Line of Sight. Since the Line of Sight value is a radius around the unit, the area covered by Line of Sight greatly differs with only small changes in numbers. This makes it more difficult to raid the enemy with cavalry early on.
  • Only possible before the final Extended Edition patch:
    • The player can check if an opponent is taking an explored but currently not observed Settlement by trying to build one themselves. If the player is not allowed to, another player is already building it.
    • Another exploit is the selecting of explored but currently not observed huntables. If the hit point bar is not shown, the animals are already dead and likely to be hunted right now or already have been hunted.
  • Egyptian Priests and Fishing Ships can create Obelisks, which provide moderate Line of Sight. The Egyptians can also construct the Lighthouse in the Mythic Age, which provides a gigantic Line of Sight.

Age of Empires III[]

Technologies[]

Home City cards[]

Advancing in age also grants a Line of Sight upgrade to buildings :

Age Line of Sight bonus
7
4
4
Imperial Age
Imperial Age
 4

Age of Empires IV[]

Overview[]

In Age of Empires IV, Line of Sight (LoS) works quite differently to previous games in the series. Rather than being defined by a strict, unchanging value, the Line of Sight of an entity can change depending on surrounding buildings, terrain, or elevation. Every unit and building's Line of Sight is defined by four values which define three-dimensional volume instead of a circle. The values are:

  • Inner height
  • Inner radius
  • Outer height
  • Outer radius

The following description from the Content Editor can be used to visualize these values:

“ Imagine a lampshade. Looking down from above, you see two circles. The inner circle is the top of the lampshade. The outer circle is the bottom of the lampshade. The size of the lampshade defines how far a unit can see in the game. ”
AoE4 LOS Explainer

A Longbowman can see up a short cliff, but not up a tall one. Its LoS down the hill is significantly farther. A Scout can see even up the tall cliff with little penalty compared to down the hill

The inner and outer heights are the elevations at which the unit has its minimum and maximum Line of Sights respectively, where the inner height is positive (above the unit) and the outer height is negative (below the unit). These correspond to heights of certain elevation and terrain types. The actual values themselves are not intuitive, but also somewhat meaningless, as almost all units and buildings have the same values for these parameters. They can be used to calculate a unit's exact LoS on level ground, but practically speaking, it is more important to remember these general rules in regards to how Line of Sight relates to differences in elevation:

  • A unit's maximum Line of Sight - the value displayed on each unit's page - will only apply when they are at high elevation looking downwards, such as at the top of steep hills or cliffs on maps like King of the Hill, or when standing on top of Stone Walls.
  • A unit's LoS on flat terrain will be three to four tiles smaller than its maximum LoS, and its minimum LoS is always six tiles smaller than its maximum.
  • A unit's LoS will decrease significantly when looking up traversable hills, but will typically not reach its minimum unless looking up cliffs. Very tall cliffs have the ability to block LoS completely.

There are a few exceptions to the above rules:

  • Most buildings have an outer height stat of 0, meaning they do not gain any LoS advantage from being on higher ground
  • Scouts, Fishing Boats, Town Centers, Outposts, Keeps, and Stone Wall Towers have a very high inner height value, meaning that they get impacted significantly less by natural elevation changes, and only have their Line of Sight significantly diminished by obstacles designed deliberately to impede LoS. For example, the Scout's LoS on level ground is only around one tile less than its maximum. The building exceptions also gain the same LoS advantage as units at high elevations.
  • The Imperial Palace has the same inner and outer radii values, and an height stat so high that its LoS is unimpeded by any obstacles.

As a unit moves, its Line of Sight will not move smoothly along with it but will instead update at short intervals, making it possible for it to have an instantaneously larger or smaller LoS in one direction than may be expected from its statistics.

Line of Sight barriers[]

SpearmanLoS AoE4

The Line of Sight of a Spearman is restricted by the surrounding Stealth Forests

Certain types of terrain are specifically designed to block or diminish Line of Sight by having artificially high height values, even if the ground itself is level. One of these is a unique feature of Age of Empires IV: Stealth Forests, which appear as areas of reddish-brown vegetation interspersed with trees, through which units can move and on which buildings can be placed. Stealth Forests reduce the Line of Sight of most units and buildings to essentially zero. Enemy units within a Stealth Forest will only be revealed if right next to opposing units, or when a unit comes under attack. The aforementioned exceptions have high enough LoS height values that they can see through Stealth Forest, albeit at their minimum LoS value.

ScoutLoS AoE4

Despite not having a much higher Line of Sight, the Scout can see much further in Stealth Forests

Likewise, water maps feature areas of Stealth Water, which appear as large patches of seaweed that restrict the vision of most ships. As the Scout Ship was removed during the game's development, the role of scouting on water was transferred to the Fishing Boat, which is able to see into Stealth Water. It also has the second-highest Line of Sight of any ship. These features allow for dynamic ambush tactics without the need for special stealth abilities, through the positioning of units in Stealth Forests (or Water) or on hills or cliffsides to hide them from other players. It also gives Scouts and functionally similar units added importance, even after the entirety of the map has been explored, while likewise giving incentive to build Outposts, especially in areas of low natural visibility.

Dense forest, the type that is impassable by all units and not able to be built upon, blocks the Line of Sight of all units and buildings except for the Imperial Palace.

Units and buildings[]

In general, units with higher range have a longer Line of Sight, with ranged siege engines such as the Counterweight Trebuchet having the highest base Line of Sight of any unit in the game, at 20 tiles maximum. Notably, the Huihui Pao, which has a longer range than the Counterweight Trebuchet, still has the same Line of Sight, meaning that in order to directly target a unit at the maximum extent of its range, another unit, ideally a Scout, must be positioned to provide Line of Sight to the area, or the Attack Ground command will have to be used. Infantry generally have a longer Line of Sight than cavalry, to make up for their lack of mobility. Ships, with the exception of the incendiary ship, generally have a longer Line of Sight than land units, though shorter than ranged siege engines. Scouts with the Spyglass technology researched have the greatest Line of Sight of any non-siege unit.

Notably in Age of Empires IV, a unit will retain its Line of Sight when garrisoned inside another unit or building. This means that a building or transport unit can have their Line of Sight effectively increased by having a unit with a longer Line of Sight garrisoned inside of it, while providing protection to that unit. As such, garrisoning a Scholar with All-Seeing Eye inside of a Battering Ram will give it a longer Line of Sight than a Keep and a similar Line of Sight to a Stone Wall Tower or Outpost, and can therefore be an effective way to safely scout out enemy defenses. In addition, Sacred Sites, once captured by a player, become revealed to all players, providing Line of Sight over their surface.

The Imperial Palace landmark has the longest Line of Sight of any building, at 27.5 tiles, which also gives it the longest LoS of anything in the game. Among common buildings, the Outpost has the longest Line of Sight, at 15 tiles maximum by default, though a few civilizations have bonuses or technologies which can increase it even further. Town Centers rank second among common buildings, at 13 tiles. The Byzantines' Border Settlements technology gives their Houses a Line of Sight comparable to Town Centers, though without its ability to see into Stealth Forests or reveal stealth units. The Dock also has a notably high Line of Sight, which extends equally on land as on water.

Further Statistics[]

Technologies
Line of Sight Spyglass (+30%, Scout)
Border Settlements (+7 tiles, House, Byzantines)
All-Seeing Eye (+100%, Scholar)
Gion Festival (+2 tiles, all buildings, Japanese)
Castle Watch (+6, Wooden Fortress)
Abilities
Line of Sight Set up Camp (+30%, all units, English and House of Lancaster)
Yorishiro Bonus (+2 tiles, Japanese)
Civilization Bonuses
Line of Sight Chinese (+30% in Tang Dynasty, Scout)
Holy Roman Empire and Order of the Dragon (+20%, additional +20% with garrisoned Relic, Outpost)

The following abilities can provide temporary Line of Sight on the map outside of that granted by a player's standard units and buildings:

  • Imperial Spies (Active): Reveals the location of all enemy Villagers, Traders, Trade Ships, Fishing Boats and Officials for 15 seconds. The ability reveals a radius of 3 tiles around each unit and has a 2 minute cooldown.
  • Scouting Falcon (Active, Khan, Khan's Hunter, and Mongol Scout): Release a Falcon that provides vision in the area (10 tile radius) for 30 seconds. Has a 60 second cooldown.
  • Setup Camp (Active, English and House of Lancaster Scouts): Scouts can build Campfires almost instantly for 25 wood. They provide +30% Line of Sight to nearby allied units and also has some natural Line of Sight. The ability has only a very short ~1 second cooldown, but a maximum of five campfires can be active at once.

Gallery[]

See also[]

Gameplay elements in the Age of Empires series
Genie Engine-exclusive
Frame delay · Full Tech Tree · Team bonus
Age of EmpiresRuins · Discovery
Age of Empires IIProjectile duplication
Bang Engine-exclusive
Autoqueue · Multiplier
Age of MythologyGod (Major · Minor) · God power · Settlement (Settlement Victory) · Weight class
Age of Empires IIIAge-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-exclusive
GenericInfluence · Landmark · Point of Interest · Sacred Site · Variant civilization
Civilization-uniqueBounty · Dynasty · Golden Age · Imperial Council (Vizier Point) · Commanderie
If a gameplay element has different pages across games, like civilization, the individual pages are linked in brackets.
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