Malians (Age of Empires IV)

This article is about the civilization in Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition. For the civilization in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms, see Malians (Age of Empires II).

Civilization	Technology tree		Mastery

Malians
Civilization
Civilization information
Introduced in	Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition
Continent	Africa
In-game theme
Difficulty	3/3
Features/Characteristics
Focus	Gold Economy, Infantry, Cattle
Unique units	Javelin Thrower Musofadi Warrior Musofadi Gunner Donso Sofa Warrior Scout Freeborn Warrior Cattle
Unique technologies	8
Unique buildings	Pit Mine Toll Outpost Cattle Ranch

The Malians are a playable African civilization in Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition.

They also appear in Age of Empires II with the same name.

Civilization overview

The Malians focus on strong economic play, making gold and spending gold, and prefer strategic hit-and-run tactics with their unique infantry units instead of prolonged military battles. In Age of Empires IV, the civilization of the Malians spans the years from the pre-imperial Mali Empire period in the 11th century CE to the early 16th century CE. Uniting from a collection of independent kingdoms, the Malian civilization coalesced into one of the most influential West African empires in history, as well as one of the richest trading nations of all-time.

The civilization of the Malians leverages their influence and economic prowess to empower their civilization on the road to victory. They're able to construct Pit Mines on top of Gold Deposits to automatically generate a steady stream of gold over time and can invest that gold back into their unique Cattle food source. Through their military units, the Malians skew towards those looking for gameplay that focuses on ambush or hit-and-run style combat, avoiding lengthy battles whenever possible because of their lack of heavy armor.

Strengths

The Malians are a very unique civilizations in terms of strength. With their passive income and completely different military lineups, they shine differently when it comes to showing prowess.

Their Pit Mine gives passive gold without depleting the gold deposit. Even if the the gold deposit is depleted, it still gives gold until it is destroyed, which allows the Malians to field units much easier.

Their Cattle provide an easy food source. They can be slaughtered to gather food, or can be put in a cow ranch, where they generate food passively (can be boosted with the Grand Fulani Coral landmark).

The Malians have completely unique military lineups( except the traditional archers), which gives a unique experience. Musofadi Warriors and Gunners (a unique Hand Cannoneer) can go stealth (can only be detected by scouts or Outposts) and launch surprise attacks. Their Sofa is a cross between a Horseman and a Knight/Lancer; they move faster and have high armor, but they have low hit points and lower damage and attack speed. Their anti-ranged unit is the javelin thrower, which has long range and high attack, but a very slow attack speed. They can upgrade their Scouts to Warrior Scouts, which have higher movement speed and damage.

Civilization bonuses

• Pit Mines : Wield a superior Gold economy by constructing pit mines over top of Gold Veins to generate Gold without depleting them, even if the Gold Vein is completely exhausted
• Influence - Mining Communities:
  • Each House and Mining Camp constructed within the influence of Pit Mines increases its Gold generation
  • Houses construct twice as fast and are half the cost, but have fewer hit points and provide half the amount of Population.
  • Town Centers cost gold instead of stone to construct (400 wood, 450 gold)
• Cattle & Ranches
  • Produce Cattle from Mills which can be harvested for a fast food source or garrisoned in a Cattle Ranch to generate Food over time.
  • Cannot harvest Boar.
• Musofadi Pathfinders: Musofadi units can use the unique Stealth ability to sneak around and create ambush opportunities
• Farari's Knowledge: Veteran unit technologies are researched at half the time and cost.
• Toll Outposts: Trade units that pass by the unique Toll Outpost building instantly provide bonus resources.
• Manuscript Trade: Gold collected from completed Trader routes lower the research time of future technologies.
• Fish Processing: Fishing Boats drop off 10% of their Food as Gold.
• Coastal Navigation: Ships move 15% faster when near Docks.
• Landing Parties: Transport Ships attack with Javelins for each garrisoned unit.
• A completely unique military unit roster with a different take on the counter system.

Starting resources

200 food, 150 wood, 100 gold

Unique units

• Warrior Scout - Scout replacement. Light cavalry that can improve damage, move speed, health, and health regeneration.
• Donso - Spearman replacement. Light melee infantry with increased health and melee armor that can periodically throw a javelin.
• Musofadi Warrior - Fast, light, anti-armor infantry that can use the Activate Stealth ability.
• Javelin Thrower - Anti-ranged ranged infantry that throws a javelin from extended range.
• Freeborn Warrior - Anti-ranged fast melee infantry with high pierce armor.
• Sofa - Knight/Lancer replacement. Faster heavy cavalry with reduced cost, health, and armor.
• Musofadi Gunner - Faster moving handcannoneer that can use the Activate Stealth ability.
• Cattle - Can be harvested quickly for Food or garrisoned in a Cattle Ranch for Food over time.

“	The Javelin Thrower is a skilled skirmisher that replaces the crossbowmen for the Malians. As an excellent counter to ranged units, they deal bonus damage and have additional range when compared to archers. The Musofadi Warrior is a female warrior, who excels at ambush and stealth tactics. Their lower health and armor are offset by their high speed and damage, supporting their hit-and-run ambush style of combat. The Donso is the anti-cavalry hunter-warrior of the Malians charging into battle with their spear and shield. They're also equipped with a javelin which enables ranged combat and is automatically thrown at their target when not in melee combat.	”
—

Landmarks

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.

Unique buildings

• Pit Mine - Mines gold from Gold Veins without depleting the deposit.
• Toll Outpost - Replaces the Outpost. Passing Traders and Trade Ships instantly provide an additional 8% of their carried Gold.
• Cattle Ranch - Garrisoned Cattle will generate a slow trickle of food.

Unique technologies

• Canoe Tactics
• Banco Repairs
• Local Knowledge
• Imported Armor
• Farima Leadership
• Precision Training
• Poisoned Arrows
• Javelin Emplacement

Changelog

• Patch 5.1.148 corrected an issue where Malian Transport Ships' ability to throw javelins when garrisoned was missing from the civilization tech tree and bonuses, an issue where Malian Markets had reduced penalties for buying and selling resources, an issue where the military and technology cost reduction bonus was missing from the tech tree, and an issue where the defensive weapon upgrades were not present on the Saharan Trade Network Landmark.
• Originally, the Coastal Navigation bonus move speed duration was 10 seconds. With update 6.0.878, it was increased to 25 seconds
• With update 6.0.878, the Manuscript Trade bonus no longer affects the Naval Arrowslits technology, but does affect the Boiling Oil technology.
• With Update 11.0.782, Malian Fishing Boats now drop off 10% of their food as gold as a civilization bonus.
• With patch 11.1.1201, Malian Town Centers now cost 400 wood, 450 gold instead of 400 wood, 350 stone
• With update 12.0.1974, the Malians gain a new unique unit, the Freeborn Warrior, at the Farimba Garrison, as well as the unique Javelin Emplacement. They also lose access to the Culverin.

In-game dialogue

The Malian units speak some form of a Manding language, possibly Mandinka or Bambara, two related languages that were spoken throughout the Malian Empire. However, there are several anachronisms in the translations where words of post-colonial French or English origin are used. Most notably, all siege weapons are translated using their French or English equivalents (such as 'Ram', 'Trebuchet', 'Mangonel'), whereas in reality, even if there was no local Manding word for these weapons, they would have more likely used words derived from Arabic (such as 'manjiniq', or 'burj').

Trivia

• The flag of the Malians is the banner carried by Mansa Musa on his hajj, but with a kanaga symbol in the middle.

Gallery

A Malian city.

Great Mosque