โ | Must be defended at all costs, civilization depends on it. | โ |
—Age of Empires IV description |
The Monarch is a unit in Age of Empires IV, introduced in Season Seven. All players start with a Monarch in the Dominion game mode that must be protected at all costs. Losing a Monarch leads to the instant elimination of the owning player.
Gameplay[]
In addition to eliminating its associated player (if they are not already eliminated through another victory condition), killing a Monarch grants +50 maximum population to the player that dealt the killing blow. If a player is eliminated by a Landmark victory, their Monarch remains on the field as a neutral unit and can still be killed to give +50 population. Monarchs cannot be deleted, nor can Transport Ships carrying them. Monarchs are represented on the minimap with a crown icon. For protection, Monarchs can garrison in a safe building, and while they are garrisoned, the minimap icon does not appear. They are identifiable on the map with glowing crown marker which they share with the leaders in the campaign scenario (along with the generic leader icon). Unlike leaders, however, the Monarch cannot be revived once killed.
Like Kings in Age of Empires II, Monarchs are unable to attack, and are therefore vulnerable to all military units. Unlike Kings, Monarchs normally move very slowly, but can use the Sprint ability to temporarily move much faster. Because they have the unique 'Monarch' class, they are not affected by any upgrades and most abilities in the game. They passively regenerate hit points at 1 per second.
Ability[]
- Sprint (Active): Increase the Monarch's speed by 60% for five seconds. This ability has a 60 second cooldown time.
- Treason (Active): Reveal the location of enemy Monarchs and ping them on the minimap. Line of Sight on the immediate area is retained for 10 seconds. This ability has a 60 second cooldown time.
Names[]
Monarchs are given random names in each game, varying by civilization:
Further statistics[]
Aura and ability enhancements | |
---|---|
Armor | Defense Arrow (+2 melee and ranged for 5/10/12 seconds, depending on Whistling Arrows, Mongols) |
Line of Sight | Set up Camp (+30%, English) |
Movement speed | Sprint (+60% for 5 seconds) Naval Deployment (+50% speed for 12 seconds after unloading from a Transport Ship, Byzantines) Nehan Conversion (+25% for 20 seconds, Japanese) Maneuver Arrow (+33% for 5/10/12 seconds, depending on Whistling Arrows, Mongols) |
Changelog[]
- With update 11.0.782, Transport Ships containing Monarchs can no longer be deleted.
Trivia[]
- The English, French, and Holy Roman Empire Monarchs use the same model as King Harold in the The Normans campaign.