Mongols (Age of Empires IV)

This article is about the civilization in Age of Empires IV. For the civilization in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, see Mongols (Age of Empires II).

Civilization	Technology tree		Mastery

Mongols
Civilization
Civilization information
Introduced in	Age of Empires IV
Continent	Asia
In-game theme
Difficulty	3/3
Features/Characteristics
Focus	Aggression, Cavalry, and Nomadic
Unique units	Khan Mangudai Traction Trebuchet Huihui Pao Keshik
Unique technologies	Improved versions of regular technologies 11
Unique buildings	Pasture Ger Ovoo

The Mongols are a playable Asian civilization in Age of Empires IV. They also appear in Age of Empires II as the Monogls.

Civilization overview

“	The Mongols are an agile civilization, excelling in hit-and-run military strategies and capable of expanding armies rapidly. The Mongols civilization in Age of Empires IV are extremely capable in hit-and-run strategies, thanks to their exceptional mobility and nomadic nature originating in the Great Steppes of Central Asia. You witness the Mongols through the Ages, spanning from 1000-1500 CE, as a disciplined civilization, recognized for changing history in connecting the East to the West. In Age IV, the Mongols are known for their unique structure and are at their most powerful when playing to their strengths in tight groups. They speak Mongolian—the most widely spoken of the Mongolic languages.	”
—

Strengths

“	The Mongols civilization is a fearsome force. Because of their high mobility, one may not meet them in massive throngs—but even in small numbers, their army can outmaneuver enemies with ease. Their aggressive military production capabilities force the opponent to be on the defensive early. The Mongols are a nomadic civilization with the ability to move their bases. Combined with early access to cavalry units and speed granted from Outposts, the Mongols reign supreme in flanking enemies and retreating quickly before enemies have a chance to catch up. They build up their economy with unique buildings, like the stone-mining Ovoo. The Mongols' need for resources for their army can trigger a dramatic battle for resources as they pursue total domination.	”
—

Along with the Chinese, the Mongols can be one of the more difficult civilizations to master for players new to the game. The Mongols are nomadic, able to build their bases and move them when required. They are known for their hit-and-run tactics, which sometimes backfire owing to their inability to construct walls or defensive buildings, although they can build outposts. The Ovoo and outposts are the only static structures for the Mongols since these buildings cannot be packed up and redeployed elsewhere.

Although the Mongols can be a very effective civilization in the initial minutes of a game, they become more vulnerable to siege attacks in the latter stages due to their inability to properly defend themselves. Therefore, attack often becomes the Mongol civilization's best and only form of defense.

The Mongols have a unique scout in the Khan, a horse archer who provides much-needed leadership and spiritual guidance to the Mongol army. The Khan can fire various arrows in the air which provide unique benefits to his army for a short duration. When a Khan is killed, a new Khan rises from the Town Center automatically after two minutes.

Playing with the Mongols requires immense tactical adaptability and the willingness to change base locations when resources in an area are consumed. This creates more challenges for players since the Mongols have scattered villagers all over the map which makes them easy targets for their opponents. The Mongols therefore have to rely on attack and mobility, two key traits that lend them their nomadic status.

Unique units

• Khan: Horse archer that scales in strength and unlocks the Signal Arrow abilities after each age up.
  • Maneuver Arrow: Move speed increased +33%.
  • Attack Speed Arrow: Attack speed increased +50%.
  • Armor Arrow: Armor increased +2.
• Mangudai: Horse archer that can fire while moving in all directions.
• Khan's Hunter: Support horse archer that increases the range of other ranged units.
• Traction Trebuchet: A weaker version of the Counterweight Trebuchet. Faster move speed, setup time and attack speed.
• Huihui Pao: A stronger version of the Counterweight Trebuchet. Spawns occasionally from the Khaganate Palace.
• Keshik: Heavy cavalry unit, weaker than the Lancer but regains hit points by attacking.

“	The Khan is a unique horse archer unit. His Signal Arrow ability supports and strengthens the Mongol army, making him a fearsome foe. The Mangudai are the star of the Mongols' fearsome military, a supreme horse archer that excels at hit-and-run tactics.	”
—

In addition to these, the Mongols can also spawn units of other civilizations from the Khaganate Palace. These units come with many of their civilization's upgrades already researched, and can additionally benefit from Mongol upgrades.

• Chinese - Nest of Bees, Elite Palace Guard
• Rus - Warrior Monk, Elite Horse Archer, Elite Knight

Civilization bonuses

• Start with a packed Ger, maximum population limit, and no need for Houses and -50 wood.
• Plunder 25 food, 25 gold by igniting enemy buildings or destroying enemy buildings under construction.
• All buildings can be packed up and redeployed to a new location.
• Stables and Early Horsemen in the Dark Age (I).
• Double produce units or research advanced versions of technologies using Stone from buildings within the influence of an Ovoo.
• Silk Road: Traders generate +10% additional Food, Wood, and Gold, and Stone with 5/10/15 active Traders respectively.
• Transport ships have +50% health and move +15% faster.
• Outposts increase move speed of nearby cavalry and Traders by +15%.

Starting resources

200 food, 150 wood, 100 gold

Landmarks

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.

Unique buildings

• Ger - Replaces Mill, Mining Camp and Lumber Camp. Villagers can drop off Food, Wood, and Gold at this building. Houses technologies to improve resource gathering.
• Ovoo - Construct the Ovoo over Stone outcroppings to generate influence and harvest Stone without the need for Villagers. Ovoos harvest 80/100/120/150 stone per minute depending on Age. Buildings within the influence of an Ovoo are able to double produce units or research improved versions of technologies using Stone.
• Pasture - Construct Pastures instead of Farms to raise Sheep for Food. Pastures produce Sheep quicker when within the influence of an Ovoo.
• Monument of the Great Khan (Wonder)

Unique technologies

• Superior Mobility (Ovoo)
• Whistling Arrows (Ovoo)
• Raid Bounty (Ovoo)
• Additional Torches (Ovoo)
• Stone Bounty (Ovoo)
• Pax Mongolica (Ovoo)
• Piracy (Dock)
• Yam Network (Outpost)
• Stone Commerce (Market)
• Siha Bow Limbs (Archery Range)
• Monastic Shrines (Monastery)
• Steppe Lancers (Stable)

Changelog

• Originally, the Mongol raid bounty bonus gave 50 food, 50 gold by default for setting a building on fire. With patch 11009, this was reduced to 25 food, 25 gold.
• With patch 10257, they start the game with -50 wood.
• Originally, Mongol Outposts cost 70 wood. With patch 10257, they cost the standard 100 wood.
• With patch 20249, they start the game with a packed Ger.
• Originally, Silk Road gave bonuses at 3, 5, 7, and 9 traders. With patch 6.1.130, it gives bonuses at 5, 10, 15, and 20 traders.
• Originally, Mongols had the standard Lancer. With update 7.0.5861, it was replaced with the Keshik unique unit.

In-game dialogue

The units of the Mongols speak Mongolian. Because the Mongols originally were intended to have only three Ages, they are the only civilization where none of the units have Imperial Age-specific dialogue lines. They reuse their Castle Age voicelines.

Trivia

• The flag of the Mongols features the Soyombo symbol, a special character in the Soyombo alphabet invented by Zanabazar in 1686. The blue most probably represents the eternal blue sky as in the modern flag of Mongolia.
• The civilization bonus of starting at maximum population and not needing to build Houses is similar to the Huns and Lakota civilization bonuses from Age of Empires II and III respectively.
• An early (unreleased) version of the Mongols could not advance to the Imperial Age (or otherwise had fewer than four ages). This is confirmed both by an interview in 2019 with Adam Isgreen where he stated "...there are civilizations that don't necessarily play by the four-age rule" and by the fact that the Mongols are unique in that all of their military and economic unit models change very little or not at all between the Castle and Imperial Age versions.
• The Mongols are the only civilization in the series to have female variants of all of their units.

Campaign differences

Because the campaigns have not been rebalanced since the release of the game, the Mongols have the following differences there:

• The raid bonus provides 50 food, 50 wood, 50 gold by default
• Most Ovoo technologies are instead researched in the Outpost
• The Yam speed bonus does not apply by default to cavalry or traders. It is instead locked behind the Yam Network upgrade, which furthermore does not apply the speed bonus to other types of units.

Gallery

A Mongol town

Concept art of Mongol buildings

Concept art for the Mongol Pasture and Ger