Ottomans (Age of Empires IV)

This article is about the civilization in Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition. For other uses, see Ottomans.

Civilization

Technology tree

Mastery

Ottomans
Civilization
Civilization information
Introduced in	Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition
Continent	Eurasia
In-game theme
Difficulty	2/3
Timeframe	990-1566 CE
Features/Characteristics
Focus	Imperial Council, Military School, Siege
Unique units	Mehter Sipahi Akinji Janissary Great Bombard Grand Galley
Unique technologies	15
Unique buildings	Military School

The Ottomans are a playable Euroasian civilization in Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition. Like their Age of Empires II counterpart, they focus on cavalry and gunpowder units, having access to gunpowder one Age earlier than other civilizations.

They also appear in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings as the Turks and in Age of Empires III as the Ottomans.

Civilization overview

The Ottoman civilization benefits strongly from their military prowess, their Imperial Council system, as well as their unique Military School system. In Age of Empires IV, the civilization of the Ottomans spans the years from the pre-imperial Ottoman Empire period in the 11th century CE to the mid-16th century CE. Originating in Anatolia, the Ottomans rose to become one of the longest lasting empires in history with its effective and stable government, supported by a famously well-trained and regimented military.

The Ottoman civilization is heavily dependent on their military expertise, gaining the upper hand in battle with production bonuses, and the largest gunpowder siege weapons available. The Ottomans can appoint powerful Viziers to their Imperial Council which give them access to 12 unique technologies. Each Vizier is earned over time by increasing production, and strategic decisions must be made when choosing which technologies to unlock. Their unique Military School system changes how military units are produced and even allows certain military units to be produced without cost. This unique system allows the Ottomans to have a larger army than is typical amongst other civilizations.

Strengths

The Ottomans are a civilization who mostly depend on their military prowess through various bonuses, which can be found in their unique Imperial Council system and with their military schools.

Their Imperial Council system helps them to catch up with other civilizations in terms of bonuses. By producing military units or Villagers, or by aging up, players gain vizier points (a maximum of five vizier points can be earned and spent, but with the Istanbul Imperial Palace, the limit is increased to 8).

As a civilization, the Ottomans do not have any special economic bonuses, but a unique military school system where they can produce military units for free at a much slower rate. With Blacksmith bonuses and a Imperial Council technology (Advanced Academy), the production speed can be boosted.

Blacksmiths boost military production buildings, which allows the Ottomans to produce military units much faster than other civilizations, and field the battle with a large military.

One of the key powers of the Ottomans is the Mehter, a unique unit that boosts the attack speed, melee armor, or ranged armor of military units.

Civilization bonuses

• 

  Vizier Point icon

  Imperial Council: Training units and advancing through the ages grants experience toward Vizier Points, the higher the cost of the action, the more experience is earned. Gain up to five Vizier Points and spend them to unlock powerful unique Ottoman bonuses at the Imperial Council.
• Shipping Routes: Fishing Boats, Trade Ships and Transport Ships move 10% faster.
• Military Inducement: Military and Technology buildings are 40% cheaper.
• Influence: Military buildings within the influence of Blacksmiths and Universities provide +20%/+30%/+40% unit production speeds per Age starting in the Feudal Age.
• Cannot harvest Boar.
• Start with +50 wood, +50 stone.

Starting resources

200 food, 200 wood, 100 gold, 50 stone

Unique units

• Sipahi: Horseman replacement. Activate the Fortitude ability to deal extra damage to ranged units but receive more damage from melee weapons.
• Mehter: Mounted war drummer that provides military enhancements to nearby units when toggling the War Drums ability.
  • Attack Drums: Increased attack speed.
  • Melee Defense Drums: Increased melee armor.
  • Ranged Defense Drums: Increased ranged armor.
• Janissary: Powerful handcannoneer that can repair siege engines and deal bonus damage to cavalry.
• Grand Galley: Large war galley that can convert into a floating Military School.
• Great Bombard: Largest gunpowder siege engine that can be fielded. Has long range and area damage attack.
• Akinji: Long-ranged cavalry which fires two arrows in quick succession. Must be unlocked through the Imperial Council.

“	The Great Bombard is the most dominant siege weapon available across the many civilizations, making easy work of enemy walls and keeps with its nearly 1,000-pound splash-damage-causing projectile. While powerful, it is more likely than other siege units to be destroyed if not properly defended, inflicting a heavy economic loss. The Mehter is a unique horseback war drummer unit that provides an aura buff to units around it. This buff can be Attack Speed, Melee Armor, or Ranged Armor. While only one buff may be applied at a time, it's possible to switch between them after a short cooldown. The Sipahi is a fearless light raider horseman unit who charges into battle with vigor. Their Fortitude ability when activated causes increased attack strength for a short period of time, at the cost of receiving increased damage from melee attacks.	”
—

Landmarks

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 12-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 with a 14x14 influence radius. Improves Blacksmith and University production bonus from +20%/+30%/+40% to 100%.
• 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.

Unique buildings

• Military School - The Military School can be assigned to produce one type of unit continuously at no cost; however, they are produced at a slower rate.

Unique technologies

Researchable:

• Janissary Guns (Archery Range)
• Great Bombard Emplacement (Keep)
• Imperial Fleet (Dock)

Unlocked using Vizier points:

• Field Work
• Mehter Drums
• Anatolian Hills
• Military Campus
• Akinji System
• Extensive Fortifications
• Advanced Academy
• Janissary Company
• Pax Ottomana
• Siege Crews
• Great Bombard
• Trade Bags

Changelog

• Patch 5.1.148 stopped Mehter units from incorrectly applying multiple buffs in certain conditions and corrected an issue where the Sipahi unit's Fortitude ability would not activate correctly when within a Mehter unit's Attack Drum aura, an issue where the Mehter's Attack Drums were giving more attack speed than intended, and an issue where Sipahi's Fortitude ability was giving more attack speed than intended (intended 50%, actual 86%).
• Originally, Ottomans had access to Knights, and Blacksmiths and Universities gave 25/33/40% production influence bonus. With patch 6.1.130, they have access to the Lancer instead, and Blacksmiths and Universities give 20/30/40% production influence bonus.
• With update 7.0.5861, the 'Shipping Routes' civilization bonus now applies to Fishing Boats as well and the Ottomans gain access to the Great Bombard Emplacement
• Originally, Ottoman military production buildings and technology buildings were 33% cheaper. With patch 12.2.3327, they are 40% cheaper.

Trivia

• The flag of the Ottomans is similar that of to their Age of Empires III counterpart, but with a green background. The Ottoman flag commonly had a green background prior to 1793, but that was also when the star was introduced to the flag.
• The Imperial Council system works similarity to the cards and decks system of Age of Empires III.
• The Ottomans have mixed units and buildings.
  • They have Hulks, Demolition Ships, and Carracks (European).
  • They have Lancers instead of Knights (non-European).
  • They have Dhows, Imam, and Mosques (Muslim).
  • They have Universities instead of Madrasas (non-Muslim).
• The Ottomans had a unique ranged cavalry unit just like Rus Horse Archer, Mongol Mangudai, and Japanese Onna-Musha. The skin of this cut Ottoman unit was reused for the Sipahi instead. As with many other cut content, this unit can still be seen in the trailer.
• Until update 12.0.1974 when the Akinji was introduced, the Ottomans were the only Turkish civilization in the series without a ranged cavalry unit.
• The time span of the civilization begins in 990, with the birth of Tughril (who founded the Seljuk Empire in 1037), and ends in 1566, the year that Suleiman the Magnificent died.
• The Ottoman conquest is the end date of two of the civilizations present in the game: the Abbasid Dynasty and Byzantines.

Gallery

An Ottoman city

Azure Mosque

Cut Ottoman ranged cavalry