Outpost (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the building in Age of Empires II. For the building in Age of Empires III, see Outpost (Age of Empires III).

Outpost
Building information
Introduced in	The Age of Kings
Type	Tower
Civilization	All civilizations
Age	Dark Age
Use	Provide Line of Sight
Construction
Wood	25
Stone	5
Construction time	15 seconds
Statistics
Size	1×1 tiles
Hit points	500
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Armor classes	Building Standard building
Line of Sight	6 8 10 12

“	A stationary watch point that provides advanced warning of nearby enemy activity.	”
—Age of Empires II description

The Outpost is a tower in Age of Empires II. While lacking any means of attack, it can warn the player of enemy activity by providing extensive Line of Sight.

Tactics and placement

Outposts are good for keeping watch over an area that is key to security in early stages of the game. They are also commonly used to keep watch over important resource areas to notify players of enemy expansion. They become less common as the game progresses, due to the availability of better scouts such as the Light Cavalry. Also, they cost stone, which is the rarest resource and better spent on Castles, walls, and stronger towers. Therefore, Houses and Lumber Camps (which do not cost any stone) are more commonly used to watch an area.

However, when fully upgraded, they have the maximum LOS of 20, a feat only other towers and Castles boast.

Further statistics

Building strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing
Weak vs.	Everything
Upgrades
Hit points	Masonry (+10%)  Architecture (+10%)
Armor	Masonry (+1/+1, +3 building armor)  Architecture (+1/+1, +3 building armor)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+4)  Town Patrol (+4)
Conversion defense	Faith  Heresy
Construction speed	Treadmill Crane (+20%)

Civilization bonuses

• Burmese: Faith is 50% cheaper.
• Byzantines: Outposts have +10%/+20%/+30%/+40% HP in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Town Watch and Town Patrol are free.
• Chinese: Technologies that benefit Outposts are 10%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Incas: Outposts cost -20% stone.
• Italians: Masonry, Architecture, and Treadmill Crane are 33% cheaper.
• Malians: Outposts cost -15% wood.
• Persians: Researching Town Watch and Town Patrol is 10%/15%/20% faster in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Portuguese: Researching technologies that benefit Outposts is 30% faster.
• Spanish: Outposts are built 30% faster.

Team bonuses

• A team containing Ethiopians: Outposts have +3 Line of Sight.
• A team containing Lithuanians: Researching Faith and Heresy is 20% faster.
• A team containing Malians: Researching Masonry, Architecture, and Treadmill Crane is 80% faster.

Changelog

The Age of Kings

• Outposts cost 25W/25S.
• Outposts have 4 LoS.

The Conquerors

• Outposts now cost 25W/10S.
• Outposts now have 6 LoS.
• Heresy introduced.

The Forgotten

• Outposts now cost 25W/5S.
• Koreans: Outposts are now built 33% faster.

Rise of The Rajas

• Koreans: With patch 5.8, Outposts are now built 5% faster.

Definitive Edition

• Koreans no longer build Outposts faster.

Trivia

• The original Age of Kings manual had a picture of a Villager next to an Outpost when talking about garrisoning in towers. As Outposts cannot garrison units, this is either a mistake or an implication that Outposts were originally supposed to garrison units.

History

“

The world of 500 AD was far less populated than the world of today, and there were great expanses of empty and desolate land. To keep watch at the frontier, lords established outposts that would provide early warning of attack and report movements of settlers and trade caravans. As the land became more populated and more settled, outposts were replaced by establishing castles and communities on borders.

”

Gallery

The LOS of a Dark Age Outpost

The LOS of an Imperial Age Outpost with Town Patrol researched

An Outpost spotting an enemy army (mini map included)