A stationary watch point that provides advanced warning of nearby enemy activity.
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—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.
Outposts are good for keeping watch over wide areas of the map. While towers, Castles, and walls are more effective at maintaining control over important areas, Outposts are much better for areas that are not of strategic value, as they are cheaper while being able to provide valuable information on enemy positions. Having vision of enemy movement can be critical, as it allows a player to react and strategize faster.
If a player does not have sufficient gold to flush out enemies with Spies, they can place Outposts around the map instead.
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.
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—Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual
Trivia[]
The original The 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.
Gallery[]
Outpost surrounded by Palisade Walls in the Definitive Edition
The Line of Sight of a Dark Age Outpost in the original game
The Line of Sight of an Imperial Age Outpost with Town Patrol researched
An Outpost spotting an enemy army (mini map included)