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 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.
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.
History[]
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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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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)