Points of Interest are a game mechanic in Age of Empires IV: Knights of Cross and Rose. They are neutral locations on maps that can grant additional bonuses to players.
Capturing Points of Interest[]
Out of the five Points of Interest, all but one need to be captured by a player's units to gain their effect. To do this, the units must remain inside the Point of Interest's 3.25-tile aura until the progress bar fills up and the minimap icon changes its color to that of the player. Every Point of Interest has a base capture time of 60 seconds, except for the Abandoned Outpost, which has a base capture time of 30 seconds. This is the time it takes for a single unit to capture the point. For each additional unit used to capture the point, the capture speed increases by 1x, that is, 2x faster for two units, 3x faster for three units, etc. The capture time gets shortened by the inverse of the speed increase, so two units take 1/2 has much time, three units take 1/3 as much time, etc. When a unit leaves the point's aura, the progress bar begins decreasing at the base capture speed. It also decreases at this rate if an opponent positions their unit in the aura with no opposition. If two opponents both have their units inside the aura, then the progress bar will not progress in either direction until only one player's units remain. When two allied units are within the aura, the Point of Interest will go to the player whose units entered first.
There are currently five points of interest:
Abandoned Outpost[]
The Abandoned Outpost
| “ | Grants line of sight to the controlling player | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
The controlling player gains Line of Sight around the captured outpost. The sight range is less than a standard Outpost, at around 11 tiles on flat ground compared to 14. The Abandoned Outpost cannot be garrisoned.
Maps containing Abandoned Outposts
Forgotten Ruins[]
The Forgotten Ruins
| “ | Controlling Player may garrison a villager inside the ruins to get 60 stone per minute. After 6 minutes, a Relic is excavated and the Ruin exhausted. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
Once captured, Forgotten Ruins grant no direct bonus until a Villager is garrisoned inside. A model of a working Villager appears inside the ruin to indicate that it is garrisoned. While garrisoned, the ruin grants 15 stone every 15 seconds. After six minutes, the Point of Interest disappears and is replaced by a Relic. The Villager may ungarrison at any time, after which the active 15-second stone timer will still continue counting down and grant the player one last deposit of stone. However, the Relic timer will reset if the Villager ungarrisons. This can be used advantageously if the player deems the stone to be more valuable than the Relic gold, since the ruins can provide a small but infinite supply of stone by continuing to garrison and ungarrison Villagers. It is one of the few additional methods for the Mongols to gather more stone.
- Note: Using the 'Return all to Work' command at the Town Center currently ungarrisons any Villagers working in Forgotten Ruins
- Maps containing Forgotten Ruins
Lost Ronin[]
The Lost Ronin
| “ | Controlling player can hire Ronin. A new Ronin becomes available every 120 seconds. Ronin start arriving after 5 minutes. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
The Lost Ronin Point of Interest can be used to hire (create) Ronin, mercenary heavy melee infantry units similar to fast Men-at-Arms. After five minutes have elapsed in the game, a timer will begin counting down from 120 seconds, shown in the UI as 'Recruiting Ronin'. Every time the timer finishes counting down, the number of supply points will increase by one. This happens regardless of whether the Point of Interest is captured or not. As such, the first Ronin is available to hire at seven minutes into the game. Once there are available Ronin, they may be hired through two options:
- Hire Ronin: Spawn a single Ronin instantly for 100 gold
- Hire All Ronin: Spawn as many Ronin as can be afforded by either the number of supply points or the player's available gold, at 100 gold each.
- Maps containing Lost Ronin
Merchant Camp[]
The Merchant Camp
| “ | Controlling Player gains 15 wood, 15 food, and 15 gold every 60 seconds | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
After capturing this Point of Interest, the controlling player gains 7.5 food, 7.5 wood, 7.5 gold every 30 seconds (15 of each resource per minute). This is approximately equivalent to one unupgraded Villager. The countdown timer for granting resources counts down even if there are no controlling player and resources are granted at its completion to the controlling player, so it is possible to get the first resource deposit before 30 seconds.
- Maps containing Merchant Camps
Wolf Den[]
The Wolf Den
| “ | Periodically spawns wolves up to a max of 5. Can be destroyed to stop wolves from spawning. Grants 150 gold to the player who burns the den. Spawns additional wolves after being brought down to 70% and 30% health. Starts spawning wolves after 5 minutes | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
Wolf Dens spawn a stronger variant of the Wolf, called a Pack Wolf, with twice the hit points and attack rate, and greater damage and armor. Unlike standard wolves, Pack Wolves will attack Scouts as well. The first one will spawn five minutes into the game, and then an additional one will spawn every 30 seconds, up to a maximum of five. Players can target the den manually with units to attack it, or units will also attack the Wolf Den automatically if moved or attack-moved nearby. The Wolf den has 500 hit points and 50 ranged armor. They will spawn two additional wolves immediately upon reaching 350 hit points, and another two upon reaching 150 hit points, regardless of how many other wolves are already out. The den only needs to be set on fire to gain the 150 gold, it does not need to be fully destroyed. The gold will go to the player who deals the last hit to set it on fire, so it is possible to sneak in and steal the gold from another player who has destroyed most of the den if timed correctly.
| “ | Very Bitey Infantry | ” |
| —In-game description for the Pack Wolf | ||
- Maps containing Wolf Dens
