Technology is the method of advancing a player's civilization in the Age of Empires series. Once researched, technologies grant permanent (with very few exceptions) improvement. Technologies are usually grouped into a few categories:
- Ages - Advance in Age. Advancing to a new Age automatically unlocks a variety of new features, including new units, buildings, and technologies.
- Unit upgrades - Upgrade (usually military) units. The upgraded unit costs the same as its predecessor, but is stronger, sometimes even significantly.
Example: The Camel Rider upgrades to the Heavy Camel Rider (in Age of Empires II). - Unit improvements - Improve unit attributes such as attack strength, HP, armor, or speed.
Example: Scale Mail Armor improves infantry armor (in Age of Empires II). - Economy improvements - Improve the player's economy by making their Villagers or Fishing Boats carry more or gather faster.
Example: Log Flume increases the wood gathering rate by +20% (in Age of Empires III). - Building upgrades - Upgrade buildings. The upgraded building costs the same as its predecessor, but is stronger, sometimes even significantly.
Example: The Sentry Tower upgrades to the Watch Tower (in Age of Mythology). - Building improvements - Improve building attributes such as HP, work rate, or range.
Example: Architecture improves building HP and decreases construction time (in Age of Empires).
There are separate pages for the technologies in Age of Empires, Age of Empires II, Age of Mythology, and Age of Empires III: