Towers are a class of defensive structures featured in all of the games in the Age of Empires series.
Every tower in the series is able to attack, except Age of Empires II's Outpost, and Age of Mythology's Sentry Tower and Obelisk. In Age of Empires IV, the Outpost and Toll Outpost cannot attack without garrisoning before researching emplacements.
Overview[]
Along with walls, towers are the most ubiquitous defensive structures in the Age of Empires series. They are typically small buildings with moderate defenses, a ranged attack, and an impressive line of sight. They thus provide a way to warn players of incoming enemies and fend them off without using their own units. Castles are very similar to towers, but the latter is characterised by huge size, high garrison capacity, high ranged attack, high hit points, and the ability to produce units and research technologies. The gameplay difference between towers and Castles becomes blurry at times.
Although other defensive structures such as the Castle, Fort or Keep are often more durable and/or powerful than towers, towers have several key advantages that can make them useful. First, they are often available earlier than more powerful defensive structures. They can be much cheaper; for example, in Age of Empires II, the Watch Tower costs less than 20% of the Stone required to build a Castle. This leads into a third point, that players can build several towers over a wider area for the cost of one more powerful defensive structure, thus defending a larger area from enemy attackers.
Though typically treated as defensive structures, towers can be built near an enemy base to limit their expansion and deprive them of resources. The Tower Rush is a recurring strategy in the series.
Age of Empires[]
Age of Empires has a single line of Towers that can be upgraded at the Granary. All civilizations have access to Watch Towers in the Tool Age and Sentry Towers in the Bronze Age, with many civilizations having access to even stronger towers in the Iron Age.
- Watch Tower ā Sentry Tower ā Guard Tower ā Ballista Tower
- Zenobia's Tower (Scenario Editor only)
- Mirror Tower (Scenario Editor only)
Civilization bonuses[]
- Babylonians: Towers have +60% hit points. Woodworking, Artisanship and Craftsmanship are 30% cheaper.
- Choson: Towers have +2 Range.
- Romans: Towers cost 90 stone instead of the usual 150.
Team bonuses[]
- Babylonians: Towers are built 10% faster.
- Hittites: Towers provide +4 Population.
- Palmyrans: Technologies that benefit towers are researched 30% faster.
Age of Empires II[]
Age of Empires II has three distinct groups of constructable Towers: the Outpost, the Watch Tower line, and the Bombard Tower. Of these, all civilizations have access to at least the Outpost and Watch Tower (or the Donjon for the Sicilians), with the Watch Tower's upgrades and Bombard Towers only being available to certain civilizations.
The Outpost is notable for being available early, being remarkably inexpensive, and lacking any attacking capability. Instead, it is meant to help the player observe its surrounding using its impressive Line of Sight, which grows from 6 to 12 tiles away as one advances through the Ages.
The Watch Tower line of buildings resembles its counterpart in Age of Empires, but its attributes differ enough to change its role. For one, buildings in Age of Empires II, including the Watch Tower, require the Castle Age technology Murder Holes to fire at units directly next to them. This makes Watch Towers more vulnerable to attacks from infantry, cavalry, and even Villagers. On the other hand, buildings such as the Watch Tower are also far sturdier than in the previous game; while the base hit points of a Villager is 25 in both games and the original game's Watch Tower has a base hit points of 125, the Watch Tower in Age of Empires II has a base hit points of 850 in the Feudal Age and 1,020 onwards. These factors, combined with a tower's ability to garrison units, changes how the Watch Tower line is used in practice, even if they strategically fill a similar role as before.
The Bombard Tower is available to less than half of the civilizations, and only in the Imperial Age after researching Chemistry and then subsequently Bombard Tower at the University. Their attacks are both far stronger and slower than the conventional Watch Tower series, making them better suited against certain kinds of units, such as slower groups of infantry and foot archers, and enemy buildings. This last attribute makes Bombard Towers uniquely adept for offensive purposes, denying enemies of map control and resources.
One questionable example of a Tower in Age of Empires II is the Sicilians' unique building, the Donjon. This building is in many ways similar to the Watch Tower line of buildings, and in fact replaces the Watch Tower line for the Sicilians. Compared to the Watch Tower series, the Donjon has comparable hit points, attack, applicable technologies, and a strategic role. However, there are a few key areas where the Donjon stands out. For one, the Donjon is larger than any usual Tower, taking up four tiles of space instead of one. For another, the Donjon is capable of training the Sicilian unique unit, the Serjeant, as early as the Feudal Age, which in turn is capable of building more Donjons. Also, unlike the Watch Tower line, which needs to be upgraded to the Guard Tower and Keep at the University, the Donjon receives free attack upgrades by advancing in Age.
One moderately common strategy in Age of Empires II is the so-called "Tower Rush," which involves building Watch Towers around an enemy's base in the Feudal Age to constrict their growth. Civilizations adept at this strategy include the Incas (due to their early economic bonuses and Stone discount for Towers), the Koreans (for their Stone Mining bonus and Villager's increased Line of Sight), the Sicilians (due to the unique properties of the Donjon), and the Spanish (for their faster building times).
Constructable[]
- Outpost
- Watch Tower ā Guard Tower ā Keep
- Bombard Tower
- Donjon (upgraded for free by advancing through Ages)
Unconstructable[]
The unconstructable defensive structures can only be found in the Scenario Editor.
Hero Towers[]
The following defensive structures are hero towers, and as such cannot be converted and regenerate hit points (the latter only after being fully constructed). They appear across many campaign scenarios and can also be found in the Scenario Editor.
Unique technologies[]
- Arquebus: Bombard Towers can hit moving targets. ( Portuguese)
- Artillery: Bombard Towers have +2 range ( Turks).
- Crenellations: Towers garrisoned with infantry fires extra arrows. ( Teutons)
- Detinets: Replaces 40% of towers' stone cost with wood ( Slavs).
- Eupseong: The Watch Tower line has +2 range ( Koreans).
- Great Wall: Towers have +30% hit points ( Chinese).
- Greek Fire: Bombard Towers have +0.5 blast radius and deal +25% damage. ( Byzantines).
- Stronghold: Towers fire 33% faster ( Celts).
- Svan Towers: Towers +2 attack and fire arrows that pierce multiple units. ( Georgians)
- Yasama: Towers fire 2 additional arrows ( Japanese).
- Yeomen: Towers have +2 attack ( Britons).
Civilization bonuses[]
- Bohemians: Chemistry is available in the Castle Age.
- Bulgarians: Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer cost -50% food.
- Burmese: Researching Devotion, Faith, and Herbal Medicine is 50% cheaper.
- Byzantines: Towers have +10%/+20%/+30%/+40% hit points in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Town Watch and Town Patrol are free.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit towers are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Georgians: Towers receive -20% damage (-40% instead of -25%) when fighting from higher elevation.
- Incas: Towers cost -15% stone. Outposts cost -20% stone.
- Italians: University technologies that benefit towers are 33% cheaper.
- Koreans: Upgrades to Guard Tower, Keep, and Bombard Tower are free (the latter requires Chemistry).
- Malians: Towers cost -15% wood.
- Persians: Researching Town Watch and Town Patrol is 10%/15%/20% faster in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Romans: Towers are built and repaired 5% faster.
- Spanish: Towers are built 30% faster. Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer cost no gold.
- Teutons: Towers can garrison up to 10 units. Murder Holes and Herbal Medicine are free.
- Turks: The Bombard Tower technology is 50% cheaper. Chemistry is free.
Team bonuses[]
- Bulgarians: Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer are researched 80% faster.
- Ethiopians: Outposts have +3 Line of Sight and stone cost removed.
- Georgians: Towers cost 25% fewer resources to repair.
- Lithuanians: Devotion, Faith, Herbal Medicine, and Heresy are researched 20% faster.
- Malians: University technologies are researched 80% faster.
- Portuguese: Technologies that benefit towers are researched 25% faster.
Age of Mythology[]
- Sentry Tower ā Watch Tower ā Guard Tower ā Ballista Tower
- Obelisk
- Mirror Tower
Major god bonuses[]
- Fu Xi: Towers cost -20% wood.
- Gaia: Towers create Lush areas where opponents cannot construct buildings. Towers slowly recover hit points.
- Hades: Towers have +25% hit points and +20% attack.
- Isis: Priests build Obelisks 60% faster; Obelisks cost 33% less.
Myth technologies[]
- Athenian Wall: Towers have +20% hit points.
- Oracle: Towers have +6 Line of Sight.
- Rammed Earth: Increased hit points and hack armor of Towers by 10%.
- Safeguard: Towers have +100% hit points and are 25% cheaper.
- Sundried Mudbrick: Increases Tower hit points by 10% and reduces their Gold cost by 15%.
- Titan Shield: Improves Hack and Crush resistance of Towers by 15%.