Trees are the only natural resource that provides wood in the Age of Empires series, and are often grouped together in large clumps, making a forest. Trees are usually abundant throughout the map and are considered as one of the most common resources in the game.
Overview[]
Due to their abundance, trees can often be utilized as a shield from military invasions unless the enemy performs slash and burn techniques or mows it down with heavy siege weaponry, such as Siege Onagers.
Although trees are the easiest resource to gather, the small amount of wood it generates makes smaller maps susceptible to deforestation over time. This will make them rarer than food or gold since there is no other way to obtain wood apart from trading at the Market.
Depending on the type of map chosen for each game, different types of trees are available.
Age of Empires[]
“ | Can be chopped for wood. | ” |
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition |
Regular trees in Age of Empires yield 75 wood per unit, while Forest Trees yield 40 wood per unit. All trees have 25 hit points which must be eliminated to harvest wood. They are revealed in the mini map in a dark green color which is adopted in the later games. There are five different kinds of trees, each corresponding to different types of terrain: Palm Trees are found in the desert, Pine Trees and Forest Trees appear on grassy terrain, and Beech Trees and lone Oak Trees can be found close to coasts, or away from clumped forests.
Trees form an impenetrable natural barrier against most units. Villagers can slowly chop them down, which is the only way to harvest their wood. These late-game units can clear them away instantly using the attack ground command, although no wood is given:
In the original and Definitive versions of the game, it is possible to destroy many individual "straggler" trees by constructing buildings on top of them. Forests are blocks to potential building sites, however, and some Forest Trees occur singly.
Return of Rome uses different tree types imported from Age of Empires II, which always block potential building sites. They have 20 hit points, and typically yield 80 wood, with some exceptions:
Age of Empires II[]
In Age of Empires II, Trees are more varied, have a more accurate size rendition, and are easier to chop, having only 20 hit points and taking bonus damage from Villagers, which means two chops (one after researching Sappers) are enough to fell a tree. Straggler trees yield 125 wood per unit, whereas most regular forest trees yield 100 wood per unit. Baobab trees, introduced in the The African Kingdoms expansion, contain the most at 200 wood per unit. However, because Baobab forests place a tree in every game tile with a probability of 50%, they end up having similar wood on average compared to other forest terrain. The same is the case with Acacia trees, which yield 150 wood and have a 75% probability of spawning on a tile.
Onagers have the ability to attack specified areas on the ground and cut down trees, making them extremely useful in creating a path to somewhere that was blocked by trees. Onagers can also target specific trees to attack, so the player should be wary when moving troops containing Onagers near a woodline due to accidental attacks on trees near the units. Other units which can cut down trees only cut one tree at a time.
Apart from Villagers, the following units can remove trees by attacking them, however the wood is lost in this case:
- Onager (since The Forgotten) ➞ Siege Onager
- Trebuchet
- Ballista Elephant ➞ Elite Ballista Elephant ( Khmer only)
If destroyed by the units above or if all wood from a tree has been gathered, buildings can be placed on the tile. For trees placed as single objects (as opposed to trees placed automatically as part of forest terrain), it is enough to just fell them.
Types[]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. |
- Acacia: Introduced in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms.
- Bamboo Forest: Introduced in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.
- Baobab: Introduced in The African Kingdoms.
- Birch: Introduced in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes.
- Bush A.
- Bush B.
- Bush C.
- Cypress: Likely based on the Mediterranean cypress.
- Dead: Introduced in the Definitive Edition.
- Dragon: Introduced in the African Kingdoms.
- Italian Pine: Likely based on the Stone Pine.
- Jungle: A variant of Palm Forest introduced in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors.
- Mangrove: Introduced in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas.
- Oak: Introduced in The Age of Kings.
- Oak Autumn Snow: A variant of Oak Autumn with snow on the trees and the ground, also introduced in the Definitive Edition.
- Oak Autumn: A variant of Oak introduced in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, decorated with autumnal coloring.
- Oak Forest.
- Olive.
- Palm Forest: Introduced in The Age of Kings.
- Rainforest: Introduced in Rise of the Rajas.
- Reeds: Introduced in the Definitive Edition.
- Snow Pine: A variant of Pine introduced in The Conquerors.
- Special tree: Individual tree treated like an embellishment object rather than part of a forest, introduced in The Age of Kings. Only appears in campaigns.
Terrain[]
Forest terrain works by having tree objects automatically spawn when creating the terrain in the editor. These trees can be manually removed or manipulated afterwards. Each forest terrain is listed with the non-forest terrain and trees that have the same appearance.
Forest Name | Terrain | Trees |
---|---|---|
Forest, Acacia | Dirt, Savannah | Tree (Acacia) |
Forest, Autumn | Underbrush | Tree (Oak Autumn) |
Forest, Autumn Snow | Underbrush, Snow | Tree (Oak Autumn Snow) |
Forest, Bamboo | Underbrush | Tree (Bamboo Forest) |
Forest, Baobab | Dirt 4 | Tree (Baobab) |
Forest, Birch | Underbrush | Tree (Birch) |
Forest, Bush | Underbrush | Bush A Bush B |
Forest, Dead | Underbrush, Snow | Bush C Tree (Dead) |
Forest, Dragon Tree | Dirt 1 | Tree (Dragon) |
Forest, Jungle | Underbrush | Tree (Jungle) |
Forest, Mangrove | Shallows, Mangrove | Tree (Mangrove) |
Forest, Mediterranean | Underbrush | Tree (Cypress) Tree (Olive) Tree (Italian Pine) |
Forest, Oak | Underbrush | Tree (Oak Forest) |
Forest, Oak Bush | Underbrush | Bush A Bush B Tree (Oak Forest) |
Forest, Palm Desert | Desert, Sand | Tree (Palm Forest) |
Forest, Palm Grass | Grass 2 | Tree (Palm Forest) |
Forest, Pine | Underbrush | Tree (Pine Forest) |
Forest, Pine Snow | Underbrush, Snow | Tree (Birch) |
Forest, Rainforest | Underbrush, Jungle | Tree (Rainforest) |
Forest, Reeds | Underbrush | Tree (Reeds) |
Forest, Reeds (Beach) | Beach, Wet | Tree (Reeds) |
Forest, Reeds (Shallows) | Shallows | Tree (Reeds) |
Age of Mythology[]
“ | Villagers tasked on a tree will gather Wood. | ” |
—In-game description |
In the mini map in Age of Mythology, trees are shown as dark green in color. All non-Gaia forest trees contain 200 wood. Prior to Retold, felled trees could not be built upon until all of their wood was harvested. Since Retold, felled trees can be built upon, and their wood can still be harvested after the completion of the building, either by destroying the building or by accessing a part of the tree outside of it.
Several god powers are related to trees:
- Walking Woods (Njord) god power transforms trees (except Gaia Forest trees) into walking trees that attack any enemy units or buildings near them.
- Forest Fire (Freyja) sets selected trees on fire and damages nearby enemy units and buildings.
- Gaia Forest (Gaia) creates a small forest of 20 special aspen trees called Gaia Trees, each containing 250 wood.
- Hesperides (Theia) spawns a tree that cannot be used as a wood source or destroyed (but can be captured by enemies). It trains up to five Dryads and shields against enemy god powers.
Among tree variants, Bamboo was introduced in Tale of the Dragon. The Cypress Tree, Snow Cypress Tree, Olive Tree, Old Savannah Tree, and Tundra Snow Tree were introduced in Retold.
Tree icons before Retold:
Changelog[]
Age of Mythology[]
- Trees have 150 wood.
The Titans[]
- Gaia Trees have 200 wood.
Retold[]
- With update 17.27932, trees have 200 wood and Gaia Trees have 250 wood.
Description[]
“ |
Cypresses are deciduous trees with tiny feather-like leaves and small, scaled, ball-shaped fruit. Their tall, straight trunks are very wide at the base and slim at the crown. Cypress roots will grow up into distinctive rounded knobs called knees, but only when the tree's root system is submerged in water. Cypress trees are more tolerant to flooding than any other species of tree and, consequently, are commonly found in swamps and wetlands. They prefer a somewhat drier environment, however, and are surprisingly drought tolerant. Cypress wood is dense and valued for its tolerance to water, especially the heartwood of the tree, and is used in many outdoor applications. |
” |
—In-game help section for the Cypress Tree |
“ | These withered trees populate Hades' subterranean realm, providing only a grim reminder of the world of the living. | ” |
—In-game help section for the Dead Tree |
“ |
Beech trees thrive across a wide range of habitats, and are especially prevalent on the European continent. The reason for the widespread nature of the tree is debatable, but it is possible that it is due to early humans' consumption of beech nuts. Beeches grow quite tall and their thick foliage lends a domineering reputation; beech forests tend to be exceptionally dark, and neighboring flora often expire from a lack of sunlight. Notably, beeches struggle in more arid climates (such as southern Iberia), but can survive in acidic ones, such as marshes. Ancient sources often speak of armies being ambushed and annihilated in dark forests and forbidding marsh terrain by cunning local tribes. |
” |
—In-game help section for the Marsh Tree |
“ |
Oak trees are angiosperms, meaning that their seeds are protected (by acorns in oaks) and distributed by animals. Most oaks lose their leaves in the fall, but there are evergreen oaks as well. Oaks are typically slow-growing, long-lived trees with hard wood. Oaks are dominant in temperate, deciduous forests where summers are warm and winters are cold (such as most of Europe, western Asia, and eastern North America). Plant and animal diversity is higher than in boreal forests, but lower than in tropical forests. Oaks were sacred to Zeus, particularly at the sanctuary at Dodona, where an oak tree served as an oracle whose rustlings were interpreted by the priestesses. Nature spirits, such as the Hamadryads, were associated with specific trees, which they would defend from intruders. |
” |
—In-game help section for the Oak Tree and Oak Autumn Tree |
“ |
Olive trees are small shrub-like trees primarily native to the Mediterranean region. They sprout evergreen, elongated leaves, small white flowers, and most famously the olive fruit. While the wood is useful in its own right, the fruit and its oil provided fabulous wealth to ancient civilizations dating as far back as the Minoans of Crete. Olives and their oil have been staples of Mediterranean and Near Eastern cuisine for thousands of years. Olives were sacred to Athena, who was said to have given the first olive tree as a gift to the city of Athens. The olive tree, with its threefold utility of wood, food, and oil, were deemed more useful than Poseidon's gifts of a salt water spring and a horse, and so Athena won the city's patronage. Local tradition held that Athena's olive tree still stood on the acropolis of Athens for over a thousand years. |
” |
—In-game help section for the Olive Tree |
“ | Palms are evergreen trees, shrubs, or vines with an unbranched trunk and a crown of round leaves with parallel venation. They are more closely related to grasses than to deciduous trees, even though palms produce flowers, fruit, and seeds like other types of trees. Palms are an ancient group of plants, with fossils dating back at least 85 million years. There are 2,000-3,000 species of palms, but most are not widespread, and propser only in areas with warm temperatures and high rainfall. Humans harvest palms for sugar, oil, fiber, canauba wax, fruits (such as dates), and seeds (such as coconuts). | ” |
—In-game help section for the Palm Tree |
“ |
Pine trees are among the four families of coniferous plants. Most conifers are evergreens, but continually shed needles throughout the year. All conifers are gymnosperms, which means that they produce seeds (like pinecones) that have no fruit and are usually dispersed by wind rather than by animals. Many pinecones have evolved to only sprout following a forest fire, so as to ensure that there will be sufficient light to feed the growing sapling. Temperate coniferous forests grow in regions with sandy soil, mild winters and warm summers, and plenty of rain. They contain some of the tallest trees on the planet, but have relatively low animal diversity. Conifers growing in these forests include firs and giants such as the sequoia and redwood. Further towards the poles are the boreal or taiga forests, where winters are very cold and summers are short and cool. Conifers in these forests include firs and spruces. Animal diversity there is even lower than in temperate forests. |
” |
—In-game help section for the Pine Tree and Snow Pine Tree |
“ |
Trees of the African savannah are faced with a number of environmental stresses. Temperatures in sub-Saharan Africa are consistently high and rain is seasonal. Periodic fires, as well as grazing from some of the largest herbivores on the planet, keep tree density low. Typical trees of the African savannah include the thorny acacia and the Senegal date palm. A few wild fruit trees can be found as well. In areas of deep soil or permanent lakes, trees are more diverse, but grasses otherwise dominate the ecosystem. Some of the adaptations that these trees have evolved to prosper in a dry environment include segmented leaves to reduce desiccation, and thorns to provide shade and deter grazers. |
” |
—In-game help section for the Savannah Tree |
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The tamarack or black larch is a coniferous tree that loses all of its foliage in the fall. Most conifers are evergreen, dropping foliage throughout the year, but never all at once. The tamarack produces small, handsome cones with rounded scales. In fall, the tree's foliage turns yellow before falling off. The tree's preferred climate is cool moist mountain slopes, bogs, and swamps. Native Americans used the roots of the tamarack to sew together birch-bark canoes. The tree's Algonquin name, akemantak, means 'wood used to make snowshoes'. Boat ribs, arrows, medicine and many other things could be made from this tall tree. |
” |
—In-game help section for the Tundra Tree |
“ |
Aspens are deciduous trees, related to willows and poplars. They have round or heart-shaped leaves with long, vertically flattened stems which cause the leaves to tremble in even the slightest breeze, giving rise to the tree's common name: quaking aspen. Aspen trees grow rather quickly in mid-to-high elevation environments. Stands, or forests, of aspen trees have a strong, well-established root system that make the trees very hardy. They are among the first species to regrow after forest fires. Native Americans valued many parts of the aspen tree for curative properties; the chief ingredient in modern aspirin is found in aspen bark. |
” |
—In-game help section for the Gaia Tree |
Age of Empires III[]
In Age of Empires III, trees are found throughout the map and are shown in the mini map as dark green in color. The types of trees in the game depends on the map chosen for each game. The wide variety of maps in Age of Empires III makes the game have the most diverse natural setting in the series, ranging from cold tundras to the desert of the southwest. Each tree has 6 hit points and yields 300 wood.
Age of Empires IV[]
“ | Use Villagers to fell trees and gather Wood from this tree. | ” |
—In-game description |
In Age of Empires IV, all trees yield 150 wood and the differences between them are purely cosmetic. Similar to Age of Empires II, straggler trees may be built over even without being chopped down, although they provide the same amount of wood as forest trees.
Biomes[]
Unlike in previous games, the types of trees that appear do not vary by map, but by Biome, which the player can choose before starting a game. The table below lists all the Biomes available and the types of trees that appear on each one:
Biome | In-game description | Trees |
---|---|---|
Asian Subtropical | A representation of the lush subtropical forests found in China, stretching across Asia towards India. | |
Asian Temperate | Our representation of a typical temperate forest from eastern China. | |
Chalk Downs | Based on the coasts of England and France, featuring the chalk-white cliffs and dirt. | |
European Temperate | Our representation of the typical European temperate grassland. | |
Gobi Desert | Based on the Gobi Desert straddling modern-day northern China and southern Mongolia. | |
Japanese Spring (requires The Sultans Ascend) |
A beautiful springtime environment dotted with cherry trees in bloom. | |
Mediterranean | Based on the Eastern Mediterranean coast. | |
Sahara Desert | Based on the semiarid desert of north east Africa. | |
Savanna (requires The Sultans Ascend) |
Based on the grassy plains of Africa and dotted with the iconic Acacia tree. | |
Steppes | Based on the great plains of the Mongolian steppe, and other Eurasian steppe landscapes. | |
Taiga Summer | Based on the deep woods that dominate Northern Europe and much of Russia. | |
Taiga Winter | A version of the taiga that represents the period of snow melt in early Spring. | |
Winter | A snowy, northern landscape in the chill of winter. |
- + Means that it appears only on the Black Forest map, in the marshy area which is initially inaccessible to players, and on Marshland.
- x Only on Black Forest.
Trivia[]
- There are some unused tree icons in the game files. The "Ghost Pine" might refer to Pinus sabiniana, a type of pine endemic to California, possibly indicating that a North American Biome was being considered for the game at some point.
- The generic tree icon, which appears in the UI for the Hunting Cabin, is the same as that of the Wild Birch Tree (medium).
List of trees[]
Tree | HP | AoE | AoE II | AoM | AoE III | Wood |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Acacia Tree | 20 | X | 150 | |||
Amazon Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Andes Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Araucania Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Bamboo | 20 | X | X | X | AoE II: 100 AoM: 150 AoE III: 150 | |
Baobab | 20 | X | 200 | |||
Bayou Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Beech Tree | 25 | X | 40 or 75 | |||
Borneo Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
California Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Caribbean Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Carolina Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Ceylon Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Dead Pine Tree | 20 | X | 150 | |||
Deccan Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Dragon Tree | 20 | X | 100 | |||
Forest Tree | AoE: 25 AoE II: 20 |
X | X | AoE: 40 AoE II: 100 | ||
Gaia Tree | 20 | X | 200 | |||
Great Lakes Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Himalayas Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Hispaniola Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Honshu Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Jungle Palm Tree | 20 | X | 150 | |||
Jungle Tree | 20 | X | X | AoE II: 100 AoM: 150 | ||
Mangrove Tree | 20 | X | 100 | |||
Marsh Tree | 20 | X | 150 | |||
Mongolia Tree | 6 | X | 150 | |||
New England Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Northwest Territory Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Oak Tree | AoE: 25 AoE II: 20 AoM: 20 |
X | X | X | AoE: 40 or 75 AoE II: 100 AoM: 150 | |
Orinoco Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Ozarks Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Painted Desert Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Palm Tree | AoE: 25 AoE II: 20 AoM: 20 |
X | X | X | AoE: 40 or 75 AoE II: 100 AoM: 150 | |
Pampas Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Patagonia Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Pine Tree | AoE: 25 AoE II: 20 AoM: 20 |
X | X | X | AoE: 40 or 75 AoE II: 100 AoM: 150 | |
Rainforest Tree | 20 | X | 100 | |||
Rockies Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Saguenay Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Savannah Tree | 20 | X | 150 | |||
Siberia Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Sonora Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Snow Pine Tree | 20 | X | X | AoE II: 100 AoM: 150 | ||
Tamarisk Tree | 5,000 | X | 0 | |||
Taproot | 4,000 | X | 0 | |||
Texas Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Tree A | 20 | X | 125 | |||
Tree B | 20 | X | 125 | |||
Tree C | 20 | X | 125 | |||
Tree D | 20 | X | 125 | |||
Tree E | 20 | X | 125 | |||
Tree F | 20 | X | 125 | |||
Tree G | 20 | X | 125 | |||
Tree H | 20 | X | 125 | |||
Tree I | 20 | X | 125 | |||
Tree J | 20 | X | 125 | |||
Tree K | 20 | X | 125 | |||
Tree L | 20 | X | 125 | |||
Tundra Tree | 20 | X | 150 | |||
Walking Acacia | 300 | X | 0 | |||
Walking Bamboo | 300 | X | 0 | |||
Walking Jungle Palm | 300 | X | 0 | |||
Walking Jungle Tree | 300 | X | 0 | |||
Walking Marsh | 300 | X | 0 | |||
Walking Oak | 300 | X | 0 | |||
Walking Palm | 300 | X | 0 | |||
Walking Pine | 300 | X | 0 | |||
Walking Snowy Pine | 300 | X | 0 | |||
Walking Tamarack | 300 | X | 0 | |||
Yellow River Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Yucatan Tree | 6 | X | 300 | |||
Yukon Tree | 6 | X | 300 |
Gallery[]
Resources in Age of Empires series | |
---|---|
Common | Food · Wood · Gold/Coin · Stone* |
Age of Mythology | Favor |
Age of Empires III | XP · Export · Influence |
Age of Empires IV | Bounty · Vizier Point · Olive Oil |
Extractable resource sources in the Age of Empires series | |
Common | Tree · Gold Mine · Stone Mine* · Berry Bush · Farm (I · II · M · III · IV) · Animals (Fish · Herdable animal) |
Age of Empires II | Fish Trap · Oysters |
Age of Mythology | Dwarven Mine · Jade Mine |
Age of Empires III | Cherry Orchard · Coal Mine · Copper Mine · Crate · Diamond Mine · Estate · Field · Hacienda · Mango Grove · Mill · Rice Paddy · Rock · Salt Mine · Silver Mine · Tin Mine |
Age of Empires IV | Olive Grove |
* not used in Age of Mythology and Age of Empires III |