Tree icon in Age of Empires III
In the Age of Empires series, Trees are the only natural resource that provides wood and are often grouped together in large clumps, making a forest. Trees are abundant throughout the map and is considered as one of the most common resources in the game. Due to its abundance, trees can be utilized as a good buffer from military invasions unless the enemy performs slash and burn techniques or mowing it down by heavy siege weaponry. Depending on the type of map chosen for each game, different types of trees are available. 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.
Age of Empires
Regular Trees in this game yield 75 wood per unit while forest trees yields 40 wood per unit. All trees have 25 hit points which must be eliminated in order to harvest wood. They are revealed in the mini map in dark green color which is adopted in the later games. There are 3 different kinds of trees each corresponding to different types of terrain. Palm trees are found in the desert while pine trees and forest trees appear on grassy terrain.
Age of Empires II
Ordinary trees yield 125 wood per unit whereas forest trees yield 100 wood per unit. There are 4 different kinds of trees each corresponding to different types of terrain. Besides a more accurate size rendition, trees in this version compared to its predecessor have an additional form on snow. Trees are also weaker, having 20 hit points and taking bonus damage from Villagers which requires only 2 hits before falling.
Age of Mythology
In the game, there are several kinds of trees (Oak, Pine, Desert Palm, Savanna, Norse, Erebus, Gaia Forest, Jungle, Bamboo, Chinese Jungle) that exist, with their types corresponding to the habitat of every map's setting. In the mini map, they are shown as dark green in color. All non-Gaia forest trees contain 150 wood.
Several God Powers are related to trees: Njord's Walking Woods power transforms trees (except Gaia Forest trees) into walking trees that attack any enemy units or buildings near them, Freyja's Forest Fire sets selected trees on fire and damages nearby enemy units and buildings, Gaia's Forest creates a small forest of 20 aspen trees, each containing 200 wood. Theia's Hesperides spawns a tree that cannot be used as a wood source, or destroyed (but can be captured by enemies) that trains up to five Dryads and shields against enemy God Powers.
Age of Empires III
In the game, 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 game, ranging from cold tundras to the desert of the southwest. Each tree contains 6 hit points and yields 300 wood which are used to construct buildings, training units and improving their rank through technological upgrades. Artillery and Ships are the units that consume the most wood in the game.
