Age of Empires Series Wiki
Advertisement
Age of Empires Series Wiki
Info icon
This article is about the unit in Age of Empires IV. For Villager units in other games of the series, see Villager.

โ€œ Gathers Wood, Food, Stone, and Gold. Builds and repairs buildings and can repair siege engines and naval units. โ€
Age of Empires IV description

The Villager is a civilian unit in Age of Empires IV that can be trained at the Town Center starting in the Dark Age. Villagers are the backbone of every civilizations' economy, performing key tasks such as resource gathering and building construction. Villagers are available to all civilizations, except the Order of the Dragon, which have a special Gilded Villager.

Resource gathering[]

The primary role of Villagers is to gather food, wood, gold, and stone from various sources on the map and drop these resources off at a resource drop-off site, such as a Town Center, Mill, Lumber Camp, Mining Camp, and various landmarks and other unique buildings. The Gather rate for each resource varies and can be found on the Gather rates and bonuses page. They have a default carry capacity of 10 for all resources except for hunted meat, of which they can carry 25. Villagers from Islamic civilizations, namely the Abbasid Dynasty, Ayyubids, Delhi Sultanate, Malians, and Ottomans cannot gather from Wild Boar.

Attack behavior[]

Villagers have several different weapons that they use for different functions. They use bows to hunt deer and attack wolves from range, they use spears to hunt boar and attack wolves close-up, they use knives to attack enemy units, and they throw torches to attack enemy buildings and siege weapons. English Villagers only use bows to attack enemy units. In contrast to other units, the Villager's torch attack does not increase while advancing through the ages.

Building construction[]

Villagers are also used to construct buildings and landmarks to Age up. Every building has a base build time. This is the time it takes for a single villager to construct it. Additional villagers can be tasked to construct the building to increase the Build speed by 33% per Villager. This creates diminishing returns where each additional villager added contributes less and less to the improvement in build time. Choosing the number of villagers to build a landmark, especially when advancing to the Feudal Age, where each villager has a proportionally larger impact on a player's economy, is an important part of game strategy. Choosing too many villagers will significantly reduce resources gathered with little improvement in build time and may put the player at an economic disadvantage in the next Age. Conversely, choosing too few villagers may delay important technology or economic upgrades from the next Age too much and put the player at a tempo disadvantage.

Overall, build time follows this kind of law, and is shown with example times below for landmark construction.

Number of Villagers Construction Time
%
Dark Age Landmark
seconds
Feudal Age Landmark
seconds
Castle Age Landmark
seconds
1 100% 190 220 250
2 75% 143 165 188
3 60% 114 132 150
4 50% 95 110 125
5 43% 81 94 107
6 38% 71 83 94
7 33% 63 73 83
8 30% 57 66 75
9 27% 52 60 68
10 25% 48 55 63

Further statistics[]

Technologies
Hit points AoE4 Textiles Textiles (+50%, Improved +100% Mongols AoE4 Mongols only)
AoE4 Public Libraries Public Libraries (+2 per economic technology researched, Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 Abbasid Dynasty)
Regeneration AoE4 GionFestival Gion Festival (Heal to full health every 3 minutes, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
Movement speed AoE4 Wheelbarrow Wheelbarrow (+15%)
AoE4 Towara Tawara (+7%, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
AoE4 Takezaiku Takezaiku (+7%, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
AoE4 Fudasashi Fudasashi (+7%, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
Melee attack AoE4 Bloomery Bloomery (+1)
AoE4 Decarbonization Decarbonization (+1)
AoE4 DamascusSteel Damascus Steel (+1)
Ranged attack AoE4 SteeledArrow Steeled Arrow (+1)
AoE4 BalancedProjectiles Balanced Projectiles (+1)
AoE4 PlatecutterPoint Platecutter Point (+1)
Armor AoE4 FittedLeatherwork Fitted Leatherwork (+1 melee)
AoE4 InsulatedHelm Insulated Helm (+1 melee)
AoE4 MasterSmiths Master Smiths (+1 melee)
AoE4 IronUndermesh Iron Undermesh (+1 ranged)
AoE4 WedgeRivets Wedge Rivets (+1 ranged)
AoE4 AngledSurfaces Angled Surfaces (+1 ranged)
Gather rate: All Food except hunted meat and fish AoE4 Horticulture Horticulture (+10%); Improved: (+15%, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
AoE4 Fertilization Fertilization (+10%); Improved: (+15%, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
AoE4 PrecisionCrossBreeding Precision Cross-Breeding (+10%); Improved: (+15%, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
Gather rate: Hunted meat AoE4 SurvivalTechniques Survival Techniques (+15%); Improved: (+22.5% Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
Gather rate: Farms AoE4 Agriculture Agriculture (+15%, Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 Abbasid Dynasty)
Gather rate: Berry Bushes AoE4 Towara Tawara (+25%, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
AoE4 Takezaiku Takezaiku (+25%, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
AoE4 Fudasashi Fudasashi (+25%, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
Gather rate: Wood AoE4 DoubleBroadax Double Broadax (+15%); Improved: (+22.5%, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
AoE4 LumberPreservation Lumber Preservation (+15%); Improved: (+22.5%, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
AoE4 CrosscutSaw Crosscut Saw (+15%); Improved: (+22.5%, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
Gather rate: Gold/Stone AoE4 SpecializedPick Specialized Pick (+15%); Improved: (+22.5%, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
AoE4 ShaftMining Shaft Mining (+15%); Improved: (+22.5%, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
AoE4 AnatolianHills Anatolian Hills (+15%, Ottomans AoE4 Ottomans)
Gather rate: All AoE4 AncientTechniques Ancient Techniques (+4% per Dynasty, Chinese AoE4 Chinese)
Carry capacity AoE4 Wheelbarrow Wheelbarrow (+5); Improved: (+9, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
AoE4 CrosscutSaw Crosscut Saw (+5 wood);
AoE4 HeartyRations Hearty Rations (+10, Delhi Sultanate AoE4 Delhi Sultanate)
AoE4 Towara Tawara (+3, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
AoE4 Takezaiku Takezaiku (+3, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
AoE4 Fudasashi Fudasashi (+3, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
Resource drop-off amount AoE4 Cupellation Cupellation (+15% gold/stone); Improved: (+22.5% gold/stone, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
AoE4 ImprovedProcessing Improved Processing (+8%, Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 Abbasid Dynasty)
Creation speed AoE4 PaxOttomana Pax Ottomana (+50% for four minutes, Ottomans AoE4 Ottomans)
Cost AoE4 FreshFoodstuffs Fresh Foodstuffs (-35%, Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 Abbasid Dynasty)
Building repair rate AoE4 BancoRepairs Banco Repairs (+100%, Malians AoE4 Malians)
Other AoE4 Forestry Forestry (Trees chopped down twice as fast); Improved: (Trees felled in one chop) Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
AoE4 VillageFortresses Village Fortresses (allows training at Keeps, Delhi Sultanate AoE4 Delhi Sultanate)
Aura enhancements
Movement speed AoE4 SpeedEnhancement Naval Deployment (+50% speed for 12 seconds after unloading from a Transport Ship, Byzantines AoE4 Byzantines)
AoE4 NehanConversion Nehan Conversion (+25% for 20 seconds, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
AoE4 YamAura Yam Aura (+15%, requires Yam Network, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
Attack AoE4 AkritoiDefense Akritoi Defense (+1/2/3/5 melee damage per Age for 30 seconds Byzantines AoE4 Byzantines)
AoE4 Conversion Buddhist Conversion (+20% for 20 seconds, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
AoE4 AttackSpeedDrums Kurultai Aura (+20%, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
AoE4 SaintsBlessing Saint's Blessing (+2, or +3 with Fervor, Rus AoE4 Rus)
Rate of Fire AoE4 NetworkOfCastles Network of Castles (+20%, or +40% with Network of Citadels, English AoE4 English)
Range AoE4 WallDefense Wall Defense (+1)
Armor AoE4 AkritoiDefense Akritoi Defense (+2 melee and ranged armor for 30 seconds Byzantines AoE4 Byzantines)
AoE4 DefenseArrow Defense Arrow (+2 melee and ranged for 5/10/12 seconds, depending on Whistling Arrows, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
AoE4 SaintsBlessing Saint's Blessing (+1 melee and ranged armor, Rus AoE4 Rus)
Damage resistance AoE4 WallDefense Wall Defense (-25% ranged, -50% siege)
Gather rate: All Food AoE4 FoodFestival Food Festival (+50% for 60 seconds)
Gather rate: Farms AoE4 IrrigatedField Irrigated Field (+10% per Granary, Chinese AoE4 Chinese and Zhu Xis Legacy AoE4 Zhu Xi's Legacy)
AoE4 InfluenceBuff Mill Influence (+15%/20%/25%/30%, English AoE4 English)
AoE4 DaimyoFarmAura Daimyo Farm Aura (+20% per Town Center upgrade level, Japanese AoE4 Japanese)
Gather rate: All AoE4 GoldenAgeTier1 Golden Age Tier 1 (+15% for Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 Abbasid Dynasty, +10% for Ayyubids AoE4 Ayyubids)
AoE4 GoldenAgeTier3 Golden Age Tier 3 (+20%, Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 Abbasid Dynasty)
AoE4 Irrigated Irrigated (+10%/+14%/+18%/+22%/+26% per Cistern water level, Byzantines AoE4 Byzantines)
AoE4 Inspired Inspiration Bonus (+40%, additional +10% with Devoutness HRE AoE4 Holy Roman Empire)
Resource drop-off amount AoE4 InfluenceBuff Wooden Fortress Influence (+20% wood, Rus AoE4 Rus)
Creation speed AoE4 GoldenAgeTier3 Golden Age Tier 3 (+20%, Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 Abbasid Dynasty and Ayyubids AoE4 Ayyubids)
AoE4 MilitaryFestival Military Festival (+100% for 90 seconds, Malians AoE4 Malians)
Build speed AoE4 Inspired Inspiration Bonus (+25%, requires Devoutness, HRE AoE4 Holy Roman Empire)
AoE4 ConstructTheKingdom Construct the Kingdom (+33%, Jeanne d Arc AoE4 Jeanne d'Arc)
Line of Sight AoE4 SetupCampBuff Set up Camp (+30%, English AoE4 English)
Cost AoE4 ConsecratedBuilding Consecrate (-25% Jeanne d Arc AoE4 Jeanne d'Arc)
Civilization Bonuses
Movement speed Chinese AoE4 Chinese (+15% in AoE4 YuanDynasty Yuan Dynasty)
Ranged attack English AoE4 English (+5)
Range English AoE4 English (+2)
Gather rate: All Food Rus AoE4 Rus (+5%/10%/15% depending on bounty)
Gather rate: Berry Bushes Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 Abbasid Dynasty, Ayyubids AoE4 Ayyubids and Delhi Sultanate AoE4 Delhi Sultanate (+25%)
Ottomans AoE4 Ottomans (+50% from Twin Minaret Medrese)
Carry capacity Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 Abbasid Dynasty, Ayyubids AoE4 Ayyubids and Delhi Sultanate AoE4 Delhi Sultanate (+3 berries)
HRE AoE4 Holy Roman Empire (+40%)
Resource drop-off amount Japanese AoE4 Japanese (+20% extra stone with gold drop-off)
Japanese AoE4 Japanese (+20% extra gold with stone drop-off)
Mongols AoE4 Mongols (+50% gold at Steppe Redoubt)
Rus AoE4 Rus (+1 bounty gold with every 10 food deposited from Deer, Boar, or Sheep)
Cost HRE AoE4 Holy Roman Empire (-66% from Palace of Swabia)
Zhu Xis Legacy AoE4 Zhu Xi's Legacy (-10% in AoE4 YuanDynasty Yuan Dynasty)
Creation speed Chinese AoE4 Chinese (+25% in AoE4 SongDynasty Song Dynasty)
French AoE4 French (+15%/15%/20%/25% per Age)
HRE AoE4 Holy Roman Empire (+200% from Palace of Swabia)
Build speed Chinese AoE4 Chinese and Zhu Xis Legacy AoE4 Zhu Xi's Legacy (+50% Defensive buildings, +100% all others)
Other Byzantines AoE4 Byzantines (Villagers gather Olive Oil from berries, Olive Groves, and Shore Fish)

Unique landmark boosts[]

With the Khaganate Palace, the Mongols can obtain unique technologies and units from other civilizations. As such, Mongol Villagers can potentially benefit from the following boosts normally not available to them:

Aura and ability enhancements
Attack AoE4 SaintsBlessing Saint's Blessing (+2, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)
Armor AoE4 SaintsBlessing Saint's Blessing (+1 melee/ranged, Mongols AoE4 Mongols)

Dialogue lines[]

Changelog[]

  • With the Season One Update, hunted meat carry capacity was changed from 10 to 25.
  • With Season Two Update 17718, torch bonus damage vs siege was changed from +10 to +2, and the repair rate of siege units changed from 20 hit points per second to 5. With patch 9.2.628 the bonus vs siege was removed.
  • With the Season Five Update, English Villagers hunting bow range increased from 2.875 tiles to 5 tiles, to match their range vs military units.
  • With patch 7.1.113, Villagers no longer use their bow to attack boars. They always use their spear weapon.
  • With patch 8.2.218, the base building repair rate was increased from 20 to 25 hit points per second. The return for repairing with multiple Villagers was diminished further such that repairing with 3-10 Villagers is approximately 5% slower overall.
  • Originally, the additional stone cost for double-producing villagers from a Mongol Town Center within the influence of an Ovoo was 150 stone. With patch 8.2.218, this was reduced to 125 stone.
  • With update 12.0.1974, the base gather rate from Berry Bushes was changed from 0.66 food per second to 0.69 food per second.

Trivia[]

  • The Villagers have a distinct appearance depending on their gender, their civilization and the Age they are in. While Mongol Villagers wear the same base outfit, they can still be distinguished by their voices, body shapes and minor difference on their outfits.
  • For the first time in an Age of Empires game, Villagers change appearance (more or less significantly) as their civilization progresses through the Ages. The other four units to do so are the Scout, the Khan, the Trader and the religious units.
  • This is the first game in which Blacksmith technologies affect normal Villagers.

Gallery[]

Units in Age of Empires IV
Common/Generic
Miscellaneous AoE4 GenericVillager Villager ยท AoE4 Trader Trader ยท AoE4 FishingBoat Fishing Boat ยท AoE4 TradeShip Trade Ship ยท AoE4 TransportShip Transport Ship ยท AoE4 Monk Monk/Imam/Shaman ยท AoE4 Leader Monarch
Melee infantry AoE4 Spearman Spearman ยท AoE4 ManAtArms Man-at-Arms
Ranged infantry AoE4 Archer Archer ยท AoE4 Crossbowman Crossbowman ยท AoE4 Handcannoneer Handcannoneer
Melee cavalry AoE4 Scout Scout ยท AoE4 Horseman Horseman ยท AoE4 Knight Lancer/Knight
Siege AoE4 SiegeTower Siege Tower ยท AoE4 BatteringRam Battering Ram ยท AoE4 Springald Springald ยท AoE4 Mangonel Mangonel ยท AoE4 CounterweightTrebuchet Counterweight Trebuchet ยท AoE4 Bombard Bombard ยท AoE4 Ribauldequin Ribauldequin ยท AoE4 Culverin Culverin
Military ship AoE4 ArcherShip Archer ship: Dhow, Galley, Hunting Canoe, Junk, Light Junk, Lodya Galley
AoE4 SpringaldShip Springald ship: Baghlah, Hulk, Lodya Attack Ship, War Canoe, War Cog, War Junk
AoE4 IncendiaryShip Incendiary ship: Demolition Ship, Explosive Dhow, Explosive Junk, Lodya Demolition Ship
AoE4 Warship Warship: Baochuan, Carrack, Xebec
Cheat AoE4 PhotonMan Photon Man
Unique
Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 CamelRider Camel Rider ยท AoE4 CamelArcher Camel Archer ยท AoE4 Ghulam Ghulam
Ayyubids AoE4 Ayyubids AoE4 Atabeg Atabeg ยท AoE4 BedouinSkirmisher Bedouin Skirmisher ยท AoE4 BedouinSwordsman Bedouin Swordsman ยท AoE4 CamelLancer Camel Lancer ยท AoE4 Dervish Dervish ยท AoE4 DesertRaider Desert Raider ยท AoE4 Ghulam Ghulam ยท AoE4 TowerOfTheSultan Tower of the Sultan
Byzantines AoE4 Byzantines AoE4 Cataphract Cataphract ยท AoE4 VarangianGuard Varangian Guard ยท AoE4 Cheirosiphon Cheirosiphon ยท AoE4 Limitanei Limitanei ยท AoE4 Dromon Dromon
Chinese AoE4 Chinese AoE4 ImperialOfficial Imperial Official ยท AoE4 ZhugeNu Zhuge Nu ยท AoE4 PalaceGuard Palace Guard ยท AoE4 NestOfBees Nest of Bees ยท AoE4 FireLancer Fire Lancer ยท AoE4 Grenadier Grenadier
Delhi Sultanate AoE4 Delhi Sultanate AoE4 Monk Scholar ยท AoE4 WarElephant War Elephant ยท AoE4 TowerElephant Tower Elephant ยท AoE4 SultansEliteTowerElephant Sultan's Elite Tower Elephant ยท AoE4 GhaziRaider Ghazi Raider
English AoE4 English AoE4 Longbowman Longbowman ยท AoE4 King King ยท AoE4 WynguardRanger Wynguard Ranger ยท AoE4 WynguardFootman Wynguard Footman
French AoE4 French AoE4 RoyalKnight Royal Knight ยท AoE4 Arbaletrier Arbalรฉtrier ยท AoE4 Galleass Galleass ยท AoE4 Cannon Cannon
HRE AoE4 Holy Roman Empire AoE4 Monk Prelate ยท AoE4 Landsknecht Landsknecht
Japanese AoE4 Japanese AoE4 Warship Atakebune ยท AoE4 BuddhistMonk Buddhist Monk ยท AoE4 KatanaBannerman Katana Bannerman ยท AoE4 MountedSamurai Mounted Samurai ยท AoE4 OnnaBugeisha Onna-Bugeisha ยท AoE4 OnnaMusha Onna-Musha ยท AoE4 Ozutsu Ozutsu ยท AoE4 Samurai Samurai ยท AoE4 Shinobi Shinobi ยท AoE4 ShintoPriest Shinto Priest ยท AoE4 TreasureCaravan Treasure Caravan ยท AoE4 UmaBannerman Uma Bannerman ยท AoE4 YumiAshigaru Yumi Ashigaru ยท AoE4 YumiBannerman Yumi Bannerman
Jeanne d Arc AoE4 Jeanne d'Arc AoE4 JeannesChampion Jeanne's Champion ยท AoE4 JeannesRider Jeanne's Rider ยท AoE4 RoyalKnight Royal Knight ยท AoE4 Arbaletrier Arbalรฉtrier ยท AoE4 Galleass Galleass ยท AoE4 Cannon Cannon ยท Jeanne d'Arc [AoE4 JdA Peasant Peasant ยท AoE4 JdA WomanAtArms Woman-at-Arms ยท AoE4 JdA Hunter Hunter ยท AoE4 JdA Knight Knight ยท AoE4 JdA MountedArcher Mounted Archer ยท AoE4 JdA BlastCannon Blast Cannon ยท AoE4 JdA Markswoman Markswoman]
Malians AoE4 Malians AoE4 Donso Donso ยท AoE4 MusofadiWarrior Musofadi Warrior ยท AoE4 JavelinThrower Javelin Thrower ยท AoE4 WarriorScout Warrior Scout ยท AoE4 Sofa Sofa ยท AoE4 FreebornWarrior Freeborn Warrior ยท AoE4 Cattle Cattle ยท AoE4 MusofadiGunner Musofadi Gunner
Mongols AoE4 Mongols AoE4 Khan Khan ยท AoE4 Mangudai Mangudai ยท AoE4 TurkicHorseArcher Khan's Hunter ยท AoE4 TractionTrebuchet Traction Trebuchet ยท AoE4 HuihuiPao Huihui Pao ยท AoE4 Keshik Keshik
Order of the Dragon AoE4 Order of the Dragon AoE4 GildedSpearman Gilded Spearman ยท AoE4 GildedManAtArms Gilded Man-at-Arms ยท AoE4 GildedLandsknecht Gilded Landsknecht ยท AoE4 GildedArcher Gilded Archer ยท AoE4 GildedCrossbowman Gilded Crossbowman ยท AoE4 DragonHandcannoneer Gilded Handcannoneer ยท AoE4 GildedHorseman Gilded Horseman ยท AoE4 GildedKnight Gilded Knight ยท AoE4 GenericVillager Gilded Villager ยท AoE4 Monk Prelate
Ottomans AoE4 Ottomans AoE4 Mehter Mehter ยท AoE4 Sipahi Sipahi ยท AoE4 HorseArcher Cavalry Archer ยท AoE4 Janissary Janissary ยท AoE4 GreatBombard Great Bombard ยท AoE4 GrandGalley Grand Galley
Rus AoE4 Rus AoE4 FishingBoat Lodya Fishing Boat ยท AoE4 WarriorMonk Warrior Monk ยท AoE4 HorseArcher Horse Archer ยท AoE4 Streltsy Streltsy ยท AoE4 Militia Militia
Zhu Xis Legacy AoE4 Zhu Xi's Legacy AoE4 ImperialOfficial Imperial Official ยท AoE4 ZhugeNu Zhuge Nu ยท AoE4 PalaceGuard Palace Guard ยท AoE4 NestOfBees Nest of Bees ยท AoE4 Grenadier Grenadier ยท AoE4 ImperialGuard Imperial Guard ยท AoE4 YuanRaider Yuan Raider ยท AoE4 ShaolinMonk Shaolin Monk
Advertisement