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Wei is a civilization that focuses on cavalry, with great potential for a booming economic strategy.
Strengths[]
Their cavalry are among the best of the game. They lack Plate Barding Armor, but the Ming Guang Armor technology gives mounted units +4 melee armor. All cavalry units deal +2 damage against siege weapons, and Wei also has beefier Hei Guang Cavalry with more hit points. Their Castle unique unit, the Tiger Cavalry, is a heavy cavalry that gains attack and hit points as it kills enemy units, up to four more attack and +40 hit points. Their second unique unit is the Xianbei Rider, which replaces the Cavalry Archer and has a charged attack which fires five arrows. The Xianbei Cavalry benefits from the hit point bonus.
Their economy is also among the best, only lacking Guilds and Two-Man Saw. Each researched economic technology brings a Villager to the initial Town Center. These consist of Wheelbarrow, Hand Cart, Caravan, Gillnets, and all Mill, Lumber Camp, and Mining Camp technologies. The Tuntian technology is also a good addition to the economy, as it allows food trickle coming from all soldiers (cavalry, infantry, and archers).
Wei has cheaper Lou Chuans and Traction Trebuchets, which means they can mass long range siege quite easily. They also get the Hero Cao Cao, whose aura ability reduces the reload time of nearby friendly military units, except siege weapons, in a range of 10 by approx. 8.75%.
Weakness[]
Their infantry and foot archers, while useful, are not impressive, lacking many technologies and upgrades like the Champion, Gambesons, Arbalester, and Plate Mail Armor.
Apart from the Traction Trebuchet, their siege weapons are mediocre, lacking Siege Engineers and Siege Onager. Similarly, the Wei navy, apart from Lou Chuans, is also mediocre, lacking key improvements like Shipwright, Dry Dock, and Heavy Demolition Ship. Traction Trebuchets also have many downsides compared to the Trebuchets which they replace, having less range, armor, attack, and hit points, and being able to be converted at distance, though having the advantage of better mobility and being produced at Siege Workshops.
The Wei Monastery is also low tier, lacking Heresy, Herbal Medicine, Atonement, and redemption. Wei defenses are also mediocre, lacking Architecture and Arrowslits.
The hero Cao Cao, despite being a powerful unit with an aura that improves units surrounding him, is expensive and is not always necessary for an offensive, so the player should plan when to use him, as the gold and food needed to train him may be used for other troops or technologies.
Due to having lackluster foot units, Wei will have some problems facing camel hordes, having to rely on the frail Spearman line to deal with it.
Strategy[]
Wei is a civilization that starts to thrive since the Feudal Age. Wei does not have any bonus that benefits their Dark Age, so aging fast to the Feudal Age is a top priority. Reaching the Feudal Age is the real deal, as each economic technology brings an extra Villager. The player should start their Feudal Age by researching Wheelbarrow at the Town Center while they also researching Lumber, Mill and Mining camp technologies if they have enough resources to do so. Considering this, the player should reassign many Villagers to collect enough wood and food when aging up to the Feudal Age to get enough resources for Wheelbarrow. Researching all the economic technologies for Wei should be top one priority each time they age up. Performing a fast Castle strategy will add more impulse to the already powerful Wei economy, enabling another seven Villagers at maximum or five at the least (if the player is not playing on a map with water or outside a team game which may exclude Gillnets and Caravan researches). Counting the time training of a Villagers and the time it takes to research Wheelbarrow and Hand Cart, and if the player researches all economic technologies, it will save the player the time of these two Town Center technologies for producing 5 Villagers and having at the same time another 8 Villagers, while still getting the benefits of both technologies.
Researching Tuntian is also important, as this technology make Wei less reliant on Farms for food production, since each military unit except siege and naval units will trickle food.
As a cavalry civilization, Wei is able to perform a standard scout rush in the Feudal Age. However, unlike most cavalry Civilizations, it is better to instead perform a Fast Castle strategy followed by a Hei Guang Cavalry Rush supported by Xianbei Riders, considering all the bonuses and technologies that apply to both of these units. Once the player is able to build some Castles, they should add the Tiger Cavalry to the raids; in the late game, Tiger Cavalry should be preferred over Hei Guang Cavalry in most situations.
Wei in the Imperial Age should use Traction Trebuchets extensively, despite lacking Siege Engineers, since their counterparts from other civilizations are more expensive and have more requirements. Normal Trebuchets require Castles to be trained, and Bombard Cannons require Chemistry to be researched. With a mass of these Traction Trebuchets, they can attack in volleys against both buildings and enemy units. Similar logic applies to the Lou Chuan on the sea. Both units should be paired with an army to be effective.
Cao Cao is key for Wei in the late game. As it is a cavalry hero, it can fit perfectly in a raid composed of Tiger Cavalry, Hei Guang Cavalry, and Xianbei Riders, and it will make all these units attack faster
Alliances[]
Wei are valuable allies not only for their team bonus, but also because they are great at raiding in the mid-game, while they may also play as sling or springboard by tributing resources to their ally due to their strong economy. They have strong cavalry. Since they bring +2 attack vs siege to all cavalry on the team, they should be paired with powerful cavalry civilizations. The Wei team bonus provides almost nothing for Native American civilizations, since they completely lack the Stable, especially for the Maya, which cannot convert enemy stables to train Xoloto Riders.
Bengalis: Trade units will yield some food, and Bengali Elephants and Rathas can use the extra attack vs siege units.
Berbers: The Berber team bonus allows Wei to train Genitours, which will have a food trickle generation. Berber Kasbah will allow Wei to spam their Tiger Cavalry faster. In exchange, the Wei team bonus will allow the cheaper Berber cavalry to better deal with siege weapons.
Britons: The Briton team bonus will help Wei to produce Xianbei Riders faster. The Britons do not gain much from the Wei bonus, since their cavalry are not that good, but Wei can cover them in this department.- Byzantines: The Byzantine team bonus will help the team by improving the healing ability of Monks, enabling both players to increase the lifespan of their armies. Wei in return will give Byzantine Cataphracts and cheap Camel Riders +2 bonus attack vs siege weapons.
- Bulgarians: Bulgarian cavalry can make good use of the Wei team bonus, while the Bulgarian team bonus eases Blacksmith technologies research. Bulgarian Kreposts will help the team to get control of the map.
- Burgundians: The Wei team bonus is helpful for the Burgundians due to their cavalry focus. The Burgundian team bonus will allow Wei to gather more food if they garrison Relics.
- Burmese: Burmese cavalry and Battle Elephants can use the extra damage against siege weapons.
- Celts: The Celt team bonus will help Wei to produce Traction Trebuchets faster. This may allow Wei to use them more often. The Celts do not have prominent cavalry, but the +2 attack vs siege is useful.
- Cumans: The Wei team bonus adds more flexibility to the fast Cuman cavalry. Both players will be better defended early on with stronger palisades, and Wei will get access to Kipchaks from Cuman Mercenaries.
- Ethiopians: The powerful Ethiopian camels will be better prepared for dealing with siege weapons, and both players will be able to get more intel by placing cheap Outposts on the map.
- Franks: Strong Frank Paladins will get the +2 attack vs siege weapons, but the Frank team bonus does not apply to Hei Guang Cavalry.
- Georgians: Georgian cavalry can make great use of the Wei team bonus, while Wei will be able to repair their defensive structures cheaper. The Georgians can focus on the defense in a team with both civilizations.
- Gurjaras: The Wei bonus applies to the Camel line and Shrivamsha Riders. Sadly, the Gurjara team bonus does not gives anything to Wei.
- Hindustanis: Both players will get Hussars with +2 attack bonus vs siege units and +2 attack bonus vs buildings. The Wei bonus also applies to the powerful Hindustani Camel rider line. Also, they will get better trade because of Caravanserais.
- Huns: Wei get a production rate boost for their strong cavalry, and the Huns get better attack vs siege units for their Tarkans and Light Cavalry.
- Khmer: The Wei bonus is useful for the Battle Elephants.
- Lithuanians: The Wei bonus will make Winged Hussars more flexible and deadlier against Bombard Cannons, Rocket Carts, and Organ Guns. The team should give the Lithuanians Relics for their powerful Leitis.
- Magyars: The Magyars are probably one of the best pairings for Wei. The Magyar team bonus helps the production of Xianbei Riders, while the Wei team bonus will give Magyar cavalry more power against siege weapons. Magyar Huzsars already have a bonus against siege weapons.
- Malians: Malian cavalry with Farimba will appreciate the extra +2 attack against siege weapons from the Wei team bonus.
- Mongols: Their Scout sight bonus will let players explore faster, and is also useful on Light Cavalry raids. The Wei team bonus will make the already strong Mongol cavalry even better against siege units (Mangudais already have a bonus vs siege units)
- Persians: They Wei team bonus is quite helpful for Savars and War Elephants. Saddly, the Persian team bonus does not add anything to the Wei cavalry, as it is specific for the Knight line, but Caravanserais will be helpful for trade.
- Poles: The Wei bonus will make Winged Hussars more flexible and deadlier against Bombard Cannons, Rocket Carts, and Organ Guns. The Pole team bonus will help Wei Hussars against archers.
- Sicilians: Sicilian Donjons and defensive bonuses help both players gain map control. The Wei team bonus is useful for the resilient Sicilian Knight line. In naval maps, both players will have better Transport Ships.
- Slavs: The Slav team bonus helps to sustain population more efficiently. The Slavs may also help the team by placing Detinets-improved Castles and towers. In exchange, the Wei team bonus will make the Boyar deadlier against siege units.
- Spanish: The Spanish trade team bonus is always helpful in team games. The Spanish already have good cavalry, so the Wei team bonus will give them more power.
- Tatars: The Tatars and Wei have a win-win synergy, as the Wei team bonus gives more versatility to the Tatar cavalry, while Wei Xianbei Riders will get better Line of Sight.
- Teutons: Their heavily armored cavalry will receive better attack against siege weapons from the Wei team bonus, while Wei units will become harder to convert, something they really need, due to their lac of Heresy.
- Vietnamese: The Wei team bonus will help the beefy Battle Elephants of the Vietnamese, which in exchange will let the team see all initial locations while allowing the Wei to train Imperial Skirmishers.
- Wu: The Wu bonus will help to avoid population caps. The Wei bonus will aid Wu Hei Guang Cavalry.
