Wolf

The Wolf is a wild animal in Return of Rome, Age of Empires II, Age of Mythology, Age of Empires III, and Age of Empires IV.

Age of Empires

Wolf
Animal
Introduced in	Age of Empires: Return of Rome
Hit points	20
Melee attack	2
Rate of Fire	1
Speed	Walking: 0.93 Running: 1.39
Line of Sight	3
Collision size	0.25
Maximum food	100
Decay rate	0.5 food/second
Recommended no. of gatherers	2-3
Behavior	Attacks all units

Wolves were introduced once Age of Empires game mode was launched in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome.

Age of Empires II

Wolf
Animal
Introduced in	Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Hit points	25
Melee attack	3
Rate of Fire	2
Armor class	Predator Animals
Speed	Walking: 0.7 Running: 1.05
Line of Sight	12
Collision size	0.25
Maximum food	0
Recommended no. of gatherers	2-3 (only to kill)
Behavior	Attacks all units except livestock, scouts, siege weapons, and Monks

In Age of Empires II, the Wolf appears in several areas around the world, being generally the most common of the "hostile" wildlife. It has 25 hit points, 3 attack, and holds no food, but attacks Villagers and sometimes other units on sight (except Scout Cavalry, Monks, Trade Carts, and siege weapons). A single Wolf can kill a Villager if it lands the first hit, but will die to anything stronger, even a Villager with the Loom upgrade. Magyar Villagers always kill Wolves in one strike due to their civilization bonus.

The Wolf has a Line of Sight of 4 on Easiest difficulty, 6 on Easy difficulty, and 12 on every other setting. They are often found in groups, which makes them a greater threat.

As Wolves automatically attempt to attack the nearest unit, they can be lured to the enemy base by sending a single Villager or a non-scout military unit that will attract all the Wolves in its path. The unit will die, but if it reaches the enemy side, it will deliver all the Wolves to the enemy. This strategy is particularly useful on some closed maps like Black Forest or maps where there are a lot of Wolves like Gold Rush.

Variations

There are stronger variations of Wolves that are not generated on random maps and are only present in campaigns and the Scenario Editor.

• Dire Wolf
• Hunting Wolf
• Ornlu the Wolf
• Rabid Wolf

Trivia

• Wolves have two different moving animations: walking and running. They only run when they attack.
• Wolves were planned to be much more formidable adversaries during development. Some of the abilities they were planned to have at one point or another before being cut include:
  • Regaining full health after killing an unit or slowly regenerating over time.
  • Joining up in packs that would move randomly over the map.
  • Multiplying over time as part of "Gaia Regeneration".
  • Increased howling related to Wolf numbers, which would let players decide when they had a "Wolf problem" to take care of.
  • Ability to attack other wild animals including Deer, Wild Boars, and Bears.
  • A state of "hunger" that would strike once in a while, making Wolves more aggressive and leading them to seek and attack wild animals and Villagers. This would include coming to player Town Centers (which they would avoid while not hungry), in a possible reference to the Wolves of Paris that attacked the city during the winter of 1450.
• The Wolf (Canis lupus) is the single wild land animal species with the largest natural distribution that appears in the game. It is present in West and North Africa (since the African Wolf, long considered a Jackal, is now recognized as a Wolf), all of Eurasia including Southeast Asia and Australia (as the Dingo), and most of North America. As a result, it would have been encountered in the wild by all civilizations in the game except the Mayans and the Incas.

Age of Mythology

Wolf
Animal
Introduced in	Age of Mythology
Hit points	45
Population	2
Hack attack	8
Hack armor	20%
Pierce armor	30%
Speed	5.00
Maximum food	100
Recommended no. of gatherers	3-5
Behavior	Attacks workers

In Age of Mythology, the Wolf is a huntable animal. At appears on Norse and Greek maps, holds 100 food, but attacks villagers on sight.

On the map Alfheim, Wolves are found in excessive numbers, making them even more deadly. Also, they tend to lurk close to the central cliffs with Gold Mines in Anatolia.

The god power Fimbulwinter will summon a lot of fierce Wolves that attacks the enemy Town Centers.

History

“	Scientific name -- Canis lupus Size -- 50-150 lbs. Diet -- deer, caribou, elk, sheep, small mammals Historically, gray wolves could be found throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic to the tropics. Habitat destruction and hunting have greatly reduced their ranges. They are highly social animals that live and hunt in packs of up to thirty-six individuals led by an alpha male and female. Unrelated immigrants may be adopted into a pack. Packs are generally territorial and patrol their domains against intruders. Except for the red wolf, all living wolves are considered to be part of the C. lupus species. Domestic dogs, including feral subspecies such as dingos, are also classified as being wolves. Domestication, perhaps as many as five different times, has led to significant (but genetically irrelevant) differences between wolves and dogs.	”
—In-game History section

Arctic Wolf

On some campaign maps, the Arctic Wolf appears, in two versions. It is similar to the regular Wolf, but slower, gives slightly more food (125), and attacks any unit that comes too close, not just villagers. They can also be found on the Tundra map, using a second version of the unit.

Trivia

• There exists an unused ambient sound that was originally used by the Wolf named WolfHowl.wav. The same sound was used as an ambient sound for Wolves in Empire Earth, which was designed by Rick Goodman, who was a designer on the original Age of Empires and its expansion.

Age of Empires III

Wolf
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Treasure guardian
Statistics
Hit points	115
Speed	7.0
Line of Sight	9
XP kill bounty	11
Hand attack
Damage	9 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5

In Age of Empires III, the Wolf is a common and weak treasure guardian. The only weaker Guardians are the Monkeys in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties and the Coyote.

Wolves appear on the following maps: California, Carolina, Great Lakes, Great Plains, New England, Northwest Territory, Ozarks, Pampas, Patagonia, Plymouth, Saguenay, and Yukon.

Trivia

• The Wolf may be present in the Pampas and Patagonia maps as a stand-in for the Culpeo, also known as Andean Wolf (Lycalopex culpaeus), or the extinct Dusicyon avus.

Buck the Tame Wolf

Buck the Tame Wolf
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Pet Hand infantry
Civilization(s)	Haudenosaunee
Age	Exploration Age
Training
Trained at	Haudenosaunee War Chief (with the "High Chief" Home City Card)
Food	85
Train time	10 seconds
Train limit	12
Statistics
Hit points	115
Speed	5.0
Line of Sight	12
Ability	Reveal stealth enemies*
XP train bounty	9
XP kill bounty	9
Hand attack
Damage	9 Hand
Bonus damage	×3.0 vs. Treasure guardian x0.1 vs. Villager
Rate of Fire	1.5

“	A tame wolf who obeys you and is good against wild predators. Can be rescued in treasures or converted by Native American War Chiefs.	”
—In-game description

Buck is a pet Wolf in Age of Empires III. He is available from Treasures, and has an attack bonus against treasure guardians.

Buck is also one of the most common, as he may be found on the majority of North American maps, such as Saguenay. Lakota players can ship six Wolves from their Home City, whereas Haudenosaunee players have access to a card named "High Chief", available in the Exploration Age, that allows their War Chiefs to train pet Wolves. In sizable groups, they can fell even powerful Treasure guardians.

Buck is useful in actual combat as it help players defend Aennas from cavalry when Tomahawks are not available. Wolves and Aenna is a very good combination because they both cost food. Wolf pets can sometimes replace Kanya Horsemen as they are good against small numbers of ranged infantry as archers and Skirmishers and they can also fight against Pikemen, an advantage that Kanya Horsemen lack. Wolves are also useful in later Ages as they can be used as cannon fodder, distracting enemies from more important units, such as Light Cannons. They can also be used to change the result of a battle as they can be trained by the War Chief on the battle field very fast (15 seconds), similar to Japanese Daimyo, Aztec War Chiefs, or Indian Explorers. Pet Wolves do not cost population but have their own population limit (12). Using pet Wolves pets is an indirect way of increasing the player's population limit similar to natives.

It is important to note that despite the fact that their initial stats are not great, Wolves receives their first upgrade in the Commerce Age, making them one of the few units that have access to an additional upgrade. Buck has more health but less attack damage and cannot be upgraded through cards as Janey the Pet Jaguar. Buck however is cheaper (85 food) compared to Janey (100 food) and is more cost effective in earlier ages due to its hit points but also train time (10 seconds).

Buck the Pet Wolf is affected by War Chief Health Aura increasing his HP by 15% (17.25) and War Dance increasing his damage by up to 27% (2.43). Strangely, Wolves get 10% increased HP if Infantry Breastplate is researched at a Longhouse after the "New Ways" card is shipped.

Upgrades

Buck the Tame Wolf, like all other pets, upgrades automatically each Age:

• +20% hit points and attack
• +30% hit points and attack
• +40% hit points and attack
• +60% hit points and attack

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Buck the Tame Wolf

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Red	Shipment that can be sent twice
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Ignatian Spirituality	All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Wanderlust	Land units get +5% hit points; villagers and wagons get +5% speed

• "Wanderlust" is available to the British and Dutch upon revolting to South Africa, and can be sent 3 times.

Inca

Card	Description	Age
Road Building	Land military units get +10% speed

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% hand attack; Rajputs get +20% hand attack instead; +1 Villager		40
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed
Colegio de San Nicolás	Ships 500 XP; units get +4 and buildings (except Walls) get +8 Line of Sight; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds
National Servant	All units get +10% hit points; Padre healing 200% faster

• "Colegio de San Nicolás" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Hand Infantry Attack	Hand infantry get +15% attack		10
Archaic Infantry Hitpoints	Hand infantry and foot archers get +15% hit points; Rodeleros get +20% hit points instead		10
Archaic Infantry Combat	Hand infantry and foot archers get +15% hit points and attack		25
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight; +1 Inquisitor		10

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
Hand Infantry/Hand Cavalry Attack	Hand infantry and hand cavalry get +15% attack
Hand Infantry/Hand Cavalry Hitpoints	Hand infantry and hand cavalry get +15% hit points

White Wolf

The White Wolf is a special Wolf of the Circle of Ossus that appears in some scenarios of the Age of Empires III campaign. It has fewer hit points than a Buck the Tame Wolf, but has more hand attack damage and higher speed.

Main article: White Wolf

History

“	Scientific Name: Canis lupus Approx. Size: 50-150 lb. Diet: Deer, caribou, elk, sheep, small mammals Historically, gray wolves could be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arctic to the tropics. Habitat destruction and hunting have greatly reduced their ranges. They are highly social animals that live and hunt in packs of up to thirty-six individuals, led by an alpha male and female. Unrelated immigrants may be adopted into a pack. Packs are generally territorial and patrol their domains against intruders. Except for the red wolf, all living wolves are considered to be part of the C. lupus species. Domestic dogs, including feral subspecies such as dingos, are also classified as wolves. Domestication, perhaps as many as five different times, has lead to significant (but genetically irrelevant) differences between wolves and dogs.	”
—Age of Empires III history section

Age of Empires IV

Wolf
Animal
Introduced in	Age of Empires IV
Hit points	30
Melee attack	3
Rate of Fire	1.62 seconds
Speed	1.58 tiles/s (running) 0.46 tiles/s (walking)
Maximum food	0
Behavior	Attacks all units except Scouts

“	Bitey Infantry	”
—In-game description

Wolves in this game appear as neutral units that attack anything on sight, except for Scouts. When they are far enough away, they return to their spawn point. They are not a big threat; a non-upgraded Villager can kill one in a duel. The Rus get 25 gold in the form of Bounty when they kill one. Wolves in campaign scenarios behave slightly differently, as they may attack Scouts unprovoked.

Trivia

• Despite being named for a region which historically had a significant wolf population, Wolves do not appear on the Black Forest map.

Gallery

A group of Wolves in the first Genghis Khan scenario, Crucible

A render of the Wolf model in Age of Empires II

The Wolf running animation in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Close-up of the Wolf in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

A pack of three Wolves in Age of Mythology

Wolves in Alfheim

An in-game Wolf in Age of Empires III

Wolf stats

A native warrior guarded by a Wolf

Wolf portrait in the Age of Empires III beta

Wolf image from the Compendium section in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition

Wolf in Age of Empires IV

Video overview

Wolves in Age of Empires 2 HD

Wolves (Part 2)

Animals in Age of Empires IV
Herdable animals	Herdable Sheep · Cattle (Malians only)
Timid huntables	Huntable Deer
Aggressive huntables	Huntable Boar
Wild animals	Wolf
Fish	Deep Water Fish · Shoreline Fish
Cut animals	Bear · Crocodile · Fox · Zebra