Author: Geert- Jan Andela (Hircine)

Loki is really a Myth unit god. He is the only one who can worship Hel.
Just note that Hel's Myth units are very expensive.

Godpower: Spy
Spy should be used very early in the game. It’s best used on enemy scouts, such as the Norse Ulfsark or the Greek Kataskopos. You can then see what the enemy sees. (free scouting) It can also be used on incoming large army’s to see where they are going and so refine your tactics. Note that when you use it on an army and you kill the entire army, the effect is turned of. So the best way is to use it on scouts

Myth Tech: Eyes in the forest. All infantry +3 LOS
This greatly helps in scouting with the Ulfsark. Because the Norse really lack any good scouting units, this improvement will greatly improve the are of which you can see.
It can also be handy if you army can see further, so they can spot enemies earlier

Benefits

Myth Units cost 10% less favor
This comes in handy when you go the Mythic age with Hel. Giants are very expensive.
This also helps you with the famous Hersir Rush with Loki. (More on Hersir Rush later)
It is also handy if you’re going heavy on Myth Units.

Heroes summon myth units in combat.
Every Hersir that you build with Loki has a so-called spawningscript. Every Hersir can summon only one sort of myth unit. Which myth unit a Hersir can summon is randomly chosen by the computer when the Hersir is build. Every Hersir must go into battle and earn a certain amount of favor, before they can summon their myth unit. Note that this has two great advantages. 1. You get almost free myth units 2. You can get myth units that you can not normally build. I once got a Valkery, even if Loki players can’t worship Freya. One again this benefit is part of the Hersir Rush

Longhouse units train faster.
I don’t know by which amount the training times are improved, but I do know that this can make a huge difference in the beginning, when you want to rush. You can a big army faster
Again this helps in the Hersir Rush.

Oxcarts -80hp +2 speed wood cost and food cost down by 50%
Small economic boost. Let’s you build more oxcarts which help you get a better economy.
The big drawback is that your Oxcarts will be a lot weaker against enemies.

The Minor Gods
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Classical Age.

Forseti
Benefits infantry

Godpower: Healing Spring.
Creates a fountain that heals any unit fast with a small area
The fountain is invulnerable but can be taken over by other players.

Myth unit: Troll
Slow moving, but strong ranged myth unit. Throws stones at enemies
Cost: 150 gold, 14 favor, takes 4 population slots
Statistics: 200 HP, 12 pierce attack, 50 hack armor, 50 pierce armor, range 14

Improvement: Hammartroll
+2 pierce attack, +50 HP, +2 range

Myth techs

Hall of Thanes: Hersir +1 speed, + 13 HP
Mithril Breastplate: Ulfsark hack amor +7

Heimdall
Benefits buildings

Godpower: Undermine
Destroys a small section of wall’s, tower and fortresses

Myth Unit: Einherjar
Good myth unit that can increase the attack of other units with a horn blast.
Cost 175 gold, 14 favor, takes 3 population slots
Statistics: 275HP, 15 hack attack, 69 crush armor, 60 pierce armor

Improvement tech: Elhriminir Kettle
Improvement: +6 hack attack, +27,5 HP

Myth Techs

Safeguard: Towers: cost – 25% wood and - 25% gold, Walls and towers + 100% HP
Artic Wind: Longboat: + 1 speed, +29HP

Which god to choose
I mostly choose Forseti. His Myth Unit is one of the few ranged land units the Norse have. His Godpower is really a must to have. I offers free and fast healing to your injured armies. Great for hit and run tactics. Just send an army in to attack, retreat, heal, and attack again. His Hall of Thanes myth tech is very when doing the Hersir rush. It can improve your Hersirs very early in the game.
Heimdall can also be handy on some occasions. His Myth unit can be handy in big armies, where it can increase your soldiers’ attack. His god power is not so great. It only destroys a very small section of wall and can’t even destroy a complete fortress. His Artic Wind improvement doesn’t do much. It just gives your longboats a little edge when fighting the enemy. The Safeguard improvement is much better. It increases the HP greatly of the really weak Norse walls and towers. Which to choose? You decide. Forseti is good for fast hit and run tactics and Heimdall is good for someone who wants to have a well defended base and a very large army. By the way it is good to safe safeguard as long as possible, because it gives you +100% HP. So the more you upgrade them first and then use safeguard, the stronger they get. You can also use Safeguard for the so-called tower push strategy. (more on that later)

Heroic Age

Bragi
Benefits Ulfsarks and Myth units

Godpower: Flaming weapons.
All ships, human units and siege units’ weapons will burst into flame’s giving them +6 attack

Myth unit: Battle Boar.
Strong armoured unit that kicks enemy units in all directions.
Cost: 250 gold, 27 favor, takes 4 population slots
Statistics: 720HP, 20 crush attack, 60 hack armor, 60 pierce armor

Myth Techs

Thurisaz Rune: increase MU speed by 10%
Call of Valhalla: Ulfsark +16HP
Swine Array: Ulsarks get a small attack bonus v.s. buildings

Njord
Benefits ships and Jarls

Godpower: Walking Woods.
Target a location with lot’s of trees to make 7 of them come to live and attack the nearest enemy. Unfortunately they can’t be controlled by the player.
Tree statistics: 350HP, 30 crush attack, 30 hack armor, 60 pierce armor

Myth unit: Kraken
Large and durable see squid that does lots of damage and has an ability to kill infantry units and ships in seconds.
Cost: 300 food, 23 favor, takes 5 population slots
Statistics: 800HP, 15 hack attack, 50 hack armor, 69 pierce armor

Improvement tech: Wrath of the Deep
Improvement: +200HP

Myth unit: Mountain Giant
Large very durable land unit that is very good against buildings.
Cost: 300 food, 27 favor, takes 5 population slots
Statistics: 1200HP, 25 crush attack, 44 hack armor, 30 pierce armor

Myth Techs:

Long Serpent: Longboats + 1 pierce attack, + 25% more resistant to siegeships
Ring Giver: Jarl +45HP

Which god to choose
That really depends on what you want.
If you want to rush choose Bragi. His godpower can really give you a big boost for a short time. In fact, Flaming Weapons is considered so powerful, that may even turn the tide in your favor. Bragi’s myth techs really help your ulsarks a lot. And I know that besides raiding cavalry and Loki Hersir, the Ulsarks are most used for rushing, because he is so cheap
Bragi’s Battle Boar is very strong. It’s quite hard to kill one of these beasts in the open field.
Their special ability let’s them kick around and damage all units surrounding them. They’re a good counter for archers and for breaking enemy formations.
Njord is handy when you are playing on a water map or if you opponent is building lots of walls and towers. Njords’ kraken is more powerful than any ship that can by build. It’s also quit handy that it can kill ships in one second. The Wrath of the Deep tech is not really needed, because krakens are already very powerful. The Long Serpent upgrade gives your Long Boats a little edge against siege ships but is in most cases not very handy.
Now for the walls and towers map. Looking for the ultimate Norse building killer?
Look no more. You’ve found it. With it’s 1200HP the Mountain Giant is extremely durable.
It’s is also very strong against buildings. Against other units the Mountain Giant is not that good. You can only use it then as a large meat shield to catch arrows. If you are about 80% sure you will reach the Mythic age with Hel (more on Hel later) and you’re not playing on a watermap, than I would advise not to choose Njord. Even his god power is not that powerful. The walking trees are usually easily killed and can’t be used for defence.

So choose Njord when on a watermap or with facing lot’s of walls and choose Bragi in all other cases, especially rushing

Mythic age

Hel
Benefits Myth units

God power: Nidhogg
Summons a very mighty myth unit on the battle field that can fly and is very good against buildings
Nidhogg Statistics: 1800HP, 40 crush attack, 50 hack armor, 60 pierce armor

Myth unit: Mountain Giant
Large very durable land unit that is very good against buildings.
Cost: 300 food, 27 favor, takes 5 population slots
Statistics: 1200HP, 25 crush attack, 44 hack armor, 30 pierce armor

Improvement tech: Granite Blood
Improvement: +100HP

Myth unit: Fire Giant
Large ranged giant that is good against buildings and infantry and it has a small area-attack ability
Cost: 300 gold, 32 favor, takes 5 population slots
Statistics: 600HP, 15 hack attack, 60 crush armor, 80 pierce armor, 14 range

Improvement tech: Granite Blood
Improvement: +100HP

Myth unit: Frost Giant
Large myth unit that is good against buildings and infantry and it can freeze enemy units for a short duration so that they can’t move and/or attack
Cost: 200 gold, 23 favor, takes 5 population slots

Improvement tech: Granite Blood
Improvement: +100HP

Myth techs

Rampage: Decreases building time of myth units by 95% , or in other words let you train them almost instantly.

Just a side note: As you might have noticed Granite Blood increases the HP of all 3 sorts of giants

Tyr
Benefits infantry

Godpower: Fimbulwinter
Summons a blizzard effect on your screen + a maximum number of 36 non-controlable wolfs that attack any enemy in sight. Just not that the wolfs are summoned randomly and anywhere on the map.
Wolf statistics: 180HP, 14 hack attack, 20 hack armor, 69 pierce armor

Myth unit:
Fenris Wolf Brood
Large wolf like myth unit. The more you have in one group the more damage they do. Maximum damage is 43
Cost: 150 gold, 14 favor, takes 3 population slots
Statistics: 420HP, 15 hack attack, 40 hack armor, 50 pierce armor

Myth unit: Jormund Elver
Small looking but durable ranged Myth unit that attack enemies with steam.
Cost: 200 food, 14 favor, takes 5 population slots
Statistics: 800HP, 40 pierce attack, 20 hack armor, 30 pierce armor, 20 range

Myth techs

Bravery: Huskarls, +100% attack bonus v.s. buildings and +1 hack attack

Berserkergang: Ulsark +16HP, +1 hack attack

Which god to choose
That’s really simple. If you’re into infantry take Tyr, in other cases take Hel. Tyr’s godpower may sound powerful, but in a lot cases the half of the wolves just appear in an empty area of the map. The Fenris Wolf Brood also is not very super. There not very strong, unless used in large numbers. Don’t choose Try for the Jormund Elver. If you’re on a watermap you should already have chosen Njord in the Heroic age. If this is not the case, don’t go choose Tyr only for the Jormund. First of all the myth unit should have been a lot bigger. You don’t expect a 800HP myth unit to as small as a wolf. Second of all it doesn’t do much damage to ships and is so not very useful. They might give you an edge in battle, but only a small one
Tyr’s infantry upgrades are one of the advantages of Tyr. They upgrade your infantry moderately.
Now for Hel. Hel’s Godpower is extremely useful. Nidhogg is the most strongest myth unit in the game (not anymore when the x-pack arrives). It’s useful for harassing villagers with and
It can be really a pain in the neck for a badly crippled enemy. You can also use Nidhogg
as a large meat shield for catching arrows. Just first send your Nidhogg into a group of archers, let them target him, and then send in the rest of your army.
Just watch out for Zeus players!!! Only use Nidhogg when they’ve already used there Bolt GP, otherwise when you attack with your Nidhogg, they will just bolt him to death.
Hel is also the only minor god that gives you 3 Myth units.
The Fire Giant is a nice addition to the Norse. It can used as a heavy archer, something the Norse really lack. The Frost Giant is nice for it’s freezing ability, which can turn the tide in a battle. And as already said with Njord, the Mountain Giant is the ideal Norse building killer
Hel’s Granite Blood tech makes these giants even more powerful. In most cases you won’t need Granite Blood
And Hel’s Rampage tech is also a nice addition. If you’re going heavy on Myth units this is the tech you need. It let’s you build a Mountain Giant in less than 5 seconds
Just note that although the Giants are the strongest Norse land Myth Units, they are also the most expensive.

The path of the Ulfsark
Some AOM players don't use the god choices that I mostly make. They mostly go for what you can call the path of the Ulfsark. Loki and Thor Ulfsarks are the best Ulfsarks of the Norse and when you follwo this path they'll become your most powerful infantry. Just choose Forseti fo classicsal, Bragi for heroic, and Tyr for mythic. You'll then get the upgrades Mithrill Breastplate, Call of Vallhalla, Swine Array, Bravery which all seriously upgrade Ulfsarks.

Another god choice tip
This tip I got from another forrumer
if you're up against a Norse pick Forseti. VS.
Eggy pick Heimdall.
VS. Greek pick Forseti for mithril breastplate.
This all must be a little frustating. If you're a newbie just stick to my first god choices

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Tips and Tricks

Quantity before Quality
As always, using your resources to train more units is a better idea than upgrading your units. For example, 20 heavy Ulfsarks will easily win from 10 champion Ulfsarks. If you decide to upgrade your units, get the line upgrades first. Wait with the armory upgrades.

Research economy techs
Always and I mean always research economy techs. Resource gathering in AOM tends to be slow, especially farming. And economy techs can help you save villagers.
But adjust your research to what you need. Don’t research hunting dogs when there is nothing to hunt or don’t research long saw when you barely need any wood

Rush your opponent early
As you know Loki is a good god for rushing. Just attack early in the game , before Greeks get their uber-infantry online and the eggies get their their strong walls ready.

Use Myth Units
Loki is really a MU god. So concentrate on this bonus. Just be warned that MU are very expensive.

Adjust your strategy to your opponent

Be sure to adjust your economy and strategy to the civilization you are playing against.

Against a Poseidon player, get heavy on food and gold and a little lighter on the wood. You’ll need this to mass Ulfsarks. But be sure you can switch if needed.

Against a Hades player (which is a great archer civ), go heavy on food and gold to make Raiding cavalry and get ready to switch to Ulfsarks if he switches to Hippikons.

Greeks are tend to use many Hippikons and Toxotes, so make sure you have the economy to switch between your main unit.

Against eggies scouting is a must. Eggies mostly go heavy on cavalry, but they only get them in the Heroic Age. So in the first two ages scouting is a must against eggies , cause you don't really know what they are going to build. Could be an axeman/spearman meatshield with some slinngers at the rear or maybe they will build MU.

If you’re unsure about what your opponent is likely going to build, be sure to have good scouting.

Keep an eye on your villagers
Some players when attacking an opponent tend to forget what their villies are doing. Just remember that villies are really dumb. Sometimes they will go idle , when there are no resources left. Or sometimes they will go to resources that are deep within enemy territory.
And keep an eye open. Many players are mean enough to attack unguarded villies

Never keep your Town Center unbusy
Continue building villagers along the way to replace lost ones and to gather resources faster and faster, so you can oveerun your opponent and have a good back-up economy ready in case of defeat or need of reinforcements.

Some starting tips.
Land Maps
Starting Off
Note: This start is assuming you got neither hunting dogs nor husbandry
- Villagers 1-6 go to food.
- Make an oxcart
- Create 2 dwarves to be sent to gold
- Make another oxcart
- Send 2 vills to wood
- FRom that point I send 3-4 vills to herd animals around TC after being created
- Mix in 2-3 more dwarves to help preserve food to advance 1 more villager to mine gold, eventually going up w/ 22 population at approx. 3:55. (Reach Classical Age by approx. 4:55)
When Getting Husbandry (100 wood 50 gold) the start slightly alters, you still go 1-6 food, but then it is:
- Vill to gold + cart
- Vill to wood + cart
- Dwarf to gold
- Vill to wood
From there it goes back to basic guide of 3-4 more dwarfs to save food for advancing whenver you have enough gold to make a dwarf
When Getting Hunting Dogs (100 wood 100 gold) vills dont collect more food, therefore you can go straight vills at start without any hiccups, so after 1-6 to food
- 2 Vills to gold + cart
- 2 Vills to wood +cart
- Dwarf to gold
- Vill to gold
From there its back to basic guide of adding dwarfs (3-4) to reserve food to advance at 22 pop, while conserving food supply
Note: Throughout Archaic Age, no Loki player should have more than 2 villagers on wood. It's just a waste.
Scouting and Map Type
It's important to see what kind of map you have right away, so you know whether you will research Husbandry or Hunting Dogs.
If you see berries or chickens, but no hunting around the TC area, get Husbandry ASAP, even if you later find hunting
Maps like Ghost Lake, Oasis, Alfheim are generally Husbandry maps. Husbandry increases rate at which villagers gather from herd animals and increases villager carrying capacity (this makes farming later much more efficient)
Even on Alfheim if it's good hunt, I like to get Husbandry because that's a map where you have to farm earlier most times.
Get Hunting Dogs if you see +500 food worth of hunting right away. If it's Savanah, wait a minute to see if you should get Hunting Dogs or Husbandry, because many times with Loki it is more beneficial to get Husbandry ASAP, and save the hunting that's farther away for your Classical Age attack.
Playing Style/Choosing Classical Age Minor Deities

When I play Loki I always go offensive (the only exception would be a Poseidon enemy, in which you build at home most times).
An offensive Loki player should take 2 villagers that were gathering from herd animals around the TC and send them to chop wood as soon as Classical Age is clicked; in this way you have 4 on wood, 6-7 on gold, and 7-8 on food. Forsetti gives you healing springs and the Troll MU (this is the weaker god and should be avoided)
Heimdall gives you Undermine and Einherjars. The Einherjar is extremely powerful and when massed can be hard to stop. Undermine is very useful for taking out 1-2 towers, especially against an Egypt player.
But Forseti’s GP could be handy for rushing
Many good players forget to use the SPY god power. I like to use it on a wood chopper against another Norse, and on a gold miner against an Eggy or Greek.
Classical Age Strategy Elements
- Your forward temple should be placed on the outskirts of the enemy town- preferably on the side so there is less chance he will spot it. - At this point during advancement, pump hersir with all the resources you have and put up 2 houses.
- You should reach Classical Age at about 4:55.
- You will have 3 Hersir with 1-2 more on way.
- Immediately send 2 herisirs and attack a tower; this will start gathering favor for einherjars, while your ulf and other hersirs lay down 2 barracks (you will have between 40-70 wood, so it will be another minute before 3rd rax goes up) - DO NOT MAKE THROWING AXEMEN, as Raiding Cavalry rip apart TA in the early game because ta need to be used in numbers to be effective.
- In the early game, I see many players make TA; this setup will prevent you from having enough wood, but you will be able to make RC non-stop from your 2 barracks until you reach 45 pop. (It doesn't matter which civ you play against; make RC!)
- Take 2 RC and help take out towers- hopefully you will have one(maybe almost 2) down by the time the enemy has the ability to make troops.
- With your next 4 RC, hit his wood if your playing a norse, and hit the gold if your playing a Eggy/Greek.
Disrupting Enemy Economy/Maintaining Your Eco & Army
Back at home, when you get to Classical, make 2-3 dwarves and send to gold. You will have more gold than food, so save food for your army for now, and stick to dwarves; after a few dwarves, mix in villagers and send them to wood Raiding is very important; you should be able to see a gathering spot due to spies, so hit it and run.
Save Undermine for until he upgrades to Watch Tower. If he does, (or if enemy is Eggy use it on a tower blocking a gathering spot)
Around 7 minutes you should put up 3rd rax.
At this point you should have made your dwarves at home, and started making vills; this gives you a higher income of gold now- of which you only need to spend on military.
Stick with RC vs. another Norse no matter what he counters with. They are the best to raid with, and 99% players wont make ulfs, because they know another norse can make TA easily to counter them. So, he'll most likely RC/TA vs you. This is great time to start making einherjars; the upgrade for them "Elhrimmir Kettle" gives them much better attack, but it costs a good amount of resources. Therefore it should be avoided unless you have a surplus. (which wont come til a bit later in classical)
Against an Egpyt mix in TA (not needed: medium upgrade for TA, best to have numbers)
Against a Greek, be more varied in unit creation, make more TA, RC, and Ulfsarks as a whole
Upgrades are more important vs a Greek because of their superior troops, but since you built at home if you're playing vs. Greek, your economy will be slightly better early on, but you also won't have an attack advantage either. Knowing how to gradually mix in farming and balance your attack while you start farming is important, as more farming will be done earlier using all RC, mixing in TA will result in less food used, but more wood taken, so it really is based on how the game is being played as to when you farm.
Advancing to Heroic isn't as important as norse, and as Loki keeping enemy with you in Classical is often a good idea.
Choosing Deities in Post-Classical
Bragi: gives you flaming weapons and the battle boar.
Njord: gives you walking woods and mountain giant.
I choose the Heroic god based on my economy; if I have alot of gold, I like to choose Bragi so I can make battle boars and save my food, and flaming weapons is a great gp for overtaking enemy in battle.
I choose Njord when I have alot of food, or if my enemy has taken a slight advantage over me, I give him Walking Woods to play around with while im strengthening again. Or on a water map
Getting Raiding Cav upgrade to Heavy isn't important. Your main goal should be to get a hillfort up so you can make rams (or if vs. a Egypt or Greek, Huskarls).
When taking settlements, try to take his and leave yours empty back at home if possible. Your army is already at the enemy, and it takes it away from his ability to use them.
At this point, hersirs become a lot less involved in your army if there are any left at all.
Against a Ra Fast Heroic, grab the hack armor upgrade at your armory. With this armor, Huskies hold their own very well vs camels, and a mix of ulfs and husks will rip through cams/chariots.
Note: Most Loki games will end in heroic (for some reason) getting into a mythic battle vs other civs isnt best idea for Loki players
Mythic Deities
Hel: gives you Nidhogg and Fire Giant
Tyr: gives you Fimbulwinter and Fenris Wolfhounds
Fimbulwinter is the way to go in team games, but as this focuses on 1x1, I like to pick Hel because Fire giants are extremely overpowered (dm guys cry about it alot) and Nidhogg is a nice addition to any battle, (except against Zeus b/c of the bolt GP)
This far into game, upgrade infantry line and work more infantry into army and less gold, market trade is usually a bad sign for Loki, as their economy is weaker in late games compared to other civs.
Water Maps
Note: Same basic principles and god selection as on land maps with Loki.
Important Pointers
To start, Loki is a 2 dock civ (on Anatolia or Midgard, make 2 docks to fish). This means after your first 4 fishing boats, go make a new dock on the same coast but farther down.
- Initial 2 vills + cart go to chop wood (this gives you more wood to fish earlier)
- Next 3 vills + cart go food
- Next make 2 dwarves + cart and mine gold
- Then you should make a villager, send it to food.
- By now you have 3 fishing ships and a good influx of food. Now it's time to fish like hell.
- Send next 8-9 vills to wood and fish like hell (this will be your food economy).
- Advancment will be about 20 secs later at about 4:20 or so with 35 pop.
- When advancing, take 3 villagers off wood and gather food with them.
- Take the 4 vills that were gathering food and mine gold. You ned to protect this food, (but it's likely your outfishing enemy, so make 3-4 ships, but try to avoid all out water battle) a few mins into Classical Age you'll want to grab Pure Serine which increases fishing ships' efficiency.