EDIT: Because of the recent outbreak of Age of Mythology in my dorm and after observing my fellow dorm mates I saw it fit to update my 'guide'. All updates have a
NEW beside them.If you feel like you can't do anything in Age of Mythology, or your friend tells you that, or if you're just plain new to the game, this article applies to you.
First of all I must display my credentials for giving advice. I don't claim to be a master of this game, nor have I ever exceeded 1750 on the online rating system, but I know what I'm doing when I play and I have seen many a newb in my day. The information below is a guide to how I play (as someone with some experience) and some things that I've seen work, and not work.
.
.
.
Some common 'Newbish' things to avoid'Turtling' The act of building up and building up and building up your city with five layers of walls and towers. This is fun for the first little bit against the computer but you will never beat a human player or a hard computer this way. Age of Mythology is a fast paced agressive game, all that gold would be better off spent on units, and all that time would be better off spent raiding the enemy with those units. If you haven't even thought about attacking half an hour into the game, that is not a good sign. Know that all fortifications, unlike in Age of Kings, are weak. The only way to defend yourself properly is to build an army as quickly as possible, that is the mentality you need to play effectively. The best defence is a good offence. Now in all fairness, 'Turtling' can be a viable strategy to an experienced player that plays Egyptian, but you are not an experienced player and it would take too long to explain the difference.NEW turtling includes building up massive amounts of troops before attacking. There is a time and place for hoarding but most of the time you should be attacking. (more info on this below)Missuse of God Powers God Powers are super neat. They can involve exotic and spectacular eye candy but they are sadly wasted by inexperienced players. If you start out with a lightning bolt, don't zap the first enemy you see simply because he was the first enemy you saw. Use God Powers when you can take the most advantage of them. Using Meteor Storm on the enemy base is devastating, yes, but not near as devastating as moving in your army after it ends. Don't use a GP (God Power) like Meteor Storm simply because the enemy ticked you off. Yes it looks cool and yes it's destructive but it only half destroys most buildings and units. All the damage done by a meteor storm can be repaired quickly so all you've done is slowed him down for two minutes and got the satisfaction of seeing big shiny explosions knock over houses and send enemies flying. If you had an army ready to attack right after the GP ended then you could go in and finish off the base once and for all. Some more examples of using GP's effectively are just common sense. The GP 'Walking Woods' is to be used on a group of trees, not one tree. Hense the plural. Earthquake is to be used on an enemy city, not your own city in an attempt to get rid of invaders (this applies to Meteor Storm, Tornado, and Implode as well). A God Power like Shifting Sands (transports all units inside to any area on the map) is not to be used to get your scout out of danger but would be more effective at moving your entire army right to where you need them.NEW Don't forget about your GP's either. They are located at the very top center of the screen.Not building near enough villagers. Probably the worst thing you can do is think that you need to hoard the food you start with. Build LOTS of villagers. If you lack a certain type of resource, build villagers to put on it. As a rule of thumb, food is the most important resource in the first age, so that means that all three villagers go to the nearest food source, build a granary, and gather food. Too often I see inexperienced players only build six villagers and then put two on food, two on wood, and two on gold. My question is, How are they ever going to get enough food to advance, and what are they going to use the wood and gold for at the beginning of the game? By the time I advance I generally have 10 vils on food, 4 on wood and 3 on gold. (generally, that is). Note: a good advance time is about 4.5 minutes. (This takes some experience, but don't be discouraged )NEW No Drop-off Points A drop off point is a spot where your villagers run to to drop off resources (town centers, granaries, lumber camps, ox-carts (Norse only) mining camp...) The important thing to remember is that your villagers shouldn't have to run at all! If you find an abundance of trees, build a lumber camp beside it. The time it takes for the villager to walk to your town center and then back again hurts you lots. If your villager has to go only five steps to the lumber camp he saves himself a 15 second trip and his efficiency goes up by 60%! (you lose lots of resources by not building drop off points)
Staying in the 'Stone Age' Another thing that a fellow Ager rightly stated is that inexperienced players don't take advantage technologies. Is the amount of resources required to research a wood cutting axe worth it? Yes. Yes it is. If you have extra resources why not use them on things that give you more resources in the long run? Economy = backbone, help it along as much as possible.Summery: Don't build up needlessly to the point where you never attack until all your units are fully decked out in every possible upgrade and your city is 'Impenetrable'. Use God Powers with a (intelligable) reason. Build lots of villagers when starting out and prioretize food. Remember to build drop off points. Don't forget to research technologies, they are worth it.
.
.
.
EconomyFishing. Fishing gives you a huge boost during any game, especially at the beginning. Instead of using up food to make more food gatherers you use up wood. Furthermore your building two food gatherers at once! (If you don't see the benefit, trust me anyway, I know what I'm talking about) Fishing areas never run out and fishing ships are more efficient than farmers, and cheaper. Note that fishing ships cost wood though, and that makes wood a priority just as much as food does if you plan to harvest the bounty of the deep. (This is where the number of vills on wood and food change in my general Build Order above) Note also that you will need to defend your fishing with warships as soon as you advance, especially on Mediteranean map. (the one with a big lake in the middle) I have seen many inexperienced players ignore the ocean, and it gave me a tremendous advantage against them.More Villagers! Once you advance to the classical age, don't stop building villagers. Build LOTS of them! Anticipate what you want to build for an army and gather the appropriate resource in bulk! (Anticipating what you want to build for an army comes with experience and will be covered further down) Build a Town Center on the settlement next to you and use it to double your villager output. The key to winning this game is to have an effective 'war engine'. You are going to have so many villagers gathering so many resources that you will be able to build an endless stream of military units that will ravage your enemies! With a robust economy you won't really care if your entire army gets wiped out because you can make another one quickly. The game is about economy as the back bone. Once you destroy an opponents economy you have broken his back and he is dead. If he has no way of getting resources it is only a matter of time before he spends everything in his stock pile on units, while you have the power to send out endless numbers to attack him. THAT is the power of economy. Don't overlook it.Summery: - 1) when starting out, build lots of villagers and prioritize food. 2) If you can, fish. 3) Economy = backbone.
.
.
.
AggressivenessPacifism. I've never seen a newb be agressive before, they are at best, defensive. This a bit of a repeat of the first section about over building up. DO NOT BE DEFENSIVE. I'm not saying don't build defences, I'm saying don't think those defences will win you the game. The key to winning is general agressiveness. Build your economy aggressively, build your military and stike agressively. Harass the enemy with raids instead of sitting around waiting for him so you can kill his army with your towers and soldiers. YOU must do the damage on HIS land. There is a time for defending, but that is only when you are under attack. If you are not under attack, see to it that HE is. I will now go through some basic ways that you can be successfully aggressive.Scouting. When you start out any game you will have some form of scout. The greeks get a horseman, the Norse get a soldier, the Atlanteans get three oracles, and the Egyptians get a priest that can build obelisks. (cheap towers that can see really far) While you're waiting for villagers to be built, you should look around the map to see where all the resources around you are. (so you don't have to look for them when you really need them) This is aggressive economy. Note: to increase time for scouting manage your villagers by setting gather points. Once you have the general lay of the land go see what your enemy has and try to anticipate where his villagers might be once you advance. (food sources, and gold mines) Take note of relics that your heroes can bring to your temple. You can give your scout a number by selecting him and pressing Ctrl 1, so that everytime you press 1, the scout is selected and you can use the minimap to give him orders. (saves you trying to hunt him down and taking time away from what you were previously doing) Scouting in the early game is important for what comes next. If you find a group of villagers away from their Town Center (TC), keep tabs on them...First Blood. Be the first one to have a military and start beating up on the enemy. Once you advance to the Classical Age you will be able to build military units out of military buildings. Build three or so barracks (not just one) and get ready to build some raiding units. (You should also be building villagers and prioritizing gold while increasing all other resources as well) Once you have a decent size force (10ish) go to a group of defenseless villagers and attack them. This is called a raid, and it does a few things in your favour. 1) it either slows or stops the enemy from aquiring that resource while your resources are still strong. 2) should you kill some villagers it will cost 50 food + time to replace them. 3) it puts your opponent in panic mode. (makes him scared) Once his villagers get within protection range of his town center, break pursuit. Your raiding party can not take out a town center and it is best to avoid arrow fire. The purpose of the initial raid is to make the opponent scared to leave the protection of his town center, which greatly limits his economy while you flourish. Keep building more soldiers and more villagers and keep harassing his economy. If you can not get at his villagers without getting shot at from the TC then go for his towers. (They can not shoot enemies direction under them until they research boiling oil in the Heroic Age)Strangle. Cut off his resources. Every miliatary unit requires gold, so if he has no gold how can he stop you? If you can't get at his villagers anymore, then station guards at all the gold mines on the map... seriously. Maybe build a foreward base at the gold mine closest to him. By this point he is is dead. Note: This is the ideal situation, if something unforeseen happens (he attacks YOU first or your raid is ineffecive) then you will need to improvise.Augment your Army If your opponent builds many spearmen, don't attack him with cavalry and don't keep building cavalry once you know he builds spearmen. In any combat situation there is the rock/paper/scissors aspect. this is generally (and I say generally) how it works: Infantry take out Cavlary, Cavalry take out Archers, and Archers take out Infantry. This rule is broken with a few units like the huskarl (a norse heroic age infantry that's good against archers), and the prodromose (a greek heroic age cavalry unit that's good against other cavalry). Basically, make your units target things they're good against. Every civilization has the basic counters to every unit, and experience will help you know which unit to build. "But what about big scary monsters?" you ask. Myth units like a Cyclops or a Sphinx are great against all your 'mortal' units. Counter myth units with hero units. Heroes have a damage multiplier against Myth units. For instance, Heracles may do 12 damage to the average spearman, but he does 12x6 (72) damage to any mythical creature. (These numbers were made up to make a point) So, you no longer build units mindlessly or send them into battle as one big mass and hope for the best, good. Now you must upgrade your units effectively. At the armoury you can upgrade your weapons, (attack), slash armour, (sword resistance), and piece armour (arrow resistance). If your opponent likes to build archers you should probably invest in pierce armour, and so on.Claiming Territory If your opponent is too strong to strangle then you need to take the war to a new level. Gold is most important resource now so you need to claim gold mines. Note: Gold is required for every military unit, but do not neglect food or wood production. Once you hit the heroic age you get to build large fortifications (palace, hillfort, migdol stronghold), that shoot many arrows at enemies. Try placing one where you want to claim a gold mine so that keeping him off it will be easier. You should also be looking to claim additional settlements around the map. Each Settlement gives you an extra 20 population slots, which means you get to increase the size of your army. Town Centers also shoot at enemies and give refuge to your villagers. Keeping the enemy off Town Centers means that a) he can't build a larger army, b) you CAN build a larger army, and c) reduces the amount of villagers he can produce. If you can't strangle him, keep him off gold and TC's as much as possible. Remember to build military buildings. 10 barracks will work much faster than the 2 you built in your initial base.Knock out Blow If you have successfully been keeping up on your economy, you should have a ton of resources and an army at your disposal. You are in the heroic age now so you can build elite units and get some interesting monsters to help you. If you sense that your opponenent is weak then build up seige and get ready to crush him. By harassing his villagers his economy shouldn't be as strong as yours ergo his military can not be rebuilt as fast as yours. Go and attack his villagers and his buildings. If you have long distance siege, start knocking down his towers and fortifications. Keep guards at all the gold mines so that he can not move across the map without your knowing. If you have a God Power like Flaming Weapons, or Curse, or Freeze, now is the time to use it. The key is to do enough damage that he can not repair himself. If you lose your army, don't worry, because your economy can just produce another one in short time. (Autoque in Titans expansion will allow you to build units indeffinately) If he just barely withstands your first assult it will be even harder to withstand the second, or third... Remember, always target his gold miners/caravans because without gold, he's dead. If you target buildings go for the houses and TC's to cut off his population number, followed by his market + then military buildings. Remember to continue upgrading and augmenting your army so that you can thrash him every time.Stale Mate Suppose you are equally matched by your opponent and you can not gain headway. Remember that the game rests on agressive economy and military. He will use up his resources eventually and it is up to you to see to it that he doesn't have access to any more. Raid him constantly, but not stupidly. If his defences are too tough then hit him somewhere else. Determine where he's getting the resources to fight you and attack them. Maybe he's fishing, go destroy his docks or build warships. Maybe he's farming, go attack his farms (locusts God Power = usefull for this). But also anticipate where he might attack and figure out how to minimize the damage when he does. Move your villagers to another resource site if you have to or build towers, but your main defense should be your army. You never know when your opponent might just be low on a resource. If he all of a sudden has run out of wood he can not build archers and buildings, maybe now is good time to engage him with a Knock out Blow.When All Hell Breaks Loose The enemy is in your town, your army is in the enemy town, everything's burning and people are fighting all over the map and it's so confusing! I love those games. When things just start going crazy remember to keep your head. If you had a strong economy up to this point you should be able to make reinforcements. Never give up. You never know when your opponent will run out of gold and then have to fight for a new gold mine. Even in late game if you can break his economy, you have broken his back and he is dead... just try not to die yourself. Drastic times often call for drastic measures, improvise in any way you can think of. (use villagers to take out enemy buildings, counter attack instead of defend, move all your gold miners across the map, ect)NEW Something that sometimes works in these situations is to build lots of military buildings outside your base and hoard an army until you can reclaim your lost territory. (works best with 3+ players because they will fight each other)Defeat If you lose, don't be upset. You are still inexperienced but you did your best. Take a look at the recorded game and figure out why he beat you. Was it because he advanced quicker than you? If so, how did he do that? Once you figure out how, use his tactic in the next game. Maybe you neglected to check all the gold mines and he was mining right beside you the whole time.Summery: 1) plan to be agressive 2) scout out where you think the enemy will send his villagers 3) advance quickly and build a military 4) attack his outlying villagers 5) attempt to cut him off gold and strangle him 6) build units and upgrade according to what the enemy is building 7) Raid him constantly 8) keep the pressure up until you hit the heroic age and then hit him with large army + siege. 9) Raid him constanty 10) aticipate what he will do and see to it that it won't work 11) improvise 12) Assess what you did right, what you did wrong, what your opponent did right, and assimilate this information into how you play your next game.
.
.
.
CivilizationsEach civ is augmented differently and is better for different tactics. This is a very basic overview of the civs.
Greeks The Greeks play a lot like the old Age of Kings civs and are advised for newbies. Their units are tougher than most but are more expensive. Each class of unit (infanty, archer, cavalry) comes from its own building (acadamy, archery range, stable). The Greeks have always struck me as a group that is good at a Knock out Blow. They're units will over power basic Norse or Egyption units 2/1 if used correctly in the Classical age. Zues hoplites have an advantage over buildings, (possibly taking down the enemy TC during First Blood) Poseidon cavalry is cheaper (excellent Raiding), and Hades archers are more deadly (great counter vs. infantry).Norse The Norse play very different from the Greeks. Only Norse infantry can build buildings, they have movable drop off points called ox-carts that act as granary, lumber camp, and mining camp all in one. The Norse are always extremely aggressive because they gain favor from fighting, their units are cheaper, built faster, but weaker, and they have the weakest buildings. The Norse are all about speed and getting a decisive First Blood attack. A good Norse player will send in raiding cavalry at you three and a half minutes into the game, but thats a die hard Norse player that probably lacks a life. (sarcasm, pls dont take offense) The Norse also lack archers but have a throwing axeman that is very effective against other infantry. The Norse are designed for early victory and raiding.Egyptians The Egyptians play very different from other civs. They are the most complicated and hardest to play, but they are probably the most powerful once civ once mastered. The Egyptians are more reliant on gold than the other civs. Their villagers are a little slower than other civs. This is balanced out by the powerful units they can build in the Heroic age. The Egyptians are powerful in the late game, not so much in the early game. Once the Egyptians get their economy up and going they are very hard to stop. The Egyptians are the general favourite of the 'elitists'.Atlanteans The Atlanteans are a conglomeration of all the civs and then a group all to themselves. In the Titans Expansion Pack you get access to this very strange civ. The Atlantean villagers are way more expensive but count as about three villagers. The villagers gather very quickly and do not require any drop off points. Atlantean economy is somewhat simplified in this way. The Atlanteans have a very strong classical army, with the support of the powerful cheiroballistas. The Atlanteans raid very effectively with their turma unit. Atlanteans seem to be well balanced all the way around except for the mythical aspect. They lack strong heroes to counter myth units and strong myth units to add extra umph to their army. The Atlanteans are easier to play as a whole and have been hotly called the 'Newb' civ because the same tactic works well in almost any condition.
.
.
.
NEW: Misc Tips these are some tips I've found myself explaining to my friends of late.Autoque The autoque ability is available in the expansion pack only. What the autoque does is takes the units you want to build and continues to build them as long as you have resources. Autoqueing villagers at the start of the game (click build villager button once and then click autoque (green circle/arrow at the bottom right of the screen)) may or may not be helpful to your beginning build order (although it is to me). Autoqueing military units on the other hand is an invaluable ability, especially in the late game. If you autoque your barracks to keep building hoplites, then your army will always be building itself while your attack. Note that this drains resources though and that you need to turn off autoque if you want to save on resources.Population Management This doesn't happen terribly often but sometimes you have unnecissary units that are hogging population slots. If you've already taken the water you don't need a massive fleet anymore. Two or three ships patrolling the shores should be enough. Delete useless units, or even better, send them on suicide scouting missions.Villagers in hiding When you ring the town bell your surrounding villagers run to the nearest safe haven. When you ring the town bell a second time they come out... most of the time. Check your towers (or manors if you're Atlantian) every so often to make sure there are no villagers hiding up there not doing their job.Upgraded TCs Once you reach the heroic age you can upgrade your TCs to give them more hitpoints but more importantly makes them provide more population slots.Houses Houses are important. For every house you build you get another 10 population slots. You can build ten houses (five manors for Atlantians). Be sure to build all ten houses as soon as you can spare the wood (unless you're Egyptian because houses are free).Foreward Building Building much military buildings is a good thing. If you know that your enemy is weaker than you then build military buildings next to him! Having your soldiers walk across the map takes too long for when your enemy gets strong.Scout the entire map Funny story. I was playing against two guys on Vinland Saga (island map) and I had taken the large island and claimed all TCs. Then I researched omniciance and found that they had a large base in the black area just above my main base. They could have come down at any time and caused me trouble... or I could have come up at any time and wiped them out. See my point?
.
.
.
For Extra InformationThere are a ton of guides about specific civs, units, strategies, ect here.Note that this was just a very general overview of how you need to think when playing Age of Mythology. I hope my ramblings assisted you in some way and that you arent twitching on the floor from information overload. Maybe well meet on the field of battle some time.
.
.
.
Thnx for reading
Lord_Aaltar
An assimilating strat is the best strat
[This message has been edited by Lord_Aaltar (edited 11-14-2005 @ 05:30 PM).]