Last August on Gamescom 2017 Microsoft announced a nice suprise for the aoe2 fans: Microsoft is working on Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition! I collected all the information I could find and made the complete guide. Let’s dive into aoe2de.

Age of Empires @ Gamescom Live

Lets walk you through the Age of Empires @ Gamescom Live show. As teased in June during the E3 there was a big Age of Empires event on the first night of Gamescom 2017. The one hour event was setup to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the franchise this year. The show was a balance of pleasing the aoe fans and also introducing it to new people. Dozens of fans showed up for the live show. The spotlight was on the already announced Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. The streaming fans also saw some familiar faces when they interviewed the casters ZeroEmpires and Killer B. Followed by gameplay example videos, some lan action, an interview with the Forgotten Empires team, some promotion for the Microsoft sponsored Escape Euro Cup finals on Gamescom and giveaways until finally they started the announcements!

First up was the new Age of Empires: Definitive Edition trailer with new game details, the release date (later postponed to Februari 20th) and the start of the closed beta. Followed by the quick note that they will also do Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition (Wow!) and Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition. Closing of the show with the teaser for new installment: Age of Empires 4 (Wow!!).

Overall I found it a positive and energetic event to watch. The hosts did a good job to move the show along for the casual viewers, but there was enough room with new details for the aoe fans. That they worked with ZeroEmpires and involved the community in the show is a big plus. Microsoft #clearly invested in the show and have big plans for the series.

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition

Jan 06, 2021 Age of Empires II is a classic strategy game, and Microsoft injected some life into it with the release of the Definitive Edition. This re-release, unlike the HD edition, features new graphics. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. The 8th relic is difficult to take, because it is surrounded by towers and castles. The blue monk will take it at the beginning. I recommend to play safe until you have enough resources to create an army to destroy the blue base. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Lords of the West is now available for pre-order on the Microsoft Store and Steam! Coming January 26th! Arena: Adjusted the number of Relics spawned to match other maps. Six-player maps will now spawn 7 Relics, and eight-player maps will spawn 8 Relics.

To understand the plan for aoe2de we first have to look at Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. The game was announced in June 2017 at the E3 event from PC Gamer. Maybe with a little push from Bill Gates.

The developer: Forgotten Empires

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition celebrates the 20th anniversary of one of the most popular strategy games ever with stunning 4K Ultra HD graphics, a new and fully remastered soundtrack, and brand-new content, “The Last Khans” with 3 new campaigns and 4 new civilizations. Explore all the original campaigns like never before as well Continued. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (PC) - Achievement - The Missionary Collect all Relics in the first El Cid mission 'Brother Against Brother'. This achievement is fairly straightforward.

Microsoft Studios can no longer work with Ensemble Studios, because they closed the studio ten years ago. The developer for the remaster is Forgotten Empires. A group of former fanmods that were the creative force behind three popular aoe2hd dlc’s. Last summer they announced that former Ensemble Studios lead engineers Matt Pritchard and Rich Geldreich had joined there team. Nothing more then a dream team to work on Age of Empires: Definitive Edition.

Definitive Edition

“Sticking with the spirit of the Age series, the Definitive Edition will have a map editor and mod support.” Via Mashable

The definitive edition is a remaster of the original Age of Empires game from 1997. Microsoft Studios announced new 4k graphics, improved balance based on UserPatch, different zoom modes, a classic mode, multiplayer, a map editor and mod support. The new graphics look closer to aoe2. Because both aoe1 and aoe2 are build on the Genie engine the Forgotten Empires had experience to improve the game with new features formerly only available in aoe2. Nothing game changing, but improvement we come to espect in modern games like the ability to queue multipe unites and a hotkey to find idle villagers. The multiplayer uses Xbox Live framework, but like with other pc games you don’t need the Xbox Live Gold console subscription to play the multiplayer. If you don’t like the graphics or the new features you can still play the original game in classic mode.

The game will be released on Microsoft’s own Windows Store for Windows 10. Because of some missing features like mod support the release of Age of Empires: Definitive Edition was postponed from the original October 19th 2017 to Februari 20th 2018.

Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition

There is not much known about Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition. In the Gamescom announcement Adam Isgreen from Microsoft Studios only mentioned that they want to take the the same care of aoe2de as they did with aoe1de. That sounds like Forgotten Empires is also involved, but Bert Beeckman aka Cysion cannot confirm this. They are only the graphics and creative support for aoe2hd, but the full developer of aoe1de. I think more details will follow soon after the release of aoe1de.

“I can’t deny, nor confirm” CysionBE on reddit

If we follow the details from aoe1de we could expect new 4k graphics, zoom modes and exclusive Windows Store and Windows 10 release. However I don’t think that will happen.

Age of Empires II HD

The big difference between aoe1 and aoe2 is that the latter had an incredible successful release on Steam. Since 2013 the hd edition sold around five milion copies, has more then 400.000 active players every two weeks and a review score of 92%. Even if Microsoft wants to release the definitive editions only to build hype the next few years for aoe4 they cannot discard this playerbase of milions of fans. A release exclusive on Windows Store could potential splinter the community that the Forgotten Empires team nurtured to growth the last five years.

My hope is that they upgrade Age of Empires II HD on Steam with a dlc to Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition. Just like with Rise of Nations: Extended Edition Microsoft Studios could release it on Windows Store and Steam simultaneous with crossplay. This would please the active players on Steam and get them the Windows Store release and promotion for aoe4 they want. And if I’m right it could be possible that there is a team of Forgotten Empires already working on it for the last ten months. This unknown dlc for aoe2 on SteamDB could very well be Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition.

Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition

Just like aoe2de there is not much known about Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition. A graphic overhaul and a release on Windows Store seems most likely. Just like aoe2hd this game is successful on Steam. With 2.5 milion sales and 150.000 active players every two weeks it’s most likely to need crossplay between Steam and Windows Store to keep the community together.

Age of Empires 4

There has been much discussion about the meaning of the Age of Empires 4 teaser. The narrator and graphics reference all the old games and artwork. Even the logo is in the familiar style. It ends with the calling for a new age. Unlike the old booklet there is no reference of World War I, World War II or a future setting. I think that they will stick with the timeframe that made the franchise most successful: the aoe2 timeframe.

Microsoft also announced the new developer: Relic Entertainment. A seasoned rts developer that has a successful franchise based in the World War II timeframe. According to ZeroEmpires the development in August 2017 was a early stage technical demo. Starting there it will take minimal two years, but most likely more to finish a complete game. The Relic developers are active seeking for input on what should be focus of the game. A meetings with pro players, casters and community people has happened after Gamescom. Luckily for Relic they are based in the same city as SkyBox Labs, the developers of the most active title in the franchise.

2018

aoe1de will be released next month and I expect some news for aoe2de to follow shortly after. It will be an active year for the aoe franchise and community. I will do my best to update this blog when any news breaks. The wiki is also still in development so you really should keep an eye out for updates on this blog. Subscribe via RSS and follow @aoe2wiki on Mastodon for the latest news.

Few franchises in the history of gaming have been as long-standing as Age of Empires, Ensemble Studios’ classic historical RTS.

And very few games have been played for such a long time as Age of Empires II, arguably the most beloved installment in the series.

It’s been going strong since 1999 and with the release of the HD Edition in 2013 and the arrival of the Definitive Edition in November 2019, it doesn’t look like that’s going to end anytime soon.

With the HD version came several new civilizations to control and develop into bustling empires, complicating the ever-controversial question of which civilization is the best.

Some may do better on certain maps, some benefit from 1v1 settings or are good in team games, and the list of variables goes on making it hard to make a simple ranking.

To simplify this I’ve turned to aoestats.io, an independent project that monitors the game’s competitive scene and provides easy to understand data such as win rate, overall usage, and average game score for each civilization.

So without further ado, here are the best civilizations with the highest win-rate in AoEII: HD Edition.

10. Britons

The first entry in our list happens to be the Britons, a classic civilization with a focus on archery for their military strategies.

Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Tactics

Their archery ranges produce units considerably faster than the average civilization, and their archers in general have a longer range.

Their unique unit is the Longbowman which can out-range virtually every other unit in the game as well as towers and castles once fully upgraded.

Their villagers gather food faster from sheep, and their Town Centers are cheaper than usual, which helps their economy and gives them the possibility of expanding in the mid-game much faster.

9. Berbers

A big part of many strategies for winning a game depend on progressing through the ages faster.

And the Berbers have the fastest Feudal Age times in the list.

They’re focused on cavalry which they can produce for cheaper costs once they hit Castle Age.

Their Camel Archer unit is among the best ranged mounted units as well, with excellent strength and accuracy, and it benefits from the Maghrabi Camels tech which grants Berber camel units a regenerative ability.

A good choice if you want to move fast and grow even faster.

8. Mayans

The Mayans not only win a lot of games, they’re also simply present in most of them.

They’re a fan favorite and the second most picked civilization in the list, right under the Huns.

Their early game is excellent thanks to their superior scout, the Eagle Warrior, and they can get to work faster thanks to an extra starting villager.

They win most of their games in the early mid-game when they can fully benefit from their longer lasting resources and amazingly cost-efficient Plumed Archer unique unit.

7. Indians

This is one of the first new civilizations added to the game with the release of the HD Edition.

The Indians focus on camels and gunpowder units, among which their Hand Cannoneers excel after getting the +1 Range upgrade from the Shatagni tech.

Their Imperial Camel, which replaces the Knight, is also notably useful.

While somewhat weaker than its European counterpart, the Imperial Camel also costs much less.

Their economy can become much more profitable than the average civilization too thanks to their Sultans tech which increases all gold income by 10%.

6. Aztecs

The Aztecs are another great early game civilization that generally wins its games in the blink of an eye.

This is mostly thanks to economy boosts such as villagers carrying more resources and an extra 50 gold at the start of the game.

They can also profit greatly from relics, which generate 30% more gold for the Aztecs and their teammates.

Although they lack any cavalry whatsoever, their infantry units, including the Eagle Warrior scout, are very strong thanks to a full tech tree and two unique upgrades.

And those units are produced 18% faster along with all other Aztec military units.

5. Vikings

Contrary to what you might expect, the Vikings aren’t only strong at sea. They can also dominate on land as well.

Their Berserk unique infantry unit can regenerate and is therefore much more viable for small harassing incursions.

In regards to their economy, their most notable and very helpful bonus is getting both the Wheelbarrow and Handcart techs for free. Which will make them an absolute powerhouse during the time it takes other civilizations to research them.

4. Huns

The most played civilization in the list is also one of the most unique.

Their most notable characteristic is that they don’t need houses for their population, which saves you a lot of time and resources in the early and mid-game.

It also lets you focus much more on micromanaging military units and outmaneuvering your foes while they worry about social housing projects.

Their unique unit, the Tarkan, excels at razing defensive structures.

It’s a very viable unit thanks to the Marauders technology that allows you to produce them in stables, which are 20% faster for the Huns.

3. Incas

Another Native American civilization makes the list, following the same early game domination strategies as the others.

Like the Huns, they need to worry less about housing as their houses have double the population capacity of normal ones.

And they get a free llama at the start of the game to give you the food boost you need to fill them up faster.

A nice strategy with the Incas is the classic Tower Rush, made easier thanks to their 15% discount when building stone structures, and supported by their extra-durable villagers.

2. Slavs

The Slavs are the silent assassins of the game.

One wouldn’t generally expect them to be so successful!

Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Relics Destiny 2

Their many victories can probably be explained by their amazing economy, carried by villagers who work 15% faster.

Their siege units also come at a discount, helping them build strong high-cost armies faster and more consistently.

However once the game starts getting too long and gold becomes scarce, they start losing ground fast. So it’s best to wrap things up as quickly as possible.

1. Franks

The Franks may feel like an unusual choice for best civilization to some people.

But the numbers don’t lie!

The Franks are not only the most successful civilization in the AoE II competitive scene, they’re also ahead by a large margin.

Their power comes from two main things: a strong economy thanks to faster berry pick-up and free farm upgrades(which lets them advance through the ages much faster) and their bonus 20% cavalry health.

Pretzel Challenge Mission :: Age Of Empires II: Definitive ...

One of the most popular strategies in the game that’s absolutely dominated by the Franks is the early Scout Rush, thanks to their mounted scout units being 20% more resistant in general.

If that fails you’ll still reach Imperial Age faster than most and your mighty Frank paladins can carry you to victory.

Relic Hunter Achievement In Age Of Empires II: Definitive ...

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