Tech Tree lies and secrets (now w/ full list of attack bonuses!)

What the Tech Tree hides you...

Introduction & Recommended links

Hi medieval lovers! My name is Philippe Le Bon, I'm a 1860+ Steam/9xx Voobly french player on Age2HD at the moment, and I love playing with infantry. I've helped with some other cool guys with the balance of The Forgotten, and I'd like to use my past days and nights on AoE editing tools to reveal you all about what the Tech Tree hides you.
It may not be useful for the lower and average players, but can make a difference for the 17xx rookies and the 1800+ good players out there; I'll try to make it as brief as possible for non-boring read. So let's get started!

Favourite civilizations: Vikings
Favourite players: So variable at the moment :)

NEW: All the way down, this guide countains correct & tested values for all the attack bonuses!

Recommended links:

- My Steam Workshop page
- AoC Advanced Noob Guide-v2.6
- AocZone: THE place to talk with AoC experts, vibrant and sometimes funny community from AoC lovers around the world. Also useful to find recorded games to improve (total random eg. you want an expert strategy to play Japanese on Baltic on an 1v1 setting), use the game search engine and you'll find out what you need[www.aoczone.net]
- AoC 1.0c to AoF changelog


Recommended AoC YouTube channels to get better at this game watching entertaining games:

- TheViper channel (from Norway), overall, simply the greatest AoC player of the moment with Jordan_23, worth a watching at least just for his micro and his insane speed
- ZeroEmpires channel (from England), good and entertaining commentator, plus he's kinda cute tbh
- BBQTurkman channel (from Australia), arguably a good AoC player by Voobly standards, maybe destined to more confirmed guys, fine analysis, great videos about Dark Age/Drush/Scout Rush/Fast Castle, prolific talker as well
- Resonance22Channel (from California, USA) Age2HD based streamer, intresting to watch because he plays while commentating, intuitive playstyle but he explain well what he's doing so it's very useful for new players, doesn't seem to like infantry but we can't blame him for that

Common Tech Tree

- Military buildings HP vary according to the age: Barracks have 1200 HP in Dark Age, 1500 HP in Feudal, 1800 HP in Castle, 2100 HP in Imperial. Same goes for Archery Ranges and Stables.

- Archers, Skirmishers, Cavalry Archers, Hand Cannoneers and unique Archers (not the Janissaries nor Conquistadors), get an attack bonus against Spearmen which vary from 1 to 6 depending of the unit.

- Skirmishers javelins get 3 bonus attack against all non-siege distant units (except Throwing Axemen); Elite Skirmishers get 4 bonus against them, and an additional +2 against Cavalry Archers (6 total bonus).

- Archers are created in 35s whereas Crossbowmen/Arbalests are created in 27s.

- Contrary to what the description suggests, upgrading to Crossbowman DOES NOT improve the unit armor compared to the Archer: likewise, upgrading to Arbalest DOES NOT improve the unit range and armor.

- Cavalry Archers are created in 34s whereas their Heavy Cavalry Archer upgrade reduce their time creation to 27s.

- Thumb Ring has absolutely ZERO effect on gunpowder units fire rate/precision. It doesn't improve Skirmishers rate of fire either but it increases their precision from 90 to 100%.

- Tracking also give infantry +2 search radius, making their "enemyfinding" MUCH better. Not only a scouting purposes tech!!

- All infantry (except Spear-line, Eagles and Kamayuks), get good attack bonuses against buildings.

- Man-at-Arms, Long Swordsman, Two-Handed Swordsman/Champion get 4, 6, 8 bonus attack against Eagle Warriors, making them an excellent countering choice. Unique infantry (except Condotierro, Kamayuks, and Eagles themselves) also get similar bonuses against Eagles...

- ...though (Elite) Eagle Warriors get a (+4) +3 bonus against Cavalry. Eagle Warrior/Elite also get 3/5 hidden damage bonus against Siege Weapons.
(N.B: Non-Elite Eagle Warriors get a 3 bonus against Cavalry only in AoF, 2 only in AoC)

- Starting in Castle Age, Eagle Warriors get 2 bonus attack vs. Cavalry, 1 vs. Camels; Elite Eagle Warriors get 4 bonus attack vs. Cavalry, 2 vs. Camels.

- Eagle Warriors are created in 29 seconds whereas Elite Eagle Warriors are created in 20 seconds! Even faster than a 21s Champion.

- Surprisingly enough as Camels, Ships and Petards share the same class, Spearmen-line get important bonuses against Ships and Petards.

- All Warships get bonus damage against...Ships

- Galleys are created in 60 sec whereas War Galleys are created in 36s, hence the importance going to Castle Age as quickly as possible when fighting for water.

- War Galley tech: "Upgrades Galleys and lets you build War Galleys, which are stronger and better armored"
War Galleys have the same pierce armor as Galleys: 6.

- Elite Cannon Galleon: "Upgrades your Cannon Galleons and lets you build Elite Cannon Galleons, which have +2 range, +10 normal attack, and +100 attack against buildings."
It's +75 attack.

- Fire/Fast Fire Ships get an hidden 1 melee attack in addition of their 2/3 pierce attack

- Fast Fire Ships move faster than Fire Ships: 1.43 instead of 1.35 speed

- Scout Cavalry hitting Feudal Age get +2 attack, and its base speed jumps from 1.20 to 1.55. Faster than the 1.50 of Light Cavalry and Hussars.

- Hussar: "Stronger than Light Cavalry"
It's not only an HP increase, Hussars strike faster than Light Cavalry (1.9 to 2, the lower the better) and get 12 bonus damage against Monks compared to the 10 of Light Cavalry.

- Paladins strike slower than Knights and Cavaliers (1.9 vs 1.8), but it's more than compensated by a +40 HP, +2 attack and +1 PA compared to Cavaliers

- Contrary to what the unit description says, Light Cavalry is NOT faster than Scout Cavalry (1.5 vs 1.55 speed), Cavaliers are NOT better armored than Knights (same), Heavy Camels are NOT better armored than Camels (same)

- Demolition Ship: "Pilot near enemy ships and detonate to wrest control of the sea from an entrenched opponent. Attack: 110 normal/140 heavy."
=> Actually they are not that good as their attack may foresee: when exploding a Demo Ship/Heavy Demo Ship in a 100 HP Fire Ship/120 HP Fast Fire, still there are 21/8 HP left on them.
It's even worse on War Galleys and Galleons with 56/53 HP remaining on them. They can't perform efficiently if you don't mass them enough.

- Military Team Bonuses like Barracks, Archery Ranges, Stables work 20% faster, and even Conscription, also reduces by this "%" the time technologies research in these buildings.

- Villagers, like Long Swordsmen, recieve 3 bonus attack against buildings and even 6 extra bonus against "Stone Defense" (all buildings made of stone except Outposts, Castles and Wonders), making them excellent Watch Tower destroyers in Feudal, each villager hit doing 3 (base attack) + 3 (building bonus) + 6 (stone defense bonus) - 1 (Watch Tower armor) = 11 damage.

- Loom: "Makes your villagers harder to kill by providing +15 hit points"
It actually multiply your hit points per 1.6. An "unloomed" villager hit by a boar once will go from 18 to 28 HP, hit twice it will go from 11 to 17 HP, three boar hits and it'll be 4 to 7 HP.
Of course full health villagers will be boosted from 25 to 40 HP.
Worth noting: A villager with Loom beat a Militia or a Dark Age Scout Cavalry in an 1v1 situation.

- Start putting farms at the right side of your TC/mill and continue sow them counterclock wise, because the most efficient spot of a farm (3x3 tiles) is the 2x2 spot in the left-bottom side of the farm.
1: very effective 6: least effective

- Effectiveness of Farms vs. Fish Traps:
 
- Fun fact 1: The slowest created unit in the game is the Bombard Cannon, with 56s creation time even with Conscription; the fastest unit that can be created is the Gothic Condotierro (with Conscription and Perfusion researched), with a lightning speed of 2.9s!!

- Fun fact 2: The militia, the non-Persian/non-allied with Persians Knight/Cavalier/Paladin, the (elite) Turtle Ship, the (elite) Boyar are the only units who doesn't possess any attack bonus but only raw strength!

- Building with multiple builders: The formula is 3*T/(n + 2), T = time needed to build a building with one villager, and n the number of builders. It can be generalized, as we're all bad mathematicians, let's short that out:
- A group of 2 builders finishes in 75% of the time that a single builder takes
- A group of 3 builders finishes in 60% of the time that a single builder takes
- A group of 4 builders finishes in 50% of the time that a single builder takes
- A group of 5 builders finishes in 43% of the time that a single builder takes
- A group of 6 builders finishes in 38% of the time that a single builder takes
- A group of 7 builders finishes in 33% of the time that a single builder takes
- A group of 8 builders finishes in 30% of the time that a single builder takes
- A group of 9 builders finishes in 27% of the time that a single builder takes
- A group of 10 builders finishes in 25% of the time that a single builder takes
Conclusion: split your builders as much as you can, except if you really need a building to be built fast (eg. first Archery Range/Stable in a flush, Market in a FC situation, TCs, Castles, Tower push)

- All about repairing:
Repair rates (HP repaired per second, tested for ALL buildings)
100 hp in 8 seconds with 1 ville = 12.5 hp/s/v
100 hp in 5 seconds with 2 villes = 10 hp/s/v
100 hp in 4 seconds with 3 villes = 8.5 hp/s/v
100 hp in 3 seconds with 4 villes = 8.1 hp/s/v

Repair costs
Repair cost is half the building cost, eg. if you're repairing a Barracks with only 1 HP left it will cost you 175 wood/2 = 87 wood, a Castle 650 stone/2 = 325 stone.
EXCEPT Town Centers where it costs double (551 wood, even for Britons), but you'll only need one stone to start repairing, not 100 or 200, so it's quite nice.

Common Tech Tree, part II

- Siege: Battering/Capped/Siege Rams get 40/50/65 bonus against Siege Weapons, 125/150/200 bonus against all Buildings. Mangonels/Onagers/Siege Onagers get 35/45/60 bonus against buildings, and all Mangonel-line get 12 attack bonus against Siege Weapons. Scorpions/Heavy Scorpions get 1/2 bonus against Rams and 6/8 bonus against...War Elephants. Bombard Cannons get 20 bonus damage against Siege Weapons and 40 bonus against...Camels, Ships and Petards.

- More about rams: all Rams get 2 Blast Level, but their Blast Radius vary: 0 for the Battering Ram, 1.5 for the Capped Ram, 2 for the Siege Ram. In practise:

- A Battering Ram smashing one tile of fortified wall: no splash damage (0 Blast Radius);

- A Capped Ram smashing one tile of fortified wall: moderate splash damage (1.5 Blast Radius);

A Siege ram smashing one tile of fortified wall: immense splash damage (2 Blast Radius).

In short: If you have to heavily wall your map for some good reason, NEVER, EVER bunch up stone walls stick together, but separate each line of walls from one tile each to make the next wall untouched from Ram splash damage that start straight from Capped Ram, else it's like paying your walls for double; a huge mistake I see even good players sometimes do.
It is worth knowing that Siege Rams base speed is faster than the Battering/Capped ones, 0.6 vs. 0.5, and finally notice that all Rams are the only units to get negative melee armor (-3), which means that all melee attacks against Rams do actually +3 more damage.

- Researching Chemistry give your Mangonels and Onnies +1 attack...but also make their projectiles around 20% slower!

- Fletching/Bodkin Arrow/Bracer: "Archers, cavalry archers, galleys, Viking Longboats, Town Centers, Castles and towers have +1 attack and +1 range."
=> Town Centers don't get the +1 range from these upgrades.

- Shipwright: Actually this technology is calculated using an "creation time" thing. Setting this value to 0.65 means Ships are created 1/(1*0.65) = 1.538 => 53.8% faster, which makes this tech a must in Imperial Galleon fights.

- Fervor: "Monks move 15% faster."
=> It only applies on Monks who are carrying relics. (All Monks and Missionaries in AoF)

- Hoardings: "Strengthens Castles by providing +1000 hit points."
=> The real effect is a +21% HP increase: your Castles will go from 4800 to 5808 HP without Masonry or Architecture, 5280 to 6388 HP with Masonry only, and 5808 to 7028 HP when Masonry and Architecture are researched. Byzantines Castles improve from 6720 HP in Imperial to 8131 HP.

- Sappers: "Villagers cause +15 damage when attacking buildings."
=> It also give Villagers +15 extra damage against "Stone Defenses", as said above all buildings made of stone except Outposts, Castles and Wonders; it turns forward Villagers into excellent Gate and even Castle destroyers! (provided you got some military backup indeed)
Fun fact: 20 FU Spanish Villagers destroy a Castle in only 42 seconds.

- Masonry/Architecture: "Strengthens all buildings by providing 10% more hitpoints, +1 normal/ +1 pierce armor, and +3 building armor"
=> Palissade Walls, Stone Walls, Fortified Walls and Gates are not affected by these technologies.

- Outposts get +2 line of sight at each new age.

- Heated Shot: "Towers cause +125% damage to Ships; Castles cause +25% damage to Ships."
(N.B: "Ships" also include Camels, Mamelukes and Petards, which share the same unit class)

- Murder Holes: "Eliminates the minimum range of all towers (except Bombard Towers) so they can fire at enemies attacking their base."
Lol it also concern Bombard Towers.

- Watch/Guard Towers and Keeps have +2 attack against Spearman-line.

=> Towers actually cause +225% damage to "Ships", which is huge. Note that it only concerns the first arrow of the shot, and even without Heated Shot, all buildings which fire arrows get extra damage against "Ships"; Bombard Towers even get a 40 bonus vs "Ships".
Though, the additional arrows (which are concerned by the Fletching/Bodkin Arrow/Bracer upgrades) also get some additional damage to "Ships" other than Heated Shot: 5 bonus damage on "Ships" for Town Centers, 7 Watch Tower, 9 Guard Tower, 10 Keep, 11 Castle.
In short: It is highly unrecommanded to stay close to building fire with Camels, Ships and Saboteurs: even ungarrisoned Towers and Castles can kill a fully upgraded Heavy Camel in 2 to 6 hits.

- All gunpowder units/buildings, Scorpions, Onagers, Throwing Axemen and Mamelukes are not affected by Ballistics despite their ranged attack.

- Minimum range: Skirmisher-line/Slingers, all Towers and Castles one minimum range, Scorpion-line two minimum range, Mangonel-line three minimum range (an exceptional one minimum range if you or your teammates are playing as Koreans), Cannon Galleon-line three as well, and Bombard Cannons five minimum range.

- Chemistry: "Missile units (except gunpowder units) have +1 attack strength"
=> For an unknown reason, it doesn't affect Town Centers and Castles. (Fixed in AoF)

- Keep Upgrade: "Upgrade Guard Towers and lets you build Keeps, which are stronger and have more attack strength, range, and armor"
=> Alll towers have the same base range: 8.

- "Sheep 100 food, Deer 140 food, Boar 350 food"
=> Actually these animals slowly rot away once they are dead (-0.25 food per second for Sheep, Turkeys, Cows, Llamas and Deers, -0.4 for Wild Boars/Javelinas), which means that you get around 90% of their food. Note that Deers and Boars are gathered faster than Sheeps: 0.408 food/s as opposed to 0.330 food/s.

- Given an equal trade distance, with Caravan and Dry Dock researched, Trade Cogs gather 33.1% less gold than Trade Carts; though these merchant sailors move 51.8% faster.

Aztecs

 
"Military units created 15% faster"
=> It also concerns Monks, which are not considered like military units. In short this bonus concerns all units except Villagers, Fishing Ships and Trade Carts/Cogs.
And the real figure is: 1/(1*0.85) = 1.176 => 17.6% faster

- Aztec fully upgraded Champions are, with Elite War Elephants and FU Elite Teutonic Knights, the only melee units which can kill villagers in two strikes...

Britons

 
"Yeomen: Foot archers have +1 range"
=> It also concerns Skirmishers, which make them pretty good (though Aztecs ones and Incas with their unique tech are arguably a bit better): even without Thumb Ring, Skirmishers actually don't get a faster rate of fire from Thumb Ring, only an accuracy boost from 90% from 100% which is overshadowed by Briton +1 range.

- Warwolf give Trebuchets a very small Blast Radius of 0.5 (same splash area as Logistica or Druzhina UT), but also 100% accuracy (on immobile units/buildings) as a secondary effect.

- Longbowmen have less accuracy than standard archer-line:

Archer: 80% accuracy
Crossbowman: 85% accuracy
Arbalest: 90% accuracy
Longbowman: 70% accuracy
Elite Longbowman: 80% accuracy

Byzantines

"Logistica: Cataphracts cause trample damage"
=> Also adds +6 to the Cataphract bonus against infantry (9 to 15 for non-elite/12 to 18 for elite); a fully upgraded Elite Cataphract kill a FU Gothic Halberdier in only two hits.
It is worth noting Cataphracts/Elite Cataphracts got 12/16 bonus defense against anti-cavalry/anti-unique units, making them immune against non-heavy Camels, Mamelukes, Samurais...and only taking small bonus damage from Heavy Camels and Pikemen.
Though it's not a good idea to face large groups of Halberdiers with FU Elite Cataphracts as they still suffer from 16 bonus damage from halbs, go with Archers/Skirms or Hand Cannoneers to deal with them.

"Elite Cataphract upgrade: Upgrades your Cataphracts and lets you create Elite Cataphracts, which are stronger and better armored"
=> Both got exactly the same base armor: 2/1.

Celts

 
"Siege Weapons fire 20% faster"
=> Actually all the AoE rate of fires are calculated using an "attack reloading time" thing. Setting this value to 0.8 means that the Celtic Siege fire 1/(1*0.8) = 1.25 => 25% faster, associated with their +40% HP bonus, it makes Celts particularly overpowered on closed choky maps like Black Forest.

"Woad Raider: Celtic unique unit. Exceptionally quick infantry."
=> A FU Elite Woad Raider moves at 1.2 base speed + 15% civ bonus = 1.38 speed, whereas an Elite Eagle Warrior moves at 1.3 base speed + 10% civ bonus = 1.43 speed. So that "exceptionally quick infantry" is slower than Elite Eagle Warriors contrary to popular beliefs.

Chinese

 
Chu Ko Nus are created in 16s (19s in non-Forgotten version), whereas their elite counterpart are created in 13s!

Franks

 
The Throwing Axemen bonus against buildings is not as high as you can expect: only 1/2 for non-elite/elite, whereas in AoF Men-at-Arms get 2 bonus for instance (up to 4 for Two-Handed Swordsmen and Champions).

Goths

 
"Infantry cost -25% starting at Feudal Age"
=> It's actually -35% (you read well). That's why experienced Goths players don't care if they lose a lot of them provided they can hold their position, because in fact if let's say a Viking opponent had just lost the same amount of champions in the battle, even with the +20% HP Infantry bonus and the Plate Mail armor, in fact he has lost 35% more ressources than the Goth...pretty dramatic stuff here.

Perfusion: "Barracks units are created 50% faster"
=> It's actually 100% faster (two times), well with their Barracks work +20% faster team bonus, it's actually 140% faster.
Added the fact that they got Treadmill Crane for +20% building construction and that their Huskarl base time creation is 16s compared to a 21s Champion, and you realise why players say that you should never let a Goth player boom...

Huskarl: "virtually immune to archer fire"
=> Even with his 10 pierce armor when fully upgraded, each arrow who hits an Huskarl (even a 2 attack Javelin of a Feudal Skirmisher) does one minimum damage against him.
N.B: It is not Huskarl-exclusive and applies to all units or buildings hitten which armor/pierce armor exceeds or equals the attack they've been given.
N.B 2: Huskarls/Elite Huskarls get a whopping 6/10 attack bonus against all archers (Archers, Skirms, Cavalry Archers, gunpowder units...)

Huns

 
- Tarkans (elite) are created in 14 (14) seconds from Castles, whereas - with Marauders Castle Age Tech researched - Tarkans (elite) are created in 26 (24) seconds from Stables.

- Tarkans rate of fire is very slow for a non-trash melee unit: 2.1. (Infantry except Spear-line, Scout and Light Cav at 2.0, Paladins and Hussars at 1.9, rest at 1.8 or more rarely 1.7, 1.95...).
In short: They only excel at taking out buildings and villies.

Incas

 
"Villagers affected by Blacksmith upgrades"
=> Only by Forging, Iron Casting, Blast Furnace and infantry defense ones.

- (Elite) Kamayuks recieve (12) 8 bonus attack against mounted units, making them devastating even against Paladins when patrolled tight to bunch them up - indeed, they got 1 range -
Moreover, they don't get any bonuses against Eagles or even buildings, making them really a one-of-a-kind infantry

- Slingers recieve 10 bonus attack against infantry, +1 bonus against Spear-line, and also 1 bonus against Rams.

Indians

 
- (Elite) Elephant Archers have (4) 3 bonus attack against buildings, and even a (+4) +3 additional bonus on "Stone Defenses" (Towers, Stone Walls & Gates); it's the only archer unit which deal bonuses against buildings (except Mayan Archers, but they need Obsidian Arrows Castle Age unique technology).

- Because of some bug, Elephant Archers are not affected by the +2 bonus against Spearmen that Parthian Tactics should give to them.

Italians

 
- (Elite) Genoese Crossbowmen recieve (5) 4 bonus damage against Camels/Mamelukes, (14) 10 bonus against Elephants, and (7) 5 bonus against all other mounted units.

- Elite Genoese Crossbowmen are created 3 sec faster than normal ones (22s to 19s), and also fire 50% faster (3 to 2s reload rate).

- Condotierro recieve 10 bonus attack against gunpowder units, and 10 bonus defense against anti-infantry units. They also don't get any bonuses against Eagles, which is unusual for a non-trash infantry unit.

Japanese

 
"Infantry attack 25% faster starting at Feudal Age"
=> Actually all the AoE rate of fires are calculated using an "attack reloading time" thing. Setting this value to 0.75 means that the Japanese infantry strikes 1/(1*0.75) = 1.33... => 33% faster, which makes them really devastating; in a 1v1 Champion War, a Japanese Champ can even kill a fully upgraded Aztec Champ with Garland Wars +4 attack, or a Viking one with +20% HP. Their Samurais are even more devastating with a rate of fire of 1.9 instead of typical 2 of swordmen infantry: in Fact Samurais are the fastest striking melee unit in the whole game.
Last but not least, of course Halberdiers which fires 33% faster makes Japanese halbs arguably the best, maybe tie with Slav (Splash damage) and Celtic ones (5% faster).

- AoF: Yasama make the Towers fire three extra arrows for a total of four when ungarrisoned, the same number as an ungarrisoned Castle.

- Kataparuto allows Trebuchets to pack/unpack four times faster - 2.75 s instead of 11 s - and make them fire 33% faster.

- Fun fact: A fully upgraded Japanese Halberdier slay a fully upgraded Byzantine Paladin.

Koreans

 
- AoF: Korean Team Bonus reduces the Mangonel-line minimum range from 3 to 1 (same as a Skirmisher), which is simply huge. Use it!

- War Wagons recieve a 5 bonus attack against all buildings. They are also the only bolt-firing unit in the Cavalry Archer class.

- Fun fact: Turtle Ships are the only unit/building which fire iron bullets with a base minimum range of 0.

Mayans

 
To nerf them, their farmers work 22% slower (theorically, the real effect is around 5% slower) than the ones of the other civs, which makes their infantry spam (either Halbs or Two-Handed Swordmen) mediocre in the late game. Fortunately, their elite units (Plumed Archers, Elite Eagle Warriors, Siege Rams) are little to no food intensive.
Plumed Archers/Elite also get 1/2 bonus attack against all infantry (2/2 bonus for Spearmen, 2 minimum damage against Huskarls for Elite Plumed Archers), making them great against infantry.

- Obsidian Arrows Castle UT give +4 attack against buildings (and an additional +4 to "Stone Defenses, aka Stone Walls, Towers and Stone Gates) to Archers, Crossbowmen and Arbalests...but not Plumed Archers.

Magyars

 
- (Elite) Magyar Huszar get (8) 5 bonus attack against Siege Weapons, and strike slightly faster than a "normal" Hussar: only 1.8 ROF (compared to the 1.9 for Hussars)

Mongols

 
"Cavalry Archers fire 20% faster"
=> Actually all the AoE rate of fires are calculated using an "attack reloading time" thing. Setting this value to 0.8 means that the Mongol Cavalry Archers fire 1/(1*0.8) = 1.25 => 25% faster, which just make other civs Cavalry Archers obsolete, except the Hunnic ones which are worth getting as they are so cheap, the Magyar ones with their +1 range and the Turk ones with +20 HP.
On top of that, when Thumb Ring is researched their Mangudai fire even faster than their Cavalry Archers, making them one of the best raiding units of AoE 2.

- Mangudais bonus against siege units only apply to Rams in AoF.

Persians

 
- Town Centers and Docks faster work rate affects units creation time, but also technologies...including age-ups! Persian Castle Age research is around 15 seconds faster than the other civs, Imperial around 25 seconds faster.

- Boiling Oil gives Castles +9 attack against Rams.

Saracens

 
"Galleys attack 20% faster"
=> Actually all the AoE rate of fires are calculated using an "attack reloading time" thing. Setting this value to 0.8 means that the Saracen Galley-line fire 1/(1*0.8) = 1.25 => 25% faster, which - eco bonuses aside - makes the Saracen naval warfare at the top in Feudal and Castle age warfare; though in Imperial age their lack of Shipwright can hurt a little bit.
Their galley-line is so good that even Saracen War Galleys/Galleons can defeat one in one a Viking Longboat/Elite Longboat.

- Cavalry Archers have +3 attack bonus vs buildings"
It's clearly +4 in the game data.

- Team Bonus: Foot archers have +1 attack bonus vs buildings"
It's clearly +2 in the game data.

- Despite being a melee unit with a ranged attack, Mamelukes are classed as Cavalry Archers, meaning they get 3 (4) damage from Skirmishers (elite), making them one of the easiest units to counter (recieve extra damage from all anti-cavalry units, Samurais and also big damage from building arrows as they are primarly Camels).
They also suffer from the Archer bonus of Huskarls.

Spanish

 
"Builders work 30% faster"
=> Except for Wonders, where the bonus is reduced to 20% (same effect as Treadmill Crane): you won't get any bonuses by taking Spanish over Vikings for example in a Wonder Race.

"Cannon Galleons benefit from Ballistics (fire faster, more accurately)"
=> Actually they get the Ballistics effects even when Ballistics is not researched.

"Hand Cannoneers and Bombard Cannons fire 15% faster"
=> Actually all the AoE rate of fires are calculated using an "attack reloading time" thing. Setting this value to 0.85 means that the Spanish Hand Cannoneers and Bombard Cannons fire 1/(1*0.85) = 1.176 => 17.6% faster. With that being said, it is worth noting that their Conquistadors got a low rate of fire "built-in", which means that their Conquistadors fire only a hair slower than their Hand Cannoneers (2.90 vs 2.85).

- Missionaries heal two times slower than Monks.

Slavs

 
"Farmers work 15% faster"
=> It's only theorical, in practise your farmers will collect for a same time around ~7% more food compared to an other civ with identical economical/farm upgrades, depending on your farm layout.

- Druzhina Imperial Age unique technology is very poweful from small skirmishes to mass melee battles, as the splash damage actually does 5 bonus damage to all adjacent units (like Cataphracts with Logistica), making Slav Champions the best in the game, even winning against Japanese ones in mass battles.
Though, remember than Goth Champs are still the best cost-effectively in the game: for 52 Slav Champs you get exactly 80 Goth Champs, which is largely enough to finish off all the Slav ones, even with the lack of Plate Mail Armor; finally, Celt (+4.5% speed) and Viking (+20% HP) Champs are still the best against foot archers.

Teutons

- Towers X2 capacity doesn't mean X2 max arrows: the maximum number of arrows jumps only from 5 to 9.

"Town Centers +2 attack"
=> It has always been +1 attack and it can be verfied in game data or by testing. Note that in AoF this bonus has been replaced by Town Centers can garrison +10 units and fire +5 arrows.

"Monk healing range 2X"
=> Don't ask me why but in practise it don't seem to work all the times. (Works fine in AoF)

- AoF: Ironclad gives 4 melee armor to all Siege Weapons.

- Fun fact: Garrisoning at least 9 Hand Cannoneers/7 Elite Janissaries make a Teutonic Bombard Tower fire 2 bullets at the same time; go up to 10 Elite Janissaries and it will fire 3 bullets in unison! (Though it's useless as Bombard Towers don't do splash damage anyway)

Turks

 
"Team Bonus: gunpowder units created 20% faster"
=> Actually it is 25% faster (creation time multiplier from 1 to 0.8). Surprisingly enough, it concerns all the gunpowder units except the Elite Janissary: a non-elite Janissary is created faster than an elite one. (Not anymore in AoF)

Vikings

 
- AoF: Chieftains gives +4 attack against Cavalry.

- Berserkergang makes Berserkers self-healing 2X faster - 1 HP per 1.5 s instead of 1 HP per 3 s -.

- Longboats are created in 25s: 11s faster than War Galleys/Galleons.

- Longboats fire a set of four arrows, the first one doing full damage, the three others doing only 1 attack. They are also the only War Ship to get a specific +4 bonus against...Rams.

Comprehensive list of unit attack bonuses

Version: AoE2 HD/AoC 1.0c/AoC with Userpatch 1.4.
Values extracted using Advanced Genie Editor 3 and in-game confirmation: http://aok.heavengames.com/blacksmith/showfile.php?fileid=11002

Units in plural mean both non-elite and elite versions are concerned.


Bonuses vs all infantry

Hand Cannoneer 10
Jaguar Warriors 10
Cataphract 9
Elite Cataphract 12
Cannon Galleon/Elite Cannon Galleon 15

Logistica tech adds to Cataphracts +6 bonus vs infantry.

Bonuses vs Eagle Warriors

Spearmen-line 1
Plumed Archer 1
Elite Plumed Archer 2
Man-at-Arms 2
Long Swordsman 4
Two-Handed Swordsman 6
Champion 6
Berserk 2
Elite Berserk 3
Huskarl 2
Elite Huskarl 3
Samurai 2
Elite Samurai 3
Teutonic Knights 4
Throwing Axeman 1
Elite Throwing Axeman 2
Woad Raider 2
Elite Woad Raider 3

Bonuses vs Spearmen

Skirmishers 3
Archer/Crossbowman/Arbalest 3
Mangudais 1 (w/ Parthian Tactics 3)
Cavalry Archers 2 (w/ Parthian Tactics 6)
Plumed Archer 3
Elite Plumed Archer 4
Longbowmen 2
Chu Ko Nus 2
Hand Cannoneer 11 (1 more than vs other infantry units)

Bonuses vs Militia-line, Berserkers, Samurais, Teutonic Knights, Woad Raiders, Huskarls, Jaguar Warriors, Throwing Axemen

Plumed Archer 1
Elite Plumed Archer 2

Bonuses vs Knights, Light Cavalry, Cavalry Archers, Missionaries

Spearman 15
Pikeman 22
Halberdier 32
Camel 10
Heavy Camel 18
Mameluke 9
Elite Mameluke 12
Eagle Warrior 2
Elite Eagle Warrior 4
Cannon Galleon/Elite Cannon Galleon 15

Bonuses vs Cataphract

Camel 0
Spearman 3
Pikeman 10
Halberdier 20
Heavy Camel 6
Cannon Galleon/Elite Cannon Galleon 15

Bonuses vs Elite Cataphract

Pikeman 6
Halberdier 16
Heavy Camel 2
Cannon Galleon/Elite Cannon Galleon 15

Bonuses vs Camel-line, Ships, Saboteurs

Spearman 9
Pikeman 16
Halberdier 17
Camel 5
Heavy Camel 9
Eagle Warrior 1
Elite Eagle Warrior 2
Bombard Cannon 40
Watch Tower 6
Guard Tower 9
Keep 10
Bombard Cannons 40
Bombard Towers 40
Heated Shot also increases Tower/Castle damage vs Camels

Bonuses vs Mamelukes / Mamelukes when game starts at Post-Imperial Age

Spearman 11 / 7
Pikeman 22 / 11
Halberdier 37 / 16
Camel 10 / 5
Heavy Camel 16 / 9
Elite Mameluke 1 / 0
Huskarl 6
Elite Huskarl 10
Skirmisher 3
Elite Skirmisher 4
Elite Eagle Warrior 2
Watch Tower 6
Guard tower 9
Keep 10
Bombard Cannons 40
Bombard Towers 40
Heated Shot also increases Tower/Castle damage vs Mamelukes

Bonuses vs War Elephants

Spearman 30
Pikeman 47
Halberdier 60
Mameluke 9
Elite Mameluke 12
Camel 10
Heavy Camel 18
Eagle Warrior 2
Elite Eagle Warrior 4
Scorpion 6
Heavy Scorpion 8
Cannon Galleon/Elite Cannon Galleon 15

Attack bonuses vs Foot Archers, Hand Cannons, Janissaries, Conquistadors

Skirmisher 3
Elite Skirmisher 4
Huskarl 6
Elite Huskarl 10
Cannon Galleon/Elite Cannon Galleon 15

Attack bonuses vs Cavalry Archers, Conquistadors, Mangudais, War Wagons

Skirmisher 3
Elite Skirmisher 6 (Only 4 vs Conquistadors)
Huskarl 6
Elite Huskarl 10
Cannon Galleon/Elite Cannon Galleon 15

Attack bonuses vs Unique Units

Samurai 10
Elite Samurai 12

Attack bonuses vs siege weapons

Battering Ram 40
Capped Ram 50
Siege Ram 65
Bombard Cannon 20
Eagle Warrior 3
Elite Eagle Warrior 5
Mangudai 3
Elite Mangudai 5
Cannon Galleon/Elite Cannon Galleon 40

Attack bonuses vs Battering Rams/Capped Rams/Siege Rams

Eagle Warrior 6/6/6
Elite Eagle Warrior 8/8/8
Hand Cannoneer 2/1/1
Janissary 2/1/1
Elite Janissary 3/2/1
Conquistador 4/3/2
Elite Conquistador 6/5/4
Cannon Galleon/Elite Cannon Galleon 40
Longboat/Elite Longboat 4

Attack bonuses vs Monks, Missionaries

Eagle Warrior 8
Elite Eagle Warrior 10
Scout Cavalry 6
Light Cavalry 10
Hussar 12

Villagers vs buildings

Buildings 3
6 extra attack vs Stone Defenses (Towers, Stone Walls & Gates)

Sappers give +15 attack vs buildings, and even +15 extra vs Stone defenses

Barracks Units vs buildings

Spearman-line 1
Man-at-Arms 1
Long Swordsman 2
Two-Handed Swordsman 3
Champion 3

Unique Units

Jaguar Warriors : +2
Woad Raider / Elite : +2 / +3
Throwing Axeman / Elite : +1 / +2
Huskarl / Elite : +2 / +3
Tarkan / Elite : +8 / +10 ( both get +12 against Stone Defenses aka Towers, Stone Walls & Gates)
Samurai / Elite : +2 / +3
War Wagon : +5
War Elephant / Elite : +7 / +10
Conquistador / Elite : +0 / +2
Teutonic Knight / Elite : +4
Berserk / Elite : +2 / +3

Siege Units

Battering Ram: 125 (+10 per garrisoned unit)
Capped Ram: 150 (+10 per garrisoned unit)
Siege Ram: 200 (+10 per garrisoned unit)
Petard: 500, +100 bonus vs Castle, +900 bonus vs Walls and Gates
Trebuchet: 250
Bombard Cannon: 200, +40 bonus vs Stone Defenses

War Ships

Galley/War Galley/Galleon 6/7/8
Fire Ship/Fast Fire Ship 2/3
Demolition Ship 220
Heavy Demolition Ship 280
Cannon Galleon/Elite Cannon Galleon 200/275
Longboat/Elite Longboat 8

Conclusion

I hope this guide has been helpful to you...

[godamnsteemsux]

The attack animations of melee units are way faster than their actual attack rates.

[A Jade Flower]

I am a Casual AoE II Player and I am astonished by a so Detailed Guide. Good Job Mate

[Hot Nea 3miles Away]

Para @laboratorioroma por si algún día llega a leer esto.
La edad post imperial es solo cuando crea la partida, usted elige en qué edad empezar.
Sí, la edad post imperial la traen todas las versiones del juego, es solo la edad inicial, y la única diferencia que tiene esta a la imperial, es que empieza con todas las tecnologías desarrolladas.



Btw, excellent guide 10/10

[laboratorioroma]

En mi juego no aparece la era post imperial solo se puede avanzar en tecnologías hasta la era imperial, si yo me interesé y solicité la compra de ese juego fue para acceder a todas las eras del mismo con sus respectivas tecnologías y no de manera parcial, lo cual debieron haber informado las personas que promocionaban y lanzaron a la venta dicho juego de manera veraz, clara y oportuna de que el juego solo incluía avances en tecnologías hasta la era imperial y no hasta la post imperial y así los clientes interesados puedan hacer una elección de compra con conocimiento de causa y cuya omisión en proporcionar dicha información no solo que es un engaño al comprador sino que podría incluso encuadrarse en un actuar doloso que conllevaría hasta un delito de estafa, ESPERO LAS EXPLICACIONES CORRESPONDIENTES

[Vaultnaire]

shipwright is 53%...??? i don't understand.
for example, galleon build time is 36s in the basic data. but game speed setup 'fastest', galleon in-game build time is 18s. reduced 1/2.
i researched shipwright, galleon build time is 11.7second.
(in-game build time 18second) -35% = 11s.

[Age of Empires King]

Also thanks to Philippe le Bon for this detailed guide.

[Age of Empires King]

Dreamer is correct. One of the expansions fixed the camel/ship problem so towers/TCs/Castles/halbs/pukemen dont have a bonus against them anymore.

[Zoobie]

It's not mentioned, but if you attack a military unit in front of a building with an upgraded ram, the building will also receive splash damage from the attack.

[Dreamer]

@Evilsun: I am not sure but one of the patches/expansion pack fixed the the bug where camels were classified as ships.... probably change logs can help clarifying when it was done.

[Dreamer]

A question, long time back I had read somewhere that a Huskarl created at a barracks is weaker than that from a castle.... Is this true? If yes, it can be a good add to this nice article.