Why is AI always overly aggressive

[Anomalous Alien]

I'm playing against intermediate AI and it attacks with loads of units quite early on in the feudal age. It always makes you feel like you've wasted your time and end up giving in. There's no way you are able to get the same number of units to defend yourself either.

[Rabidnid]

Play on one of the choke point maps like mountain pass and throw a palisade up to fight behind. With outposts and your archers you should be able to fight them off till you can outbuild them and take the fight to their spawn.

[Anomalous Alien]

I've beaten it before with another random player on multiplayer but the AI now seems to attack earlier with an unusual amount of units.

[Bubs]

Then there is Malians, which are a whole new level of constant swarming.

We did a game 2p vs 6 Malians. It was hell. Luckily it was regicide, so we actually had a chance.

[Rabidnid]

Originally posted by Smythely:

I've beaten it before with another random player on multiplayer but the AI now seems to attack earlier with an unusual amount of units.

Depends on the Civ but yes, Mongols especially will be all over you from the dark age onwards. You don't get more than about 5 to 8 minutes before the first raiders will appear.

Outposts and a few palisades to block off most of the routes to your villagers and some spears to kill them. Spears or scouts in an outpost shoot arrows so you can get some quite solid defences cheaply if you plan.

[Cacomistle]

I think the ai is overly aggressive. Its annoying, I don't the ai to dive my town center with 3 units, because its basically just killing itself just to force me to react.

That being said, you can absolutely get more units than the ai, except for the highest difficulty where it gets 2x resources. Even on the 1.5x cheat difficulty you can build armies about on par with them and then out-produce them later on in the game.

[Rin]

You see, this is exactly why you scout enemies and build proper counter units.

[Cacomistle]

Originally posted by Rin:

You see, this is exactly why you scout enemies and build proper counter units.

That really has nothing to do with beating the intermediate ai. You can overrun them with mass villagers.

[Bubs]

Originally posted by Cacomistle:

overrun them with mass villagers.

it's funny, because some games i get so much resources that once we start winning i sent all my villagers to die, and they end up destroying entire bases. torch wielding mob ftw.

[Rin]

Originally posted by Cacomistle:

Originally posted by Rin:

You see, this is exactly why you scout enemies and build proper counter units.

That really has nothing to do with beating the intermediate ai. You can overrun them with mass villagers.

but OP can not handle Intermediate AI, you can't expect them to pull troll strategy.

[Blackguard]

Walls and defences bruh

It 'is' an age of empires game, remember

[NtS]

AI learned to play through machine learning and what it picked up was the best defense is a good offense and that those who take initiative and are aggressive early on almost always come out on top, so you can't fault the AI. All it's doing is playing to win.

You can counter this by using your scouts to see what they're sending you ahead of time and fielding the appropriate counter-units ASAP + building walls and towers for defense. It is different from how the AI played in previous games which was WAY too passive except on higher difficulties, so I suggest playing with allies until you get a feel for how to fight it 1 on 1.

[Cacomistle]

Originally posted by Rin:

Originally posted by Cacomistle:

That really has nothing to do with beating the intermediate ai. You can overrun them with mass villagers.

but OP can not handle Intermediate AI, you can't expect them to pull troll strategy.

My point is, if they can't build units, then they definitely can't scout and build units. And if you have to pick one, 20 horsemen is better vs 5 spearmen than an archery range you never built units out of while you stared at your scout.

In other words, scouting is far beyond what's necessary to beat the intermediate ai.