How do I improve? (~1000 ELO RM 1v1)

[Andy the X]

I am an average and somewhat experienced player.

I have played 125 ranked 1v1 matches. But my ELO usually fluctuates between 950 and 1050.
I seem to hit the glass ceiling at 1050.

I use hotkeys, I know some build orders (even though I rarely manage to execute them perfectly).
I know all the basics (like to keep town center(s) always working until you have ~120 vills, unit compositions and counters, civs and their strenghts, the importance of eco and blacksmith upgrades, etc. I also watch all the common AoE-Youtubers.)


So the question is: How do I improve?


There is a lot of advice for beginners, but not a lot for average players. I would like to be above average at least.

- Should I train to nail the build orders even more perfectly?
- Do I need better strategys? ( I usually play scout rush, sometimes archer rush. Rarely a fast castle into knights. (I usually ban closed maps, I prefere to play aggressively) Do you need to pull off a MAA rush/tower rush to reach a certain level?
- I like to play random civ for the variety. Do I have to pick a civ to improve?
- Are there any common mistakes at the mid-level I could look out for in my game?

[-Dare Devil/x/]

-What are your up times?

[Andy the X]

Originally posted by -Dare Devil/x/:

-What are your up times?

It depends on the strategy, map etc of course.

But for a scout rush, I reach Feudal at about 11 minutes give or take.

My castle age time can vary a lot depending on how the game goes (Do I get attacked? Is the enemy fully walled? Can I do damage with my scouts? etc).
If I commit to the scout rush I would say ~27 minutes may be average for me. But everything between 23 minutes up to 35 minutes is possible.

Imperial is always relatively late for me, because I try to get an army advantage and map control in castle age. Maybe even win the game there. I do not like to turtle and boom, I rather try to be on the offensive. I usually only go Imp, when I need trebs. So rarely before ~45 mins.

[Kenvert]

If you really watch better players on youtube/twitch and use hotkeys like you mentioned then you already know the theory and just need to practice!

I recommend first practicing the build orders with this mod: https://www.ageofempires.com/mods/details/2359/

You don't really need to copy the build order 100% exactly like the mod tells you to do, just reach the objectives trying to get high scores. Then go back to 1v1's after that.

I'm somewhat in a similar situation, I watch a lot of pros playing and I know a lot about the game, but I almost never play 1v1's so I suck!

[The nubinator]

lol. Ok first of all.

Dont watch youtubers and streamers.
Dont practice buildorders.
You barely need hotkeys.





1. Its a game of Rock Paper Scissors. Know what hes building, counter build it. Being a reactionary is always easier than a progressive ;-)
You dont need your own ideas, you just need to react to theirs.

2. Keep a balanced economy. Have a market and sell resources if you cant.

2.1 Have way, way too much of a resource? Switch strategies immediately. Especially if you have too much wood, just start pumping out archers.

3. Do not throw away your units damnit lol. Pull back if you cant do more damage.

4. Know the civs so you know what to expect at least 30% of the time.

5. Play huns just so you dont have to give a crap about houses, makes things easier.

6. Do not wall. Youll learn to react more and wont feel safe. You will get better faster.

7. Invest in Town Watch.

8. Nothing counters bunched up nubie Xbows as a mango.

9. Dont focus on your economy if you cant spend it effectively.

[Kenvert]

Originally posted by The nubinator:

lol. Ok first of all.

Dont watch youtubers and streamers.
Dont practice buildorders.
You barely need hotkeys.

Yeah sure, you'll be 2k in no time!

[El Kouba [BR]]

I'm in the same situation, also looking for advices

[TheDiaper]

Originally posted by Andy the X:

Originally posted by -Dare Devil/x/:

-What are your up times?

It depends on the strategy, map etc of course.

But for a scout rush, I reach Feudal at about 11 minutes give or take.

My castle age time can vary a lot depending on how the game goes (Do I get attacked? Is the enemy fully walled? Can I do damage with my scouts? etc).
If I commit to the scout rush I would say ~27 minutes may be average for me. But everything between 23 minutes up to 35 minutes is possible.

Imperial is always relatively late for me, because I try to get an army advantage and map control in castle age. Maybe even win the game there. I do not like to turtle and boom, I rather try to be on the offensive. I usually only go Imp, when I need trebs. So rarely before ~45 mins.

A scout rush with 11 min up time is terrible. For a standard 22pop scout build, the perfect up time should be 10:05, even sooner with faster builds. So your up time is at least a minute late.

[Andy the X]

Thank you all for your recomendations.

My biggest take away from your answers is: I need to focus on better up-times and therefore cleaner buildorders. That is one aspect that should help me to improve my game, I think.

Originally posted by Roninsan:

I recommend first practicing the build orders with this mod: https://www.ageofempires.com/mods/details/2359/

You don't really need to copy the build order 100% exactly like the mod tells you to do, just reach the objectives trying to get high scores. Then go back to 1v1's after that.

I have that mod. I used it to learn the build orders in the first place. But over time everything got a bit messy so I think this is good advise to go back to it sometimes to practice without an enemy.

Oh, and by the way: I just played the scenario once, then went on the ladder and managed to get a 10.22 min 22-pop Feudal. So my scout rush was faster than his, which won me the game. :-) Maybe that's the way to go.

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Hi,

there is a lot of advice that can be right and wrong at the same time. Take away from it what for your playstyle and in your opinion seems reasonable. Note for the following: I am only a slightly above average player myself.

First thing i get from your posts is: Early aggression is great on open maps, keep that. If you get an advantage in feudal, transport it through the game.

Castle up time seems a bit late (23 is ok, 35 way too late imho), try not to overinvest in feudal, use market to click up if needed.

Try to vary castle age eco/strategy, e.g. play one TC and stay aggresive (forward siege, hill controll, pressure enemy tc/eco. Add tcs later on) or play 2 extra TC and boom while keeping an eye on your opponent to see what he is doing, react accordingly, or play 1 tc fast imp (Add tc when upping to imp or later).

In order to click up to imp earlier, idle your tcs! E.g. If you idle your tcs to click imp, you should continue to build vils after you clicked up and also in early imp to get to about 100 - 140 (depending on civ and strategy).

I do agree with nubinator on 2 -4 and 6-9.

glhf

[110]

hey bro, my elo also fluctuates, but imo (along with the up times) is aggression, but multi tasking, micro and apm also both help a lot even if you dont have the perfect build orders. which i think only comes from practice.. a player who can multi task better than a player with the perfect build order, generally seems to last better under pressure of attack, or is able to sustain an attack while building eco..

as you alluded to, m@a and tower rushes do definitely seem to help elo, they are definitely more effective vs lower elos, on that same note, 1000 is literally the average player base, and we have such a wide variety of skill sitting at 1000 elo its quite understandable to face two different opponents with vastly different skill levels at roughly the same elo, for numerous reasons including players who had low team elo, and thus are working their way up the 1v1 ladder, or only go random(so are actually better than their elo but get shafted with poor race match ups sometimes), or only boom or only play 1 build (so their elo is either higher or lower than their actual skill level)

and finally picking meta civs for the right maps(i just use vipers comparisons), will definitely help you more than trying to use B tier civs..

[110]

Originally posted by The nubinator:

lol. Ok first of all.

Dont watch youtubers and streamers.
Dont practice buildorders.
You barely need hotkeys.

sure bro, nice tips for noobs, plz move along

[theworld]

Originally posted by Queso:

1000 is literally the average player base

Do you have any evidence to back that extraordinary claim?

[El Kouba [BR]]

Originally posted by TheWorld:

Originally posted by Queso:

1000 is literally the average player base

Do you have any evidence to back that extraordinary claim?

Here ya go

https://www.reddit.com/r/aoe2/comments/gwg7gm/aoe2_de_stats/

[Lord Commander]

For me, Hera's 0 to 2K guide on YouTube is by far the best mid level guide out there.

The series has like 15 videos, around 30 mins each. So its better to only watch one or two vids pet day.

It cover almost every aspect of the game. (Micro, macro, army comp, decision making, scouting....)

[110]

Originally posted by Lord Commander:

For me, Hera's 0 to 2K guide on YouTube is by far the best mid level guide out there.

The series has like 15 videos, around 30 mins each. So its better to only watch one or two vids pet day.

It cover almost every aspect of the game. (Micro, macro, army comp, decision making, scouting....)

thats cool ill also have a look thanks!