best nation

[ghillie26]

Im new and was wondering what nation is best or does it matter?

[nehireta]

AoE2 is one of the most balanced games you can find, so basically every civilization is viable. But if you are new, maybe look up to some beginner friendly civs like Franks/Huns/Persians for cavalry, Britons/Ethiopians for archers.

[Quintem]

Have you played any of the campaigns? Also have you played the Art of War. No point picking the "best" if you don't even know the basics.

Honestly just pick civs you think are cool. Usually a good starting point.

If you want to pick one of each type then go with a cavalry civ, an archer civ, etc. Learn how different civs play out.

Originally posted by nehireta:

AoE2 is one of the most balanced games you can find, so basically every civilization is viable. But if you are new, maybe look up to some beginner friendly civs like Franks/Huns/Persians for cavalry, Britons/Ethiopians for archers.

I would not recommend Britons to a new player. They're one of the worst civs win rate wise, at low to mid ELO. Clearly something about them makes them a poor choice for archer civ. I'm not sure why they always end up at the top of lists for easy to learn archer civs, clearly they are not.

[ghillie26]

Originally posted by Quintem:

Have you played any of the campaigns? Also have you played the Art of War. No point picking the "best" if you don't even know the basics.

Honestly just pick civs you think are cool. Usually a good starting point.

If you want to pick one of each type then go with a cavalry civ, an archer civ, etc. Learn how different civs play out.

Originally posted by nehireta:

AoE2 is one of the most balanced games you can find, so basically every civilization is viable. But if you are new, maybe look up to some beginner friendly civs like Franks/Huns/Persians for cavalry, Britons/Ethiopians for archers.

I would not recommend Britons to a new player. They're one of the worst civs win rate wise, at low to mid ELO. Clearly something about them makes them a poor choice for archer civ. I'm not sure why they always end up at the top of lists for easy to learn archer civs, clearly they are not.

whats a good navy civ

[GokuGod]

Originally posted by Quintem:

Have you played any of the campaigns? Also have you played the Art of War. No point picking the "best" if you don't even know the basics.

Honestly just pick civs you think are cool. Usually a good starting point.

If you want to pick one of each type then go with a cavalry civ, an archer civ, etc. Learn how different civs play out.

Originally posted by nehireta:

AoE2 is one of the most balanced games you can find, so basically every civilization is viable. But if you are new, maybe look up to some beginner friendly civs like Franks/Huns/Persians for cavalry, Britons/Ethiopians for archers.

I would not recommend Britons to a new player. They're one of the worst civs win rate wise, at low to mid ELO. Clearly something about them makes them a poor choice for archer civ. I'm not sure why they always end up at the top of lists for easy to learn archer civs, clearly they are not.

i think the lack of thumb ring is really bad, they dont get excelent archers only slightly faster archeries with a nice bonus with a castle (when the game is mostly decided)
there are better archer civs like mayans or ethiopians that have specific bonuses that start paying of from the minute you start getting archers

[Quintem]

Originally posted by ghillie26:

Originally posted by Quintem:

Have you played any of the campaigns? Also have you played the Art of War. No point picking the "best" if you don't even know the basics.

Honestly just pick civs you think are cool. Usually a good starting point.

If you want to pick one of each type then go with a cavalry civ, an archer civ, etc. Learn how different civs play out.



I would not recommend Britons to a new player. They're one of the worst civs win rate wise, at low to mid ELO. Clearly something about them makes them a poor choice for archer civ. I'm not sure why they always end up at the top of lists for easy to learn archer civs, clearly they are not.

whats a good navy civ

Armenians, Vikings, Dravidians and Italians to name a few. Byzantines are good on hybrid maps, so maps with smaller bodies of water that are still somewhat important.

[Kampfschwein Fjonda]

Portuguese have (A) cheaper ships with (B) more HP and tech to (C) increase armor.
Also another tech that (D) cannon balls always hit.
And (E) a unique ship on top.
That is a lot of naval bonus.
Did I mention, villagers on berries also provide wood? Crazy.

[a_delo3]

It depends on the game and playstyle. Those civs with wide tech trees and a lot of end-game units and relevant bonuses/techs (e.g. "gunpowder" civs) tend to do better if play on maps or game modes where early aggressions are hard/impossible to peform; other civs allows to develop quickly and may close the game before late imperial units become relevant.

In general terms I suggest to pick a civ with strong eco bonuses (e.g. Incas/Mayans/Aztecs, Persians or Vikings) and not too focused on a single strategy (e.g. Vikings have a very good eco bonus and good archers and infantry; Persians have mighty cavalry but also gunpowder and can build one of the strongest economy so are powerful both early and late game).
Saracens and Chinese are both pretty powerul but somewhat atypical so may be better to leave them alone until have learned the conventional build order and early development.

[James3157]

Commonly asked question or something similar to this, but with 45 civilizations currently (assuming that you own every single dlc besides Victors and Vanquished and cosmetic dlc since they do not add any new civs) it is hard to pick only just one, because there is a lot and the term "best nation" or "best civ" is subjective and even more subjective than the term "favorite civ". Romans for example overall have one the highest win rates regardless of elo (including even top 1%) on 1v1 multiplayer, but they also have below average play rates and especially for the top 1% last I checked. Part of it could be because of the fact it is locked behind one of lowest rated dlc packs on AoE II: DE for mixed reviews besides Victors and Vanquished which is mostly negative reviewed. The other part of it could also be because of the unusual combination for using scorpions that otherwise might not be commonly used on multiplayer especially for players ranked for top 1% elo. Mongols in contrast are very popular on multiplayer but are not among the top 5 for win rates regardless of elo (but correct me if I am wrong because I cannot reach AoEstats right now due to an error) even if there win rates are at least average or better than average.

Originally posted by Quintem:

I would not recommend Britons to a new player. They're one of the worst civs win rate wise, at low to mid ELO. Clearly something about them makes them a poor choice for archer civ. I'm not sure why they always end up at the top of lists for easy to learn archer civs, clearly they are not.

Britons are not one of the best civs, but they are still somewhat popular in comparison to other civs such as for example obviously more commonly played as in comparison to Dravidians, Gurjaras, Bengalis, Aztecs, Incas, Romans, Goths, and possibly Hindustanis to name just a few examples especially for elo below the top 1%. I think that part of it might have to do with the fact they are apparently a fun civ to play as, but not necessarily intended for winning and obviously not one of the strongest civs either. Playing as Britons on 1v1 for multiplayer depends on whether the player wants to win or play them just for fun regardless of how weak they are in comparison to other civs and hoping to get lucky in winning as Britons. If playing as Britons because of really wanting to win instead of hoping to get lucky in winning they are not recommended, but they are however an iconic civ due to the fact they are one of the first civs that came with Age of Empires II from Ensemble Studios.

[Kampfschwein Fjonda]

You can write books about Britons elsewhere. OP asked for a naval civ.

[James3157]

Originally posted by Kampfschwein Fjonda:

Portuguese have (A) cheaper ships with (B) more HP and tech to (C) increase armor.
Also another tech that (D) cannon balls always hit.
And (E) a unique ship on top.
That is a lot of naval bonus.
Did I mention, villagers on berries also provide wood? Crazy.

While you did answer ghillie26's question that is an opinion and not a fact. Britons are obviously not one of the best civs however even if they are fun to play with just for fun instead of wanting to win. They are however more practical for single player than multiplayer. Best nation or civilization on AoE II: DE is subjective, but the overall most popular civ on multiplayer is not Portuguese when it comes to play rates. It is the Mongols even if some people might think that Portuguese are overall the best civ on AoE II: DE. They are very good on water maps and at least somewhat versatile (meaning they are not bad on land maps contrary to Dravidians, Italians, and Japanese which seem to be overall more practical for water maps than land maps) but not one one of the strongest or most popular civs on multiplayer when it comes play rates and win rates.

[RÊYTH]

I think the game is TOO well balanced. You can win with anything. You can lose with anything.

My favorite is the Mongols, cuz Cavalry Archers.

But it is fun to play against type occasionally. Winning is overrated.

[James3157]

Originally posted by Reyth:

I think the game is TOO well balanced. You can win with anything. You can lose with anything.

True and while Britons seem to be one of the weakest civs on AoE II: DE and obviously not one of the best civs they are still played a lot more than the Romans overall including even among the top 1% of players where it is actually the Romans despite being number 1 ranked sometimes for win rate that have the lowest play rate last time I checked for top 1% and not the Dravidians, Bengalis, Aztecs, Sicilians, Poles (one of the weakest civs overall regardless of elo contrary to Sicilians despite being locked behind dlc), or Incas.

[James3157]

Like I mentioned previously the best civ or nation is subjective and even more subjective than favorite civ. A person might have a favorite civ(s) for example, but it does not necessarily mean it is or they are the best. The best civ or nation might also be something that is not necessarily someone's favorite civ such as the Romans who are an overall strong civ but have an overall low play rate in comparison to other civs. Or it could maybe be both such as Mongols (meaning both best and favorite at the same time). Magyars in contrast could be a favorite civ for some people which have a noticeably higher overall winrate than Britons and slightly more popular than Britons (according to AoEstats after recently noticing it is working again) when it comes to play rates, but them being the best is debatable.

[KREMPO99]

Does it work online? I haven't been able to play for two weeks HELPP

[James3157]

Originally posted by KREMPO99:

Does it work online? I haven't been able to play for two weeks HELPP

Off topic to this conversation. It has nothing to do with the best civ and single player if I am not mistaken does not require online connection contrary to multiplayer.