I was in China Before completed achievement

[James3157]

So I tried getting this achievement again for a second time on standard difficulty after failing the first time on standard difficulty. The easiest way to get this achievement is get that bombard cannons transported over to yellow's base and protect them, land at yellow's base as soon as possible along with villagers after reaching the Castle Age, try to boom an economy as much as possible including the making of fishing ships, and prioritize building castles on yellow's base as being more important than reaching Imperial Age where I placed two castles outside the walls and the last castle inside the walls right next to where the stone mine is located. I traded some gold in exchange for stone and had to restart the game from a previous save a few times, but once yellow loses their town center it is pretty much game over for them and they do not attempt to build a wonder just as long as I continue to put pressure on them and kill as many villagers as possible in addition to other military units (including monks).

I then used my remaining bombard cannons to take out the castle and defended them with Mangudai, but I lost all of them except for one bombard cannon. Yellow built another town center that was further away, but they did not attempt to build the wonder and I got the achievement finally. Once yellow resigned I went after the other civs and won the game in a little more than two hours. Also, on the mainland you only need one castle to defend the base at least on standard difficulty if trying to get the achievement and you need to attack yellow's villagers even before they lose their town center to put pressure on them.

[James3157]

I did not get the achievement until tonight on December 15th and so this achievement is recent. In my personal opinion this is one of the hardest achievements to get on AoE II: DE, but I finally got the achievement. Also, my second castle was literally only one tile away from the gate and it need to be that close, because having villagers build a castle right next to the stone mine is risky and needed to be defended with that castle plus additional military units. I only used mangudai despite them having cavaliers and taking out the stable before taking out the town center shortly after that is recommended as well.

[Quintem]

I can't comment on the achievement's difficulty I got it 3 years ago. I know some consider it hard. I can't really remember how I did it. I suspect it ranks middle of the road for me. I've not tried the level since.

[James3157]

Originally posted by Quintem:

I can't comment on the achievement's difficulty I got it 3 years ago. I know some consider it hard. I can't really remember how I did it. I suspect it ranks middle of the road for me. I've not tried the level since.

You could try it again if you want starting on standard difficulty first before trying harder difficulty. It is supposed to be harder to get now than it was three years ago and one of those ways it is harder is that you want to defeat them the easiest possible way you will need to get the bombard cannons and have them reach the island as quickly as possible. The bombard cannons do however need to be protected by castles and other military units. Like I mentioned previously I did not use any military units to defend them besides mangudai and I also kept some military at my base on the mainland for defensive reasons. The AI attacks on the mainland are infrequent if playing on standard difficulty, but not rare and possibly might attack early even on standard difficulty.

[Quintem]

Originally posted by James3157:

Originally posted by Quintem:

I can't comment on the achievement's difficulty I got it 3 years ago. I know some consider it hard. I can't really remember how I did it. I suspect it ranks middle of the road for me. I've not tried the level since.

You could try it again if you want starting on standard difficulty first before trying harder difficulty. It is supposed to be harder to get now than it was three years ago and one of those ways it is harder is that you want to defeat them the easiest possible way you will need to get the bombard cannons and have them reach the island as quickly as possible. The bombard cannons do however need to be protected by castles and other military units. Like I mentioned previously I did not use any military units to defend them besides mangudai and I also kept some military at my base on the mainland for defensive reasons. The AI attacks on the mainland are infrequent if playing on standard difficulty, but not rare and possibly might attack early even on standard difficulty.

Sure why not.

[James3157]

I also completed The-Go-Getter achievement as well tonight. It is one of the harder achievements, but I won just by simply using trebuchets, capped rams, steppe lancers (but later got elite upgrade), mangudai (but later got elite upgrade), and keeping my castle alive. Apparently if you build on the other side of the river fast enough you do not need to rely on onagers for reaching the other side. The best way to get this achievement is booming an economy and building three town centers early.

[Quintem]

I just did the mission (Did not finish it just killed the Jin). it was pretty easy on standard. I wiped them out by the 48 minute mark. They're meant to start the wonder at 40 minutes. I just made siege rams and mangudai.

Okay soI waited to post this, I just did it on hard as well. I got the bombards and used a castle to create a beachhead then bombards, scorpions and rams to push, building a second castle lightly further forward. The Jin never built a wonder and resigned at 51 minutes. I started the siege around 35 minute mark. 5 minutes before they usually build a wonder. It seems once you start killing their military units, villagers, other buildings. The AI goes into a panic and no longer has the resources to build the wonder.

It was mildly harder. Not trying to downplay your achievement but I know the level pretty well and know how to set up my defences to make myself safe to boom. Also I'd say I'm a better player than I was 3+ years ago when I first did this. Hopefully down the line you too can say you got better at the game.

PS It's surprising how many missions let you just freely boom if you drop a castle in the right spot on the map.

[James3157]

Originally posted by Quintem:

I just did the mission (Did not finish it just killed the Jin). it was pretty easy on standard. I wiped them out by the 48 minute mark. They're meant to start the wonder at 40 minutes. I just made siege rams and mangudai.

Okay soI waited to post this, I just did it on hard as well. I got the bombards and used a castle to create a beachhead then bombards, scorpions and rams to push, building a second castle lightly further forward. The Jin never built a wonder and resigned at 51 minutes. I started the siege around 35 minute mark. 5 minutes before they usually build a wonder. It seems once you start killing their military units, villagers, other buildings. The AI goes into a panic and no longer has the resources to build the wonder.

It was mildly harder. Not trying to downplay your achievement but I know the level pretty well and know how to set up my defences to make myself safe to boom. Also I'd say I'm a better player than I was 3+ years ago when I first did this. Hopefully down the line you too can say you got better at the game.

PS It's surprising how many missions let you just freely boom if you drop a castle in the right spot on the map.

At this point I think that the only achievements that might seem like they are almost impossible to get regardless of difficulty settings are Countless Bodies, Hot & Spicy (but fortunately I got this achievement despite it being very difficult for me even on standard to get this achievement), and Rome was destroyed in One Day. I remember struggling with Lion's Den mission even on moderate difficulty, but Roaring Like a Lion is the next achievement I am going after with hard difficulty and contrary to Countless Bodies and Rome was destroyed in One Day there is no race against the clock on that mission or for achievement. I have only played Definitive Edition since June of 2023, but I have noticed improvement with my gameplays.

[Quintem]

Hot and Spicy is a nightmare. AI practically tries to die. Not done it in a while but it's one of those that is more an exercise in frustration that just being purely a test of micro, map knowledge and macro.

Countless bodies yeah that's somewhat tough and so is Rome Was Destroyed in One Day. They require all of the things I just mentioned. Glad you think you've improved.