Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

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Build Order Sheets [PDF]
By Lord Commander
Easy to follow build order sheets. Build orders with a similar start are combined together to minimize the number of sheets.
This guide contains 12 build orders in 3 sheets.

Based on "Build Order Reference" by Cicero, and Hera's video guides.
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Intro
I originally created these sheets for personal use.
The land build orders are from Cicero’s “Build order reference” ( Link ) and the water build orders are from Hera’s YouTube video guides (Video1 , Video2).
I tried to write them in a way that’s easy to follow while playing.
I grouped build orders with a similar start together, and put 2 build order groups on each sheet, so I can fold the sheet vertically and have a build order on each side.

This guide contains 14 build orders (12 land and 2 water) in 4 sheets.

Update 1:
Added a drush FC build order
Updated the Men at arms into archers build order to match the updated version from Cicero

Update 2:
Added straight archers and Drush archers builds.
How to read the build order
F = Food (only Sheep and Boar) | Fr = Farm | B = Berries
W = Wood | G = Gold | S = Stone
Fv = Villagers currently working on Sheep or Boar
Bv = Villagers currently working on Berries

Pop 7 | 4 to wood” means at Pop 7, the next 4 vills (pop 8 to 11) go to wood.
Pop 22 | 2 Fv to Wood” means at Pop 22, 2 vills that are working on Sheep / Boar go to wood

Created military units are not counted in Pop.
Pop 22* : the * means you may have created military at this point (like militia or men at arms), so your in game pop may be higher than 22.


For new players, remember to:
• Make houses (build 2 houses at the start)
• Scout your map, you need to find your 8 sheep and 2 boars.
• Lure the 2nd boar before the 1st one runs out, kill the sheep and boar right under the TC and try to only kill one at a time.
• Build a 2nd lumber-camp once you have 6-8 vills on the first.
• Create military units: usually, 3 for the men at arms, 3-6 for the scouts, and non-stop production for the rest

• Eco upgrades:
Get double bit axe ASAP, then horse collar. Get wheelbarrow once you have around 14 farms.
For fast castle builds only get Eco upgrades after you click up.
Skip horse collar for the men at arms build order until you click up to castle age.

• Military upgrades:
Get attack upgrades for archers ASAP.
For knights, get bloodlines / defense upgrades first.

• For water maps, fishing ships should always get the deep fish first and not the shore fish.
Build orders
Men at arms into archers:
Very common build order, the 3 Men at arms are used to disrupt your opponent’s eco, and buy you some time to mass your archers. Start making militia as soon as you click up to feudal.
Finding all 8 of your sheep is extremely important for this build.
After sending the last 6 to gold, start farming to get the food for castle age.
New players should start by learning a normal archer rush build order first (without men at arms).

Men at arms into Towers:
Requires more multitasking and micro then other build orders, not recommended for new player.

Scouts:
Another very common build order, usually you go for 3-5 scouts, but you can add more if needed.











Fast castle:
Fast castle build orders are usually used in closed maps (like arena or black forest), or as a pocket in team games. Can be used in open maps but it’s risky and requires you to fully wall your base against feudal rushes.
They are also easier to learn than other build orders.






Drush Archers:
Similar to the Men at arms archers build, the militia are weaker but will hit the enemy earlier than the men at arms.
Start making the militia as soon as you build the barracks.

Archers:
Probably the easiest fast feudal build to learn. It’s a fairly short build, and only focuses on archers.
It allows you to make archers earlier than other builds, but it is vulnerable to faster feudal rushes (scouts, drush, men at arms…) that can hit you before you mass your archers, or even deny your archery ranges from going up.
After sending the last 4 to gold, start farming to get the food for castle age.

Drush FC:
The 3 militia are used to delay your enemy, giving you enough time to wall up.
This is less risky than a normal FC build in open maps, but it depends on your micro with the militia, and how fast you can wall your base. So I wouldn’t recommend it to new players.
Start making the militia as soon as you build the barracks.






Water:
Can be used in any water map that has deep fish, your first 4 fishing ships need to be on deep fish for the build order to work. Consider walling your base for the full water build order.
13 Comments
Mullett Lake Jun 4 @ 8:48pm 
Thanks for the information. A lot to absorb. Will share with my grandson.
CSA_Tyler Feb 4, 2023 @ 4:01pm 
nice
MilkedMoose Nov 17, 2022 @ 4:09pm 
complicateddd
Nikitiy IV The Greatbeard Jul 6, 2021 @ 2:38am 
Great job man, thanks a lot!
The w1nner Apr 26, 2021 @ 6:53am 
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Night Site Apr 15, 2021 @ 10:27am 
Great guide. Thanks so much.
Lord Commander  [author] Jul 14, 2020 @ 2:07am 
I will eventually add straight archers and drush archers builds.
One-Winged Angel Jul 12, 2020 @ 1:50am 
Hi, can you please add a straight archer build as well without man at arms?
ber Jun 30, 2020 @ 11:35am 
thank you so much!
Lord Commander  [author] Dec 1, 2019 @ 9:54am 
@Hibou Castle Age timing will vary depending on what you're doing.
Usually, with continuous military production, once you have 14-18 farms, you research wheelbarrow then go up.
For M@a into archers, that should be around 20-21 mins with Fletching and continuous archer production.
For scouts into skirms, you can stop skirm production to go up a bit faster if you think you have enough skirms...