Age of Empires is back after a long hiatus, which means that there will be plenty of new players trying it out for the first time. Learning how to play a real-time-strategy game — or really any strategy game — can be a challenge to beginners. However, like any other game, once you know the basics of how that genre works, you can master it.
Seeing as this is a beginner-level guide, we recommend facing off against the computer (A.I.) first. You will need lots of practice before you play other players online, as they will likely demolish your hopes and dreams. Do not let that get you dismayed, though, because everyone has to start somewhere.
Play Through The Tutorials
Age of Empires IV is a real-time strategy (RTS) game, which means that every action takes some amount of real time to accomplish. Chopping wood, for instance, takes several seconds of a villager's time. Therefore, how you decide to use your villagers or move units affects the game outcome. Every second counts, especially at the beginning of the game, so before you jump into a skirmish, you should play the tutorials to learn how to play the game more efficiently.
Choosing Which Civilization To Play As Matters
Each civilization has unique gameplay mechanics and technology trees. If you are new to the franchise, start with England or France, as they have the most traditional gameplay. As you progress in skill level, then you can focus on the differences between civilizations.
Once you are confident in your knowledge of the other civilizations, you can strategically pick which kind best suits your strategy for victory.
Start On Easy
There is no shame in playing Age of Empires on easy. If you are new, it will be incredibly frustrating to play if you start on intermediate. Age of Empires is not an easy game, and it requires a significant amount of skill to play on hard or even intermediate difficulties. Starting Age of Empires IV on the lowest difficulty level is the best way to learn the game and keep it enjoyable.
Make Lots of Villagers Quickly And Get Them Working
Villagers are the most critical unit of Age of Empires IV, especially in the early game. The value you can extract from making villagers in the first five minutes of the game is immense. In the first few seconds, have your villagers start harvesting sheep. Send your scout out to find more sheep and send every sheep you find back to your village.
Simultaneously, you will want to start producing more villagers. Then, you will want to build a few more houses, make a lumber camp, mill, and mining camp. At the end of the first five minutes, you should be prepared to enter the next era. You can practice this in the tutorial section of Age of Empires IV.
Do Not Forget Your Scout
The early game can be overwhelming, but you must continue to use your scout to learn your immediate surroundings. While using your scout, keep an eye out for animals, resources, and maybe even your opponents' villages. Knowing the lay of the land will give you a leg up and allow you to adapt your strategy. You will want to avoid combat early in the game, but knowing which direction your enemies will likely come from is key to building defenses.
Build Defences As Soon As Possible
You might feel the need to wait until you have lots of resources to build an unstoppable army later in the game. While it seems logical in the long term, this is a poor strategy because it lets your opponent attack you quicker. A better plan is to build your defenses as soon as you enter the second era.
The first thing you will need is a Barracks, so you can start building an Army. Do not forget to build more housing to accommodate your soldiers. In addition, constructing a wooden wall around your town will let you control how your enemies attack your village and buy you more time to mobilize your army to critical areas before the enemy kills your precious villagers.
Make An Army Of Soldiers, Archers, and Soldiers On Horseback
As you continue to make foot soldiers, you should also produce archers and soldiers on horseback. Additionally, you will want to organize your army in separate groups. Keep your archers together and further back from the front lines. Have your foot soldiers upfront and your horse soldiers ready to attack your enemies from another direction.
A great tip for organizing your army is to select a group and then press CTRL + (any number button). Doing this action will let you quickly access this group later by pressing that number button.
Be Aggressive
Attacking your enemies is an excellent way of maintaining technological dominance. If you can destroy their buildings or kill their villagers, you will negatively impact that civilization. It is a challenging task to do, so make sure you have a good plan of attack.
Other civilizations will not hesitate to attack you early on, so beat them to the punch. Bear in mind that your defense is more important, so protect yourself before you attack others.
The Shift Button Is Your Best Friend
There are a million different functions your keyboard can do in Age of Empires IV. To start, the only key you only really need to learn to love is the shift key. The shift key has several functions in the game, including selecting multiple villagers or military units. If you press shift while pressing the button to make units, it will go by increments of five.
This method is significantly faster than clicking that unit button five times. In a game that is all about time, this button will undoubtedly save you lots of time.
Learn The Hotkeys
The thing that separates the newbies from the pros is using hotkeys. Age of Empires is entirely playable with only your mouse, but if you want to be ten times more efficient, you need to use your keyboard.
It can be hard to get used to hotkeys if you are new to the series, but if you consult your key mappings, you will have taken a first step towards becoming a better player.