The 5 Best Civilizations for Beginners in Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition

Just starting to play, but do not know on which civilization will be the most comfortable to start your way strategist? We’ll take a look at some of the best civilizations that most often suit newcomers to Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition. Let’s get started!

#1 Franks – The strongest cavalry in the game

The French can be found in almost every game, whether it’s the professional scene or a low ranked match. They have earned their trust from players by several extremely strong points.

Economic bonuses

•  Berry pickers are 15% faster – this allows you to gain an advantage already in the dark ages. Even allowing for game microcontrol errors, the picking speed bonus makes up for food losses and allows you to hit the narrow timings of the transition into the feudal era. Very useful for newbies who are still learning how to play multiple places on the map at once.
• Farm improvements are learned automatically – you don’t need to spend resources to learn farming technologies. All of them are given to civilization for free and start working immediately when you move to the next epoch. A collar in the feudal era, a heavy plow in the castle era, etc. This is an extremely useful bonus, allowing you to save a lot of resources in times of scarcity.

Military bonuses

• Castles are 15% cheaper in the Castle Era and 25% cheaper in the Imperial Era. In my personal opinion, this is the strongest bonus in the game. While all other civilizations have a castle cost 650 stone, Franks in the Imperial era can build them for only 488 stone. You could say they get every 6th castle for free, which gives them a nice map control advantage late in the game. Or you can use the tactic of attacking your opponent’s base early, quickly collecting 552 stones in the castle era. At the early levels of the game, many players don’t expect to see such an unexpected move.
• Cavalry has 20% more HP starting in the feudal era – the most important bonus of the Franks. Already since the feudal era, this gives the Franks a huge advantage, allowing them to raid or win battles even when outnumbered. Given that the price for cavalry remains the same, this translates into a catastrophic economic advantage over the long haul, and the cavalry army can only compete with the timely pumped pikemen.

To make it clearer, we’ll compare the HP and attack stats of Frank paladins to paladins of other cavalry civilizations.

Civilization	HP	Attack
Franks	192	14
Teutons	180	14
Lithuanians	180	18 (max)
Persians	180	14
Huns	180	14

Pros and cons of the Franks

✔️ Pros

• Armies don’t need strong microcontrol;
• Allows for equally comfortable offensive and defensive play;
• Best heavy cavalry in the game;
• Good infantry;
• Not bad economic bonuses at the beginning of the game.

❌ Cons

• Cavalry is easily controlled by halberds without proper adaptation to the situation in the game;
• Weak fleet.

All of these bonuses, and the low quality competition of other civilizations’ cavalry, make the Franks an ideal choice for beginning players.

#2 Britons – A civilization of versatile archers

The Britons are one of the most popular and convenient civilizations to get to know in the game. It is the Britons who are known for their long-range archers in the mid to late game, giving them a strong advantage when playing through defenses or taking a key position on the map.

Economic Bonuses

• Since the Castle Age, the Town Hall is 50% cheaper for wood – This is a pretty serious advantage that will save a lot of wood and go into a serious economic advantage.
• Shepherds work 25% faster – This gives the British a smoother Dark, at most feudal age economy. Faster food consumption means faster transition to the next era and more efficient production of units for food.

Military Bonuses

• Foot archers (except archers) have +1 range in the Castle Era and another +1 in the Imperial Era – a great bonus at all stages of the game. The additional attack cell of archers allows for more successful raids on enemy economies or out-shooting enemy archers in equal combat conditions. With this bonus, archers are able to overwhelm enemy infantry even more effectively.

But the most important advantage the Britons have is their unique Longbowman. In addition to the civilization bonus for extra attack range, the Longbowman has an inherently longer attack range. By improving all the technologies that increase attack range, only a good cavalry army can attempt to destroy an unrivaled archer army.

For the sake of clarity, let’s compare the attack range of an elite Briton unit to other popular shooting units:

Unique Unit	Range
Elite Longbowman	8
Elite Rattan Archer	6
Elite Plumed Archer	5
Elite Genoese XBowman	6

Pros and cons of the Britons

✔️ Pros

• Best archers in the game;
• Great discount on town center in castle age;
• Requires less micro control than other archer civilizations;
• Not bad siege units (amount of research, unique castle technology).

❌ Cons

• Vulnerable to cavalry without cover by a group of halberds;
• Sometimes requires micro control of archer army (Retreat from cavalry, siege units);
• The Brits may not feel very comfortable in the late game.

The best tactic for the Brits would be a swift victory in the castle/mid-imperial era with constant raids by archers.

#3 Mongols – Masters of the maneuvering game

The Mongols are an extremely powerful civilization, even in the hands of a less experienced player. It is known for its swift horse archers, who can perform lightning-fast raids on the economy and ensure constant control of the map. These raids prevent the enemy from gaining a development advantage, and with the proper level of microcontrol, the mounted archers / mangudai are able to take out large crowds of enemies.

Economic Bonuses

• Hunting units (deer, boars, etc.) are harvested 40% faster – This gives the Mongols one of the fastest Dark Age economies in the game. Players can reach the Feudal Age very quickly and launch early aggression with scouts or archers. This is especially effective on maps with a lot of hunting resources, such as Arabia or the Serengeti.
• Light Cavalry and Hussars have +30% line of sight – This bonus allows Mongol scouts to spot threats earlier, react to threats faster, and find resources on the map more efficiently, which is important for future raids.

Military Bonuses

• Cavalry archers shoot 25% faster (starting in the Castle Age) – The Mongols’ most important bonus. Mangudai (unique unit) or standard cavalry archers become deadly due to their immense rate of fire.
• Light Cavalry/Hussars/Steppe Spearmen have 30% more HP – Another important bonus that increases the impact of unit mobility in a civilization. Because of the increased HP of units, raids will last longer, potentially increasing the effectiveness of the raid.

Pros and cons of the Mongols

✔️ Pros

• Extremely fast and deadly cavalry archers;
• A gap in the enemy’s defense can be fatal to their economy;
• Very comfortable unique unit – Mangudai;
• Strong economic boost with hunting.

❌ Cons

• Requires moderate microcontrol to effectively use mounted units;
• Weak fleet;
• Limited base defense options;
• Highly dependent on gold.

As you can see, the many pluses of civilization are overlapped by quite a few minuses. However, many new players turn a blind eye to them and enjoy destroying the enemy army with their deadly archers.

The best tactic for the Mongols will be to use a build with a quick transition to the castle era, and then go into mounted archers and light cavalry (Hussars, Stepnians). For a confident victory, it is necessary to constantly keep the enemy under the tension of imminent raids.

#4 Celts – Extremely effective siege army

The Celts are a civilization suitable for players who like direct confrontation with epic battles. All their power is hidden in mobile infantry and fast siege units (onagers, battering rams, scorpions, etc.). For example, playing against a rifle army, the enemy risks being destroyed in just 1 volley of several siege onagers. This gives great fun and good mood for the whole day without heavy microcontrol.

Economic bonuses

• Lumberjacks run 15% faster – Considering that wood is a top-1 important resource, this bonus can be safely called one of the best in the entire game. The constant shortage of wood before the Imperial era is easily compensated for with this particular bonus.

Military bonuses

• Infantry moves 15% faster (starting in the Feudal Era) – This makes Celtic infantry great for both raids and defense. Faster infantry, such as champions or raiders (a unique unit), can easily catch up to ranged units, avoid danger, or ambush them from multiple directions.
• Siege guns fire 25% faster – it is for this bonus that Celts are often taken. Scorpions, onagers, and siege rams, destroy enemy armies (or buildings) before they can fire even a couple shots. In the late game, the Celtic army comes in looking like an incredible powerhouse that hardly anyone can stop.

Pros and cons of the Celts

✔️ Pros

• Best siege units in the game;
• Strong and fast infantry (good for map control and as tanks);
• No wood shortage in the early game;
• Unique unit is effective in raids and fast attacks. Without archers, it is difficult to counter.

❌ Cons

• Weak cavalry and no access to the “chemistry” technology;
• Mediocre archers;
• Bad navy;
• Siege units and their upgrades are expensive and require a lot of gold;
• Difficult to counter players with good microcontrol;
• Requires careful positioning and large armies to succeed.

Despite the numerous disadvantages of the civilization, a clear development plan and a strong army with an economy make the Celts one of the most frequently chosen civilizations among beginners and experienced players.

If you are playing against a player with strong microcontrol, build more siege onagers (>10), this will not allow the enemy to dodge single shots.To achieve 100% success in the game, raiders must constantly keep the enemy’s economy in suspense, as well as take direct part in large battles.

#5 Portuguese – A versatile naval civilization with gunpowder units

Do you like mixed battles in the form of 50% land, 50% sea, or maybe you prefer a game with a predominantly sea landscape?

The Portuguese are definitely your choice. With a wide tech tree and strong late-game potential, they are able to play equally effectively on land and at sea. Let’s take a look at their economic bonuses:

Economic bonuses

• All units cost -20% gold – given that there is never too much gold, this bonus allows you to create a “golden” army with less loss of resources, which is especially important for a gunpowder power, where a large amount of gold is needed to build a fleet or ranged units. This will clearly give you an advantage in the long run.
• Factories (a unique building available in the Imperial Age) – although this is not an economic bonus for the state, we could not help but add it to the selection of economic bonuses and here’s why: Factories are capable of bringing in all types of resources without having anything. The most important condition is their construction and the large population limit they occupy. If the game has dragged on so long that there are no such important resources as stone or gold left on the map, factories guarantee you an almost 100% victory, since you will be able to build a higher-quality army and organize a permanent defense with the help of castles while the enemy is in short supply of important resources.

Military bonuses

• Gunpowder units have +10% HP – This makes the gunners, bombards and organ guns tougher than the enemy. The extra durability helps them survive longer on the battlefield.
• Access to the arquebus (unique technology) – Makes gunpowder shells more accurate and faster, which is very important in battles at the late stages of the game, especially against a large crowd of fast infantry.
• Unique naval unit “Caravel” – is created in a regular pier, but the main difference from regular galleons is its shells. Caravel shells work on the principle of “Scorpion” shells: when hitting an enemy, the shell is not destroyed, but continues to fly forward until the end of the flight range, causing damage to all enemy ships standing along the way. It is the Caravel that often emerges victorious in naval battles.

Pros and cons of the Portuguese

✔️ Pros

• Unique and one of the best fleets in the game;
• Access to all gunpowder units (except unique units of other civilizations);
• Unique building “Factory”, bringing an infinite amount of resources;
• Flexible civilization, capable of quickly switching to another type of units.

❌ Cons

• Caravels have lower single target damage, which can be a problem against fire ships, for example;
• Comparing the efficiency of resource extraction by the occupied limit of a factories with the same limit of peasants, factories extract fewer resources;
• Gunpowder units are vulnerable to enemy cavalry and crossbowmen.

The takeaway for the Portuguese is simple – they are good on any map. If the game is not set in the early Imperial era – put Factories to protect your threat. It is good form to take the Portuguese against any infantry civilization.

I hope I helped you decide on the initial choice of civilization to start the game. And remember: any civilization is capable of outplaying another, the main thing here is to remember the principle of rock-paper-scissors. In the same way, you should rebuild for the current situation in the game, giving the right and timely rebuff to the opposing team.

I would like to separately thank the site aoe2techtree for the convenient display of game information when preparing this article.