How To Play Age of Empires 2 | New Player Guide 2023

[@shaung5339]

Not only are you knowledgeable but also so humble towards the lower ELO community. Really appreciate your vids Hera!

[@pacman_pol_pl_polska]

Stop calling random people on the internet "community". Thanks

[@tinytuco]

@@pacman_pol_pl_polska Nobody should be telling anybody what to do. Thanks.

[@pacman_pol_pl_polska]

@@tinytuco That is the most regarded thing I've read this year. Are you American by any chance?

[@powersource1988]

@@pacman_pol_pl_polska Very likely :P I DO WHAT EVER I WANT!!

[@timii072]

I paradoxally think 90% of the viewers are veteran 1999 players. Anyway it is very well explained

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Targeting the new xbox players!

[@timii072]

@@HeraAgeofEmpires2 oh yes I haven't thought about it. I hope a flow of new players will come play aoe2 on Xbox !

[@smashenYT]

@@timii072 Just got my first 100h in since Dec

[@irishguy0193]

@Hera - Age of Empires 2 Great video dude! Will you talk about water next?

[@believeinmatter]

Im in the 10%

[@believeinmatter]

I haven’t played one of these games in a very long time, but got back into it lastnight and really enjoyed it. As a kid I just explored and did whatever, now that I fully understand the goals it’s still quite fun.

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Amazing!!! Welcome back to the game and welcome to the community ❤

[@believeinmatter]

@@HeraAgeofEmpires2 thankyou! I played for about 2 hours lastnight and really enjoyed how they’ve updated everything. The 3D animations are awesome

[@marcfreeland7231]

The hours go by when playing 4 hour battles 🤣 but I'm a noob. I also used to just mess about but played all these and settlers.

[@Michael_Scarn556]

Same thing, I just found out people still play it and am downloading tonight😂

[@booradley6832]

Fair word of warning: Campaigns are super fun played on normal difficulty* On hard a lot of them are rather scuffed where the difficulty rating means nothing and you will have wild swings in difficulty within the same scenario, as well as it forcing you into a specific tactic instead of letting you attack the challenge how you wish. You'd think its from updating the old content but no, the old content holds up far better than the new stuff. General tips: -Pick 2 civs to practice with at first, then branch out as you feel more comfortable. Generally you want them to be different playstyles i.e. one cavalry one archery civ. Britons and Franks are very popular for this, though a myriad of other choices are viable. -Always make more villagers -You can target practice skills by playing skirmishes on different populations and with different rules. If you want to practice micro, play a 25 population game. If you want to practice sustained production, play a 40 minute truce game on Michi with 500 population. Different settings can help you get the most of the specific situation you want while still practicing general gameplay. -Utilize the resources that are available to you online. Lots of helpful people like Hera have done the work and put together condensed information to help you be able to speed through the painful segments of learning and get to the point that you feel comfortable playing. Dont waste it.

[@alokss]

Thank you, Arthur!

[@MarianoGianni1]

I'm 1500 and watching this very closely, master Hera has spoken.

[@rainbowGZUS7]

Wow you are old

[@spraynardkruger9903]

Damn dude you’re 1500? And I thought I was old for this game

[@liam3128]

it was 2002 when I went to visit my Grandma, my uncle had his room upstairs, he was in his 50s at this time, playing on his Mac PC with the blue plastic back on it. He was playing AOE1...he showed me how it worked, what to do, and let me play. I'm 31 now and and still shit. lmao

[@koichi_nazak]

I picked up Vietnamese really quickly... rush to feudal and just xbow gather... stops anyone from scouting or even coming into your los, then just rattan spam until you get to elite and just rush, the boom is great to be able to hold off knights ( depending on player ) the wood to gold conversion with +2 relics aswell helps produce like crazy

[@countarchvile]

I'm a StarCraft player dipping my toes into AoE and this guide is pretty neat and concise. Thanks a bunch Hera.

[@shastamcnasty2159]

Same, played it as a kid... Never was good just solo campaign... Now in my 40s like this game is surprisingly deep.

[@lordlopikong6940]

Same hahaha

[@Gherkins]

shut up, meg.

[@Concrete_Bogey]

Cheers for the refresher fella! Love the fact I can play this on consol but been that long I forgot how complicated this game is. Still great fun to play. R.I.P. social life

[@hoilokzhuang7980]

28+2 straight castle formula I made it myself if there is any mistake please comment me :) I think if i put it under Hera it more newbies can see 1-6P for sheep 7-10P chop wood 11P one house+loom+boar 12-13P mill+berries 14P house+2nd boar 15-16P boar 17-18P berries 19-20P sheep/boar(depends) 21-22P gold 23-26P deer(if u are good enough use th scout,if cant just build a mill next to deers) 27P wood after eating all the animals,go for 5 farms others go for wood -Feudal Age 1 build blacksmith 2 build market at the same time create 2 villagers 28+2 and go for Castle Age

[@mattdarwin3978]

Started playing on pc back in late 2019 but stopped soon after, coming back now with the Xbox release and am currently having a blast appreciate the guide will be sharing with friends who are new to aoe in general

[@mattdarwin3978]

Also quick question for example if I play Spanish and use conquistadors and the enemy is fielding skirms to counter me should I maybe use hussars ,men at arms, or mangonels in combination or abandon the conquistadors entirely and go for something else

[@DarkMSG]

@@mattdarwin3978 make a stable just in case if he really commits to making alot of skirms and make light cav you don't need to make hussar upgrade since it's expensive or you just cant make it if you are in castle age make a couple knights or light cav. Best and cheap option would be upgrading Conquistadors in blacksmith (archer armor upgrades) and in stable the HP upgrade (bloodlines) after that you just pick off skirms that enemy making in small numbers don't let him get big numbers usually enemy would be throwing away trash units and skirms in panic so if you kill them 1 by 1 you will have the advantage Also no need for men at arms you can make mangonels if you are already pushing the enemy and enemy makes skirms you can take out buildings and skirms it's the best

[@DarkMSG]

@@mattdarwin3978 i was talking about castle age if you are in early or late imperial age best unit to counter skirms are light cav / hussar or onagers (since onagers can kill halbs and skirms) knigths or cavalier would also crash them but if you are gonna throw away units and don't care just make hussar mass

[@ar1sm70]

This one of the best video edits you have ever done I think, good work!

[@undefined6341]

I think Khmer is a great beginner civ. I used to recommend Incas before the villager armor bonus nerf because the tanky vills were very helpful against scrush, but Khmer are good at avoiding many new player traps. (not having buildings to click up, eco deficiency from awful farm placements as apm to manage eco falls off) The house garrison bonus is really strong on 1000 and below level. Their tech tree is flexible enough to allow most of the common openings and stays decent in Castle

[@natnat8393]

Legit perfect timing as my husband has been struggling so far on the console and it's been stressing him (and me who's more experienced) the f#*k out 😂😂

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

LMAO hopefully this video helps, let me know if u or him need anything else 😂😂

[@natnat8393]

@@HeraAgeofEmpires2 awww thanks man lol

[@adnansamivlogs7789]

My brother and I played this so much as kids. It's the best game ever for me !

[@matte3733]

Hera! Love all of your content.. have really enjoyed the recent 2 v 2 games with you teamed with Viper. The banter and teamwork is amazing to watch. You are a huge asset to the Aoe2 community - be very proud mate! Thankyou! 💕

[@ordinaryrat]

Thanks so much for this! I just started playing and this is by far the best tutorial I found!

[@ryans8122]

I can attest to Heras guides, I started watching him a year and a half ago, and yesterday, I played my first ranked games and won all 3

[@Dietmario]

"However, that's way easier than it sounds"

[@pretyboy88]

Picked this up on console and find it fascinating.. I hope someone can make a strategies for console video because the gameplay is similar but just woefully inefficient in my opinion using controller.. certain things are so hard to do quickly or precisely. Like just clicking my trebuchet when it’s bunched with units is like difficulty: epic.. and then quickly clicking all of a military unit to try and micro them when they’re bunched with others is a nightmare so far.

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Ill try to make as many guides as possible, but i dont own a console so ur gonna have to try to follow along as best as possible i suppose. I really hope my guides can help even a bit tho

[@JaredTVW]

Dang, I just discovered this game coming out today. I was so young when I first played this game. So much nostalgia and love for it!

[@cocoflanell]

Thank you so much Hera for all you're doing for the Community!! I feel like this video is usefull if one's already determined to play the game. However, I feel like you could make it more attractive for people who aren't sure if they wanna start that (old-looking) game anyways by.. maybe a little more gameplay (so people don't feel like they just have to watch their lumberjacks during darkage and can't actually do anything until they age up) and maybe also refer to the tournament culture (f.ex Red Bull Wololo or recent events) so they can see that's a pretty up n coming scene as well.. All the best and thanks again!

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Great idea, might make a follow up video about tourneys and such

[@olivertate4983]

Hi Hera, thanks for making up to date guides :) When you do more of your new 'Road to 2k', would it be possible to have a mouse and keyboard camera/view showing how you do regular sequences of actions e.g. ctrl group production buildings, multi queue units, micro crossbows? Preferably with the DE default hotkeys but it would still be helpful with you using your custom ones :)

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Hmm probably not sorry. I tried that once and it didnt land well

[@Carbine64]

@@HeraAgeofEmpires2 there is also the option of having a keyboard overlay on the recording to avoid having to use a camera, if you want

[@laeb08]

I love RTS games, and I don't have the slightest idea how I never even decided to try this game initially back then (I mainly played C&C and RoN). I just downloaded this yesterday. Hopefully, this guide helps me to get started.

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Welcome to the community!!

[@Yora21]

That Hera guy seems to know his stuff. He must be pretty good at this game.

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

I might decide to go pro one day

[@jussi3378]

A promising up-and-coming kid for sure. Having a lofty goal of achieving 2000 elo and documenting his journey here is admirable

[@player1120-pp4yt]

got interested in AoE2 because of my parents, a really beginner-friendly tutorial, thanks Hera

[@fenrir7878]

This game is awesome. Unlike modern strategy games, and recent total war games, there are no OP units. There is not one decisive stack that will have you dominate. In order to survive and win quickly, and avoid trench warfare slugfest with the AI, you have to use strategy. You're not just chugging out heroes or your "best units" you have to think. But once you crack, so satisfactory. You really feel like a king. Lol. So fun.

[@Madoxbeatbox]

Title: New Player Guide Me (1200 Elo): Let‘s watch, maybe I still find a trick

[@emperorkiki]

Great video, maybe say something about good civs to start with for beginners?

[@TokurErdem]

Britons for archers. Franks for knights

[@Igor369]

Hera already did a video on that 3 months ago.

[@edmis90]

@@Igor369 Honestly I think that video could've been a little bit better. Like for example, one civ might be beginner friendly by being easy and/or inflexible while another civ might be good for beginners for learning purposes. He did clarify for what purpose he ranks each of the civs as being good for beginners, but I think it'd have been nicer to group them by those purposes instead of put everything in the same bag and line them up somewhat randomly.

[@MagicNash89]

Is there a 10-20 hour video explaining everything??? Id watch

[@nicolasgg3]

Great content as always! Saludos

[@gunar.kroeger]

And never forget that 90% of us just play to relax, not to win tournaments. Accept that you'll lose 50% of the games and you will have fun on 100% of them

[@grassmonkeyO5]

Beaagrneheyd

[@11---------]

i love the passion you have for this game, thank you for making all of this content, im new to this game.

[@malibuhiegts]

Thanks mate, glad to see this gem still going strong

[@ryanr9923]

Great video!

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Thanks!

[@Dawnrim]

It might be a bit off topic here, but in the final advice/ pointers, I don’t think it would be to much self-promotion to mention to newly arrived people in the community that the pro scene is more vibrant than it has ever been. We have super fun tournament concepts going on almost all the time. With Titans League play offs and NAC coming up, this is a great time to find AoE and get inspired by the competitive scene and content creators of all flavors. Multiplayer can be pretty mentally draining for a simple noob like me, but I keep getting back to it when people like you, T90, SotL or whoever it might be reminds me what a great time it is to be alive as an AoE2 fan - even after all the times I’ve swore to uninstall the game after a humiliating loss :p

[@dade4537]

I literally just paid Microsoft/Xbox money & it's on my credit card statement. Where is the play button located?

[@xiaonaps3529]

Hera: making a video for new players Also Hera: putting deer pushing in the video clip (joking aside, to all new players: aoe2 is a great game that it's easy to start on but also has lots of depth that'd last very long time once you're into it)

[@George_K.]

Funny how you look like a sports instructor on the thumbnail

[@derikaem8021]

I wouldn't necessarily say that UU are always that unique. Imo some UU are very similar to each other, eg woadraider-berserk-karambit, ghulam-huskarl, and to lesser extent plume-rattan, arambai-conquistador, mangudai-kipchak, keshik-leitis-boyar, hussitewagon-ballistaelephant

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

I mean none of those units are exactly the same. Not sure what point your making. Yes there are multiple infantry UU, but point stands they are different Grouping woads zerks and karambits is so wrong

[@derikaem8021]

@@HeraAgeofEmpires2 woad-zerk-karambit seems super similar to me. Admittedly zerk stands out quite a bit with its anti-cav tech. Other than id argue that those units have very similar 1. Armor and hp per cost 2. Damage per cost 3. Speed 4. Units they are good/bad against There is not much space left for differences then imo. The only i can well imagine, is that they might play different roles due to the different playstyles of the civs

[@derikaem8021]

@@HeraAgeofEmpires2 regarding what is my point: its not that i fundamentally disagree with your wording, but just that your wording encouraged me to state my opinion

[@DarkMSG]

but are ghulams better againts walls / buildings? No huskarl is that makes them unique. Like Hera said none of those units are exactly the same Hussite Wagon-Ballista elephant = like what the fuck??

[@ManchmalGaming]

Great guide for the new kids!

[@Shefwjoe]

Great video man

[@LeeBuddy]

1:16 whoa I didn't know you can have trees highlighted! Is that a setting? What is it called? Could save me a lot of frustration I bet.

[@beliyo3564]

Great edit Hera

[@katdog99]

learning to play this game genuinely makes me want to cry and ima grown ass man

[@defeinc]

Beautiful idea for new potential players

[@Dracobyte]

Very good guide!

[@Azablazee]

i just downloaded the game, thanks for making this video

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

welcome to the community my bro

[@kiwi-mf2do]

Wow Age of Empires being a medival wargame is kinda nostalgic. Nowadays I struggle to think of it as a medical wargame as someone who plays ranked and is into to the whole multiplayer scene. Its all about the numbers and timings now and not about the Empire building from humble beginnings. Sigh the immersion is definitely lost.

[@GrGal]

Haha yes… but i’m sure you have different immersion with the game now, not with its background atmosphere as it used to be but with the art of its skill :)

[@Altarin94]

Is this is a WinXP wallpaper in windmill icon? :D 1:06

[@alejandroromero6464]

My advise to new players is not to try the multiplayer mode until they have had fun playing campaigns and single player. Multiplayer mode is not fun. It's competitive, and it won't be fun until you win. As in every sport, when you are more willing to prepare than to have fun, then you're ready for multiplayer.

[@b3nnefits]

I’ve been playing since I was little because all my siblings did growing up, but I’ve never actually been good at it 😂

[@patrickhaide6877]

Nice Video!

[@johndoe-dx2qm]

me and some older work mates have started a discord and they want all us to play this but i’m not sure how to but thanks for helping me

[@coffeepot3123]

I lost a battle on hard difficulty!!... my ego will never truly recover.

[@mikelivingood7797]

I wonder if monks are going to be a big feature in castle age. Hera has been using monks well of late to take his game to another level.

[@hoilokzhuang7980]

monks counter knights

[@mikelivingood7797]

@@hoilokzhuang7980 Many pro players have a love/hate relationship with monks. One game they are having quick conversions, the next they cannot convert anyone. Hera has been using them lately and has only dropped one game in Titans league.

[@MedjayofFaiyum]

Hey man I'm getting destroyed in this game on MP. Feels like I've so much to catch up on. What tournaments do I get on? There's so many it feels like I'm not sure what to join its a bit overwhelming.

[@mysterypee]

At 1:22 is that a mod? If so pls share I want to use that mod :s ty in advance

[@nandofgh]

I played this game when I was a kid and since then it became a legend for me. However I never played it again until a few weeks ago, when I discovered that it had been remastered, so I immediately bought it. Now that I know about the competitive aspect of it, instead of the "SimCity" one, I realize how fucking difficult this game is. It takes so much different actions at the same time that it gets exhausting to play. Thanks for the guide, I was pretty lost in this game.

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Bro welcome back to the game!! Its difficult at first but ill help u with whatever u need trust

[@gunar.kroeger]

and never forget that 90% of us just play to relax, not to win tournaments. Accept that you'll lose 50% of the games and you will have fun on 100% of them

[@nandofgh]

@@gunar.kroeger exactly dude ! This game is so fun and entertaining, specially if you like history. Plus, there's so many civilisations and combinations to pay with that you always want to try something else.

[@henrikgustafsson6226]

I just started to play ranked today actually 2win 2 loss but mainly I'm wondering is there a good easy strategy to aim for ? I can all hotkeys and have a understanding about the game but I want a good start. Good video /Habblo Gl in t90 semifinals tomorrow against lirey

[@mileswhite5672]

So, ive just started and i have a question. Im on the Joan of arc campaign and trying to make loads of soldiers as many as i can to take out the "3 out of 4" castles objective. I had 45 units starting off - sent them to battle - majority died - when i brought joan back safe with like 5 dudes - i could only make about 25 units of soldiers even though i had loads of materials, loads of houses, about 3 fire boats on the river to protect from navy and idle villagers. Just felt weird that my creation qeues were full all the time. Should i make a second town centre ? Orrrr am i missing something about the villager ratio? Im under the impression soldiers are formed from villagers or is that not the case ?

[@SampleMehard]

where do you play? steam? i dont see a ranked play or anything i hear the casters talking about.

[@Yora21]

I actually do have a technical question about the game for which I can't find an answer. For the last few days, any time a building finishes an upgrade, there's a bright confetti effect. Can you turn that off?

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Yes thats called bloom and u can turn it all the way off in the graphics settings

[@_amblypigid7797]

Actually I think there is a mod given out that is automatically activated - if you go to the settings gear on the main menu to the "mods" menu you should be able to unsubscribe from it.

[@ZacharyBlue]

It was the Xbox release event mod. It was given to everyone including PC players.

[@neonblack211]

is there a follow up video to this that gets more in detail?

[@7even77]

Can you advice some civilizations for beginner player? I tried Byzantines, Teutons, Incas, Britons

[@edmis90]

Random question: is there any campaign in which mass scorpions is either viable or good? _I don't have the guts to try it given my troubles with playing the campaigns normally_

[@TheRubenMar]

Maybe on the Suryavarman I as Khmer or Yodit as Ethiopians

[@edmis90]

@@TheRubenMar ngl I didn't expect an actual answer, thx a lot!

[@edmis90]

@@TheRubenMar lol those Ballista Elephants are the most funny unit 🤣

[@TheRubenMar]

​@@edmis90 11 yes, a lot of fun when mass

[@ZacharyBlue]

I did it on the Japanese mission in the historical battles. Think I did it in co-op.

[@nelsonmejiaslozada9362]

i will make life easier of new mates, when you ask something about "what is the best xxx", the answer is "it depends"

[@worldeater161]

"However that's way easier that it sounds" lol that's alright. Awesome video bro

[@mahithelegoda1440]

Thanks man I just for the game

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Welcome to the community!!

[@lashexx2816]

How to develop secondary economy like i mean that when resources run out how to produce more and more food to not run out

[@edmijangos09]

Never have I played a game and wanted so bad to master it lol

[@nimamoradi2779]

10:05 who is that bronze boy

[@DeanArnold1066]

What is the best civ to use

[@vegaslightz1424]

Mann, Ive been missing Stronghold Crusader and don't wanna by a laptop or desktop. Please help, wanna know if this is like Stronghold Crusader

[@rowdyfranken3750]

Quick question, what is the mode you need to play to be able to build multiple town centers? (Looking at friendly custom games here, not ranked I am aware its in that)

[@FloosWorld_AoE]

Any mode that is not "Sudden Death". Town Centers are available in the Castle Age and cost 275 Wood and 100 Stone.

[@salemgraves-w8n]

Is there any differences between hd and definitive edition?

[@kevinj4862]

Do I get anything for destroying a building I no longer need? I also have 5 villagers not doing anything. When I select villagers to highlight then it just takes me to the town center.

[@ImxJHC]

Nice video.

[@tylerdurden783]

0:25 without fuhterdoo XD

[@PoketMon1008]

Age of Empires II is full of Shet man. I would have guts to win the game even on very hard.

[@moumouhigi5837]

what version of age of empires 2 u play

[@cryvro3457]

what mode are u supposed to play

[@carlosd8029]

im new . thank you!

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Your welcome!

[@thomasmuller546]

Hera my aoe Hero

[@Jaco747]

Is the game worth playing without the nostalgia factor?

[@bruhbruh6396]

Hera im having a problem. Im able to produce faster then my enemy and im faster than him generally in terms of age reaching time. However im not able to finish the game like im not able to attack im basically playing a farming simulator. Which one of your videos u would suggest me to watch

[@ihmpall]

Lol arena player

[@bruhbruh6396]

@@ihmpall like legit exactly that happens in arena. my last game was like 1hours and i was a little bit ahead and i was bored so i resigned. Is this normal in arena

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

U have to convert ur faster age up and better economy into military. If ur an age higher u right away look to attack. If yiu have a big economy and thousands of ressources, literally drop 10-15 production buildings and look to get to 200 pop with a fully upgraded army + siege. Guarenteed win

[@porcuspine2368]

@@bruhbruh6396 It's very difficult to know when to attack in Arena (and walled Black Forest, and Hideout, etc.). You have to figure out how to understand the state of your opponent's economic and military strength. For example, if you just defended an attack, that probably means that they invested less into their economy to raise their military, meaning by the time their attack is done you're likely ahead in eco and can go on the offensive yourself. Or, on the other hand, they may be investing so heavily in their eco that they have no means to defend themselves with and will succumb to an attack. Specifically for closed maps, I try to rush as soon as I'm confident I can get their walls down. This could be as soon as I hit castle, or I might not be confident until I get chemistry and trebs.

[@DarkMSG]

@@bruhbruh6396 learn to play aggressive only, all in builds like fast imp turks or portoguese castle drop or sicilian donjon rush on feudal age and make serjeants and boom behind it

[@PauxloE]

I wonder how much of this actually needed update from previous years? The number of civilizations, I guess, but the rest certainly sounds like it was this way for many years.

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

This isnt the guide that is getting updated

[@matercheff]

Been playing since 2005 Gotta show this to the homies

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Get em in here

[@MostDope509]

How do you ping on the mini map?

[@webyankee6558]

Is this game multi-player?

[@anthenyiscool2758]

Jehhs

[@kenanardatanju7757]

we want more guide i still dont know how to play against huscarl +champion combo with mongols

[@PLEBEJones]

I'm in dark age and my opponents have 10 castles and 1 million soldiers 😅😅😅😅

[@JoaoZati]

I omly played age 2 and want to try or age 2 or age 4, age 3 is too complex 😅

[@craigd2352]

I’m installing this as we speak, I’m not sure if anybody would know but is this game similar to social empires? Because watching this gameplay kinda makes them look similar and I’m actually excited to play it now

[@gunar.kroeger]

never heard of it, but you won't regret age. It's the only game I keep returning to every couple of months

[@hinatarl5021]

Did you mean it sounds way easier than it is? Or did i hear that wrong?

[@lepaul26]

Tutorial on the Hot keys?

[@83442handle]

thanks ill send this to my friend FPSRussia

[@FrooNash]

nice video but the music was slightly too loud. i had a hard time hearing the dialogue

[@BumbleBeeTF]

Can you trade with other players in the game? Thanks for the video

[@mr.n476]

yes you can. but only with allies

[@felixxtcat]

Great video, but since you asked, you left out the dock