The BEST Civilizations For Beginners Tierlist

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Edits by K1
/ @k1aoe

[@smugshrug]

"free hand cart means nothing because you guys stockpile resources anyway" savage but the truth hurts

[@geoff8978]

Time code for S tier Brittain : 4:25 Byzantin : 8:22 Francs : 14:00 Goths : 14:48 Lithuaniens : 22:42 Thank you for the video good sir

[@floyd5058]

ty for the stamps cheers

[@sylfraeaveniore2684]

List I compiled since I don't see any along some comments I took note of 0:36 *Aztecs (C-tier)* "If you like Eagles" 1:19 *Bengalis (C-tier)* "Have an amazing late-game" "have to play defensive first" 2:28 *Berbers (A-tier)* "good early and late-game" "easy to lure boars" 3:35 *Bohemians (B-tier)* "strong halbs, siege" "economy hard to manage, free mining upgrades though" "powerful units" 4:23 *Britons (S-tier)* "easy to understand archer civ" "outrange everyone" "good economy" 4:55 *Bulgarians (A-tier)* "easy to play to some degree for low level" "can counter any infantry" "amazing cavalry" 5:36 *Burgundians (B-tier ===> C-tier)* "flemish revolution is dangerous (sub 400 elo)" "fairly simple to play" "cavalier in castle age is a strong option" 7:25 *Burmese (B-tier)* "free wood upgrade great for beginners" "infantry civ" "elephants" 8:25 *Byzantine (S-tier)* "really strong (trash) options" "saves gold" "discounts" "pikes and skirmishers" 9:03 *Celts (C-tier)* "takes 10000 games and selling your soul to the market" "strong infantry, really strong siege" "awkward in a lot of cases" 10:08 *Chinese (D-tier)* "starts hard to manage" "beginners would not understand" 11:00 *Cumans (A-tier)* "can have success with 2-tc boom" "best to abuse from early time" 11:45 *Dravidians (B-tier)* "skirmishers are amazing" "boost of wood after every age" "not having knights" 12:58 *Ethiopians (B-tier)* "easy to understand like britons, but not as straight forward" "has more options (compared to britons, adds complexity)" 14:00 *Franks (S-tier)* "easy to understand" "easier than britons" "very strong paladins" "can put you ahead by just naturally playing" 14:50 *Goths (S-tier)* "best beginner civ" "have a lot of time in low level" "huskarl counter for archer civs" 16:23 *Gurjaras (D-tier)* "beginners can't make use of sheep bonus early game" 17:05 *Hindoustanis (A-tier)* "good camels, hand cannoneer, but no knights" "best counter to cav civs" 17:45 *Huns (A-tier)* "not needing houses is a big bonus" "if you start learning other civs, you have difficulty adapting to not building houses" 18:23 *Incas (B-tier)* "easiest to play meso-civ" "you have counter to everything" 19:22 *Italians (B-tier)* "archer civ" "smooth start, discount to age-ups, wide techtree" 19:47 *Malay (D-tier)* "hard to understand bonuses" 20:20 *Japanese (A-tier)* "easy to understand" "amazing infantry and trebs" 20:53 *Khmer (A-tier)* "strong siege" "ballista elephants great for late game" "if you have trouble placing farms" "does not need buildings to unlock others" 22:00 *Koreans (C-tier)* "tower-style" "not gonna have a lot of success for beginners" 22:44 *Lithuanians (S-tier)* "great gameplan civ" "you wanna go for Relics" "lategame trash is amazing" "150 food free at start" 23:35 *Magyars (B-tier)* "no eco bonus" "late game is good" "no counter to halbs" 24:44 *Malay (D-tier* (refer to 19:47) 24:55 *Malians (D-tier)* "hard to understand why they're good" "too many options" "strength comes from flexibility, which adds complexity" 25:38 *Mayans (B-tier)* "archer civ that can transition to great infantry" "no knights" "double mining needed" 26:08 *Mongols (A-tier)* "easy to understand" "just mangudai" "really good early game" "strong scouts" 26:54 *Persians (C-tier)* "not that special" "not very powerful civ" 27:27 *Poles (A-tier)* "pretty good" "cheap knights" "mining stone and gold is really good" "OP bonuses" "you get a lot of time and overpowered options" "make obuchs and smile 28:47 *Portuguese (C-tier)* "use gold units 4head" "flexible" "feitorias hard to understand" 29:41 *Saracens (B-tier)* "markets are really 69" "have weird power units" "wide tech tree" 30:40 *Sycilians (D-tier)* "No tower" "sarjents are wack" "got nerfed" " 31:23 *Slavs (B-tier)* "good infantry" "cheaper castles" 31:49 *Spanish (B-tier)* "have all the tech tree" "good siege, conquistadors" "tanky vils" 32:30 *Tatars (B-tier)* "have good late game, but hard to understand" "not hard but not the best" 33:26 *Teutons (A-tier)* "really easy to understand what to do" "infantry civ" "can prolly die to archer civs" "knights also really good" 34:07 *Turks (C-tier)* "No spears and skirms" "great gunpowder" 34:44 *Vietnamese (B-tier)* "imp skirmishers" "archer civ" "enemy TC revealed" 35:30 *Vikings (C-tier)* "handcart means nothing for free cuz u guys stockpile anyways" "late game is not very good"

[@sylfraeaveniore2684]

I guess biggest problem with Malay is units will continuously focus on making trash units if they play Malay cuz they are the peak trash unit civ (some gold units only cost food)

[@TacSav253]

Very helpful thank you

[@Rainst0rm4759]

Another thing that makes Lithuanians so good is that the focus on relics also encourages new players (both the lith player and the opponent) to prioritize map control, something they might otherwise forget while trying to build up eco/military.

[@djjazzyjeff1232]

I hate relics, because my friend that I play with has the biggest relic boner you've ever seen, his whole thing is "How do I get a monastery and get as many Relics and quickly as physically possible." He'll have "stolen" mine from my area before I even have one built so I'm like well wtf is the point I'll just focus my energy elsewhere.

[@killbenjiTV]

@@djjazzyjeff1232 My friend does the same, I palisade my relics from my teammate.

[@justincronkright5025]

Have been thinking the same thing & I just made a comment & think that even playing against - not necessarily as, a few civilisations like them can also help a lot. As especially if you watch your replays you can really get a good 'your original idea - your mistake in game' sort of back and forth going at each step (with regards to each aspect).

[@MaryamMaqdisi]

@@djjazzyjeff1232play Burmese and palisade the relics lol

[@simon_does]

Exactly what I needed, practicing up almost ready to try ranked! Thanks Hera!

[@StefanCM15]

24:00 i chose magyars as beginner and i liked the fast unit composition. What's more difficult for a beginner, than handling to raid with fast units? To defend against a raid of fast units!

[@theredbaron28]

One of the reason, I like Hera is, how he cares for the game and helps new comers increase their interest in AOE 2. All the best for Wo Lo Lo Legacy, I will be rooting for you.

[@nunavutstonefist5500]

“If you’re a beginner this should make sense, so MBL this should make sense to you.” After Red Bull Wololo Legends, Hera has NO chill 11

[@saleem2991]

Timestamp?

[@PiperZuko]

I'm sure he recorded this before RBW lol but pretty funny still.

[@booradley6832]

To be fair they are probably the best trash unit to fill out an army with just for bodies. Annoying to chase down, always do damage, counter two of the big dps units (archers, cav archers), distract the AI from more important units and are very cheap. I criticize MbL alot for his heavy gimmick play but I see eye to eye with him here.

[@juncheok8579]

@@saleem2991 12:47

[@Ginge2820]

The T90Farm dig on the Khmer listing was also a great one haha

[@jmrrt1992]

"Can't imagine anyone winning a tournament with Celt paladin" - The one who beat Liereyy with Celt Paladin...

[@spectre9065]

And Deathmatch.

[@maelmoor]

Can never get too many tier lists, good idea with this one, overall, I think it looks really solid! A few thoughts though: - Cumans: I think the concept is so much different that it will be difficult, unless you start with them (then the others may end up difficult instead :D), so would put them a bit lower. - Bohemians: I think they are really difficult for beginners for a few reasons. Yes, the halb spam works well, but otherwise they have difficult units to manage for beginners. Monks, hand cannoneers (especially if you try to them in castle, as it's an odd one out compared to other civs), hussite wagons and houfnice are all units that either are a bit different or require lot of micro and for beginners multitasking and doing micro when lot of stuff is happening is really difficult. When Bohemians were launched people (not just beginners) struggled to play them because they are quite different, it took a good while until players understood and could use their strengths. - Saracens: To use the market is not something most beginners would do, as soon as you add additional elements to do, then it becomes more difficult. In general, units that require more micro, such as CA, monks, bombard cannons are more tricky for beginners, compared to if you can spam halbs and skirms where you also don't lose much value. I also think a bonus for berries is more useful than a hunt bonus for the same reason, it's more of a passive thing, you just build a mill and spam villagers there, while for hunting it takes more multi-tasking and co-ordination skills to benefit from those bonuses.

[@faultier3215]

I am playing this game since 6 or 7 years now and I am ~1550 1v1. A friend of mine started by playing cumans every game, back when they were pretty OP at the beginning. Ofc we played a lot and I have tought him stuff, but within a year he became equal to me and its pretty much 50/50 now between us. My other two RL friends that I have played much longer with are both stuck at 1200-1300. Not sure how much Cumans helped him, but he picked up the game incredibly fast.

[@maelmoor]

@@faultier3215 That is fair enough! I think it's easier if you start with them, otherwise beginners tend to struggle with everything outside the normal, such as the Chinese, Cumans etc

[@andrewneal2249]

Great video! Congratulations on making the semis. Been following along just to see an interview with Knights beating pikes speaks for itself… 😂😂

[@berkeozdizdar2510]

Can't imagine winning a tourney game with Celt paladin "*wins on hidden cup 4*" 11

[@IvanAnikanov]

Just scrolled down to put the same comment here 😀 Actually, I might want to disagree with that statement - yes, Celt paladins lack bloodlines and any special eco bonus, but if you manage to have a great eco - then paladins are really great choice. What I like when playing celts is always mixing in a few knights in early Castle age, because they are so powerful there, but then it depends on how game goes on into Imp. If I still have a decent number of knights I would opt into upgrading them into paladin. Could be just because I'm not too good with siege though 🙂

[@berkeozdizdar2510]

@@IvanAnikanov it's good with Celts because Celt paladin is weak and the opponent will never think that you will go paladin as Celts at imperial age by doing that you can catch your opponent off guard and finish the game, however If some how your opponent gets the idea of youre going paladin and you're lacking scorpions-champions to counter mass halb you're doomed 11

[@Kavou]

It's super fun to play Khmer or any Civ with Elephants, in low elo for new players, usually players panic when they see 20 elephants marching since they are not used to it, and you can take care of halberts with Scorpions not to mention the easy farm spam at early ages, I would say Khmer needs to get higher due to how the meta is on low elo.

[@justincronkright5025]

I've ran into the T.C. even as Vietnamese, because I just didn't queue up enough waypoints for my scout. I made the mistake once or twice of thinking I'd have enough *Free Time* to go back and move it before it gets shot at. But now I run around the T.C. dip in to get a quick look and go back to skirting the edge. Then get back to looking for a few sheep/sow or nearby relics for them (have only gotten 2 practise games in and 1 had them with a pocket-relic, 2 beside their base & 1 in the corner that was CLOSER to me, but with more terrain in the way - leaving me with 1 pocket) so I do check for them quite a bit.

[@milanvanwelden9952]

More tierlists pls, it's great content!

[@changyanwang1625]

Lol Hera fit like 20 inside jokes into the first 5 minutes. "I can't imagine anyone winning a tournament game with Celt paladin"

[@dennisjonker4804]

You probably made SOTL blow a fuse with that Malay/Japanese mistake. XD

[@Phoenix-il5hc]

I started out by playing Spanish and Mayans (in 2004 so not many civs there that time) coz i loved Conqs and Archers or hit and run strats and Mayans double gold comp was my fav(plumes eagles).. and well i don't play Spanish too often but Mayans remains my fav civ to play till now ..

[@mrskinny8555]

Damn, Hera woke up today and chose violence. Those burns are too funny. How are Vietnamese not S class? Hear me out. Great archers, the BEST late game skirms, full halb, tanky elafantos, BBC, discounted eco upgrades throughout the game. Seeing enemy TC is OP for beginners because it makes you learnt to scout without fear of losing your scout to TC which is so tilting. To me that is the whole point of a beginner civ. Helping you avoid being punished for being a noob.

[@124085]

I'd like to add that Vietnamese get fully upgraded knights so a knight rush is a nice unexpected option from them.

[@mrskinny8555]

@@124085 yeh that's true. If you can surprise them it's a great unit to counter skirms and get some raiding in.

[@yeoman1091]

The other bonus is no eco bonus so if you switch off of Viet and go to another civ you won't forget that you don't have that bonus. From someone who forgot to get farm upgrades after playing Frank's so much

[@mrskinny8555]

@@yeoman1091 sorry I don't follow you. Do you mean the wood saving for Vietnamese isn't technically an eco bonus? I can kind of see that. It isn't a direct eco bonus like Chinese extra food on farms, but it does allow you to research eco upgrades you might otherwise not until an age later. So for instance I usually get Double Bit Axe and Horse Collar on feudal which dropping double range because I don't need to spend wood on the techs which I dump into archer's and farms. It's one of those bonuses that is about timing and not really a passive bonus like Chinese farms or Berber faster vills for instance. It's not super strong, but it just helps give their eco a leg up. For that I think I'd call it an eco bonus, and something I'd notice if I played another civ (which I don't because I'm low elo :D ) It is an interesting topic. It's there a clear definition for what is an eco bonus?

[@yeoman1091]

@@mrskinny8555 eco bonuses are resources gathered faster. Like celts chop wood faster or in this case Frank's forage from berries faster, and farm upgrades free. Bonuses that help your economy and up time and don't just contribute to military. The Vietnamese only eco bonus is that eco techs don't cost wood. While kinda helpful it doesn't effect much even in wood saving compared to the Japanese, huns, or malians. Often times even unit cost discounts like the byzantines or magyars don't get counted as eco upgrades cause they only help military production.

[@lucianosoldavini7950]

Nice Tier List!! I just don't agree with Persians in C tier. I think that since they don't work as good at high level a lot of pro players underestimate their power for low-mid level players. Having more resources at the start of the game helps you not mess up your build order and keep the TC rolling and such. You have full knight-line with bonus damage against archer line, full camel and full halb in order to counter cavalry, bombard canon, siege rams, etc

[@Boom3120]

entirely agree. persians have been my go to civ for a while

[@lubey111]

Plus it's much easier to survive if anyone else tries to douche you

[@nw8767]

I love the Magyars and they make great rushes for Calvary and archers

[@NeblogaiLT]

Their free melee attack upgrade is very useful in early feudal and castle, so I'd say this is the main thing that makes Magyars great for aggressive new players.

[@danielmaar8683]

Had to laugh so hard, during your poles review, because that's exactly my game plan, which works so often: Forward castles with cheap knights, as soon as halbadier or pikeman appear just make obuch and just having a way to strong eco😂👌. Works so great

[@RandomNorwegianGuy.]

I love how S tier reflect the ones I automatically went for as a beginner. I often went for Franks because of the OP cheap castles. I also went for Britains alot because that was the only civ that I managed to play more on the offence, instead of defence. But the Byzantines was the one I picked the most. Mostly because of it's wide tech three and the ease of defence and advancing to the next ages. I never played much with Goths. Mostley because I always struggled with mele unit controll (The only exception to this Is If I have Britains where I use both longbows and champions combined)

[@xyh_6930]

"This is beginner list guys. I'm not talking about 300ELO stone walls all the map and then waits for two hours beacause he's eating dinner at a friend's house." LMAOOOO

[@tomascanevaro4292]

That sounds like an awesome time tbh.

[@Si4koTushxD]

Nice, however I would have snipped the bonuses per civ, so that new people can refer to them while you explain. In anyway, loved it.

[@ironbutterfly3701]

I think beginners take civ based on can it steamroll opponents who are at similar level. Learn one build order on it and try. Either you win or lose, but when you win it is fun. For example fast imp Turks. At such a low elo any surprise would generally be the fun option for 400s. Your list makes most sense for someone who is trying to improve like 800+ range.

[@MacNewbieAoE2]

ok now i'm going to compare this list with the general tier one, and see as a beginner I'm which I can work with that could be good to start, and good to keep

[@MacNewbieAoE2]

after checking your other videos i'll give a try to transition from goth into mongols.

[@nicolaslallo1861]

Always thought that CA civs like Mongols were difficult for beginners just cause we dont know how to micro, so Mangudais will always be a lost battle against Knights or Paladins. Also attract deers to the TC with the Scout is kind of hard so. I can be wrong anyway.

[@mordrin13]

I think Wano might fit this theory twofold. Either a fruit user raised the walls to protect the country and it failed, because it wasn't enough or worked but backfired years later when rain water started to gather over prolonged period of time

[@kylebaggett3783]

@hera 2 questions. At what rank are you considered a decent player. And how many games do you have to play to know your true rank.

[@magicmanscott40k]

I picked goths cuz of the sword guy and the big list of bonuses. I'm glad I picked the right one.

[@johnwhitecabbage5177]

thanks for the awesome content Hera!

[@RRXn3oN]

Would love to see an updated tier list :'(

[@MagixxDOPE]

I kinda fell for aztecs and playing them ever since I started a couple months ago, time to Learn something new 🤓

[@Nobody54545]

About to teach my wife how to play this game. Thanks for making this video!

[@212mochaman]

I can tell you EXACTLY what the best civ is for this ^ beginner. Whichever one has the Cobra Car as a unique unit

[@MaryamMaqdisi]

I find Chinese simple to play ever since the expansions added extra line of sight to their TC, finding sheep super early and researching loom can mean no idle time even for a somewhat noob player. Assuming you know you need 7 vills on sheep for constant production I think it’s fine. Before the LOS buff it was a pain for me as a noob though.

[@resu2026]

koreans and vikings should be higher imo, because their gameplan is actually easy to understand and their unique units are pretty good

[@hatemsoldar2398]

Hi what version of aoe 2 you guys are playing i purchased one and it doesn't have a lot of this civs?

[@AGoodLittleSub]

Honestly, on lower levels, I would prefer the Ethiopian firing rate bonus over the britain range bonus (but the archery range workrate bonus makes them stronger again, in my opinion). Using the utility of outranging your opponent would mean having rather good micro, besides the fact that you get your first shots off earlier. That should be equalised by the high dps of Ethiopian archers, especially when counting in thumb ring as well, quite easily I think. The eco bonuses don't necessarily feel like one is stronger than the other on a lower level to me, Britons will just bring in early res faster, Ethiopians get extra res which (especially the food) usually aren't too well destrubuted at beginner levels arriving in each age, most of all feudal age. Ethiopians to me is just as strong as Britons on beginner levels, as they make it so easy to go for men at arms, archers with high dps, pikes, and have a rather cheap, enormously quickly trained, fast, high dps infantry UU.

[@djjazzyjeff1232]

The only thing could be is that Britons are an OG civ and haven't changed virtually AT ALL. Someone who played the Britons as a kid could pick them up in a jiffy.

[@ageofstrange657]

Malian high pierce armor swordsman line should be pretty potent at lower elo, shouldn't it? They should at least be C-Tier in my opinion.

[@sieg021]

Man, how it is possible for you to be in Quarter Finals of the Red Bull and doing good quality videos like this one at the same time,wow! Nicely done!

[@booradley6832]

also after he 3-0's MbL the joke at 12:50 is brutal lolll

[@williamschubert4819]

There is a possibility he lined this up to upload while he was away.

[@factsdontlie4342]

@@williamschubert4819 I had a coworker who did this with emails. She would send at 10:57 so people would think shes working late. I actually worked late so I knew she was faking when she wouldnt respond to my emails. She was a saleswoman and everything about her was so fake haha.

[@williamschubert4819]

@@factsdontlie4342 wow that's extreme. It's very common for youtubers to make videos weeks in advance so if they get sick or can't make videos somehow they have things to upload.

[@karnazacss]

Lol, is programed uploading and also he has people working for / with him.

[@Grandloser1]

The best is the shade at t90 for his farm placement

[@IndexInvestingWithCole]

Hera you made a video on "Ideal Unit Composition For Every Civilization". Could you make a similar video for team games? With access to trade so you can go all gold composition and your allies being able to handle some counters. Or would the list just be very similar?

[@The_Room_2_Doggys_Revenge]

Since in team games you have the flank (archer) player(s) and the pocket (cavalry) player(s), each player foes for their strongest unit which complements the other player(s) unit : arbelests or archer UU for the flank, paladin or other strong cavalry for the pocket, with either one going for some siege as well

[@mikel839]

While these are civs that are going to help get wins the fastest when starting to play ladder games, I'd recommend different starter civs for learning to play the game. Start with civs that are more generic with a diverse range of options and not a lot of eco or military unit bonuses. This will help you learn to execute build orders, adapt to what is happening in the game, and play the game without civ specific handicaps. (This is why standard build orders for dark age are often practiced using Saracens). Then, once you have this understanding, you'll be better equipped when you start playing more specialized civs (Imagine learning the game as huns and then having to get into the rhythm of building houses when you want to branch out). 1. Magyars - No major bonus except cheaper scouts and free attack upgrades, diverse tech tree with FU Palladin, Arbalest, and Heavy Cav Archer 2. Italians - No major bonus except slightly cheaper age up, have good cavalry and archer lines 3. Byzantines - No eco bonus until clicking up to imperial age, cheaper trash probably doesn't change your gameplay a lot. Diverse tech tree 4. Incas - Most generic of the American Civs if we have to put one in. Small eco bonus with houses and free lama. FU Arbs, Eagles and Halbs Cheers!

[@WizardyDylan]

malians is my most played as a beginner because of their broad set of tools and even matchup spread means i never have to pick a different civ if some bullshit becomes meta. picked them up in cumans meta for at least having some answers to that garbage

[@brettturner4488]

It's all about the cav in low elo. Frank paladin is amazing. Huns are also amazing because they have great cav and don't have to worry about houses

[@factsdontlie4342]

I agree. I play infrequently and am bad, but all I have to do is play a cav civ and attack on two fronts.

[@smellyhhh]

Nice, Hera throwing Jabs left and right at other players, love it. :D

[@deanr6327]

lmao that MbL shade came out of nowhere

[@dimitrisdimitriadis4913]

As an embarrassingly low elo player, Britons are D tier because archers are hard to micro and outranging everyone doesnt matter if you cant micro. Aztecs are S+ tier because you only need to focus on infantry upgrades (and maybe a tiny bit of skirms, monks or onagers) and you have a counter for every situation (eagles for raids, jaguars for infantry, pikes for cavalry, skirms for (cav) archers, champs for when you're winning but the enemy is not gg'ing). Plus you have slightly better villagers, and the carrying bonus matters more the worse you are at replacing lumbercamps, placing farms properly etc

[@dangerousjet7577]

Guys are lithuanians good? Im like 1000/1150 elo and i usually play 2vs2 with them what do you think about them in 2vs2? Are they worth?

[@badboy1O8]

Koreans are a really good beginner civ because towers are common, and nobody at around 1000 elo knows how to counter war wagons. Free archer armour, which beginners commonly forget. And faster stone mining is very helpful to build panic towers and castles

[@fahim-ev8qq]

How do you counter WW

[@badboy1O8]

@@fahim-ev8qq knights, monks, camels, siege onager

[@jakubk8139]

Can't imagine winning a tournament with celt paladins.. najs:)

[@latarucha7330]

Buen video pibe!

[@icecoldchilipreppers]

I'm here for this one! 🙌

[@JaDa9596bird]

Not new to the game, but probably a beginner by online standards - I find that archer civs are pretty difficult to play at my level (850-900 or so elo). I don't really have the speed to micro much, just patrol units in and hope for the best. Works great with cav and infantry, but archers just die immediately.

[@Serster13]

Hello, I saw you recommended your Bengali guide, but I'm unable to find it, could someone please link it.

[@thegreenpianist7683]

I love how this video is half ranking the civs and half just roasting us plebs 11

[@climaxam]

I just started playing and play the Burmese. Rush to Castle and build as fast as possible three Monks to go and get the relikts. The moment I have all relikts and the timer appears my opponent surrenders. Guess thats not the way I should play the game, but hey - a win is a win.

[@juansarazacanflanca9071]

Alternative title: "Hera bashes beginners for 37 minutes straight". Kidding, I want to reintroduce a friend to the game and this was actually pretty useful, thanks!

[@niknitro8751]

I agree with most of your List. But a few things i would change are: -Dravidians definately D tier. No Stable, no obvious strong option to to except skirms wich just die to cav. -Mayans A tier. Full archers is easy to do. Discount is very nice. Plumes are very strong and eagle transition is not too hard to pull of. -Persians top of A tier. Scouts into knights is easy to do. Faster Tc is very good for 1 TC play. Mor TC HP helps a lot when under immense pressure. And full Cav + Trashbow is very hard to stop for most beginners. -Spanish S tier. Second only to Sicilians in Castle drop. Conqs are insane. Cav is very good and halbs too. Scouts into Conqs is one of the most straightforward builds that is very hard to stop. -Slavs right behind teutons. Faster farms strong Scout rush, cheap castles amazing halbs. -Magyars right after huns. Cheaper Scouts and free forging for the best beginner scout rush. wolf protection, only civ that gets fully upgraded arbs and Palas. Best CA of the game and best Unique Unit. Eco bonus doesn't mean anything because at that level inefficiency is anyway more impactful than any bonus. Plus you learn without bonus and then switch to a civ with bonus you gonna be even better. And finally Vietnamese Top of A tier right behind Berbers. Tankier archers are amazing in daut micro fights and can even take a mango shot. Stable is good. Tc vision bonus is very strong. Imp skirms too. And no wood for eco upgrades helps a lot especially going into castle age. To sum it up every civ that can do either Sc into Knight or archers or straight archers very well is very good for beginners as those are the easiest builds. Any Maa, Drush or Boomy lategame civ is bad because those need way more multitasking and eco balance to get to Castle in time and defense is much harder to do than offense. Anyways very cool video. And good luck for the semis. And please tell Liereyy:"Mia san vui stulz aufn Buam!"

[@warbreakr]

Doubling down on knight counter pikes in early castle age ;) love ya

[@szombatimarcell9961]

Magyars are pretty good. Tbf. They encourage doing raiding. Otherwise they (I mean WE) just sit home and do nothing to keep our enemies from booming. The 7 attack scouts in feudal are insane

[@icykiwi6650]

It’s funny because I choose goths as my First Nation because I saw “infantry” and I was like “perfect, I’m going to spam infantry until I win”

[@thelatestartosrs]

I told my new friend to play franks, I play lithuanians, and my other friend plays britons which I don't like at all but ends up in S tier too

[@russtkach9068]

Great video Hera!

[@vibhavvashishtha1484]

Congrats on qualifying for semi finals 😀.. rooting for you to bring the trophy

[@ageofstrange657]

Japanese: mentions Spirit of the Law ("youre gonna feel good when watching his videos" LoL) Khmer: mentions T90... 11111111111111

[@derikaem8021]

serjeants is super strong for beginners. It's a unit that mostly just gets countered by mobility, which on beginner level doesnt work consistently

[@ivairrgs]

yes, but they are very expensive and tricky to get into. I love sicilians but a throw a lot of games trying to force Serjeants, hehehe.

[@derikaem8021]

@@ivairrgs because youre not a beginner maybe?

[@ivairrgs]

@@derikaem8021 I'm a casual, hehe. Almost the same, I just love silly strategies.

[@derikaem8021]

@@ivairrgs i think many players underestimate themselves. im around 1k-1k1 and sometimes i chat with my opponent after the game and he says were noobs. thats nuts. mostly we both have over 1000 games and play several times a week. idk about you, but i know that people use terms 'casual', 'beginner', 'noob'... inflationary

[@matium1528]

I would have made 2 tiers: 1. Best Civilizations for Beginners (to learn to control the basics: market, relic, fishing, boar lure, sheep & farming, siege, rock-paper-scissors, straight forward strategy or easy flexibility): Berbers, Britons, Byzantines, Celts, Franks, Goths, Japanese, Lithuanians, Magyars, Mongols, Persians, Saracens, Slavs, Teutons, Vietnamese. 2. Bad Civilizations for Beginners (with a twist or that can develop bad habits): Aztecs, Bulgarians, Burmese, Chinese, Cumans, Ethiopians, Huns, Incas, Italians, Khmer, Koreans, Malians, Mayans, Malay, Portuguese, Spanish, Tatars, Turks, Vikings, Bohemians, Poles, Sicilians, Burgundians, Dravidians, Gurjaras, Bengalis, Hindustanis.

[@mpetrov2402]

Can you explain why the listed civs develop bad habits?

[@siouxspicious2979]

Can someone tell me why Malays have a relationship to japanese? Iam a beginner and i dont get it really. Are the Malays now deleting Japanese or is it the other way round? Even with attack speed i dont think they have a answer to cheap elephants in Castle Age, other than tie with Bowmen or sth no? Thank you if you found this comment and helped out! Because i like Malays and want to learn about em. *you didnt talk too much about Malays and got distracted, as you picked Japan

[@xandernorwood7383]

My elo shouts beginner though I played since I was three which was like 2011 on the original age of conquers disc

[@WinterAlekz]

As a beginner with moderate rts experience under my belt I’ve found the Spanish to be great

[@cactusman1771]

I started a few years ago with DE as Spanish mostly because I like gunpowder/monks. Then they released Bohemians and I've mained them ever since. (I like monks because it reminds me of C&C red alert 2 playing as Yuri)

[@hansoskar1911]

I think Celts is a little better than you give it credit bc on that level nobody can dodge a Mangonel. And in the lategame its good to have the power concentrated in 5-10 units and the rest really doesnt matter that much. way easier to micro than big piles on units.

[@thenofxlagwagon]

Counter argument; nobody is good enough to protect their mangonel

[@nothankkyou3176]

@@thenofxlagwagon this is me. I invest big into mangs and my infantry gets pulled out of position while I'm macroing back at home

[@thenofxlagwagon]

@@nothankkyou3176 Exactly!

[@lubey111]

@@thenofxlagwagon Also, mangonel + infantry often results in a lot of friendly fire if you don't have good micro

[@thenofxlagwagon]

@@lubey111 If by "often" you mean "always" I agree 100%

[@tag180rotax]

Beginners and survivalist love pike skirm 😂😂

[@afrogabOP1]

How do you feel for your duel with tatoh? Regards from Chile

[@TheNethertyp]

Best Post-Imp Civs in Team Games please ❤ or Civ Voice Lines Tier List 🤣

[@youcanthandlethetruth5433]

Saracens and bengalis F tier. Annoying buggers. Davidians S tier. ENNACUTALAY

[@TheNethertyp]

@@youcanthandlethetruth5433 Vikings S tier. RADIDAA!!!

[@WBeraa]

Burgundians is noob friendly assuming your opponent is also noobish because flemish can more easily overwhelm them

[@TheSpiritedFendron]

as a beginner that mains Malay, Two-Handed swordsman goes *brrrr*

[@damianvergaradominguez8484]

I think vikings deserve more, at low levels people make too few vils and eco techs, so being able to be productive with few vils is great

[@NowhereMan7]

Every time I watch a LEL game they stop producing villagers at 50 or 60 max. Its the strangest thing. Is it that they think economy is for advancing up through the ages so once you reach Imperial age, there is no point in creating more eco? Also the stockpiling of resources and never using the market to balance economy. They just stop around 50 vills and the resources accumulate😅

[@OneOfGaryBuseysTeeth]

Hera, im new to aoe2 aside from playing a little as a child and it definitely is different on Xbox, micro feels way harder and the controls feel sluggish. That being said that's not why I suck 😂😂 but I would love to learn more tips and find a community on xbox to play with, do you have a discord/ Xbox server?

[@beetoven8193]

"If you're like a beginner player, or T90, Khmer." LOL Burn.

[@derikaem8021]

CA+hussar is good, because people believe they could counter it with halb. however, CA+hussar is counter-intuitively better vs halb than arb+hussar is, because CA have so much more dps with parthian tactics. and the bonus damage that CA take from halbs rarely matters because hussars will take the damage first

[@SparkDragon1480]

Hera! I'm a beginner from Colombia, Cheering you to win Wololo Legacy! You are the best player!

[@derikaem8021]

you forgot the best beginner thing about ethiopeans: shotels allow you convert your masses of stockpiled resources into army extremely fast. and there's not even a strong counter to that

[@rurouniad]

Goth long sword…. Otherwise you are correct..

[@derikaem8021]

@@rurouniad elephants, or generally strong melee units. Ranged units fall flat though, when heavily outnumbered

[@rurouniad]

@@derikaem8021 I agree. I also would agree that you have to be prepared for the "tech switch" as goths when playing against Ethiopians. You get your 5 / 6 huskarls on the field and as you are prepping for your imp you look for a castle just in case he tries to end you in late Castle.

[@robertbryant173]

is this for the Xbox version of AOE?

[@Dicaso9]

its valid for any version, the balance is the same

[@GreenKookie56]

He put Persains at C Tier. The "start with +50F 50W" bonus:*leaves the chat

[@ryanforgo3500]

For me chinese was the easiest start 😂 because i had no reason to space out with them unlike the other civs lol. I still space out UNTIL this day when i play a slow starting civ which makes me like chinese start where i can just fill the empty space with food drop off and such

[@jesse.livermore]

I'm thinking about Huns and Mongols... can beginners control cavalry archers well?

[@Cristuuu]

as a beginner myself I can say britons are weak for beginners, they make longbowman and get stomped by anything since they dont micro and make only 1 kind of troop. i'd say persians, incas and saracens are the best, you can make only 1 unit (kamayuk, war elehphant, mameluke) and still win, building two different types of units is very advanced and hard to deal for us beginners

[@tylerhalley6927]

Oh this is the one I needed

[@faultier3215]

3:30 - "...but if you got a weak knight, you can heal it up though" - sure thats what beginners do

[@misanthrophex]

As a Lithuanian I can say that AoE is the only place where we seem to be loved lol

[@FullOilBarrel]

franks op as fuck

[@polvorines100]

Where is the ultimate guide to bengalis?

[@twheelchairracer26]

I don't know if its just me, but I jumped into ladder a day or two ago and was immediately put at 900 ELO, decided to stop playing age as that was my first time doing a competitive game and it really sucks starting so high. So as far as I know, beginners are at 900elo and its only after multiple games are they either lower or higher.

[@MarianoGianni1]

I started at 900 too and I'm 1400 now. Lost at lot of games but quickly came back. The most important things is to learn the basics.

[@DoMeASolid]

Burgundians do have Hand Cannoneers with 25% higher attack as an option for countering halberdiers.

[@karnazacss]

Disagree with Ethiopians. Free resources + free instant pikemen + bonus arbalest deathball makes them top A tier for beginners.

[@MarkApperson]

If there is an E rank Bengalis should be on it lol... no idea what to make with that civ

[@xiphonos1115]

Not what to do? Go Castle Age build some Elephant Archer and in the Late Game only Skirms, Halbs and Monks hard Counters. You roll down most of the enemies with this civ. Monk Rush with Elephant Archers are a Option cuz they have good monks.

[@pbsoccer2]

My 2 cents for beginner civs to learn builds/strategy for each unit type: Britons for archer civ Franks for cav civ Huns or Tatars for CA civ Slavs for Infantry civ Turks or Bohemians for gunpowder civ

[@M3ntalVib3z]

T90 caught a fucking 50cal outta nowhere 20:55