Top 50 Tips for Age of Empires 4!

Starting Age of Empires 4 can be daunting for new, beginner, or even intermediate RTS players, so I have compiled a list of 50 tips that will get you up and running in no time! Enjoy!

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#AgeofEmpires4 #Tips #AoE4

0:00 - Intro
0:33 - Methodology
1:47 - Tip 1: Focus on Decision Making
2:42 - Tip 2: Using Hotkeys
3:13 - Tip 3: Play the Intro Tutorial
3:26 - Tip 4: Don't Hoard Resources
4:13 - Tip 5: Don't Idle Your Town Center
4:28 - Tip 6: Make Tons of Villagers
4:51 - Tip 7: Avoid Idling Units
5:10 - Tip 8: Be careful with Boars
5:21 - Tip 9: Prioritize Food Sources
5:35 - Tip 10: Learn Build Orders
6:00 - Tip 11: Garrison Units Safely
7:11 - Tip 12: Landmark TC Differences
7:25 - Tip 13: Use Scouts Efficiently
7:43 - Tip 14: Consider Second Scout
8:05 - Tip 15: Refresh Lumbercamps
8:26 - Tip 16: Wall Cost Savings
8:39 - Tip 17: Economy Upgrade Timings
8:50 - Tip 18: Economy Setup for Army Composition
9:10 - Tip 19: Only Siege Units Attack Stone Walls
9:18 - Tip 20: Break Into Quick Walls
9:32 - Tip 21: Build Gates Correctly
9:43 - Tip 22: Wall Thoughtfully
10:17 - Tip 23: Utilize Outposts
10:41 - Tip 24: Build Keeps Effectively
11:07 - Tip 25: Avoid Long Production Queues
11:40 - Tip 26: Pick Up the Relics
11:57 - Tip 27: Use the Attack Move Command
12:49 - Tip 28: Focus Fire & Kiting
14:02 - Tip 29: Research Blacksmith Upgrades
14:21 - Tip 30: Know Unit Counters
14:42 - Tip 31: The Lanchester's Laws
15:25 - Tip 32: Use Springalds vs Siege Units
15:42 - Tip 33: No Friendly Fire in AoE4
15:53 - Tip 34: Different Pop Space for Units
16:05 - Tip 35: Heal Your Units
16:24 - Tip 36: Obtain Map Control
16:54 - Tip 37: Build Lots of Production Buildings
17:23 - Tip 38: Check Your Minimap Regularly
17:38 - Tip 39: Use Your Market for Balance
18:01 - Tip 40: Population Efficiency Late Game
18:25 - Tip 41: Use Rally Points
18:41 - Tip 42: Use Quick Building Mechanic
19:11 - Tip 43: Use Shift-Click Commands
20:07 - Tip 44: Use Ctrl-Click Commands
20:20 - Tip 45: Utilize Control Groups
21:10 - Tip 46: Tweak Centering Options
21:47 - Tip 47: Consider the Panoramic Zoom
21:57 - Tip 48: Read Post Game Statistics
22:13 - Tip 49: Watch Your Replays
22:26 - Tip 50: Watch Pro Games
22:51 - Community Resources
23:03 - Adjust your Graphics Settings
23:35 - Conclusion

[AgeofNoob]

Happy New Year folks! A few months in the making, I was finally able to finish this video and share these tips with you folks — be sure to share it with your friends!

Thank you for the support in the past two years, and more awesome content coming in 2023. Take care and stay healthy everyone! Cheers. <3

[CamfreyFR]

I know that you are currently taking a break from making content for AOE4, but I just wanted to let you know that this videos, and many other ones about this game, have been so much more helpful than any video from other content creators. Thank you for all you did!

[eddypasatrino]

The tip about high APM being superficial was spot on. I used to play against high diamond ranked Protoss players in SC2 who barely scratched 100apm while I was reaching 200+ and they were absolutely crushing me.

[siahmanjoe]

You say speed doesn't matter but the intermediate AI say different

[denmark]

extra tip:
Establish a proper frontline.
One mistake that I've seen even pro player make every now and then, at least in FFA games, is having their entire army production behind their main base walls, but the army itself, is currently fighting an opponent across the map.

Your reinforcements will spend ages to get to the front, and being worth the resources you spent on them. By the time they DO get there, it may be too late for them to make a difference anyway.
Get some villagers to the front, and build a military camp!

Not, like. a singular barracks, archery range and a stable. Nah, get as many as you can, while still being able to actually use them once they're built.

[Naverb]

This is actually a decent intro to aoe4, gives me an idea of what game mechanics are important in it relative to aoe2. Solid video! Was checking your channel since I still await the day you find the free time and desire to host AoNCup4 and was watching old vods for nostalgia :)

[StatedOregon]

That is a great video and with great tips. I had no idea of the control+click thing. I always double click and I hate how sometimes I miss the second clicks cuz of the hit boxes.

One tip I would like to add also is to have one or more practice partners that have a similar skill level, it helps loads. Specially if your practice partner plays the civ you struggle against.

[nrg]

ALL TIPS:
1. Strategy/decision making is worth more than action per minute (apm) or being fast at anything
2. Use hotkeys like selecting all idle villagers, etc. to do mundane stuff easier
3. play intro tutorial (if not already done)
4. don't hoard resources - keep less than a few hundred each in early game, lower than 1k in mid-late game
5. don't idle your town center - keep producing villagers
6. make tons of villagers - up to half population (100 in a 200 pop game)
7. avoid idle villagers and idle military - villagers need to be gathering resources and military can patrol or defend resources and villagers
8. be careful with boars - requires 7 or more villagers to take down 1 boar comfortably
9. prioritize food sources - order of fastest to slowest: 1) shoreline fish 2) boars 3) deer 4) sheep/farms 5) berries
10. learn build orders - like openings in chess - can get you faster to feudal age if you execute them well
11. learn to garrison units - esp. villagers - can select villagers and click seek shelter button - then return to work button
12. first town center has significantly more HP than secondaries
13. use scouts efficiently, gather sheep, see what enemies are up to, never idle scouts
14. training a second scout early game
15. refresh lumber camps by building a second one closer to forest to decrease walk times
16. straighter and longer wall sections are cheaper than shorter and multiple section ones - fewer angles saves resources
17. know when to do economic upgrades to resource buildings
18. setup economy for army composition you are targeting
19. only siege units can attack stone walls (except elephants)
20. incomplete stone walls can be destroyed by non-siege units
21. stone gates actually have directions that matter - typically point gate outward from base
22. put thought into wall designs - do not just encircle your base with walls
23. utilize outposts for vision, defend your resources, deny resources to others - upgrade throughout each age
24. use keeps defensively and offensively - defend farms - deny areas of map - less important in imperial age though
25. avoid long production queues - queue units more efficiently
26. pick up relics - extra passive gold - pick up 2-3 relics on way to castle age
27. use attack move command, do by attacking and moving the ground nearest enemy and not specific enemy or building
28. focus fire and kite with range units by attacking and running away from melee range, repeat - good in early-mid game otherwise amass fire
29. don't forget about blacksmith upgrades - prioritize upgrades for units you have now or plan on having soon
30. know your unit counters - e.g. spearmen counters horsemen, etc.
31. understand Lanchester's Law - military units, dmg outputs, outnumbering is important and not linear
32. use springalds against siege units - insane range and dmg against other siege units - must have before imperial age
33. no friendly fire in aoe4 - use weapons against enemies near allies without consequences
34. units take up different amounts of population space - e.g. siege unit is not worth 1 villager etc.
35. heal wounded military units with religious units
36. obtain map control - learn when to gain control/relinquish control
37. build multiple production buildings - not uncommon to have 5-10 buildings of the unit you are training - can train units 5x faster
38. check minimap regularly - helps react faster
39. use market to balance economy when necessary
40. population efficiency matters in late game
41. use rally points - tell units to go somewhere immediately after they are trained
42. utilize fast building trick - example: build a mill and then spam click the mill with farms to auto place them around mill
43. use shift commands more - quickly queue 5 units with holding shift and clicking queue once, or instruct villager to do 2 different things in succession, tell monk to pickup relic and go to monastery immediately, etc.
44. use ctrl+click - selects all of the same unit immediately, helps separate units
45. use control groups - select units and press number or function key to assign units to a group, now those units become a hotkey selector
46. tweak centering options - when hitting hotkeys to select units or groups you can change whether camera follows or does not
47. consider panoramic zoom level - change camera mode setting from classic to panoramic
48. read post game stats - gather insights on what to improve on
49. watch replay of game to see how opponent won against you
50. watch pro tournaments

[pintglass]

Playing this game series for years and still learning lots of things, thanks brothr

[charliepeterson]

I would love to see Top 50 Tips for Advanced Players one day 🤓

[CrityCrit]

I always wish this game went farther in the future i wish there was a RTS like it with this quality.

[gerrievanhuyssteen]

I only just figured out your tip about remembering to have fun in the game rather than just coupling my worth as a player to wins v losses. That is by far the most important tip in the list.

[mrreconnoiter]

I used to play AoE 1 back in the day. Finally got the new one. This helped a ton. Thanks

[WTP_DAVE]

I have played the game since launch and sat through 19 min to find what i needed, thanks for the tip

[HeavenlyHR]

Thank you for the video! Just got the game and am hopping straight into ranks.. I need to utilize a lot of these pointers! Thank you again !

[matheusyuri]

Tip 51. You can select a unit and una Shift+a pre existing control group number and this unit will be inserted in the existing control group, works also for inserting a group into a existing group

[rhuninn]

Shift + Number adds selected units to the control grouping rather than deleting the previous grouping and creating a new one, great for adding reinforcements at the base to your micro manage groups

[shaunaqpaul]

never get tired of that sweet skyrim soundtrack

[RyanK]

Hoarding resources is my worst habit in this game. I’m sitting on +1k resources as a fallback in case I need to go defensive.

[UnlockedBeret]

Wow. Well worth the long wait! 👍❤️❤️❤️