b. Building and the Economy [AOK3B]

Master Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition's building and economy. Learn about the 4 resources (Wood, Food, Gold, Stone), Villager roles, and efficient harvesting and mining strategies.

Before you set off to conquer all, you must have people to build up your buildings and the resources to fund your large army. This is where the building and economy section comes in.

The 4 Different Types of Resources:

Most RTS games will just give your resources in terms of dollars, but not in Age of Empires II. We have Wood, Food, Gold and Stone to collect. Wood is primarily used to build basic buildings and Siege Weapons. It can be collected by chopping wood and taking the wood to the Lumber Camps. Food is used to train infantry. Food can be obtained by various ways. By farming, foraging, herding sheep, fishing and hunting. Farming and Fish Traps are the most sustainable sources of food. All others can run out. Gold is probably the most important resource. To train the stronger troops like Champions, Knights and Camels, to research technology and to advance through ages, you will need to use Gold. Gold can also be used to purchase the other 3 commodities in the market. To get Gold, you have to find Gold Mines and take any findings to Mining Camps. Trading with your allies with the market and Trade Cogs are also a good way to raise Gold. Finally, Stone is used to build certain strong defensive buildings like the Walls, Towers and Castles. This is why Stone is also very important. Stone is the most expensive commodity in the Market, and the only other way to get Stone is to mine them from Stone Mines (400 Stone for each lump of rock), and returning the findings to the Mining Camps.

Villagers and their Roles:

Villagers come in male and female in Age of Empires II. They cover a wide variety of tasks, and their duty replaces their normal title whenever they are up to something. First of all, Builders are Villagers who are responsible in building various buildings. Farmers plough on the fields and harvest the food, taking them to the Mill for storage. Fishermen will catch fish using simple nets along the shorelines. To catch fish in the middle of the water, you will need to use Fishing Boats. Foragers collect fruits and berries from any bushes they find. They also take the food to the Mill. Hunters are there to kill wild deer and boars. Shepherds herd Sheep from the wild back to the Mills, where they use their hooked sticks to kill the Sheep and collect any tasty mutton they find to the Mills. Repairers are Villagers assigned to fix buildings and Siege Weapons. Lumberjacks chop wood and carry them back to the Lumber Camps. Gold Miners and Stone Miners work on the Gold Mines and Stone Mines found on the map, and take their loot back to the Mining Camps.

Harvesting Food:

Food is one abundant resource in Age of Empires II. There are just too many ways to collect food. They include the Berry Bushes, the wild animals (Deers and Wild Boars), Fishing (Both on Shore and in the middle of the water), Herding Sheep and Farming (On land and in water). Only the latter is renewable. Whenever a Farm or Fish Trap runs out of food, it will go dead, and you will have to order the Villager or Fishing Boat to start a new one. It costs a little wood to start Farms, and you can have basically an unlimited food supply, since wood is extremely abundant.

Whenever you see wild animals, you can order Villagers to kill them for food. The animal MUST be killed by the villager if the food is to be collected. Otherwise, it will just die. Deer have 5 HP while Boars have over 30. The latter also can fight back when you attack them, so you may have to use several Villagers to hunt Wild Boar, or you will suffer casualties. Sheep are much more docile and will come to your side when your Villagers come near them. Never allow Sheep to run alone in the field. This is because an enemy can walk over to the Sheep and take control of them, thus losing them. Collection of Food will only begin when the animal is dead. To make the game realistic, the dead bodies are made to rot. You will notice that whenever an animal is killed, the food counter will drop even if no villagers are touching it. This shows that the food is rotting. To make the most out of your game, have several Villagers collect food from the dead animals, and make sure the Sheep are right next to the Mill before you whack them to death with that hooked stick.

All About Mining:

Both Gold and Stone can be mined. Whenever you see a lump of mud sticking out of the ground with some yellow spots on it, you have found a Gold deposit. Each tile of Gold Mine holds 850 Gold. At the same time, if you happen to find a bunch of small grey rocks on the ground, you have found a Stone Deposit. In any case, it's time to defend the area and build a Mining Camp to start getting these mineral resources out. It is important to guard Gold and Stone deposits carefully, since they are all very limited resources. This is why Mining Camps are likely to be attacked by the enemy, and you had better train several Villagers to collect the stuff from the ground as quickly as possible.

Building and Repairing:

Villagers are the construction units of your civilization. To build a structure, click on a Villager, and select build building. Select the building you would like to build, and move the mouse over the land you want the building to be placed. Click one more time and the land will be plotted for construction, and your villager will go over to the site to start putting up the building. Each building takes some time to set up. The more villager you use on a building, the faster it is finished. While you are building the structure, you can cancel it by placing the stop button. Note that only the unused parts of your resources are refunded to you. For example, if a building costs 50 Wood to build and you cancel it when it is 50% complete, you will be refunded 25 Wood.

Whenever a Building, Siege Weapon or a Ship gets pretty banged up, you can send Villagers to repair it. Just select a Villager and right click the damaged Building or Unit to start repairs. The Villager will fix it with any spare