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Starting Units: 1 Town Center, 3 Villagers (2)
Age of Empires IV

Starting Units: 1 Town Center, 3 Villagers (2)

Learn the essential first steps in Age of Empires IV! Discover how to gather wood, fish, and build your economy effectively with your starting villagers and Town Center.

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Learn the essential first steps in Age of Empires IV! Discover how to gather wood, fish, and build your economy effectively with your starting villagers and Town Center.

Alright, let's get you started in Age of Empires IV! This first part is all about setting up your economy right from the get-go. You'll start with a Town Center and three Villagers. The main new things to know are that you can now go fishing and that elephants are around, which are a great source of food.

Walkthrough
  1. 1
    First things first, grab two of your starting Villagers and send them straight to chopping wood. There are plenty of trees nearby, so this should be easy.
  2. 2
    Use your third Villager to start fishing. Look for a spot along the shore where you see fish jumping out of the water – your Villager will automatically spear them.
  3. 3
    As soon as you have enough Food to train another Villager from your Town Center, do it! More hands make light work. Send this new Villager to gather more wood.
  4. 4
    You'll need 100 Wood to build a Dock. Once you've got it, have one of your Villagers construct a Dock near the water.
  5. 5
    After the Dock is built, use more Wood to create two or three Fishing Boats. These will be your main food source from the water.
  6. 6
    Eventually, your shore-fishing Villager might run out of fish. When that happens, switch them over to gathering wood.
  7. 7
    Once you have about 150 Wood, build a Storage Pit. Place it near the large group of trees south of your Town Center.
  8. 8
    To advance to the Tool Age, you'll need 500 Food. If you're not there yet, build two Houses and then start training a bunch more Villagers. Aim to have about nine Villagers for a hunting party.
  9. 9
    Head south along the coast until you find an elephant. These are fantastic for Food! With nine Villagers carrying about 90 Food each, you'll strip an elephant clean in no time.
  10. 10
    While your Town Center is researching the advance to the Tool Age, keep hunting. You might even find a Lion or another Elephant (there's one west of your Town Center) to keep your food supply topped up.
Tips
  • Don't neglect fishing early on; it's a steady source of Food.
  • Elephants and Lions are great for a quick Food boost, especially when you need to hit a target number for an age-up.
  • Keep training Villagers to expand your economy. More Villagers mean faster resource gathering and building.

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