Byzantines make great support in team games, as they have several defensive bonuses that can aid their allies. Both the terms "Eastern Roman Empire" and "Byzantines" are modern historiographical terms that refer to the empire and its inhabitants respectively and were developed years after the fall of the empire's capital, Constantinople, in 1453 due to the invasions of the Ottoman Turks. In the original game they only lacked the Blast Furnace technology, while in the expansion they are missing several others but are still remarkably advanced. With their team bonus increasing Monk heal-speed, the player can also keep some Monks around to make up for the lack of Herbal Medicine.  The Age of Kings Maybe the best teammates for the Byzantines are the Mayans (as their team bonus will make the strong Byzantine walls cheaper), the Vikings, the Japanese or the Malay (if playing on water maps), and the Indians (which will add their anti-building bonus to the cheap Byzantine Camels). It also counters the light cavalry of many other civilizations (like the Magyars, the Huns and Mongols), and even the camelry of prominent camel civilizations (like Saracens, Berbers and Indians). In enclosed maps like Fortress, Arena and Hill Fort their building HP bonus gives them a huge edge as they start already walled preventing enemy raids inside their town for a while. Although Byzantines have a complete Stable unit tree, their Stable units are considered weak because they lack Bloodlines and Blast Furnace upgrades. All together, due to their wide technology tree and wide array of bonuses, the Byzantines are hard to anticipate in multiplayer games. This is referenced by the Byzantines being the only civilization with access to all naval upgrades and technologies (along with the Spanish), their Fire Ships attacking faster, and their Castle Age unique technology Greek Fire, which grants Fire Ships +1 range. aoe2 byzantine strategy On October 19, 2020 by . They are perfectly capable of Dark Age rushing (drushing) or Feudal Age rushing (flushing) if they want to. In "Sudden death" games, where the main objective is to destroy the single Town center of an opponent, Byzantines also have an edge, as theirs are bulkier than average. The skirms rush really efficient vs other civs #4. Their buildings have bonus hit points which increase with every age advance. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. Focus Although classified as a defensive civilization in-game, they are a versatile civilization in practice, relying on a wide variety of units of all categories for both offense and defense strategies. A guide for new players how to play The Byzantines in competitive multiplayer. Created military units are not counted in Pop. House walls are super strong and it does make smushing byz harder on arena. Technologically they are the one of, if not the, most advanced civilizations in the game, as they can research almost every technology. When playing a random map game against the computer, the player may encounter any of the following Byzantine AI characters: Historically, the Byzantines referred to their empire as the "Roman Empire" or the "Kingdom of the Romans" (Greek: Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων), "Romania" (Greek: Ῥωμανία meaning "Land of the Romans"), "Graecia" (Greek: Γραικία meaning "Land of the Greeks") and "Rhōmais" (Greek: Ῥωμαΐς). The game is about countering whatever your enemy has. these includes Britons, Japanese and Magyars (of course once they get to Imperial this advantage is no longer a problem for them). - 10th villager chops wood by LC. Byzantines is the only civilization in Age of Empires that is perfectly balanced in terms of technological superiority and units. They excel defensively but they don't have as many offensive bonuses to aid them while attacking, since they lack Blast Furnace. Unique Unit: Jaguar Warrior (infantry) Unique Techs: • Atlatl (Skirmishers +1 attack, +1 range) • Garland Wars (+4 infantry attack) Team Bonus: Relics generate +33% gold. To reflect this, all their buildings become tougher with every Age for free, and don't need to research Masonry and Architecture. UNIQUE UNIT: Cataphract. None. 5 1 15. comments. Typically, Byzantines will try to reach the Castle or Imperial Age as quickly as possible, since that is when their tech advantages shine. Architecture If you know how to do any feudal rush well beating the AI is extremely easy. when other civilizations use "Your command? The majority of units should speak Greek but the Kings should speak Latin. In addition they have access to all defensive buildings and their counter units have bonuses, making attacking them even … ", or using "Hunted" instead of "Hunter" or "To hunt". Update 39284 reduced the food cost of the Elite upgrade of the Cataphract and the Logistica technology to 1,200 food and 800 food, respectively, encouraging their use. Both of these are units which byzantines dont really want to go for that often, especially CA but its not too far fetched for them to go for the units given the CA is innately powerful with its high attack & even the fat cavalier that the byzantine paladin is, its still powerful. Their unique unit, the Cataphract, excels at killing infantry but can take on almost any unit due to their large attack and armor. If an ally attempts a Wonder or Relic victory, is recommended that the Byzantines support that player with Walls, Towers, and Castles. Sorry about how long this video turned out to be, but I had to correct some mistakes I made in previous videos! A team containing Byzantines: Monks heal 1.5x as fast as normal. The Byzantines spoke Latin in AoE2. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. Introduced in With an open tech tree and a wide variety of tactical options, most team bonuses will benefit the Byzantines at some point of the game. In a one-on-one situation, the Byzantine Heavy Camel Rider loses to a Paladin with the Bloodlines upgrade. These units give them effective counters to cavalry and archers, working alongside the Cataphracts' devastating anti-infantry ability. The Byzantines appear in every scenario of the Alaric campaign, in both the original version and its Definitive Edition remake. Age of Kings Heaven » Forums » General and Strategy Discussion » Byzantine Strategies in AoE2 FE: Bottom: Topic Subject: Byzantine Strategies in AoE2 FE: Happyshinobi Squire posted 11-10-14 08:10 PM CT (US) I've been away from this game for awhile and I want to get back in the groove of things. The Byzantines are a Southern European civilization in Age of Empires II (Middle Eastern before the Definitive Edition). The Byzantine team bonus makes monk support more effective, as the monks can heal faster. The Byzantine units in-game speak Latin, which they share with the Italians and the Briton Monks and Kings. As Cataphracts are a big target with low than average conversion resistance civilizations with good monks can convert them such as Slavs, Aztecs, Saracens, Spanish and Burmese. Yes, they're expensive, but so is massing and upgrading Cataphracts. Being a civilization able to perform a potent Tower rush supported by cheap skirmishers and Spearmen they have an advantage against civilizations with bad early game like the Turks, the. - 9th villager chops wood by LC. Skirm and scouts at fuedal for harass and scouting, to completely deny archer play. The following list shows every campaign appearance of the Byzantines: In the Attila the Hun campaign, the Byzantines feature in every scenario. This unit traced its roots to the 6,000 Rus sent to Emperor Basil II by Vladimir of Kiev in 988. Their buildings have bonus hit points which increase with every age advance. When a cavalry unit attacks the Disrupted unit, the Shock buff applies and the enemy unit is dealt twice as much damage. Unique technologies This video is another in my series of civilization overviews for AoE 2 HD and Forgotten Empires. Byzantine cheap trash units, so build around that. However, gunpowder units have a few weaknesses: 1. The Byzantines' primary strengths are defense and their ability to effectively counter a variety of troop types (infantry, ranged, and cavalry). Also the Korean Turtle Ship is a good response to the Byzantine Fire Ships. Standing out are their excellent navy, Monks, and economy, with only a single technology missing (Herbal Medicine) in all three branches put together but with handy perks like Greek Fire and an increased healing speed for Monks. They fought with several weapons, including the bow and sword. share. With plains to the east and north of their empire, the cataphract was ideally suited for combat against unarmored cavalry of their enemies. https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Byzantines/Strategy?oldid=281365. A Byzantine military will likely be composed mainly of mounted units as they have full cavalry technologies (excluding Bloodlines), but due to their large amount of accessible technologies, they can effectively create any kind of army. EuropeAsia The Byzantines inherited advanced construction techniques from the Greeks and Romans. Despite this, the Byzantines can still perform a Tower rush (and can partially circumvent this nerf, as their HP bonus still applies); it is just a bit harder to make it and succeed. Byzantines are versatile, but have a few weaknesses. Like most build orders, this does not include many small details, so if you’re a new player remember to: Make houses (build 2 houses at the start) Scout your map, you need to find your 8 sheep and 2 boars. Byzantines have a nearly-complete tech tree, allowing them to do pretty much whatever they want, instead of being limited to one or two particular strategies like other civilizations. Jan 4, 2018. Due to its trample damage, overall good statistics, and attack bonus against infantry, the Cataphract is probably the unit with the fewest weaknesses. Byzantines have already a nearly complete tech tree and in this expansion this tech tree is furthered with the addition of the Arson and Arrowslits technologies which in this last case furthers the defensive capabilities of the already strong Byzantine towers. There are also some obvious mistakes in-game, such as asking "I command?" So I suggest to go into your civ strengths and than just add counters to their counters. Working against these disadvantages are their discounts for Camel Riders and Pikemen. https://www.forgottenempires.net/age-of-empires-ii-definitive-edition/civilizations/byzantines, https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Byzantines?oldid=294462. Buildings have 10% more HP and gain +10% more each age. The capital Constantinople was the center of a trading network extending across nearly all of Eurasia and North Africa, in particular as the primary western terminus of the Silk Road; the rest of Europe would not match the Byzantines' economic strength until late in the Middle Ages. This is part of an effort to make sure every previous Wonder makes it into AoE2. You should give a bit more info. Defense Lure the 2nd boar before the 1st one runs out, kill the sheep and boar right under the TC and try to only kill one at a time. A project by Siege Engineers. As their Imperial Age upgrade is much cheaper this can give Byzantines an advantage in the game mode " Wonder Race". Mediterranean They counter all types of infantry, even the infantry from prominent infantry civilizations (like Teutons, Burmese, Malay, Vikings, Japanese, Aztecs, Goths, Malians and Celts), with the exception of the Halberdier, if it surpasses a critical mass (see in disadvantages). Unfortunately, they don't truly excel at any strategy save defense. These particular provinces tended to maintain a more autonomous army linked by forts and castles, and the battle-hardened soldiers were commanded by the border nobles known as the akritai. 2. Byzantine Build Order - Create 4 villagers at the TC. Standing out are their excellent navy, Monks, and economy, with only a single technology missing (Herbal Medicine) in all three branches put together but with handy perks like Greek Fire and an increased healing speed for Monks. Byz also get good monks and have a very open tech tree and cheap counter units certainly help even in imperial. Due to this, Paladins are one of the best defenses against their Cataphracts, since they are also cavalry and possess high defensive and offensive stats. Watch Towers' base HP is reduced to 700 in the Dark Age (in the Castle Age, they still have 1,200 base HP). It fits the theme of "trash but cheap" pretty well. Byz castle is the best especially when under siege as building armour isn't relevant enough when it's already taking so much damage. As they have a fairly open tech tree with almost all technologies available, they can effectively counter civilizations more limited in that regard like the Goths, the Mayans, the Magyars, the Britons and other "specialist" civilizations. Japanese Samurais and Incan Kamayuks should also must taken at consideration against Cataphracts especially if massed and fully upgraded of course Cataphracts can still retaliate against these two units. Their Imperial Age unique technology Logistica, referring to the Byzantines' well trained and supplied military at the state's expense, grants their Cataphracts trample damage to attack multiple enemies at once. Luckily, this is balanced by the fact that Byzantines possess the cheapest Camels and Halberdiers in the game, so Byzantines are still able to defeat hostile heavy cavalry troops by using numerical superiority. Finally, the Byzantines' defensive prowress extended to the waters with their continuation of Roman naval techniques and new inventions of their own like Greek fire, a type of napalm that could ignite even on water. Byzantine units also differ in that they talk in the first person, while most civilizations use the third person or the infinitive. Despite having a disadvantage when it comes to facing Heavy Camels and Mamelukes, the Cataphracts are effective against all units, making them a force to be reckoned with. The best units in the Byzantine army were partially armored cavalrymen called cataphracts. If the Byzantine brings Camels/Halberdiers, bring in HandCannoneers or Scorpions, as both of those are also outstanding support units against Cataphracts. As the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces, the Byzantines retain characteristics of their Greco-Roman lineage and Persian neighbors, such as their unique unit, the Cataphract, a type of heavy cavalry that was present in the previous game. - 8th villager builds a LC. Age of Empires Series Wiki is a FANDOM Games Community. This is shown in their access to all fortifications, their cheaper counter units (Camel Riders, Spearmen, and Skirmishers), and their access to Town Watch for free. They also lack Siege Ram. Jan 4, 2018 @ 5:14pm In 1v1. This is a list of the wars or external conflicts fought during the history of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire (330– 1453). In the Castle Age, Cataphracts, Camels and Knights work exceptionally well together. The Skoutatos-line units and Cavalry Archers (CA) can proc the Disrupt debuff on enemies. - 7th villager starts chopping straggler. Each of these civilizations feature different units, bonuses, technologies and a focus on a set of unit upgrades to make them even stronger. The Byzantines' primary strengths are defense and their ability to effectively counter a variety of troop types (infantry, ranged, and cavalry). On sea maps, Byzantines lack Heated Shot, so they should attempt to win the water with their stronger Fire Ships and complete Dock techs. AoE2 . The Byzantines have access to a vast variety of technologies. Despite the fact the Cataphract is probably one of the units in the game with the fewer number of weaknesses they can be countered by masses of archers, or other Heavy cavalry (Like the Paladin especially the Frank one, the Slav Boyar, the Tatar Keshik, the South east Asian Battle Elephants and the Persian War elephant), also as the Halberdier despite being ineffective in a unit vs unit engagement they are much cheaper than the Cataphracts and if they surpass a critical mass they can still counter them. Castle with camels and siege rams would be neat to bash AI.. lol #2. Though it's technically a Castle age unit, I decided to replace the elite skirmisher since broken wooden shield doesn't exactly scream "elite" to me. Yes you can just build a castle and watch the AI suicide units but that's cheese. The Byzantines had a head start over their European neighbors and arguably reached their zenith while the rest of Europe were in the Dark Age. Even civilizations with good siege engines, like Celts, Turks, Ethiopians, Khmer and Koreans will have a harder time against a turtling Byzantine settlement. This makes knocking down their walls difficult and their defensive structures benefit as well. Particularly Elite Cataphracts are effective against almost all units which have an attack bonus against mounted units, such as Camel Riders or Mamelukes, since they have an innate resistance (+12/+16 (Elite) armor) to anti-cavalry attack bonuses. - 1 villager builds his own house. Their new Tech Greek Fire gives Fire Ships +1 range; they already have good and strong Fire Ships so this new tech gives a bigger advantage at the sea and can take down enemy ships for more distance. The ai is strongest in economy management and unit micro, It basically sucks at everything else. Castles, Keeps and Bombard Towers make for an effective defense on land maps. When you turtle you play into the AIs strength, it is strongest with a full eco and a huge army that it can all micro at once. Historically, the Byzantine Empire ditched Latin as an administrative language in the 7th century (for Medieval Greek, which was the most commonly spoken language), and the Latin language itself evolved into the slightly different Medieval Latin. The defensive civ. Regarding naval warfare as they must rely on their Fire Ships to get an advantage, civilizations with good Demolition Ships (like Chinese whom their Demolition ships have more hp or Berbers whom their Demolition Ships move Faster) may mow down their navy with fast and deciding Demolition Ship blows. They're a great unit to build an army around, and this is fairly easy for a Byzantine because they get cheap back up units. Maybe the best tactic used by Byzantine players is turtling since all their buildings have a large amount of hit points, and them having access to all defensive structures, having the entire Watch Tower line, Bombard Tower and overall strong castles. Cataphracts do … Architecture style changed from Middle Eastern to Mediterranean. A unique unit is a unit only available to a singlecivilization in Age of Empires II. Age of Empires Series Wiki is a FANDOM Games Community. Byzantines Weak spots in the Byzantine technology tree are hard to make out, but as their lacks in the defenses department (namely Masonry and Architecture) are compensated by a staggering HP bonus for buildings, they are probably best found in their land armies. Also, the addition of the Fire Galley in the Feudal Age gives an early edge to the Byzantine navy since they will benefit from the Fire Ship bonus. Weak spots in the Byzantine technology tree are hard to make out, but as their lacks in the defenses department (namely Masonry and Archite… They also have a faster attacking Fire Ship which helps them defensively in the seas, and makes them slightly better at shore-bombardment in the Castle Age. They likewise referred to themselves as "Romans", "Greeks" and/or "Hellenes" (Romaioi, Graikoi and Ellines in Greek respectively) since they were the political continuation of the Roman Empire in the east, as well as the direct heirs and guardians of Hellenic civilization. While the Regnum is in a great place in terms of available hobbied units, I still have a few half-baked, ill-defined hobby goals for it, one of which being to build up a homage unit of sorts, in the style of the Byzantine's unique unit in AOE2: the Cataphract. - House builders and the next 3 villagers out of the TC eat 1 sheep. AOE2: Age of Empires 2 (AOK/AOC/AOF/AK/ROR) Unique Ability The Byzantines unique ability is Disrupt & Shock. As they have bulkier buildings, arguably they have the better chance to win by Wonder victory in a standard game match. It is really hard to defeat specially in . Tarkans and Burmese cavalry bonus gets partially negated by these techs so q FU Spanish castle/wonder can outlast a Byzantine one from these units.  Greek Fire Logistica. The Byzantines also possess a strong navy with full naval technologies and have full access to gunpowder units. Defensively they have an advantage against civilizations with mediocre siege workshop or proper anti-building units thanks to their overall bulkier buildings (without considering the Trebuchets which every civilization have access to). - Scout finds main sheep flock. This also gives Byzantines an advantage in the game modes "Defend the Wonder" and "King of the Hill". Both Berber and Vietnamese allies can deliver quality trash units (Genitours from the former and Imperial Skirmishers from the latter) which allow Byzantine players to "swarm away" their opponents once-and-for-all as those in the Byzantines' case are cheaper.