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Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Age of Empires 2 Guides, Strategies, Tips & Tools

Build orders, civ guides, unit counters and live win rates from 117,540 ranked games. Everything you need to win more AoE2 games.

Popular: Build orders Civ tier list Cheat codes Units & counters Civ win rates

Essential AoE2 tools & guides

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Popular AoE2 cheat codes

Press Enter, type the code, then press Enter again.

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See all Age of Empires 2 cheats

Cheats on Xbox Return of Rome Cheat code quiz

AoE2 build orders

All build orders
  1. 3 Fishing Ships 19 villagers. Feudal 9:15 · Italians, Japanese, Vikings
  2. 1-Range Archers 19 villagers. Feudal 9:15 · Britons, Mayans, Ethiopians
  3. Eagle and Range Feudal Rush 19 villagers. Feudal 9:15 · Aztecs, Incas, Mayans
  4. 1-Stable Scouts 18 villagers. Feudal 8:50 · Franks, Huns, Lithuanians
  5. Scouts into Cavalry Archers 18 villagers. Feudal 8:50 · Huns, Mongols, Magyars
  6. Korean Spear Skirm Rush 18 villagers. Feudal 8:50 · Koreans, Byzantines, Lithuanians
  7. Feudal Drush 18 villagers. Feudal 8:50 · Malians, Lithuanians, Japanese
  8. Ethiopian 2-Range Archers for Team Games 18 villagers. Feudal 8:50 · Ethiopians

New to build orders? Start with Hera’s strategy guide (PDF) or the Capoch build order guide.

Strongest civs this patch

All win rates
  1. Romans 54.6% win rate
  2. Armenians 53.6% win rate
  3. Bulgarians 53.4% win rate
  4. Malians 53.3% win rate
  5. Turks 52.9% win rate

From 117,540 ranked 1v1 games on the current patch. Not sure what to play? Read the civ tier list or browse civ matchups.

AoE2 news & updates

All news

Latest

Age of Empires 2 Mac Release Date

The long wait for the Age of Empires 2 Mac release date is finally over. One of the most legendary real-time strategy games in…

  1. AOE 2 Update: Shift-Queue Attacks Finally Fixed
  2. DERM Tool update for August 2025
  3. Age of Empires 2 DE + 3 DLCS for $7 Only.. Steam Winter Sale
  4. Hera Reaches 3000 Elo in AoE2
  5. Get 3 Free DLCs with Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

New to AoE2? Advance through the ages

All beginner guides

  1. Step 1 · Dark Age

    Set up the game

  2. Step 2 · Feudal Age

    Learn your first build order

  3. Step 3 · Castle Age

    Pick and learn a civilization

  4. Step 4 · Imperial Age

    Play like a pro

Strategies that win games

All strategies
Drush My Secret 5 Militias Drush Build Order To Escape Low ELO 9 min read · 18.3k reads

Fix AoE2 errors & crashes

All fixes

Find the message you see on screen, then follow the fix.

Not sure what’s wrong? AgeCheck finds and fixes common Age of Empires 2 errors in seconds. Try AgeCheck

Age of Empires 2 FAQ

Quick answers to the questions players ask us most. Can’t find yours? Send it to us and we’ll add it.

Contact us

On the current patch, Romans have the highest ranked 1v1 win rate (54.6%). Win rates shift with every balance patch, so check the live civ win rates. If you are still learning, pick a civ from our AoE2 tier list and stick with it.

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