As a child, I played Age of Empires in single player mode, focusing on research and waiting until I reached the Imperial Age to start building an army.
I stopped playing until a friend introduced me to the Definitive Edition a few months ago, and now I am addicted to playing multiplayer.
Although I initially struggled and dropped to a rank of 750, I have steadily improved and recently reached a rank of over 1000 due to a four-game winning streak.
Although I am still a new player compared to others, I feel good about my progress.
In addition to general game tactics such as keeping my Town Centre running and minimizing idle time for my villagers, I have found that following u/SurvivalistAoE’s advice on spending wood has been particularly helpful.
Specifically, I focus on quickly building farms in early Feudal Age and aim to have 14-15 farms by the 14-15 minute mark, allowing me to reach the Castle Age with Wheelbarrow technology around the 20-minute mark and start training double stable Knights.
Another strategy that has been successful for me is attacking with a small force of 2-3 scouts in early Feudal, and then reinforcing with additional army by setting a gather point forward.
Once I have a slightly larger force, I usually split it into two groups.
One group that I heavily micro to distract and harass enemy defensive units, and another group that I send to a known eco area such as a woodline or gold mine.
This two-pronged attack is super stressful for the opponent and often results in a quick surrender.