[Anonymous Player]

I recently started playing against the AI on the hardest difficulty level and have been advancing from the standard level.

Even when my dark age was a bit sloppy, I managed to beat the hardest AI.

Early pressure is the key, like a feudal scout or archer rush.

A few days ago, I randomly selected Mayans to play against Khmer.

I thought it would be easy with the Mayan eco and archers, but ended up losing three games in a row.

In the first game, I was walling up my base when the AI sent archers and skirmishers to fire on my villagers.

I defended with skirmishers, but the damage was done and the AI snowballed.

I couldn’t survive the siege ram train and chonkers.

The second game, I had a slightly faster feudal age and better walling job.

I defended against archers and skirmishers, but couldn’t reach the enemy base.

I went to castle a few minutes after the AI and built an army, but the AI had an untouched economy and I couldn’t survive the siege and chonkers push.

The third game, I sent archers to rush the enemy base and killed 1-2 villagers.

But the AI was waiting with a bigger force and I was pushed back to my walls.

I reached the imperial age and built an arbalest and eagle/halberdier army, but it wasn’t enough to survive the push.

Before this matchup, I was feeling confident against the hardest AI and was planning to go for the extreme AI.

What am I doing wrong?

Do I need to use a drush BO?

Does the Khmer bonuses make the AI faster?

Any tips would be appreciated.

[elessar2358]

Tbh neither strategy nor matchup matters much against the AI.

The AI has a fairly consistent strategy.

If you defend against early feudal pressure (usually AI sends skirms and archers) and come out ahead with a cost effective defence, you’ll go up early.

If you’re comfortable with more aggression, you can go 1 tc and push with eagles or xbows and siege if you had them left over from feudal, or do a 3 tc boom which will take you far ahead in eco if you went up faster.

A few strategically placed castles for defence and you’re all set for the late game.

The AI is not that good at using units effectively and protecting siege.

The key, as always, is to keep producing villagers and not floating resources.

Hardest or extreme AI can punish that.

[cloudfire1337]

I can play a match with that setup and send you the replay if that helps?

Or upload some replays of your failed attempts and I’ll watch them and try and analyze them.

I don’t know how else I could help.

——

> Must I utilize drush BOs

No.

Absolutely no.

[cannon143]

The ai is pretty much the same each time.

I beat the extreme consistently but on Arabia I have to be the aggressor to win.

I dont wall at all.

I like to start with militia line bc you can start building them in dark age then have around 6 by fuedal, upgrade on the way there.

Then just harass run away.

The ai usually builds skirmishers/archers in mass so switch to eagles, repeat.

Get to castle, the ai will probably beat you there bc of cheat codes or something 11.

Build monks, all the time your raiding and running away your building up your army while the ai isn’t bc they can’t micro.

Heal them.

Build more barracks, build seige workshop, then build rams.

The ai will go knights, go pikemen.

Then just overwhelme them.

The important thing is to never stop building eco and stop their workers from working.

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