25+4 Vils Knight Rush (Beginner)

This is the one true beginner build order here, meant for lower-level or brand-new players. It's kept simple and easy to follow. It's not a build you'll want to rely on as you climb the ladder, but it should serve you well for your first hundred games or so. The point is an easy Dark Age and Feudal Age, aiming to reach Knights as fast as possible, generally the best unit for new players to lean on. By the end of the build, we'll also cover some solid defensive options, and how to deal with Pikemen and Camels, the main counters to Knights.

  1. [Dark] Make 2 houses to start
  2. [Dark] Send 6 villagers to sheep (pop 6)
  3. [Dark] Send 3 villagers to wood (pop 9)
  4. [Dark] [Optional] Get loom before luring boar if you need it
  5. [Dark] Send 1 villager to boar (pop 10)
  6. [Dark] Send 1 vil to build 2 houses and then mill berries (pop 11)
  7. [Dark] 1 to hunt under tc (pop 12)
  8. [Dark] 1 to get second boar (pop 13)
  9. [Dark] Send 4 more to berries (pop 17)
  10. [Dark] Send 5 villagers to wood (pop 22)
  11. [Dark] Make a house
  12. [Dark] Send 3 villagers to gold (pop 25)
  13. [Dark] Get loom if you didn’t get it earlier
  14. [Dark] Research Feudal Age (perfect landing time: 11:45) (pop 25)
  15. [Feudal] Make a barracks and a house
  16. [Feudal] [Optional] Wall up your base slightly to defend yourself if you need to
  17. [Feudal] When food runs our under tc make a few farms and send the rest to wood
  18. [Feudal] Make a stable and market with 2 vils
  19. [Feudal] Send 4 villagers to gold (pop 29)
  20. [Feudal] Research Castle Age (perfect landing time: 16:05)
  21. [Castle] Add a second stable
  22. [Castle] Research double bit axe
  23. [Castle] Research horse collar
  24. [Castle] Fix any idle economy
  25. [Castle] Make knights from both stables
  26. [Castle] Research bow saw
  27. [Castle] Keep making vils and send them to whatever you need to keep knight production up

What next: Try to spend your resources quickly and keep reinvesting them, the market can help balance things out if you're short on one resource. Keep producing Knights and villagers whenever you can. Get upgrades for your Knights as you can afford them, Bloodlines, Husbandry, and the Blacksmith upgrades are all great picks. Expand your base and grow by adding more Town Centers.

All AoE2 build orders · Analyze your replay free