The Anniversary Edition is Age of Empires IV one year on from its October 2021 launch, adding the Ottomans and the Malians to the original eight civilisations for a roster of ten. Every civilisation ages up by building Landmarks rather than clicking a generic button, so the choice between two Landmarks per age is a real strategic fork instead of a formality. Matches run to a 200 population cap across four ages, and you win by Landmark destruction, by holding Sacred Sites, or by finishing a Wonder and surviving the countdown.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Landmark ageing up
Advancing an age means choosing and constructing one of two Landmarks, each with a different bonus. The English Council Hall pumps out Longbowmen, the French School of Cavalry cuts Knight costs and training time, and the Abbasid Dynasty instead builds wings onto a single House of Wisdom.
Relics and Sacred Sites
Religious units collect Relics from ruins and garrison them in a Monastery, Mosque or Prayer Tent for a steady gold trickle. Sacred Sites are fixed map objectives, and holding enough of them starts a countdown that ends the game if the enemy cannot break the hold.
Counter unit triangle
Spearmen beat cavalry, cavalry beat archers and ranged units, archers beat infantry, and handcannoneers such as the Ottoman Janissary punch through armour. Sending the wrong unit type into a fight loses armies that were numerically larger.
Siege engines and walls
Stone walls, towers and Keeps make direct assaults expensive, so battering rams, mangonels, bombards and the Ottoman Great Bombard exist to break them. Springalds counter siege engines in turn, which means an army without anti siege cover gets dismantled from range.
Civilisation specific economies
Economies are genuinely asymmetric. The Malian Pit Mine pulls 35 gold per minute from a gold vein without depleting it, Rus players earn bounty gold from hunting, and Mongols cannot build stone walls at all but can pack up buildings and move them.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| French | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Mongols | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Ottomans | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Malians | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Longbowman | The English unique archer, with longer range than a standard archer and the ability to plant palings that stop cavalry charges dead. | Defensive English play where massed archers sit behind a spear screen near a Keep. |
| Royal Knight | The French unique heavy cavalry, which gains a damage bonus from its charge. | Early raids on villagers and punishing an opponent who over invests in archers. |
| Mangudai | The Mongol horse archer, which fires while moving. | Hit and run raiding and pulling enemy armies out of position across large maps. |
| Janissary | The Ottoman handcannoneer, which does extra damage to cavalry and can repair siege engines in the field. | Late game Ottoman pushes escorting Great Bombards toward enemy Landmarks. |
| Musofadi Warrior | The Malian stealth infantry, lower on health and armour but fast and dangerous in ambush. | Malian raiding, cutting off trade routes and picking off isolated villagers. |
Longbowman: The English unique archer, with longer range than a standard archer and the ability to plant palings that stop cavalry charges dead.
Royal Knight: The French unique heavy cavalry, which gains a damage bonus from its charge. Cheap and fast to produce out of the School of Cavalry Landmark.
Mangudai: The Mongol horse archer, which fires while moving. It cannot fight heavy cavalry head on, but it makes any static defence impossible to maintain.
Janissary: The Ottoman handcannoneer, which does extra damage to cavalry and can repair siege engines in the field. It arrives with gunpowder and hits armour that arrows bounce off.
Musofadi Warrior: The Malian stealth infantry, lower on health and armour but fast and dangerous in ambush. It can hide in terrain and open fights on its own terms.
Full breakdowns in our Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Dry Arabia | 1v1 ranked, all civilisations | Open expansion room, contested gold and stone |
| Black Forest | Team games and defensive 1v1 | Safe economy, long build up before the first fight |
| Mountain Pass | 1v1 and 2v2 | Chokepoint control, strong defensive holds |
| Danube River | 1v1 and team games with naval play | Fish food income, naval map control |
| Lipany | 1v1 ranked | Central high ground, straightforward expansion |
Dry Arabia: The open standard map and the ranked default. Almost no natural chokepoints, so early aggression is always live and the player who scouts first usually decides where the game happens.
Black Forest: Dense forest with narrow lanes between players, which turns the early game into a walling contest. Booming civilisations and heavy siege thrive here while cavalry raids struggle.
Mountain Pass: High ground and narrow passes split the map into defensible pockets. Control of the passes matters more than raw army size, and siege has an outsized effect on choke fights.
Danube River: A river splits the map, adding naval play and bridge crossings to a standard land game. Fishing boats supplement early food and crossings become the flashpoints.
Lipany: An open map with a central hill and clear resource distribution, popular in tournaments because it rewards clean build orders rather than map tricks.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Send your scout on a loop the moment the game starts and keep it moving. Sheep found in the first two minutes go straight under the Town Center and save your villagers from walking, which is worth more than any Dark Age upgrade.
- The Town Center should never sit idle in the first ten minutes. A single missed villager compounds through the whole game, and the difference between a good and a bad opening is usually five or six villagers, not army composition.
- Choose Landmarks for what you plan to do, not for what looks strongest. The English Council Hall only pays off if you actually mass Longbowmen, and the French School of Cavalry is wasted if you never leave your base.
- Bring springalds to any fight where the enemy has mangonels or bombards. Melee units die to siege before they close the distance, and an army with no anti siege answer loses to a smaller one that has it.
- Collect Relics early with a religious unit and garrison them for gold. That trickle funds gold hungry units like Knights and Janissaries without adding a single villager to the gold seam.
- Against Mongols, remember they cannot build stone walls. That means their base is always crackable, and a mid game push into their production is punishing even when they are ahead on map control.
- Malian Pit Mines do not deplete the gold vein, so building several early creates income that outlasts every other civilisation's gold seams. Plan the mid game around out spending the opponent rather than out fighting them.
- Ottoman Military Schools produce units for free but slowly, so building three or four of them early converts into a real army by Castle Age. That army costs nothing, which frees your resources for siege and upgrades.
- Wall the chokes on closed maps such as Black Forest, but do not wall on Dry Arabia unless you have already lost map control. Stone walls cost time and stone that would otherwise be Landmarks and army.
- Watch the Sacred Site timer as carefully as your army. A quiet capture of two Sacred Sites while both players trade armies elsewhere can end the game before anyone has built an Imperial Age Landmark.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Picking the wrong Landmark for your plan, then playing a strategy the Landmark actively does not support.
- Fighting with a single unit type and losing an entire army to a smaller mixed force that has the counter.
- Letting the Town Center idle while microing an early raid, which quietly costs six or seven villagers of economy.
- Building an army with no springalds or anti siege cover, then losing it to two mangonels at a chokepoint.
- Ignoring Relics and Sacred Sites in a long game, which hands the opponent free gold income and a countdown victory path.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Anniversary Edition add over the base game?
It bundles the Ottomans and the Malians, taking the roster from eight civilisations to ten, along with the maps, masteries and balance work that arrived with the October 2022 update.
Which civilisation is easiest to learn?
The English. Their bonuses are straightforward, the Council Hall gives a clear plan around massed Longbowmen, and defensive play forgives the build order mistakes every new player makes.
How do you win a match?
Destroy every enemy Landmark and Town Center, hold enough Sacred Sites to run out the countdown, or build a Wonder and survive the timer. Most ranked games end by Landmark destruction.
Why can't the Mongols build stone walls?
It is a deliberate design trade. Mongols get no house requirement, packable buildings that can relocate, and Ovoo bonuses, and the cost of that mobility is that they can never turtle behind stone.
What is the population limit?
200 in standard matches, shared between villagers and military. Since villagers eat that cap, deciding when to stop making them and start making army is one of the central judgement calls in every game.
More Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Guides
- Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Best Builds
- Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Tier List
- Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Walkthrough
- Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Beginner's Guide
- Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Tips & Tricks
- Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Weapons Guide
- Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Combat Guide
- Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Boss Guide
- Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Maps & Locations
- Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Crafting Guide
- Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Classes & Characters
Similar Games
If you enjoy Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition, check out these related guides:
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- Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Guide: strategy game with similar mechanics
- RimWorld Guide: strategy game with similar mechanics
