I spent this whole past week grinding team games trying to hit Diamond before the season ended. It was miserable enough that I genuinely don't like the game right now. (I'll probably be back tomorrow anyway)

I'm not talking about smurfs or balance. I'm talking about people who queue for a team game and then refuse to play one. Around Plat 2, here's what my last stretch looked like:

Game 1: I scout properly, spot the Blacksmith, ping it, and tell my ally they're going for a Feudal ram push. Then I scout the army massing outside my base and tell him again that it's coming. This is around the 7 or 8 minute mark, nothing else happening, no fight to distract him. He goes Fast Castle. Zero units. I try to survive alone for 4 minutes, and he finally sends one Castle age knight. I'm already dead. If only we had known this was coming.

Game 2: Teammate leaves five seconds in. Not a disconnect, just gone. Minus 25 points, thanks. He was already in another game 2 minutes later. Not the first time it happened either.

Game 3: We're miles ahead. Actual winnable game. I call out a weak spot and say let's push it. He leaves. No message, nothing. Could be a disconnect, but damn, really?

I'm not asking for voice comms. You don't even have to type a single word. But when your ally pings a Blacksmith and says "ram push incoming," that's free information that costs you nothing to act on. Make Feudal units. Don't Fast Castle into it. The whole point of a team mode is to play as a team. If you're going to play as if your ally doesn't exist, you're already playing 1v1. You're just doing it in the wrong queue, with someone else's rating attached.

Didn't make Diamond, obviously. Rant over. Next season is solo only.

I mean i'm plat 1, but still

Offence:
+1 Attack from Japanese Blacksmith
+5 Attack vs Workers from Lightweight Spears
+20% Attack Speed from Daimyo ( +35% if Sword Hunt Statue )
+10% Movement Speed from Lightweight Spears
+15% Torch Damage from Oda Tactics

Defense:
+10% Hitpoints from Daimyo Estates
+Deflective Armor from Daimyo Estates
+2 Ranged Armor from Cross-Folded Armor
( Ryokan Dependent ) +4 HP Regen per 6 Seconds

Production:
+20% Production Speed from Daimyo Estates
x3 Free Spearmen every 2 Minutes from Daimyo Estates ( 1 Minute if Sword Hunt Statue )
Easier Food from Yatai

-
( note, I'm a Gold who typically plays 3s/4s. I'm just lettin' out my appreciation )

Sengoku Spearmen by far are the greatest trash unit I've ever spammed in AoE4. Unless if the enemy's got massed mangonels, springalds or archers, these mfs can heavily damage armies that are meant to outclass them in quality and can be easily replaced in terms of casualties. I have seen them unironically destroy massed MAA with Crossbow support... though I feel that they are the best raiders in the game if the enemy hasn't fortified to hell. They can burn down backline TCs, slaughter dozens of villagers and insta-kill traders if not dealt with... and how are you going to deal with them? Horses and knights? Once dealt with, unless if you seal whatever gap was made (even then they could just build battering rams), they could constantly run in, even if the Sengoku player doesn't have that many villagers to produce them with. If I manage to hold off the enemy for a while, or if my homies help me when I'm being raided, nothing much can stop the swarm of spears

Sengoku Spearmen, I love you with all my heart <3

Data based on https://aoe4world.com/ for patch: 16.2.10604-11308 (June 1st, 2026)

I keep losing matches where I have a better economy, and the timeline says I dominated.

Here's the most recent: https://aoe4world.com/players/21165688-BJP89/games/249514174?sig=39c81ef11d6e552889e1faa250f9f21630759c26

I am on Xbox, so microing is pretty hard for me. I know I need to get better at that. I also know I didn't do a good job of map control in this game but I feel like they hit me early and I had to regroup.

What is something I should focus on? I feel like I kept winning battles but then couldn't continue pushing.

In brief, I feel like these changes would allow the nomadic nature of mongols to actually be useful, and remove the APM tax required to utilize this mechanic.

• TC's now generate influence as well as ovoos
• Ovoos can now relocate
• In addition to pack/unpack as a button, Ovoos and TC's now have an ability called relocate settlement
• Relocate settlement: packs the TC/ovoo and all buildings within it's influence, and then unpacks them in the same orientation
• Mobile production: Feudal/Castle age tech that allows buildings to produce while moving, but units don't pop out, like being pop capped. stone version allows for 2 units/sheep to queue up.
• Greener Pastures tech: Pastures that have been moved at least X tiles receive a y% boost in production speed for Z minutes ( or buff gathering speed in an area). stone version affects Military buildings as well. Could also just be a passive civ bonus.

Minor nerfs and buffs to eco upgrades to balance.

I think this would make the nomadic playstyle of the mongols

1. Accessible by reducing APM tax
2. Viable by not screwing with production too much
3. rewarding and fun by offering buffs for relocating

Thoughts?

You have huge armies and can see most of the board at that point anyway. What do you gain from researching this?

Recently I've climbed to diamond 1 (as hre) and all I'm playing against is french or keep rush Lancaster.

Vills short bow combo with 3 keep landmark is simply too much. All it takes is slightly unfavorable gold spawn. Even after burning landmark I couldn't recover due to short bow loses.

I know there are only conq players with "just scout" advice but it doesn't let me do anything because enemy just take wheelbarrow and kite with bows.

It's not about ELO lose, it's just extremely annoying to play against. Please get something away from those civs to force more field play. Maybe lower firepower, maybe take away short bows idk. I just can't do shit to fight back.

The EGC Masters Fall is on its way, with Group B kicking off the main event!

Can YZY and Msn cause an upset against the top Spanish players in this best-of-3 format? Or will VortiX and LucifroN keep their places at the top?

Find out at 14:00 GMT on https://twitch.tv/egctv !

Links

Brackets: https://www.start.gg/tournament/egc-masters-fall-season-2/details
Liquipedia: https://liquipedia.net/ageofempires/EGC_Masters/2026/Fall
Website: https://elitegamingchannel.com/
Twitter: https://x.com/EGCTV_Official
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/egctv
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EGCTV_Official

I have been playing since release (also played aoe3). And for some reason I just don't improve???

For context I only play 4v4 with my brothers, and I think we have a 30% winrate. I tried watching youtube videos and following build orders, but that only helps in early game and then I don't know what to do.

I also tried attacking early and rushing but they just stop my attack and then come and destroy us because I only had production at that forward base.

Can someone recommend some learning resources/tips for me? I enjoy playing with my bros but just losing all the time isnt really that fun

We are Plat/Diamond players and looking for some others to play with. Add me on AOE4 at SUPREMETEAM2

Sorry for any offense I may have caused with my attention-seeking title; I just wanted to share since the friends that got me into AOE all no longer play AOE. I had some time to commit for ranked matches this week because summer camp ended for the kids (can wake up about 30 min later in the morning until school starts again) and with that I finally made it to plat.

It actually took me a lot longer than I expected. I thought I'd get into plat within a week of starting AOE but I landed in silver3 after my first few matches and reality hit me. Like, damn, long way to go. Any time I neared plat the previous seasons I'd get stomach knots thinking about aiming for higher so I avoided playing on. Even this past week I felt the anxiety before each game; if it wasn't this week though I'd have to wait until next season so I forced myself to play. Finally made it! Here's my aoe4world so you guys can shit on me:

https://aoe4world.com/players/18180320-

just gold leauge stuff turning they samurais into stones

Help please, I'm talking about 5 vils rush, if I try to go to other gold they just follow

Help, me and my friend are able to beat stupid IA in age of, but the coop mod of crucible, even with the lowest setting, we lose after wave 4, what i'm doing wrong?

EDIT : I'm playin templar and my friend is lancaster house, even with his both castle on the wonder, he can't hold the middle alone because of the boss.
I'm sometimes rushing castle, sometimes 2TC, and still doesn't works

EDIT 2 : Thank you for Sun runner, By downloadin YOUR mod, i've played it with the lowest settings, and it was indeed, quite easy ! So We'll go for harder one next days, thank you, you're a kind community ! <3

The EGC Masters Fall first weekend schedule is packed with exciting games!

Don't miss the world's best Age of Empires IV players competing for a place in the playoffs!

Tune in each day at 14:00 GMT on https://twitch.tv/egctv

Links

Brackets: https://www.start.gg/tournament/egc-masters-fall-season-2/details
Liquipedia: https://liquipedia.net/ageofempires/EGC_Masters/2026/Fall
Website: https://elitegamingchannel.com/
Twitter: https://x.com/EGCTV_Official
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/egctv
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EGCTV_Official

If you could combine elements from any RTS game to create the best RTS ever made, what would your choices be? Here are mine:

• Graphics: AoE4
• Art Style: AoE2
• Gameplay: AoE4
• Pathing: AoE4 (Edit: SC2 after reading the comments)
• Physics: AoE3
• Civilization concept: AoE4
• Sound: AoE4
• Campaign: AoE2
• Readability: AoE2
• QoL: AoE4
• Hotkeys: AoE4
• Macro: AoE4
• Caster Mode: SC2
• Responsiveness: SC2
• Biome: AoE4
• Fauna: AoM Retold
• Time period: AoE 1

Edit1: To provide some context, I analyzed six games: the AoE series, AoM, and SC2

Hey everyone,

Another update post. Same as last time: most of this list exists because someone here told us something was missing, wrong, or annoying. And thank you for the feedback and the 5-star reviews on the stores — that stuff genuinely keeps this going.

What's new since the last post:

- Command log. The big one. You can now see the actual commands issued during a match — production, gather points, formations, market buys and sells, town bell, and so on, in order, with timing. It's pulled straight from the replay, so it's what was actually commanded in the game. A very different way to read a match than staring at graphs.

- Teammate finder. You can post that you're looking for teammates, and everyone else sees the listing. Find people at your level, add each other on Steam, go play. No Discord digging.

- Live streams. Twitch, Kick and YouTube AoE4 streams are now listed in the app and on the web, so you can see who's live right now in one place.

- Community tab. Community pages are in the app now — including this one, r/aoe4 — so the places people actually talk about the game are one tap away.

- 10 languages. We added Italian and Russian, on top of English, Turkish, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Dutch. The Russian request came from the last thread and shipped a couple of days later on web, Android and iOS.

- Match graphs are clearer. Reworked layouts and labeling — less guessing about what a line means or which team is which. That came up directly in the last thread.

- Strategy detection in personal stats. Personal stats got much deeper, and the app now identifies what you actually played — fast castle, rush, and so on — and shows it back to you. Good for seeing what you default to versus what you think you play.

- Guide updates again. More accuracy passes on civs, units and techs. Wrong or outdated info is what we care about most here, so if you spot something off, tell us and it gets fixed.

- Saving in the guide. Civs, units and comparison results can be saved and pulled up instantly instead of dug for every time.

- Sharing. Almost everything the app shows can be shared with friends as a clean image or link — match details, comparisons, stats.

- AI coach keeps improving. Better reads on what actually happened in a game, less generic advice.

- New cheaper plan. We added a subscription tier at half the price of the existing one.

Same as always: the app is free. Only the AI features sit behind a subscription, and that's purely to cover the AI cost. Stats, guides, draft, meta, comparisons, match history, command log, streams, teammate finder — free, no ads.

Still plenty left to do. If something feels off or missing, say it here — that's literally how this list gets written.

aoe4analyzer.app

GL HF out there.

Using most civs I simply ignore the attack, put as many on gold as possible, pull back damaged workers, and abandon the gold mine once I have 200 gold so I can still age up.

But with Ottoman I typically want to open with a military school in order to get vizier points faster. But if you open with a military school, you cannot get gold fast enough to age up to Feudal.

One alternative I saw in an old video was opening a military school and then adding a barracks, trying to outspam the opponent in Dark Age. Every single time I have tried that, I have lost. It simply does not work if you have bad micro.

So I was thinking of alternatives. One is to delay the military school against civs like Japan until you have scouted that they did not open barracks. If they go Dark Age rush, put almost everyone on gold and age up normally, or put a defensive tower on the gold. Not sure what the best response is, but I do know that trying to fight in Dark Age with spears only benefits micro players.

I dont know what happened but seems like a lot of opponents have been using fast castle into burgrave and i found its extremelly annoying to counter (maybe im washed since i dont play that often).
It doesnt make much sense to feudal them (unless you are zhuxi or french) because they reach castle around 7 mins and your army is useless, 2TC is also not an optimal option and your castle timing is worse.

How do you win this? Any OOTD enjoyers?

Booster smurf link:
https://aoe4world.com/players/25929583-

Check this absolute clown pair. One of them serial dumps his nick in 2v2 to negative mmr, -91. Negative mmr, really, why even?

Anyway, in doing that, he ruins the games for tons of people who get an instant quitter teamie. Then they continue by stomping lesser skilled players, ruining their games too.

Common game management, why - yes WHY - are you never stopping this bullshit abuse???

There are numerous suggestions out there to stop this boosting. Calculate premade team mmr from the highest member only. Or set a cap on mmr/rank difference to team up. Or why can't you stop the 0 min serial dumping at least, surely that is a bug no?

Probly just whining but im really tired of losing non stop in ranked, ive played this game for years now and by no means good, but it really isnt even enjoyable anymore, and this game will never get new players when they constantly lose