Age of Empires buildings

? = hotkey: e. g. B+E for "build house". Click on the icon to see the whole building in all tilesets.
Stone Age: Barracks - Dock - Granary - Storage Pit
Tool Age: Archery Range - Market - Stable
Bronze Age: Academy - Governement Center - Siege Workshop - Temple
Non-Technology: Farms - Houses - Towers - Town Center - Walls - Wonder

Stone Age

During the Stone Age, the selection of buildings is very limited. Because your resources are scarce, it is very important that you place your building thoughtfully.

Barracks

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
B Stone 125 350 Town Center

Description:

By the time you are upgrading to the Tool Age, you should build a Barracks. Even though the Clubmen are not strong, you will need Axemen later to defend your town. Since a Barracks is required for the Stables and the Archery, you need it for upgrading to the Bronze Age.

Dock

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
D Stone 100 350 Town Center

Description:

This should be one of your first buildings in water levels. Fishing boats let you get a lot of food quickly and let you advance earlier to the Tool Age. Make sure you have scouted the coast around the place where you want to build the dock; you will not want to build it in a small pond. Building a dock on land maps can be useful if the lake is large enough.

Granary

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
G Stone 120 350 Town Center

Description:

Since this building is needed for the Market, you should build it before you hit the Tool Age. Build it near some berry bushes and make sure that there is enough space for four farms and a tower around it. Build these when the bushes are gone.

Storage Pit

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
S Stone 120 350 Town Center

Description:

At the beginning, having a Storage Pit near a forest is crucial for the wood supply. However, make sure that there is also a pile of stone or gold near the Storage Pit. If you can build it near some animals, it is even better because you can then rely on hunting and will not need a Granary at the beginning.

Tool Age

At the Tool Age, you should get enough resources (with the Wheel and Woodworking upgrades) to have several buildings produce troops. Which ones these are depends on your tribe. The most powerful unit is the Bowman, so a rush with four Archery Ranges pumping out Bowmen is quite common.

Archery Range

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
A Tool 150 350 Barracks

Description:

Archers are the best unit in the Tool Age if used correctly. Make sure that they stand on a hill when fighting. An Archery Range is needed for a Siege Workshop, so you'll have to build it anyway.

Market

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
M Tool 150 350 Granary

Description:

Get this building soon after upgrading to the Tool Age! You cannot only build farms then and make sure that your food supply is working, but also get the Woodworking and Wheel (Bronze Age) upgrades that dramatically increase your production.

Stable

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
L Tool 150 350 Barracks

Description:

This building allows you to get Scouts and Chariots. Depending on the situation (island/inland), you should get this one before or after the Archery Range. Get at least three Scouts to explore the map.

Bronze Age

At the Bronze Age, you get the most important buildings that produce very powerful, but also expensive units. Make sure that you build at least two buildings that produce the unit of your choice and more as soon as your production gets more effective (with the upgrades from the Market).

Academy

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
Y Bronze 200 350 Barracks, Stable

Description:

This building lets you get the best Infantry units. They are perfect to protect Siege Weapons but should be escorted by Cavalry or Chariot units to make sure that no Priest converts them. They are very efficient once they have reached their target.

Government Center

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
C Bronze 175 350 Market

Description:

As soon as you have a Government Center, you can build multiple Town Centers. You can also get good upgrades here. While this is not the most important building since it produces no troops, you should still get it during the late Bronze Age (earlier if you have allied players; get writing then).

Siege Workshop

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
K Bronze 200 350 Barracks, Archery Range

Description:

Siege Weapons are the only units that can destroy towers and other buildings efficiently. Make sure you get a Siege Workshop soon after upgrading to the Bronze Age (keep an eye out on your wood and gold, though). If you lose your Siege Weapons during a fight, concentrate on the weaker buildings (houses and farms) and do not try to knock down towers unless you still have many units left.

Temple

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
P Bronze 200 350 Market

Description:

"Wo-lo-lo - thank you" is one of the most familiar taunts in LAN games :) Priest units are really cool and let you convert slow but powerful units such as Phalanxes and Elephants. Get this building soon, but take care of your Priests!

Non-tech

Even though non-tech buildings cannot be built in any Age, they do not count as a building of that Age for advancing to the next one.

Farms

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
F Tool 75 50 Market

Description:

These buildings are your backbone in the food supply after getting a Market. You should build four or five farms around a granary, leaving some space between them to avoid "peasant traffic jam". Make sure you rebuild them when they are gone.

Houses

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
E Stone 30 75 Town Center

Description:

Each house provides living space for four people. You should not build your first house too close to the Town Center; make sure there will be enough room for farms later. Do not build your houses adjacent to each other because Catapults could destroy them all together then.

Towers

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
T Tool 150 100 - 200 Granary

Description:

A well placed tower (on top of a hill or cliff or just at an elevated position) provides a very strong defense. Do not rely on towers alone, but take cover under their fire in combat. For a complete table of all tower and walls in AoE, go to my buildings statistics page.

Town Center

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
N Stone 200 600 Government Center

Description:

This building will serve you as a Granary and a Storage Pit in one, and it also produces villagers. After getting a Government Center, you can build multiple Town Centers which will inprove your economy quite a bit (you will need less Storage Pits/Granaries and you can produce more villagers at a time).

Walls

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
W Tool 5 200 - 400 Granary

Description:

Being very cheap, walls can serious improve your defense. You should protect your farmers and lumberjacks with walls so you can more easily stop sneak attacks. Of course walls play a crucial role in wonder strategies. For a complete table of all tower and walls in AoE, go to my buildings statistics page.

Wonder

? Age Cost HP Prerequisites
O Iron 1000 1000 1000 500 Advance to Iron Age

Description:

This building cost a lot of resources and takes forever to be built. Make sure you have researched Architecture and about 40 villagers at hand to build the wonder. Your defenses (towers, walls and Chariots) should already be standing when you start your wonder. If you need more villagers, build a few Town Centers first.

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