PC Keyboard Controls & Shortcuts

The following list of hotkeys is the ones that come by default with the game.

Go to commands:

CTRL + Q = mill (easy to access, economic building near other non-military buildings (blacksmith and university)

The Franks may feel like an unusual choice for best civilization to some people. The playable civilizations in Age of Empires II are based on prominent civilizations of the post-classical period, from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century to the start of renaissance era during the 15th century. There are 35 civilizations in total. 1 The Age of Kings 1.1 Britons 1.2 Byzantines 1.3 Celts 1.4 Chinese 1.5 Franks 1.6 Goths 1.7 Japanese 1.8 Mongols 1.9 Persians. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition celebrates the 20th anniversary of one of the most popular strategy games ever with stunning 4K Ultra HD graphics, a new and fully remastered soundtrack, and brand-new content, “The Last Khans” with 3 new campaigns and 4 new civilizations.

CTRL + W = blacksmith (the following 3 are ordered according their availability through the ages);

The playable civilizations in Age of Empires II are based on prominent civilizations of the post-classical period, from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century to the start of renaissance era during the 15th century. There are 35 civilizations in total. 1 The Age of Kings 1.1 Britons 1.2 Byzantines 1.3 Celts 1.4 Chinese 1.5 Franks 1.6 Goths 1.7 Japanese 1.8 Mongols 1.9 Persians. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Lords of the West is now available for pre-order on the Microsoft Store and Steam! Coming January 26th! 👑 Coming January 26th! 👑 Age Of Empires II: Definitive Edition Statistics.

CTRL + E = market

CTRL + R = university

CTRL + T = monastery (monastery comes after university as I feel it’s slightly less used)

CTRL + G = mining camp (default, easy to access)

CTRL + Z = lumber camp (default, easy to access)

A = archery (it needed to be only 1 click for extra efficiency when making units;it’s easy to access)

S = stable (same as archery)

D = barracks (same as archery)

H = town center (default and fits with the rest of the setup, it’s easily accessible)

X = siege workshop (same as archery)

V = castle (same as archery)

ç = dock (if you don’t have this key use the one at the right side of L)

Military commands:

= patrol (very easy to access, very commonly used)

Q = aggressive stance (easy to access, logic sequence when looking at the buttons)

W = defensive stance (easy to access, logic sequence when looking at the buttons)

E = stand ground stance (easy to access, logic sequence when looking at the buttons)

R = no attack stance (easy to access, logic sequence when looking at the buttons)

ALT + A = line formation (easy to access, doesn’t need to be pressed multiple times quickly in succession, and if you’re looking at the army then you can keep the ALT key pressed and alternate between A and F when dodging enemy projectiles)

ALT + S = box formation (though not frequently used, it maintains a logical sequence for the other keys)

ALT + D = staggered formation (easy to access, same as ALT + A )

ALT + F = flank formation (easy to access, same as ALT + A)

Build commands:

B + Q = palisade (sometimes we need to quickly build palisades out of a surprise attack by our enemy, needs to be very easily accessed)

B + W = wall (same as palisade, to be near palisade wall)

B + E = outpost (to be near palisade and wall)

B + R = house (easy access)

B + T = mill (easy access, the “T” looks like a windmill)

B + Y = monastery (default, key near university and blacksmith)

B + U = university (default, once-per-game building, key near monastery and blacksmith)

B + I = blacksmith (once-per-game-building, key near university and monastery)

B + F = farm (easily accessible)

B + G = mining camp (default, easy to access)

B + J = archery range (to be near the stable and siege workshop)

B + K = siege workshop (default, near other military buildings, lack of otheroptions)

B + L = stable (default, near other military buildings, lack of other options)

B + B = barracks (default, easy to access)

B + Z = lumber camp (default, easy to access)

B + C = castle (easy to access, starts with same letter)

B + N = town center (default, easy to access)

B + M = market (default, max. only 3-4 markets/game)

B + , = tower (the comma looks like an arrow, reasonable access)

B + . = bombard tower (the point looks like the ball the bombard tower shoots, reasonable access, near the tower)

B+º = dock, the vowel “o” from “dock” is a strong one, hence “º”.

Menu

Ordered by the way they appear on the top right (except the objectives window which was switched to be the pause hotkey)

F1 = Pause

F2 = Show Tech tree

F3 = Show Chat dialog

F4 = Show Diplomacy

Other commands:

ALT + Q = economic view (very useful to quickly know how many villagers you have on each resource for a better economic balancing and constant unit production)

ALT + W = military view (useful to quickly glance at minimap and see possible idle military units)

ALT + E = normal view

ALT + C = friend or foe colors

Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Civilizations Tier List

ALT + Z = flare (remember the speed with which Zorro made his mark on enemies)

Shift + S = unpack trebuchets (easy to access)

Tab = idle villager (easy to access) (mouse scroll up is secondary button for this for the mass idle villager delete trick)

mouse scroll down = idle military units (easy to access)

F = stop (when a unit is selected)

= ungarrison (easy to access)

G = garrison (easy to access)

F5 = delete (easy to press, but won’t be pressed by mistake).

– = gate (it’s straight like a gate, near towers, lack of better options)

Age

Middle mouse button = go to last notification (immediate access)

Z = set gather point (useful when hunting deer with villagers in TC so that it doesn’t shoot the deer)

T = attack ground (the easiest to press that was still available, remember T =Target, use this to target manually)

U = Pack (for trebuchets)

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This AOE 2 Definitive Edition Tier list is based on update 36202 (most recent patch)

If you’ve just gotten into Age of Empires 2 Definitive edition after not having touched the game for years your knowledge might be a little bit rusty. Especially considering the fact that over the years a ton of new civilizations have been added. My knowledge of the game certainly was rusty when I started playing the release of the new DE version. You might be stuck wondering which civilization you should choose and which ones are the best (and the worst) in the game.

I’ve done some research and play testing to conjure up this AOE 2 DE tier list. This tier list is based on the knowledge from 2 of the best AOE 2 players in the world, Hera & TheViper. You can find their tier lists here (hera) and here (theviper).

TheViper’s tier list is based on 1v1 Arabia, while Hera’s tier list is more focused on the game as a whole. In order to make this tier list all encompassing I’ll make 3 parts. The first will be an Age of Empires 2 Definitive edition overall tier list, the second will be a tier list for 1v1 and finally I’ll give a list of civilizations that are good for beginners.

If you’re trying to find your favorite civ on the tier list, press ctrl + f and search for it.

Age of Empires 2 DE overall tier list

S Tier:

  • Aztecs
  • Chinese
  • Persians

A Tier:

  • Britons
  • Huns
  • Khmer
  • Mayans
  • Mongols
  • Vikings

B Tier:

  • Celts
  • Cumans
  • Franks
  • Inca
  • Indians
  • Italians
  • Japanese
  • Malay
  • Malians
  • Slavs
  • Tatars
  • Vietnamese

C Tier:

  • Berbers
  • Byzantines
  • Ethiopians
  • Koreans
  • Lithuanians
  • Magyars
  • Saracens
  • Spanish
  • Portuguese

D Tier:

  • Bulgarians
  • Burmese
  • Turks

F Tier:

  • Goths
  • Teutons

1v1 Tier List

This is the tier list for 1v1. It’s based on 1v1 Arabia but will not differ too much for 1v1 on any map.

S Tier:

  • Chinese
  • Aztecs
  • Persians
  • Britons
  • Mayans

Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Civilizations Tier List Dlc

A Tier:

  • Celts
  • Vikings
  • Franks
  • Huns
  • Japanese
  • Khmer
  • Malay
  • Malians
  • Slavs

B Tier:

  • Byzantines
  • Berbers
  • Bulgarians
  • Burmese
  • Cumans
  • Ethiopians
  • Inca
  • Indians
  • Italians
  • Magyars
  • Mongols
  • Spanish
  • Tatars
  • Vietnamese

Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Guide

C Tier:

  • Koreans
  • Lithuanians
  • Portuguese
  • Saracens
  • Teutons

D Tier:

  • Goths
  • Turks

Good civilizations for beginners

If you’re new to Age of Empires 2 Definitive edition then the tier list above might not be right for you. For instance, a lot of the civs on the tier list get their ranking based on how well they can scout or archer rush. If you’re new to the game you’re most likely not going for scout or archer rushes anyway. New players often play more defensively. With that being said, here are some good civs to try out when you’re just getting started.

Byzantines

See Full List On Ageofempires.fandom.com

As I’ve mentioned, most beginners tend to play defensively. The Byzantines complement this play style very well. They are a good defensive civ because their buildings have more HP and they have great late game trash units.

Their unique unit, the cataphract is also a ton of fun to play with and can be very strong once they’re fully upgraded. In higher level games you often don’t have the luxury of massing them, but since in lower level games players tend to be more passive you often do have this opportunity, making them very strong.

Teutons

The Teutons are famous for their Teutonic Knights. These tanky melee units destroy anything in their path as long as the enemy doesn’t micro their troops. Since in lower level games micro is almost non-existent, Teutonic knights are a good bet to go for.

On top of that they have cheaper farms and their building have more garrison space.

Britons

Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Tactics

The Britons excel in archers. Their unique unit, the elite longbowman has an insane range of 6, which becomes 12 when they’re fully upgraded. This is the longest range archery unit in the game, and they can even outrange castles!

For new players, a mass of upgraded elite longbowmen is often hard to stop, since they will obliterate anything from a safe distance away. For this reason they’re a good civ to start out with. On top of that, they’re fairly highly rated in more high level games as well. This means that you can start playing them when you first pick up the game, and as you get better you won’t have to switch to a civilization that’s higher rated in the tier list.

Franks

If you like cavalry, the Franks are for you. Their paladins are one of the best in the game and the Franks boast one of the highest winrates in low level competitive play.

A huge mass of Frank paladins is very hard to stop, especially if you manage to get them into the opponents economy. Nevertheless, halberdiers do counter them. If you notice that the enemies has halberdiers just mix in some of the Franks unique unit, the throwing axeman. The throwing axeman is a ranged infantry unit that does melee damage from range. They’re extremely good in taking out enemy infantry, including halberdiers.

Conclusion

That’s our Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition tier list. We hope you found it useful, and a huge shout out to TheViper and Hera. If you want to see more on why the civs are in their respective tier, I highly recommend you to check out their videos (links are in the beginning of the post). They explain it way better than I ever could.

Good luck in your games!