Age of Empires IV Civilizations Tier List – These are the best Civs to play (Updated 02.02.)

Which civilizations are the strongest right now? Here is our tier list after the most recent patch on January 18th:

The esports.com Age of Empires IV Tier List

We will keep this list updated as the meta develops in the wake of further tournaments and new patches by Relic Entertainment. The list was also compiled with 1vs1 in mind and disregards the modes with multiple players on teams. Keep on reading for the detailled breakdown of each tier.

 

S-Tier: Mongols & Rus

The Mongols are back at the top of the civilizations after a brief intermission by others. Although the recent patch nerfed them slightly, they are still the best pick overall across most maps. Tower Rushing with them might not be as efficient anymore, but the Mongols still have their strengths: Strong mobility, double production through the Oovo and Khan special abilities.

Especially the early double production has become a cornerstone of their kit, enabling extremely fast aggression and mapcontrol. That is not to say that the Mongols are easy to pick up and dominate with. Their playstyle may seem unfamiliar to players more used to “traditional” RTS factions, but once you get the hang of it, the rewards are rich indeed.

The Rus

The Rus had enjoyed a brief stint at the top with Professional Scouts-fueled Horse Archers and Warrior Monks dominating the battlefield. Now that the nerfs are out they are slightly brought down again. While the go-to strategy got nerfed, Rus are still a strong civilization with plenty of tricks in their arsenal.

For fresh beginners it might be tempting to start with the Rus, but their Bounty mechanic as well as Hunting Cabins are not necessarily the most intuitive of concepts, so try to read up before getting started.

 

A-Tier: Delhi Sultanate, French & China

If you are a fan of the Delhi Sultanate you have been on one hell of a ride so far. From irrelevance to brief moment in the limelight to battered by nerfs again, Delhi players have been through a lot. The most recent patch has brought Delhi back up again as a viable pick. With key technologies’ research time brought to more manageable levels and the long-awaited fix to their spearmen, Delhi have clawed their way back into the upper tiers of competitive play.

French

The French had been the terror of the ladder for the first weeks of the game but their prominence has led many players to craft specific counters and exposed some of their weaknesses. Nevertheless the French civilization is still versatile and strong in the current meta. Its strength remain the same with insane cavalry, strong crossbows and access to culverins in the late game. Together with its numerous economic bonuses it still is incredibly good and difficult to deal with. Its dominance has just led to more counter being developed against it.

While they were dethroned in terms of pure strength, the French are still a very good pick for starters. They are straightforward to play and not that difficult to grasp for RTS-experienced players

China

The Chinese civilization has established itself as one of the stronger civilizations after a rough start at release. As more and more players started to try them out they developed better strategies to deal with their early weakness. While their Fire Lancers were nerfed in the last patch, it is just one unit among many that players can use.

For new players it will still be a struggle to survive Dark and Feudal Age aggression, but there are plenty of strategies out now that you can adopt into your gameplay.

 

B-Tier: English & HRE

The English have fallen slightly behind in the current meta as other civilizations have risen up. Although their strong defensive perks coupled with their straightforward playstyle still make them the easiest civilizations to pick up, they have lost their edge against the higher rated civilizations.

Their Longbows remain a strong staple opener that allows you to diverge quickly to other units if the need arises. While they excel at defense the English have plenty of aggressive options too, especially consideirng their access to early Men at Arms as well. Overall they are just a civilization with few weaknesses and strong compositions at all stages of the game.

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was the bottom feeder for the longest time. But determined to find a way to make them work, many pro players started experimenting with the infantry-focused civilizations and crafted strategies to make it work. Of course bugfixes to their Prelates were significant to make the economic bonuses of the civilization actually work.

With strategies now in place to cover their weaknesses to bring their later strengths into play the HRE is no longer the worst civilization. The most recent fix to their spearmen should also help out quite a bit, so the HRE might rise even higher as more strategies get discovered.

C-Tier: Abbasids

The Abbasids have been largely ignored outside a couple of bugfixes throughout most of the patches. As many of the issues of other civilizations were fixed or taken care of the Abbasids have fallen behind. Their civilization bonuses are just not strong enough to keep up.

This has led them to be largely ignored by most players now as their dedicated anti-cavalry role with camels is not significant enough to play a role. A fact backed by the overall winrate on the ladder crumbling down to dead last on Aoe4world.com.

They are most certainly in need of a buff to their civilization-specific bonuses or units to prevent them droppping even further.

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Image Credits: Xbox Game Studios/Relic Entertainment