AOE2 Guide
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Unit Counters

What beats what. Counters come down to pierce armour, bonus damage, and speed — not just cost. A counter only counts if it can actually kill its target before being kited.

Feudal Age counter cycle

The Feudal Age has one core counter cycle plus Men-at-Arms and towers. Counters here are about pierce armour and speed as much as bonus damage.

Counter beats Why
skirmisher Skirmisher archer Archer Bonus damage + 3 pierce armour reduces the archer's hit to 1 damage.
scout-cavalry Scout Cavalry skirmisher Skirmisher 2 pierce armour (skirm deals 1) and enough speed to chase fleeing skirmishers down.
spearman Spearman scout-cavalry Scout Cavalry Large attack bonus vs cavalry — the hardest counter in Feudal, but slow and fragile vs everything else.
archer Archer spearman Spearman Spearmen have low pierce armour and no answer to ranged fire.
skirmisher Skirmisher spearman Spearman Skirmishers also carry a bonus vs spearmen — don't use spears into skirms.
man-at-arms Man At Arms spearman Spearman Men-at-Arms beat most Feudal units in a straight fight; only hit-and-run archers trouble them. Safe under a tower.

Castle Age counters

Castle Age adds compositions: a counter must actually kill its target, do it before the target tech-spikes, and not simply be kited. Knights dominate; Crossbows are the most common answer.

Counter beats Why
knight Knight crossbowman Crossbowman Speed + armour close the gap; crossbows need big numbers or a Mangonel to hold.
pikeman Pikeman knight Knight Anti-cavalry bonus — but you need numbers, and pikes die to archers/infantry support.
camel-rider Camel Rider knight Knight Bonus vs cavalry and mobile enough to catch them; the cleanest mobile anti-knight.
crossbowman Crossbowman pikeman Pikeman Ranged fire shreds low-pierce-armour trash; protect them from cavalry.
mangonel Mangonel crossbowman Crossbowman Splash devastates massed archers — unless they are microed apart.
light-cavalry Light Cavalry mangonel Mangonel Fast melee closes and snipes siege; also great vs Monks and raiding.
elite-skirmisher Elite Skirmisher cavalry-archer Cavalry Archer High pierce armour hard-counters all archer-line and cavalry archers.
monk Monk knight Knight Conversion removes expensive units outright — but Monks die to archers and light cav.
eagle-warrior Eagle Warrior monk Monk Fast, gold-light, with bonus vs monks/siege/archers; a mesoamerican raiding answer.

Every unit

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