Age Of Empires 4 Skirmish Mode: How To Win
The Age of Empires 4 Skirmish mode is the main mode you'll be playing once you've finished the campaign, because it's endless and every match is different. The Skirmish mode in Age of Empires 4 sees each team start with a blank canvas with the aim to build your town, along with the armed forces and eventually win the match via one of the win conditions that are chosen for the battle. This guide has everything you need to know to get started with the Age of Empires 4 Skirmish mode and win battles.
- Make sure you read our top Age of Empires 4 tips before jumping into any of the modes in the game
Age Of Empires 4 Skirmish Mode: How To Set Up
Click to enlargeWhen choosing the Skirmish mode you can choose to use a preset which will set up the same match each time, or create your own custom battle.
The presets include:
- Solo Battle vs A.I. (1v1): Play solo against an A.I. opponent. Standard mode at the Hill and Dale location.
- A.I. Teammates vs A.I. (3v3): Play with A.I. teammates against A.I. opponents. Standard mode at the Nagari location.
- A Passage to Conquest (1v1): A deep bay separates the Mongols from the lands they seek to conquer. The water may prove an obstacle, or a gateway, to victory. Landmarks mode at the Boulder Bay location.
- An Abundance of Riches (1v1): A land rich in resources has brought aggression from outside elements. The French must quickly respond to ensure they retain control of their precious riches. Standard mode at the French Pass location.
- A Contested Front (2v2): A wide bay separates two opposing forces. By land or sea take the fight to your enemy before they claim what is yours. Standard mode at the Boulder Bay location.
- A Known Quantity (2v2): Use mobility to push forward through lands filled with concealing woods and take the battle to two skilled opponents. Landmarks mode at the High View location.
Choosing to create your own game allows you to choose the map, win conditions, the starting conditions, and how many players and teams will be in the match.
Age Of Empires 4 Skirmish Mode: Building Your Town
Click to enlargeWhen you start the battle in the Age of Empires 4 Skirmish mode you will find yourself on an empty map with just your Town Centre. From here, you need to begin hiring Villagers and Scouts. The Villagers can be used to create other buildings, as well as harvest resources you need to build, Food, Wood, Gold, and Stone. You can then use your Scouts to search out the map and try and locate your opponents. It will take a lot of time to build out your town with everything that you need, as well as build a big enough army to handle anything your opponents throw at you.
The win condition you're aiming to achieve is what will determine the strategy you will need to take. If you're going to attempt to destroy all of your opponent's landmarks then you will need to build a barracks, stables, and archery range as soon as possible and focus on building the biggest army that you can. On the other hand, if you're going for a Wonder victory then resources will be more important than the size of your army.
Age Of Empires 4 Skirmish Mode: Progress Through The Ages
Click to enlargeThere are four different ages that players can progress through in the Age of Empires 4 Skirmish Mode and each age will give you more buildings to unlock. Each new age also allows you to build a Landmark, which can be destroyed to complete one win condition. As each of these will allow you to build an even better town and army, it is essential that you harvest resources as quickly as possible to move through these as soon as you can.
Age Of Empires 4 Skirmish Mode: Defending Your Town
Click to enlargeWhile you're building your town and army, your pesky opponents will likely come and try to destroy them. If you're playing against A.I. this will likely happen every few minutes. This means that even if your goal is to destroy your opponent's Landmarks, you still have to be wary of your own town and Landmarks, so keep an army there to guard them as you may return from battle to all of your hard work being ruined.
Age Of Empires 4 Skirmish Mode: Spending Resources
Click to enlargeOnce you've progressed through the ages and you're getting towards the end of the match, this is the time when you need to be spending your resources as fast as you can farm them. By this point you'll know which win condition you're going for if more than one is given as an option. This will allow you to focus your spending. Once the battle is over, all of your remaining resources are lost, so you might as well spend them to give you the best chance at winning.
Age Of Empires 4 Skirmish Mode: Win Conditions
Click to enlargeThere are three win conditions in the Age of Empires 4 Skirmish mode, with each requiring a different tactic and thought process when building your town and army:
Destroy All Enemy Landmarks
Each time you advance to a new age you build a new Landmark, this also means your opponent does too. To complete the battle with this win condition you need to destroy all of them that your opponent has built, which is a maximum of four. Of course, it would be easier to attempt this earlier in the match as your opponent likely only has one or two built, but your army will also be smaller, so be sure to choose to the right moment to do this.
Control All Sacred Sites
On each map there are three sacred sites, if you manage to control all three of these at once you will win. To win via this method, you need to be the final age and sit a monk at the site to control it. This isn't the most popular win condition so you may find a lot of players will choose to exclude this in their own matches.
Build and Defend a Wonder
Once you reach the fourth age you will be able to build a Wonder by using 3,000 of each resource. This will take 10 minutes to build by using one Villager, but you can speed it up by tasking multiple with the job. Once it is built, you must prevent it from being destroyed for 15 minutes. Once the timer is up you will win the battle.
Now you know everything you need to about the Age of Empires 4 Skirmish mode, make sure you check out our full Age of Empires 4 review to learn our thoughts.
