The Abbasid Dynasty in Age of Empires 4

The Abbasids were a very pious civilization that specialized in sieging their opponents. We've got everything you need to know in our guide to the Abbasid Dynasty in Age of Empires 4.

Difficulty estimated by the developers : ★ ★ ☆

The Abbasid civilisation in Age of Empires 4 covers a period from 750 to 1517 AD. It is based on a mix between the Abbasid Caliphate and the Mamluk Sultanate. During this period the Abbasids survived civil wars, various invasions and the Crusades. The civilisation reflects the golden age of Islam.

Abbasid bonuses

• Infantry are efficient and can build siege engines (ram/seat tower) without unlocking 'Siege Expertise',
• The wings of the "House of Wisdom" grant an influence bonus to nearby buildings: 5 points of fire armour,
• Wild boar harvesting is impossible, but berry harvesting is 25% faster,
• Get bonuses as you enter the 'Golden Age' of the Abbasids. The speed of resource collection, research and production is increased,
• The cost of the ports is reduced by 50%.

Specific units and their characteristics

The Abbasids have 2 unique units, which are unlocked in order:

From age II - Thearcher on camel (Category: Ranged cavalry, camel). This unit, very mobile and resistant, is the unit par excellence to counter any type of cavalry. In addition, the damage of nearby enemy cavalry is reduced. It is even more effective against lancers. The camel archer is nevertheless expensive.

From age III - The chamelier (Category: Light cavalry in close combat, camel). This unit, very mobile and resistant, is the other unit par excellence to counter any type of cavalry; it also has a damage bonus against it. In addition, the damage of nearby enemy cavalry is reduced. The camel driver is nevertheless expensive.

The house of wisdom

The Abbasid civilization was built around a unique building: the "House of Wisdom. Unlike other civilizations, you will not need to build new buildings for your age changes. In fact, to go through the ages, you simply need to build additional wings on the House of Wisdom.

In addition to saving space, it saves labour, as no villagers are required for construction.

During the game, you will be able to build 4 different wings, in the order you want, which allows you to adapt your gameplay. Each wing is special and brings 3 specific improvements:

• Theculture wing. It allows you to unlock 'Preserved Knowledge', 'Medical Centre' and 'Faith'.
• Theeconomic wing. It allows you to unlock 'Fresh Food', 'Agriculture' and 'Enhanced Treatment'.
• Themilitary wing. It allows you to unlock 'Support Camels', 'Camel Shields' and 'Training Camp'.
• Thecommercial wing. It allows you to unlock 'Spice Routes', 'Armoured Caravans' and 'Great Bazaar'.

Since you will only use 3 of the wings for your age changes, you will have a 4th wing to build at age IV. It is not a V age, but it will give you other bonuses like a new change.

In addition, the House of Wisdom is involved in two other key Abbasid issues:

The building generates an influence (orange area) on all buildings connected to it: all receive a +5 bonus in fire resistance. When you connect a building, it also gets an area of influence. You must maximise the number of buildings that benefit from this bonus.

The building allows forreaching the Golden Age of the Abbasids. This is a form of internal quest within the civilisation. The more buildings you connect to each other, the closer you get to the Golden Age. There are actually 3 levels, 10, 30 and 60 buildings present in the area of influence, which offer different bonuses:

The strategic bases of the Abbasids

With the Abbasids, your gameplay will be more defensive. You will have to constantly adapt your army to what the opponent is offering while maintaining your economy.

As for the order of construction of the wings of the House of Wisdom, it depends on your desires and your style of play. If you don't know what to choose, you can keep your building routine as follows: economic wing, then cultural wing and finally military wing. Only build the last one when you have the resources.

Your start to the game will be relatively simple, build up your economy by limiting the amount of damage you take. Knowing that you should try to reach the Golden Age as much as possible, one of your goals will be to produce villagers. To help you in this quest, quickly turn to the "fresh food" upgrade in the economy wing.

Then you will have to focus on your resources to quickly move to age III. Once this age is over, you can launch rushes on the opponent's base and its crops. Your efficiency at the beginning of age III is crucial to your success.

Wisdom will lead you to victory

This civilisation requires good space management to be really effective. It is therefore more suitable for someone who has some knowledge of how RTS work.