Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition has pulled a lot of interest back to the game and the franchise, and while some players are looking to keep attacking their opponents until they wear them down when they get back into their favorite Age of Empires civilizations, some are looking for different types of strategy.
Defensive-minded civilizations can be incredibly frustrating to fight against, as many units can be wasted when thrown against a solid defensively-built area. From free tower upgrades to nearly-indestructible buildings, there are huge advantages to trying a defensive strategy with the right civilization.
5 China
Played by seasoned players more commonly, the Chinese civilization is easily one of the best in Age Of Empires 2 overall. Able to attack and defend, the Chinese civilization comes with an unusual setup and is best at economic upgrades that allow players to gain hugely in terms of resources and prepare for major offensives. However, waiting and building defenses to allow resource production to continue is an even greater strength for them.
Starting the game with extra villagers and extra population available at their town center makes China one of the best civilizations early game. This is given back slightly in terms of the late-game units available to them, as they cannot train the Paladin and the Bombard Cannon. With technologies and units unique to them providing great long-range siege capability, the China civilization will frustrate opponents from a defensive standpoint.
4 Malay
Strong as a naval civilization, the Malay is also excellent on the defensive side of the Age Of Empires 2 strategies. Cheap fish traps are one of the big advantages which allow them to amass a huge volume of wood easily, putting their navy first at all times. Malay isn’t a great civilization to use if there isn’t much water available on the map, as their land-based upgrades and available units are limited.
However, in terms of mounting a strong defense, they are always capable. At the castle age, the Malay can turn docks into harbors which gives the building a ranged attack, making it deadly for enemies trying to attack them by sea. Additionally, their unique unit is called the Karambit Warrior, and this unit can be instantly and mass-produced to halt any enemy in their tracks as they try to surge forwards, making for effective defense even if the player is caught totally unprepared by the strike.
3 Teutons
The Teutons are a pretty great starting civilization for beginners as well as a fantastic defensive-minded one. In terms of units, the Teutons are focused almost exclusively on infantry, which leaves a little to be desired in terms of attacks on the enemy, but makes for great defense when paired with the huge advantages the Teutons bring for castles and towers.
A mixture of ranged attacks from various strategically placed buildings, and the ability to use crenelations to have infantry units store themselves inside to shoot even more projectiles from buildings makes for a brutal defense to try and bring down. The Teutons are monstrously frustrating to attack when set up well, and enemies will have to lose a lot of units managing such a feat as bringing down any of their bases.
2 Koreans
The Koreans are both great for naval upgrades and are absolutely monstrous defensively. They can gather stone faster than other civilizations, meaning that their defenses such as towers can go up early and stay up throughout the game. Their towers also upgrade automatically, and they gain a huge +2 bonus range from the Castle Age onwards, making it horribly difficult to even get close to the Korean base without taking heavy losses.
Additionally, their unique technology increases the range of Mangonels, added to the bonus they already have naturally, this makes Mangonels ridiculously powerful. Placed alongside towers, a few of them will make opponents suffer heavily before getting near their targets. Their unique unit, the War Wagon, is also devastating in defense, as they are very durable and strong against support units. Added to their powerful naval capabilities, which could be used on water-based maps to harass the enemy while holding back on land, the Koreans become a horrifying force to try and fight against. They even have a 33% bonus for the speed of building walls and castles, making it easy to advance with smaller bases across the map.
1 Byzantines
The Byzantines are well-known as an incredibly powerful civilization defensively. Byzantine buildings gain a huge bonus with each age to their HP, ending up at 40% by the Imperial Age. This makes it ridiculously hard to take them down, and when added to the fact that they get a third off the price of advancing to the Imperial Age, a quick player will be able to make Byzantine cities almost indestructible incredibly quickly.
For the defensive strategy known as turtling, there is no better force to take on. The Byzantines have access to every defensive building in the game, and technologically they have perhaps the widest tree available in the game as well. Byzantines are likely to focus on cavalry units, so they usually have a fast-moving defensive force ready to leap into action, or to ride out guerrilla style to harass enemy forces before retreating to their heavily fortified bases. Just a few buildings out further into the map will be terribly difficult for enemies to bring down once they are up.
Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition is currently available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.