Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition has been released on Xbox consoles and there are a huge number of exciting ways to play with over thirty civilizations available in the game. Whether new players or seasoned veterans are checking the game out, one of the most notably fun ways to play is to try out a more water-based strategy.
Both offensive and defensive civilizations have got expertise in ship and docks improvements, and these can be easily overlooked as ways to win, particularly on maps with fair coverage of water. If players are looking for a naval civilization, there are a lot of great ways to go.
6 Koreans
The Koreans are very strong both defensively and in the water. They even have a unique water-based unit, the Turtle Ship, which is extremely powerful and has often been seen to destroy enemy navies even while outnumbered heavily. With access to all gunpowder units, and heavy defense against attacks by sea because of the huge range available to them on towers and Mangonels, the Koreans are a powerful ocean force.
The Koreans also have a powerful stone-gathering ability, which allows them to make quick advancements early in the game towards building these defenses, and once they have their docks together and surrounded by long-reaching towers, enemies will find it very difficult to come close and halt their resource gathering.
5 Malay
The Malay is maybe the most difficult civilization to deal with when attacked by sea. Not only does their unique unit, the Karambit Warrior, get produced cheaply and almost instantly, making for a hugely defensive force ready to meet any attack, but they also have huge bonuses fighting on the ocean. For instance, their unique technology, Thalassocracy, allows them to turn their docks into harbors, adding a ranged attack to the building.
This makes it incredibly difficult to attack the Malay by sea, or by land for that matter, and besides that, they get cheaper fish traps for early-game resource bonuses on the sea, and they have access to almost every naval unit bar the heavy demolition ship. With bombard towers and keeps also available, they have a lot of strong naval options both offensively and defensively to make a devastating navy overall. Watch out though, this trade-off comes at the price of hardly any land-based upgrades.
4 Persians
The Persians are a unique and strange civilization for a number of reasons. For instance, they are weakest in the middle part of any match, starting with a speedy economy and finding their feet again late-game but weak and susceptible to falling behind in the middle section, around the Bronze Age. In terms of the Navy, they are hugely effective from the Iron Age onwards, as their Triremes can fire twice as fast as other civilizations.
This is a huge advantage that slowly negates later into the game, but Persian civilizations will easily be able to wrest control by going hard at this point in any match on producing water-based units. Taking control of the seas before enemies can begin to unlock Juggernaut-level units is the best policy for sure.
3 Japanese
Not only are the Japanese an excellent technology for infantry-based combat, particularly with their unique unit, the Samurai, being one of the fastest infantry units with huge attack bonuses against other infantry. But the Japanese are also a force to be reckoned with on the water, partially due to their fishing ships having higher hit points than other civilizations.
Their Galleons are also much stronger due to a higher line of sight. Added to a full archer technology capability, players will find attacking the Japanese by water hugely frustrating. Their one major flaw on the water is an inability to train the heavy demolition ship, but with their excellent galleons, the resources that could be used there will find a better place.
2 Vikings
The Vikings are devastating to fight by sea. Early-game, they will likely wrest control of the water before other civilizations due to the cheap docks they can build. Once they have gained control, their mid-game economy using technologies like Wheelbarrow and Handcart, which they get for free, will boom and make it easy to keep control of the oceans.
It will be hard to come against them due to strong defenses, having technologies such as fortified walls and heated shots. But mostly, the Vikings will dominate the ocean without question once they gain their unique naval unit, the Longboat. This unit fires volleys of arrows and will beat almost anything it comes up against on the water, making it easy to clear the way for naval supremacy from beginning to end.
1 Italians
Italians might be even better than the Vikings though, and this comes from several advantages. They have almost everything available to them at the docks, and a massive boost at the docks since all of their technologies are 33% cheaper than they are for other civilizations. Fishing ships are also cheaper, making it ridiculously easy to get that valuable food resource up and running early in the game. This means they can focus on gathering wood on land for more ships.
The Italians also have a 15% reduction in aging up, which allows them to speed through the ages quickly and become a devastating, upgraded, and technological force quickly. Even the Vikings will struggle to gain control of the water on a map and keep it away from the Italians. Lastly, they feature a lot of advantages in terms of gunpowder units, making ships like the Cannon Galleon cheaper and more deadly if upgraded correctly.
Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition is currently available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.