Age Of Empires 4: Best Early-Game Food Sources

Highlights

Age of Empires 4 focuses on building a strong civilization and eliminating other groups on the map.
Villagers must be well-fed in order to build and gather resources, so players need to locate and farm food sources.
Hunting, fishing, sheep herding, and farming are effective ways to ensure a steady supply of food for the settlement.

Age of Empires 4 is the latest game in the series, and has a lot of the hallmarks of the games that came before it. The main goal is to build up a strong enough civilization to wipe out the other groups on the map. This is normally achieved by creating and upgrading an army. However, players will not get very far with an army if their central village isn't properly cared for.

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In order for the villagers in Age of Empires 4 to start building and gathering resources, they must first be well-fed. This means that players must locate and farm various food sources across the map. It is best to use the food sources nearby in the early game for the most efficient city growth.

6 Hunting

Wild Deer and Boars Can Provide Extra Meat

On every map in Age of Empires 4, there will be a variety of wildlife roaming around to make the world feel more lived in. Some of these creatures are best left alone, as they could pose a danger to villagers and have nothing else to offer. However, there are a few animals in the game that could be a good source of food.

By selecting a villager and then clicking on a group of deer or wild boars, players can start sending their villagers out to hunt as an extra way to get some more food in the early game. It is best to only stick to hunting the wild animals near the initial settlement so as not to run into any enemy camps. Also, remember that wild boars can fight back, so it is best to send two or more hunters after these creatures.

5 Fishing The Sea

Boats Can Also Gather Food

Some maps in Age of Empires 4 also have vast expanses of water to cross. While these seas and rivers do provide players with the opportunity to engage in naval warfare, they are also full of fish. As such, players might also want to think about using their docks to build a few fishing boats in the early game.

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These boats are great at finding food that would not be accessible by any other means, and players can start exploring large parts of the map as they are collecting fish. Since the player will also need some firepower later in the game, anyway. It also helps to have a few warships around these fishing boats during the Feudal Age to protect these boats and sink enemy fishing boats when there is an opportunity.

4 Sheep and Other Livestock

Players Always Start Off With Some Help

Every new game of Age of Empires 4 will load a completely randomly generated map. This means the resources on hand for the player will always be different. As such, it is complete luck whether the player will have access to sheep in the early game or not. All the villagers in the game know how to shepherd these creatures, and the meat given from these animals accounts for more food units than vegetation.

The only downside to using sheep this way is that they are a finite resource. Once a sheep has been stripped of all its meat, players will need to go out and find more on the map and bring them back to their settlement. This can prove dangerous, though, with all the wild animals and enemy outposts on the roads.

3 Coastal Fishing

Boats Aren't The Only Way To Get Fish

Since all maps in the game are randomly generated, it means that there is a good chance that the player's first settlement will be situated near a coastline. As such, they can send out some villagers to fish in these areas. Doing so means that players can save resources on fishing boats this early in the game, and fishing is much safer this close to a home base.

The only thing that players need to be mindful of when coastal fishing is ensuring that a food mill is close enough to the shore for villagers to deposit fish and other food resources once they're gathered. Also, the fish near the coast will run out, so fishers will need to keep moving around to find food.

2 Farms

A Great Renewable Source Of Food

Farms in Age of Empires 4 are some of the most essential ways to gather food in the game. These plantations will continue to provide food for the player's settlement through the ages, and they can be built manually or automatically placed by villagers who are tasked with gathering food. The best part is that these farms can be placed on almost every type of terrain, as long as there is nothing in the way.

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The farms in Age of Empires 4 are an endless supply of food in any environment, and players will want to look at building these as soon as they can. There are some other food resources they will need to start gathering first, however.

1 Berries

The First Food Source Available

Although every map in the game is randomly generated, there is one constant when it comes to loading up a new game of Age of Empires 4: Every settlement will start with a few berry bushes nearby. These bushes are the first source of food that players should be harvesting, and they will eventually provide enough resources to recruit more villagers to eventually start building farms.

Unfortunately, these berries are finite, and do not provide as many food units as sheep or fish. However, they are enough to get any civilization going. To make the most of this resource, players should place their first food mill as close to those bushes as possible.