Beginner guide to the first 15 villagers [AoE2]

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  • čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
  • Starting off on the right foot is everything. In this video I'll break down the standard way to start a game of Age of Empires 2, and why it works so well. Nearly all build orders start this way, so it applies to nearly all strategies.
    Patreon: / spiritofthelaw
    Background music from Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsound.com
    Game: Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition, with Forgotten Empires, African Kingdoms, Rise the Rajas, and Last Khans expansions
  • Hry

Komentáře • 1,5K

  • @andybrinegar8861
    @andybrinegar8861 Před 4 lety +7080

    I'm watching beginner tutorials for a game I played religiously in the early 2000's. What a time to be alive.

    • @caroswolf286
      @caroswolf286 Před 4 lety +165

      I missed the Age of empires 2 dawn, now i'm here, finally learning, 20 years later

    • @akoden2667
      @akoden2667 Před 4 lety +61

      Andy Brinegar You’re not the only one. Hundreds and hundreds of other people also lol

    • @akoden2667
      @akoden2667 Před 4 lety +25

      I’m just happy I have a many new campaigns and civilizations to try out

    • @raphaelphenix9809
      @raphaelphenix9809 Před 3 lety +28

      Never stop learning.

    • @blairw1695
      @blairw1695 Před 3 lety +67

      Honestly same. I played this game so much as a young child, and now I’m like what is a villager?

  • @colesy4971
    @colesy4971 Před 4 lety +6202

    watching this video has made me fully accept that i'll never be even remotely competitive and that i'm totally ok being a filthy casual playing vs bots

    • @darkpaladin18
      @darkpaladin18 Před 4 lety +93

      colesy and bots fuck you up

    • @dendiepie1547
      @dendiepie1547 Před 4 lety +756

      Yeah, i played it like sim city lmao. I like to make my civilization look good.

    • @Blackrockmore
      @Blackrockmore Před 4 lety +124

      I always play regicide 😶🤷‍♂️

    • @williamchang2947
      @williamchang2947 Před 4 lety +82

      With cheats on

    • @johncena-of3lj
      @johncena-of3lj Před 4 lety +111

      @@dendiepie1547 lol I stooped cheats it's too easy with them doesn't give you the same feeling when u build things on your own and your dominanting

  • @grayrock3964
    @grayrock3964 Před 4 lety +3472

    Me, after 5 minutes into the game: Ok, seems it's the time to build the third house and a mill.
    AI and its 30 militia entering my camp: the age of men is over, now it's our time to rule these lands.

    • @VivekGawande1
      @VivekGawande1 Před 4 lety +98

      Hahaha so true

    • @drago939393
      @drago939393 Před 4 lety +33

      Is that the AI cheating?

    • @zekeiwa5837
      @zekeiwa5837 Před 4 lety +94

      @@drago939393 only on AoK. Fuckers literally use cheat codes

    • @AkashJobanputra5
      @AkashJobanputra5 Před 4 lety +57

      That's a death match, you already have lots of resources, so you don't need to invest in economics first as shown in this video.

    • @lukecassidy6108
      @lukecassidy6108 Před 4 lety +7

      right why do i suck so much

  • @AnthonyPadilla
    @AnthonyPadilla Před 4 lety +2298

    thank you for this! picking up this game for the first time in about 15 years and have forgotten everything i used to know. it's not exactly like riding a bike.

  • @OnePlancheMan
    @OnePlancheMan Před 4 lety +1427

    "We don't want to stop making them until we have more than 100."
    Me with my 30 villagers thinking I'm overpopulated lmao

    • @kiramay2192
      @kiramay2192 Před 4 lety +37

      ArcaneNoodles fuck I FELT that lmfao

    • @tunnelvision5851
      @tunnelvision5851 Před 4 lety +27

      Me with my eight lmao

    • @StarryxNight5
      @StarryxNight5 Před 3 lety +27

      Me with 4 on each resource and if i need extra 5

    • @StefyRomania
      @StefyRomania Před 3 lety +35

      my father only playing on 25 population:

    • @oswaldbojangles5247
      @oswaldbojangles5247 Před 3 lety +10

      Maybe the PC version differs, but on PS2, the population is capped at 75

  • @_antares031
    @_antares031 Před 4 lety +1578

    Next Video: Beginner guide to the first 100 villagers in Black Forest

    • @Angrymonkey2489
      @Angrymonkey2489 Před 4 lety +65

      Beginner's guide to Regicide. Start with too many villagers.

    • @mcihay246
      @mcihay246 Před 4 lety +34

      Is it normal that your comment was posted 6 hours ago, yet the video was posted in less than 17 minutes?

    • @Kevin-wx7wu
      @Kevin-wx7wu Před 4 lety +1

      @@mcihay246 yeah what's up with that?

    • @Kevin-wx7wu
      @Kevin-wx7wu Před 4 lety +11

      All on wood and you sell at the market to get everything else. Ah wait. That's another map

    • @T-West
      @T-West Před 4 lety +32

      @@mcihay246 SotL Patreons get early access to some videos.

  • @MidwestBoom
    @MidwestBoom Před 4 lety +1432

    "If you're new to the game some idle time is going to happen" yeah sure new to the game....

    • @MastersX99
      @MastersX99 Před 4 lety +80

      been playing since about 2006, started with the original version of age of kings on ps2.. still have idle time XD

    • @sunny_senpai
      @sunny_senpai Před 4 lety +59

      @@MastersX99 Been playing since 1997 here. Still noob.

    • @IrishRepoMan
      @IrishRepoMan Před 4 lety +9

      @@MastersX99 PS2? Didn't know they had this for PS2. I played this when it came out in '99.

    • @MastersX99
      @MastersX99 Před 4 lety +3

      @@IrishRepoMan yep age of kings was on ps2 :D

    • @leoSaunders
      @leoSaunders Před 4 lety

      xD

  • @zakunick1
    @zakunick1 Před 4 lety +2379

    At 15 villagers is where my game starts to fall off.

    • @45641560456405640563
      @45641560456405640563 Před 4 lety +93

      Same. I'm pretty solid up until there.

    • @150booyadragon
      @150booyadragon Před 4 lety +11

      Me too

    • @framherjabow5330
      @framherjabow5330 Před 4 lety +79

      Well... There are 2 hugely common strategies:
      1. Make them up to 22 pop. Mostly sent to food, 1 or 2 to wood. Age up at 22 pop, then rush. If u r going to archer rush -- then u'll need some vils on gold.
      2. Fast-castle strategy. It may seem weird, but to hit castles faster u need to make MORE vils in the dark age. Usually, when i'm aiming to FC, i age up to feudal at 28 pop. Usually all the boars and deer and sheep put together provide just enough food.
      Useful hint: don't be afraid to take vilagers off your food and send them to wood, when u need to make farms and your wood is at zero.
      Ah, the most important: don't stop producing them. I usually go into castle age with 32-35 vils, and into imperial with almost 100.

    • @pichuyang3865
      @pichuyang3865 Před 4 lety +28

      "Improvise. Adapt. Overcome." XD 11:27

    • @007999999999999999
      @007999999999999999 Před 4 lety +29

      @@framherjabow5330 I always forget to build TCs once I reach castle because I am busy with some fighting and then I win a small fight but lose the game because my opponent has 1/3rd more pop.

  • @BubblewrapHighway
    @BubblewrapHighway Před 4 lety +133

    Remember to keep straggler trees around because they make your base pretty.

  • @kristofkopasz5912
    @kristofkopasz5912 Před 4 lety +595

    4:58
    Eagle be like: "Shit i forgot my wallet"

  • @GregoryCrimson
    @GregoryCrimson Před 3 lety +283

    Me after 15 minutes in the game: “okay, time to build an army”

    • @hanshintermann1551
      @hanshintermann1551 Před 3 lety +18

      I mean, it CAN be a viable strategy.

    • @AlexanderGeorge
      @AlexanderGeorge Před 3 lety +11

      @@hanshintermann1551 yep. Fast castle, then spam Knights

    • @paulluka2029
      @paulluka2029 Před 2 lety +4

      Go for enemies gold and stone it's risky but taking even 10% it's worth it

    • @jimalfauraq388
      @jimalfauraq388 Před 2 lety +1

      @@AlexanderGeorge lol... Knight is no good vs pikemen 😂

    • @HaploBartow
      @HaploBartow Před 2 lety +4

      @@jimalfauraq388 comes down to numbers and upgrades then. 1:1, especially upgraded, yeah spears/pikes will win, but usually you don't encounter as many spears/pikes as you have knights, because they're only useful for one thing: countering knights, whereas knights are an all-around power unit.

  • @mfpuma_
    @mfpuma_ Před 4 lety +398

    I'm having the time of my life learning how to play this game right, i even convinced my friends to watch your videos (and ZeroEmpires videos too) and now we've established AoE2 fridays as a thing. Thank you so much for what you're doing to this community.

    • @willsmith5758
      @willsmith5758 Před 4 lety +8

      I just started playing AoE2 for the first time as well. It's my first RTS and I love the historical style of it all. I, too, am having a blast learning it and beating my last best game.

    • @codiserville593
      @codiserville593 Před 3 lety +15

      Aoe2 Fridays sounds fun

    • @MrDaiohAzu
      @MrDaiohAzu Před 3 lety +5

      wait.... you have fun "learning" the game ? I can understand it's fun once you master it but bruh, i started it right now, learning, it's painful as fuck

    • @gabeperras3711
      @gabeperras3711 Před 3 lety +7

      The phases of every AoE2 player.
      Phase1: the blob of random units doing whatever
      Phase2: learn to form your random blob into random control groups
      Phase3: learning meta tactics from spirit of the law

  • @TonyRedgrave
    @TonyRedgrave Před 4 lety +264

    "This is not ideal."
    That looks like my base at the start of every game. Ouch.

    • @warriorlax3502
      @warriorlax3502 Před 4 lety +15

      Right 🤣 been playing for probably 13 years, just now deciding to try and play strategically

    • @Carpatouille
      @Carpatouille Před 3 lety +10

      @@warriorlax3502 To be fair OG AoE2 had next to no tips or anything on the internet to help you improve and you had to rely on 144p videos on early youtube (which was not that known at the time), shitty forums with people who were nice but gave very bad advice and tips sometimes, and internet itself was harder to get, and it was not nearly as good as today. So it was pretty common for AoE2 players to play against bots or the campaign and be trash at the game, relying on cheats to see the story or thousands of trial and error and still be bad. There's no more of that in 2020, even for games that are not nearly as big and popular as AoE2 in comparison.

    • @xotl2780
      @xotl2780 Před 3 lety +1

      I actually like the way it looked way f better.

    • @CapitanCataracta
      @CapitanCataracta Před 3 lety

      look like my first 20 minutes in game...

  • @thnydn
    @thnydn Před 4 lety +778

    SpiritOfTheLaw,
    Thanks very much for this video, as an amateur-ish player, this explained a lot of things that I wondered about before when watching streams from pro gamers or your videos. It would be amazing if you could do similar videos on:
    1) the main objectives of each Age (like what I should aim to accomplish before advancing)
    2) Walling / Walling with buildings.. I see that a lot; using buildings for walls, but I always kinda wondered why that’s done
    3) best army compositions
    4) other common pro player strategies. Like I keep hearing “scout rush”, “tower rush” etc, but explaining them would be great!
    Thanks a lot! (Pls upvote so he can see)

    • @TheMrFarmerJoe9
      @TheMrFarmerJoe9 Před 4 lety +56

      Well walling is done with buildings because it makes it harder for your opponent to attack you if they have to destroy some buildings first. You have to make those buildings and place them somewhere anyway so you might as well put them in a place that will make it more annoying to deal with for enemy players.
      A ‘rush’ is exactly what it sounds. Making lots of scouts really early to harass an enemies villagers before they’ve made many defences. Same thing with towers except instead of building scouts you build towers near where your opponent’s villagers are working to deny them using that resource until the tower is destroyed.

    • @sebastianschmidt7268
      @sebastianschmidt7268 Před 4 lety +71

      1) Cant be answered easily because it depends on your strategy and what you opponent does. If you want to reach Castle Age quickly, you advance to Feudal at 27 population. When you reached Feudal you queue up 2 villagers, build Market + Blacksmith and click up Castle right away. If your enemy goes for early aggression what you must scout first, you have to adapt. Make units to counter your enemy or go on stone to tower up your base and protect your resources. Just make sure if you want to attack your enemy getting important blacksmith upgrades first is the key to succeed. Like armor for the knights or damage + range for your archers etc. Meelee units need armor first by the way.
      2) Walling with buildings is very important. You have to build them anyway and they got a lot of hp so wall up the smaller gaps with palisades and houses, while building barracks for example infront of your berries if they're exposed. Use treelines or cliffs to wall because you save a lot of wood. If you accidently walled out resources like an extra gold or stone pile dont hesitate to open your walls a bit so that villagers can go out later. Dont make your base too small and stick with that because you lose total map controll and the enemy could build foreward military stuff and you don't see it. It is common once you go for Imperial Age to start build outposts around your base and further out to see the enemy coming miles away what gives you much time to react.
      3) Best army compositions are individual to every civ and their current matchups. This is very advanced knowledge and not easy to write that down in a few sentences.
      4) When you rush your enemy early you optimise your eco from the start to produce 1 unit and rush your enemy with it to make him react, waste resources and losing time. Noobs often are kinda dead after a simple rush because they have no clue how to react on that. How they're played? I recommend you T90 Officials videos on CZcams. You will find them I am sure.

    • @alfredong6850
      @alfredong6850 Před 4 lety +7

      It would be nice to create a video series similar to Art of War

    • @OkabexKurisu
      @OkabexKurisu Před 4 lety +1

      @@alfredong6850 there is a lot of content to build in youtube..one only has to find it

    • @farblood69
      @farblood69 Před 4 lety

      RT

  • @darkotaku5799
    @darkotaku5799 Před 4 lety +353

    spirit of the law: with standard settings we dont want to stop making them until we have more than a hundred.
    aoe2 campaign: 75. take it or leave it.

    • @jomnix
      @jomnix Před 4 lety +18

      In the Definitive Edition the population limit in those campaigns is 125 :-D

    • @charlsman18
      @charlsman18 Před 4 lety

      @@jomnix In all campaigns?

    • @meh____1992
      @meh____1992 Před 4 lety +17

      @@charlsman18 ,no, saladin for example is 75/100 depending on the chapter

    • @iLuvHinata360
      @iLuvHinata360 Před 4 lety +7

      fuck the campaigns for having a 75 hard cap ;_;
      edit: grammar

    • @Carpatouille
      @Carpatouille Před 3 lety

      @@jomnix Not in William Wallace's campaign

  • @krisholznagel9982
    @krisholznagel9982 Před 4 lety +55

    I've been playing this game since 2006 and I'm still watching these beginner guides

    • @RV-rv9nv
      @RV-rv9nv Před 4 lety

      Hahaha me 2

    • @brokentombot
      @brokentombot Před 4 lety

      I watch this every week and I still forget when I'm actually playing. AoE is fun but stressful lol

    • @sakib6563
      @sakib6563 Před 3 lety +1

      Me since 2000 in grade 1. Now I finished engineering two years ago. I still play :P

  • @vladimations7961
    @vladimations7961 Před 4 lety +158

    Before watching your tutorials I could barely ever beat the AI on Moderate. So I combined what I've learned on your channel with a bit of online playing. Yes I lost every time but I learned and improved A LOT after each game. I now completely decimate the AI on Moderate and I'm going on to play against a more aggressive AI. Still a lot to learn but always look on the map at what the pro players have been building after you loose a game and apply that to your next game. You will be surprised

    • @trevormurphy1026
      @trevormurphy1026 Před 3 lety +4

      I started doing that on my own as well and then you realize which strategies work the best. It really helps to analyze other people's bases

    • @Chilanglik
      @Chilanglik Před 2 lety +5

      I'm still dealing with "moderate" problems. Haha. Thanks for the inspiration. :D

  • @karney6583
    @karney6583 Před 3 lety +33

    It's worth noting that straggler trees can be built over as soon as they are knocked down, whereas a tree inside the forest has to be completely harvested before you can build on top of it. Just something I've noticed while playing, and it might matter in a tight game somehow

    • @AtticusKarpenter
      @AtticusKarpenter Před 2 dny

      interesting! Very handy so it works that way and not block buildings ever though its not collected yet

  • @blackblizzard3216
    @blackblizzard3216 Před 3 lety +251

    "the chinese, which strart off with no food"
    just like the simulations

    • @UncleEarl97
      @UncleEarl97 Před 2 lety +5

      Things change, soon they'll be eating our lunch.

  • @JordanIsNowOnTheTube
    @JordanIsNowOnTheTube Před 3 lety +48

    It's been 20years and I'm just now learning this game

  • @perryschnabel
    @perryschnabel Před 3 lety +55

    As child I played hours on the same map just trying to build a cool village / castle. Playing the game is way makes it a completely different game :D

    • @shubhamghosh1923
      @shubhamghosh1923 Před rokem +2

      I did the same. Still do that sometimes.. Always remember it takes a real king to build a civilization worth living in.

  • @radix4400
    @radix4400 Před 4 lety +748

    So just to clarify:
    Build 2 houses right away and queue villagers
    First 6 on Sheep
    Next 4 on Wood
    11th goes Boar Hunting and joins on the boars
    12th builds House and then Mill
    13-15 help berries
    Boar villagers build farms after running out of meat.
    Adjust from there based on situation.
    Does that cover it?

    • @mlchaelz2134
      @mlchaelz2134 Před 2 lety +31

      yes is sure does thank you very much sir

    • @Bhatonia_Jaat
      @Bhatonia_Jaat Před rokem +31

      Wow this is actually beginners guide
      What a shame on video man

    • @Dopeher
      @Dopeher Před rokem +16

      Queue first then build

    • @spinyslasher6586
      @spinyslasher6586 Před rokem +35

      @@Bhatonia_Jaat wdym shame SOTL explains these steps using maths. These steps mean nothing without justification to back them up.

    • @Bhatonia_Jaat
      @Bhatonia_Jaat Před rokem +13

      @@spinyslasher6586this definitely not the best way to make beginners understand
      They seek for straight forward and simple steps to get started with game
      Just my opinion

  • @joeyburgess9396
    @joeyburgess9396 Před 11 měsíci +11

    3 years after seeing this video, i still send this to my new friends who i get into this game. You are the Rosetta stone of AOE2 and my appreciation knows no bounds for you.

  • @justxavier9999
    @justxavier9999 Před 4 lety +37

    8:39 “lumberjills”
    Altho I know that word existed before, but it’s just brilliant

  • @ravenwolfkittyface1802
    @ravenwolfkittyface1802 Před 3 lety +44

    I’m a certified noob, so I thought I would give this a try. I thought it would make playing feel formulaic and boring, but it actually made things much more fun to have a solid idea of how to start! I didn’t have to worry about resources quite so much. Thanks for this.

  • @thesadweez
    @thesadweez Před 4 lety +84

    This video was the one I was looking for. I'm a huge AoE2 fan, but just recently decided to really learn basics, and while copying playstyles from top players, there's no real learning when you do not understand the reasons behind them.

    • @ersinculdur4401
      @ersinculdur4401 Před 4 lety

      In DE there is a complex tutorial.. you should want to take a look...

    • @thesadweez
      @thesadweez Před 4 lety

      @@ersinculdur4401 I don't own it yet, so can't check it now, but will definitely do as soon as I buy the game

    • @DoctorProfessorPablo
      @DoctorProfessorPablo Před 4 lety

      Make the playlist public please, I'm I'n the same boat!

  • @stevenhartling4279
    @stevenhartling4279 Před 3 lety +276

    Lol I love how it's "for beginners" yet the guy is talking like it's a speed run and you already know how the game works

    • @zaid9026
      @zaid9026 Před 3 lety +161

      i took a break from studying to play aoe2
      after watching this video i decided to take a break from aoe2 and continue to study

    • @jellyfish0311
      @jellyfish0311 Před 3 lety +25

      You are in charge of a bunch of illiterate shepherds, old monks and men carrying gunpowder, you have to at least act like you know your stuff

    • @bastidino1
      @bastidino1 Před 3 lety

      Ikr

    • @goodkillermusic
      @goodkillermusic Před 2 lety +2

      This video is overwhelming as hell. Imma just not 😅

  • @CarterElkins
    @CarterElkins Před 4 lety +11

    Perfect timing for some tutorials. As someone coming back to the game after 15 years thanks to DE, I'm basically a new player, and this is exactly what I need. Please keep them coming!

  • @BadSkeelz
    @BadSkeelz Před 4 lety +43

    07:23 something oddly satisfying in how the lumberjacks' work syncs up to the beat for this segment

  • @erichoffman5215
    @erichoffman5215 Před 3 lety +77

    I’ve never felt more like a filthy noob than when I watched this

    • @jacobj297
      @jacobj297 Před 3 lety +17

      I get that this is how the competitive players have to play, but this can’t be fun. I just want to hang out y’know.

    • @BingaBangoBongo
      @BingaBangoBongo Před 3 měsíci

      @@jacobj297A couple of our buddies are little sweatsack meatbots, so I'm gearing up to put an end to their shit

  • @gerardvdpl4409
    @gerardvdpl4409 Před 3 lety +17

    I remember 16 or 17 years ago when I played this, learning the game more by downloading recorded games and watching them. Then copying the first 15 or so minutes of the game from them, and practice it 5 times against the computer to perfect it. This video pretty much sums it up.
    From there you can make small deviations to adjust for different strategies. For instance the tower rush with Koreans, or fast castle.

  • @ivanweissbein5253
    @ivanweissbein5253 Před 4 lety +3

    Awesome to see Spirit of the Law himself explaining this with arguments. A lot of people just go through a tutorial for you to repeat by heart. As Spirit said here, now you’re given the foundations of these steps, making you able to change the direction of your build orders to approach certain strategies.
    Thanks dude!!

  • @Progeusz
    @Progeusz Před 4 lety +3

    Perfect guide. The best I have seen of this kind and I'm pretty sure I watched most of what is out there 11 Covered everything important with proper explanations. Well done, Spirit of the Law.

  • @fronklinb.ronasavelt3150
    @fronklinb.ronasavelt3150 Před 4 lety +237

    "it takes 25 seconds to make a new villager"
    not gonna say it

    • @tunnelvision5851
      @tunnelvision5851 Před 4 lety +15

      Fronklin B. Ronasavelt sheehoow

    • @joerivandeweyer3056
      @joerivandeweyer3056 Před 4 lety +34

      @@tunnelvision5851
      aegis
      sheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheesheeshee
      HOOOOOOOO

    • @placeholder1237
      @placeholder1237 Před 3 lety +12

      Ever wonder how villages in are are made

    • @luke4djojo
      @luke4djojo Před 3 lety +8

      some of these comments are too much gold

    • @UncleEarl97
      @UncleEarl97 Před 2 lety

      Twice as fast as a Minute Man... reference to American independence times.

  • @watchzeitgeist2
    @watchzeitgeist2 Před 4 lety

    SO useful to have it finally explained. Been taking it as accepted wisdom for nearly a year. Keep up the awesome content!

  • @derschattenpoet
    @derschattenpoet Před 3 lety +19

    I've played AoE2 throughout my childhood a lot, like a realy lot... together with the early ANNO-series. But now I know that I always played it more like a city-builder instead of an RTS game, taking my time to construct a city that's good looking before building a Wonder to win and beeing sad about that I couldn't place streets and decorations. Sometimes I also battled, sure but not prominent. Then, a few weeks ago I found your videos and those of T90 and was like "well... so Thats how people play this game." and watched further, learning things like strategic castle-drops, wich techs to get when, how to make good eco like allways keep your TCs producing, multiple vills at one sheep because it decays, fishing deep sea directly in dark age and later shift to farms, getting loom but don't get supplies unless you make 10 milicia afterwards, how defencive towers and the bell come together, what raiding is, yadda yadda yadda... so I thought "okay, time to boot up the game again and do just that... my plan was fast castle with brits and all archer-updates from blacksmith and university, then attack." ... I was even too scared to lure a boar 'cause it is strong and could kill me a vill and lost soon after that against the standard-AI befor I even got near to build any castle at all. x3
    Well... damit!
    What went wrong? : Even though I wanted fast castle, it took me way too long to get even feudal... my TC was idle a lot... I needed to scout manualy 'cause I didn't know how to set waypoints, I placed buildings manualy and therefore slowly due to not knowing the hotkeys... I got popcaped multiple times, and due to still thinking too hard about going for Longbows even while seeing how slow I actualy progress, my defence at that point was lacking to withstand an attack. It was almost like playing an entire new game from how I used it to be.

  • @thescribe509
    @thescribe509 Před 4 lety +93

    The main exceptions to the 4 on wood rule:
    Huns don't need houses
    Japanese get 1/2 off collection buildings (so 50 wood for mill, 50 for lumbercamp) so you're pretty much getting the mill for free because Japanese already saved you the wood on the lumbercamp
    Celts chop faster but you generally use the extra wood for earlier barracks, so you generally won't skimp on them here even if you can. If you aren't going aggressive at all, you can send one less to wood (on the second set) for the fast castle build, still have the wood for the upgrades / buildings, and send it to food to help with earlier castle age upgrades. That goes for the aforementioned, too. Even if you are going for something aggressive, if you don't have it specifically planned out you can find yourself shorting on wood for houses / military buildings which is never good. If you aren't going for something you've practiced and have down to a science, or if you're not going aggressive, 4 on wood is the standard. You'll want it for literally anything besides timed aggression.

    • @ambrose1724
      @ambrose1724 Před 4 lety +1

      Also, franks can clinch it simply because their farming techs are free, meaning they spend less wood on the farms for more food income overall.
      If you can handle just a bit of a tight play in the dark age you'll be thankful you not amassed wood for no reason

    • @twohandedswordsman852
      @twohandedswordsman852 Před 4 lety +1

      Don't forget Malians

    • @thescribe509
      @thescribe509 Před 4 lety +2

      @@twohandedswordsman852 What are you doing here? The Malay ordered 80 more of you 30 seconds ago.

    • @twohandedswordsman852
      @twohandedswordsman852 Před 4 lety +2

      @@thescribe509 Oh damn.

  • @UM96lol
    @UM96lol Před 4 lety +8

    This is incredibly helpful. Would love it becoming a series for different maps and openings.

  • @samantha.phalanges
    @samantha.phalanges Před 4 lety

    I appreciate all the work you put into your videos. I started playing casually a year ago but I've really been trying to get better lately. I've learned so much from your channel. I look forward to applying this info tonight!

  • @princesszelda1997
    @princesszelda1997 Před 4 lety +1

    Thank you so much for this video! I used to play AOE2 when I was a kid but I couldn't wrap my head around legit strategies, and now with Definitive Edition out I'd like to go back to it more efficiently. I've watched your other videos but they are on really specific topics and I felt like I didn't know how to apply them, or why you were doing what you were doing. Hope you continue this series!

  • @chldndyd21
    @chldndyd21 Před 4 lety +79

    This sounds like how koreans tackle life.

  • @AvyScottandFlower
    @AvyScottandFlower Před 4 lety +31

    So basically, I've been a n00b for 20 years
    Ok..

  • @sunsetfire1983
    @sunsetfire1983 Před 4 lety +2

    this is the video I've been waiting for. literally was thinking the other day "I wish there was a video breaking down how build orders work. maybe SotL has one?" thank you so much for your great content! :)

  • @BIKarus
    @BIKarus Před 4 lety +2

    9:33 yup, that’s where I start to fall apart.
    Thank you very much for this video, very helpful. I’m just starting out and I haven’t played an RTS before. My brother, on the other hand, has been playing this (against bots) for 20 years, so hopefully I can win a few by compensating my lack of micro skills with these great strats! Very well articulated video, I can’t wait to get better so I can follow the rest of you videos

  • @alexturcani3234
    @alexturcani3234 Před 3 lety +13

    I didn't expect to be learning math instead of the strategies

  • @ravenkov8075
    @ravenkov8075 Před 4 lety +15

    I remembered my highschool days with my friends discussing in a round table about that. 16 years ago 😅

  • @mashitty1
    @mashitty1 Před 3 lety +1

    I watched this a year ago and it helped so much.. i havent played for a while so im watching it again, this guide has helped me twice now.. so great

  • @Trildin
    @Trildin Před 3 lety

    It's fantastic how deep into detail you get. Some people need that for sure

  • @drarthurs
    @drarthurs Před 4 lety +6

    I was looking for a tutorial like this right now

  • @teomdoaham
    @teomdoaham Před 4 lety +23

    Dude, Microsoft schoud sponsor your channel! I play age since the "Age of Kings" and it wasn't easy to learn without youtube... You make this game rellay easier for new players and some veterans too.
    Thank you very much for all your awesome content.

    • @nanox4
      @nanox4 Před 4 lety +3

      Yeah. Been playing for 20 years and some people new to the game kick my ass regularly.

  • @orrinfreeman5672
    @orrinfreeman5672 Před 4 lety

    Getting back into the game after a few years, really great to see this channel going strong!

  • @AlhiXD
    @AlhiXD Před rokem

    When you spelled out the seconds needed for advantage in this game in a competitive way it was really daunting to me; and i'm no stranger to competitive games and tournaments. Super impressed you know this stuff! Ty for sharing.

  • @makotoshirogane
    @makotoshirogane Před 4 lety +23

    Hey guys, spirit of the law here
    OHHH YEAAAHH

  • @julianrodriguezadami6634
    @julianrodriguezadami6634 Před 4 lety +37

    Lets finish this decade with a little video of you playing the old song, Just your hands and the guitar. Maybe 20 seconds in the last video of the year.

    • @bawat
      @bawat Před 4 lety +1

      czcams.com/video/lH1mQ_UXRzY/video.html

  • @wyrdplae8586
    @wyrdplae8586 Před 2 lety

    I'll tell you why you became my number #1 source of info for this game. I'm new so I was looking at a few youtubers trying to decide what one to watch. was trying to work out who knows the most, who is most clear and who explains in a way that works for me. You won out for one reason and one alone. you said something to the affect of "I will tell you what to do and also WHY, so that you understand" This is so under rated amongst educational channels that it sold me the second you said it.

  • @pbgames_
    @pbgames_ Před 6 měsíci

    I want to thank you for this very straightforward guide. I learned a lot from watching this and having a basic understanding of how to start the game really helped me learn advanced mechanics way easier as well. Overall awesome video!

  • @gryph-3528
    @gryph-3528 Před 3 lety +3

    I’ve finally found this game...😭😭😭 I MISSED U AGE OF EMPIRES II IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR U FOR 6 YEARS😭😭😭😭

    • @5bin5d32
      @5bin5d32 Před 3 lety

      An iconic game like this... how on earth can you forget this game!? ;D

  • @AntZen85
    @AntZen85 Před 3 lety +6

    Spirit: it’s best to keep straggler trees for later but it’s not a big deal.
    T90, every LEL game: WHY IS HE CHOPPING STRAGGLERS!!!

    • @martijnbouman8874
      @martijnbouman8874 Před 2 lety

      To be fair, there is a difference between cutting the straggler trees right next to your Town Center and cutting those further away.

  • @EsquireR
    @EsquireR Před 4 lety +2

    Thank you for your contribution in AoE community, you are one of the best people, who keep the game alive.

  • @jarveyjaguar4395
    @jarveyjaguar4395 Před 2 lety +1

    This was the 2nd Video Game I played in my entire life and by far the best game I will ever play for the rest of my life.
    I I spent about 7 years of my life playing this game about 2 to 3 days a week and now my addiction came back and I'm still learning new strategies.
    Thanks a lot man.

  • @HECKproductions
    @HECKproductions Před 4 lety +95

    "not just memorising but understanding"
    lteachers: lolno

  • @likeclockwork6473
    @likeclockwork6473 Před 4 lety +183

    cheese steak jimmy's is a faster way to get food

    • @daledo8604
      @daledo8604 Před 4 lety +22

      So if I type 60 words/min... that's 3 words/1000 food which = 20k food/min. Yep, the math checks out. Very efficient!

    • @threeofakind9933
      @threeofakind9933 Před 4 lety +1

      @@daledo8604 Isn't it 10000 Food now, I'm pretty sure they changed in the HD Edition.

    • @daledo8604
      @daledo8604 Před 4 lety +9

      @@threeofakind9933 I dont know man - haven't used cheat codes since 1999!

    • @87PLS
      @87PLS Před 4 lety +23

      😂 you know this game actually taught me how to type, back in 1999 (when I was 12 and had just got my first pc), by repeatedly typing out ‘cheese steak jimmy’s’, ‘lumberjack’, ‘Robin Hood’ and ‘rock on’ in the chat. And of course when all else fails and your still getting slaughtered by the ai, ‘how do you turn this on’ (x20 times).

    • @sclarsen86
      @sclarsen86 Před 4 lety +3

      @@87PLS lol, literally the exact same thing for me. I learned how to type by putting in cheats when I was 12 or 13 with my first PC that I bought.

  • @PsychCaptain
    @PsychCaptain Před 4 lety

    Thank you for the guide. It again reminds me why I like using the new Empire Start, which by passes all this stress.

  • @bayodashi7283
    @bayodashi7283 Před 3 lety

    I watched your content from AoE 2 HD days, amazing to see you grown so much!!!

  • @stephenh9483
    @stephenh9483 Před 4 lety +4

    I love the HD edition of AoE2, but I have to remark that the graphics on the DE are amazing

  • @Twitch_Fox
    @Twitch_Fox Před 4 lety +10

    Thanks for making this; I just picked up the DE and reinstalled my HD because this game 'was' my early childhood and I wanted to learn the starting strats. I keep scuffing the boar lure. :s

    • @zez124696
      @zez124696 Před 4 lety

      You'll get it eventually! shoot em twice and run!

    • @sauravtripathi4128
      @sauravtripathi4128 Před 4 lety +3

      @@zez124696 in the DE you only need to shoot once.
      However it happened with me a couple of times I was too quick, and I ran before the arrow hit the boar so I was not in his Line of Sight. Delay for 0.5 seconds I would say.

    • @MyTardisGoWhoosh
      @MyTardisGoWhoosh Před 4 lety

      Use scout to block boar from damaging villager

  • @NorrLab
    @NorrLab Před 4 lety

    Thank you so much for actually *explaining* the logic behind your choices! It's so rare to see a non-dogmatic tutorial.

  • @rafamnormande
    @rafamnormande Před 4 lety

    Thank you for making this video, I started playing in a month ago and was very lost. It was still a lot to process, so much information and numbers hahahaha got a little confused, but definitely liked!

  • @harmonicoutreach
    @harmonicoutreach Před 4 lety +5

    hey thanks spirit

  • @minhtovunhat5389
    @minhtovunhat5389 Před 4 lety +3

    After watching this vid I felt like I've missed out on so much. I always go for 4 on wood and the rest on berries, and fail to go feudal before 10 mins everytime. Never thought of hunting boars, guess I'll do more of that now.

  • @sean4929
    @sean4929 Před 4 lety

    Thanks for this video, more content like this please. I know how to play the game and have been doing so for years, but ive always just kinda played however I wanted and never really min maxed like this. Understanding the most efficient way to start off is really helpful.

  • @twoboxtoofurious
    @twoboxtoofurious Před 4 lety

    God I love this videos. You are a genius, I love the way you analyze and dissect every aspect of gameplay. You would make a great game designer.

  • @Poenix21
    @Poenix21 Před 4 lety +11

    Some tatics in feudal age against rushes would be nice.
    The Ai rofl-stomps me very time there.

    • @radon3292
      @radon3292 Před 4 lety

      agreed

    • @zerto111
      @zerto111 Před 4 lety +13

      1. Place your buildings (especially houses) as a wall groundwork. Finish the wall with palisades.
      2. Scout your enemys feudal building. Stable means scouts so you can make a few spears. Although your walls should keep scouts out. Archery range means Archers.
      Melee units in feudal can not get in without a tower rush which the AI doesn't do. You can build a new house while they attack your wall.
      Archers prevent new walling but can be fend off with a few of your own skirms.
      3. If the enemy manages to rush in with a few scouts then quickwall. Your vils will be between your resource building and the resource. Close the openings with palisades or houses.
      4. Don't panic and send solitary units against a group. 3-4 scouts can kill a spearman easily. wait until you created a few more to send them together.
      Hope this helped a bit.
      Remember: what I said sounds easy but can be difficult to pull off in panic mode. I'm not that good myself. Practice does it.

    • @Crim3onWolf
      @Crim3onWolf Před 4 lety +4

      One important piece of advice I can give is make sure you're not building your town too far away from your Town Center. Garrisoning your villagers to counter archers/etc is pretty important for ensuring you can keep up your economy with minimal loss. Another is always be sure to utilize your scout cavalry, particularly in Feudal. After you hit Feudal Age your scout moves faster, and can secure more information quicker. Ideally you want to know where your enemy is in Dark Age, but if you know their position in Feudal you should be constantly checking to keep tabs on them, seeing if they're making archery ranges/barracks/etc. If you see that they're making archers for early game aggro, make skirmishers as counters, or additional scout cavalry. If you notice that they have buildings like smith/range/etc, but no units, it means they're probably going for a knight rush or a straight boom.

    • @frostbitedodo2243
      @frostbitedodo2243 Před 4 lety

      @@Crim3onWolf im having trouble beating extreme ai i can take it all the way to imperial, but after that its micro is too fin good think i just have to do alot more damage early so it cannont rebound

    • @Crim3onWolf
      @Crim3onWolf Před 4 lety

      @@frostbitedodo2243 Pretty much what I've noticed about it is it's economy is near perfect if it can get to Imperial Age. With it being a program, it makes sense that it isn't going to make the same mistakes as often as a human player, but it'll also continuously bombard you everywhere on the map with a flood of units. My strategy is to make sure it never gets to that point by smashing their economy with early castle aggression, or picking a Civ that can out produce them, like Goths/etc.

  • @god-kx7di
    @god-kx7di Před 4 lety +17

    I know I'm God but I still need theses videos thank you i bless your channel.

  • @kln5705
    @kln5705 Před 4 lety

    Quality content as always. Keep it up, Spirit!

  • @Izandaia
    @Izandaia Před 3 lety +1

    Really hope you continue this series for stuff like fast castle, scout/archer rush, tower rush, fast imperial, etc. Even as I sit here seething that this game isn't available for Mac, this is still fascinating stuff.

  • @nelsonmejiaslozada9362
    @nelsonmejiaslozada9362 Před 4 lety +8

    i have done this for 2 years in a row ¿need i see this? of course, it is a Spirit of the Law video

  • @estellebright2579
    @estellebright2579 Před 4 lety +7

    2:52 best burn of the year. Lol

  • @grahamgeorgebramwellmills2294

    still one of the best examples of how to educate a players. Clear and fun.

  • @danieleriksson5587
    @danieleriksson5587 Před 2 lety

    Have been around for many years but not commented alot. Have watched more videos and liked them, even when i disagree sometimes. Because of nostalgia. Or some other strong attachments to that civ. You explain everything you do and why you do it. The pure labarotary experience is what i love about this. The cild and calulates reasoning why i do this just like this. And what i gain about it

  • @f.b.i6372
    @f.b.i6372 Před 4 lety +6

    We need more

  • @killedbypropaganda
    @killedbypropaganda Před 4 lety +89

    how could you of all people forget to mention that japanese only need 50 wood for a mill^^

    • @ADCFproductions
      @ADCFproductions Před 3 lety +1

      because it's not a generic civ

    • @TacSav253
      @TacSav253 Před 3 lety +2

      Man why do you have to throw me off like this lol my favorite civs as a kid were mayan, briton, chinese and japanese. The youtuber mentioned the first three have odd starts so I was going to learn this build with Japanese. Goddamn it lol

  • @loowlsshadow8536
    @loowlsshadow8536 Před 2 lety

    I feel like crying watching this... so many memories... you dont know how you made me feel...
    thank you

  • @ucallmeschnitzel
    @ucallmeschnitzel Před 4 lety +1

    Really helpful. Last time I played AoE2 was around 2003. As a kid I could never beat the medium AI. Bought the definitive edition because of your videos, bet the medium AI in my second attempt, 3rd game. After like 6 games against the medium AI I went on to beat the hard AI in my second try. Thanks for the help!

  • @KoiBoiRoi
    @KoiBoiRoi Před 4 lety +4

    11:26 the meme is very fitting. I'm such an AoE scrub lol

  • @berksuduman
    @berksuduman Před 4 lety +26

    Well as 2k player i still watch that. Why? Cause Sprit of the Law's video.

  • @Fangh44
    @Fangh44 Před 4 lety

    Thank you for this video that does EXPLAIN why the build order is like this and why we should follow it.

  • @TheKlabim
    @TheKlabim Před 4 lety

    Alright! I just started playing again and binged all your videos and was hoping for a video like this

  • @go9565
    @go9565 Před 4 lety +3

    2:33.
    better get those upgades.
    A rare slip up by SOTL ;)

  • @itsdave92
    @itsdave92 Před 4 lety +45

    Watched this for baby Yoda.
    Was not disappointed.

  • @RybecFromCanada
    @RybecFromCanada Před 4 lety

    Good stuff man. I've been watching your videos long after I had stopped playing AoE2 but I think I'll get back into it again with DE.

  • @PoweroftheP00f
    @PoweroftheP00f Před 2 lety +1

    I've been playing this game for 18 years, and I'm just now learning things from this video I have never learned in my entire life.

  • @Captain-Jinn
    @Captain-Jinn Před 4 lety +173

    No intro. Is this the second round of nerfing?

    • @gilb_4
      @gilb_4 Před 4 lety +2

      :(

    • @alejandroromero6464
      @alejandroromero6464 Před 4 lety +15

      The intro was too long, imo. The videos are already long enough because of the rich content.
      Maybe a quick logo show and/or 5 seconds of intro would be ok, imo.

    • @e.featherfire1999
      @e.featherfire1999 Před 4 lety +13

      @@Lou_NZ_ Certainly, the little tidbits of past videos and of the video itself were a treat, and the music was the hook for me. I still remember fondly the gothic game plan, and the villager one-shooting the cobra was the high of the theme.

    • @mister420blazeit2
      @mister420blazeit2 Před 4 lety +7

      @@alejandroromero6464 what a fucking heresy comment, the intro is the shit bruh.

    • @JudgeEomer
      @JudgeEomer Před 4 lety +9

      SotL has said before he doesn't use the intro on videos he hopes or expects will reach a wider audience. This is a very good general guide so better to make it more accessible to non-subscribers.

  • @Obyvvatel
    @Obyvvatel Před 3 lety +4

    Me never using any keyboard shortcuts in strategy games: oh

    • @trevormurphy1026
      @trevormurphy1026 Před 3 lety

      hotkeys are very valuable and cut out a lot of time in the long run. Also marking certain troops with the numbers

  • @Thibaut_Guerquin
    @Thibaut_Guerquin Před 4 lety +1

    I can only not not pput a like on SoTL's vids !
    Keep up the work man, thanks a lots for the dedication and love put into this amazing game and your community !

  • @wer3eng760
    @wer3eng760 Před 4 lety

    Big Thanks for this guide. It really helps a lot to improve my gameplay!

  • @adwans1491
    @adwans1491 Před 4 lety +8

    Which music is he always using??

  • @bejobarokah3485
    @bejobarokah3485 Před 4 lety +3

    Hey SoL, can you make some AoE:DE civ review? Thanks

  • @SuperNorq
    @SuperNorq Před 4 lety

    Thanks! Exactly the video I was looking for. Cheers, SoL!

  • @Halteclere
    @Halteclere Před 4 lety

    This is awesome! I played this as a kid and want to get into multiplayer now that I’m an adult. This guide should help improve my gameplay a lot.