The Chinese are perhaps the most complex civilization to play in Age of Empires 4. But they are also the most rewarding, with an economic advantage and late-game arsenal that are second to none. While the Chinese are prone to enemy raids due to their economic focus, they’re unstoppable once they get their economy going. Here’s an AoE4 Chinese build order that lets you build up that economy with a second Town Center.
Chinese Imperial Officials gather tax from economic and military buildings to boost your Gold count. They can also supervise buildings, letting you research techs or train units quickly. The Chinese also have access to Dynasties that grant unique bonuses if you build two Landmarks from a particular Age. Being able to construct buildings 100% faster and defenses 50% faster means that you can respond to threats more quickly than your opponent.
The following Age of Empires 4 build order uses the Chinese civilization’s powerful economy boosts to advance to the Castle Age. While there are quicker ways of reaching the Castle Age, building a second Town Center will let you take advantage of the Song dynasty’s quicker village production time. This Chinese build order for AoE4 focuses on getting two Town Centers efficiently before heading into the Castle Age.
Age of Empires 4 Chinese 2 Town Center Build Order Guide
- Train a Scout and then an Imperial Official. Chinese scouts benefit from 30% more vision in the Dark Age so use this to your advantage.
- Send all your villagers to the nearest tree and build a Mill near the Berries once they gather 10 Wood. That way, they don’t need to take a trip back to the Town Center to deposit the Wood.
- Once the Mill is done, use these villagers to gather Food from Sheep positioned next to the Mill. Use your Imperial Official to supervise the Mill and boost your Food income. Send your Imperial Official back to the Town Center occasionally to drop off taxes.
- Make your next villager build a House to raise your population limit to 20. Once the house is built, send the villager to gather Food from Sheep.
- Make the next two villagers build a Lumber camp before gathering Wood.
- Send your next villager to the gold mine and build a Mining camp for gathering Gold.
- Send the next two villagers over to Gold as well.
- Use one villager to build the Imperial Academy landmark (timing isn’t as important). This Landmark doubles tax generation from both economic buildings and military ones.
- Once you enter the Feudal Age, keep sending villagers to gather Food until you have ten Food gatherers. Then start sending villagers over to Wood.
- Once the Imperial Academy is done, train an Imperial Official from the landmark. Send him over to supervise the Lumber Camp.
- Get enough resources for the Barbican of the Sun and build it at a suitable spot with three villagers.
- Build both landmarks (Imperial Academy followed by the Barbican of the Sun) to enter the Song dynasty, which decreases villager production time and grants access to the Granary. This building boosts the gathering rate of Farms around them and this effect can stack across multiple Granaries. Try getting these under the influence of the Imperial Academy to boost tax generation.
- Get some villagers who were gathering Wood to build a Mining Camp and start collecting Stone. Train another Imperial Official to supervise Stone collection and ensure that you get enough resources for a second Town Center right next to your first one.
- Town Centers don’t need to be built near resources as you cannot earn tax from them.
- Once you get 150 Gold after training the two Imperial Officials, research Wheelbarrow from the Mill. The supervising Imperial Official will speed up the tech research.
- Train a fourth Imperial Official to collect tax from all your economic buildings. If you have gold to spare, try getting the Imperial Examination tech that doubles the tax your Imperial Officials can hold.
- Once you have enough resources to reach the Castle Age, build the Astronomical Clocktower to create devastating siege units.
Why This Chinese Build Order Works
The Chinese’s booming economy lets you tackle all sorts of threats across every Age. Heading to the Castle Age is important but utilizing the Song Dynasty reduction in villager time lets you scale your economy up with ease. A second Town Center lets you take advantage of this to build an economic advantage over your opponent.
The Chinese have several other tricks up their sleeve as well. Using your Imperial Officials to supervise military buildings instead of economic ones boosts the speed at which they produce units. Feudal Zhuge Nu are deadly against enemy spears and archers. The Castle Age brings along the powerful Nest of Bees siege weapon and Fire Lancers adept at knocking buildings over.
Stay in the game until you hit the Imperial Age to gain access to grenadiers blessed with a strong area-of-effect attack. Building two landmarks in an Age brings about a new Dynasty, offering unique bonuses that can help tip the scales of war in your favor. With this Age of Empires 4 Chinese build order, you’ll be able to outproduce your foes in terms of military units thanks to a solid economy. The Chinese civilization thrives on versatility and while it might not be for new AoE4 players, its branching paths of conquest might just sway you to its side.
