20 Pro Tips for Age of Wonders 4 You Need to Know

by Fernando Diaz / Age of Wonders 4, Articles / 02 Jan 2021

How to Win Every Game

Age of Wonders 4 features both multiplayer and single-player modes, allowing you to test your skills against well-developed AI or a human player. Here are some essential tips to help you improve your performance in both single & multiplayer matches.

City Management and Growth

Focus on food, production, and gold – Growing your cities and generating resources is crucial for your empire’s growth. Prioritize food, production, and gold during the early game. Food helps grow your population, leading to more territory annexation and increased resource generation. Production enables faster construction of buildings, unlocking your cities’ full potential. Gold is essential for army upkeep, diplomacy, and construction. Annex mines and build markets to maintain momentum as your cities expand.

Stability boosts growth – City stability is a vital mechanic, affecting your income and resource generation. Negative stability reduces your income and resource generation, while high stability boosts food production and draft income. Invest in stability to ensure your cities’ growth and productivity.

Special province improvements – Build special province improvements to boost your economy and adapt to the terrain or your playstyle. These improvements can be unlocked through cultural affinities or tomes of magic, providing unique bonuses and abilities.

Magic, Casting Points, and Affinities

Increase casting points for more spells – Having more casting points allows you to cast spells faster and more frequently, both on the world map and in combat. Increase your casting points through cultural affinity improvements, rare resources, and wizard tower upgrades.

Magic affinities and diplomacy – The six branches of magic (order, chaos, nature, shadow, materium, and astral) have opposing relationships that affect diplomacy. Understanding these affinities will help you decide which players or free cities to befriend or consider as lost causes.

Unlock higher tier tomes – Unlock tier 4 and 5 tomes by increasing your affinity points in the corresponding magic branch. Acquire affinity points by researching past tomes or developing hero abilities.

Exploration and Expansion

Excavate the underground – Unlock excavation in the general affinity tree to access and expand in the underground. Excavating can reveal treasures or enemies, so keep soldiers nearby to deal with potential threats.

Defeated heroes yield items – Defeating powerful heroes from other players or free cities can yield valuable items. Free or sell defeated heroes to claim their equipped items and strengthen your own heroes.

Combat and Army Management

Hero-led armies for special actions – Heroes are required to lead armies when exploring ancient wonders or initiating sieges against enemy cities. Ensure you have enough heroes to carry out these actions.

Clear bronze infestations early – Bronze infestations can be defeated early in the game, providing experience for your hero, powerful hero items, and extra resources for your city. Prioritize eliminating nearby bronze infestations.

Diplomacy and Alliances

Cultivate relationships with potential allies – Establish alliances with neighboring players and free cities. Consider magic affinities and cultural differences when choosing allies.

Manage relationships with potential enemies – Monitor relationships with potential enemies, preparing for possible conflicts and understanding their strengths and weaknesses.

Research and Technology

Balance research between military, economic, and magic advancements – Focus your research efforts on a balance of military, economic, and magic technologies to ensure a well-rounded empire. Adapt your research priorities based on your strategic goals and the state of the game to gain an edge over your opponents.

Specialize in specific branches of magic – Specializing in certain branches of magic can provide unique benefits and powerful spells, giving you an advantage in both combat and diplomacy. Choose a specialization that aligns with your playstyle and overall strategy.

Warfare and Conquest

Build diverse armies – Create armies with a diverse range of units, including melee, ranged, and support troops. This diversity will allow you to adapt to different situations and enemy compositions, ensuring greater success in battles.

Utilize terrain and positioning – During battles, take advantage of terrain and unit positioning. Place ranged units on high ground or behind frontline troops, use cover to protect your units from enemy fire, and flank enemies to deal increased damage.

Learn unit strengths and weaknesses – Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each unit type will allow you to employ effective strategies in battle. Exploit enemy weaknesses and bolster your own units’ strengths to achieve victory.

Economy and Trade

Establish trade routes – Trade routes can provide valuable income and resources, supporting your empire’s growth. Connect your cities with trade routes to maximize their potential.

Exploit rare resources – Rare resources can provide unique bonuses and benefits to your empire. Annex territories containing rare resources and construct buildings that harness their power.

Espionage and Sabotage

Invest in espionage – Espionage can be a powerful tool in gaining an advantage over your opponents. Invest in spy networks and deploy agents to gather intelligence, steal technology, or sabotage enemy infrastructure.

Protect your empire from espionage – Take measures to protect your empire from enemy espionage by investing in counterintelligence and securing critical infrastructure.

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Fernando Diaz

Fernando is doing what he always did, sharing his honest opinions about games whenever he can. The difference is now he is writing and not talking about it.
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