Age of Wonders 4: How to Get and Use Imperium

by Fernando Diaz / Age of Wonders 4, Articles / 07 May 2021

Imperium is an essential resource that influences various aspects of gameplay, such as the development tree, converting outposts into cities, boosting relationships with city-states, and attracting population to your cities. This simple but straightforward guide will provide you with a detailed understanding of the importance of Imperium, its various uses, and tips for accumulating it throughout the game.

Understanding the Importance of Imperium

Imperium plays a crucial role in the game, as it helps you:

Unlock powerful abilities in the development tree.

Convert outposts into cities.

Boost relationships with city-states, leading to potential vassalage and rewards.

Attract population to cities and expand your territories.

How to Spend Imperium in Age of Wonders 4

Development Tree: Invest Imperium to unlock powerful abilities in the development tree. Some abilities may not be as powerful initially, but as you progress, you’ll discover abilities with significant impacts. Prioritize unlocking abilities that align with your empire’s goals and strategies.

Outposts to Cities: Convert outposts to cities by spending 200 Imperium and waiting a few turns. Make sure to have enough Imperium in reserve if you plan to settle or forward-settle near an enemy. Converting outposts to cities allows you to expand your empire, increase production, and secure strategic locations.

City-states: Use Imperium to boost Allegiance with city-states, which can help you reach vassalage faster and secure rewards. If you’re competing with another player for a city-state’s allegiance, investing Imperium can give you an advantage, potentially allowing you to maintain control of the city-state throughout the game.

Attracting Population: Invest Imperium to attract population, which helps you expand your city’s territories and increase yields. Early in the game, if you’re not planning to found a city soon, consider using Imperium to attract population instead of unlocking development tree abilities. This allows you to grab more tiles for your city and immediately increase yields, such as by building Farms.

Accumulating Imperium

To ensure a steady flow of Imperium, employ the following methods:

Wizard’s Tower: Construct a Wizard’s Tower, which provides +5 Imperium income. To build it, you’ll need a Level 2 Town Hall. You can move the construction of the Wizard’s Tower to the front of your production queue if you’re impatient and want to stack Imperium early and often.

Upgrade Wizard’s Tower: Increase Imperium income by upgrading the Wizard’s Tower. Each upgrade adds +5 Imperium to your income, with the final upgrade leading to the Arcane Observatory. Upgrading your Wizard’s Tower not only increases your Imperium income but also improves your empire’s magical capabilities.

Wars and Events: Engage in justified wars to receive a positive Imperium bonus or risk losing it in unjust wars. Imperium can also be gained or lost in events with city-states. Be strategic in your interactions with city-states and weigh the benefits and risks before making decisions that could impact your Imperium supply.

Annex Ancient Wonders: Acquiring Ancient Wonders will grant additional Imperium, allowing you to further strengthen your empire. Be on the lookout for these wonders and prioritize their annexation when possible.

Tips and Strategies for Managing Imperium in Age of Wonders 4

To maximize the benefits of Imperium, consider the following tips:

Prioritize building and upgrading the Wizard’s Tower to increase Imperium income.

Focus on unlocking essential abilities in the development tree that align with your empire’s goals and strategies. Avoid spending Imperium on less impactful abilities, especially in the early stages of the game.

Monitor your empire’s stability when spending Imperium aggressively, as it may have an impact on stability. Remember, high stability is crucial for your empire’s success. If your stability drops too low due to excessive Imperium spending, consider using events or other means to improve your stability.

Use Imperium wisely in city-state events to avoid losing it unnecessarily. Weigh the benefits and risks of each decision, as these events can have a significant impact on your empire’s overall performance.

Be cautious when engaging in wars to maintain a balance between positive and negative Imperium bonuses. Engage in just wars to receive positive bonuses, but avoid unjust wars that could lead to negative penalties and harm your empire’s progress.

Clear out hostile creatures and obstacles within your empire’s territories to make room for additional improvements, such as Farms, that can boost your Imperium income. Expanding your territories is crucial for increasing your empire’s productivity and resources.

Consider using Imperium as an aggressive move against your opponents. For example, if an enemy forward-settles you, use Imperium to speed up the process of acquiring tiles and counter their expansion. Keep in mind that aggressive use of Imperium can affect your stability.

Plan your expansion and city placement carefully. Founding cities near Ancient Wonders or other valuable resources can provide you with an additional source of Imperium and help you unlock higher-level skills and abilities faster.

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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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