Just like every other Age of Empires game, AOE 4 has a set of civilizations that all serve their purpose and have different designs as well as gameplay mechanics. Each civilization has its pros and cons, it is up to you to see which one will suit you best and help you win each battle.
In this guide, we will show you a complete tier list of all the civilizations in Age of Empires 4.
Civilizations Tier List
English (S-Tier)
The English civilization, in general, is very strong and is played by many. You can play the English civilization on every single map.
The best reason why the English civilization is placed in the S-Tier is due to it being very hard to get into. This civilization has a lot of defenses and if you plan on attacking that civilization, you better attack with everything you’ve got.
| Pros | Cons |
| Good for all maps | Attacking is slow |
| Great defense | Destroying buildings can be slow |
| Can compete against anyone | |
| Safe civilization to play |
French (C-Tier)
The French civilization has been known to be one of the weaker civilizations out there. However, in the latest patch, the French civilization did get an economical buff which helps them produce resources a lot faster than the previous patches.
| Pros | Cons |
| Great at gathering resources fast | Weak in attacking |
| Good defense |
Malians (S-Tier)
The Malians are a very good civilization and they’ve recently gotten an amazing economical buff where they will produce more resources.
Damage and defense are not a problem for the Malians, many believe that the Malians don’t perform well on water. However, they’ve got an amazing buff where their ships gain 50% movement speed whenever they are next to docks.
Also to state the important detail about the Malians is that they will show to be a weak class whenever you are at the very early stages of each map, but once they manage to level up, they are impossible to beat.
| Pros | Cons |
| Economical buff | Weak at early stages of match |
| Good defense & offense | |
| Undefeated at high levels |
Delhi Sultanate (A-Tier)
Delhi is a great civilization because you can play them on different maps and set up different strategies with them without worrying too much.
Overall this is a very good civilization that allows you to customize it a lot and can be played against every civilization and does not have any specific counters or weaknesses.
| Pros | Cons |
| Can be played on multiple maps | Some civilizations can beat Delhi easily |
| You can make different combinations | |
| Great in offense & defense |
Ottoman (B-Tier)
Ottoman is the only civilization that can play well against the English civilization. They are not the greatest civilization to play overall in most of the maps and against different civilizations.
You can pull off some good plays as well as win a match if you get lucky or just manage to outsmart the other civilizations.
Overall, the Ottoman civilization will make you think twice before performing any actions on the battlefield. That is why we will give it the B-Tier.
| Pros | Cons |
| Compete well against English civilization | Cannot perform well on all maps |
| Strong and durable civilization | Requires a lot of strategizing in order to win |
Mongol (A-Tier)
Mongols are the Pandora’s Box in AOE 4. With the Mongol civilization you can either end up having one of the greatest matches of your life or end up losing everything that you were building for hours in just a few quick moments.
It depends on which map you will play with the Mongol civilization. However, they are very good at rushing down towers and entering the opposing civilization quickly.
| Pros | Cons |
| Great at rushing toward civilizations | One mistake can cost you the whole game |
| Break buildings fast |
Rus (C-Tier)
Rus is another civilization similar to the Mongol civilization where it all depends on which map you will play and how you will perform.
Some maps simply don’t go well with the Rus civilization. Rus will perform great on the following maps:
- Four Lakes
- Mountain Clearing
- Hideout
- High View
- Baltic
The best map that you can use for the Rus civilization is the Hideout map. Rus is by far the best choice for that map.
| Pros | Cons |
| Performs well on most maps | Some civilizations can defeat it easily |
| Strong and durable civilization | One wrong choice can cost you the whole match |
Abbasid (D-Tier)
Abbasid is a very difficult civilization you can choose and it depends on what objectives you want to go first.
Rushing for resources, buildings, or even getting your defenses good will determine how you will end up playing with this civilization, and most of the time you may end up having a hard time resurrecting from a hard enemy hit.
Four Lakes and High View are the only two maps that Abbasid can perform pretty well, the others are either so-so or they simply don’t perform that well on the battlefield.
| Pros | Cons |
| Performs well on two maps only | Each choice has concequences |
| Cannot perform well on most maps |
China (B-Tier)
In the latest patches, China has received slight overall buffs and the civilization has managed to pull off some good plays in the following maps:
- Mountain Clearing
- Four Lakes
- French Pass
- Baltic
The best way to play the China civilization right now is to get a fast Song dynasty as well as to become very aggressive and train a lot of troops to charge into enemy barriers and occupy all the goods they got.
Be careful how you charge and who you charge against. The S-Tier civilizations will and can defend against you.
| Pros | Cons |
| Great at defense & offense | S-Tier civilizations can defeat China easily |
| Can perform well on multiple maps | |
| Aggressive play will win the match |
Holy Roman Empire (A-Tier)
The Holy Roman Empire is a very strong class that can be played on many maps and can also outperform the other civilizations quite fast when it comes to rushing objectives.
The Holy Roman Empire will perform very well on the following maps:
- Mountain Clearing
- Dry Arabia
- Prairie
- Four Lakes
- Hideout
- High View
- Baltic
Overall HRE is just a good civilization to play and it has a little bit of everything. It is not a very difficult civilization to play and you can most likely damage all those S-Tier civilizations quite easily.
| Pros | Cons |
| Performs well on most maps | Not the best in defense |
| Easy to play | |
| Great for rushing objectives |
And there you have it. That is the tier list that we have for Age of Empires 4. Do note that there will be changes as the game continues to get updated and the META will eventually change.
But, overall, you can play all the classes and win against different ones, your main issue will be strategy and timing.
ALSO READ: Age Of Empires 2 vs Age Of Empires 4
