Koreans

[ AOE2 CIVILIZATION ]

Koreans

Towers + siege + dual unique units — a defensive civ that snowballs through stone and range.

Tier B tower rush siege cav archer unique turtle ship

[ IDENTIDAD ]

Koreans are the template tower-and-siege defensive civilization. Their mechanical identity splits across three pillars. First, towers: all tower upgrades (Guard Tower, Keep, and Fortified Wall) are free, Watch Tower gets a free upgrade, and stone miners work faster or stone costs are reduced (verify current wording). This makes tower rushes mathematically cheap and viable. Second, siege: the Imperial unique tech Shinkichon gives +1 range to all Mangonel-line units — Onager and Siege Onager with 8/9 range outrange every other siege in the game, enabling positional Imperial play that few civs can match. Third, the unique units: War Wagon (a Castle-age cavalry archer with high HP and pierce armor, trained from Castle) offers a durable ranged cavalry line that doesn't need Bloodlines to be viable, and the Turtle Ship (a slow, heavily-armored ranged warship) anchors water-map play. Korean villagers also have +1 line of sight base, which speeds scouting and resource-spot discovery without any tech investment. The big gaps: no Bloodlines (cavalry is secondary), no Halberdier (anti-cav falls on Camels/Pikes — and they have no Camels either), weaker archer line without Ring Archer Armor (verify current patch), and a slow feudal age without meaningful military bonuses before Castle. The plan every game: survive feudal, reach Castle with stone banked for Castle/tower/second-TC, commit to War Wagon production and tower-forward aggression, then leverage Shinkichon + siege in Imperial for positional control.

Datos clave

Mejor mapa
Team Islands / Islands / any water map; Black Forest secondary
Peor mapa
Arabia (open, early-aggressive) in the 1v1 meta
Estrategia firma
tower rush or FC War Wagon → Shinkichon Siege Onager Imperial
Pro icon
Historically used by TaToH, Hera, Nicov on water maps; Viper on tower-rush specialty games

⚡ Civ bonuses

Team bonus

Mangonel-line units have +2 line of sight.

Unique bonus #1

Villagers have +1 line of sight.

Faster scouting, earlier resource discovery, better reaction time to enemy raiders. Ambient bonus across the whole game.

Unique bonus #2

Tower upgrades (Guard Tower, Keep) are researched automatically / for free when reaching the corresponding age.

Saves ~375 food + 200 wood + 400 gold on Keep alone; enables tower rushes earlier since the upgrade cost is zero.

Unique bonus #3

Stone miners work 20% faster (or stone cost of towers/castles reduced — check current patch wording).

Faster tower rush setup; more stone for castles and second-TC without extra villagers.

Unique bonus #4

War Wagon and Turtle Ship fire arrows faster as they are upgraded / get Elite (mechanical detail — verify).

Elite War Wagon and Elite Turtle Ship gain improved attack stats and/or attack speed — reinforces the 'unique unit scales into Imperial' identity.

⚠️ Key tech the civ DOES NOT have
  • · Bloodlines — Korean cavalry (scouts, Knights, Cavaliers) lack Bloodlines — 20 HP shy per cavalry unit. Knight line is never a main army; cavalry is raiding/scouting only.
  • · Husbandry — Cavalry moves at base speed — scouts and knights are slower than rival cav civs. Compounds the 'no Bloodlines' weakness; Koreans are not a cavalry civ.
  • · Halberdier — Stop at Pikeman. Without Halb and without camels, Korean anti-cav late-game relies on Pikeman + Siege Onager — a positional answer, not a mobile one. Camel-civ matchups are rough.
  • · Camel Rider line — No camels at any tier. Against knight-rush civs, Koreans rely on Pikeman + tower placement + War Wagon counter-mass, never a camel response.
  • · Paladin — Stop at Cavalier. Knight line is a secondary mobility unit; Korean Cavaliers without Bloodlines are noticeably worse than rival Paladin civs.
  • · Ring Archer Armor — [VERIFY — Korean foot archers historically lacked RAA; confirm current patch. If missing, Arbalest is a support piece, not a main army.]
  • · Plate Barding Armor — [VERIFY — Korean cavalry armor ceiling likely capped below PBA; compounds the 'no Bloodlines / no Husbandry' cavalry weakness.]
  • · Arbalest — [VERIFY — Koreans have the Arbalester upgrade on current patch; historically yes, confirm.]
  • · Redemption / Block Printing (monastery) — [VERIFY monastery tech list — Korean monks are a support piece, not a main army. Weak vs Aztec/Spanish monk-heavy play.]
🛡️ Unique unit · Castle Age

Carro de Guerra

ranged cavalry-style unit trained from Castle; durable, armored, moderate speed; Korean substitute for Cavalry Archer

  • · Core Castle-Age and Imperial army unit — replaces Knight and Cav Archer for Koreans
  • · High pierce armor tanks archer/skirm fire better than any other cav archer in the game
  • · Paired with Mangonel/Onager (Shinkichon range) for positional siege pushes
🛡️ Unique unit · Castle (requires Castle) Age

Barco Tortuga

slow, heavily-armored ranged warship; unique to Koreans; water-map game-ender

  • · Water-map Imperial power unit — a few Elite Turtle Ships hold a shoreline
  • · Panokseon (Castle-age UT) increases Turtle Ship speed, fixing the one weakness
  • · Slow train time means you need multiple Docks to mass — plan stone/gold economy
⚗️ Unique tech · Castle Age

Panokseon

Turtle Ships move 15% faster.

When: Water maps only, Castle Age after first Turtle Ship production stabilizes.

⚗️ Unique tech · Imperial Age

Shinkichon

Mangonel-line units (Mangonel, Onager, Siege Onager) gain +1 range.

When: Imperial immediately after Siege Onager upgrade is researched (or in parallel if stone economy allows).

🎯 Recommended build order

Tower Rush or FC War Wagon (Scouting Decision)

Bracket 1300-1600

Decide at ~9min based on opponent civ + walling. Passive civ unwalled → tower rush. Walled or aggressive civ → FC.

Alternativa

Water Map Full Commit — Team Islands / Islands / Migration / any pure water map

→ Get the step-by-step build from wolo.gg

❌ Common mistakes playing Koreans

  • ▸

    Attempting tower rush without practice

    Tower rush requires precise stone management, villager placement, and timing. A failed tower rush costs 400+ stone + 5-6 villager- seconds while your eco collapses. Most below-1000 players lose more games to failed tower rushes than they win.

    fix:Start with FC War Wagon. Learn tower rush in unrated games before bringing to ladder.

    ▸

    Not walling the base in feudal

    Koreans have no feudal military bonus. Unwalled → scout rush or M@A kills villagers faster than Korean defense can respond. Castle Age never arrives.

    fix:Wall the front of the base in feudal. Leave gold flank scout-able but wall key woodline approaches.

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As soon as we detect you started a ranked match, a strategic brief lands on you in ~10 segundos. We tell you who your rival is, what they usually do on that map,and what to adapt in your Koreans build order.

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⚔️ Which civ will you face?

Koreans vs Britons

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🛡️ Cuidado con estas unidades

Monks (Aztec, Spanish, Burmese with relics) HIGH

Convert War Wagons — high gold value, slow, expensive. Each conversion is massive swing.

Halberdier (any civ with it) MEDIUM-HIGH

Anti-cav specialist; War Wagon pierce armor doesn't help vs melee bonus damage.

Heavy Camel / Camel Archer (Berbers, Saracens, Gurjaras) HIGH

Out-ranges War Wagon; Korean has no camel mirror.

Siege Onager with faster fire (Celts) MEDIUM

Shinkichon range edge is +1, but Celt faster fire clears first in sustained fire trades.

Bombard Cannon (Portuguese, Turks, Spanish, Bohemians) MEDIUM-HIGH

BBC out-ranges Shinkichon SO (~11 vs 9 range).

Slinger (Incas) MEDIUM

Bonus vs infantry; shreds Pike support and infantry screens.

🗺️ Performance por mapa

arabia
C

Open map without walls punishes a slow-feudal civ. Koreans' tower rush is the on…

arena
B

Walled map suits Korean slow-boom identity. FC War Wagon + Onager push is viable…

nomad
C

Without fixed base + early LOS advantage diluted by nomad dynamics. Koreans scra…

black forest
A

Walls + siege-centric late game = ideal Korean map. Shinkichon Siege Onager mass…

fortress
A

Pre-walled start gives Koreans time to reach Castle Age safely. Tower identity s…

hideout
B

Similar to Arena — walled, boom-friendly. Korean siege excels. Less iconic than …

four lakes
B

Mixed water/land — Turtle Ship helps on water while War Wagon/siege holds land s…

team islands
A

Arguably Koreans' best map. Turtle Ship is one of the strongest water units in t…

islands
A

Pure water. Turtle Ship dominance. Korean players on Islands often delay transit…

mediterranean
B

Mixed map. Korean water edge + land tower rush gives flex options. Not S-tier be…

migration
B

Transport phase favors naval civs. Korean naval identity helps but Turtle Ships …

megarandom
C

Variance punishes Korean slow setup. On land rolls, the civ struggles; on water …

runestones
C

Open map variant of Arabia; same issues — slow feudal + weak cavalry.

socotra
B

Hybrid map; Koreans fine on land side with tower+siege, water side with Turtle S…

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