Persians

[ AOE2 CIVILIZATION ]

Persians

Cavalry pocket with a boom engine — Town Center and Dock work faster, starting food/wood bonus, late-game paladin or savar push.

Tier B cavalry pocket boom tc faster dock faster

[ IDENTIDAD ]

Persians are the classic cavalry pocket civilization. Their bonuses all feed the same engine: starting food +50 and wood +50 (buys a faster first house + an earlier vil), Town Center works +10%/+15%/+20% faster per age [VERIFY exact current values — rework may have adjusted] so villagers pop noticeably quicker, and Docks work at the same accelerated rate, making Persians one of the strongest water civs on paper via production tempo alone. Their military identity is cavalry-centric: full Paladin, full Heavy Camel, full Hussar, full Knight-line with all blacksmith upgrades, plus a unique Castle-age UU — Savar (post-rework cataphract-style heavy cavalry) [VERIFY whether Savar has fully replaced War Elephant as the trainable castle unit in patch 169123, or whether one is an Imperial upgrade / both train]. Their unique techs are Kamandaran (Imperial — converts Archer-line gold cost to wood, making Persians one of the few cavalry civs with a viable trash-archer late game) [VERIFY current Kamandaran effect on this patch] and Mahouts (Castle or Imperial — War Elephant speed +30%, if still present) [VERIFY current Mahouts effect]. Persians lack several late-game tools (no Halberdier historically, though DE may have changed this) [VERIFY current Halb availability] and some archery depth, but they compensate with raw economy tempo and cavalry weight. The archetypal Persian game is: standard feudal with the bonus eco cruising a little faster, Castle age knights/paladins backed by villagers pumped from a TC that works 20% quicker, and an Imperial closer that either goes full Paladin+Savar+Trebuchet or the legacy War Elephant + Mahouts steamroll on closed maps.

Datos clave

Mejor mapa
Arena / Black Forest (boom pocket where TC bonus compounds safely)
Peor mapa
Open maps at pro level where lack of feudal military bonus is exploited by faster aggression civs
Estrategia firma
standard scout → knight → paladin boom pocket, with extra TC work rate fueling vil lead
Pro icon
Hera (Persian pocket); TheViper (Persia in team games); TaToH occasional Arena pick

⚡ Civ bonuses

Team bonus

Knights +2 attack vs Archers.

Unique bonus #1

Start the game with +50 food and +50 wood (or equivalent bonus starting resources).

Enables an earlier first house, earlier second villager, and effectively a ~15-30 second head start on feudal timing compared to a base-resources civ.

Unique bonus #2

Town Center works faster — +10% in Feudal, +15% in Castle, +20% in Imperial (or similar tiered progression).

Villagers train ~20% faster in Imperial Age, allowing Persians to out-produce standard civs by a meaningful margin across the mid/late game. Town Center research (Wheelbarrow, Hand Cart, Loom) also completes faster.

Unique bonus #3

Docks work at the same accelerated rate as Town Centers (+10%/+15%/+20% per age).

Fishing Ship production is faster, and military ship production in Castle/Imperial comes off the line quicker. Persians are one of the hidden strong water civs for this reason alone.

Unique bonus #4

Kamandaran (Imperial unique tech) — Archer-line units cost wood instead of gold (or gold cost is replaced with wood).

Turns the Archer/Crossbow/Arbalester line into a trash-gold unit. Combined with Persian full archer upgrades, this is a unique late-game trash composition not available to most cavalry civs.

Unique bonus #5

Savar (post-rework unique unit) or War Elephant (legacy) — see unique_units section for details.

Heavy cavalry shock unit produced from Castle. Persians have a cavalry UU that complements Paladin in Imperial.

⚠️ Key tech the civ DOES NOT have
  • · Halberdier[VERIFY — Persians historically lacked Halberdier, stopping at Pikeman. Some rework passes may have granted Halb; confirm current tech tree.]
  • · Heavy Scorpion[VERIFY — Persians historically lacked Heavy Scorpion; confirm current patch.]
  • · Siege Onager[VERIFY — Persians historically lacked Siege Onager, stopping at Onager.]
  • · Bracer[VERIFY — Persians historically had Bracer; confirm still present.]
  • · Ring Archer Armor[VERIFY — historically present; confirm.]
  • · Plate Barding Armor[VERIFY — historically present; confirm.]
  • · Arbalest[VERIFY — historically present (made relevant by Kamandaran); confirm current availability.]
  • · Hand Cannoneer[VERIFY — Persians historically had Hand Cannoneer; confirm current patch.]
🛡️ Unique unit · Castle Age

Savar

heavy cavalry cataphract-type unit, bonus vs archers or bonus pierce armor [VERIFY]

  • · Paladin alternative when opponent is archer-heavy (if Savar has anti-archer identity)
  • · Frontline tank for Imperial pushes vs archer civs
  • · [VERIFY specific tactical role — depends on confirmed rework stats]
🛡️ Unique unit · [VERIFY — legacy Castle unit; may be regional, upgrade-only, or fully deprecated in patch 169123] Age

Elefante de Guerra

heavy elephant shock unit — high HP, high melee attack, slow, expensive

  • · Unstoppable shock unit on closed maps where opponent can't maneuver
  • · Pairs with Paladin as Imperial hammer
  • · Monks are the archetypal counter — convert War Elephant + gold swing is massive
⚗️ Unique tech · Castle Age

Mahouts

War Elephants +30% speed.

When: Castle Age once War Elephant production starts

⚗️ Unique tech · Imperial Age

Kamandaran

Archer-line units (Archer, Crossbowman, Arbalester, Imperial Arbalester [VERIFY]) cost wood instead of gold.

When: Late Imperial, once gold begins to deplete. Enables a Persian trash composition of Hussar + Paladin + Kamandaran-Arbalester + Pikeman — unusual in that it gives a cavalry civ a ranged trash answer that most pure-cav civs lack.

🎯 Recommended build order

Scout/Knight + Castle Decision

Bracket 1300-1600

Choose between standard Knight rush or forward Castle (for War Elephant / Savar) based on scouting and matchup.

Alternativa

Scouts → Archers FlexOpponent scouted doing eagles or early anti-cavalry

❌ Common mistakes playing Persians

  • Ignoring the +50 food +50 wood starting bonus

    The bonus enables an earlier house and an extra early vil. Players who don't use it feudal at the same timing as a base-resources civ — the tempo edge evaporates.

    fix:First action: house, then extra sheep gatherer or early loom. The starting wood is real free wood — spend it.

    Over-committing to War Elephant in open games

    War Elephants are slow, gold-expensive, and get converted by monks. On Arabia at low ELO, opponents walls don't let you close, and you bleed resources.

    fix:War Elephant is a closed-map / late-Imperial unit. Paladin + Savar is the open-map Imperial comp.

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⚡ Pregame brief — antes que termine el countdown

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 Persians build order.

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⚔️ Which civ will you face?

Persians vs Malay

favored

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🛡️ Cuidado con estas unidades

Monks (Aztec/Spanish/Teuton) HIGH

Convert Paladin/Savar/War Elephant — single convert swings 60-200+ gold

Camel Rider / Heavy Camel / Imperial Camel HIGH

Anti-cav bonus damage counters Paladin mirror (mitigated by own Camel but still a threat)

Halberdier (any civ with it) HIGH

Anti-cav specialist; Persians may not have Halb [VERIFY] so defense is weaker

Mangudai / Mangonel / Siege Onager MEDIUM-HIGH

AoE/kite counters to clumped Paladin masses

Kamayuk / Eagle Warrior MEDIUM

Anti-cav / mobility counters Paladin push

Obuch / Leitis / Coustillier MEDIUM

Anti-armor or armor-ignoring cavalry counters Paladin

🗺️ Performance por mapa

arabia
B

Standard scout-into-knight with TC work-rate edge. Solid but not S-tier: lacks t…

arena
A

TC work rate + Dock work rate + full Paladin compound into a boom powerhouse on …

nomad
B

TC bonus is meta-compatible with Nomad's scramble for TC placement, but Persians…

black forest
A

Closed map favors boom-Paladin-Elephant identity. War Elephant unstoppable in na…

fortress
A

Walled map neutralizes feudal weakness; Paladin + TC boom scales

hideout
B

Similar to Arena, less walled; Persians still strong but not as dominant

four lakes
B

Dock bonus helps; land identity intact on land sides

team islands
B

Dock work-rate bonus is legitimately strong on pure-water maps — Persians can ma…

islands
B

Same as Team Islands — Dock bonus is sleeper-strong

mediterranean
B

Mixed map; Persian Paladin + Dock bonus both relevant

migration
B

Transport phase favors naval civs; Persian Dock bonus helps

megarandom
B

Variance neutral — Persian identity works on most land and water rolls

runestones
B

Arabia variant; similar reasoning

socotra
B

Hybrid; Persia adequate on both land and water

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