Teutons

Civilization Bonuses

Unique Unit

The Teutonic Knight has the highest melee armor in the game but is one of the slowest units.

Unique Technologies

Build Orders

Strategy Tips

In-Depth Teutons Analysis

The Teutons are the quintessential defensive civilization in Age of Empires II. Their bonuses to building HP, tower range, conversion resistance, and farm gathering combine with the devastating Teutonic Knight to create a civilization that excels at holding ground, grinding opponents down in prolonged wars, and winning through attrition rather than aggression. While they are not beginner-unfriendly, their true power requires understanding how to leverage the defensive tools they are given.

The Teutonic Knight — Power Over Speed

The Teutonic Knight is the most individually powerful melee unit in Age of Empires II. An Elite Teutonic Knight has 100 HP, 13 attack, 10 melee armor, and 5 pierce armor. No other melee unit in the game can survive as many hits or deal as much reliable melee damage. A group of 10 Elite Teutonic Knights in head-to-head melee combat against almost any comparable army wins decisively. Their 14 melee armor (with blacksmith upgrades) means that light infantry deals essentially zero damage per hit to them.

The critical weakness is their speed of 0.7 tiles per second — the slowest of any military unit in the game. A Teutonic Knight army cannot pursue fleeing units, cannot respond quickly to raids on other parts of the map, and can be easily kited by any cavalry archer or even standard archers with proper micro. The Teutonic player must create situations where the opponent is forced to fight defensively or in chokepoints where speed does not help. Funneling opponents into castle fire or using town center proximity to force fights where the enemy cannot retreat are classic Teutonic tactics.

Defensive Bonuses and Tower Play

Teuton buildings have +1/+2/+3/+4 armor per age — by Imperial Age, Teutonic town centers and castles absorb enormous amounts of damage before falling. Their towers and castles have +2 range from the Crenellations unique technology, allowing them to pick off siege units that would normally be out of range. Murder Holes (preventing minimum range on defensive structures) and Bombard Towers combine with these bonuses to make Teutonic bases exceptionally difficult to besiege. Against civilizations without strong long-range siege options, a fortified Teutonic base can be nearly impenetrable.

The Ironclad technology makes siege units have +4 melee armor, giving Teutonic battering rams an extraordinary ability to survive melee attacks while demolishing buildings. This makes Teutonic ram pushes particularly effective: the rams absorb infantry attacks efficiently while Teutonic Knights protect them from cavalry interference.

Conversion Resistance and Monks

Teutonic units resist conversion twice as strongly as standard units and require twice as long for a monk to convert them. This is essential given how vulnerable the slow Teutonic Knights would otherwise be to Monk conversion strategies. Combined with Heresy (converted units die instead of switching sides), Teutons are one of the few civilizations where an opponent bringing Monks as a counter strategy reliably fails. This opens up aggressive use of Teutonic Knights without the fear that expensive elite units will be turned against their owner.