Delhi Sultanate

Civilization Bonuses

Unique Units

Strategy Tips

In-Depth Delhi Sultanate Analysis

The Delhi Sultanate operates on a completely different economic logic than any other AoE4 civilization. All technologies are free — you never spend food, wood, or gold on research. Instead, technology researches take three times as long to complete, and Scholar units placed nearby dramatically reduce that research time. This means Delhi's strength is entirely dependent on how many Scholars you deploy and how efficiently you manage their placement across your various research buildings. Masters of Delhi can maintain fast tech parity with other civilizations; beginners who ignore Scholars will find their "free" research takes so long it is worse than paying for it.

Scholar System — Research as an Active Skill

Scholars (150 gold each) placed adjacent to research buildings reduce technology completion time. A single Scholar assigned to a Blacksmith reduces a technology that normally takes 90 seconds (3x standard 30 seconds) to around 45 seconds. Multiple Scholars assigned to the same building stack their bonuses multiplicatively, and well-placed Scholars can bring research times close to normal parity. The ideal Delhi approach is to maintain a pool of 3–5 Scholars and shuffle them between buildings based on what is currently researching — always keeping high-priority technologies well-staffed with Scholars while not over-investing in finished buildings.

Scholars also heal nearby military units and provide conversion ability against enemy units. Their healing rate is significant: a group of injured infantry standing near a Scholar recovers HP noticeably faster than passive regeneration. This gives Delhi another advantage in prolonged campaigns — their Scholar investment pays dividends in both research speed and military sustainability through combat healing.

War Elephants — The Ultimate Siege Unit

Delhi War Elephants in AoE4 are the most imposing unit in the game by HP: 1200 HP, 35 attack, and area-of-effect trample damage. A War Elephant walking through an infantry formation deals melee damage to every unit it contacts and knocks back adjacent units. One War Elephant requires enormous focus-fire to stop and kills dozens of normal infantry units before falling. However, at 400 food and 600 gold, a single War Elephant represents enormous economic investment, and losing one to a Monk conversion or concentrated Crossbow fire is a catastrophic setback.

Tower Elephants (Imperial Age, 1000 food 500 gold) function as moving fortifications: elephant units with archer towers on their backs that provide ranged fire while the elephant engages in melee. They cannot attack with their tower archery while moving, requiring players to position them carefully before combat. The combination of War Elephants pushing forward and Tower Elephants providing fire support is one of the most visually dramatic and mechanically powerful army compositions in AoE4, but its enormous gold cost means Delhi players must protect their gold income carefully throughout the game.

Tower of Victory and Dome of the Faith

Delhi's Feudal Age landmark choices shape their early military identity. The Tower of Victory increases infantry attack speed for all infantry trained or nearby after a period, rewarding Delhi players who commit to infantry-based early aggression. The Dome of the Faith reduces Scholar cost by 50%, dramatically improving the economics of the Scholar system and allowing Delhi to staff more research buildings simultaneously for faster tech progression. For players who prioritize the research-speed advantage of Delhi, Dome of the Faith is often the economically superior choice; for players who want to use Delhi militarily in Feudal Age, Tower of Victory provides the damage output needed to contest maps early.