Aztecs — Counters & Civilization Overview

How to play against the Aztecs — plus bonuses, unique units, unique techs and the full tech tree.

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Aztecs emblem

The Aztecs are an Infantry and Monk civilization in Age of Empires 2. Their unique unit is the Jaguar Warrior. Below: what counters the units they bring, where their tech tree runs out, and the full civilization overview. Jump to the Aztecs tech tree.

How to counter the Aztecs

Their unique and regional units are the part of the matchup a generic army does not prepare you for. Hard counters beat the unit decisively and win even at a cost disadvantage — usually through bonus damage, area damage, conversion or a speed advantage it cannot escape. Soft counters win the fight too, but only with good numbers and positioning.

Jaguar Warrior Castle Age · Castle

Aztec unique Infantry that gains additional damage when defeating military units.

Countered by

Eagle Warrior Castle Age · Barracks

Fast moving Shock Infantry for scouting and raiding.

Countered by

What the Aztecs are strong against

The other side of the matchup: these are the fights their own units are built to win. Walking one of these into them plays to their strengths.

What the Aztecs cannot answer

Every civilization is missing something. What matters in a match is which of those gaps you can actually attack. Below are the Aztecs gaps that change how a fight plays out — the economic ones are left out on purpose.

Mounted units

  • Stable — The Aztecs have no Stable at all — no Scouts, no Knights, no Camels, no raiding cavalry in any age. Every anti-cavalry unit you would normally keep in the mix has nothing to shoot at here.
  • Cavalry Archer — No Cavalry Archer — nothing they build shoots while moving, so your siege and your Skirmishers never get kited out of position.

Gunpowder

  • Hand Cannoneer — No Hand Cannoneer — the Aztecs never get gunpowder infantry, so massed melee infantry keeps working against them deep into the Imperial Age.
  • Bombard Cannon — No Bombard Cannon — they have no gunpowder siege at all. Your own Bombard Cannons out-range every siege unit they can field except the Trebuchet.

Anti-cavalry

  • Halberdier — Their Spearman line stops at the Pikeman — against Paladins and other heavy cavalry they never get the Halberdier's bonus damage. The Eagle Warrior covers the anti-cavalry role instead: it deals bonus damage to mounted units.

Blacksmith and unit upgrades

  • Thumb Ring — No Thumb Ring — their archers fire slower and miss more, so your units take fewer hits crossing the open ground towards them.
  • Ring Archer Armor — No Ring Archer Armor — their archers keep Castle-Age armour, so your own archers and Skirmishers out-trade them in Imperial.

Siege

  • Heavy Scorpion — Their Scorpions stay at the base tier — less range, attack and accuracy, so your archers out-range them.

Defensive buildings

  • Keep — No Keep — their towers stay at Guard Tower strength, so your siege takes a tower line down noticeably faster.
  • Bombard Tower — No Bombard Tower — their towers never become gunpowder towers, so your siege can set up against a tower line instead of being shelled off it.
  • Hoardings — No Hoardings — their Castles keep base hit points, so your siege brings one down in far fewer shots.
  • Masonry — No Masonry — their buildings keep base hit points and armour, so your rams and Trebuchets break through sooner.

Navy

  • Galleon — Their Galley line stops at the War Galley — no Galleon, so your warships out-damage them in a straight naval fight.
  • Siphons — No Siphons — their Fire Ships never gain the explosive charge attack, so they close on your fleet with nothing but their standard attack.
  • Incendiaries — No Incendiaries — their Fire Ships simply sink instead of detonating, so killing one costs your fleet nothing extra.
  • Heavy Demo Ship — Their Demolition Ships stay at the base tier — no Heavy Demo Ship, so one detonation no longer wipes a group of your warships.
  • Cannon Galleon — No Cannon Galleon — they cannot shell your shore buildings from the water, so a coastal base is safe from their navy.
  • Dry Dock — No Dry Dock — their ships stay a pierce armour short, so your own warships and shore towers cut through them faster.
  • Carvel Hull — No Carvel Hull — their ships move at base speed, so they cannot disengage from your fleet or reach a landing before you do.

Everything the Aztecs do and do not have, unit by unit, is in the Aztecs tech tree further down.

Aztecs: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Start with +50 gold
  • Villagers carry +3
  • Military Units train +15% faster
  • Monks gain +5 HP for each researched Monastery technology

Team Bonus

Relics generate +33% gold

Unique Units

Jaguar Warrior
Jaguar Warrior · InfantryAztec unique Infantry that gains additional damage when defeating military units. Exceptionally strong vs. Infantry. Weak vs. Cavalry and Archery Units.

Unique Technologies

AtlatlSkirmishers +1 attack, +1 range
Garland WarsInfantry +4 attack

Aztecs Tech Tree

The full Aztecs tech tree in Age of Empires 2 — every unit, upgrade and technology they can research, and everything they cannot. Units are shown as their upgrade lines, followed by the technologies available at each building. Greyed-out entries are missing from the Aztecs tech tree.

Barracks

  1. Militia D
  2. Man-at-Arms F
  3. Long Swordsman C
  4. Two-Handed Swordsman I
  5. Champion I
  1. Spearman F
  2. Pikeman C
  3. Halberdier I
  1. Eagle Scout F
  2. Eagle Warrior C
  3. Elite Eagle Warrior I
  1. Arson F
  1. Gambesons C
  1. Squires C

Archery Range

  1. Archer F
  2. Crossbowman C
  3. Arbalester I
  1. Skirmisher F
  2. Elite Skirmisher C
  1. Cavalry Archer C
  2. Heavy Cavalry Archer I
  1. Hand Cannoneer I
  1. Thumb Ring C
  1. Parthian Tactics I

Siege Workshop

  1. Battering Ram C
  2. Capped Ram I
  3. Siege Ram I
  1. Mangonel C
  2. Onager I
  3. Siege Onager I
  1. Scorpion C
  2. Heavy Scorpion I
  1. Siege Tower C
  1. Bombard Cannon I

Castle

  1. Jaguar Warrior C
  2. Elite Jaguar Warrior I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Atlatl C
  1. Garland Wars I
  1. Hoardings I
  1. Conscription I
  1. Sappers I
  1. Spies/Treason I

Dock

  1. Fishing Ship D
  1. Transport Ship D
  1. Fire Galley F
  2. Fire Ship C
  3. Fast Fire Ship I
  1. Galley F
  2. War Galley C
  3. Galleon I
  1. Hulk F
  2. War Hulk C
  3. Carrack I
  1. Demolition Raft F
  2. Demolition Ship C
  3. Heavy Demo Ship I
  1. Trade Cog F
  1. Cannon Galleon I
  2. Elite Cannon Galleon I
  1. Catapult Galleon I
  1. Fishing Lines F
  1. Medium Warships C
  2. Heavy Warships I
  1. Gillnets C

Monastery

  1. Monk C
  1. Devotion C
  2. Faith I
  1. Redemption C
  1. Atonement C
  1. Herbal Medicine C
  1. Heresy C
  1. Sanctity C
  1. Fervor C
  1. Illumination I
  1. Block Printing I
  1. Theocracy I

Blacksmith

  1. Padded Archer Armor F
  2. Leather Archer Armor C
  3. Ring Archer Armor I
  1. Fletching F
  2. Bodkin Arrow C
  3. Bracer I
  1. Forging F
  2. Iron Casting C
  3. Blast Furnace I
  1. Scale Barding Armor F
  2. Chain Barding Armor C
  3. Plate Barding Armor I
  1. Scale Mail Armor F
  2. Chain Mail Armor C
  3. Plate Mail Armor I

University

  1. Masonry C
  2. Architecture I
  1. Fortified Wall C
  1. Ballistics C
  1. Guard Tower C
  2. Keep I
  1. Heated Shot C
  1. Murder Holes C
  1. Careening C
  2. Dry Dock I
  1. Clinker Construction C
  2. Carvel Hull I
  1. Siphons C
  2. Incendiaries I
  1. Treadmill Crane C
  1. Chemistry I
  2. Bombard Tower I
  1. Siege Engineers I
  1. Arrowslits I
  1. Shipwright I

Market

  1. Trade Cart F
  1. Caravan C
  1. Coinage C
  2. Banking I
  1. Guilds I

Mill

  1. Horse Collar F
  2. Heavy Plow C
  3. Crop Rotation I

Lumber Camp

  1. Double-Bit Axe F
  2. Bow Saw C
  3. Two-Man Saw I

Mining Camp

  1. Gold Mining F
  2. Gold Shaft Mining C
  1. Stone Mining F
  2. Stone Shaft Mining C

Town Center

  1. Villager D
  1. Feudal Age D
  2. Castle Age F
  3. Imperial Age C
  1. Loom D
  1. Town Watch F
  2. Town Patrol C
  1. Wheelbarrow F
  2. Hand Cart C

D Dark F Feudal C Castle I Imperial · struck through = not available for the Aztecs

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Aztecs?

The Aztecs field Jaguar Warrior and Eagle Warrior. Cataphract, Hand Cannoneer and Crossbowman counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Stable, Cavalry Archer and Hand Cannoneer.

What is the Aztecs tech tree missing in AoE2?

The Aztecs have no Stable at all — no Scouts, no Knights, no Camels, no raiding cavalry in any age. Every anti-cavalry unit you would normally keep in the mix has nothing to shoot at here. No Cavalry Archer — nothing they build shoots while moving, so your siege and your Skirmishers never get kited out of position. No Hand Cannoneer — the Aztecs never get gunpowder infantry, so massed melee infantry keeps working against them deep into the Imperial Age.

Which units do the Aztecs have that other civilizations do not?

Jaguar Warrior: Aztec unique Infantry that gains additional damage when defeating military units. Eagle Warrior: Fast moving Shock Infantry for scouting and raiding.

Not sure what counters this unit?

Playing against the Aztecs? Look up any of their units in the interactive app to see exactly what counters them — with bonus-damage values.

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