Burmese — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

Go to Unit Counter Hub →
Burmese emblem

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

How to counter the Burmese

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.

Arambai Castle Age · Castle

Burmese unique ranged Mounted Unit with a powerful but inaccurate attack.

Countered by

Battle Elephant Castle Age · Stable

Slow but durable Cavalry.

Countered by

  • Monk hard Conversion – elephants are expensive
  • Pikeman hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry/elephants
  • Camel Rider hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry
  • Mameluke UU hard UU (Saracens) – Ranged anti-cavalry
  • Flaming Camel UU hard Attack bonus vs. elephants (+130)
  • Genoese Crossbowman UU hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry (+5)
  • Kamayuk UU hard Attack bonus vs. elephants (+20)
  • Scorpion hard Attack bonus vs. elephants (+7)
  • Mangonel soft Area damage
  • Camel Archer UU soft UU (Berbers) – Kites elephants, no bonus damage

What the Burmese 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 Burmese cannot answer

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

Mounted units

  • Paladin — Their heavy cavalry stops at the Cavalier — no Paladin, so it stays noticeably softer and your Halberdiers keep the upper hand in Imperial.

Gunpowder

  • Hand Cannoneer — No Hand Cannoneer — the Burmese never get gunpowder infantry, so massed melee infantry keeps working against them deep into the Imperial Age.

Blacksmith and unit upgrades

  • Arbalester — Their Archer line stops at the Crossbowman — no Arbalester, so their massed archer fire stays a tier behind yours in the Imperial Age.
  • 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.
  • Leather Archer Armor — Their archer armour stops at Padded — no Leather Archer Armor, so your archers and Skirmishers win the ranged trade from the Castle Age on.

Siege

  • Siege Ram — Their rams stop at the Capped Ram — fewer hit points and fewer garrison slots, so your Castle and your own siege kill them faster.
  • Siege Onager — Their Onagers never become Siege Onagers — no single shot that clears a whole group of your units, and no felling of your walls from range.

Monastery and conversion

  • Heresy — No Heresy — units your Monks convert stay converted instead of dying, so a Monk push against them pays double.

Defensive buildings

  • 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.
  • Arrowslits — No Arrowslits — their towers hit softer at close range, so rams and infantry clear them with fewer losses.
  • Hoardings — No Hoardings — their Castles keep base hit points, so your siege brings one down in far fewer shots.

Navy

  • Fast Fire Ship — Their Fire Ship line stops before the Fast Fire Ship — slower and weaker in exactly the close-range fights fire ships are built for.
  • 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.
  • Shipwright — No Shipwright — their warships cost more and build slower in the Imperial Age, so a replaced fleet comes back later than yours.

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

Burmese: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Lumber Camp technologies free
  • Infantry +1/+2/+3 attack in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
  • Battle Elephants +1 melee/+1 pierce armor
  • Monastery technologies cost -50%

Team Bonus

Relics visible on the map at the start of the game

Unique Units

Arambai
Arambai · Ranged Mounted UnitBurmese unique ranged Mounted Unit with a powerful but inaccurate attack. Strong vs. units at medium and close range. Weak vs. Archery Units and Siege Weapons.

Unique Technologies

Manipur CavalryCavalry +4 attack vs. Ranged Soldiers
HowdahBattle Elephants +1 melee/+1 pierce armor

Burmese Tech Tree

The full Burmese 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 Burmese 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. 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

Stable

  1. Scout Cavalry F
  2. Light Cavalry C
  3. Hussar I
  1. Knight C
  2. Cavalier I
  3. Paladin I
  1. Battle Elephant C
  2. Elite Battle Elephant I
  1. Bloodlines F
  1. Husbandry C

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. Arambai C
  2. Elite Arambai I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Manipur Cavalry C
  1. Howdah 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. 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 Burmese

Jump to another civilization

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Burmese?

The Burmese field Arambai and Battle Elephant. Camel Rider, Genoese Crossbowman and Kamayuk counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Paladin, Hand Cannoneer and Arbalester.

What is the Burmese tech tree missing in AoE2?

Their heavy cavalry stops at the Cavalier — no Paladin, so it stays noticeably softer and your Halberdiers keep the upper hand in Imperial. No Hand Cannoneer — the Burmese never get gunpowder infantry, so massed melee infantry keeps working against them deep into the Imperial Age. Their Archer line stops at the Crossbowman — no Arbalester, so their massed archer fire stays a tier behind yours in the Imperial Age.

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

Arambai: Burmese unique ranged Mounted Unit with a powerful but inaccurate attack. Battle Elephant: Slow but durable Cavalry.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

Find your counter →