Byzantines — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Byzantines emblem

The Byzantines are a Defensive civilization in Age of Empires 2. Their unique unit is the Cataphract. Below: what counters the units they bring, where their tech tree runs out, and the full civilization overview. Jump to the Byzantines tech tree.

How to counter the Byzantines

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.

Cataphract Castle Age · Castle

Byzantine unique Heavy Cavalry.

Countered by

  • Monk hard Conversion is most effective vs. Cataphracts
  • Mameluke UU hard UU (Saracens) – Ranged anti-cavalry
  • Crossbowman soft Pierce damage (Cataphracts have good melee armor)
  • Obuch UU soft UU (Poles) – Reduces armor
  • Samurai UU soft Attack bonus vs. unique units (+12)
  • Elite Skirmisher soft Pierce damage when Cataphracts are isolated

Heavy Camel Rider Imperial Age · Stable

Fast moving anti-cavalry Cavalry.

Countered by

Dromon Imperial Age · Dock

Anti-building Siege Warship with long range blast attack, but cannot attack enemies at cl…

Countered by

What the Byzantines 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 Byzantines cannot answer

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

Mounted units

  • Bloodlines — No Bloodlines — every mounted unit they field is 20 hit points short, so your Spearman line kills them a little faster in every fight.
  • Parthian Tactics — No Parthian Tactics — their Cavalry Archers keep base armour and no bonus damage against your Spearman line, so Pikemen still trade into them.

Blacksmith and unit upgrades

  • Blast Furnace — No Blast Furnace — their melee units never reach the last attack upgrade, so every melee trade goes a little further in your favour.

Siege

  • 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.
  • Heavy Scorpion — Their Scorpions stay at the base tier — less range, attack and accuracy, so your archers out-range them.
  • Siege Engineers — No Siege Engineers — their siege has one range less and hits buildings softer, so your towers and Castles out-range it.

Monastery and conversion

  • Herbal Medicine — No Herbal Medicine — units they garrison to heal recover slowly, so a wounded army stays wounded and your follow-up attack lands.

Defensive buildings

  • Heated Shot — No Heated Shot — their towers and Castles have no bonus damage against ships, so a shore landing stays safe for longer.
  • Masonry — No Masonry — their buildings keep base hit points and armour, so your rams and Trebuchets break through sooner.

Navy

  • Incendiaries — No Incendiaries — their Fire Ships simply sink instead of detonating, so killing one costs your fleet nothing extra.
  • Cannon Galleon — No Cannon Galleon — they cannot shell your shore buildings from the water, so a coastal base is safe from their navy.

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

Byzantines: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Buildings +10/20/30/40% HP in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
  • Camel Riders, Skirmishers and Spearman-line cost -25%
  • Town Watch, Town Patrol free
  • Advancing to Imperial Age costs -33%
  • Fire Ships and Dromons attack +25% faster

Team Bonus

Monks heal +100% faster

Unique Units

Cataphract
Cataphract · CavalryByzantine unique Heavy Cavalry. Exceptionally strong vs. Infantry. Weak vs. Archery Units.

Unique Technologies

Greek FireFire Ships +1 range; Dromons and Bombard Towers increased blast radius
LogisticaCataphracts deal trample damage, +6 attack vs. Infantry

Byzantines Tech Tree

The full Byzantines 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 Byzantines 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. Camel Rider C
  2. Heavy Camel Rider 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. Cataphract C
  2. Elite Cataphract I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Greek Fire C
  1. Logistica 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. Dromon 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 Byzantines

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Byzantines?

The Byzantines field Cataphract, Heavy Camel Rider and Dromon. Monk, Mameluke and Two-Handed Swordsman counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Bloodlines, Parthian Tactics and Blast Furnace.

What is the Byzantines tech tree missing in AoE2?

No Bloodlines — every mounted unit they field is 20 hit points short, so your Spearman line kills them a little faster in every fight. No Parthian Tactics — their Cavalry Archers keep base armour and no bonus damage against your Spearman line, so Pikemen still trade into them. No Blast Furnace — their melee units never reach the last attack upgrade, so every melee trade goes a little further in your favour.

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

Cataphract: Byzantine unique Heavy Cavalry. Heavy Camel Rider: Fast moving anti-cavalry Cavalry. Dromon: Anti-building Siege Warship with long range blast attack, but cannot attack enemies at cl…

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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