Celts — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Celts emblem

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

How to counter the Celts

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.

Woad Raider Castle Age · Castle

Celtic unique Infantry with fast movement speed.

Countered by

What the Celts 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 Celts cannot answer

Every civilization is missing something. What matters in a match is which of those gaps you can actually attack. Below are the Celts 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.
  • Plate Barding Armor — No Plate Barding Armor — their Imperial cavalry stays two pierce armour short, so Arbalests and Elite Skirmishers keep working against it.

Gunpowder

  • Hand Cannoneer — No Hand Cannoneer — the Celts 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.

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.
  • Bracer — No Bracer — their archers, Skirmishers and towers keep Castle-Age range and attack, so fully upgraded archers of your own out-range them.
  • Squires — No Squires — their infantry moves at base speed, so it is easier to kite with archers and slower to reach your siege.

Monastery and conversion

  • Redemption — No Redemption — their Monks cannot convert your siege or your buildings, so a Trebuchet parked outside their base is safe from the Monastery.
  • Atonement — No Atonement — their Monks cannot convert yours, so your Monks win the Monastery duel by default.
  • Block Printing — No Block Printing — their Monks have to come closer to convert, which walks them into range of your archers first.
  • Illumination — No Illumination — their Monks recover slowly after a conversion, so the second one never comes quickly.
  • Theocracy — No Theocracy — every Monk in a group has to rest after a conversion, so massed Monks convert far slower than yours.

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.
  • Architecture — No Architecture — their buildings keep base armour and hit points, so your siege takes them down faster.

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.
  • Elite Cannon Galleon — Their Cannon Galleons stay at the base tier — less range and damage than the Elite version.

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

Celts: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Lumberjacks work +15% faster
  • Livestock animals within Celt unit line of sight cannot be stolen
  • Infantry moves +5/10/15/20% faster in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
  • Siege Weapons attack +25% faster

Team Bonus

Siege Workshops work +20% faster

Unique Units

Woad Raider
Woad Raider · InfantryCeltic unique Infantry with fast movement speed. Strong vs. Infantry and Siege Weapons. Weak vs. Archery Units and Cavalry.

Unique Technologies

StrongholdCastles and Watch Tower-line attack +33% faster; Castles heal allied Infantry in a 7 tile radius
Furor CelticaSiege Weapons +40% HP

Celts Tech Tree

The full Celts 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 Celts 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. 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. Woad Raider C
  2. Elite Woad Raider I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Stronghold C
  1. Furor Celtica 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 Celts

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Celts?

The Celts field Woad Raider. Crossbowman, Scorpion and Hand Cannoneer counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Bloodlines, Parthian Tactics and Plate Barding Armor.

What is the Celts 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 Plate Barding Armor — their Imperial cavalry stays two pierce armour short, so Arbalests and Elite Skirmishers keep working against it.

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

Woad Raider: Celtic unique Infantry with fast movement speed.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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