Cumans — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Cumans emblem

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

How to counter the Cumans

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.

Kipchak Castle Age · Castle

Cuman unique Mounted Archer that fires multiple arrows.

Countered by

Camel Rider Castle Age · Stable

Fast moving anti-cavalry Cavalry.

Countered by

Steppe Lancer Castle Age · Stable

Fast moving Cavalry with increased attack range.

Countered by

What the Cumans 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 Cumans cannot answer

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

Mounted units

  • Heavy Camel Rider — Their Camel Riders stay at the base tier — no Heavy Camel Rider, so their anti-cavalry answer is weaker than yours and your Knights survive the trade more often.
  • Husbandry — No Husbandry — their cavalry moves at base speed, so it is easier to pull away from with archers and slower to catch your Villagers.

Gunpowder

  • Hand Cannoneer — No Hand Cannoneer — the Cumans 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.
  • Bracer — No Bracer — their archers, Skirmishers and towers keep Castle-Age range and attack, so fully upgraded archers of your own out-range them.
  • Gambesons — No Gambesons — their infantry stays a pierce armour short, so archers and Skirmishers cut through it faster.

Siege

  • 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

  • Redemption — No Redemption — their Monks cannot convert your siege or your buildings, so a Trebuchet parked outside their base is safe from the Monastery.
  • 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

  • Guard Tower — Their towers stop at the Watch Tower — no Guard Tower, so tower fire stays weak and your rams and infantry clear it easily.
  • Stone Wall — No Stone Wall — they can only wall with palisades, so there is no line they can hold that your infantry cannot simply chop through.
  • Gate — No Gate — they cannot open and close a wall line cleanly, so their own army is slower in and out of a walled base than yours.
  • 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.
  • Architecture — No Architecture — their buildings keep base armour and hit points, so your siege takes them down faster.

Navy

  • 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.
  • 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 Cumans do and do not have, unit by unit, is in the Cumans tech tree further down.

Cumans: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • One additional Town Center can be built in Feudal Age
  • Mounted Units move +5/10/15% faster in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
  • Archery Ranges and Stables cost -75 wood
  • Siege Workshop and Battering Ram available in Feudal Age; Capped Ram available in Castle Age

Team Bonus

Palisade Walls +33% HP

Unique Units

Kipchak
Kipchak · Mounted ArcherCuman unique Mounted Archer that fires multiple arrows. Strong vs. Infantry and Siege Weapons. Weak vs. Foot Archers.

Unique Technologies

Steppe HusbandryScout Cavalry-line, Steppe Lancers and Cavalry Archers train +100% faster
Cuman MercenariesAll team members can train 5 free Elite Kipchaks per Castle

Cumans Tech Tree

The full Cumans 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 Cumans 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. Steppe Lancer C
  2. Elite Steppe Lancer I
  1. Bloodlines F
  1. Husbandry C

Siege Workshop

  1. Battering Ram F
  2. Capped Ram C
  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. Kipchak C
  2. Elite Kipchak I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Steppe Husbandry C
  1. Cuman Mercenaries 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 Cumans

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Cumans?

The Cumans field Kipchak, Camel Rider and Steppe Lancer. Camel Rider, Genoese Crossbowman and Pikeman counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Heavy Camel Rider, Husbandry and Hand Cannoneer.

What is the Cumans tech tree missing in AoE2?

Their Camel Riders stay at the base tier — no Heavy Camel Rider, so their anti-cavalry answer is weaker than yours and your Knights survive the trade more often. No Husbandry — their cavalry moves at base speed, so it is easier to pull away from with archers and slower to catch your Villagers. No Hand Cannoneer — the Cumans never get gunpowder infantry, so massed melee infantry keeps working against them deep into the Imperial Age.

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

Kipchak: Cuman unique Mounted Archer that fires multiple arrows. Camel Rider: Fast moving anti-cavalry Cavalry. Steppe Lancer: Fast moving Cavalry with increased attack range.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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