Huns — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Huns emblem

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

How to counter the Huns

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.

Tarkan Castle Age · Stable

Hunnic unique Heavy Cavalry.

Countered by

  • Knight hard Clearly wins the melee duel – more armor and HP
  • Pikeman hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry
  • Camel Rider hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry
  • Genoese Crossbowman UU hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry (+5)
  • Mameluke UU hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry (+9)
  • Monk soft Conversion
  • Samurai UU soft Attack bonus vs. unique units (+12)

Dromon Imperial Age · Dock

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

Countered by

What the Huns 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 Huns cannot answer

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

Gunpowder

  • Hand Cannoneer — No Hand Cannoneer — the Huns 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.

Melee infantry

  • Champion — No Champion — their Militia line stops one upgrade short, so their gold-free melee infantry stays a tier behind yours.

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.
  • Ring Archer Armor — No Ring Archer Armor — their archers keep Castle-Age armour, so your own archers and Skirmishers out-trade them in Imperial.
  • Plate Mail Armor — No Plate Mail Armor — their infantry stays short on armour in the Imperial Age, so massed archers keep working against it.
  • Gambesons — No Gambesons — their infantry stays a pierce armour short, so archers and Skirmishers cut through it faster.

Siege

  • Onager — Their Mangonels never become Onagers — less attack and less range, so your archer mass survives the shots that do land.
  • 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.
  • Theocracy — No Theocracy — every Monk in a group has to rest after a conversion, so massed Monks convert far slower than yours.
  • 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

  • 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.
  • Fortified Wall — No Fortified Wall — their walls stay at Stone Wall strength, so rams and Petards get through 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.
  • Arrowslits — No Arrowslits — their towers hit softer at close range, so rams and infantry clear them with fewer losses.
  • Heated Shot — No Heated Shot — their towers and Castles have no bonus damage against ships, so a shore landing stays safe for longer.
  • Hoardings — No Hoardings — their Castles keep base hit points, so your siege brings one down in far fewer shots.
  • Architecture — No Architecture — their buildings keep base armour and hit points, so your siege takes them down faster.

Navy

  • Carrack — Their Hulk line stops at the War Hulk — no Carrack, so their close-range warships lose the melee fight against a fully upgraded fleet.
  • 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.
  • Cannon Galleon — No Cannon Galleon — they cannot shell your shore buildings from the water, so a coastal base is safe from their navy.
  • 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 Huns do and do not have, unit by unit, is in the Huns tech tree further down.

Huns: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Do not need houses, but start with -100 wood
  • Cavalry Archers cost -10/20% in Castle/Imperial Age
  • Trebuchets fire more accurately at units and small targets
  • On Nomadic maps, the first Town Center spawns a scouting Horse

Team Bonus

Stables work +20% faster

Unique Units

Tarkan
Tarkan · CavalryHunnic unique Heavy Cavalry. Exceptionally strong vs. buildings. Weak vs. Spearman-line and Camel Riders.

Unique Technologies

MaraudersTarkans can be trained at Stables
AtheismEnemy Relics generate -50% resources; Wonder and Relic victory takes +100 years

Huns Tech Tree

The full Huns 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 Huns 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. Tarkan C
  1. Elite Tarkan 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. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Marauders C
  1. Atheism 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 Huns

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Huns?

The Huns field Tarkan and Dromon. Knight, Pikeman and Camel Rider counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Hand Cannoneer, Bombard Cannon and Champion.

What is the Huns tech tree missing in AoE2?

No Hand Cannoneer — the Huns never get gunpowder infantry, so massed melee infantry keeps working against them deep into the Imperial Age. 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. No Champion — their Militia line stops one upgrade short, so their gold-free melee infantry stays a tier behind yours.

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

Tarkan: Hunnic unique Heavy Cavalry. Dromon: Anti-building Siege Warship with long range blast attack, but cannot attack enemies at cl…

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