Malay — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Malay emblem

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

How to counter the Malay

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.

Karambit Warrior Castle Age · Castle

Malay unique Infantry that only takes half population space.

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 Malay 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 Malay cannot answer

Every civilization is missing something. What matters in a match is which of those gaps you can actually attack. Below are the Malay 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.
  • Hussar — No Hussar — their Light Cavalry never reaches the last tier, so it stays a weaker raider and a weaker answer to your Monks.
  • 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.
  • Heavy Cavalry Archer — Their Cavalry Archers stay at the base tier — less range, attack and armour than the Heavy Cavalry Archer, and your Skirmishers keep the upper hand into Imperial.
  • 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.
  • Chain Barding Armor — Their barding armour stops at Scale — Castle-Age cavalry stays soft against massed archer fire.

Gunpowder

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

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

  • Gambesons — No Gambesons — their infantry stays a pierce armour short, so archers and Skirmishers cut through it faster.

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

  • Theocracy — No Theocracy — every Monk in a group has to rest after a conversion, so massed Monks convert far slower than yours.
  • Fervor — No Fervor — their Monks move at base speed, so any cavalry you have runs them down before they reach your army.

Defensive buildings

  • Fortified Wall — No Fortified Wall — their walls stay at Stone Wall strength, so rams and Petards get through faster.
  • 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.
  • Architecture — No Architecture — their buildings keep base armour and hit points, so your siege takes them down faster.

Navy

  • 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.

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

Malay: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Advancing to the next Age is +66% faster
  • Infantry armor upgrades free
  • Battle Elephants cost -25/35% in Castle/Imperial Age
  • Fish Traps cost -33% and provide +200% food

Team Bonus

Docks +6 line of sight

Unique Units

Karambit Warrior
Karambit Warrior · InfantryMalay unique Infantry that only takes half population space. Strong in high numbers. Weak vs. Cavalry and Ranged Soldiers.

Unique Technologies

ThalassocracyDocks are upgraded to Harbors
Forced LevyMilitia-line gold cost is replaced by additional food cost

Malay Tech Tree

The full Malay 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 Malay 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. Karambit Warrior C
  2. Elite Karambit Warrior I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Thalassocracy C
  1. Forced Levy 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 Malay

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Malay?

The Malay field Karambit Warrior and Battle Elephant. Scorpion, Crossbowman and Cataphract counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Paladin, Hussar and Bloodlines.

What is the Malay 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 Hussar — their Light Cavalry never reaches the last tier, so it stays a weaker raider and a weaker answer to your Monks. No Bloodlines — every mounted unit they field is 20 hit points short, so your Spearman line kills them a little faster in every fight.

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

Karambit Warrior: Malay unique Infantry that only takes half population space. Battle Elephant: Slow but durable Cavalry.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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