Maya — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Maya emblem

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

How to counter the Maya

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.

Plumed Archer Castle Age · Castle

Mayan unique Foot Archer with fast movement speed.

Countered by

Eagle Warrior Castle Age · Barracks

Fast moving Shock Infantry for scouting and raiding.

Countered by

What the Maya 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 Maya cannot answer

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

Mounted units

  • Stable — The Maya have no Stable at all — no Scouts, no Knights, no Camels, no raiding cavalry in any age. Every anti-cavalry unit you would normally keep in the mix has nothing to shoot at here.
  • Cavalry Archer — No Cavalry Archer — nothing they build shoots while moving, so your siege and your Skirmishers never get kited out of position.

Gunpowder

  • Hand Cannoneer — No Hand Cannoneer — the Maya 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

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

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.
  • 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.
  • Illumination — No Illumination — their Monks recover slowly after a conversion, so the second one never comes quickly.

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.
  • Arrowslits — No Arrowslits — their towers hit softer at close range, so rams and infantry clear them with fewer losses.

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.
  • 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.

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

Maya: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Start with +1 Villager, but -50 food
  • Resources last +15% longer
  • Foot Archers cost -10/20/30% in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age

Team Bonus

Walls cost -50%

Unique Units

Plumed Archer
Plumed Archer · Foot ArcherMayan unique Foot Archer with fast movement speed. Strong vs. Archery Units and Infantry. Weak vs. Cavalry.

Unique Technologies

Hul'che JavelineersSkirmishers fire an additional projectile
HolcansEagle Warriors +40 HP

Maya Tech Tree

The full Maya 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 Maya 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. Eagle Scout F
  2. Eagle Warrior C
  3. Elite Eagle Warrior 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

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. Plumed Archer C
  2. Elite Plumed Archer I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Hul'che Javelineers C
  1. Holcans 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 Maya

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Maya?

The Maya field Plumed Archer and Eagle Warrior. Elite Skirmisher, Mangonel and Huskarl counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Stable, Cavalry Archer and Hand Cannoneer.

What is the Maya tech tree missing in AoE2?

The Maya have no Stable at all — no Scouts, no Knights, no Camels, no raiding cavalry in any age. Every anti-cavalry unit you would normally keep in the mix has nothing to shoot at here. No Cavalry Archer — nothing they build shoots while moving, so your siege and your Skirmishers never get kited out of position. No Hand Cannoneer — the Maya never get gunpowder infantry, so massed melee infantry keeps working against them deep into the Imperial Age.

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

Plumed Archer: Mayan unique Foot Archer with fast movement speed. Eagle Warrior: Fast moving Shock Infantry for scouting and raiding.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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