Slavs — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Slavs emblem

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

How to counter the Slavs

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.

Boyar Castle Age · Castle

Slavic unique Cavalry with exceptional melee armor.

Countered by

  • Pikeman hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry
  • Camel Rider hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry
  • Crossbowman hard Pierce damage – Boyars have high melee, low pierce armor
  • Kamayuk UU hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry (+8)
  • Mameluke UU hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry (+9)
  • Monk soft Conversion
  • Samurai UU soft Attack bonus vs. unique units (+12)

What the Slavs 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 Slavs cannot answer

Every civilization is missing something. What matters in a match is which of those gaps you can actually attack. Below are the Slavs 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.
  • 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.

Gunpowder

  • Hand Cannoneer — No Hand Cannoneer — the Slavs 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.

Monastery and conversion

  • Heresy — No Heresy — units your Monks convert stay converted instead of dying, so a Monk push against them pays double.
  • Fervor — No Fervor — their Monks move at base speed, so any cavalry you have runs them down before they reach your army.

Defensive buildings

  • Keep — No Keep — their towers stay at Guard Tower strength, so your siege takes a tower line down noticeably 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.
  • 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.
  • Elite Cannon Galleon — Their Cannon Galleons stay at the base tier — less range and damage than the Elite version.
  • 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 Slavs do and do not have, unit by unit, is in the Slavs tech tree further down.

Slavs: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Farmers work +15% faster
  • Arson, Gambesons free
  • Siege Workshop Units cost -15%
  • Monks move +20% faster

Team Bonus

Military buildings (except Castles) provide +5 population space

Unique Units

Boyar
Boyar · CavalrySlavic unique Cavalry with exceptional melee armor. Strong vs. units at close range. Weak vs. Spearman-line and Monks.

Unique Technologies

DetinetsReplaces 40% of Castle and Watch Tower-line stone cost with additional wood cost
DruzhinaInfantry deals trample damage

Slavs Tech Tree

The full Slavs 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 Slavs 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. Boyar C
  2. Elite Boyar I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Detinets C
  1. Druzhina 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 Slavs

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Slavs?

The Slavs field Boyar. Pikeman, Camel Rider and Crossbowman counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Paladin, Parthian Tactics and Hand Cannoneer.

What is the Slavs 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 Parthian Tactics — their Cavalry Archers keep base armour and no bonus damage against your Spearman line, so Pikemen still trade into them. No Hand Cannoneer — the Slavs never get gunpowder infantry, so massed melee infantry keeps working against them deep into the Imperial Age.

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

Boyar: Slavic unique Cavalry with exceptional melee armor.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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