Spanish — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Spanish emblem

The Spanish are a Gunpowder and Monk civilization in Age of Empires 2. Their unique units are the Conquistador, Missionary. Below: what counters the units they bring, where their tech tree runs out, and the full civilization overview. Jump to the Spanish tech tree.

How to counter the Spanish

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.

Conquistador Castle Age · Castle

Spanish unique Mounted Gunner with powerful attack and mobility.

Countered by

Missionary Castle Age · Monastery

Spanish unique Mounted Monk.

Countered by

What the Spanish 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 Spanish cannot answer

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

Mounted units

  • 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.

Blacksmith and unit upgrades

  • Crossbowman — Their Archer line never reaches the Crossbowman — base Archers do not hold up in the Castle Age, so your Skirmishers and cavalry get in easily.

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.
  • 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.

Defensive buildings

  • Heated Shot — No Heated Shot — their towers and Castles have no bonus damage against ships, so a shore landing stays safe for longer.

Navy

  • Incendiaries — No Incendiaries — their Fire Ships simply sink instead of detonating, so killing one costs your fleet nothing extra.

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

Spanish: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Builders work +30% faster
  • Receive +20 gold for each technology researched
  • Blacksmith upgrades cost no gold
  • Gunpowder Units attack +18% faster
  • Cannon Galleons fire more accurately at moving targets

Team Bonus

Trade Units generate +25% gold

Unique Units

Conquistador
Conquistador · Mounted GunnerSpanish unique Mounted Gunner with powerful attack and mobility. Strong vs. units at range. Weak vs. Spearman-line, Skirmishers, and Monks.
Missionary
Missionary · Mounted MonkSpanish unique Mounted Monk. Converts enemy units and heals friendly units. Faster than Monk but with less sight and range. Strong vs. slow, non-ranged units. Weak vs. Scout Cavalry-line, Eagle Warriors and Ranged Soldiers. Can collect Relics and bring them to Monasteries.

Unique Technologies

InquisitionMonks and Missionaries convert faster; Missionaries +1 range
SupremacyVillagers +40 HP, +6 attack, +2 melee/+2 pierce armor

Spanish Tech Tree

The full Spanish 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 Spanish 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. Conquistador C
  2. Elite Conquistador I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Inquisition C
  1. Supremacy 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. Missionary 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 Spanish

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Spanish?

The Spanish field Conquistador and Missionary. Camel Rider, Pikeman and Elite Skirmisher counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Parthian Tactics, Crossbowman and Siege Onager.

What is the Spanish tech tree missing in AoE2?

No Parthian Tactics — their Cavalry Archers keep base armour and no bonus damage against your Spearman line, so Pikemen still trade into them. Their Archer line never reaches the Crossbowman — base Archers do not hold up in the Castle Age, so your Skirmishers and cavalry get in easily. 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.

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

Conquistador: Spanish unique Mounted Gunner with powerful attack and mobility. Missionary: Spanish unique Mounted Monk.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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