Turks — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Turks emblem

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

How to counter the Turks

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.

Janissary Castle Age · Castle

Turkish unique Foot Gunner with powerful attack.

Countered by

Heavy Camel Rider Imperial Age · Stable

Fast moving anti-cavalry Cavalry.

Countered by

What the Turks 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 Turks cannot answer

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

Anti-cavalry

  • Pikeman — Their Spearman line never upgrades — plain Spearmen do not stop Castle-Age cavalry, so Knights stay live against them all game. The Heavy Camel Rider covers the anti-cavalry role instead: it deals bonus damage to mounted units.
  • Halberdier — Their Spearman line stops at the Pikeman — against Paladins and other heavy cavalry they never get the Halberdier's bonus damage. The Heavy Camel Rider covers the anti-cavalry role instead: it deals bonus damage to mounted units.

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.
  • Elite Skirmisher — Their Skirmishers stay at the base tier — less range and attack, so your archers out-trade the one unit that is supposed to shut them down.
  • 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.
  • 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

  • Block Printing — No Block Printing — their Monks have to come closer to convert, which walks them into range of your archers first.
  • Illumination — No Illumination — their Monks recover slowly after a conversion, so the second one never comes quickly.
  • Herbal Medicine — No Herbal Medicine — units they garrison to heal recover slowly, so a wounded army stays wounded and your follow-up attack lands.

Navy

  • Fast Fire Ship — Their Fire Ship line stops before the Fast Fire Ship — slower and weaker in exactly the close-range fights fire ships are built for.

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

Turks: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Gold miners work +25% faster
  • Scout Cavalry-line +1 pierce armor and upgrades free
  • Chemistry free; Gunpowder technologies costs -50%
  • Gunpowder Units +25% HP

Team Bonus

Gunpowder Units train +25% faster

Unique Units

Janissary
Janissary · Foot GunnerTurkish unique Foot Gunner with powerful attack. Strong vs. Infantry. Weak vs. Archery Units and Skirmishers.

Unique Technologies

SipahiMounted Archers +20 HP
ArtilleryBombard Towers, Bombard Cannons, Cannon Galleons +2 range

Turks Tech Tree

The full Turks 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 Turks 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. Camel Rider C
  2. Heavy Camel Rider 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. Janissary C
  2. Elite Janissary I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Sipahi C
  1. Artillery 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 Turks

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Turks?

The Turks field Janissary and Heavy Camel Rider. Elite Skirmisher, Condottiero and Huskarl counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Paladin, Pikeman and Halberdier.

What is the Turks 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. Their Spearman line never upgrades — plain Spearmen do not stop Castle-Age cavalry, so Knights stay live against them all game. The Heavy Camel Rider covers the anti-cavalry role instead: it deals bonus damage to mounted units. Their Spearman line stops at the Pikeman — against Paladins and other heavy cavalry they never get the Halberdier's bonus damage. The Heavy Camel Rider covers the anti-cavalry role instead: it deals bonus damage to mounted units.

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

Janissary: Turkish unique Foot Gunner with powerful attack. Heavy Camel Rider: Fast moving anti-cavalry Cavalry.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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