Vikings — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Vikings emblem

The Vikings are an Infantry and Naval civilization in Age of Empires 2. Their unique units are the Berserk, Longboat. Below: what counters the units they bring, where their tech tree runs out, and the full civilization overview. Jump to the Vikings tech tree.

How to counter the Vikings

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.

Berserk Castle Age · Castle

Viking unique Infantry that regenerates HP.

Countered by

Longboat Castle Age · Dock

Viking unique Warship that fires multiple arrows.

Countered by

What the Vikings 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 Vikings cannot answer

Every civilization is missing something. What matters in a match is which of those gaps you can actually attack. Below are the Vikings 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.
  • Husbandry — No Husbandry — their cavalry moves at base speed, so it is easier to pull away from with archers and slower to catch your Villagers.
  • 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.
  • Plate Barding Armor — No Plate Barding Armor — their Imperial cavalry stays two pierce armour short, so Arbalests and Elite Skirmishers keep working against it.

Gunpowder

  • Hand Cannoneer — No Hand Cannoneer — the Vikings 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.

Anti-cavalry

  • Halberdier — Their Spearman line stops at the Pikeman — against Paladins and other heavy cavalry they never get the Halberdier's bonus damage.

Blacksmith and unit upgrades

  • Thumb Ring — No Thumb Ring — their archers fire slower and miss more, so your units take fewer hits crossing the open ground towards them.

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.

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.
  • Theocracy — No Theocracy — every Monk in a group has to rest after a conversion, so massed Monks convert far slower than yours.
  • Sanctity — No Sanctity — their Monks keep base hit points, so a single volley from your archers takes them off the field.
  • Herbal Medicine — No Herbal Medicine — units they garrison to heal recover slowly, so a wounded army stays wounded and your follow-up attack lands.

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.

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.
  • Incendiaries — No Incendiaries — their Fire Ships simply sink instead of detonating, so killing one costs your fleet nothing extra.
  • Demolition Raft — No Demolition Ship line at all — nothing they build blows up in the middle of your fleet, so your ships can stay grouped.
  • 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 Vikings do and do not have, unit by unit, is in the Vikings tech tree further down.

Vikings: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Wheelbarrow, Hand Cart free
  • Infantry +20% HP starting in Feudal Age
  • Warships cost -10/15/20% in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age

Team Bonus

Docks cost -15%

Unique Units

Berserk
Berserk · InfantryViking unique Infantry that regenerates HP. Strong vs. Infantry and Siege Weapons. Weak vs. Archery Units and Gunners.
Longboat
Longboat · WarshipViking unique Warship that fires multiple arrows. Strong vs. Fire Galleys, land units and buildings.

Unique Technologies

ChieftainsInfantry +5 attack vs. Cavalry, +4 vs. Camel Units; generate +5 gold when defeating Villagers, Trade Units and Monks
BogsveigarArcher-line and Longboats +1 attack

Vikings Tech Tree

The full Vikings 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 Vikings 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. Berserk C
  2. Elite Berserk I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Chieftains C
  1. Bogsveigar 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. Longboat C
  2. Elite Longboat I
  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 Vikings

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Vikings?

The Vikings field Berserk and Longboat. Crossbowman, Scorpion and Cataphract counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Paladin, Hussar and Bloodlines.

What is the Vikings 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 Vikings have that other civilizations do not?

Berserk: Viking unique Infantry that regenerates HP. Longboat: Viking unique Warship that fires multiple arrows.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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