Wei — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Wei emblem

The Wei are a Cavalry civilization in Age of Empires 2. Their unique units are the Tiger Cavalry, Xianbei Raider, Cao Cao. Below: what counters the units they bring, where their tech tree runs out, and the full civilization overview. Jump to the Wei tech tree.

How to counter the Wei

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.

Tiger Cavalry Castle Age · Castle

Wei unique Cavalry that gains HP and attack when defeating enemy military.

Countered by

  • Pikeman hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry
  • Camel Rider hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry
  • Monk soft Conversion
  • Samurai UU soft Attack bonus vs. unique units (+12)

Xianbei Raider Castle Age · Archery Range

Wei unique Mounted Archer with a charged ranged attack.

Countered by

Heavy Hei Guang Cavalry Imperial Age · Stable

Powerful all-purpose Heavy Cavalry.

Countered by

Traction Trebuchet Imperial Age · Siege Workshop

Powerful anti-building Siege Weapon with long range, but cannot attack enemies at close r…

Countered by

Lou Chuan Imperial Age · Dock

Powerful Siege Warship that fires arrows at units and uses a long range trebuchet weapon…

Countered by

Hero units — powerful, but not a counter

The Wei can also field a hero you will not see anywhere in the matchups above. A hero is capped at one and cannot be massed, so it never becomes a unit you counter head-on — treat it as a force multiplier for the army around it.

  • Cao Cao — increases the attack speed of nearby units. Limit one, cannot be converted.

What the Wei 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 Wei cannot answer

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

Mounted units

  • Knight — No Knight — their Stable never produces a heavy cavalry line, so the Castle Age arrives without the usual mounted threat and your Spearman line can stay small.
  • Cavalry Archer — No Cavalry Archer — nothing they build shoots while moving, so your siege and your Skirmishers never get kited out of position.
  • 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 Wei 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

  • Arbalester — Their Archer line stops at the Crossbowman — no Arbalester, so their massed archer fire stays a tier behind yours in the Imperial Age.
  • Plate Mail Armor — No Plate Mail Armor — their infantry stays short on armour in the Imperial Age, so massed archers keep working against it.
  • 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.
  • Trebuchet — No Trebuchet — they cannot break a walled position from safe range, so stone walls and a Castle hold against everything they can bring up to them.

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.
  • Heresy — No Heresy — units your Monks convert stay converted instead of dying, so a Monk push against them pays double.
  • Atonement — No Atonement — their Monks cannot convert yours, so your Monks win the Monastery duel by default.
  • 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

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 Wei do and do not have, unit by unit, is in the Wei tech tree further down.

Wei: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Receive one free Villager for each economic upgrade researched
  • Hei Guang Cavalry and Xianbei Raider +20/30% HP in Castle/Imperial Age
  • Traction Trebuchets and Lou Chuans cost -25%

Team Bonus

Cavalry +2 attack vs. Siege Weapons

Unique Units

Tiger Cavalry
Tiger Cavalry · CavalryWei unique Cavalry that gains HP and attack when defeating enemy military. Exceptionally strong vs. Ranged Soldiers. Weak vs. Spearman-line.
Xianbei Raider
Xianbei Raider · Mounted ArcherWei unique Mounted Archer with a charged ranged attack. Strong vs. Infantry. Weak vs. Skirmishers and Camel Riders.
Cao Cao
Cao Cao · HeroWei unique Cavalry Hero that increases the attack speed of nearby units. Extremely powerful. Has a limit of one, cannot be converted.

Unique Technologies

TuntianSoldiers passively produce food
Ming Guang ArmorMounted Units +4 melee armor

Wei Tech Tree

The full Wei 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 Wei 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. Xianbei Raider C
  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. Hei Guang Cavalry C
  2. Heavy Hei Guang Cavalry 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
  1. Traction Trebuchet I

Castle

  1. Tiger Cavalry C
  2. Elite Tiger Cavalry I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Cao Cao I
  1. Tuntian C
  1. Ming Guang Armor 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. Lou Chuan 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 Wei

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Wei?

The Wei field Tiger Cavalry, Xianbei Raider, Heavy Hei Guang Cavalry, Traction Trebuchet and Lou Chuan. Camel Rider, Pikeman and Elite Skirmisher counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Knight, Cavalry Archer and Plate Barding Armor.

What is the Wei tech tree missing in AoE2?

No Knight — their Stable never produces a heavy cavalry line, so the Castle Age arrives without the usual mounted threat and your Spearman line can stay small. No Cavalry Archer — nothing they build shoots while moving, so your siege and your Skirmishers never get kited out of position. No Plate Barding Armor — their Imperial cavalry stays two pierce armour short, so Arbalests and Elite Skirmishers keep working against it.

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

Tiger Cavalry: Wei unique Cavalry that gains HP and attack when defeating enemy military. Xianbei Raider: Wei unique Mounted Archer with a charged ranged attack. Heavy Hei Guang Cavalry: Powerful all-purpose Heavy Cavalry. Traction Trebuchet: Powerful anti-building Siege Weapon with long range, but cannot attack enemies at close r… Lou Chuan: Powerful Siege Warship that fires arrows at units and uses a long range trebuchet weapon…

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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