Wu — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Wu emblem

The Wu are an Infantry and Naval civilization in Age of Empires 2. Their unique units are the Fire Archer, Jian Swordsman, Sun Jian. Below: what counters the units they bring, where their tech tree runs out, and the full civilization overview. Jump to the Wu tech tree.

How to counter the Wu

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.

Fire Archer Castle Age · Castle

Wu unique Foot Archer that fires multiple arrows at units and uses a long range attack ag…

Countered by

Jian Swordsman Castle Age · Barracks

Wu unique Shock Infantry that gains movement speed and attack but loses armor when a dama…

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 Wu 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.

  • Sun Jian — increases the movement speed of nearby units. Limit one, cannot be converted.

What the Wu 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 Wu cannot answer

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

Gunpowder

  • Hand Cannoneer — No Hand Cannoneer — the Wu 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

  • Thumb Ring — No Thumb Ring — their archers fire slower and miss more, so your units take fewer hits crossing the open ground towards them.
  • Ring Archer Armor — No Ring Archer Armor — their archers keep Castle-Age armour, so your own archers and Skirmishers out-trade them in Imperial.
  • Gambesons — No Gambesons — their infantry stays a pierce armour short, so archers and Skirmishers cut through it faster.

Siege

  • Capped Ram — Their rams stop at the Battering Ram — no Capped Ram, so they need longer to break a wall and lose the ram doing it.
  • 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

  • Heresy — No Heresy — units your Monks convert stay converted instead of dying, so a Monk push against them pays double.
  • Block Printing — No Block Printing — their Monks have to come closer to convert, which walks them into range of your archers first.

Defensive buildings

  • Fortified Wall — No Fortified Wall — their walls stay at Stone Wall strength, so rams and Petards get through 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.
  • Hoardings — No Hoardings — their Castles keep base hit points, so your siege brings one down in far fewer shots.

Navy

  • Incendiaries — No Incendiaries — their Fire Ships simply sink instead of detonating, so killing one costs your fleet nothing extra.
  • Cannon Galleon — No Cannon Galleon — they cannot shell your shore buildings from the water, so a coastal base is safe from their navy.
  • 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 Wu do and do not have, unit by unit, is in the Wu tech tree further down.

Wu: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Military production buildings and Docks provide +55 food
  • Infantry regenerates 10/15/30 HP per minute in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
  • Jian Swordsmen and Hei Guang Cavalry +2 attack in Imperial Age
  • Careening, Dry Dock free

Team Bonus

Houses built +100% faster

Unique Units

Fire Archer
Fire Archer · Foot ArcherWu unique Foot Archer that fires multiple arrows at units and uses a long range attack against buildings. Strong vs. Infantry, Siege Weapons and buildings. Weak vs. Cavalry and Skirmishers.
Jian Swordsman
Jian Swordsman · InfantryWu unique Shock Infantry that gains movement speed and attack but loses armor when a damage threshold is reached. Exceptionally strong vs. Archery Units. Weak vs. Militia-line.
Sun Jian
Sun Jian · HeroWu unique Cavalry Hero that increases the movement speed of nearby units. Extremely powerful. Has a limit of one, cannot be converted.

Unique Technologies

Red Cliffs TacticsDemolition Ships and Fire Archers deal fire damage to ships and buildings
Sitting TigerTraction Trebuchets and Lou Chuan trebuchet weapons fire additional projectiles

Wu Tech Tree

The full Wu 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 Wu 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. Jian Swordsman C
  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. 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. Fire Archer C
  2. Elite Fire Archer I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Sun Jian I
  1. Red Cliffs Tactics C
  1. Sitting Tiger 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 Wu

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Wu?

The Wu field Fire Archer, Jian Swordsman, Heavy Hei Guang Cavalry, Traction Trebuchet and Lou Chuan. Samurai, Elite Skirmisher and Mangonel counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Knight, Heavy Cavalry Archer and Parthian Tactics.

What is the Wu 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. 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. No Parthian Tactics — their Cavalry Archers keep base armour and no bonus damage against your Spearman line, so Pikemen still trade into them.

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

Fire Archer: Wu unique Foot Archer that fires multiple arrows at units and uses a long range attack ag… Jian Swordsman: Wu unique Shock Infantry that gains movement speed and attack but loses armor when a dama… 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…

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