What counters Byzantines in AoE4?

Spearmen, Crossbowmen, Men-at-Arms, Horsemen, Mangonels. Early rush: kill the stone and berry villagers and deny the second berries

Is Byzantines a good civ in AoE4 right now?

Byzantines wins 47.3% of ranked 1v1 games across all ranks (about 52,633 games), which puts it in tier C on our tier list.

What are the unique units of Byzantines?

Limitanei, Dromon, Cataphract, Cheirosiphon, Varangian Guard. Limitanei: Spearman replacement. Light melee infantry with the Shield Wall ability to increase ranged armor at the cost of move speed. Varangian Guard: Man-at-Arms replacement. Use the Berserking ability to increase damage at the cost of armor. Can construct Transport Ships and increase armor of transports when garrisoned. Gains increased movement speed when disembarking from Transport Ships. Cata

When is Byzantines strongest?

4:38 — Feudal: non-stop Limitanei and mercenary Longbows or Javelins · 9:00 — Ram timing between 8 and 10 minutes in the Winery build · 13:05 — Castle: Cataphracts and Longbows, that's his main hit

Byzantines guide: strengths, counters and build orders

Cisterns, oil and mercenaries; Limitanei and Longbows, then Cataphracts in Castle

Tier C · 47.3% win rate Limitanei Dromon Cataphract Cheirosiphon Varangian Guard

Strengths

Cisterns speed up gathering, production and upgrades
Varied mercenaries: Longbows, Javelins, Keshik and Ghulams
Golden Horn Tower produces free mercenaries
Strong Cataphracts in Castle and cheap Varangian Men-at-Arms
Strong defense: Mangonels on Outposts, Keeps and walls

Weaknesses

Stone-heavy opening that is weak against early rushes
Oil and Cataphracts were nerfed in June 2026
Lowest win rate at Conqueror
Hard to sustain mercenary production

How to counter Byzantines

Early rush: kill the stone and berry villagers and deny the second berries
Pressure before their 12-13 minute Castle
Against Cataphracts: upgraded Spearmen, Crossbows and Camels
Against Limitanei: Men-at-Arms or Horsemen; Archers are weak vs Shield Wall
Scout: stone villager count and Cisterns, Winery or Hippodrome, Golden Horn at 10:30

Units that work well: Spearmen · Crossbowmen · Men-at-Arms · Horsemen · Mangonels

Layla's in-game tip: Byzantines: rush early, and answer Cataphracts with Spears and Crossbows

Power spikes and timings

4:38Feudal: non-stop Limitanei and mercenary Longbows or Javelins
9:00Ram timing between 8 and 10 minutes in the Winery build
13:05Castle: Cataphracts and Longbows, that's his main hit

Strongest armies per age (simulator)

Open-field fights in Layla's battle simulator against standard armies of the same cost. Score = resources needed per enemy resource (lower is better; 1.0 is an even trade).

Feudal Age

Musofadi Warrior0.71
Musofadi Warrior + Zhuge Nu0.81
Musofadi Warrior + Hardened Limitanei0.88

Castle Age

Veteran Musofadi Warrior0.67
Veteran Musofadi Warrior + Veteran Zhuge Nu0.69
Veteran Musofadi Warrior + Varangian Guard0.77

Imperial Age

Elite Musofadi Warrior0.59
Elite Musofadi Warrior + Elite Zhuge Nu0.63
Elite Musofadi Warrior + Elite Varangian Guard0.69

Civilization bonuses

Cisterns can be toggled to improve influence of unit production speed, research speed, or building defense. Bonuses improve when connected with Aqueducts.
Field units capable of using various forms of Greek Fire.
Collect bonus Stone from every building constructed.
Harvest Olive Oil that is used to produce Mercenary units.
Produce unique units from other civilizations as Mercenaries from the Mercenary House starting in Feudal Age (II).
Workers generate Olive Oil from Berry Bushes, Olive Groves, and Fish.
Traders provide Olive Oil on successful trades.
Markets can trade Olive Oil.
Transport Ships temporarily increase the move speed of units when unloading.

Landmarks

Aqueduct (built in Age 1; 2S · 2s) Stone infrastructure to connect water between Cisterns to improve the Water Level of all connected Cisterns. Can be connected to Stone Walls.
Cistern (built in Age 1; 100S · 15s) Improves the gather rate of nearby villagers by +10/14/18/22/26% depending on network level. Generates influence that boosts production, research or defense.…
Grand Winery (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 190s) Acts as a Mill and Monastery. Nearby Villagers gather +60% Olive Oil from Berry Bushes and Olive Groves. Relics garrisoned generate Olive Oil instead of Gold.
Imperial Hippodrome (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 190s) Acts as a Stable. Contains the Triumph ability that can be activated with Supply Points to increase cavalry melee damage, move speed, and health regeneration.…
Olive Grove (built in Age 1; 75W · 6s) Harvestable Food source. Use a Villager to gather Food from the Olive Grove. Only one Villager can work each Olive Grove. Byzantine Villagers gather Olive Oil…
Cistern of the First Hill (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 220s) Acts as a Cistern. Unlocks the Pilgrim Flask ability on non-siege military units, which can be activated to increase health regeneration by 25 per second for…
Golden Horn Tower (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 220s) Periodically produces unlocked Mercenary Units for free.
Mercenary House (built in Age 2; 100W · 30s) Produces Mercenary units for Olive Oil after purchasing a Mercenary Contract. One contract can be purchased. Unlock another set of Mercenaries with +50%…
Foreign Engineering Company (built in Age 3; 2400F 1200G · 250s) Allows production of Nest of Bees, Huihui Pao, and Royal Cannons with Olive Oil. Mercenaries receive various unique technologies from their original…
Palatine School (built in Age 3; 2400F 1200G · 250s) When training Limitanei, Varangian Guards, Cataphracts, or Cheirosiphons there is a 30% chance to also spawn one at this Landmark.
Cathedral of Divine Wisdom (built in Age 4; 5000F 5000W 5000G 5000S · 600s) Build and defend a Wonder to secure victory. Rival civilizations will be aware of its construction and seek to destroy it.

Byzantines build orders

Winery 3 Stonefast_castleFeudal 4:38Castle 13:05
Hippodrome and 12-minute CastleaggressiveFeudal 4:00Castle 12:24

How Layla reads build orders out live

Byzantines matchups

Best matchups

Hardest matchups

All matchups

vs Malians54.5% · 3,461
vs Chinese54.3% · 4,143
vs Rus53.3% · 4,496
vs Ottomans52.8% · 5,038
vs Abbasid Dynasty51.2% · 3,141
vs Tughlaq Dynasty50.8% · 1,570
vs Delhi Sultanate49.6% · 2,257
vs English49.6% · 12,889
vs Sengoku Daimyo49.3% · 1,486
vs Ayyubids49% · 2,548
vs Mongols47.9% · 4,035
vs Holy Roman Empire47.7% · 4,661
vs House of Lancaster47.1% · 3,171
vs Jin Dynasty45.7% · 2,191
vs Jeanne d'Arc45.5% · 1,726
vs French45% · 12,960
vs Knights Templar44.9% · 10,876
vs Japanese44.3% · 5,862
vs Order of the Dragon43.8% · 6,293
vs Golden Horde42.3% · 3,751
vs Zhu Xi's Legacy42.1% · 3,599
vs Macedonian Dynasty39.9% · 5,111

FAQ

What counters Byzantines in AoE4?: Spearmen, Crossbowmen, Men-at-Arms, Horsemen, Mangonels. Early rush: kill the stone and berry villagers and deny the second berries
Is Byzantines a good civ in AoE4 right now?: Byzantines wins 47.3% of ranked 1v1 games across all ranks (about 52,633 games), which puts it in tier C on our tier list.
What are the unique units of Byzantines?: Limitanei, Dromon, Cataphract, Cheirosiphon, Varangian Guard. Limitanei: Spearman replacement. Light melee infantry with the Shield Wall ability to increase ranged armor at the cost of move speed. Varangian Guard: Man-at-Arms replacement. Use the Berserking ability to increase damage at the cost of armor. Can construct Transport Ships and increase armor of transports when garrisoned. Gains increased movement speed when disembarking from Transport Ships. Cata
When is Byzantines strongest?: 4:38 — Feudal: non-stop Limitanei and mercenary Longbows or Javelins · 9:00 — Ram timing between 8 and 10 minutes in the Winery build · 13:05 — Castle: Cataphracts and Longbows, that's his main hit

Data from the open game data (aoe4world/data), patch 16.2.10884, public ranked statistics, and Layla Coach's battle simulator. Layla Coach is an independent tool, not affiliated with Microsoft, Relic Entertainment or World's Edge.