Holy Roman Empire guide: strengths, counters and build orders
Infantry and relics: Prelates inspire villagers, early Men-at-Arms and Burgrave in Castle
Strengths
- Strong economy with Prelates (+35% gather) and villagers carry 40% more
- Early Men-at-Arms in Feudal and faster infantry
- Relics in Outposts and Keeps boost defense and generate gold
- The Burgrave Palace trains infantry 400% faster
- Landsknecht and Black Riders in the late game
Weaknesses
- Slow, gold-hungry army that falls to kiting and mass ranged
- Crossbows break Men-at-Arms
- Prelates are fragile; if one dies or idles, the economy drops
- Weak early cavalry; fast raids wear him down
How to counter Holy Roman Empire
- Scout the Landmark: Meinwerk means Men-at-Arms are coming, Aachen means Fast Castle
- Kill or harass the Prelates
- Kite with Archers in Feudal, and with Crossbows and cavalry in Castle
- Raid the side the infantry isn't on
- Contest relics and kill his Monks
Units that work well: Archers · Crossbowmen · Cavalry · Horse Archers · Mangonels
Layla's in-game tip: Kill the Prelates, and kite the infantry with Archers and Crossbows
Power spikes and timings
- 5:00Feudal Men-at-Arms timing with Meinwerk (5:00 to 8:00)
- 10:00Castle Burgrave and lots of infantry (10:00+)
- 12:00Relic gold accumulates from minute 12
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
- Early Man-at-Arms0.75
- Early Man-at-Arms + Hardened Spearman0.83
- Early Man-at-Arms + Archer0.91
Castle Age
- Man-at-Arms0.71
- Man-at-Arms + Veteran Spearman0.79
- Man-at-Arms + Veteran Archer0.85
Imperial Age
- Elite Man-at-Arms0.73
- Elite Man-at-Arms + Elite Spearman0.75
- Elite Man-at-Arms + Elite Crossbowman0.77
Civilization bonuses
- Place Relics in Outposts, Stone Towers and Keeps for defensive and economic bonuses.
- Relics placed in Docks increase ship attack speed by +5% per Relic (Max +25%).
- Early Man-at-Arms in the Feudal Age (II).
- Infantry move 5% faster in the Dark Age (I) and 10% faster from the Feudal Age (II).
- Emplacements are -20% cheaper. Outpost sight range increased by +20%.
- Villagers carry +40% more resources.
- Prelates can heal and use Holy Inspiration in the Dark Age (I) — inspired Villagers gather +35% faster for 30 seconds.
- Buildings within influence of a Town Center gain the Emergency Repairs ability which can be activated to repair the building.
- Universities provide population space and their technologies are cheaper.
Landmarks
- Aachen Chapel (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 190s) Inspires units in a large radius so long as a Prelate is garrisoned. Acts as a drop-off point for all resource types.
- Meinwerk Palace (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 190s) Acts like a Blacksmith. Technology researched here costs -50% and researches 50% faster. Contains Technologies unique to this Landmark.
- Burgrave Palace (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 220s) Acts as a Barracks that produces 400% faster. Infantry gains +50% charge damage.
- Regnitz Cathedral (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 220s) Acts as a Monastery. All Relics generate +100% gold while garrisoned.
- Elzbach Palace (built in Age 3; 2400F 1200G · 250s) Acts as a Keep with +50% health. All buildings within influence take -25% less damage. Can train 8 Black Riders per Keep instead of 5.
- Palace of Swabia (built in Age 3; 2160F 1080G · 250s) Acts as a Town Center. Produces Villagers +200% faster and at -66% cost. Cost to build this Landmark is reduced by -10%.
- Great Palace of Flensburg (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.
Holy Roman Empire build orders
- Feudal Agriculture into CastleaggressiveFeudal 4:05
- Fast Castle Burgravefast_castleFeudal 3:37Castle 10:00
Holy Roman Empire matchups
Best matchups
All matchups
- vs Chinese54.5% · 6,002
- vs Sengoku Daimyo54.3% · 2,030
- vs Abbasid Dynasty53.6% · 3,763
- vs Byzantines52.3% · 4,661
- vs Ottomans51.6% · 7,908
- vs English51.4% · 20,883
- vs Delhi Sultanate50.5% · 3,147
- vs Mongols50.5% · 5,927
- vs Ayyubids48.9% · 3,275
- vs Zhu Xi's Legacy48.7% · 4,775
- vs Tughlaq Dynasty48.2% · 1,990
- vs House of Lancaster48.1% · 4,144
- vs Rus47.8% · 6,091
- vs French46.6% · 19,165
- vs Jeanne d'Arc46% · 2,561
- vs Golden Horde45.9% · 4,779
- vs Malians45.9% · 4,533
- vs Knights Templar45.5% · 15,406
- vs Japanese45.4% · 8,459
- vs Order of the Dragon44.6% · 8,150
- vs Jin Dynasty42.2% · 2,597
- vs Macedonian Dynasty38.5% · 6,553
FAQ
- What counters Holy Roman Empire in AoE4?
- Archers, Crossbowmen, Cavalry, Horse Archers, Mangonels. Scout the Landmark: Meinwerk means Men-at-Arms are coming, Aachen means Fast Castle
- Is Holy Roman Empire a good civ in AoE4 right now?
- Holy Roman Empire wins 48.1% of ranked 1v1 games across all ranks (about 73,400 games), which puts it in tier C on our tier list.
- What are the unique units of Holy Roman Empire?
- Prelate, Landsknecht, Black Rider. Prelate: Use the Holy Inspiration ability on Villagers increasing their gather rate by +35% for 30 seconds. Landsknecht: Light melee infantry with a large two-handed sword capable of doing significant area damage. Black Rider: Powerful armored mounted gunner. Production is limited by the number of constructed Keeps.
- When is Holy Roman Empire strongest?
- 5:00 — Feudal Men-at-Arms timing with Meinwerk (5:00 to 8:00) · 10:00 — Castle Burgrave and lots of infantry (10:00+) · 12:00 — Relic gold accumulates from minute 12
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.