Jeanne d'Arc guide: strengths, counters and build orders
French variant with a hero, Jeanne, who levels up, and Royal Knight pressure in Feudal
Tier B · 49% win rateJeanne d'Arc - PeasantJeanne d'Arc - HunterJeanne d'Arc - Woman-at-ArmsRoyal KnightWar CogArbalétrierGalleassJeanne d'Arc - KnightJeanne d'Arc - Mounted ArcherJeanne's ChampionJeanne's RiderRoyal CannonCannonJeanne d'Arc - Blast CannonJeanne d'Arc - Markswoman
Strengths
- Royal Knights from Feudal with a strong charge
- Jeanne herself wins the game once she levels up
- Economic research is 35% cheaper
- Flexible trade and free Traders from the Chamber of Commerce
- Strong late game: Royal Bloodlines, Arbalétriers and cannons
Weaknesses
- If Jeanne dies early he loses a lot of tempo
- Relies on cavalry, weak against Camels and Spearmen
- Few builds and little documentation
How to counter Jeanne d'Arc
- Hunt Jeanne early while she's a 150 HP villager
- Scouting a School of Cavalry means Knights are coming, prepare Spearmen
- Wall in the gold and berries before minute 5
- In Castle use Men-at-Arms or cavalry against Arbalétriers
- Kill the Traders in long games
Units that work well: Spearmen · Camels · Men-at-Arms · Gilded Spearmen
Layla's in-game tip: Spearmen early, and hunt Jeanne before she levels up
Power spikes and timings
- 5:00First Royal Knight wave with Jeanne (5 to 7 minutes)
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
- Hardened Spearman1
- Hardened Spearman + Horseman1.12
- Hardened Spearman + Royal Knight1.13
Castle Age
- Man-at-Arms + Arbalétrier0.8
- Veteran Spearman + Arbalétrier0.86
- Man-at-Arms + Veteran Spearman0.87
Imperial Age
- Elite Man-at-Arms + Elite Arbalétrier0.75
- Elite Spearman + Elite Arbalétrier0.77
- Elite Spearman + Elite Man-at-Arms0.8
Civilization bonuses
- Jeanne d'Arc navigates the Journey of a Hero.
- Royal Knights in the Feudal Age (II).
- Economic technologies are -35% cheaper.
- Trade Posts are revealed on the minimap.
- Traders can return Food, Wood, or Gold to Markets.
- Trade Ships return +20% resources.
Landmarks
- Chamber of Commerce (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 190s) Acts as a Market. Trains one free Trader for each economic technology researched.
- School of Cavalry (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 190s) Acts as a Stable. All of your stables produce units +20% faster.
- Guild Hall (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 220s) Generates and stores resources over time, the more resources stored the faster they are generated. Select between Food, Wood, Stone, or Gold. Generates stone…
- Royal Institute (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 220s) Houses unique technologies. Research is -30% cheaper here and ignores Age requirements.
- College of Artillery (built in Age 3; 2400F 1200G · 250s) Produces the Royal versions of the Cannon and Ribauldequin, which do +30% more damage and cost -25% gold. Royal Cannons gain the Artillery Shot ability and…
- Red Palace (built in Age 3; 2400F 1200G · 250s) Acts as a Keep. Features high-damage arbalest emplacements. Each garrisoned unit adds an additional arbalest. Activates an Arbalest emplacement on all Keeps…
- Notre Dame (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.
Jeanne d'Arc build orders
- Feudal Knights from the School of Cavalryaggressive
Jeanne d'Arc matchups
Best matchups
Hardest matchups
All matchups
- vs Sengoku Daimyo58.1% · 698
- vs Byzantines54.5% · 1,726
- vs Delhi Sultanate54% · 1,164
- vs Holy Roman Empire54% · 2,561
- vs English53.6% · 7,377
- vs Chinese52.9% · 2,197
- vs Golden Horde49.8% · 1,766
- vs Rus49% · 2,213
- vs French47.9% · 7,125
- vs Japanese47.8% · 3,051
- vs Ottomans47.8% · 2,707
- vs Knights Templar47.4% · 5,517
- vs House of Lancaster47.2% · 1,585
- vs Mongols47.2% · 2,137
- vs Jin Dynasty47.1% · 1,007
- vs Zhu Xi's Legacy46.7% · 1,729
- vs Macedonian Dynasty46.5% · 2,553
- vs Abbasid Dynasty45.8% · 1,363
- vs Malians45.7% · 1,632
- vs Tughlaq Dynasty44.5% · 710
- vs Ayyubids44.2% · 1,180
- vs Order of the Dragon43.9% · 3,029
FAQ
- What counters Jeanne d'Arc in AoE4?
- Spearmen, Camels, Men-at-Arms, Gilded Spearmen. Hunt Jeanne early while she's a 150 HP villager
- Is Jeanne d'Arc a good civ in AoE4 right now?
- Jeanne d'Arc wins 49% of ranked 1v1 games across all ranks (about 27,514 games), which puts it in tier B on our tier list.
- What are the unique units of Jeanne d'Arc?
- Jeanne d'Arc - Peasant, Jeanne d'Arc - Hunter, Jeanne d'Arc - Woman-at-Arms, Royal Knight, War Cog, Arbalétrier, Galleass, Jeanne d'Arc - Knight, Jeanne d'Arc - Mounted Archer, Jeanne's Champion, Jeanne's Rider, Royal Cannon, Cannon, Jeanne d'Arc - Blast Cannon, Jeanne d'Arc - Markswoman. Jeanne d'Arc: A hero unit that starts as a villager, Jeanne begins the Journey of a Hero to gain powerful abilities. Jeanne's Rider: Fast Cavalry effective at raiding, flanking, and countering Crossbows, becomes available once Jeanne achieves level 3. Jeanne's Champion: Tough infantry that excels at countering Spearmen, becomes available once Jeanne achieves level 3. Royal Knight: Heavy Cavalry th
- When is Jeanne d'Arc strongest?
- 5:00 — First Royal Knight wave with Jeanne (5 to 7 minutes)
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.