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Mongols guide: strengths, counters and build orders

Pressure and mobility all game: tower rush, Horsemen and Keshik with double production

Tier C · 48.8% win rateKhanKhan's HunterMangudaiTraction TrebuchetHuihui PaoKhaganate Mangudai

Strengths

  • Map control from minute one: Dark Age Stable and the Khan
  • Double production with Ovoo stone
  • No houses, and every building can be packed and moved
  • Keshik heal themselves and Mangudai shoot on the move

Weaknesses

  • Hard to play: lots of micro, the Ovoo and the Khan
  • Weak static defense and no stone walls
  • His cavalry falls to mass Spearmen and Crossbows
  • Pastures are slower than farms

How to counter Mongols

  1. Scout early: TC on wood, Barracks at the Ovoo and a villager walking out means a tower rush
  2. Against a tower rush: build a tower or Outpost, make Spearmen and hit the builders
  3. Keep villagers under the TC, early Spearmen, and wall the gold
  4. Break the Ovoo and double production stops
  5. Hit him while he builds a second TC (4:50) or the Redoubt (9:00)

Units that work well: Spearmen · Crossbowmen · Archers · Fast cavalry · Knights

Layla's in-game tip: Spearmen early, and breaking the Ovoo stops double production

Power spikes and timings

  1. 2:00Dark Age harass or tower rush (2:00 to 4:00)
  2. 5:00Feudal Keshik timing (5:00 to 8:00)
  3. 10:00Castle push with the Kurultai

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 + Keshik1.05
  • Hardened Spearman + Horseman1.12

Castle Age

  • Man-at-Arms + Veteran Spearman0.87
  • Man-at-Arms0.88
  • Man-at-Arms + Crossbowman0.89

Imperial Age

  • Elite Spearman + Elite Man-at-Arms0.77
  • Elite Spearman0.78
  • Elite Man-at-Arms0.79

Civilization bonuses

  • Start with a packed Ger, maximum population limit, and no need for Houses.
  • All buildings can be packed up and redeployed to a new location.
  • Plunder +25 Food and Gold by igniting or destroying enemy buildings under construction.
  • Stables available in the Dark Age (I).
  • Horsemen train +25% faster.
  • Outposts increase move speed of nearby cavalry and Traders by +15%.
  • Double produce units or research advanced versions of technologies using Stone.
  • Silk Road: Traders generate +10% additional Food, Wood and Gold with 5/10/15 active Traders.
  • Transport ships have +50% health and +15% move speed.

Landmarks

  • Deer Stones (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 190s) Deer Stones grant access to the Khan's Hunter at the Archery Range. Instantly researches the Yam Network technology.
  • Ger (built in Age 1; 100W · 20s) Villagers can drop off Food, Wood, and Gold at this building. Houses technologies to improve resource gathering. Stone is gathered through Ovoos.
  • Ovoo (built in Age 1; 150W · 15s) Must be built on a Stone Outcropping. Harvests 70/100/140/170 Stone per minute by Age. Houses unique Mongol technologies. Constructing a new Ovoo will destroy…
  • Pasture (built in Age 1; 150W · 20s) Automatically produces a gatherable Sheep every 140 seconds. Will eventually stop producing if too many Sheep are produced and not gathered.
  • The Silver Tree (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 190s) Acts as a Market. Production speed of Traders increased by +40% with a -40% reduced Gold cost.
  • Kurultai (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 220s) Nearby units within its aura heal +1 health every 1 second and gain an additional +20% damage.
  • Steppe Redoubt (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 220s) Acts as a Ger. Gold dropped off at this Landmark is increased by +50%.
  • Khaganate Palace (built in Age 3; 2400F 1200G · 250s) Automatically spawns diverse armies from across the Mongol Empire and its dominions.
  • The White Stupa (built in Age 3; 2400F 1200G · 250s) Acts as an Ovoo and produces 240 Stone per minute without a Stone Outcropping. Decreases the Stone cost of double unit production by -50%.
  • Monument of the Great Khan (built in Age 4; 6650F 6650W 6650G · 600s) Build and defend a Wonder to secure victory. Rival civilizations will be aware of its construction and seek to destroy it.

Mongols build orders

  • Tower Rush into Keshikaggressive
  • 2 TC BoomboomFeudal 4:50Castle 10:00
  • Feudal Keshik PressureaggressiveFeudal 4:55
How Layla reads build orders out live

Mongols matchups

Best matchups

Hardest matchups

All matchups

FAQ

What counters Mongols in AoE4?
Spearmen, Crossbowmen, Archers, Fast cavalry, Knights. Scout early: TC on wood, Barracks at the Ovoo and a villager walking out means a tower rush
Is Mongols a good civ in AoE4 right now?
Mongols wins 48.8% of ranked 1v1 games across all ranks (about 61,466 games), which puts it in tier C on our tier list.
What are the unique units of Mongols?
Khan, Khan's Hunter, Mangudai, Traction Trebuchet, Huihui Pao, Khaganate Mangudai. Khan: Horse archer that scales in strength and unlocks the Signal Arrow abilities after each age up. • Maneuver Arrow: Move speed increased +33%. • Attack Speed Arrow: Attack speed increased +50%. • Armor Arrow: Armor increased +2. Mangudai: Horse archer that can fire while moving in all directions. Traction Trebuchet: Faster move speed, setup time and attack speed. Keshik: Heavy Cavalry available
When is Mongols strongest?
2:00 — Dark Age harass or tower rush (2:00 to 4:00) · 5:00 — Feudal Keshik timing (5:00 to 8:00) · 10:00 — Castle push with the Kurultai

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.

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