Skip to content

Order of the Dragon guide: strengths, counters and build orders

HRE variant with expensive, strong Gilded units: small army and stronger villagers

Tier A · 52.6% win rateGilded SpearmanGilded VillagerGilded ArcherGilded HorsemanGilded Man-at-ArmsGilded CrossbowmanGilded KnightGilded LandsknechtPrelateGilded Handcannoneer

Strengths

  • Gilded villagers gather +27% and carry more
  • Units win most even fights early
  • Gilded Men-at-Arms in Feudal are very tanky
  • Relics in Outposts: damage, defense and +80 gold
  • Aachen Chapel gives +15% gather rate

Weaknesses

  • Every unit costs 2 population, so numbers are low
  • Weak against area damage: Mangonels and Nest of Bees
  • Every lost unit is a big loss
  • Few, expensive villagers, so a rush hurts

How to counter Order of the Dragon

  1. Don't take even fights, kite and keep your distance
  2. Harass villagers with Horsemen or Archers
  3. Meinwerk means Men-at-Arms are coming, prepare Spearmen and Archers
  4. Mangonels in Castle against clumped units
  5. Burgrave at 7:20, prepare Crossbows

Units that work well: Mangonels · Crossbowmen · Horse Archers · Nest of Bees

Layla's in-game tip: Kite and avoid even fights, and bring Mangonels

Power spikes and timings

  1. 5:30Gilded Men-at-Arms pressure in Feudal (5-6 minutes)
  2. 7:20Fast Castle with Burgrave and units inspired by Prelates

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 Gilded Man-at-Arms0.82
  • Early Gilded Man-at-Arms + Hardened Gilded Spearman0.87
  • Early Gilded Man-at-Arms + Gilded Archer0.95

Castle Age

  • Gilded Man-at-Arms0.91
  • Gilded Man-at-Arms + Veteran Gilded Spearman0.92
  • Veteran Gilded Spearman0.96

Imperial Age

  • Elite Gilded Man-at-Arms0.84
  • Elite Gilded Man-at-Arms + Elite Gilded Spearman0.84
  • Elite Gilded Spearman + Elite Gilded Archer0.87

Civilization bonuses

  • Villagers carry +40% more resources, gather +27% faster, and construct and repair buildings +20% faster.
  • Infantry and cavalry units are much stronger, but also more expensive to produce and take twice the population
  • 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 +20%).
  • Emplacements are -20% cheaper. Outpost sight range increased by +20%.
  • Buildings within influence of a Town Center gain the Emergency Repairs ability which can be activated to repair the building.

Landmarks

  • Aachen Chapel (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 152s) Inspires all Villagers in a large radius and increases their gather rate by +15%. Acts as a drop-off point for all resource types.
  • Meinwerk Palace (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 152s) 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 · 176s) Acts as a Barracks that produces units 35% faster and 35% cheaper. Researches technologies 35% faster.
  • Regnitz Cathedral (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 176s) Acts as a Monastery. All Relics generate +100% gold while garrisoned.
  • Elzbach Palace (built in Age 3; 2400F 1200G · 200s) Acts as a Keep with +50% health. All buildings within influence take -25% less damage.
  • Palace of Swabia (built in Age 3; 2160F 1080G · 200s) 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 · 480s) Build and defend a Wonder to secure victory. Rival civilizations will be aware of its construction and seek to destroy it.

Order of the Dragon build orders

  • Aachen and Second TCboom
  • Fast Castle Burgravefast_castleFeudal 4:15Castle 7:20
How Layla reads build orders out live

Order of the Dragon matchups

Best matchups

Hardest matchups

All matchups

FAQ

What counters Order of the Dragon in AoE4?
Mangonels, Crossbowmen, Horse Archers, Nest of Bees. Don't take even fights, kite and keep your distance
Is Order of the Dragon a good civ in AoE4 right now?
Order of the Dragon wins 52.6% of ranked 1v1 games across all ranks (about 86,796 games), which puts it in tier A on our tier list.
What are the unique units of Order of the Dragon?
Gilded Spearman, Gilded Villager, Gilded Archer, Gilded Horseman, Gilded Man-at-Arms, Gilded Crossbowman, Gilded Knight, Gilded Landsknecht, Prelate, Gilded Handcannoneer. The elite infantry and cavalry units of the Order - such as the Gilded Man-at-Arms, the Gilded Knight and others - have nearly twice the health of regular units and deal significantly more damage. However, they are much more costly to train and take up double the population space.
When is Order of the Dragon strongest?
5:30 — Gilded Men-at-Arms pressure in Feudal (5-6 minutes) · 7:20 — Fast Castle with Burgrave and units inspired by Prelates

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.

Can we count your visit with a first-party cookie? It only helps us see which pages are useful. No ads, no third parties. Privacy