Byzantines: Byzantines have a cheaper imp and therefore can start this time-consuming upgrade faster.

Especially the chemistry upgrade is a plus because it saves them 100 seconds of waiting. Above that they get free upgrades to hussar. They have better guns, free chemistry and a gold mining bonus.

Turks: Turks are definitely the best FI civ.

This leaves us 10 civs: Byzantines, Franks, Goths, Japanese, Koreans, Persians, Saracens, Spanish, Teutons and Turks. Hand cannoneers need no more than 3 upgrades and you can immediately make bombard cannons to back them up. Above that you’ll need siege to backup your units. The same story for regular infantry because they need a lot of upgrades to shine.

Cavalry is excluded by definition because the accumulated cost of food and gold is way too high. This means you have a very narrow economical window to make units. Civs & UnitsĪ fast imp is usually achieved in 20-22 minutes with around 30 villagers or more. The purpose is then to make an army of cost effective units to overrun your surprised enemy. Maps that are closed by nature, like arena or black forest can take a step further and aim for a fast imperial. Usually when there’s an abundance of resources or an easy to wall map. Under some circumstances you can skip feudal on open maps. But how about going for a fast imperial? Let’s see what it gives. Closed or resource heavy maps usually ask for a fast castle. Fast Feudal? Fast Castle? Fast Imperial please! Aiming for a fast feudal age will do it on most open maps.

Age of empires 2 spanish build order