Age of Empires - Rise of Rome

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+Age of Empires: Rise of Rome Multiplayer FAQ        +
+By TripleJump                                       +
+Created: Febuary 6th, 2006                          +
+Last Updated: April 15th, 2008                      +
+Contact: triplejumpfaqs[at]gmail[dot]com            +
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I. Version History
II. Introduction
III. Getting Started in Multiplayer
IV. Death Match
V. Random Map
VI. Strategies/Questions
VII. Credits



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Version History

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Version 1.0
April 15th, 2008 -> Changed my email again
February 1st, 2006 -> Added a Question
June 11th, 2006-> Changed my Email
March 11th, 2006-> Made some minor updates
Febuary 18th, 2006-> Changed the Strategies and update some things.
Febuary 6th, 2006-> First Completed Version, but not final

Version 0.1
Febuary 4th, 2006-> Worked on the General Strategies
Febuary 2nd, 2006-> Worked on the Death Match Strategy
Febuary 1st, 2006-> Started FAQ

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Introduction

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Welcome to my next FAQ. I've written a couple of them, most are small. As this
one is meant to be. It was supposed to be an NHL 06 FAQ, but I gave up on it
and was currently addicted to Rise of Rome, so I changed it to this.

What is Rise of Rome? Rise of Rome is a real-time strategy game for your PC.
You control a civilization, and must nurture and pamper it up into a powerful
empire. You begin each level with a Town Center and 3 Villagers. Depending on
what mode you pick, you get certain resource amounts. There are four Resources,
Food, Wood, Gold and Stone. Using them, you can build vast amounts of buildings
and Militia, Conquer land and set up bases.

Age of Empires, In addition, has a Multiplayer mode. Which really helps to
increase your skills. For more on playing Multiplayer, see later. I chose to
play online because of the above reasons, and you learn from your mistakes and
polish your skills. You think you are good? Think again, you may get stomped
in a few minutes. A few minutes is all it takes for an opponent to build an
army of 50-100 Elephants. Not good odds, when you only have a large amount of
buildings and maybe a few broad swordsmen.
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Getting Started

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Alright, there are a few ways to play online. But the only one I have found
that works is the MSN Gaming Zone (zone.msn.com). I am not trying to promote
it, but it is the best way to play.

Heres what you need:

[ ]A Passport email account, which can be obtained for free at 
www.hotmail.com
[ ]A Nickname (obtained after the Passport account is there)
[ ]The Files for Age of Empires: Rise of Rome installed on your computer
[ ]The patch for Age of Empires (found at the Microsoft site, look it up.)
[ ]ZoneFriends and some Files from the Gaming Zone, which you will get later

You do NOT need the CD to play online, as long as someone else in your game
does. 1 CD supplies the game for 3 people.

Now, after the game is installed, the Nickname is obtained, go to zone.msn.com.
Log in, and click on "CD-ROM". Scroll down to "Age of Empires: ROR". You will
see an advertisment. Continue, now there is the other files getting downloaded.
After, go back to the "CD-ROM" screen and go through the same process. The
files should be downloaded, and the "Download" part will be complete. So some
rooms should show. If the rooms have no game titles, go back and try again.

Eventually there should be some rooms that say "Age of Empires" over it, scroll
down to "Age of Empires: Rise of Rome". Click on the one with the most players,
usually the Rookie game. Click on it and the lobby will come up.

The lobby is where you join, host and chat. You will probably be a rookie now,
no matter what you think your skill level is. So if you want to start right
away, look for a "Rooks" game. Or host one yourself. Blatantly advertising in
the main chat box is a good way to get players. Mostly things like "ROOKS DM,
#V# @ GAME ##" is good enough. But only put a few every minutes, or you will be
stripped of your chatting ability for a minute or two.

Once you have members, hit "launch". You will be taken to the main area 
before
the other players. Giving you ample time to start setting the options.


NOTE: IF YOU DID NOT WANT TO START RIGHT AWAY, READ THE BELOW.

To gain some experience and practice for playing online, start up the main
game, and then click on "Multiplayer". Pick the "ISP/IP Address" option. Then
create a game. Set your opponent(s) as the computer. Pick your options like
this: (Common for a Death Match)

1. Death Match
2. Hill Country
3. No Cheating
4. Reveal Map
5. Conquest
6. 200 Population
7. Iron Age

Set your difficulty at a minimum of Moderate, and play away. See the Death
Match section for some ways. Some games ban certain things, mostly:

Priests
Towers
Siege

But you can still build temples to research, however.

_______________________________________________________________________________


Death Matches

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Alright, so this is the one mode where you REALLY need a big jump. I'll assume
you are using Hittie. As they use all the strongest units. Start by using the
Town Center with the Hotkeys and train 5-8 villagers, hotkeys are HCCCCC.
Then Press "." to get control of a villager, send him away from the main town
part and have him make a bunch of houses. The second villager should make a
ton of Stables, the third should build a Storage Pit, then a Government Center,
Then a Granary. Have the next trained villager build a Town Center next to the
farthest gold source that isn't in enemy control.

Soon the villagers will be done, so send two to help build houses, then
send a couple to build more Stables and some Siege Workshops. Have the
remaining villagers build Town Centers by all Gold and Stone mines that are not
near the base. Start making Elephants and Catapults as soon as you can, some
people attack very early. Instead of making 20 at one Stable, make 4 at 5
stables, it saves time big time. Build a storage pit, and research Metalurgery,
and upgrade to Armored Elephants. After you feel you have at least 50 good
troops with more on the way, set villagers to finish off building enough houses
for maximum population (200). Then train many villagers at each of the Town
Centers and send them getting Food, Stone and Gold. Wood will last a little
longer, but it might be good to get some soon. My average villager count is 50.

Also, make some Stables and train Armored Elephants at those other places,
just in case of attack and the army is harder to defeat. If you are playing
2v2 with an ally, send them some soldiers to help fight the sieges nearby them.
But keep the majority of your army at home, because the loss of much of an
army is devastating, because your Gold is already low, and probably your food.
So make sure those are satisfied before attacking with much force. This is why
you must take advantage of all gold mines, food should be plentiful with farms,
and stone should be spent on making towers in area's with much fog that are
nearby, to minimize nearby fog and give you time to see an attack coming. But
the big picture is to spread out your troops. Scouts can be handy, as they cost
little food and have a huge range to see from, so you can scout out safe
resources areas.

You must then strike the enemy with staggering force. To do this better, plan
to merge your troops with an ally's. Doubling the power, and setting the
enemy to dust. If you are playing on a water map, have one civilization build
a TON of transports and the other build a TON of weaponry ships. Have the
weaponry ships protect the transports. If the other team may do this, you can
keep out the transports by building towers along the shoreline, this helps in
the defensive aspect. While that happens, flood the water with boats of your
own and clog all ways into your town.

Back to the land part, some substitutes for the Elephants are massive amounts
of Horse Archers (Cheap, Fast). Or Scythe Chariots. Which have little health,
but are fast, strong and don't cost any gold. Anyway, your choice.

There are things to worry about also, the biggest two problems your units will
have against the enemy units are Priests (Conversions) and Catapults, but
catapults at least will harm the enemy as well. Priests can convert yourunits
(Taking a few off) and then have them fight your units (Takings a few more off,
much like an amoeba, multiplying).

If you are being overrun, and have no chance of winning the fight, send all
villagers available running into the heart of your ally's base, or the part
where the units are being created. Use the safety to make a new town inside the
base, and build units to protect your allies base, and try to make a force
large enough to liberate your lost land, which is quite fun. If you succeed,
move quickly, because reinforcements will arrive.

Anyway, here are some importants things to remember as you fight:

*******************************************************************************
- Elephants and Catapults as your main strike force, unless you want to split
up the units needed with an ally
- Build towers in foggy areas
- Spread out widely, minimizing casualties and making yourself harder to find
and defeat
- Lean on allies in times of need, and always give support
- Claim all gold and stone resources as early as possible
- Give tribute to an ally if they have little of something and you have a 
lot
- Upgrade resource gathering with technologies from the Market
- Order of Priorities for supplies: Food, Wood/Gold, Stone
- Build extra houses as back-up, so you can continue making units for as long
as possible

MOST IMPORTANT!!! READ!!

- Have Fun

Changes I have discovered to the FAQ:

My friend and I often play together online. He usually makes Centurions and I
usually make Heavy Horse Archers. We tend to have one of us give mass stone
tribute to the other, and have that person put 5-9 towers up in every gap
between the trees. Then we join our army buildings in the center of the map.
Then we place out houses at the very edge of the map, in order to make room
for our farms in the middle of the areas. Putting farms in the same area makes
food fast. One game I had 100 villagers, and they were all making farms. I
started the farming with 8000 food, and ended with 95000+. Before gathering
food from farms, research the upgrade at the Market.

If you are the teammate that is towering, be sure to get all the stone mines
in both of your bases. If you have an enemy that has many towers, and the game
allows siege. Have one player make catapults, then your ally to make Cataphract
units. Have the siege take down the towers and the other men can rush in the
opening. Remember, take charge of the game as early as possible.


_______________________________________________________________________________


Random Maps

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Random maps are harder than Death Matches, especially if you are slow. In this,
you have to build a civilization out of scratch. So Start by training a
villager, then building a house. Send 3 to get food from berries, and have the
other build a granary near them, then go to the Wood source nearest the Town
Center. Have him chop some up. Advance as soon as possible, and train villagers
every time you have 250 food. Then add him to the food gathering. Build archers
as soon as possible for the troops. Farms will be really important for food
after you have built a market. Gold is important later on, but not a big
priority. The key is advancing quickly, then taking out your opponent as he is
still gathering food. Towers will be protection at your base. As they are the
easiest to afford.

You can probably ask an expert how to win a random map and get a better answer
than mine, I really only play Death Matches.


_______________________________________________________________________________


Strategies/Questions

_______________________________________________________________________________
Questions:

Q. Why can I never win?
A. Practice more, although your game may be "Rooks Only", some experts enjoy
killing people in the game for fun.

Q. How do the opponents make so much stuff so fast?
A. Holding the "Shift" button and clicking will make more than one very 
fast.

Q. An enemy resigned, but still attacks me, what gives?
A. The enemy is now controlled by the computer. Just ignore it and attack 
the
human player first. Then take it down after.

Q. I have to go, but I don't want to leave my ally to die, what do I do?
A. Move all soldiers to his base. So you help protect it. Then tribute all 
of
your resources to him/her.

Q. How many villagers should I train?
A. Usually you want around 50 BARE minimum. So they can harvest some 
resources.

Q. How do I find out where the enemy is coming from?
A. Your enemy's main base will be located in spots where large amounts of 
gold
and stone are clumped on the map, they probably have spread out, however.

Q. How do the enemies attack so fast?
A. They are building as close to your base as possible, but just out of your
range, explore a bit and you will find them.

Q. What are your building Priorities?
A. Army Buildings, Houses and Town Centers, Granaries, Government Centers,
Temples. Then start the resource gathering process.

Q. Can I play against you?
A. No, I am only playing against my friends now.

Q. Have you written/drawn any other guides/images?
A. Yes! In this precise order, I have written for: Peasant's Quest, Legend of
Zelda: Wind Waker (A Map), Stinkoman 20X6, 2 Stinkoman 20X6 images, Mario
Party 5, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
Shop Guide, Super Mario Strikers, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Age of
Empires Multiplayer FAQ, Mario Party 6 Star Bank FAQ, Fire Emblem: Path of
Radiance Weapons and Items FAQ, Tales of Phantasia, Tales of Symphonia,
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker Secrets FAQ, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's
Stone FAQ, Super Mario 64 DS, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

=================
Strategies/Other:
=================

~Squads~
Here are some attack squads to consider using:

-------------
-Power Squad-
-------------
The power squad is meant to devastate the opponent, then after they fend off
your assault, and begin repairs, you strike with more thundering force.

How you do it:

Get a very large force of Catapults. As advanced as possible. Also make an even
bigger group of Elephants, then move the Elephants near the base, and have the
Catapults attack the outside of the city. This will draw many units from the
base towards you. So be sure to take out any towers so they won't be a problem.
After the enemy managed to put an end to the catapults, bring on the Elephants.
The Elephants will last longer and will destroy a lot of enemies.

-------------
-Speed Squad-
-------------
The speed squad is meant to take out ground troops such as Legions and weaker
characters.

How you do it: Train Horse and Chariot Archers. Along with some Scythe Chariots
to take the frontlines and let the archery units snipe them out for as long as
possible. Elephant Archers will be too slow, but can make a great backup, as
they can take enough damage to give you time to make more troops.

--------------
-Sturdy Squad-
--------------
The sturdy squad is for you to hold out on frontlines and other sieges for
longer times, to give others and yourself time to prepare.

How you do it: Elephant Archers and Helepolis/Ballista's are key. The Elephant
Archers have large sums of health, and with a decent range to harrass opponents
to do something stupid. The Ballistas have large range, and rapid fire rates,
in fact, so large range that they have more than towers. So they can really
bring em down. Combine that and 50 of them and thats pretty inpenetrable. The
weakness of this squad is Catapults, as the Ballistas are weak against them,
with low health and slow speeds they cannot evade.

------------------
-All-Around Squad-
------------------
This squad is not what you expect. Tough to pull off against human opponents,
but effective on defense and offense.


How you do it: It is comprised of..... Villagers. Taking villagers and having
them get all the stone possible, then building many, many towers. First, just
outside the base, then moving forward slowly. Making a strong line of towers.
Again, catapults will be the bane of the group, for Villagers have little
health, and they can take out the towers in a few hits.

~Ally Planning~

If you are playing 2v2, or 3v3, you might want to consider chatting with allied
forces to plan an attack strategy. Here are just some:

Player 1: Armored Elephants, Gather Gold and Food, Tribute Wood to player 2
Player 2: Helepolis, Gather Gold and Wood, tribute food to player 1
Player 3: Archers, Gather Gold, Wood and Food

Then attack altogether for a mighty force that will shatter the bonds of enemy
civilization.

--------------------
Instead of building in seperate areas, you can try to build in one big city,
that stretches out really far. That way, if one is in need, there is not far to
go. Resource sharing is a bigger problem, because you will need to have 
enough
for both.
--------------------
If you are fighting a battle you cannot win, move all living people and army to
the ally's base. Destroy all buildings in the process of being made, it will
save some resources. Then rebuild from the back. The two armies can 
strengthen
one another, and provide shelter.
--------------------
Communicate. Help another defend, or help the siege. Listen to another, give
resources to another. Without communication, you will find yourself in many
errors.

-----------------
-Mass Army Squad-
-----------------
One player is Hittie and the other is Choson. This army can dominate and
produces cheap.

How you do it: Choson team advances to the Legions. They start with the
"Barracks Units Count 1/2 Pop" bonus. So they can create 300+ legions. The other
team makes Heavy Horse Archers. The HHA can be replaced with Chariot Archers.
The Legions strike down the towers, buildings. While the archers take out
ranged archers/enemies that will slow the legions down. As well as other foot
soldiers.


~Defend~

Defensive issues are the big issues. Most enemies will attack from all areas.
So you will move all troops north, towards the big siege there, but when you
get there, another squad will be at the bottom killing your base. What do you
do? Build many, many towers. One of the three things villagers should do when
they have no job: Get Resources, Build Towers or Build Houses. Many towers will
stall for time and give you preparations. That doesn't mean rely on them 
though.


-----------------------
----Resource Issues----
-----------------------

The first resource to seize ASAP is gold, everyone is fighting for the big
unit maker as early as possible. Building walls and towers around some is a good
way to ward enemies out. But the preferred way is just to build a TownCenter,
then train 10 villagers or so, and have them take it as soon as possible.

Food will be your next issue. As it dries up, build smaller food required units
in larger numbers (Archers, Chariots). An easy way to get food is to make some
Granaries and then have 10-30 villagers build farms around them. 1 per 
villager
should be nice. I usually end up getting 100+ food every few seconds. So it is
an easy way to get nice stuff.Wood isn't really an issue, but it is nice to
have more space to work with. If you need it for Siege and Archers, send 10-20
villagers to a space with lotsof wood. Build some Storage pits and chop away.
If your only concern is space, have Catapults attack ground in tree areas to
remove it. Stone is the smallest issue, and should only have time wasted on it
if you badly need it for towers. Send a smaller amount after this resource.
Usually 5-10 villagers will suffice.

That means usually:

10 Villagers multiplied by 3 gold resources= 30 Villagers
20+ Villagers with food
15+ Villagers with wood
5+ Villagers with stone
= Roughly 50 villagers.

==============
=Early Rushes=
==============
Rushing enemies in Age of Empires can be effective, or disasterous. Rushing in
the Tool Age in Random maps with a bunch of Axemen/Clubmen and scouts is easy,
but not very fun. Try refraining unless there are at least one other enemy.
Be warned, if you fail your rush, your civilization will be open. As most
resources are gone. So use at own risk.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Credits
_______________________________________________________________________________

My Playlist, helped me listen to music as I wrote
aoe.heavengames.com, helped me out with some strategies


This Document is Copyright (c) 2006-2008 TripleJump

This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
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violation of copyright. Please ASK before use.