PC Gamer - October 2011

Massive Attack
7Secrets to a successful civilization
Be ready to dominate AGE OF EMPIRES
ONLINE the second it launches this month

4.Farm till your fingers bleed Don’t worry, this isn’t FarmVille. This series of quests is a skill challenge that demands the utmost efficiency in build order and resource micro. First, you’re asked to build 10 farms in 10 minutes. Piece of cake. Then, in nine minutes. Eight minutes. Five minutes, are you kidding me?! I lost by seconds countless times, but the reward is worth it: an epic hammer that increases all your villagers’ actions and plenty of good ol’ fashioned pride.

I don’t know when you, speci;cally, will be reading this. If August 16 is still in the future, breathe a sigh of relief and start memorizing the seven tips below—you have time before Age of Empires Online launches. If it’s after August 16, you should immediately panic. You missed the launch date and everyone’s already more powerful than you. Now stop panicking. You can catch up. Dan and I put a ton of hours into the beta, and we’re going to share our wisdom with you so you can avoid repeating our mistakes and rise straight to the top with your new civilization. AoE fans pay special attention: this latest installment mimics AoE2’s combat, but there are a lot of added features you need to learn. Josh Augustine

5.Be advised Don’t think of it as slavery. Sure, you buy and sell innocent people on the open market and force them to work for you with no compensation; but we call them Advisors, so it’s OK. You can have four Advisors active at any time (one for each Age); they can be equipped to provide specific bonuses which become active as you advance through the Ages (bonuses such as self-healing for your infantry units, or faster villager movement).

1. Don’t give your peons lunch breaks Your persistent Capital City isn’t just for looks; it’s the portal to all of your civilization customization options and a 24/7 crafting hub. Purchase blueprints for crafting buildings at the Construction Store, and place them in a tight huddle somewhere. Stop by every day or two to collect the fine resources your subjects are constantly producing for you (at no cost).

6.Bring a friend

Some missions require you to go solo, but many let you bring along another player as backup. If none of your personal friends are online and you’re stuck on a tough mission, find a skilled, high-level player in the chat channels to help you out. U

2.Consume wisely Your civ can specialize in two of the game’s seven crafting lines, which cover the basic elements like Infantry, Construction, and Religion.

Your choice allows you to craft consumables
themed to that specialty. For example, Dan’s
choice of Construction lets him create deployable
Bandit Towers to scout the map and summon
cows for the slaughter. (Balance assurance:
consumables can’t be used in PvP.)

7.Kill a friend At launch, automated matchmaking only works for 1v1 PvP. You have to manually find opponents if you want to play 2v2 with a friend. Don’t just befriend the pros—acquaint yourself with a few only-decent players as well (you don’t want those ringers you bring in for assistance in co-op spoiling your PvP fun). Q

3.Leave no ne standing Crafting’ll fill up your inventory, but it isn’t going to strike terror into the hearts of your enemies. Earn their cowardly tribute by thoroughly demolishing every foe on every map. In particular, be sure to ambush the Bandit Camps hidden off the beaten path. Kill the guards and ransack their campsite for those oh-so-delightful spoils of war.