Civilization Match-up Discussion Round 6 Week 10: Byzantines vs Vikings

The best Fire Ships vs no Fire Ships Kappa

Hello and welcome back for another Age of Empires 2 civilization match up discussion! This is a series where we discuss the various advantages, disadvantages, and quirks found within the numerous match ups of the game. The goal is to collectively gain a deeper understanding of how two civilizations interact with each other in a variety of different settings. Feel free to ask questions, pose strategies, or provide insight on how the two civilizations in question interact with each other on any map type and game mode. This is not limited to 1v1 either. Feel free to discuss how the civilizations compare in team games as well! So long as you are talking about how the two civilizations interact, anything is fair game! Last week we discussed the Incas vs Malay, and next up is the Byzantines vs Vikings!

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Byzantines: Bloodlines Defensive civilization

• Buildings +10/20/30/40% hp per Age
• Camels, Skirmishers, and Spearmen cost -25%
• Fire Ships attack +20% faster
• Town Watch is free
• Advancing to Imperial Age costs -33%
• TEAM BONUS: Monks heal +50% faster
• Unique Unit: Cataphract (Heavy cavalry with attack bonus vs infantry)
• Castle Age Unique Tech: Greek Fire (Fire Ships +1 range)
• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Logistica (Cataphracts deal 5 trample damage; gain an additional +6 attack vs infantry)

Vikings: Infantry and Naval civilization

• Warships cost -15% in Feudal and Castle Age, -20% in Imperial Age
• Infantry +10/15/20% hp in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
• Wheelbarrow, Hand Cart free
• TEAM BONUS: Docks cost -15%
• Unique Unit: Berserk (Heavy infantry with slow hp regen)
• Unique Unit: Longboat (Nimble warship that fires multiple arrows at once)
• Castle Age Unique Tech: Chieftains (Infantry +5 attack vs cavalry)
• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Berserkergang (Berserks regenerate x2 faster)

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Below are some match up-specific talking points to get you all started. These are just to give people ideas, you do not need to address them specifically if you do not want to!

• So for 1v1 Arabia, these are two relatively similar civs in terms of strength, but excel in completely different areas. Byzantines have the most open tech tree in the game, excellent defenses, and cheap trash units, whereas Vikings have the best economy bonus in the game, allowing them to better afford whatever strategy they choose. Which is going to have the edge on the most popular map type?
• On the water, things certainly get interesting. Vikings dominated water maps in AoC, but without Fire Galleys, they can struggle nowadays on aggressive water maps. Meanwhile, Byzantines lack the raw economic power of Vikings, but they have the best Fire Ships in the game, as well as a complete naval tech tree - critically having access to Shipwright in the late game. In what scenarios do you see one civ have the advantage over the other?
• Both civs are also excellent flank civs in a team game, as both have access to very solid archer -> xbow -> arb/siege ram gameplans. Vikings grant their incredible economy, but do fall off in the late-game, whereas Byzantines are slower to get up and running, but have a cheaper Imp, as well as access to BBTs, BBCs, and excellent Monks. Which would you rather have taking all the damage while you wall and go for a 5 TC boom^kappa ?

Thank you as always for participating! Next week we will continue our discussions with the Mayans vs Mongols. Hope to see you there! :)

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Previous discussions: Part 1 Part 2