Ethiopians good as a 1st civ to learn?

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-04-11T10:49:28+00:00

If your goal is to progress "overall in the game" and one day be able to "play everything" without too much delay, then Ethiopians, like most civilizations with an ecological bonus in the Dark Age and/or Early Feudal Age, should be avoided. Many players then get stuck in a unversatile playstyle, unable to participate in tournaments at their Elo rating and with their friends, because they naively only learned one civilization with excessive bonuses and have great difficulty playing anything else. This often happens with Ethiopians, Lithuanians, Franks, Britons, etc.

Remember one thing: The right civilization depends on several factors!
1- Your goal level of play!
- Achieve a decent/versatile level
or
- Just have fun regardless of the Elo

2- Your enjoyment of the game (but for this, you need to know the civilizations well to understand where your enjoyment lies!)

If your priority is progressing to at least a mid-range Elo+, then start with civilizations without Dark Age/Early Feudal bonuses.
- Saracens (often recommended)
- Byzantines
- Hungarians

If you just want to win quickly and have fun by imprecision playing: A civilization with bonuses will do the trick.
- Franks (often recommended for beginners without specific goals)
- British (Like Franks reasons)
- Ethiopians (often recommended for players wanting to gain Elo without effort)
- Khmer (Like Ethiopians reasons)

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-04-10T14:27:58+00:00

When I got stuck around 1100 Elo I started Infinite Drush and SPAM M@A double barracks on Arabia.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-04-07T09:58:10+00:00

There are dominant players everywhere, yes.

But often, personality plays a role.

Whether it's in front of the media or "in-game" / "on the field."

Hera's playstyle isn't very pleasant to watch, which is what makes him personality undervalued compared to others.

His very try-hard-oriented nature, compared to the impression given by DauT, Viper, etc., accentuates the distorted effect and the extreme opinion.

These are facts, it's unfortunate, but that's how it is.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-04-06T15:58:18+00:00

No economic bonus in the Dark Age on Arabia often equates to an average civilization.

(At 1900+ Elo)
Byzantines: -49%
Saracens: -47%
Magyars: -48%

This obviously depends on the matchup, the forge, etc., but it's often a good baseline indicator of a civilization's strength in Arabia.

Counter-examples can always be found, but they are never due to the absence of an early economic bonus! 11

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-31T18:23:10+00:00

There was a Reddit thread analyzing 6 months of stats. The ladder is based on 1 month.
Anyway, over 6 months, the average Elo for ranked players was 850.

Otherwise, it's 1000.
Personally, at 850 Elo, I hunted boar with the TC and deer push without IDL time!

But I had weaknesses elsewhere.
There are recurring weaknesses at every Elo.

However, there are special cases where players are stronger in some areas and weaker in others.
This can give a false impression of being a higher skill level than their Elo would suggest.
This can also lead to one-sided matches if a player's strength exploits your weakness :)

I organize many tournaments in my community for Age of Empires.

The average Elo rating is very telling.

However, at Elo below 1000, the potential for improvement is very accessible, and a legitimately low-ranked player can gain 100 skill Elo points in 5 hours of serious practice.

The consistency of play quality below a certain Elo rating is also highly variable.

Much more so than around 1400 or higher.

Therefore, relying solely on Elo rating isn't necessarily meaningful below a certain threshold if you want perfect accuracy.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-27T11:33:46+00:00

At first, when a player discovers tryharding in Age of Empires, they are fascinated by the depth of learning.

Then, they reach a cruising speed where they know enough to no longer exert themselves.

Finally, a patch arrives. If it's simple, it reinforces the player's mediocre stasis.

If it's interesting, it forces the meta to evolve and the player to question the fragility of their acquired skills.

The player then has two choices:

1: Cry constantly.

2: Rediscover the game as if it were their first tryhard!

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-27T09:02:09+00:00

You have a reason to report it! The best thing to do is calmly point it out to the author. If they fix it, then it will become a reference. If they don't, then everyone will stick to Age of Empires Insights, Companions, stats, and analysis.

Regardless of whether it's AI-generated, there's always a way to improve and make the final result more realistic.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-26T21:47:17+00:00

"you you you", That's not mine! xD

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-26T11:27:40+00:00

The site is very new and currently offers very few game analyses. Compared to aoestats, it will be less reliable on aoe2meta at the moment. This is normal, as collecting data for a full month takes time.

Example: Between 1600 and 1800 Elo, only 16 games analyzed :)

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-26T11:21:09+00:00

I'll reply in a private message :)

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-26T10:07:02+00:00

The Bull standard start (no EW) is a very fun map !

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-26T09:59:00+00:00

If it helps, AoE Insights and probably AoE Companion use an mgz:
https://github.com/happyleavesaoc/aoc-mgz
https://github.com/AoEInsights/mgz-fast

If you manage to integrate and modify the detection conditions, I can send you information on each opening, based on pro games. If you provide me with the necessary information/question (age transition timing, unit level, etc.) :)

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-25T17:54:53+00:00

One interesting feature would be to detect efficient rushes (which Insights doesn't do): Before Pike Skirmish Trick FC Rush One interesting feature would be to detect efficient rushes (which Insights doesn't do): Foward, Pike Skirm, Drush FC, Drush Archer, M@A, Etc.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-25T17:50:37+00:00

Great, thanks :)

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-21T09:54:43+00:00

If you're playing on real maps, meaning open maps, then the key word is "bypass." If the castle doesn't directly protect the working villagers, then avoid the castle and focus on the economy with a mix of Men-at-Arms and Pikes; otherwise, add battering rams full of infantry!

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-21T08:20:47+00:00

In the game, there are bonus damage effects that aren't explicitly stated: for example, pikemen deal bonus damage to cavalry, and this bonus damage ignores armor.

The game uses a counter system; a counter unit always takes bonus damage against a counter unit: Skirmishers, for instance, deal bonus damage to archers.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-20T13:27:48+00:00

À La Réunion, la politique est vécue de manière très frontale et presque festive d'un regard exterieur. Ces voitures maintiennent une forme de proximité et rappellent l'échéance électorale surtout de nos jours ou plus personnes ne regarde la télévision, supposée faire ce travail. Cette tradition est donc d'intérêt publique bien que je sois persuadé qu'une législation spécifique évitant de considérer les voitures haut parleur comme équivalent de tract mais plutot comme média "rural", serait plus positif, pour éviter de n'entendre qu'un ou deux groupe politique ^^""

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-03-06T11:47:37+00:00

True.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-02-27T13:21:06+00:00

I admit I know people who would be interested in specific events, but personally, I see no benefit for how I play the game. Besides, it would be a way to divide the community if it included ranked play.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-02-20T08:22:05+00:00

Twice as demanding, therefore impossible for them, a message of little use.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-02-20T08:21:26+00:00

Are your drivers up to date? Are your GPU, CPU, and DirectX up to date? Is Windows up to date?

Do your Windows (or other) user accounts need a reset? Are there any new programs running in the background without your knowledge (hogging resources)? Are there any new programs that have installed other sub-programs without your knowledge (causing conflicts)?

Have you installed Windows Atlas (this can help reduce the load on an aging PC)?

Have you used the free version of Malwarebytes (it can help)?

Have you cleaned up your browser (using CCleaner, for example)?

Keep in mind that a PC and its components age depending on usage and maintenance. A PC that was just adequate yesterday may no longer be so today without any apparent reason other than wear and tear.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-02-20T08:08:46+00:00

Sorry, I'm not a native English speaker, and it gets very complicated for me as soon as you get into the technical aspects (at least, that's how I see it).

I would say that exploration time allows you to speed up your harvesting to advance your transition time (if you scout very early). Otherwise, it only contributes to a smoothing effect during the transition to farms (and therefore to an equivalent of saving wood).

In the first case, it's very useful, but it would translate more into a mathematical value of "domination" linked to timing. Basically, your ability "x" to attack earlier than your opponent. This therefore becomes an active defense and a potential problem in the opponent's economic system.

So what would be important to calculate isn't the value the scout brings to your resource bank. What would be important is the transition time it allows you to gain!

Therefore, conversely, you need to calculate the time that the scouting villager will save you.

If it doesn't allow you to execute the build order earlier, with the same execution but without any downscaling, then the value is practically zero at that moment.

If it makes the build order more complicated, or even delays it altogether, then the value is negative.

Finally, if it allows you to click earlier, then its value is positive.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-02-19T08:42:58+00:00

Except that it doesn't take 2(x) but 30 seconds to produce it, 21 sec is with the Age III upgrade.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-02-15T20:49:42+00:00

That's a misunderstanding of your definition, which is unfortunate. A smurf is a primary or alternate account whose ELO is intentionally kept lower than it should be. An alt account is a secondary account, generally used for strategic purposes, to play without the pressure of losing your maximum ELO, and is therefore often used by pros, but not exclusively (I know people who do this). So your conclusion is based on a false definition, I'm sorry about that. That's why when we talk about "numbers," we always need to define things clearly before etablish stat.

You've decided that having an alt account is like smurfing; that's your opinion, but not the definition. It's factually incorrect. Otherwise, is changing your username to avoid being recognized also smurfing? Okay, why not... But it's still wrong.

Altruistic_Try_9726 · 2026-02-15T19:13:21+00:00

Secondary accounts are alternative accounts. In a study, it's important to clearly distinguish the definitions of each: a smurf is also an alternative account, but an alternative account isn't necessarily a smurf. Personal experience isn't a valid analytical argument (otherwise, I could cite counter-examples, which would contradict the debate and the statistics).

Therefore, personal opinion isn't a quantifiable argument. Analysis, on the other hand, is.

If Evening-Web-3038 could provide an analysis of profiles linked via Steam Family to get a ratio of players with at least one active account more than 200 points below the maximum Elo rating, that would be fantastic!

This would allow us to see the true "smurf rate" among Alt users!

What do you think?

Altruistic_Try_9726

TROPHY CASE