Saxons

Civilization in Age of Empires 2

InfantryDefense

Ranked 1v1 on Arabia, current patch (since 23 September 2026), mirrors excluded. Source: aoe2companion. Updated weekly.

Overview

Infantry and defensive civ: Mills, Lumber Camps and Mining Camps give +35 food and +10 stone when built. Foot soldiers cost 5% less per Town Center or Castle (max 20%). Towers and Castles fire twice the base arrows from Castle Age. Longships and Catapult Galleons +20% HP. Hearth Troop (unique unit from the Castle): infantry for 80 wood and 35 gold with 4 pierce armor that throws a javelin before melee. Plus Varangian Guards and Mounted Crossbowmen. Clerical Recruitment: Monks +1 conversion range, train 33% faster. Shield Wall: infantry gain extra armor in large groups. Team: repairing 25% faster. New since patch 185872.

Typical army

Feudal Age

Man-at-ArmsArcherSpearmanSkirmisher

Castle Age

Varangian GuardHearth TroopPikemanCrossbowman

Imperial Age

Elite Hearth TroopElite Varangian GuardArbalesterTrebuchet

What to expect from the Saxons

On open maps usually Barracks first with a Drush, often also Archers, less often Fast Castle; on closed maps Fast Castle. In Castle Age mostly infantry: Varangian Guards, Hearth Troops and Spearmen, plus Archers and Skirmishers. Extra Town Centers and Castles are doubly valuable for them because they make their infantry cheaper. Late game masses of Hearth Troops and Varangian Guards with Shield Wall. The meta is still young; Hera has no build for them yet.

Build orders for the Saxons

No civ-specific build orders yet – the general builds work fine.

Plus 149 build orders for every civ – step by step with voice guidance in the player.