The Abbasid Dynasty is a 2 Stars Difficulty civilization that, in many ways, does not play very differently from others at first glance.
However, it has unique systems and some unique units that do make them stand out. Truth is, the more you play as the Abbasids, the more you realize that this civilization is much more complex than the game gives it credit for.
There is a lot of incentive to build many structures and concentrate them around your Town Center, making a vast city that quickly evolves technologically and economically.
The Abbasid Dynasty’s unique system revolves around The House of Wisdom, a building that can be expanded in order to make this civilization advance through the Ages.
Instead of building different Landmarks, the Abbasid Dynasty has to expand their House of Wisdom. Each expansion grants an additional benefit to the civilization. Once they are made, not only the Abbasid
Dynasty goes to the next Age, but they also unlock units and technologies related to that expansion.
When it comes to unique units, the Camel units of the Abbasid Dynasty stand out by being mounted units that are used to counter enemy cavalries.
If having a centralized hub with all your buildings and your Age progressions tied to a single structure sounds like an excellent way to manage your civilization, the Abbasids might be the best one for you. In that case, stick around to learn how to play as the Abbasid Dynasty in Age of Empires 4.
Unique Aspects of the Abbasid Dynasty
The core features of this civilization are Research, Anti-Cavalry, and Golden Age. Those features are well represented by their anti-cavalry units, The House of Wisdom, and other specific bonuses.
Let’s go through what makes the Abbasid Dynasty different from others:
Cavalry Fighters
The Abbasid Dynasty has units that are particularly good at countering cavalry-based armies. The civilization’s Camel Rider is one of their unique units, and they are especially effective in that matter.
Golden Age
There is a lot of incentive to build many structures and keep advancing through the Ages when you play the Abbasid Dynasty. Going for a Market, Blacksmith, and even Military buildings push you closer to moving to the next Age.
Pursuit of Knowledge
Embrace the Abbasids’ pursuit of knowledge through unique technologies located in their House of Wisdom structure.
This is a building that offers a horizontal evolution, letting you choose the new technology or units that seem most effective to you when you are going to the next Age.
Siege Experts
Besides being very good against Cavalries, the Abbasid Dynasty has an infantry that does not require the Siege Engineering upgrade to construct Rams, Siege Towers, Springalds, and Mangonels.
Unique Units
As mentioned above, this civilization counts with unique mounted units.
The two units that are entirely unique to the Abbasids are the Camel Archer and the Camel Rider.
Civilization Bonuses
Now that we have gone through an overview of the most the Abbasids’ most noticeable features, here is a list with all their unique bonuses:
- Gather from Berry Bushes 25% faster but cannot gather from Boar
- Infantry units are able to construct Rams and Siege Towers without researching Siege Engineering
- Advance in Ages by building Wings from the House of Wisdom. Nearby buildings gain +5 fire armor
- Enter a Golden Age to speed up resource gather rate, research times, and production speed
- Docks are 50% cheaper
The House of Wisdom
Once the House of Wisdom is constructed, players can build a Wing in order to advance to the next Age. Instead of having two Landmarks per Age as options, the Abbasids have four Wings to construct, and you can do it in any order.
However, if you are playing as the Abbasid Civilization and know how to win a game of Age of Empires 4, you still need to learn how to use the unique aspects of this civilization in your favor.
The cost for all Wings is the same as if you were building a Landmark. You can see here that learning the basics of how the Abbasids work is not as hard as learning how to play as the Mongols in Age of Empires 4, but mastering the ways of this Dynasty is quite complicated.
Culture Wing
Once finished, the following cultural technologies become available:
- Preservation of Knowledge (Feudal Age)
- Medical Centers (Castle Age)
- Faith (Imperial Age)
Economic Wing
Once finished, the following Military technologies become available:
- Fresh Foodstuffs (Feudal Age)
Military Wing
Once finished, the following Military technologies become available:
- Camel Support (Feudal Age)
- Camel Rider Shields (Castle Age)
- Boot Camp (Imperial Age)
Trade Wing
Once finished, the following Military technologies become available:
- Spice Roads (Feudal Age)
- Armored Caravans (Castle Age)
- Grand Bazaar (Imperial Age)
Playing as the Abbasids
You need to build the House of Wisdom pretty early in the game, which might delay your transition to the next Age a bit. Because of that, it is essential for Abbasid Dynasty players to do their best to find a fast Feudal Build Order.
Note that advancing to other Ages also depends on you building Wings, but advancing through the Golden Ages — the Abbasids’ unique system — depends on the number of structures you have.
The Abbasid Dynasty does not incentivize a lot of expansionism due to the bonuses provided to structures near their House of Wisdom. In addition, the most important bonuses provided by this structure are granted once you have a certain number of units within its influence area.
That being said, it’s vital to have a constant resource influx since you will be making many buildings while you can’t really have many structures placed far from one another. Finding that balance is one of the most important things about the Abbasids’ gameplay.
The Abbasids have units that specialize in taking down Cavalries, but they can also access Springalds and Mangonels a bit earlier than other units. Meaning that if you do your best to hold your ground and advance your game, you might be able to outrange the enemy and have powerful units to take down their walls.
So here are the most critical tips when playing this civilization:
- Rush to the Second Age as it might take a bit longer for you to do it
- Place all your structures within the House of Wisdom’s influence area if you can
- Reach the Tier 2 of the Golden Age as fast as possible to increase your resources influx
- Take advantage of your research speed bonuses as soon as you can
- You can use Outposts and Houses to extend the House of Wisdom’s area of influence
Please remember that your Infantry can build Siege Units. Battering Rams can help your lancers with early harassment and also make them last long enough to become a problem to enemy units.
Another thing that can be a problem for enemies to deal with is your camel units. In the Third Age, you can research the Camel Handling tech, making your camels as fast as any cavalry, which makes them great against enemy spears too.
As mentioned above, the Abbasid Dynasty doesn’t seem that complex at first, and its Difficulty Stars indicate that learning how to play them is as easy as learning how to play as the Chinese. However, this civilization is deceptively complicated.
Still, once you master their unique systems and learn how to take advantage of their quick research and versatile units, your mid-game will be quite a trouble to your adversaries.
