How to Make a Very Good Economy in Age of Empires

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: When the game starts

   Let's say you have 5 villagers. 3 of them should go for food and the other 2 for wood.
   
   Gold is unimportant at the start of the game because in a normal game, gold is not needed at the start.
   
   Collect food and use the food for new villagers.
   
   About 2/3 of the villagers should be collecting food and 1/3 should be collecting wood in the first Age.
   
   Important:
   Try to collect food from sheep first and don't build fields, they use up too much wood.
   
   When you step into the next Age, you should send some villagers to collect gold.
2. 2

   Step 2: only build villagers.

   Your food-collectors should now have killed all the sheep or other animals and you should have enough wood to build a field.
   
   Also build a market because you can increase the speed of collecting food, wood and gold.
   
   Try now to build as much villagers as possible so you can build more fields and also send more villagers to mines where they can collect gold. , Build one barrack and build some Infantry just in case the enemy wants to disturb your economy and you can't afford that when the game started.
   
   So always have this in mind.
   
   Always look for upgrades from your home-town so your villagers can collect everything faster.
   
   The faster you get resources the faster you will have an army. , Try to build up a small army but continue building villagers.
   
   Try having many villagers and it really pays off because you will get many resources fast.
   
   In the third age you should really watch for upgrading everything and build all the buildings.
   
   Upgrade your troops.
   
   Now you will need gold.
   
   Try to collect as much gold as you can from the gold-mines and not from plantation.
   
   Plantation is good but not as fast as gold-mines.
   
   So you want to use the mines. (Tips on how to build good gold-outposts you can read in my other guide: "How to build good outposts for gold-mines in Age of Empires 3") , Keep your economy running and don't hesitate to build more villagers.
   
   You should have two fields with 10 villagers each, so you won't get out of food.
   
   Try having many villagers for collecting wood because you won't get it as fast as the other resources.
   
   For gold you can use about 10 to 15 villagers. , Try to build a real army and keep collecting all the resources.
   
   When you realize that there aren't gold-mines anymore, start to build plantation.
   
   It's slow but better than nothing.
   
   If you have enough wood, use some villagers who are collecting wood to build a new plantation and don't use food to build new villagers.
   
   Upgrade everything and build your army (Tips on how to build an army you can find in my guide: "How to build a good balanced army in Age of Empires 3"). , Develop everything in the church and in the smith because there are really good upgrades that will help your military. , Mostly in the "war-time" you will have some gold problems because cannons and such cost so much gold.
   
   So focus on gold with plantation and factories.
   
   If you have enough food, try to use the villagers from the fields/mills to collect gold in plantations. , You need the resources so don't just watch at the numbers, use them! You can always build troops or something that you need.
   
   Keep practicing and arrange the resources depending upon situation.
   
   Sometimes you have to build military because the enemy is attacking you.
   
   But if your economy is good, you gain resources fast and can push the enemy back and attack him after.
3. 3

   Step 3: In the second Age

4. 4

   Step 4: try to make the most villagers

5. 5

   Step 5: because you need all the resources now.

6. 6

   Step 6: Important: Think about some military too.

7. 7

   Step 7: In the third age

8. 8

   Step 8: start spending your resources.

9. 9

   Step 9: Try to make some troops and upgrade the units you use.

10. 10

    Step 10: The fourth age shouldn't be much about resources; it should be more about defense and offense.

11. 11

    Step 11: In the fifth age

12. 12

    Step 12: upgrade everything so you are fully equipped for a fight.

13. 13

    Step 13: Now that you have upgraded everything

14. 14

    Step 14: you should be ready for an attack.

15. 15

    Step 15: Don't hesitate to spend much resources.

Detailed Guide

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