Age of Empires 4: How to Get and Use Stone

Age of Empires IV is the first instalment in the real-time strategy series in 16 years. While a lot of aspects remain the same, there is a wealth of new tools and civilisations for players to explore. Whether playing Campaign or Skirmish mode, acquiring stone is important for a strong defense against opponents.

In this guide, we've explained how to get stone and how to use it.

Read More: Age of Empires 4: Beginners Tips and Tricks

How to Get Stone

Stone can be acquired using Villagers in either of the following two ways:

Stone Outcropping

Stone Outcroppings can be mined by Villagers. Place a Mining Camp nearby for them to deposit resources, and players will acquire plenty of stone in no time if they assign a handful of villagers to the Outcropping.

Each Stone Outcropping will have a maximum of 1500 stone before players need to find a new Outcropping, or trade other resources for stone.

Trading for Gold

Players can trade gold for stone using a Market. If a Stone Outcropping isn't to hand, players can send their Villagers to mine for gold from a Gold Vein instead. Again, place a Mining Camp nearby to acquire gold quickly.

Each Gold Vein will provide a maximum of 4000 gold before players need to find a new one. When trading at the Market, 170 gold can be traded for 100 stone.

How to Use Stone

While stone is necessary for some Age upgrades and the development of later buildings, it can primarily be used to build four things:

Stone Walls

Stone Walls are highly defensive walls that cannot be attacked using torches. Additionally, any units employed on the top of these walls will experience 66% less damage and their range of attack is increased by 2%. These walls are much better than that of Palisade Walls, as they're more difficult for opponents to breach, especially with infantry guarding them against opponents.

Stone Towers

Stone Towers must be built on top of stone walls, and provide an avenue for infantry to defend. Having a handful of Stone Towers around a village or town is highly useful; infantry can keep a lookout from these towers and easily attack oncoming opponents while experiencing less damage from them.

Stone Gates

Stone Gates are exactly as a player would expect. They are exits and entrances for villagers and infantry. Again, they can be used for infantry to access defensible positions from the top of Stone Walls, but aren't as great to attack from as Stone Towers are.

Keeps

Keeps can be built once a player has reached Age 3. As displayed in the image above, they act as heavy defensible garrisons and can be upgraded with weaponry. When garrisoned, they will also add additional attacks. Keeps are ideal for defending a village or town that has been invaded, so be sure to build one or two so that the infantry is prepared for attack!

Now that you know how to use the stone to the best of your ability in Age of Empires 4, defending an area from an attack should feel easier. However, don't forget to be forming a strong infantry or Longbowmen and Vanguard Man-at-Arms while having villagers farm for resources and build Stone Walls for you. It's the infantry that is most important when it comes to battle!

When playing as the English Civilisation, defense is certainly their strong point. To learn more, we have a handy guide on playing as the English and completing The Normans Campaign here. Alternatively, if the Campaign isn't to your liking, why not try different civilisations by playing Skirmish or multiplayer?