Age of Mythology/Gods

Civilization Overview
There are 3 distinct civilizations in AoM to choose from, with each offering the player the choice of 3 major gods to choose from at the start of a game. There are 4 ages in a standard game (less if you win or lose early!) consisting of the Archaic age, the Classical age, the Heroic Age and finally the Mythic Age. Each time the player begins research for the next age, they will be offered a choice of two minor gods to worship and gain benefits from. Choose carefully though as once the research is completed, you will not be able to rescind the choice made. This means that for a full game, the player will end up with the major god choosen at the start, as well as three minor gods, each more powerful than the last.

The civilizations which can be choosen are the Greeks, the Egyptians and my personal favorite, the Norse. Each gains favor (a resource needed to build all mythological units and research) in a different way. Each also plays differently.

Greeks
The Greeks are possibly the easiest civilization to play in AoM because they play almost exactly like any civilization from earlier Age of games. Greeks gain favor by worshipping at the temple they build in the Archaic age. It is important to note that favor is gained by the Greeks in a diminshing returns system. Greek heroes are all named units from stories everyone knows. They are very powerful units and as a result are capped at a limit of 4 heroes. They are researched at the toen center and each major god grants unique heroes at each age advance. The only exception to this rule is Poseidon, who grants an extra hero who is researched at the dock. This unique hero is The Argo and is a naval only unit. All other Greek heroes are land only. Greeks start each game with a scout unit called a Kataskopos. He can not be replaced if killed, although he is fairly swift so should be able to scout large amounts of the map before he is killed. Once a temple is built, the Greek player can also build Pegasus as much as they like. Pegasus is an aerial unit and as such can only be killed by ranged units or buildings. Each Greek major god also grants a unique unit in the Mythic age, built at the fortress.

Egyptians
Egyptians are slightly more difficult to play, mainly because one of their best units (the Pharaoh) is a unit unlike any unit in any other game. He is given the ability to 'empower' buildings. This simply means he is able to speed up whatever is occuring at that building. If it is researching, it happens faster. Units are built faster and all gathering done at that particulair drop site is enhanced. With one exception, only the Pharoah can empower. The Pharoah is an Egyptian hero who is also very effective in combat. Egyptians can also build further hero units (the preist) at their temples. Preists can not empower buildings (with the exception of those who worship Ra), but can be very effective in combat versus myth units. Preists also heal nearby allied troops and a considered a ranged unit for purposes of combat. Egyptian favor is gained through a series of five monuments, built by the laborers. 

Monuments start small, but gain considerable size and power as they are built. By the time the fifth monument is built, favor is generally rolling in quite quickly. Egyptian players are granted automatic tower upgrades when they reach the Classical age, making them a good choice for a defensive player. Egyptians are also not as reliant upon wood as the Greeks and Norse. Egyptian buildings are quite often free, taking only time to build. Egyptians are the slowest builders in the game, but can be sped up with the use of the Pharoah unit.

Norse
The Norse are the vikings of old. They are perhaps the most difficult to get used to because of the way they build and gain favor. Whereas the Greeks and Egyptians use their laborers to build all their buildings, the Norse use their infantry. This makes it very easy to forward build or rip down an enemy Town Center and replace it with your own very quickly. Norse soldiers revel in combat, and this is reflected in the way the Norse gain favor. For each violent act, favor somes in. Even hunting and herding animals gains a small amount of favor. The Norse hero unit is the Hersir, who also creates a small amount of favor just for existing. Each Hersir is given a name when created, by using a random name generator. There exists a great sense of humor in many of the Hersir names. Norse players can also create dwarves at their town centers. Dwarves are excellent at mining gold, but not so good at food or wood. Norse are somewhat handicapped in that they do not possess ranged units capable of pierce damage. Their is only one exception to this, the ballista, built in the mythic age at the Hill Fort.

Zeus
Zeus was born to Kronos and Rhea, both titans. Because his father was told he would be overthrown by a	child of his, he swallowed each of his children at birth. Eventually Rhea grew tired of this, and substittued a large stone in place of Zeus. When he grew, he came to rescue his siblings, and overthrow his father. The titans were then banished to Tartarus. Zeus was given the reign of the immortals at Olympus and took the mantel of thunder among others. He is often pictured holding a Bolt of Lightning, forged by his son Hepasteus. He is married to Hera.

CIVILIZATION BONUSES
The Zeus player starts with favor (25), gains favor faster than other Greek cultures, and has a favor cap of 200, instead of the 100 imposed on every other major god. Hoplites move faster. Hoplites (infantry) move faster (approx. 10%) than other infantry. Infantry cause extra damage to buildings. Double damage to buildings hit by infantry weapons. The Myrmidon is a unique unit to Zeus built in the mythic age fortress. The Myrmidon is an infantry unit with bonus damage versus Egyptian and Norse units.

GOD POWER
Bolt. Bolt is capable of killing any one unit that the player has line of sight on.

UNIQUE TECNOLOGY
Olympic Parentage. Zeus supplies your hero units with extra hit points

MINOR GOD CHOICES
Classical Age--Athena, Hermes Heroic Age--Apollo, Dionysus Mythic Age--Hephaestus, Hera

TIPS FOR PLAYING
The best use of the Bolt power is to hold off and see if a Norse Loki player goes Hel in the Mythic or a Ra player worships Osiris. Each of these two gods grant a GP that creates a very powerful unit hard to kill by other means. Bolt will do the job easily. Another decent use of this power is to kill an enemy hero unit in a large battle to turn the tide quickly, or to destroy an enemy scout early, so they are crippled in knowledge. Because Zeus gains favor faster, the player can save population slots by not creating as many worshippers. This can then be used for extra gatherers or troops. Hoplites move faster and since they are infantry, they counter cavalary. They are excellent at getting into formations of enemy cav units and tearing them apart. They are also good at raiding economic drop sites due to their extra speed and bonus damage to buildings. Zeus' infantry cause doble damage to all buildings, which makes them excellent at seige without the need for large amounts of siege weaponry. Because of the damage bonus from infantry, and the fact that the Myrmydon does bonus damage to Norse and Egyptian units, they make an excellent army with little support needed.

Poseidon
Poseidon is one of Zeus' older brothers, swallowed at birth by Kronos. Being immortal, he was undigested. Poseidon is usually closely associated with the sea, but he was also the Lord of Horses. He and Athene were competing for the favor of the city of Athens. Poseidon gave the city the horse as his attempt, but lost to Athene who gave the olive tree.

CIVILIZATION BONUSES
When a dock is built, a free Hippocampus is spawned. If killed, it respawns at the dock. The hippocampus is a free naval scout unit with no attack. Militia appear at destroyed buildings. The militia do not count against your population, nor do they cost you anything (except the destroyed building!). They are relatively weak, but can help if the enemy forces were weakened during their assault. The larger a building destroyed, the more militia that appear. The market is cheaper to use. All transactions are 10% less then other civs. I am not sure if this also applies to buying caravans or researching the market techs. Cavalry is cheaper. All cavalry units are 10% cheaper. Stables are cheaper. Stables cost 50% less than other Greek stables. Poseidon allows an extra hero unit in the Argo. This allows him to field five hero units at a time. The Argo is built at the dock.<BR> Gastraphetes, a powerful archer unit, unique to Hades.

GOD POWER
Lure. Lure causes animals to slowly come towards the stone that is the symbol of the power. It lures a set amount of food before fading away. There is a small problem though, in that not only does it lure herdables and huntables, it also lures predators that will attack and eat your gatherers.

UNIQUE TECHNOLOGY
Lord of Horses. Your cavalry units will gain a much larger line of sight, making them ideal for scouting or raiding the enemies economic bases.

MINOR GOD PATHS
Classical Age--Ares, Hermes<BR> Heroic Age--Aphrodite, Dionysus<BR> Mythic Age--Artemis, Hephaestus

TIPS FOR PLAYING
Because of the bonuses gained by worshipping Poseidon, his cavalry are very strong and make a good back bone to your army. It is best to follow the god path through Hermes and Dionysus to get all the benefits.<BR> The cheaper market use allows you to build more donkey caravans for the same money as another player. This can allow you to gain more gold quicker in the late game when gold mines can become scarce or dangerous. The hippocampus allows youto keep an eye on your enemies fishing operations for a quick raid, as well as allow you to see what naval forces are being built.<BR> Since Lure can bring dangerous animals to your gatherers, cast it close to your first TC so that it can fire arrows at wolves and the like. Cast it early as well so that the animals aren't cleared from the map before you can benefit from its power.

Hades
Hades is brother to Zeus and Poseidon. He was the God of the Dead and ruler of the Underworld. Since all precious minerals and metals came from the realm of Hades, he is also considered lord of Wealth. This is reflected in his Vault of Erebus improvement. Shades were the denezins of the Underworld and as such Hades commands them in battle. Hades gains excellent archers.

CIVILIZATION BONUSES
Shades. 20% of all unit loses (only human units!) will return to fight again as Shades. They appear at your temple and are not as strong as during life, but they are free. They don't count against your population. Stronger buildings. Hades buildings have more hit points (25% higher) and are therefore harder to destroy. Stronger archer and building attack. Buildings gain about 20% extra pierce attack and archers gain about 10%.

GOD POWER
Sentinel. Invoking Sentinel creates up to 4 (depends on building placement) 'living' statues that defend one toen center. It can be cast on an allies TC as well. Any improvement that makes a building stronger affects Sentinels.

UNIQUE TECHNOLOGY
Vault of Erebus. Researching the Vault of Erebus gives the benefit of a trickle of gold constantly. It's not a huge amount at a time (about .3 gold per second or 1 gold every 3 seconds), but it is free gold once it is researched.

MINOR GOD PATHS
Classical Age--Ares, Athena<BR> Heroic Age--Aphrodite, Apollo<BR> Mythic Age--Artemis, Hephaestus

TIPS FOR PLAYING
Once engaged in battle, periodically check your temple for any Shades that can be sent back into battle. Hades is best played as a defensive civilization due to his many building improvements. Go into battle only when you have created a large army capable of defeating the enemy easily.<BR> Because Hades gains so many archer bonuses, consider using them as the backbone to your army. Follow Ares and Apollo to gain more benefits.<BR> Keep the Sentinel GP until you or your ally start expanding. Drop it on a TC you consider important to your war effort. If you try to place it, and you are shown one or more red statues, consider deleting the building(s) that are in the way, then casting the GP. That way, all 4 will appear. Remember to upgrade them by researching any improvements to buildings (sight line, attack, etc.).<BR> Although the Vault of Erebus won't make you rich, it will give you access to slightly more gold than a player with the same amount of gold miners and improvements. This will allow you to build more Toxotes and other archer units.

Ares
Greek God of battle and slaughter. He benefits human soldiers attacks.

God Power
Pestilence. When cast on an enemy town, prevents the enemy from creating new military units. Any building under a greenish 'fog' or cloud is affected. It may or may not stop an enemy from building ANY units, depending on where the troop buildings have been located.

Myth Unit
Cyclops. Giants with 1 central eye. Recharging special attack flings enemy units away. This gives you more time to deal with them and causes large amounts of damage. They are slow moving and should be supported with human soldiers to deal with enemy heroes.

Unique Tech
WILL OF KRONOS. Cyclops are upgraded to Elder Cyclops which train faster and cause more damage.<BR> PHOBOS' SPEAR OF PANIC. Attack damage of Hoplites improved.<BR> DEIMOS' SWORD OF DREAD. Hypaspists gain improve attack damage. Since you can't train Hypaspists until the Heroic age, save your resources and do not research this until you have built some of these units.<BR> ENYO'S BOW OF HORROR. Toxotes gain increased attack damage.

Athena
Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare. Infantry defence benefits from her improvements.

God Power
Restoration. A short lasting (4-5 seconds) power that heals your units and buildings. It also can affect allies in it's area. Monitor your units or buildings carefully so that you can cast this when needed most. It is best used when you need to boost your army to puch the enemy out of your town (you are winning the battle) and enter their base or to extend the life of your units in the enemy town to finish off things like TCs and fortress type buildings.

Myth Unit
Minotaur. This half man, half bull creature gets a recharging gore attack that will instantly kill human units.

Unique Tech
LABYRINTH OF MINOS. Upgrades Minotaurs to Bull Minotaurs which are cheaper and are stronger (more hit points).<BR> SARISSA. Hoplite hack armor increased making them more resistant to infantry and cavalry.<BR> AEGIS SHIELD. All infantry pierce armor increased, improving resistance to archers.

Hermes
The God of Messengers whom improves your cavalry.

God Power
Ceasefire. All combat all across the map stops for the length of the power. Doves circle all the TCs on the map to show the peace that has erupted. It can gain the player time to reinforce their army or stop an enemy from finishing off a building, giving you time to repair it. A side effect of this power is that any building that can attack aside from a TC stops at it's current building level until the power is over. It is humorous to watch Norse infantry pounding the nails into a Hill Fort in your town to no effect!

Myth Unit
Centaur. A Horses body supporting a human torso. A very strong archer unit whos special attack is a super accurate shot that always hits its target. This unit is quick and makes a great raider for hit and run tactics on enemy gathering points.

Unique Tech
SYLVAN LORE. Centaurs become Centaur Polemarchs, with improved speed and hit points. An awesome raiding unit. SPIRITED CHARGE. Speed and attack damage of Greek Cavalry improved.<BR> WINGED MESSENGER. Food cost of Pegasus unit reduced to 0 (costing only 2 favor now)! Additionally, they train faster and have a longer line of sight.

Apollo
The God of the Sun and Music. Archers benefit from Apollos improvements.

God Power
Underworld Passage. Two lines of sight must exist. One where you would like the entrance (your base) and the other at the exit (generally the enemies base, best if just outside of it). This allows you to move all you troops into the one end, and they appear at the other end. This can create a very quick end to the game. To end this GP, one end or the other must be destroyed.

Myth Unit
Manticore. The body of a lion, human face and scorpions tail create a fearsome foe. Manticore shoot multiple poisonous barbs from its tail. Very effective versus human units and gets a bonus versus myth units.

Unique Tech
ORACLE. All units and buildings gain a larger line of sight. Your scouts become much better and your units and buildings will see the enemy sooner so you can change their battle lines of prep them for battle.<BR> TEMPLE OF HEALING. The Greek temple becomes a healing point that can also heal your allied units. Stationary units heal faster than moving units or those involved in combat. The temple can only heal one unit at a time unlike the Norse Healing Spring.<BR> SUN RAY. Improves the attack damage of a large number of units. Toxotes, Peltasts, Gastrophetes, Manticores and Cantaurs all gain from this technology.

Aphrodite
Goddess of Love & Beauty. Her improvements benefit villagers.

God Power:
Curse. Enemy units will be turned to pigs (which can further be turned into food for your forces!). It affects a small area, and will not affect all units in the area.

Myth Unit
Nemean Lion. The lion slain by Heracles has the ability to roar causing damage to all enemy units in the immediate area.

Unique Tech
ROAR OF ORTHUS. Armor of your Nemean Lions is improved (all armor types).<BR> GOLDEN APPLES. Villagers generate favor faster. This may allow you to remove one worshipper and place them on a resource you need (food or gold for example).<BR> DIVINE BLOOD. Villagers gain speed while moving (gather faster), build faster and carry more resources. This allows you to get an economic boost when needed to create larger armies.

Dionysus
God of Wine and Celebration. Cavalry and Navy benefit most from his improvements.

God Power
Bronze. For a short time, all your units within the area of effect are turned to bronze. This allows them to continue moving and fighting while gaining all kinds of armor boosts. It will affect allied units if they are in the area of effect when triggered. Units become almost impervious to attacks while Bronze is on.

Myth Unit
Hydra. This beast starts with 1 head, but gains more (up to 5 I believe) with success in battle. Each head improves the overall attack of the beast. Also with more heads, it can attack adjacent units.<BR> Scylla. A naval version of the Hydra. It also gains additional headsd through battle.

Unique Tech
BACCHANALIA. All units (yes all) gain extra hit points with this tech. When your population is maxed out this tech could provide the small boost you need to defeat the last enemy units on the map.<BR> THRACIAN HORSES. All cavalry benefit from this. Hit points increase.<BR> ANASTROPHE. Pentekonter get extra attack damage, speed and also train faster.

Artemis
Goddess of Hunt and of Nature. Her improvements benefit your archers and naval units.

God Power
Earthquake. When triggered, Earthquake will rumble through an enemy town and destroy many buildings and heavily damage many others. It also affects enemy units, although it mostly knocks them to the ground with only a little damage.

Myth Unit
Chimera. One of the offspring of Echinda and Typhon, it was a beast with a goats body, lions head and snakes tail. It can breathe fire and affects multiple enemy units at once.

Unique Tech
FLAMES OF TYPHON. Chimera are upgraded to Tyrants with improved attack (both normal and the special flame attack) as well as more hit points.<BR> SHAFTS OF PLAGUE. Toxotes, Peltasts and Gastrophetes gain increased attack damage.<BR> TRIEARCH. Triremes get more hit points making them more resistant to enemy siege ships.

Hephaestus
God of the Forge and Labor. Human soldiers and weapons benefit from his improvements.

God Power
Plenty. When cast a large vault appears (make sure to protect it) and provides a constant flow of food, wood and gold. If an enemy gets more troops near it then you, it goes to his control and he gains the resources. The resources come in at roughly the rate of 2 gatherers. I will have to double check this rate though...

Myth Unit
Colossus. Perhaps the strongest (in terms of hit points) unit in the game, the Colossus is a construct resembling the Colossus of Rhoads. It is very strong against buildings and can lat for a long while against units. It's special 'attack' allows it to eat trees and gold mines to regain lost hit points.

Unique Tech
HAND OF TALOS. Colossi are upgraded to Silver Colossi giving them more hit points.<BR> SHOULDER OF TALOS. Silver Colossi are once again recast into Gold Colossi giving them more hit points again.<BR> FORGE OF OLYMPUS. All armory upgrades cheaper. Try holding off researching armory techs until you have gained the benefit of this tech to save resources. Make up for the slightly weaker units by building more of them.<BR> WEAPON OF THE TITANS. All unique Fortress units as well as the Myrmidon, Hetairoi and Gastraphetes gain increased attack damage.

Hera
Wife of Zeus, Goddess of the Home. She benefits buildings and myth units.

God Power
Lightning Storm. Similair to Zeus' Bolt, but lasts longer, and affects an area as opposed to one unit. Lightning strikes will hit randomly in the area it was cast, hitting many enemy units and causing them large amounts of damage or death. It can be escaped from as the power doesn't move. It also can cause light damage to buildings.

Myth Unit
Medusa. One of the Gorgon sisters with live snakes for hair, tusks, golden hands and bronze wings. Her gaze will turn enemy units to stone (recharging). She also carries a bow and arrows and is a decent ranged attacker. This unit is perhaps the strongest of all units in the game when supported properly.<BR> Carcinos. A large crab summoned by Hera to kill Heracles while he was battling the Hydra. He defeated both, but for it's efforts, Hera placed it in the stars. It is a naval unit decent against enemy ships. When killed the Carcinos releases large amounts of boiling blood that can damage enemy units.

Unique Tech
FACE OF THE GORGON. Medusas upgraded to Matriarchs with increased hit points.<BR> ATHENIAN WALL. Buildings gain more hit points and can be very useful in late game when expanding.<BR> MONSTROUS RAGE. All your myth units gain increased attack damage for any attack type (hack, pierce and crush).