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A battle in progress in Age of Empires Mobile.
Image Source: Level Infinite

Best Starting Civilization in Age of Empires Mobile

Decisions, decisions...

Making big decisions in strategy games always requires a bit of logic, so if you need help choosing the best starting civilization in Age of Empires Mobile, we’ve got you covered. There are a total of eight civilizations available to choose when you start the game for the first time, so it’s not a decision to be taken lightly!

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What is the Best Civilization in Age of Empires Mobile?

The best starter civilization in Age of Empires Mobile is Byzantine. The difference between them all is quite small, but it has a crucial Swordsmen buff that’ll come in handy for early military engagements.

More specifically, the Byzantine civilization comes with the following exclusive stat boosts:

  • Swordsmen’s Defense +5%
  • All Unit Types’ Siege Damage +5%
  • Stone Gathering Speed in the World +50

Given the fairly sizeable siege damage boost and the buff to your melee soldiers, Byzantine is a safe choice to get through the game’s early combat encounters. The +50 to stone gathering speed is admittedly a rather small benefit, but the buffs to your overall durability make up for it.

That said, the overall gameplay benefits from each civilization in Age of Empires are quite minimal. As such, there’s no such thing as a bad civilization to select.

The 'Change Civilization' menu in Age of Empires Mobile.
Image Source: Level Infinite via Twinfinite

Even better, you can easily flick between each one as often as you like after you’ve cleared the game’s tutorial. That’s why we’d also recommend you play around with other factions, to see which ones suit your play style best. Check the table below for the full list of civilizations and their respective benefits, to see which may work best for you.

Civilization NameBoosts
Chinese– Archers’ Defense +5%
– Villager Capacity +8
– Walls Durability +10%
French– Cavalry’s Defense +5%
– Resource Exchange Rate +5%
– Gathering Troops’ Defense +10%
Byzantines– Swordsmen’s Defense +5%
– All Unit Types’ Siege Damage +5%
– Stone Gathering Speed in the World +5%
Romans– Pikemen’s Defense +5%
– Healing Speed +5%
– Villagers’ Boost to Buildings’ Production +30
British– Archers’ Defense +5%
– Player Citadel’s Defense Bonus +10%
– Production of Mills +5%
Egyptians– Pikemen’s Defense +5%
– Troop Load +5%
– Gathering Troop Unit Loss Prevention +5%
Japanese– Swordsmen’s Defense +5%
– Attack Bonus Against Player Citadels +5%
– Attack Against Tribes in the World +10%
Koreans– Cavalry’s Defense +5%
– Looting Limit +500k
– Resource Storage Protection Rate +10%

Fortunately, it only costs 200 Empire Coins each time you want to change civilizations, and it’s not a permanent choice that you’re then stuck with. As such, you’ve got nothing to lose in playing around and seeing what works best for you!

That does it for our pick of the best starting civilization in Age of Empires Mobile. For other mobile guides, check out our Five Nights TD tier list, Unusual codes, and Skillful codes. We’ve also got Legacy Lifting Simulator codes, the Fisch Trello link, and an Anime Vanguards tier list.


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Author
Image of Luke Hinton
Luke Hinton
Luke Hinton is a video games journalist currently working as Senior Guides Writer and Associate Editor at Twinfinite. He has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Journalism, Media, and Culture, and previously specialised in entertainment writing.