Early Game Setup

1. First Steps:

   • Use your first two villagers and the Pharaoh to build a Monument.
   • Send the third villager to build a Granary near your initial hunt.
   • Use one villager for the Granary to trigger the animal spread animation early, avoiding delays later.

2. Food and Resource Allocation:

   • Send the next two villagers to food until you have five villagers on food.
   • Assign the next villager to build a Mining Camp. Align its long side with the Gold Mine for efficiency.

3. Wood and Gold:

   • The next villager goes to wood, but only collects 8 wood for an upgrade, then shifts to gold.
   • Deposit the collected wood into the Town Center, relocate the villager to gold, and upgrade mining tools.

4. Queued Upgrades:

   • Pre-queue Flood of the Nile at the Granary.
   • Use a hotkey to eject units from the Town Center and enable garrisoning with a right-click setting.

Mid Game Adjustments

1. Building Essentials:

   • Add four villagers to food. With seven on food, prepare to force-drop gold using three miners and build a Temple near the Gold Mine for defense.
   • After having nine villagers on food, assign the next villager to build a House and a Granary near chickens or grapes.

2. Advancing Ages:

   • Stop villager production right before the last spawn and advance to the next age.
   • While advancing, allocate four more villagers to gold.

3. Resource Rebalancing:

   • Transition hunting villagers to chickens or berries.
   • Upgrade Sacred Cats upon advancing.
   • Assign food villagers to build a Market and Monument, positioning the Market as a wall and the Monument near a tower.

4. Optimizing Favor and Gold:

   • Just before the age-up, have ten villagers on food and nine on gold.
   • Use Prosperity after transitioning food villagers and the Pharaoh to the Gold Mine, achieving six on food and thirteen on gold.

Late Game Execution

1. Final Preparations:

   • Ensure your third Monument is complete before using Eclipse to boost favor production.
   • Assign the next eight villagers to food after advancing.

2. Fortress and Aggression:

   • Transfer gold miners to a new Gold Mine, secure it with a Fortress, and prepare for an Eclipse – Ancestors combo if under attack.
   • If uncontested, save the combo for a tactical offense.

3. Reaching the Fourth Age:

   • Once resources allow, advance again. Transition food villagers to wood (except four for villager production).
   • Upgrade Lumber Camp and save 450 gold for the Fortress upgrade Valley of the Kings.

4. Final Unit Production:

   • Build an Armory and research Ballistics and Fire Arrows for Chariots.
   • Empower the Fortress with your Pharaoh and recruit double units using Valley of the Kings.

5. Phoenix Dominance:

   • Spend favor on Phoenix and recruit Chariots en masse to dominate the battlefield.

Gameplay Examples

Using Ancestors and Eclipse

• Example 1: Delay enemy production with an Eclipse – Ancestors combo and follow up with a Meteor at the enemy base upon advancing to the fourth age.
• Example 2: Use the same combo defensively to fend off early raids and secure resources.

Adapting to Challenges

• Example 3: Counter an Automaton Rush by halting your build, recruiting Priests, and leveraging your combo for defense.

Making a Comeback

• Overcome early raids by transitioning resources, advancing to the final age, and using smart spell and unit production to regain control.

Outro

That’s it for today’s guide! If you enjoyed, leave a like and subscribe to share your feedback.

Thanks for watching, and see you in the next video!