Age of Empires 3 Improvement Checklist

 My internet connection is stable and I will be able to play Age of Empires 3 smoothly.
 My graphics settings enable me to achieve at least 30 frames per second.

Town Center Control

 I begin training my first villager within 10 seconds of the game starting.

 I use hotkeys to select my town center and to train villagers.
 I avoid having an idle town center before having enough villagers to age up.
 I routinely rally the villagers from my town center to their intended destination.
 I age up to the Commerce Age at a competitive time for my civilization (see below).
 (advanced) I effectively garrison & ungarrison my villagers to save villager seconds.

Herding

 I accurately anticipate where a herd of animals will flee to, after being shot.
 I maintain an appropriate amount of animal carcasses on the ground.
 I routinely keep animal carcasses immediately adjacent to the town center.
 I herd multiple herds of animals during the transition phase.
 (advanced) I can shift click villagers onto individual carcasses to avoid idling.

Scouting & General Explorer Control

 I understand the concept of an efficient scouting path.

 I utilize shift clicking to maximize scouting efficiency.
 I keep any additional scouting units I have on the move, and avoid them going idle.
 I scout the necessary resources around my base before the transition period.
 (advanced) I scout what my opponent is doing as they enter and exit the transition period.

Collecting treasures

 I do not leave unguarded treasures on the ground.

 I understand which treasures I should be prioritizing and when.
 I can anticipate how much health a guardian will cause my explorer to lose.
 I know how to approach each individual guardian, and when to engage in melee vs ranged.
 I know when to use my “crack shot” and when not to use it.
 (advanced) I can routinely predict the invisible ring around treasures.

Early-Game Macro Management

 I avoid overgathering unnecessary resources before aging up to the commerce age.

 I send my first shipment within 2 seconds of being able to send it from the home city.
 I understand my pre-defined goals in the transition period.
 I appropriately allocate my villagers to the relevant resources during transition period.
 I avoid ‘floating’ resources unless I am attempting to age up.

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Game planning & Build Order

 I have researched a standard build order for the civilization I am playing.

 I have practiced this build order in a skirmish against the AI.
 I understand the goal of the build order and where I need to be flexible.
 I understand my win condition and have a plan on how to achieve it.

Civilization Specialization

 I know the optimal build order for land maps.

 I have a build order & plan prepared if the map is a water map.
 I have a build order & plan prepared if the map has 4 or more trading posts.
 I have a build order & plan prepared if my opponent will pressure me early.
 I understand which unit composition is optimal for my civilization.

Game Knowledge

 I can recognize what each civilization is, and understand the way in which it is likely to play.
 I can identify each unique unit from every civilization.
 I understand the importance of a complimentary unit composition.
 I can infer my opponents plan for the game by their civilization choice and their deck.

Contesting Water

 I know which civilizations are likely to attempt a water boom.

 I routinely check the deck of my opponent to scout their water intentions.
 I understand the importance of establishing a multi-pronged water contest.
 I acknowledge that winning water doesn’t mean destroying the opponent’s entire fleet.
 I can pull back my ships before they die and heal them up at my docks.

Micromanagement

 I understand basic unit counters.

 I understand how to “shoot and scoot” with ranged units.
 I understand the importance of watching the fight and moving units if needed.
 I understand how to house dance.
 I can zone my opponents’ units with my ranged units while sieging their buildings.
 (advanced) I am routinely able to perform a “pull trick”.

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 Competitive Age Up Times

British: (17v) Aztec: (15v) Chinese:

Perfect: 4:05 – 4:06 Perfect: 3:01 – 3:02 Perfect: 4:31 – 4:40
Good: 4:07 – 4:09 Good: 3:03 – 3:05 Good: 4:41 – 4:50
Average: 4:10 – 4:15 Average: 3:06 – 3:10 Average: 4:51 – 5:00
Dutch: (15v) Inca: (16v) Indians:
Perfect: 4:05 – 4:06 Perfect: 3:07 – 3:13 Perfect: 4:31 – 4:40
Good: 4:07 – 4:09 Good: 3:14 – 3:18 Good: 4:41 – 4:50
Average: 4:10 – 4:15 Average: 3:19 – 3:24 Average: 4:51 – 5:00
French: (14v) Haudenosaunee: (15v) Japanese:
Perfect: 4:29 – 4:30 Perfect: 3:01 – 3:02 Perfect: 4:21 – 4:30
Good: 4:31 – 4:33 Good: 3:03 – 3:05 Good: 4:31 – 4:40
Average: 4:34 – 4:39 Average: 3:06 – 3:10 Average: 4:41 – 4:50
Germans: (17pop) Lakota: (16v) Please note: Age up times
Perfect: 4:29 – 4:30 Perfect: 3:01 – 3:02 for Asian civilizations are
Good: 4:31 – 4:33 Good: 3:03 – 3:05 somewhat volatile, and
Average: 4:34 – 4:39 Average: 3:06 – 3:10 that the numbers provided
Ottomans: Please note: Age up times represent at best, a ball
Perfect: 4:00 – 4:01 for Native Civilizations park figure.
Good: 4:02 – 4:04 reflect the time the age up
Average: 4:05 – 4:10 should be in queue, and
Portuguese: (13v) not the time they should
Perfect: 4:04 – 4:05 be in the second age.
Good: 4:06 – 4:08
Average: 4:09 – 4:14
Russians: (14v)
Perfect: 4:19-4:21
Good: 4:22 – 4:32
Average: 4:33 – 4:40
Spanish: (15v)
Perfect: 4:05 – 4:06
Good: 4:07 – 4:09
Average: 4:10 – 4:15
Sweden: (15v)
Perfect: 4:32 – 4:33
Good: 4:34 – 4:36
Average: 4:37 – 4:42
United States: (16v)
Perfect: 4:29 – 4:30
Good: 4:31 – 4:33
Average: 4:34 – 4:39

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 Treasure Prioritization

When it comes to collecting treasures, typically, each civilization has two periods, a pre-goal
period and a post-goal period. Each civilization’s goal is different, and once the goal is achieved,
they focus on only collecting the post-goal treasures. You should typically avoid gathering
treasures with resources you do not need before you begin aging up.

British Goal: No goal. Aztec Goal: Sending 3 Settlers.

Treasure focus: Food & Wood. Pre-goal: XP & Food.
Post-goal: Food & Wood.
Dutch Goal: Collecting coin for the 12th
villager. Incan Goal: Researching Queen’s Festival.
Pre-goal: Coin & Food. Pre-goal: Wood, Coin & Food.
Post-goal: Food & Wood. Post-goal: Food.

French Goal: Gathering 100 wood. Haudenosaunee Goal: Sending 3 Settlers.

Pre-goal: Wood. Pre-goal: XP.
Post-goal: Food. Post-goal: Food.

German Goal: Gathering 50 wood & 75 coin, Lakota Goal: Sending 3 Settlers.
sending 2 Settler Wagons. Pre-goal: XP.
Pre-goal: Wood, Coin & XP. Post-goal: Food.
Post-goal: Food.
Chinese Goal: Gathering 80 wood.
Ottoman Goal: Gathering 50 wood. Pre-goal: Wood.
Pre-goal: Wood & XP. Post-goal: Food.
Post-goal: Food.
Indian Goal: Sending Distributivism.
Portuguese Goal: No goal. Pre-goal: XP & Wood.
Treasure focus: Food. Post-goal: Food.

Russian Goal: No goal. Japanese Goal: No goal.

Treasure focus: Food & Wood. Treasure focus: Food & Wood.

Spanish Goal: No goal.

Treasure focus: Food.

Swedish Goal: Sending 3 Settlers.

Pre-goal: XP.
Post-goal: Food.

United States Goal: Sending 3 Coureurs.

Pre-goal: XP & Wood.
Post-goal: Food.

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