Age of Mythology: Extended Edition: Complete Guide

Everything you need to play Age of Mythology: Extended Edition well in 2026: how the economy and favor work, what each pantheon does, how to open a game, and when it makes sense to move to Age of Mythology: Retold instead.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final Extended Edition build (Update 2.8, July 2020). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Status note: Extended Edition (Steam app 266840, released May 8, 2014) is no longer the current version of the game. The Steam store page states that with the release of Age of Mythology: Retold (September 4, 2024) "this edition is not the most current and will not be updated further." The last official patch was the Update 2.8 map-rendering fix in July 2020. The game still works, still has Steam multiplayer, the Workshop and the full campaigns, but the active player base and competitive scene have moved to Retold. Steam owners of Extended Edition got an automatic loyalty discount on Retold Premium Edition.

Extended Edition vs Retold at a Glance

Most of this guide (economy, counters, pantheon identities, campaign) applies to both versions, but the specific numbers and god power rules below are for Extended Edition.

Quick Start

1. Never stop making villagers. Your Town Center should always have a villager queued through the Archaic and Classical Ages. Idle TC time is the single most common reason new players fall behind.
2. Food first, then wood, then gold. Your first age-up (to the Classical Age) costs only food, so early villagers go to berries, hunt and chickens. Wood comes next for houses and buildings; gold matters once you're heading to the Heroic Age.
3. Favor is your fourth resource. Each pantheon earns it differently (see below). Myth units, many upgrades and myth techs cost favor, so plan for it from the start.
4. Pick your minor god every age-up. Each age-up offers a choice of two minor gods, each with a different god power, myth unit and techs. This choice is a big part of your strategy.
5. Remember the counter triangle. Heroes beat myth units, myth units beat human soldiers, human soldiers (especially counter-infantry and archers) beat heroes. On top of that, the usual infantry/cavalry/archer counters apply.
6. God powers are one use each in Extended Edition. Save big ones like Meteor, Earthquake or Tornado for a decisive fight or an enemy economic hub, not for three stray units.
7. Scout early. Find huntables, extra berries, gold mines and the enemy base in the first minutes. A good scout also tells you what pantheon and god you're facing.
8. Build houses before you are pop-capped. Being stuck at population cap stops villager production just like an idle TC.
9. Grab relics. Heroes can pick up relics and garrison them in a Temple for permanent bonuses (each relic grants a different effect; read its tooltip).
10. Play the campaign. Fall of the Trident is 32 scenarios long and is the best tutorial the game has; Extended Edition also includes The Titans campaign and The Golden Gift.

Core Systems

Resources

Gathering-rate upgrades at your drop sites (Granary, Storehouse and equivalents) are some of the best early investments you can make. Get the first food and wood upgrades as soon as you can afford them without stalling villager production.

Ages

You progress through four ages: Archaic → Classical → Heroic → Mythic. Each age-up costs resources and requires a prerequisite building, and each one lets you pick one of two minor gods tied to your major god. Reaching the Mythic Age with The Titans content opens Secret of the Titans, which lets you build a Titan Gate and summon your pantheon's Titan.

Gods and god powers

• Major god: chosen before the game starts. It sets your starting god power, several unique techs and a passive bonus.
• Minor gods: one chosen at each age-up (Classical, Heroic, Mythic). Each grants a god power, a myth unit and techs.
• In Extended Edition each god power can be cast once per game (a few exceptions have multiple charges). Timing and target selection matter more than raw power.

Unit roles

Always check a unit's tooltip in-game: it lists its bonus damage and what it is weak to, and that information is more reliable than any general table.

The Pantheons

Greeks (Zeus, Hades, Poseidon)

• Economy: Standard villagers that build and gather. Favor comes from villagers praying at Temples, so you pay for favor with villager time.
• Military: Strong, flexible human armies; heroes gained as you advance in age are the answer to enemy myth units.
• Gods: Zeus is the aggressive infantry and favor pick; Hades leans on buildings, archers and defense; Poseidon favors cavalry and mobility.
• Best for: Learning the game. Greeks are the most "standard" RTS civ and the campaign starts with them.

Egyptians (Ra, Isis, Set)

• Economy: Laborers gather, and Egyptians lean on gold for many buildings, so an early gold line matters more than for other pantheons. Favor comes from building monuments, so favor is passive once they're up.
• Special units: The Pharaoh and Priests can empower buildings (making gathering, production or research faster) and heal.
• Gods: Ra is an economic powerhouse; Isis is defensive and tech-oriented; Set brings animal-based armies.
• Best for: Players who like a strong economy and big mid-game armies. Watch your gold early.

Norse (Thor, Odin, Loki)

• Economy: Gatherers and Dwarves (dwarves excel at gold). Drop sites are mobile Ox Carts, so you can follow resources. Norse infantry build buildings, not villagers.
• Favor: Earned through combat, and Norse heroes (Hersir) generate it too. The Norse want to fight early.
• Gods: Thor boosts dwarves and armory tech; Odin gives strong hunting and scouting; Loki's heroes can summon myth units.
• Best for: Aggressive players. A passive Norse player starves for favor.

Atlanteans (Kronos, Oranos, Gaia) — The Titans

• Economy: Citizens are expensive but efficient. Oracles provide vision. Favor comes from owning Town Centers, so expansion equals favor.
• Heroes: Almost any human unit can be promoted to a hero, which makes Atlanteans unusually good against myth units.
• Gods: Kronos can relocate buildings; Oranos is about mobility and vision; Gaia grows Lush terrain around her buildings and leans economic.
• Best for: Players comfortable expanding and managing several Town Centers.

Chinese (Fuxi, Nüwa, Shennong) — Tale of the Dragon DLC

• Added in the 2016 Tale of the Dragon expansion for Extended Edition (separate purchase).
• Peasants gather; favor and other resources come from Gardens, which you can switch between resource types.
• A good fit if you like adjusting your economy on the fly; read the unit tooltips, since the roster differs noticeably from the original pantheons.

Opening Build Orders (Principles)

Exact timings vary by pantheon and map, so treat these as frameworks rather than scripts:

1. First minute: Queue villagers immediately. Send starting villagers to the closest food (berries or hunt near your TC). Send your scout out in a wide circle.
2. Houses: Build your first house early so you never get pop-blocked. Egyptians and Atlanteans have their own housing rules, but the principle is the same.
3. Wood: Once you have a steady food line, start moving new villagers to wood near a drop site.
4. Favor: Greeks put a villager or two on a Temple early; Egyptians start a monument; Norse send their infantry out to fight; Atlanteans get their second TC when safe.
5. Classical Age: Age up with food as soon as your economy can sustain it, then choose your first minor god based on what you want to do (aggression, defense or economy).
6. Before you fight: Get the first economic upgrades, add a military building, and keep villager production going while you build your first army.

Rule of thumb: If your Town Center is idle, you are pop-capped, or you have more than a few hundred of any resource sitting unspent, your build order has broken down. Fix that first.

Campaigns

Campaign tips:

• Scenarios often hand you limited villagers or no Town Center. Read objectives carefully and keep your heroes alive, since losing Arkantos or other key heroes usually fails the mission.
• Many missions reward patience: build a proper economy before pushing objectives when the scenario allows it.
• Treasure and relics hidden on campaign maps are often worth a detour.

Game Modes and Settings

• Supremacy: Standard mode with a normal economy start. Use it for learning.
• Conquest: Like Supremacy, but the only way to win is to defeat every opponent militarily.
• Deathmatch: Huge starting resources; great for practicing big fights and god powers.
• Lightning: Faster game speed.
• Treaty mode (added in Extended Edition): A no-attack timer lets both sides build up before fighting.
• Observer mode was enhanced in Extended Edition for spectating and casting.

Mods, Workshop and Modern PCs

• Extended Edition has Steam Workshop integration with a built-in mod manager. Maps, scenarios and campaigns are the most common downloads.
• Because the game is no longer updated, if you run into rendering glitches on older GPUs, make sure you're on the final 2.8 build (it includes the July 2020 rendering fix).
• Cloud saves, achievements and Steam multiplayer are all built in.
• If you want ranked matchmaking, active tournaments or balance updates, Retold is where those live now.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Letting the Town Center idle or getting pop-capped. Both stop your economy growing.
• Burning god powers early. In Extended Edition you usually only get one cast, so a Meteor on a scouting unit is a wasted power.
• Ignoring favor. A Greek player without Temple villagers or a Norse player who never fights will have no myth units later.
• Sending myth units into enemy heroes. Heroes hard-counter myth units; send human soldiers at heroes instead.
• Single-unit armies. Mix your army (e.g., infantry plus archers plus a few heroes) so one counter doesn't wipe you out.
• Skipping economic upgrades in favor of an early army that you then can't reinforce.
• Forgetting walls and towers against aggressive Norse or Zeus players on open maps.
• Leaving Titans unanswered. If an opponent is building a Titan Gate, attack it or prepare a large army and god powers before the Titan emerges.

Advanced Tips

• Scout the enemy god. The major god tells you a lot: a Zeus or Loki player will probably be aggressive; a Ra or Isis player may boom.
• Pick minor gods for the matchup. The "best" minor god depends on whether you need a myth unit, a defensive power or an economic tech against this opponent.
• Keep heroes with your army. Heroes that wander alone die to human soldiers; heroes escorting your army delete enemy myth units.
• Raid with purpose. Hitting gatherers on gold or at a forward drop site slows age-ups far more than killing random military.
• Use relics. Relic bonuses stack up over a long game; grabbing several early is a quiet but meaningful advantage.
• Norse drop sites follow you. Move Ox Carts as resources deplete so gatherers never walk far.
• Atlanteans should expand. More Town Centers means more favor as well as more production.
• Egyptian empowering makes a big difference: park the Pharaoh on your most important economic building early.
• Practice in Deathmatch to learn how god powers and myth units interact without needing a perfect economy.

FAQ

Is Age of Mythology: Extended Edition still updated? No. The store page says it will not be updated further now that Age of Mythology: Retold is out. The last patch was Update 2.8 in 2020.

Should I buy Extended Edition or Retold? Buy Retold if you want online play, balance updates and the Chinese and Japanese pantheons in their newest form. Extended Edition is fine for the classic campaigns, modding and nostalgia, and it's often cheaper on sale.

Does owning Extended Edition give a discount on Retold? At Retold's launch, Steam owners of Extended Edition got an automatic loyalty discount on the Premium Edition, as long as it was bought on the same Steam account (not Family Shared or free-weekend copies).

Which pantheon is best for beginners? Greeks, specifically Zeus. They use a standard villager economy and the campaign starts with them.

How do I get favor as each pantheon? Greeks pray at Temples, Egyptians build monuments, Norse fight (and their heroes generate favor), Atlanteans own Town Centers, and Chinese use Gardens.

How many missions are in the campaign? Fall of the Trident has 32 scenarios. The Titans, The Golden Gift and Tale of the Dragon add more.

Can I play the Chinese in Extended Edition? Yes, through the Tale of the Dragon DLC (sold separately on Steam).

Sources

• Age of Mythology: Extended Edition on Steam
• Age of Mythology: Retold on Steam
• Steam news for Age of Mythology: Extended Edition (Update 2.8 fix, Retold pre-order discount)
• Age of Mythology — Wikipedia
• Age of Mythology: Retold — Wikipedia
• Retold Premium discount support article