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As a 4X game,Age of Wonders 4expects players to expand across the game map by conquering and vassalizing their neighbors, and by building new outposts and cities. There areplenty of ways to win a game, but every method is easier when you control most of the resources on the map.
However, the way you build new cities inAge of Wonders 4is a little different compared to most 4X games. There are a few steps involved in the process, and even the game’s tutorial doesn’t provide all the information you need. That’s why this guide will explain all the steps you need to take to build a new city of your starting faction, along with the other ways you’re able to expand across the map.
Outposts and Cities
The first step to building a new city inAge of Wonders 4is to build a new outpost.
Outposts are a good way to claim Magic Materials,Ancient Wonders, and global resourceslike Mana and Gold. However, they don’t benefit from local resource nodes that produce Food or Production. At least, not until you upgrade them into cities.
To create a new city from an outpost, select the outpost and check out the bottom button on the list of options. It should say “Found a city of (your faction or factions). 200 Imperium, 4 turns.” If you have the Imperium it asks for, you may convert any outpost into a city. Just make sure you haven’t reached your city cap, because owning too many cities gets expensive quickly.
Integrating Vassals
Another way you can add new cities to your empire is by integrating vassals. There are a couple ways you gain vassals inAge of Wonders 4:
A vassalcan contribute global incomes and Magic Materialsto your empire, and they don’t count towards your city cap, but the AI controls the city and its units. To fully integrate a city into your faction, you must wait for them to reach Flourishing Vassalage. Once they do, you may pay Imperium to have them instantly become a directly controlled city. The amount of Imperium you need depends on the population of the city.
Conquest
When you conquer a city, you have a list of things you can do to it. Simply click on the conquered city to see the list. Each option takes time, but (much like with outposts) you don’t need to keep any units around as your choice plays out.
Think carefully before deciding between the last two options. Owning a city full of a different faction’s peoplecan give you access to their culture’s units, and their people’s minor and major race transformations. However, their Body traits will be different, and you’ll need to re-cast minor and major race transformations on the people of a free city if you want them to also get the benefits. Depending on your faction build and your enemies, this can either be a major boon or a major disruption.
City Ruins
If you choose to raze a city, or you come across city ruins left by another faction, you may use the ruins to build a new city. You still need to bring a hero unit to the same province, but the cost of building from a ruin is only 100 Imperium, or half the normal cost. You can also pay 100 Souls instead,assuming your faction has access to Souls.
you may choose any of the people of your empire to fill this new city, no matter who lived in it before. However,this city will always start at one Population.
Alternatively, you can use a normal army to clear city ruins from a province. This can be very handy, because other cities can’t claim provinces with city ruins on them, and you can’t build outposts on adjacent provinces. So if your enemy built a city in a very inconvenient spot, make sure you have a unit stick around to finish clearing it from the map.
