Fast Castle · Burgrave — Order of the Dragon AoE4
Deer, gold, Chapel at 2:40 (0:00–4:15)
Hunt the deer with the 5 starting villagers, start the Aachen Chapel at 2:40 with 11 villagers and reach Age II at 4:15 with 15 villagers.
- 0:00 — 5 Gilded Villagers on sheep; as soon as the Scout finds deer, all of them go there and build a Mill.
- 0:23 — Rally on gold for 3 villagers: the first builds a Mining Camp and a House.
- 0:46 — Research Survival Techniques once the Mill is done.
- 1:32 — The 3 miners are in place: rally on sheep.
- 2:40 — Age up with the Aachen Chapel: 3 food villagers build it, then 1 goes back to food and 2 to gold, with an Outpost. Rally on wood until 3.
- 3:50 — 3 villagers on wood: the rally goes back to food.
Wood, food, Burgrave Palace (4:15–7:20)
Put down the Lumber Camp and the Houses, then age up at 6:20 with 8 food villagers on the Burgrave Palace: Age III at 7:20 with 24 villagers.
- 4:15 — Age II reached: Lumber Camp.
- 5:15 — Second House.
- 6:20 — Age up with the Burgrave Palace: 8 food villagers build it, then 5 go back to food and 3 to gold. Third House.
- 7:15 — As soon as 2 villagers are on sheep, rally on wood.
Relics, Prelates, Archery Range (7:20)
Build a Monastery at 7:20 for 2 Prelates and go get the relics, add an Archery Range at 8:20, then produce Gilded Crossbowmen, Gilded Spearmen and Gilded Men-at-Arms with 28 villagers at 9:00.
- 7:20 — Age III: 2 food villagers build a Monastery, for 2 Prelates. 2 Gilded Spearmen, then Upgrade to Veteran (Gilded Spearman).
- 8:20 — Research Wheelbarrow, then build an Archery Range. Put the relics in the Outpost.
- 9:00 — Gilded Crossbowmen and Gilded Spearmen, then Gilded Men-at-Arms and more Archery Ranges. With spare gold: Inspired Warriors and Prelates nonstop. Blacksmith: Iron Undermesh and Steeled Arrow first, then Golden Cuirass.
Tips
- Choose the Aachen Chapel only if it touches enough resources (at least two, preferably including food); otherwise take the Meinwerk Palace, which is better placed forward.
- Produce villagers without interruption: one Gilded Villager every 23 s, so 6 villagers at 0:23, 15 at 3:50 and 24 at 7:17, the benchmarks VortiX gives.
- In Age III, 2 Prelates for the relics, then veteran Gilded Spearmen, Gilded Crossbowmen and Gilded Men-at-Arms; the relics go in the Outpost.
- Swaggy Professor’s variant (deer-based fast castle): Regnitz Cathedral against an opponent who booms, Burgrave Palace if he plays units; a Stable of Gilded Knights escorts the Prelates. It loses to Spearmen pressure on the deer and the gold.
- Variant: taktaktab reaches Age II at 4:22 and Age III at 7:38, with the same builders: 2 or 3 sheep villagers on the Chapel, 8 on the Burgrave Palace.
Source: AoE4 Guides