Age of Empires IV: AI Difficulty Levels Guide
Image Credit: Xbox Game Studios, Age of Empires IV (AoE 4)
In Age of Empires IV (AoE 4), AI difficulty changes affects loads of things. Below is a breakdown of all seven Skirmish/Custom AI levels and what exactly you’re in for.
Read More: The Best Units in AoE 4
Easy AI Difficulty
Economy: Slow and clunky. Often floats resources or builds late.
Military: Small, basic armies with no real timing.
Aggression: Rare and half-hearted. Maybe one scout. One ram. That’s it.
Tactics: It reacts slowly and doesn't adapt to your unit comp.
Best for learning the game or pretending you’re good (no shame, we’ve all done it) without any real resistance.
Intermediate AI Difficulty
Economy: Starts to resemble a functioning town. Expands to multiple TCs late.
Military: Builds balanced armies, upgrades some units.
Aggression: Begins attacking in Feudal or Castle Age. Still manageable.
Tactics: Will make siege units and try to pressure weak spots.
A decent sparring partner if you’re still working on your macro or build order.
Hard AI Difficulty
Economy: Expands early, uses more villagers efficiently.
Military: Mixes units based on what you're fielding. Starts to use real counters.
Aggression: Constant raids, pressure on your eco, and early pushes.
Tactics: Uses outposts, siege, and multi-pronged attacks.
This is where the AI starts acting like a player who knows what they’re doing.
Hardest AI Difficulty
Economy: Keeps unit production running nonstop. Prioritizes tech and upgrades.
Military: Strong army comps. Good unit transitions. Heavy use of siege.
Aggression: Attacks early and often. Doesn’t let you breathe.
Tactics: Starts flanking, split-pushing, and harassing trade routes.
Feels like playing against someone who had coffee, watched a Viper tutorial, and took it personally.
Ridiculous AI Difficulty
Economy: Gets bonus gather and build speeds. It cheats, and it cheats well.
Military: Can outmass you easily with full pop armies and siege.
Aggression: Attacks come faster, stronger, and from more directions.
Tactics: Will tech fast, get map control, and crush any weak front.
You can beat it but only if you play clean and aggressive. Any sloppiness will be punished.
Outrageous AI Difficulty
Economy: Even more bonuses. Faster income, faster units, more everything.
Military: Trains multiple armies, often has siege and reinforcements ready mid-fight.
Aggression: Near-constant attacks. Will hit your landmarks while raiding your gold mine.
Tactics: Extremely fast scaling. Defends while attacking. Keeps the pressure nonstop.
Most players will get overwhelmed. Not because they’re bad, but because the AI simply has more.
Absurd AI Difficulty
Economy: Full cheat mode. The AI plays like it’s running five empires at once.
Military: Max unit spam. Siege-heavy, elite army mix, constant reinforcements.
Aggression: Starts early, never stops. Assaults your base while expanding across the map.
Tactics: Uses walls, towers, relics, raids, wonders—whatever it takes.
Winning requires expert-level micro, multitasking, and no mercy.
Final Blurb
The Age of Empires IV AI goes from passive and polite to a full-blown tyrant that doesn't care about your feelings or your lumber camp. Want to relax? Stick with Easy or Intermediate. Want to feel like you’re fighting for your digital life? Try Outrageous or Absurd and brace for pain.
And if you ever beat Absurd? Good news—you’re officially better than 99% of the human race. Probably.
Recommended | View all Age of Empires IV
