The Civilisations - Persian

This is the third of my posts on the six AoEO Civilisations.

The Persians are  a pro civ, meaning that you start at level 20 with a decent selection of level 20 uncommon gear.

The Persian shield in AoEO.

You have a few home city quests, including the standard repeatable craftsmen quests (good for getting used to the Persian military at a leisurely pace), and you have immediate access to the Argos quests.

The various Cyprus quests open up to you at some point, perhaps after completing Defence of Arsinoe which is one of those milestone quests which pop up in the home cities of each civ at a certain level (around high level 20s, can't remember exactly).

The key feature of a pro civ - you don't have any additional cities with other unique quests, what I mention above is pretty much it.

Just open the book to read more.

My Persian City - Kardashian

However, all civs have access to any booster packs you've bought.

For this reason it's a good idea to start with at least one premium civ first,  and then start collecting booster packs before you head off to the pro civs - not entirely essential, but I would recommend that course to newish players.

This has two advantages:

1. you have the skills to jump into level 20 quests; and
2. given the smaller range of quests in the pro civs, the booster packs are invaluable in earning you Experience Points (XP) in jumping through the levels.

This a personal matter, but I think Skirmish is an essential booster pack to have early on.  You play it from Cyprus, it's useful for accumulating Empire Points for your level 40 civs, and it's also useful for gaining XP for your other civs below level 40.

Starting at level 20, as you do with all pro civs, there are some useful epic advisers to collect in Skirmish, and each time, you are also earning decent XP.

The other one to consider is Fertile Crescent, a booster pack closely aligned with Babylon.  It features a lot of fun quests, which you can start doing from this level, and once again, you are also earning valuable XP.

There are also a few repeatables at level 40 which are good for earning Empire Points.

I'll cover all the booster packs in another article.

Points of Difference

These are the key unique features of the Persians:

Sparabara:  are an infantry unit, produced from Age I in your Barracks. The are a form of what is commonly referred to as a "tank unit", that is, they can take the front line because they can absorb a lot of punishment, allowing your ranged and siege units to inflict damage from behind the "meat shield".  An interesting aspect of the Sparabara is that since they are the Age I infantry unit, Spearmen are promoted to Age II in Persians, which might force you to reconsider your usual Skirmish tactics, although they are very good at attacking other units in range of the enemy TC.

Persian Sparabara - make an excellent meat shield.

Immortals:  these are a unique military unit which are produced out of their own camp.  They are capable of both ranged attack from distance, and melee abilities at close quarters.  They are the only unit in all of the AoEO game which has this unique quality.   Their equipment slots in the Gear Hall allow both arrow and sword upgrades.  They can be upgraded to a Champion at the cost of 1,200 gold.  The Persian Barracks and Archery Range both carry only two units, so the Immortal is effectively the combined equivlent of a Greek Hoplite and Gastraphete, but available in Age III.

Persian Immortal - adept at both ranged and melee combat - a powerful unit

War Wagon:  the Persians lack the mobile long-range siege strength of both the Greeks and Egyptians (Ballistas and Catapults respectively), and  in their place, you can produce the War Wagon (see picture below) in the Siege Workshop in Age IV.  This device shoots out multiple arrows over a medium distance.  It is effective against other units but really need to be massed to have an effect on buildings, and even then, it's well short of the damage imparted by siege machines mentioned.  Persians also have the Palintonon available from the Fortress, and that is of an equivalent strength to the Greek and Egyptian one.

Persian War Wagon - good at close to medium range combat, but not so good with buildings

The Persians also have a few interesting technologies.  One is the Aid Tent.  Available from the storehouse, this upgrade allows units to regain health when stationed near a storehouse - a worthwhile tech to have.

Other technologies are available  from the War Academy, from which you also produce the Magus (equivalent to  a Priest).  Some of these technologies have a toggle switch, allowing you to temporarily forego one benefit for a bigger advantage in another area.  For example, some units might cost more, but you get more health or damage out of them, or they produce quicker - this can be useful in the end game where you have plentiful resources, so you can afford to pay more for greater effect.

Quests

As mentioned earlier, there are no additional cities as part of your Persian civ, but you do get two unique quests in your capital city:

1.  Under Pressure - get to a population of 200 in 25 minutes, with enemy attacks from 3 directions - 2nd objective of producing 100 villagers within time limit ; and
2. Gate of All Nations - build a Wonder in 25 minutes with enemy attacks from 3 directions - 2nd objective of taking out two enemy fortresses before the Wonder is built.

Very end of Gate of All Nations, with Persian wonder.

Both of these quests are repeatable and even if you struggle early on, as you get to know the topography, as you gear up and get to know your new units, you will be completing the 2nd objectives as well.  They are both available in Elite mode, which will present you with a good challenge.

Even with the limitation in siege (my personal view), I was able to complete Defence of Arsinoe with no problem, and at the time my Gear Hall score was around the 400 mark.

I only reached Level 40 very recently, so I am still learning to play with the Persians and I'm looking forward to the recapturing quests in Cyprus, even if I have to battle on without my favourite siege units!


Click here for part one of the Civilisations series - Greeks.
Click here for part two of the Civilisations series - Egypt.

Brawny Polecat