Egyptians Guide - Age of Mythology

Age of Mythology Retold — Egyptian civilization guide (summary)

What this guide covers

This is a beginner-oriented walkthrough of the Egyptians in Age of Mythology: Retold: how their economy differs from other civs, how pharaoh and priest work, how favor from monuments shapes their game, and how their military scales from the barracks into stronghold cavalry and siege. I keep the focus on broad strokes so you can see why the pantheon feels strong—and where the gold pressure comes from—even if you are not chasing every minor-god branch in one sitting.

Economy and drop-off buildings

Egyptians feel a bit like Greeks in that they use separate drop buildings: mining camp, lumber camp, and granary (Greeks combine mines and lumber camps but also use a granary). A big perk for Egypt is that those three drop-offs are very cheap or free, so I prioritize keeping villagers close to the right drop-off for whatever they are gathering.

For food, livestock is technically more efficient than berries first, but berries are fine if you place the granary sensibly. The main rule I repeat in-game: short walks to drop-off beat almost everything else early.

Pharaoh and priest

You start with a pharaoh and a priest—two hero units with different jobs.

Pharaoh — empower (A): I think of empower a little like a Relic prelate in Age of Empires IV: you target a building and sunlight-style rays show the empower. Effects called out in the learn tab / UI include:

• Town center: more garrison arrows, faster villager production, faster construction of buildings being built, and (I believe) better drop-off / gather efficiency—worth keeping the pharaoh on something useful rather than idle.

Priest: Also a hero; both pharaoh and priest can interact with relics, though I tend to put relic pickup on whoever fits my build order. Priests need a temple upgrade before they can grab relics. Priests can also build obelisks (Y on controller in the footage).

Isis note: In the example I am on Isis; priests on this path cannot empower the way some other major-god setups allow—so always read your major god’s bonuses.

Obelisks

Obelisks cost a little gold, build fast, and are fragile (low HP), but they grant permanent line of sight while they stand. I scatter them to see approaches, resources, and proxy pressure early. When placing a new one, zooming out shows the vision radius clearly.

Favor and monuments

Egypt generates favor by building monuments in sequence—each age unlocks the next tier; you must build the smaller monuments before the larger ones.

Isis monuments: The monument has a radius where enemies cannot invoke god powers—huge against late-game nukes like earthquake, meteor shower, or lightning storm. If I empower the monument with the pharaoh, it also heals in that radius, which is great for army sustain under pressure.

Offensive use: Players often forward-drop monuments near a push or proxy so opponents cannot god-power their army off the map.

Why gold dominates

Almost everything Egyptian wants gold: many units, upgrades, and even farms (wood is what you might expect elsewhere, but here farms lean on gold in the examples shown). Town centers cost more gold and skip the wood component other civs need—another reason mining camps and secured gold mines are non-negotiable. If I fall behind on gold, the whole tech and unit queue stalls.

Classical Age (Age 2)

Reaching Age 2 opens real military play. Sentry towers auto-upgrade to watch towers—they shoot passively, gain HP, and garrison becomes safer because the tower dies slower.

Military buildings: Armory is free. Barracks costs 75 gold (no separate archery, stable, or “counter” building—all infantry-style units come from the barracks).

Continue the monument chain (e.g. Monument to the Villagers into the next tier) so favor keeps climbing for myth units and upgrades later.

Barracks roster and mercenaries

Core units shown: Axeman, Spearman, Slinger (your “archer” line—wood on slingers, gold on most others). Cavalry for Egypt is not from the barracks; it comes later from the stronghold (chariot archers, etc.).

Mercenaries from the town center: train fast, cost 90 gold, expire after a short time, and are good vs cavalry—an emergency button, not a mainline comp, because the price adds up.

Priest mass vs myth units

Myth units are weak to heroes. A common Egyptian answer to mass myth is many priests (~100 gold each): ranged attack strong vs myth, heals allies, builds obelisks, and trains from town center, temple, and extra TCs/temples—so the count can spike quickly.

Heroic Age and stronghold

In Age 3 I unlock the stronghold (400 gold, 10 favor, cap 10) and the siege workshop (75 gold). I often sandwich production between monuments so enemy god powers cannot erase my core. Aging to Mythic uses the stronghold in this example.

Mythic Age minor gods (example path)

I skim earlier minor gods as preference, but at Mythic both options feel strong on the path I am showing:

• Son of Osiris: Transforms the pharaoh into a super-powered form with heavy lightning-style attacks; also access to the mummy myth unit in the discussion.
• New Kingdom path: Mention of a second pharaoh, camel riders, and Thoth-side upgrades (e.g. camel speed), phoenix as a strong fire air unit, meteor strike, and war elephant upgrades (e.g. tusks).

For the video I pick Osiris to showcase the pharaoh transformation.

Stronghold units: elephants, camels, chariot archers

• War elephant: Slow, expensive, crushes buildings and clumps—treat as cavalry for counters (e.g. spears or Atlantean anti-cav).
• Camel riders: Fast, pricey, good vs ranged and other cavalry.
• Chariot archers: Where Egypt often shines—very strong skirmishers; I mention they were nerfed because they were dominant. High-level play can include many strongholds (up to the cap) fueling mass chariot archers when gold and wood are flowing.

Siege workshop

Siege tower rolls, shoots arrows, and rams structures—solid utility. My personal favorite siege piece remains the catapult (great vs buildings and ships), available by Age 4; it is slow, but speed upgrades exist.

Son of Osiris and control groups

Son of Osiris only affects your pharaoh—he transforms into the “bird” form, keeps empower, and gains absurd attack in the demo fight.

Practical tip: Select all military will grab the pharaoh and pull him off empower duty. I put the pharaoh on a control group so “select all army” does not silently wreck my economy buffs.

Leader powers and economy buffs

God choice changes specifics, but on my major god I highlight Prosperity: free, place anywhere, and it makes villagers and trade caravans gather gold faster for the duration—watch the per-second gold jump on a mine in the example.

Ancestors on the shown path spawns temporary mummies from the ground where placed.

Sphinx power (if you still have it) speeds monument favor generation and flips the map to night—a fun visual beat.

Fire fortress (lighthouse) and vision

The Egyptian fire fortress (“lighthouse”) costs 300 gold, cannot attack, but gives huge LOS and 1400 HP—far tankier than an obelisk. With relics that boost building LOS and signal fires on towers buffing all buildings’ vision, the reveal can become map-wide in the showcase—absurd value for the gold cost if you are not starving for every last coin.

Temple vision upgrade

There is a temple tech that reveals enemy units with a per-unit gold cost (around 100 gold per unit in the narration)—fantastic in 1v1, prohibitively expensive in large team games when the unit count explodes.

Trading and late-game gold

If mines run dry, market trade is the safety valve—standard RTS loop. I still anchor the Egyptian plan on contesting gold early, because the civ’s training, upgrades, and farms keep asking for it.

How I think about Egypt overall

Many buildings being free or cheap eases macro pressure, but the gold tax on almost every meaningful purchase is the real skill check. Between monuments, empower, myth units, and hero density (pharaoh + priests), Egypt feels distinct and powerful once the economy is wired—Isis-style monument denial on god powers is especially satisfying to play around.

Difficulty: If you already know Greeks, I think Egypt is a natural next civ—similar drop-off thinking, different favor and hero rules.

Playing against Egypt

If I am on the other side, I deny gold: pressure mines, raid villagers, and force trade lines that are easier to harass. Choking Egyptian gold collapses their ability to spam chariots, feed monuments, and tech—even if their baseline buildings look “cheap.”