Before you start playing Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Lords of the West, understand one thing: this expansion rewards players who adjust their opening around each civilization instead of forcing a familiar archer or cavalry build. The Burgundians accelerate your economy and turn relics into a serious strategic objective, while the Sicilians build unusually durable forward positions and scale through Town Centers. The three campaigns also expect more than basic army control, often hiding the real objective behind timed attacks, escorts, defenses, or economic triggers.
Lords of the West adds the Burgundians and Sicilians, plus the campaigns Edward Longshanks, Grand Dukes, and Tamerlane. It isn't a beginner-only expansion, but it is an excellent training ground for learning how civilization bonuses change your build order. You can check the official Steam page for the included content, then use the advice below before jumping into ranked games or Hard campaign difficulty.
Pick the Right Lords of the West Civilization First
The Burgundians and Sicilians look superficially similar because both support powerful cavalry and sturdy mid-game pressure. In practice, they ask for completely different habits. Burgundians want you to exploit technology timing and resource efficiency. Sicilians want you to occupy ground, add Town Centers, and make their infantry and siege difficult to dislodge.
| Civilization | Defining Bonus | Signature Units | Best First Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burgundians | Economic technologies arrive one age early and cost 50% less | Coustillier, Flemish Militia | Reach Castle Age with a tech and stable advantage |
| Sicilians | Town Centers have extra melee armor; farms work 100% faster | Serjeant, Donjon | Secure territory, then multiply Town Centers |
| Burgundian late game | Relic income and Burgundian Vineyards improve food-to-gold conversion | Elite Coustillier, Paladin | Control relics and maintain gold-heavy cavalry |
| Sicilian late game | First Crusade creates Serjeants from multiple Town Centers | Elite Serjeant, Hauberk Cavalier | Turn a large economy into a durable infantry push |
Why Burgundians feel powerful earlier
Their economic bonus is more than a discount. Burgundians can research Double-Bit Axe in the Dark Age, then take Horse Collar and other economy technologies ahead of the normal curve. Because those technologies cost half as much, you can often reach Feudal Age with a stronger wood or food economy than a standard civilization using the same villager count.
That does not mean you should research every technology immediately. The right opening is still map-dependent. On a safe open map, early Double-Bit Axe followed by a stable can set up a fast Castle Age. On a map with exposed berries or forward gold, spend the savings on military production first. Burgundian villagers are not tougher, and a cheap technology won't save an idle Town Center.
Why Sicilians are more forgiving under pressure
Sicilian Town Centers have 100% more melee armor, so swordsmen, scouts, and cavalry take less effective damage when attacking them. That bonus does not make a Town Center invincible against villagers, archers, or siege. It simply makes a Sicilian player much harder to punish with ordinary melee aggression, especially when the TC is protecting a gold pile or a woodline.
The Sicilian farm bonus is equally important. Farms work 100% faster, meaning a smaller farm economy can sustain more food-heavy production. You still need enough lumber to replace farms, houses, and military buildings, but your food income ramps up quickly once Horse Collar and Heavy Plow are researched. Sicilians are therefore excellent for players who prefer a stable, expansion-focused game rather than a fragile one-base all-in.
Learn the New Units Before You Build Around Them
The Coustillier and Serjeant are not simply stronger versions of existing units. Their value comes from how they change the first contact of a battle. The Coustillier is a cavalry unit with a charge attack that delivers a burst of bonus damage when it engages after a short period without attacking. The Serjeant is slower, sturdier infantry that can construct Donjons and anchor an advance.
| Unit | Where It Comes From | Strength | What Counters It |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coustillier | Burgundian Stable, Castle Age | Charge burst, mobility, strong first impact | Pikemen, camels, monks, massed ranged units |
| Elite Coustillier | Burgundian Stable, Imperial Age | Higher attack and a stronger charge profile | Halberdiers, heavy camels, massed elite archers |
| Serjeant | Sicilian Barracks or Donjon | Durable infantry that can build Donjons | Crossbows, hand cannoneers, heavy siege |
| Elite Serjeant | Sicilian Barracks or Donjon, Imperial Age | High durability and reliable melee pressure | Heavy cavalry, hand cannoneers, bombard-based support |
How to use Coustilliers without throwing them away
The Coustillier's charge is strongest when you choose the engagement. Do not click repeatedly into a spear wall and expect the unit to behave like a generic Knight. Pull damaged Coustilliers away, wait for their charge to reset, then hit a villager line, siege unit, or exposed ranged group. A quick attack-move pass followed by a retreat is often better than standing in a prolonged melee.
Use regular Knights or Light Cavalry to absorb attention while Coustilliers deliver the opening burst. If the opponent switches to Pikemen, add Crossbows or Knights with improved armor rather than doubling down blindly. The unit's cost and Castle Age timing make it an excellent pressure tool, but not a license to ignore counters.
How to make Serjeants and Donjons work together
A Donjon is a defensive building that can train Serjeants. It is more expensive than a standard outpost and should not be dropped merely because you have the stone. Place it where it protects a resource, blocks a narrow approach, or creates a safe staging point for a forward army. A Donjon beside an exposed gold mine can force the opponent to commit siege before taking the resource.
Serjeants can construct Donjons, which creates a powerful snowball when you already control the area. The danger is obvious: building forward with a tiny group of Serjeants can lose both your units and your stone investment. Escort them with scouts, spearmen, or a few archers, and use the Donjon as part of a network rather than as a lone tower in enemy territory.
Use the Burgundian Economy Instead of Copying a Standard Build
Burgundian openings are strongest when their cheaper, earlier technologies are connected to a concrete plan. A common mistake is spending the Dark Age savings on upgrades that never affect the next five minutes. If you're aiming for Coustillier pressure, prioritize wood for a stable and farms, then research the economy upgrades that keep villager production and cavalry production running. If you're defending, early Wheelbarrow and resource upgrades can stabilize the entire base.
A practical Burgundian opening
Start with the standard six-villager food foundation, send new villagers toward wood and gold, and avoid idling the Town Center. Research Double-Bit Axe early when your first production plan needs sustained wood. Add a house before the population cap becomes an emergency, then choose either a Barracks opening for safety or a Stable opening for map control.
In Feudal Age, don't automatically click every available upgrade. The Burgundian advantage is that you can buy efficiency while still reaching Castle Age quickly. Aim for enough farms, wood, and gold to support a Castle Age transition, then unlock the stable technology path that lets Coustilliers replace generic Knights as your main threat. Keep at least one scouting unit alive; the value of a cheap technology disappears if you attack into a hard counter.
Relics matter more for Burgundians than they do for most civilizations because their monastery economy can feed into Burgundian Vineyards, a late technology that changes how food income supports gold production. You still need relics in monasteries, and you still need map control to protect them. Don't send a slow monk across the map while your opponent owns the center. Secure the area with cavalry first, then escort monks behind the pressure.
| Phase | Priority | Why It Matters | Common Mistake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Age | Double-Bit Axe, constant villagers, early scouting | Turns the Burgundian discount into faster wood income | Researching upgrades while the Town Center sits idle |
| Feudal Age | Stable or Barracks plus farms and gold | Builds the resource base for Castle Age pressure | Adding too many buildings before reaching Castle Age |
| Castle Age | Coustilliers, monastery, Cavalier transition | Creates mobility and punishes exposed units | Charging into Pikemen without ranged support |
| Imperial Age | Elite Coustillier, chemistry, relic economy | Maintains gold-heavy cavalry into the late game | Ignoring siege and halberdier production |
If you want a broader performance checklist before playing a large late-game battle, Steamoz's guide to settings for higher FPS covers the same practical principle: reduce expensive visual effects before sacrificing responsiveness. Age II benefits enormously from a steady frame rate when you are managing several control groups.
Build Sicilians Around Territory and Town Centers
Sicilians become dramatically better once you stop treating the Donjon as a replacement for an ordinary tower. Their ideal game plan is territorial: defend an important resource, add Town Centers, and use those protected zones to create enough units for a decisive push.
The Sicilian First Crusade technology is the centerpiece of that plan. It grants a group of Serjeants for each Town Center you own, up to the technology's unit limit. That means the technology becomes more valuable with multiple Town Centers, not with a one-base rush. Researching it after adding two or three extra TCs can produce a sudden infantry force that your opponent may not have scouted.
When to choose Donjons
Build a Donjon when it secures something specific: a forward gold mine, a choke point, a relic route, or a production position near the enemy. A defensive Donjon can train Serjeants safely, while a forward Donjon forces your opponent to spend time and siege resources removing it. But every Donjon costs stone that could have become a Town Center, so ask whether the building protects your next expansion.
Sicilian farms working 100% faster let you support food-heavy production with fewer farms, but faster work also means farms expire sooner. Keep a steady lumber stream and queue replacements before the farm count collapses. The best Sicilian player isn't the one with the most food on the resource bar; it's the one whose farms, Town Centers, and military buildings stay active together.
| Situation | Best Sicilian Action | Reason | Threat to Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected starting base | Fast second Town Center | Converts the farm bonus into faster villager growth | Opponent's Castle Age siege timing |
| Exposed gold | Defensive Donjon with Serjeants | Protects the resource and adds local production | Crossbows and mangonels |
| Three Town Centers online | First Crusade | Creates a large Serjeant reinforcement wave | Hand cannoneers and heavy cavalry |
| Imperial Age | Hauberk Cavaliers with infantry support | Adds armored mobility to the Serjeant core | Halberdiers, monks, and massed ranged units |
Hauberk improves Sicilian Cavaliers with additional armor, making them more useful as a complement to Serjeants. They are not a magic answer to every counter. Use them to raid, chase siege, and protect flanks while Serjeants take the front line. If the opponent masses Halberdiers, add ranged support instead of feeding Cavaliers into the spear wall.
Approach the Three Campaigns as Scenario Puzzles
The campaigns are not three versions of a normal skirmish match. Edward Longshanks focuses on English historical warfare and objective-driven missions. Grand Dukes puts you in Burgundian political and military situations where economy, alliances, and timing matter. Tamerlane delivers the most mobile, conquest-focused scenarios, with large armies and objectives that can punish a slow, defensive approach.
Before each mission, read every objective and secondary objective. The obvious enemy base is not always the real problem. A convoy may need to survive, a landmark may need to be held for a timer, or a target may become vulnerable only after you complete an economic or diplomatic step. Save before attacking a major fortress. Campaign missions often trigger reinforcements when you cross a location or destroy a particular structure.
Campaign habits that prevent expensive reloads
- Scout the edges first. Look for relics, side objectives, neutral allies, and resource piles before committing your starting army.
- Preserve named units. Heroes and unique units can be required for later objectives, and losing them often turns a manageable scenario into a reload.
- Use control groups immediately. Put cavalry, ranged units, monks, and siege on separate groups. Campaign battles frequently mix escorts with base defense.
- Pause to read triggers. When an objective changes, stop moving for a second and check whether a new timer, enemy wave, or escort requirement has appeared.
- Spend resources before scripted attacks. A full bank does nothing if the enemy arrives while your production buildings are idle.
| Campaign | Primary Skill | Typical Danger | Best Preparation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edward Longshanks | Defensive positioning and objective timing | Enemy waves arriving while the army is away | Keep a reserve near key buildings and walls |
| Grand Dukes | Economic scaling and political objectives | Overcommitting before the scenario unlocks its next phase | Maintain villagers and protect trade or relic routes |
| Tamerlane | Mobility and rapid target selection | Large enemy concentrations and scattered objectives | Use cavalry scouting and multiple army control groups |
On higher difficulties, don't assume the winning move is a frontal attack. Draw enemy armies into towers, castles, or prepared choke points, then counterattack once their siege is exposed. If a mission gives you a temporary ally, let that ally absorb the first contact while your army attacks the enemy's reinforcement path or production buildings.
Fix Performance Before Your First Massive Battle
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition can run well on modest hardware, but Lords of the West scenarios and late-game multiplayer fights can produce hundreds of units. A stable 60 frames per second is more valuable than maximum texture quality because the game is won through rapid selection, clean pathing, and timely reactions. If your system struggles, start with the in-game benchmark and lower effects before dropping the resolution.
| Setting | Recommended Value | FPS Impact | Visual Trade-Off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display resolution | Native resolution, then 1080p if needed | Medium to high | Lower sharpness at reduced resolution |
| Texture quality | High if VRAM allows | Low to medium | Mostly affects unit and terrain detail |
| Shader quality | Medium | Medium | Less lighting polish, clearer performance gain |
| Anti-aliasing | Off or low on older GPUs | Medium | More jagged unit edges |
| Animated water and extra effects | Low or off | Low to medium | Water and spell effects look simpler |
| V-sync | Use only if tearing bothers you | Variable | Can add latency or cap frame rate |
Close overlays and background launchers, update your GPU driver, and verify files through Steam if the game crashes after an update. Steamoz has also covered practical PC crash and FPS fixes and low-FPS troubleshooting; the same basics apply here. For multiplayer, prioritize consistent frame pacing over a high but unstable frame counter.
Three Mistakes New Lords of the West Players Make
First, they treat Burgundian technologies like free bonuses. They aren't free if they idle your Town Center or delay military production. Research the upgrade that supports your immediate plan, then convert the saved resources into villagers, farms, or units.
Second, they build Sicilian Donjons everywhere. A Donjon with no strategic purpose is an expensive tower. Place it on a contested resource or a route that the opponent must use, and make sure Serjeants can actually hold the surrounding ground.
Third, they attack with the new units in isolation. Coustilliers need scouting and a disengagement plan. Serjeants need ranged support or a positional advantage. The expansion's units are powerful because they create combinations, not because they erase the counter system that makes Age of Empires II work.
For official background on the wider game and its updates, visit the Age of Empires II official site and the official Age of Empires news hub. Once you understand the economic timing, the Donjon's purpose, and the campaigns' scripted objectives, Lords of the West stops feeling like a pile of extra content and starts feeling like a focused lesson in adapting your entire game plan.