Abbasid Dynasty — Why This Civ Still Struggles in 1v1 Ranked (And What It Needs)

Age of Empires IV IV - Discussion
1

The Abbasid Dynasty continues to struggle in the current meta because it completely lacks tools to survive early aggression — especially against civilizations with early heavy units.

This problem is even worse now with civs like Order of the Dragon.

:red_square: 1. No Counter to Early Heavy Unit Harassment

In Feudal Age (Age II), Abbasids only have:

  • Spearmen

  • Archers

  • Camel Archers (too expensive early + fragile)

  • NO Ghulams (Age III only)

  • NO early armor spike

  • NO special military unit

  • NO bonus production / free units

Meanwhile, many civs field armored power units in Feudal, such as:

  • Order of the Dragon – Gilded Men-at-Arms (Heavy MAA in Feudal!)

  • French early Knights

  • English early MAA

  • Japanese Samurai

  • Rus early Knight/Bodyguards

  • Mongol early pressure

If Order of the Dragon masses Gilded MAA early, Abbasids have ZERO realistic counter:

  • Spearmen melt

  • Archers are useless vs armor

  • Camel Archers are too expensive to mass

  • Abbasids cannot harass back at all

These matchups become unwinnable unless the Abbasid player plays perfectly while the opponent misplays.

:red_square: 2. Abbasids Collapse From One Small Mistake

Abbasids suffer from the worst forgiveness in the game:

High effort → Low reward.
High risk → Low safety.

One tiny mistake — idle villagers, late Barracks, late TC, bad scouting — and the game collapses.

Other civs can recover due to strong mechanics:

  • French Knight tempo + eco

  • Japanese military tempo + eco scaling

  • Rus bounty economy + Streltsy power

  • OotD relic snowball

  • Ayyubid free units

  • Mongol mobility + raid pressure

Abbasids have none of these safety nets.

:red_square: 3. House of Wisdom Is Too Slow and Too Weak

All Abbasid bonuses are long-term and delayed:

  • Wing technologies that give very small or even useless buffs
    → Example: “Public Libraries +2 villager HP per eco upgrade at imperial Age IV” — completely irrelevant

  • Slow research

  • No military spike

  • No instant tactical benefit

  • Golden Age gives eco, but no combat advantage

This leaves Abbasids with the slowest tempo and weakest Feudal power in the game.

:green_square: Suggested Fixes (Balanced & Lore-Friendly)

1. Give Abbasids a Feudal Heavy Unit Counter

They don’t need OP units — just something to survive.

Options:

:check_mark: Feudal defensive heavy infantry
(e.g., small-armor “Vanguard Infantry”)

OR

:check_mark: Early armor tech for Spearmen
(to survive armored pushes)

OR

:check_mark: Cheaper Camel Archers (–15–20%) + faster production

2. Improve the House of Wisdom — “Knowledge Power” Identity

Options:

  • House of Wisdom techs complete instantly, or

  • –50% cost on House of Wisdom techs, or

  • Golden Age II: +military bonus, or

  • Slightly faster age-ups

Abbasids need tempo, not pure eco.

3. Small Villager Production Boost

faster villager production to maintain stable eco under early pressure.

4. Slight Nerfs to Overperforming Late-Game Units

Abbasids lose late-game fights even with equal resources.

Suggested small nerfs:

  • Ribauldequin → too tanky for artillery

  • Streltsy → melee damage is too high for a gunpowder ranged unit

Not big nerfs — just enough for fair fights.

:blue_square: Conclusion

Abbasids do not need massive buffs.
They simply need:

  • A real Feudal defense option

  • A more dynamic House of Wisdom

  • More safety vs early armored rushes

  • Fairer late-game fights against elite uniques

This would finally allow Abbasids to compete without requiring perfect execution every match.

2

If there is one civ that can reliably defend a MAA push, it is Abba.

The issue is that it has a much slower ramp rate, other civs gain explosive bonuses to eco or military, on Abba, you need to build it from the ground.

I’d love to see small changes to help it on 1v1. It was considered “S Tier” until pro scout and many FC civs were reintroduced.

2 Likes
3

I love playing Abba!

Let’s go through some perks for them

House of wisdom is critical to your success:

  • Use the age up time to continue gathering.
  • You get the best of other civs all under one roof( Chinese style eco building discount/ Zhu style age up discount / increased farm gather rate / increased drop off +8% / armor Aura +2 around camels / fastest archer attack/ French style trade boost)
  • Adapt and adjust to your needs in each age
  • Golden ages for further boosting your vils/research/production

The king of anti-cavalry in a age ruled by knights:

  • Best spear range coupled with camel armor aura is killer
  • Camel rider advantage on knights for 20 less resource than the average knight you get more HP, bonus damage, high armor and minimize the opponents attack damage
  • Camel archers, while yes the most expensive archer around also has double or more the HP, diminishes the cav attack, better range and is quick.

Secret siege specialists

  • Rarely used, but you can literally make all your siege on the field. Rush with rams, make mangols when walls are in your way.

Ideal trade economy

  • 33% cheaper traders that move faster to outpace the enemy
  • Boost the trade with your trade wing and see second resources drops and a 30% increase of gold

Rule the seas:

  • Half price socks in the early ages on water maps are helpful to get your fishing boats out quicker

Best way forward:

  • Mix your army, have those great spears, fast shooting archers, siege and some camels in the mix and you can take on anything
  • Mass your camel riders and take on the mass of knights from any civ with ease
  • Go for the age up discount early to move to castle faster to combat those early heavy armor aggression into the eco wing to boost your economy to pay for the high price units and crush your enemy
4

Thanks for the reply — the point is simple:Abbasid can hold early MAA, but only with perfect scouting and perfect execution.Other civs can defend even with small mistakes because they have stronger early tools.So the issue isn’t “Abbasid can’t defend, The issue is Abbasid must play perfectly just to stay even, while others stay strong with average play.Meta changed — faster Feudal, stronger early units, new civs with big tempo. Abbasid didn’t get updates to keep up.They don’t need big buffs — just small fixes to stabilize early game in today’s fast meta.

5

All of this is true — Abbasid has good bonuses on paper.

But none of these bonuses help against fast early aggression, which is exactly the problem.

Most of the things you listed are:

Mid-game or late-game strengths (trade wing, camel riders, siege field build, golden age)

Or situational (water maps, trade maps)

Or bonuses that don’t give early tempo (farm boost, building discount)

Meanwhile the current meta is:

Fast Feudal

Early heavy units

Early pressure with Men-at-Arms / early Knights / cheap ranged units

Abbasid’s issue is simple:

Their early game gives no tempo advantage,

Their bonuses don’t activate early enough,

And they must play perfectly to survive early momentum pushes.

So listing mid-game strengths doesn’t solve the actual problem: Abbasid struggles exactly in the early timing windows where other civs spike.

That’s why small early-game fixes are needed