What's the deal with the Rus? Underpowered?

Age of Empires IV IV - Discussion
1

Seems like every faction has something special. The Japanese have Tarawa and Bannermen. The French have the Arbaletrier and they can see where the trade centers are from the start of the game. The HRE have those uber-powered Holy men.

What does the Rus have that’s special? Maybe I’m missing it but they seem pretty generic.

Any suggestions/thoughts/comments on this welcome.

2

NOTE: this list could be even longer

  • Feudal age knights
  • infinite gold income starting in dark age
  • gold trickle from hunted meat
  • cheapest and one of the more effective handcannons in imperial
  • buffed siege units (instant unpack/pack mangonel and increased hp/damage rams, increased range springald)
  • warrior monks that can carry relics faster than many units can chase, and buff allied units on attack
  • fishing boats that don’t need a dock to drop off
  • best horse archer in the game, for value and also for fighting
  • 8 slot outpost (only need one for boar hunts)
  • good defensive landmark, or one of the better eco landmarks in feudal
  • best palisades
  • bonus wood income from lumbercamps in range of outpost

Their biggest weakness is their lack of stonewalls, but that can be fixed with an imperial age landmark. Needless to say, their more aggressive playstyle keeps their opponent from being in a position to attack their base anyways.

2 Likes
3

I notice my villagers who are cutting wood are glowing like units do when they’re being boosted.

But I don’t know why (in this particular case).

So what is it in Rus that can make your villagers shiney?

-M

4

It’s a buff from their outpost (Kremlin offers it as well). You can see the range of it when placing a wooden fortress/Kremlin landmark.

Wooden Fortress Influence (Passive): The Wooden Fortress generates an 8 x 8 tile influence area. Lumber Camps and Town Centers within the influence of a Wooden Fortress return +20% wood and extend the influence area by 1 tile around their footprint.

From: Rus | Age of Empires Series Wiki | Fandom

They have a steep learning curve, but I think Rus has been a very good civ (if not the best in many patches) since launch. Very good civ to learn!

If you’re interested in reading more about civs I think the aoe4world.com database is pretty good, here’s the entry for Rus: Explorer – AoE4 World