Age of Empires 4 Hill Bonus Explained: How Does It Work?

The hill bonus is something familiar to long time Age of Empires fans, and whether Age of Empires 4 has a hill bonus is a question on many minds. There are plenty of differences from the previous game, including how the hill bonus works. We’ll go over exactly what’s different in this guide, so read on.

How Age of Empires 4’s Hill Bonus Works

The short answer is that, yes, Age of Empires 4 does have a hill bonus, although it doesn’t work like past games. Fans of Age of Empires 2 will know that units get a roughly 25 percent boost when fighting enemies at a lower elevation, but Age of Empires 4 doesn’t have any damage bonus. 

Instead, units have an increased line of sight when on hills and higher elevations. This means that it’s advantageous to put archers or siege engines on hills, as they have the highest vision of any unit and will be able to pelt enemies from a distance. 

One of the other bonuses of being on a hill is that enemy units, like cavalry, don’t get a charge bonus. On solid ground, cavalry has a charge attack that does extra damage when they connect with an enemy, but this bonus doesn’t get applied when cavalry moves up higher elevation. 

Keep in mind that units on walls function differently, gaining a big boost to defense as well as a bonus to their actual ranged attack. 

Fighting on higher ground isn’t going to be a total game-changer in Age of Empires 4, but it can help give you the leg-up you need if you place your units correctly and take advantage of the hill bonus as it was intended.

If you found this guide helpful, take a look at our other Age of Empires 4 guides here on GameSkinny.