This is problematic, though, as both Crossbowmen and Knights counter Long Swordsmen, both of which are the main units used in the Castle Age for the majority of civilizations. As such, Gothic players must constantly be on the offensive since they won't last long if forced to go on the defensive. They can only rely on Palisade Walls and Watch Towers for defense. The Goths have arguably the weakest defenses of any civilization in the game as they cannot build Stone Walls or upgrade their towers beyond Watch Towers. Finally, the Goths also have decent units and upgrades of other categories as well, such as Hand Cannoneers, Bombard Cannons (though without Siege Engineers), Cavaliers, and Elite Skirmishers, meaning they have a well-rounded offensive capability. Because of their ability to rapidly train a large number of soldiers the Goths are quite powerful on Deathmatches, where the large amount of resources gives them a distinct offensive edge. If an attack fails, they can rebound very quickly (especially with the help of Conscription and Perfusion) and have a massive army again before the opponent can recover, assuming they have enough resources. The fact that they are able to produce an infantry army much faster than others also means opponents can be unprepared to fight off a massive attack. This allows the Goths to rapidly produce an army of infantry and can overwhelm an opponent with sheer numbers. The Goths already have a 20% bonus in Barracks production speed, and they get another 100% boost with Perfusion, one of their unique technologies. They are also fast and can be created from Barracks with Anarchy. Their unique unit, the Huskarl, is an infantry unit that is almost immune to archer fire and deals a lot of anti-archer damage. Also, they gain additional population space in the Imperial Age. In addition, their Pikemen or Halberdiers are also cheap and very useful against enemy mounted units, Huskarls are useful against enemy archers, and both Huskarls and Champions are good for destroying buildings due to the attack bonus. They are great at rushing since their infantry units are cheaper and created faster than those of other civilizations. 5.2 Disadvantages vs other civilizations.5 Compared advantages and disadvantages.3.3 Strategy changes in the Definitive Edition.3.2 Strategy changes in The African Kingdoms.

Age of empire 2 build order