Achievements Guide
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition features over 100 Steam achievements spanning single-player campaigns, Art of War challenge scenarios, economic milestones, and skirmish victories.
Achievement Categories Overview
Achievements fall into four distinct operational pillars.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Achievement Pillars │
└───────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────┘
│
┌─────────────────────┼─────────────────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼
┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐
│ Campaign │ │ Art of │ │ Cumulative│
│ Victory │ │ War Gold │ │ Milestones│
│ (Story) │ │ (Skill) │ │ (Grind) │
└───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘
| Category | Typical Requirements | Unlock Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign Completion | Beat specific historical campaigns on any difficulty | Easy to Moderate |
| Special Campaign Feats | Complete scenario objectives under strict constraints | Hard |
| Art of War Medals | Earn Gold medals in tutorial challenge scenarios | Hard |
| Cumulative Grind | Train 10,000 units, chop 50,000 wood, convert 100 units | Time-Intensive |
| Skirmish & AI | Defeat AI under custom victory rules or specific civ setups | Moderate |
Art of War Challenge Medals
The Art of War scenarios test core RTS execution under timed conditions. Earning Gold medals requires strict adherence to build orders and zero idle TC time.
| Challenge Scenario | Gold Cutoff | Silver Cutoff | Bronze Cutoff | Key Execution Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Economy | 8:00 | 10:00 | 13:00 | Keep Villager queue populated and drop food off instantly |
| Fast Castle | Sub-16:00 | 18:00 | 20:00 | Follow a tight 27-pop build order with zero housing blocks |
| Booming | 10:00 | 13:00 | 18:00 | Maintain 4 to 5 Town Centers working simultaneously |
| Rushing the Enemy | 5:00 | 7:00 | 10:00 | Mass Scouts or Archers immediately upon hitting Feudal |
| Defending Against Rushes | 10:00 | 13:00 | 18:00 | Quick-wall resource lines and garrison TC efficiently |
| Early Siege | 6:00 | 10:00 | 20:00 | Focus fire rams with infantry and protect mangonels |
| Late Siege | 6:00 | 9:00 | 15:00 | Set up Trebuchets quickly and focus main fortifications |
| Battle Formations | 0 Losses | Less than 3 | Less than 10 | Split formation (X) against mangonel shots |
| Naval Battle | 0 Losses | Less than 3 | Less than 10 | Micro damaged ships to rear and execute water counter triangle |
High-Priority Campaign & Secret Achievements
These achievements reward specific strategic plays during single-player campaign scenarios and hidden objectives.
:::danger Warning: Cheat Codes Disable Achievements
Entering any cheat code (such as furious the monkey boy, how do you turn this on, or aegis) during a match immediately disables all Steam achievement unlocks and scenario medal tracking for that entire game session.
:::
1. Lone Wolf (William Wallace Campaign)
- Requirement: Complete the Falkirk scenario without training additional military units.
- Tip: Rely on your hero unit (William Wallace) and initial troop allocations. Keep your heroes healed with Monks.
2. An Unexpected Answer (Joan of Arc Campaign)
- Requirement: Win the siege of Paris without losing any Siege Weapons.
- Tip: Protect your Bombards and Trebuchets with a thick pocket of Pikemen and Knights. Move slowly and pull enemy defenders out into your line before advancing.
3. Fight in the Shade (Secret / Expansion Achievement)
- Requirement: Survive at Thermopylae for an additional 5 minutes after completing the main objective in "The Hot Gates".
- Tip: Wall the pass with layers of stone and rotate wounded infantry to hold out past the objective timer.
4. No Wonder You Won (Rajendra Campaign)
- Requirement: Win the scenario before Mahipala completes his Wonder in "Sacred Waters".
- Tip: Execute a fast naval transport drop directly into the enemy base to snipe the builder Villagers.
Efficient Cumulative Achievement Farming
Several achievements require large numbers of total actions across all game modes.
Setup Custom Skirmish ──> Infinite Resources / Sudden Death ──> Mass Production ──> Quick Unlocks
1. Mass Conversion Achievements (100 Conversions)
- Map Setup: Custom game against Easy AI, Post-Imperial Age starting era, infinite resources.
- Execution: Train 30 Monks as Byzantines or Spanish, set opponent to spam infantry, and auto-convert approaching waves.
2. Mass Unit Training (10,000 Units Trained)
- Map Setup: Goths on Deathmatch mode with 20 Barracks queued up.
- Execution: Set Barracks queues to infinite loop with Perfusion researched to pump Karambit Warriors or Goth Huskarls continuously.
3. Wonder Victory Milestones
- Map Setup: Turbo Mode on a Tiny map against Easiest AI.
- Execution: Pick Teutons or Franks, construct a Wonder immediately with starting Villagers, and speed up game speed to 2.0x.