Age of Empires 4: Rus - civilization Age of Empires 4 guide, walkthrough

On this page of the Age of Empires 4 guide you will find the most important information about the Rus civilization.

Last update: 03 December 2021

This page of the Age of Empires 4 guide contains a description of the Rus civilization. Here you'll learn about the Bounty system, all unique units, technologies and Landmarks.

The Rus civilization is characterised by fast resource gain, expansion, conquest and trade. Thanks to their unique buildings and the Bounty system they obtain food and generate gold very quickly. In the early-game they protect their vast territories with wooden fortresses and upgraded wooden walls.

• Bonuses
• Unique units
• The Bounty system
• Landmarks
• Unique technologies
• Summary

Bonuses

1. Killing animals generates gold and increases your Bounty level;
2. As your Bounty level increases, so does your food gain from all sources;
3. Knights available from the 2nd era onwards;
4. Stronger palisades with twice as many hit points;
5. Hunting Cabins generate Gold from nearby forests and allow you to produce Scouts;
6. Wooden Fortresses with an Outpost feature gain more hit points and a garrison spot;
7. Fishing ships don't need to return to the Docks to deliver food.

Unique units

1. Warrior Monk - a military-religious unit. Its special ability increases all nearby units' attack and armor for 10 seconds. By researching technology you can extend this time and upgrade the ability;
2. Horse Archer - a ranged cavalry unit, available from the 3rd era onwards;
3. Streltsy - a military unit equipped with gunpowder, available from the 4th era onwards. Has a special ability which increases its attack speed and damage;

1. Lodya Ships - these can be converted into other types of ships.

The Bounty system

The Bounty system is unique to the Rus. Gaining points by killing wild animals (shown on the left side of the screen) grants you various benefits and rewards you with gold.

The Bounty system is divided into 3 tiers:

1. Tier I (100 points) - food harvest rate increased by 5%. Hunting Cabins generate gold every 27 seconds;
2. Tier II (250 points) - food harvest rate increased by 10%. Hunting Cabins generate gold every 24 seconds;
3. Tier III (500 points) - food harvest rate increased by 15%. Hunting Cabins generate gold every 18 seconds.

Landmarks

2nd era:

1. Kremlin - a defensive building with Wooden Fortress features;
2. The Golden Gate - An economy building. Allows you to exchange resources at a favorable rate. Generates an additional resource trade every minute.

3rd era:

1. High Trade House - an economic building with a Hunting Cabin features. Generates 200% more gold and produces deer every minute;

1. Abbey of the Trinity - a religious building with Monastery features. The Warrior Monks it produces cost half their usual price, it also comes with some unique technologies.

4th era:

1. High Armory - a military building. Reduces machine cost in the nearby Siege Workshop by 20% and has some unique technologies;
2. Spasskaya Tower - a military building with Keep features.

Unique technologies

2nd era:

1. Castle Watch (Wooden Fortresses) - increases a building's view range by 6 tiles;
2. Castle Turret (Wooden Fortresses) - increases a building's damage by 2 points.

3rd era:

1. Clinker Construction (Dock) - increases hit points of Lodya Attack Ships by 200;
2. Boyar's Fortitude (Stable) - increases cavalry hit points by 20;
3. Mounted Precision (Archery Range) - increases the range of Horse Archers by 2 tiles;
4. Blessing Duration (Monastery) - increases the duration of Warrior Monks' special ability by 10 seconds;
5. Improved Blessing (Monastery) - increases the damage bonus of Warrior Monks' special ability by 1;
6. Saint's Reach (Monastery) - increases the range of Warrior Monks' special ability by 3 tiles.

4th era:

1. Fine Tuned Guns (High Armory) - reduces the Bombards' reload time by 25%;
2. Knight Sabers (Stable) - increases Knights' melee damage by 4;
3. Ceda Hulls (Dock) - increases hit points of Lodya Attack Ships by 200 and armor by 1;
4. Siege Crew Training (High Armory) - allows Trebuchets and Mangonels to immediately deploy and fire;
5. Wandering Town (High Armory) - Battering Rams deal 100% more damage;
6. Banded Arms (High Armory) - increases the range of catapults by 1,5 tiles;
7. Double Time (Archery Range) - The Streltsy units gain an ability which increases their movement speed by 30% and their deployment speed by 50% for 10 seconds.

Summary

The Rus can gather resources quickly and their unique buildings let them thrive when surrounded by forests. Additionally the Bounty system rewards then with gold and additional bonuses for each wild animal they kill.

The Hunting Cabin, which replaces the Mill, forms the base of the Rus' economy. In addition to storing food, Hunting Cabins generate gold depending on how many trees are around it.

Wooden Fortresses replace outposts, have more garrison space and increase resource gain of nearby Lumber Camps by 20%. Their wooden walls and gates are stronger but they aren't able to build any stone fortifications, which means they may be vulnerable to sieges in the later stages of the game.

The Rus have some powerful and unique military units. Their mounted Warrior Monks have more hit points than religious units of other civilizations and are great in combat. The Streltsy ranged unit, which is equipped with gunpowder, deals immense amounts of damage. Their cavalry can also be enhanced with unique technologies to make it even stronger.

Lodya, their unique spin on standard ships available in Age of Empires 4, can be transformed into any other type of ship whenever you want. This allows you to transform a fishing boat into a powerful naval warship.

If you want to win with the Rus you should try to dominate the map in the early-game. The Rus have strong bonuses but they lag behind technologically until the IV era.