Age of Empires Mobile Island Tactics Guide

Introduction

What is Island Tactics?

Island Tactics is a game mode in Age of Empires Mobile, accessed through the Expedition menu. It is a crucial aspect of the game because it is the main way to acquire gear for your heroes. You will need to strategically progress through island levels, purchase items from its dedicated store, and manage your resources to obtain powerful gear. Equipping your heroes with strong gear will increase their effectiveness in battles and other aspects of the game. Age of Empires Mobile Island Tactics Guide can help you master this mode and make the most of your resources.

Why is it important?

Equipping your heroes with gear is crucial to their overall success in Age of Empires Mobile. Island Tactics offers the opportunity to obtain blueprints for crafting gear, the materials required for crafting the gear, and the materials necessary for upgrading the gear. The materials and blueprints available in the Island Tactics store will improve in rarity and quality as you progress through the island levels. Island Tactics isn’t the only way to obtain gear and materials. You can also purchase them from the VIP Shop and through in-game packs.

Accessing Island Tactics

• Go to the Expedition menu.
• Select Island Tactics.

This will take you to the Island Tactics interface, where you can begin working toward obtaining and crafting powerful gear.

Obtaining Gear and Materials

There are four main ways to obtain gear and materials in Age of Empires Mobile: the Island Tactics Store, completing island levels, the VIP Shop, and in-game packs.

Store

The Island Tactics Store is located in the top right corner of the Island Tactics interface. It allows you to purchase the gear blueprints, crafting materials, and upgrade materials you need to equip your heroes. You can purchase these items using Tactic Coins which are earned passively, based on your progression level. The further you progress, the more Tactic Coins you will passively earn, giving you access to more advanced gear.

Completing Island Tactics levels

In addition to Tactic Coins, you will also be rewarded with blueprints and crafting materials for completing island levels. You can also find and occupy armories of different levels on the world map which will allow you to gather gear blueprints and iron meteorites, which are necessary for crafting gear. It is important to keep in mind that occupying an armory will make your troops vulnerable to attacks from enemy armies.

VIP Shop

You can purchase legendary blueprints and other items from the VIP Shop. This can be a quicker way to boost the strength of your heroes.

In-game packs

You can also purchase gear directly from the in-game store. One of the best value packs to purchase, especially for beginners, is the building queue pack. This pack permanently gives you a third building queue, increasing your building speed by 50%. You will also get some Empire coins as part of this pack.

Special events in Age of Empires Mobile, like the Treasure Hunt, offer opportunities to gather gear crafting materials and other valuable rewards. In the Treasure Hunt, players join forces, coordinating with alliance members to unlock prizes through collaborative effort. While the effectiveness of these events for acquiring high-quality gear and materials isn’t entirely clear, participating can be beneficial. Engaging in such events not only strengthens your alliance bonds but also provides extra resources that might support your crafting goals over time.

Crafting Gear

We have a guide available dedicated to Gear, Forging, and Enhancing Gears. Read more here: https://theriagames.com/guide/age-of-empires-mobile-equipment-guide/

Smithy Building

The Smithy building is unlocked when your Town Center reaches level 15. You need to upgrade this building to level 18 to unlock the Embed Gem system. Level 18 is a good place to stop upgrading early in the game because this is where you unlock the second forging cue. You can continue to upgrade to level 21 if you want, but the two forging cues you get at level 18 will be sufficient.

Upgrading your Smithy also reduces the amount of time it takes to forge equipment. For example, a level 9 Smithy reduces forging time by 15%. A level 15 Smithy reduces forging time by 25%. This is helpful because even with the forging reduction, a legendary item can take almost 34 hours to forge.

Blueprints

Blueprints determine the type and rarity of gear you can craft. You can obtain blueprints from the Island Tactics Store, world map armories, the VIP Shop, in-game packs, and special events. The blueprints you get are sometimes randomized, so you may not always get the piece of equipment you were hoping for. For example, one player crafted a legendary Bowman chest piece, but was hoping to get a helmet or leg gear instead. It is possible to select the gear you get with some blueprints, but it is not clear how to do that.

Blueprints come in three different rarities: rare (blue), epic (purple), and legendary (gold). The higher the rarity, the better the stats the equipment provides. Blue equipment is the easiest to craft because it is cheap and easy to obtain. However, blue equipment doesn’t provide your heroes with very many benefits. It is better to work toward crafting epic and legendary equipment. Each piece of equipment can be leveled up, upgraded, and enchanted. You can enhance your equipment by clicking the “Enhance” button in the Smithy. Enhancing your equipment gives you the option to level up the gear, which improves the main stat, or star up the gear, which unlocks substats.

Crafting Materials

Iron meteorites, essential for crafting gear in Age of Empires Mobile, can be obtained by controlling armories on the world map, making these locations highly strategic assets. Additionally, crafting materials are available through various in-game stores, such as the Island Tactics Store and the VIP Shop, offering options for players to accumulate resources steadily. For those looking to expedite their progress, purchasing in-game packs is another way to acquire these materials, supporting faster gear upgrades and stronger heroes. Balancing these acquisition methods can optimize your crafting potential and gear progression.

Enhancing Gear

Enhancing gear is an important part of Age of Empires Mobile because it makes your heroes more powerful. You can enhance your gear in two ways: leveling up and ascending (starring up).

Leveling Up

Leveling up your gear is the process of increasing the level of your gear, which increases the value of the main stat associated with the gear. You can obtain materials for leveling up gear from the Island Tactics store, the VIP Shop, in-game packs, and special events.

Ascending (Starring Up)

Ascending your gear, also known as starring up, unlocks substats. Substats provide additional benefits beyond the main stat, making the gear more powerful. You unlock a new substat at each star level. To ascend gear, you will need to obtain multiple blueprints for the same piece of gear.

For example, to ascend a legendary Bowman chest to level 1, you would need five additional Bowman chest blueprints. You can obtain blueprint materials for ascending gear from the Island Tactics store, the VIP Shop, in-game packs, and special events. The materials required to ascend legendary gear are very rare. One player mentioned that it would take him 18 legendary Bowman chests to ascend one piece of gear for each of his archer heroes. This would be very expensive, even for someone who spends a lot of money on the game.

Equipping Heroes

Once you have crafted and enhanced your heroes’ gear, you can equip them by following these steps:

• Open the Heroes menu.

• Select the hero you want to equip.

• Tap on the Smithy (Anvil) icon.

• Tap on an empty equipment slot. This will open a menu with a list of all the available gear for that slot.

• Select the piece of gear you want to equip.

• Repeat for each equipment slot.

A few things to consider:

• You should only equip gear that matches the hero’s unit type. For example, if your hero is a Swordsman, you should equip them with Swordsman gear. Doing this will maximize your hero’s stats and bonuses.

• You cannot change a hero’s equipment while they are marching. Make sure that the hero is in your base before you try to equip or unequip them.

• You can reset gear using the “Reset” button. This will reclaim the materials you used to level up the gear, allowing you to use them on other pieces of gear. This is useful if you decide to switch to a different unit type.

You can equip your hero with four pieces of gear, the head, arms, chest, and boots. You should prioritize crafting and equipping Legendary (gold) gear, followed by Epic (purple) gear. Blue gear is fairly common but doesn’t offer as many advantages.

Upgrading rings in Age of Empires Mobile requires substantial resources, making it essential to choose the most efficient method. Although the Arena Shop offers silver sand for upgrading, it’s generally not recommended due to the time and Arena silver required. For example, upgrading an Epic ring from level 1 to 10 would take 150 silver sand, which translates to about 150,000 Arena silver—a process that could take roughly four months.

In contrast, using 181 Hammers is a faster alternative. Similarly, Legendary rings require 300 silver sand or 300,000 Arena silver, which could take up to eight months to accumulate in the Arena Shop. Given these constraints, Hammers are a more viable option for ring upgrades, offering a quicker path to enhanced power.

Managing Gear

Locking/Unlocking

You can lock and unlock gear using the icon in the top right corner of the gear piece. It prevents you from accidentally dismantling an important piece of gear.

Resetting

You can reset a piece of gear by clicking the “Reset” button in the Smithy. This will return the materials that you used to level up the gear, which you can use to level up a different piece of gear. You may want to reset a piece of gear if:

• You accidentally level up the wrong piece of gear
• You obtain a higher rarity piece of gear and no longer need the lower rarity piece
• You decide to change your army composition and need a different type of gear
• You want to use the materials to level up a ring

Tips and Strategies

Use the In-Game Guide: The in-game guide provides a lot of helpful information, including hero combination recommendations. You can use this guide to help you choose the right heroes for your army.

Prioritize Upgrading the Smithy: Upgrading the Smithy should be one of your top priorities. This is because upgrading the Smithy reduces the amount of time it takes to craft gear and also increases the number of forging queues you have. The faster you can craft gear, the faster you can equip your heroes and increase their power.

Focus on Crafting Epic and Legendary Gear: While blue equipment is easy to craft, it is not as powerful as purple and legendary equipment. You should work toward crafting higher rarity equipment as soon as possible.

Equip Heroes with Matching Gear: You should equip your heroes with gear that matches their unit type. For example, you should equip a swordsman hero with swordsman gear.

Take Advantage of the VIP Shop: The VIP Shop is a great place to buy blueprints, crafting materials, and other helpful items. If you are a low spender, this is a good place to spend some of your money.

Don’t Spend Alliance Coins on Resources: You can earn Alliance Coins by helping alliance members and donating to Alliance Technology. While it may be tempting to spend these coins on resources, it’s better to save them to buy things like skill points and speedups from the Alliance Treasury store.

Use Speedups Wisely: Speedups are a valuable resource, especially for free-to-play players. You should save your speedups for important tasks like troop training and building upgrades.

Join a Whale Alliance: Joining a Whale Alliance (an alliance with players who spend a lot of money on the game) is one of the best ways to progress quickly. These alliances often have strong players who can help you with events and battles.

Don’t Open All Your Resource Tokens: It’s a good idea to save your resource tokens and only use them when needed, especially early in the game. Otherwise, you risk losing them to other players when they attack your city.

Utilize All 5 Armies: You should take advantage of all 5 armies, especially when gathering resources offline.

Push Island Tactics: Island Tactics is a great way to obtain blueprints, crafting materials, and skill scrolls. It is important to push as far as you can in Island Tactics to maximize your rewards.

Don’t Miss Special Events: Special events offer a variety of rewards, including blueprints, crafting materials, skill scrolls, and heroes. You should make sure to participate in these events as much as possible. Some special events to look out for include the Trojan turmoil event, the Military Exercise, the Apex Arena, and the Alliance Glory event.

Understand Hero Roles: Heroes have different roles in Age of Empires Mobile, such as support and damage. It is important to understand the role of each hero before you invest resources in them.

Maximize Resource Gathering: You can maximize your resource gathering by utilizing all 5 of your armies, using heroes with gathering skills, and targeting Rich resource nodes during special events.

Conclusion

With a solid grasp of the equipment system in Age of Empires Mobile, you’re better equipped to power up your heroes and strengthen your forces. Crafting and enhancing gear plays a pivotal role in boosting hero power. Selecting the right gear, enhancing it strategically, and equipping it on the correct heroes can offer a substantial advantage in both battles and events.

Avoiding common mistakes—like spending Alliance Coins on basic resources instead of prioritizing more impactful upgrades—will keep you on the path to efficient progress. By applying the tips and strategies laid out in this guide, you’ll be well-positioned to maximize your growth and seize victory in the competitive landscape of Age of Empires Mobile.