Hello there. So, some of you( Namelly the ones who are also into AoK ) may be familiar with a You Tuber called "Spirit of the Law" For those who arent, well, here is a link to his channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChzLZJo-SxuPHz-oYKAIC_g One kind of video he makes I particularly enjoy are civilization evaluations, where after looking at a civilization bonuses and unique unit, he looks at each aspect of his tech tree and rates it from A+ to F. Basically, as a general rule, A+ means "The best in the game of this cathegory", B+ means "Fully upgraded, or about equal to how it would be if it were fully upgraded", and F, of course, means "You might as well not even have it."
The reason I am telling you about this is that I recently begun wondering how would he rate some civilizations of the original game. Since he probably wont do that, I thought I would do that. And, since I dont want to get sued and I literally hate the sound of my own voice, I decided a You Tube channel would not be the best way to go about it, so instead I would try to "rate" a civilization on this forum, and see what you think. I decided to start with the Hittites because they are my favourite civilization, but if you enjoy it, feel free to suggest me another one in the future. With that said, lets get started:
Infantry: C( As of Definitive Edition ): Prior to Definitive Edition, it would have been a B- as they had fully upgraded Centurions. Today, though, they joined the club of civilizations that lack both Legions and Centurions, AND are the only one of those civilizations to do not have any economical bonuses that would give then early infantry rushes to make up for it. Now, to be fair, for the standart of those civilizations, their-late game is still decent, as they have Phalanxes and Long Swordsman, but there isnt much of a role their infantry can fit that cannot be fit by their other units.
Cavalry: B( They get just about everything except the Cataphract. Although I feel the Cataphract is a underrated unit, the truth is, the Hittites have the Scythe Chariot to fill about the same role, perhaps even better. Scythe Chariots are actually-Better-Then Cataphracts at killing Legions on virtue of being cheaper, costing no gold and dealing splash damage, though they still should stay away from Choson and Roman legions. And now that they lack Centurions, their War Elephants role at protecting siege units and some archers becomes just that more important. )
Archers: A+( The Hittites get everything except Composite Bowman, and their Improved Bowman already tie with the Composite Bowman in terms of attack anyway, and between that and their Chariot Archers it is not exactly a massive lost. Truth be told, their archers will always be a step above the ones of their opponents from the Tool Age forwards, with rare exceptions. See, there are civilizations that are better then the Hittites at-Specific-Tactics with their archers. Like, say, the Assyrian Bowman rush and the Egyptian Chariot Archers. But all of then have their power peak at some point, while the Hittites can mantain dominance through the whole game. )
Mon... I mean, Priests: F( They only get Astrology. ... Unless you can show me some really brillant Hittite priests strategy, I dont think I need to explain why is that bad. )
Siege: A( Although their siege is certainly superb, I rank it so "low"... As in, not as a A+ for two reasons: The first is their lack of Ballistas, which is probably for balance reasons, but I find Ballistas and Helepolis to be more versatile then the Catapult-line, and secound because, I actually think the Sumerian have a slightly better bonus, as extra rate of fire is more important then extra health for siege units, on my opinion at least. )
Navy: B-( Their Scout Ships are a threat in the early game, but in my opinion, especially as of the DE, they are not that much better then, let us say, Yamato or Minoan scout ships. Their lack of Trireme also cripples their late game navy, though to be fair, if they already have control of the seas by this point it will be hard for the opponent to get over then. On the overral, they have a good early-game navy and a poor late-game navy that kind of evens out at average: Probably would be ranked higher if they also had some kind of early economical bonus to emphatise their nature as a master of Scout ship rushes. )
Defenses: B+( They really get all of the important stuff. Their solid Tool Age archers can also be seen as a defensive bonus too, to counter Axeman rushes. )
Economy: B( They lack any real economical bonus, as well as Fishing Ships. But they still have every relevant economical technology, at least in land maps. )
The reason I am telling you about this is that I recently begun wondering how would he rate some civilizations of the original game. Since he probably wont do that, I thought I would do that. And, since I dont want to get sued and I literally hate the sound of my own voice, I decided a You Tube channel would not be the best way to go about it, so instead I would try to "rate" a civilization on this forum, and see what you think. I decided to start with the Hittites because they are my favourite civilization, but if you enjoy it, feel free to suggest me another one in the future. With that said, lets get started:
Infantry: C( As of Definitive Edition ): Prior to Definitive Edition, it would have been a B- as they had fully upgraded Centurions. Today, though, they joined the club of civilizations that lack both Legions and Centurions, AND are the only one of those civilizations to do not have any economical bonuses that would give then early infantry rushes to make up for it. Now, to be fair, for the standart of those civilizations, their-late game is still decent, as they have Phalanxes and Long Swordsman, but there isnt much of a role their infantry can fit that cannot be fit by their other units.
Cavalry: B( They get just about everything except the Cataphract. Although I feel the Cataphract is a underrated unit, the truth is, the Hittites have the Scythe Chariot to fill about the same role, perhaps even better. Scythe Chariots are actually-Better-Then Cataphracts at killing Legions on virtue of being cheaper, costing no gold and dealing splash damage, though they still should stay away from Choson and Roman legions. And now that they lack Centurions, their War Elephants role at protecting siege units and some archers becomes just that more important. )
Archers: A+( The Hittites get everything except Composite Bowman, and their Improved Bowman already tie with the Composite Bowman in terms of attack anyway, and between that and their Chariot Archers it is not exactly a massive lost. Truth be told, their archers will always be a step above the ones of their opponents from the Tool Age forwards, with rare exceptions. See, there are civilizations that are better then the Hittites at-Specific-Tactics with their archers. Like, say, the Assyrian Bowman rush and the Egyptian Chariot Archers. But all of then have their power peak at some point, while the Hittites can mantain dominance through the whole game. )
Mon... I mean, Priests: F( They only get Astrology. ... Unless you can show me some really brillant Hittite priests strategy, I dont think I need to explain why is that bad. )
Siege: A( Although their siege is certainly superb, I rank it so "low"... As in, not as a A+ for two reasons: The first is their lack of Ballistas, which is probably for balance reasons, but I find Ballistas and Helepolis to be more versatile then the Catapult-line, and secound because, I actually think the Sumerian have a slightly better bonus, as extra rate of fire is more important then extra health for siege units, on my opinion at least. )
Navy: B-( Their Scout Ships are a threat in the early game, but in my opinion, especially as of the DE, they are not that much better then, let us say, Yamato or Minoan scout ships. Their lack of Trireme also cripples their late game navy, though to be fair, if they already have control of the seas by this point it will be hard for the opponent to get over then. On the overral, they have a good early-game navy and a poor late-game navy that kind of evens out at average: Probably would be ranked higher if they also had some kind of early economical bonus to emphatise their nature as a master of Scout ship rushes. )
Defenses: B+( They really get all of the important stuff. Their solid Tool Age archers can also be seen as a defensive bonus too, to counter Axeman rushes. )
Economy: B( They lack any real economical bonus, as well as Fishing Ships. But they still have every relevant economical technology, at least in land maps. )