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From the earliest days of competitive play, Age of Empires II players faced a fundamental tension: how to allocate scarce early resources between economic growth and military pressure. A player who invested heavily in villagers and farms could outproduce an opponent later, but risked being overrun before reaching the Castle Age. Conversely, an early army could cripple an enemy's economy, but at the cost of delaying one's own advancement. Build orders emerged as the practical answer—precise sequences of villager assignments, building placements, and technology choices that balance these competing demands. Over two decades, the community developed a rich toolkit of opening strategies, each optimized for a particular map, civilization, or playstyle.
The earliest build orders to be codified were the Feudal Age rushes, or "flushes." These strategies aim to attack the opponent during the Feudal Age, before either player has reached the Castle Age. The Scout Rush (1999–Present) sends a small group of Scout Cavalry to harass enemy villagers, especially those gathering resources away from the Town Center. It relies on speed and map awareness to pick off exposed workers. The Archer Rush (1999–Present) instead builds two Archery Ranges and produces Archers, who can attack from range and are particularly effective against villagers and melee units. The Men-at-Arms Rush (1999–Present) uses the Militia-line infantry upgraded to Men-at-Arms, who are tougher than Scouts and can break into palisade walls, but are slower and more expensive to field. These three rushes share the same core pressure—disrupt the opponent's economy in Feudal Age—but differ in their unit type, resource demands, and vulnerability to counterplay. The Scout Rush is fastest and cheapest, the Archer Rush scales better into the mid-game, and the Men-at-Arms Rush excels at destroying buildings and forcing wall repairs.
A more specialized Feudal rush is the Tower Rush (2000–Present), also known as a "trush." Instead of fielding an army, the Tower Rush player sends villagers forward to build stone towers near the opponent's resources. Towers provide a safe zone for archers and can deny large areas of the map. The Tower Rush is a high-risk, high-reward strategy: it can completely shut down an opponent's economy if successful, but it requires a significant stone investment and leaves the attacker vulnerable if the towers are neutralized. Unlike the Scout, Archer, or Men-at-Arms rushes, the Tower Rush does not rely on military units for its primary effect, making it a distinct approach to Feudal pressure.
The Drush (2000–Present), short for "Dark Age rush," emerged as a refinement of the rush concept. Instead of waiting for the Feudal Age, the Drush sends three Militia (later upgraded to Men-at-Arms) to harass the opponent during the Dark Age. The goal is not to win the game outright but to delay the opponent's economy, force idle time, and gain scouting information. The Drush is a lighter investment than a full Feudal rush; it uses only 100 food for the Militia and can be followed by any Feudal Age plan. It coexists with the Feudal rushes as a preparatory opening, often transitioning into an Archer Rush or Scout Rush once the Feudal Age is reached. The Drush exemplifies how build orders can layer aggression across ages, rather than confining pressure to a single phase.
While Feudal rushes aim to win early, other build orders prioritize reaching the Castle Age quickly. The Fast Castle (1999–Present) minimizes Feudal Age investment—often building only a few military units or none at all—to advance to Castle Age by roughly 16–17 minutes. Once there, the player can deploy powerful Castle Age units (Knights, Crossbowmen, Monks) or technologies (e.g., Bodkin Arrow, Bloodlines). The Fast Castle is a direct alternative to rushing: it sacrifices early map control for a stronger mid-game. It is especially popular on closed maps like Arena, where walls protect the player during the vulnerable transition.
The Booming (1999–Present) strategy shares the Fast Castle's goal of reaching the Castle Age, but its emphasis is economic rather than military. A booming player builds additional Town Centers in the Castle Age to produce more villagers, rapidly scaling their economy. Booming is not a single build order but a family of approaches that prioritize villager production and farm placement over army creation. It stands in contrast to the Fast Castle, which often uses the Castle Age timing to launch an attack. Booming is the quintessential "greedy" strategy: it assumes the opponent will not punish the economic investment, and it pays off in the Imperial Age when the boomer can field a larger army.
The Knight Rush (1999–Present), or "Krush," is a Castle Age attack that follows a Fast Castle opening. The player produces Knights from Stables as soon as they reach Castle Age, using their high hit points and attack to raid enemy villagers and fight enemy armies. The Knight Rush is a natural complement to the Fast Castle: the Fast Castle gets the player to Castle Age quickly, and the Knight Rush exploits that timing advantage. It differs from Feudal rushes in that Knights are much stronger but require more resources (especially gold) and a longer setup. The Knight Rush can be countered by Spearmen in Feudal Age or by Monks and Pikemen in Castle Age, creating a rock-paper-scissors dynamic with other build orders.
On water maps, the Galley Rush (1999–Present) is the dominant opening. It involves building a Dock in the Dark Age, producing Fishing Ships for food, and then massing Galleys in the Feudal Age to control the water. The Galley Rush is analogous to the Archer Rush on land: it uses ranged units (Galleys) to deny the opponent's economy (Fishing Ships) and secure map control. It is a specialized build order that does not translate to land maps, but it is essential for water-based play. The Galley Rush coexists with land-based rushes in the sense that players must choose their map and adapt their build order accordingly.
The Fast Imperial (2000–Present) is an extreme version of the Fast Castle. Instead of stopping at Castle Age, the player rushes through to the Imperial Age, often by building few military units and relying on a single powerful unit (e.g., Paladins, Arbalests, or Bombard Cannons) once they arrive. The Fast Imperial is a niche strategy, effective only on specific maps (e.g., Black Forest) or against opponents who cannot pressure early. It is the most greedy of all build orders, and it is rarely seen in high-level play on open maps because it leaves the player defenseless for too long. The Fast Imperial represents the outer limit of the trade-off between economy and aggression: maximum economic investment for maximum late-game power.
Today, the leading build orders—Archer Rush, Scout Rush, Fast Castle, and Booming—are not in competition so much as they are tools in a player's repertoire. The community largely agrees that no single build order is universally best; the optimal choice depends on the map, the civilization, and the opponent's expected strategy. There is also broad agreement on the importance of clean execution: hitting the right villager counts, maintaining constant Town Center production, and scouting the opponent's build order to adapt. The major disagreement concerns the value of early aggression versus economic greed. Some players argue that on open maps like Arabia, a Feudal rush is almost mandatory to prevent the opponent from booming freely. Others contend that a well-executed Fast Castle or boom can overcome early pressure through superior macro play. This debate is unlikely to be settled, as it reflects the fundamental tension that gave rise to build orders in the first place. The most successful players are those who can fluidly shift between aggressive and greedy openings based on the game state, blending the insights of all ten frameworks into a coherent strategy.