Guide to Deathmatch

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Guide to Deathmatch

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Post by Cometk »

hi i'm cometk welcome to jackass

what is deathmatch?
basically, deathmatch in age of empires 3 is a gamemode where you start in the post-industrial age with everything upgraded and with 20-thousand of each resource. in addition to that, shipments arrive in 1/3rd the normal time. for example, a card that normally takes 40 seconds to send in supremacy only take 13 seconds to send in deathmatch.

unfortunately, because it is a separate gamemode to supremacy, to play deathmatch you'll have to create new home cities that will start at level 10. however, thanks to the innovations of the ESOC patch, you can use the XP mod to quickly attain level 100 home cities; guide here.

once you have your home cities levelled up, you'll be free to make your decks with the full selection of cards necessary to play a competitive game of deathmatch. usually, this entails military and economic upgrade cards, as well as large military unit shipments. listed below are screenshots of standard decks with each civilization. there isn't that much flexibility with what is viable here, so you're honestly ok to copy these decks, plus or minus a few cards.

and, once you have your home cities and your decks, you should be set to play an actual game of deathmatch. which leads us to:

how do you play deathmatch?
the general start goes like this: houses, church, stables. houses because you need population, the church to get the mercantilism technology, and stables to make dragoons with. the mercantilism technology grants you 2000 experience, which roughly translates to 5 shipments. with these, and usually in this order, you get the fast-training cavalry card, fast-training infantry card, factory, factory, and then your military upgrade cards. with your stables, you start with dragoons for the following reasons: they train quickly and they're mobile. with them you can take control out on the map and raid your opponent from the sides of his base. you should also call minutemen, because with them you can potentially kill an enemy villager that is forward basing, or you can use them to protect your villagers should you choose to make a forward base yourself. it's also wise to use towers and build them to the limit; they're an easy way to take control of the map and gain line of sight as well as convert wood into additional firepower.

never neglect your economy either! you should always have villagers in queue, just like in supremacy. your explorer should make town centers at the start of the game unless you're playing certain maps like great plains or andes in which case it's better to prioritize getting the native posts first for their technologies. a player who utilizes macro-management to his fullest abilities will beat the player who doesn't. the player who gathers 10,000 res by the end of the game will defeat the player who gathers none!

after the beginning is when you should start mixing in a normal unit composition. this means conforming to the unit counter system and making skirmishers and artillery, and maybe even sending a big artillery shipment from the home city if you are about to make a push or need help defending your base. this is when the game will begin to resemble a treaty match, or team supremacy games when they happen to go long.

but, wait, why play deathmatch?
deathmatch is like a fast-paced blend of supremacy and treaty. it heavily rewards mechanical skill and good macromanagement abilities. the games usually don't take very long, and even when they do, they are constantly engaging. personally, deathmatch is my favorite gamemode, and if you give it a try, i hope it becomes yours too.

and that's the gist of it. it's quite difficult for me to explain much further, as if the entirety of treaty or late-game aoe3 skills could be summed up in any way. essentially, if you have treaty skills or team game supremacy skills, they'll come into use in pretty much every deathmatch game you play. the descriptions below focus primarily on decks, shipments, and build orders. any further questions, feel free to ask in this thread

[spoiler=HOW TO PLAY BRITISH]Image

BRITISH
british is probably the weakest european civ in addition to being the most difficult to play. however, they have the potential for the fastest boom, so keep that in mind while playing with them that their most effective strategy is to win on eco, so estates should be sent as soon as possible.

1) 2 vills build (2) stables, 3 vills build houses, 1 vill builds a church then goes to houses.

if your opponent plays aggressive, you will need to send riding school, fencing school, and yeomen as your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th shipments. if your opponent plays defensive, you can delay the military shipments and send estates and factories instead. always set factories to FOOD early on then later to wood.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=DUTCH]Image

DUTCH
standard start, ruyter into skirm/artillery. 7th card can be skirmisher attack or extensive fortification.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=FRENCH]Image

FRENCH
two different build orders, depending on what you anticipate your opponent doing

- IF opponent plays AGGRESSIVE: start stable making dragoon then mix skirmisher/artillery
1) riding school
2) fencing school
3) 10 coureurs
4) fac
5) fac
6) cav combat

- IF opponent plays DEFENSIVE: start barracks into 100-120 xbowman -> skirmisher transform then mix dragoon/artillery
1) fencing school
2) 10 coureurs
3) fac
4) fac
5) tirailleurs [xbow -> skirmisher convert]
6) riding school[/spoiler]
[spoiler=GERMAN]Image

GERMAN
two different build orders here depending on if you want to play more aggressive or economic

AGGRO:
1) palatine settlements (only need to build six houses)
2) riding school
3) fencing school
4) cav combat
5) fac
6) fac

ECO:
1) riding school
2) fencing school
3) fac
4) fac
5) germantown farmers
6) cav combat[/spoiler]
[spoiler=OTTOMAN]Image

OTTOMAN
standard start, cav archer into abus gun. 6th card is usually an artillery upgrade.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=PORTUGUESE]Image

PORTUGUESE
standard start, dragoon into cass/artillery. set factories to FOOD early on then later to coin. usual 7th card is infantry combat. church card and tupi card are good ways to spend excess coin/wood[/spoiler]
[spoiler=RUSSIA]Image

RUSSIA
RUSSIA
i am not very experienced with russia. i don't use the musketeer fort-building card because i do not enjoy the playstyle, however it is a viable strategy to spam proxy forts and take map control very quickly. here is my general build order for making a strelet / cav archer slow push:

1) fencing school
2) team fencing school
3) riding school
4) fac
5) fac

next cards depend on if you want to play slower (economic upgrades) or faster (military upgrades, church card, nootka). as is the same with porto and brit, set your factories to FOOD.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=SPAIN]Image

SPAIN
spain is another civ i'm inexperienced with, however i think they're very powerful. there are two build orders, they are both aggressive but the first i will describe is riskier and more all-in

pikeman start -> mix lancers and skirmishers:
1) team archaic soldier training
2) fencing school
3) riding school
4) unction
5) fac
6) fac

dragoon/lancer start -> mix skirmishers:
1) riding school
2) fencing school
3) unction
4) fac
5) fac[/spoiler]
[spoiler=AZTEC]Image

AZTEC
not very experienced with aztec but the above shipment order should still be the most optimal way to play them.

1) 2 vills build a market, 2 vills build houses, 1 vill builds a firepit. 1 market vill goes to build a war hut, the other market vill as well as the firepit vill go to build houses. explorer builds a tc. queued villagers go to build more war huts. get the market big button. warrior priest dances to make more warrior priests. lay down the 4 noble's huts. queue up eagle runner knights.

2) usual 6th shipment will be knight combat or the war hut training card. keep an eye on what your opponent does; if he makes mostly dragoons, spam macehualtin and ship the 1000c macehualtin card. if he makes mostly skirm, train coyotes and send the 1000c coyote card.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=IROQUOIS]Image

IROQUOIS
1) travois makes a market, or on maps that spawn with a market makes a plantation. all vills go to buildhouses except 1 that builds a firepit. get all three big buttons from the TC, granting you 30 toma, tasked towards mid-map. explorer builds a tc. get market big button. send the above shipments listed starting with battlefield construction and 10 vills + 1tc shipment.

2) tomahawks build 4 war huts, 3 artillery foundries, and 2 stables. queue all villagers to the firepit and do baby dance. dance away and train a mix of tomahawk, mantlets, light cannons and musket riders. after the explorer finishes building the tc, bring him to your army and barrel forwards to victory[/spoiler]
[spoiler=SIOUX]Image

SIOUX
1) 3 vills build a market, 2 vills build a firepit, explorer makes a TC. get the market the big button, send the above shipments listed starting with 18 wakina and battlefield construction. market villagers then build your third TC, and 1 firepit villager then builds a farm and a plantation.

2) 18 wakinas walk towards middle map where they build 4 war huts and 3 stables. from the firepit, farm and plantation get the big buttons (they upgrade wakinas and rifle riders). get the war hut big button and start training wakinas. train at least 15 bow riders from your stables, then get the big button. more cav units depends on what you see from your opponent. if a lot of dragoons, add another 15 bow riders. if mostly skirm, mix in a bit of axe.

3) attack forward, always using teepee support (they are sioux's primary strength). if bow riders don't have a use in the head-to-head engage, split them to the side to raid. be wary of your own base getting raided. use villagers to make stables around the map for line of sight. next cards should be command skill, two kettle support, cav combat, nomadic expansion, and new ways. then start sending the industrial native shipments.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=CHINA]Image

CHINA
1) 3 vills build war academies, 2 vills build villages, 1 vill (press k) queues the ageup with the temple of heaven (gifts 20 vills), then helps build villages. explorer builds new tcs and trains disciples. call irregulars and sentries.

2) after first war academies are finished, villagers should go to building more war academies. you should build a lot of them, like 10-12, just to be safe. queue up as much old han army as you can. other villagers should make a castle, a few rice paddies, a market, a consulate, and, very importantly, a monastery. send confucius gift and acupuncture.

3) queue queue queue a lot of old han army and then send old han reforms. it's also good to mix in a bit of the cavalry army, some mercenaries from the monastery, and maybe some hand mortars. when you get to the imperial age, upgrade chu ko nus, qiang pikes, iron flails, and meteor hammers. also get the imperial eco tech for wood from the market, and the imperial eco tech for food from a rice paddy. the coin tech can be botched until after you've stabilized.

4) if you're under pressure, send 21 qiang or 26 rattan. otherwise, send repelling volley ASAP. from there it's up to you if you want to send more military upgrades or begin sending eco shipments.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=INDIA]Image

INDIA
1) 3 vills build (3) stables, 2 vills build houses, 1 vill (press k) queues the imperial ageup with the charminar gate (gifts 3 mahouts, can train mansabdar units), then helps build houses. split your explorers to make town centers. call irregulars and sentries.

2) after your stables are complete, 2 vills go to build walls and 1 vill goes to build a castle. queue JUST 1 howdah in each stable. the house-making villagers make 2 paddies, a market, and a consulate. send tame elephants, and when it arrives, fill each batch of howdahs to 5. when the howdahs pop, you will have enough experience to get the professional handlers shipment (-1 pop to elephants) and elephant combat shipment

3) queue 5 howdahs in two stables, but leave the third stable idle. when you reach imperial, use the idle stable to get exalted howdah upgrade. from your market and rice paddies get the imperial economic techs. depending on the matchup, you may also upgrade your mahouts.

4) kite with imperial howdahs and spam villagers. your next shipments are military and economic upgrades, or urumi and tiger claws should you be under pressure/about to push.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=JAPAN]don't play japan they suck unless you're aizamk[/spoiler]
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

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Post by tedere12 »

martin schulz approves
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

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Post by bigsmoke »

Looks really good
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

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Post by kami_ryu »

dm is fun
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by deleted_user »

DM tier list?
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

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Post by Hazza54321 »

i thought with deathmatch you need two players to play it
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by Cometk »

deleted_user wrote:DM tier list?

[spoiler=sure, something like this]Tier 1:
Ottoman
Germany

Tier 2:
Spain
Dutch
Portugal
France
Russia
India

Tier 3:
China
Britain
Iroquois
Aztec

Tier 4:
Sioux
Japan[/spoiler]
i'll try to make a graph of good and bad matchups
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by deleted_user0 »

how can tad civs even compete in DM? It seems like the mercantilism type techs are crucial, but tad civs dont have anything like it. on top of it, they apparantly go imperial, which costs like 8k resources, or 5-6k if you count the received bonus. Also factories heavily favor euro civs, right?
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by Cometk »

umeu wrote:how can tad civs even compete in DM? It seems like the mercantilism type techs are crucial, but tad civs dont have anything like it. on top of it, they apparantly go imperial, which costs like 8k resources, or 5-6k if you count the received bonus. Also factories heavily favor euro civs, right?

yup, when played correctly i think a euro civ should beat an asian civ almost every single time. but a lotta people don’t play ‘em right ;)

the key is to simply flood the asian civ’s base with units before they’ve aged
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by BrookG »

Great post! Good job rediscovering dm for us! It is a fun mode
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

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Post by Challenger_Marco »

Hi , I wanna just share my point ,I have a little experience playing DM long ago and have watched few games from top DM players at like 2012 unfortunately no records but I feel those players I have seen were really good now they quit obviously.
I'm gonna say a bit about rush
For British instead of speed manor building card u can send the card where all buildings r built fast(idk the card name but it's available in age 2 criteria) ,so u send that 1st and spam houses after that church XP upgrade then riding or fencing school u must send like 2-3 vills forward and build stable or fax asap and then mass and straight away go to his base ,if he hasn't anything set up it's gg , I have seen this done by those players,and yeah the general one is do mm as blackthough said ,on native maps definitely get tps and get those upgrades.
:nwc:
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

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Post by Challenger_Marco »

For Portuguese:
My opinion is in the deck u can have 2 explorers so that u can build TCS and tps easily,u can boom fastest as port I think u can even have TC wagon but optional I think those explorers would be pretty op!
:nwc:
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

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Post by lemmings121 »



I like how you are assuming the post of "goodspeed of DM", you even pretend one civ doesnt exist!
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by silky »

On DM just spam quen, dodge, fast attack, repeat. Easy.
Death to gendarme-spammers.
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by princeofcarthage »

silky wrote:On DM just spam quen, dodge, fast attack, repeat. Easy.

Hey, this is aoe 3 not witcher 3
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by Cometk »

Challenger_Marco wrote:Hi , I wanna just share my point ,I have a little experience playing DM long ago and have watched few games from top DM players at like 2012 unfortunately no records but I feel those players I have seen were really good now they quit obviously.
I'm gonna say a bit about rush
For British instead of speed manor building card u can send the card where all buildings r built fast(idk the card name but it's available in age 2 criteria) ,so u send that 1st and spam houses after that church XP upgrade then riding or fencing school u must send like 2-3 vills forward and build stable or fax asap and then mass and straight away go to his base ,if he hasn't anything set up it's gg , I have seen this done by those players,and yeah the general one is do mm as blackthough said ,on native maps definitely get tps and get those upgrades.

i tried giving the stonemasons card (age 2 vills build in 65% of regular time) a try with british and it seems as though it doesn't affect manors, so i think it's still best use the age 1 house card for british
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by Bucknasty »

I find British actually really good in dm just need to defend attacks and u will out eco easy
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by dicktator_ »

Brit mili is kinda weak in dm for the same reasons that it is weak in treaty imo. Only chance is to win off their eco (also like in treaty) but getting to that point requires an investment and even afterwards you can still lose to the better units of your opponent.
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by deleted_user »

Why is Brit military weak in TR? They have one of the best LI units and royal guard musketeers and hussars.
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by Cometk »

it's difficult to make an effective push with longbowmen. as the civ with the faster boom, you only have a certain timeframe where you can push while having the economic lead (provided you held your opponent's initial push efficiently). any time after that window and your opponent will have caught up in villager count to which he can outmicro your wonky compositions with easier-to-handle units

musketeers aren't great in deathmatch because for musketeers to be efficient you need to 1) be in close range and 2) have outmassed your opponent. 1) is difficult to do if your opponent has any artillery, and even when they don't they can simply pull back their units to get a better position. 2) is difficult to do because of #1 and also because musketeers train slowly.
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by jack123_ »

i don't like deathmatch personally.
here is a map called "total war 1" which i think is more fun.
put the files in my document/my games/age of empires 3/Rm3 and it will be available as custom map
you will have unlimitted resourses, a tc , some vills and a flat land.
build stuff with vills , age up and kill the opponent.
have fun
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by supernapoleon »

Tbh I think brit is one of the stronger civs... lbs are great to camp with and cost wood what means that brit can spent another ressource unlike most eurpean civ who just have 10k wood in bank...
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by bigsmoke »

deleted_user wrote:Why is Brit military weak in TR? They have one of the best LI units and royal guard musketeers and hussars.


Its very close range, and close range compositions are much worse in treaty than longer range compositions, such as Cassador and Dragoon. Musketeers, although really nice and solid, already have a multi against them from most compositions.

British are still strong however because you need at least a 1.5k/d to break even with them.
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Re: Guide to Deathmatch

Post by Kaiserklein »

People tend to forget than brits have both best huss and 2nd best goons (they have same stats are ports goons, just less range). They also have best musketeers, but in a lot of cases musks aren't really good because of skirms *3 multiplier. Lbs are also really strong even if they don't have upgrades. Rockets shit on other artillery units, except culvs obviously.
So I honestly don't see why brit units are bad. In DM I can somewhat understand, because you can't really ship these homecity upgrades early on.
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