To win in Age of Wonders 4, you must achieve specific Victory Conditions. Similar to other 4X strategy games, a simple military conquest is not the only way to conquer the lands and eliminate your enemies. You can also dip your hands in diplomatic attempts, magical rituals, or racking up points. This Age of Wonders 4 guide will explain all the Victory Conditions you can achieve and how to win the game.
Age of Wonders 4: All Victory Conditions and How to Win Them
(Updated on September 30, 2024 – updated links and format)
In Age of Wonders 4, there are four Victory Conditions that will end the game: Military, Expansion, Magic, and Score. Developer Triumph Studios’ Dev Diary has explained in detail how they work. But I’ll provide you with the gist of it below.
Military Victory Condition in Age of Wonders 4
Military Victory, as you can expect, is done by defeating all other Empires. Either they are human or AI players. There are two ways to eliminate your opposition in the game. First, you can do so by banishing enemy Rulers into the Void and conquering their Throne City. This will completely remove them from the map.
The other way is to become their Overlord and make them your Vassal. Accepting Vassalage will block that player from engaging in diplomacy, and any victories achieved will be credited to their Overlord. However, do keep in mind that they’re still in the game and can become someone else’s Vassal if you’re defeated.
Expansion Victory
If you consider yourself a pacifist or a diplomat, you’ll want to dominate your enemies through Expansion Victory. Achieve Expansion Victory by controlling a significant number of Provinces, which varies based on the map size, and triggering the Beacons of Unity event. After controlling enough Provinces, you must construct three Beacons of Unity in different Cities and light them all.
After lighting the Beacons, a 15-turn countdown will start, and rebels will spawn around them. Winning Expansion Victory requires defending all three Beacons for 15 turns. This prevents you or other players from winning a game without any warning.
Magic Victory Condition in Age of Wonders 4
If the Military Victory is being aggressive and Expansion is diplomatic, then Magic Victory is for those who enjoy turtling or defensive play. This Victory Condition is pulled off once you build three Affinity Province Improvements: Seed, Root, and Heart. They’re unlocked by reaching higher-tier Tomes; Tier 3, Tier 4, and Tier 5, respectively.
Like Expansion Victory, build all three in different Cities to perform the final Ritual and win the game. And, just like Expansion Victory, you’ll have to protect yourself from hostile rebels and players that will try to destroy your Provinces in 15-turn. Still, building Affinity Province Improvements provides you with bonuses that should incentivize you to build them early:
| Improvement | Unlocked at | Bonus |
| Seed | Tier 3 Tomes | +1 Seed Affinity Research skills of Seed Affinity are 10% cheaper |
| Root | Tier 4 Tomes | +1 Root Affinity Spells of Root Affinity are 20% cheaper to cast |
| Heart | Tier 5 Tomes | +1 Heart Affinity Debuff Spells of Heart Affinity have an extra effect Damage Spells of Heart Affinity deal bonus 20 damage |
During your final 15-turn Ritual, your Empire will also gain two extra buffs:
- Mana and Casting Points of Spells are reduced by 50%.
- Extra Combat Enchantment is active while in combat, depending on the Affinity.
Score Victory
Score is the simplest Age of Wonders 4 Victory Condition to explain, but not so much to achieve. Your Empire has to have the most points once the turn limit is reached to achieve Score Victory, as its name suggests. By default, Age of Wonders 4‘s game is set to have 150 turns, but players can easily increase, decrease, or even turn it off altogether.
To be able to obtain the most Score, you’ll have to perform well in five different aspects of the game:
- Military.
- Diplomatic.
- Economy.
- Expansion.
- Research.
For example, your Military Score increases as you accumulate more units and win more battles. Your final score for the Score Victory is determined by your ranking across all five categories. Considering players should be able to win through other Conditions before the turn limit ends, Score Victory is a rare occurrence. For that reason, usually, this only serves as a tie-breaker if there is no definitive winner.
