16 mods to use in Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition

16 mods to use in Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition

Published at: 06/16/2022
Updated at: 02/28/2024
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Here are some Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition mods that you can't miss!

I personally use these mods and I wanted to make this list so that other players can benefit from them while playing. In general, they will make your interface and map cleaner and better, and they will also help you improve the way you play.

Some of them will be more or less useful to you. Try them, and let me know what you think!

Update: I have added mods from 13 to 16 to give you a more complete and useful list!

Table of contents

If you have other mods you think are worth installing, just write them down below in the comments!

To get an idea of how the game looks like with all these mods enabled, take a look at one of my most recent videos:

4v4 Britons Arabia
4v4 Britons Arabia (Youtube)

1) Zetnus Improved Grid Mod

No more holes in your walls! Just kidding, there will always be one.

But do not despair my friend! Zetnus Improved Grid Mod will be usefull to spot hidden holes and place builings more easily! You can also learn better How to quickwall as TheViper (tutorial made by Hera).

Basically, it will add thin grey lines, showing how the map is divided in squares.

Screenshot showing how the Zetnus Improved Grid Mod is in the game
Screenshot showing how the "Zetnus Improved Grid Mod" is in the game

Go to the download page

2) Even Smaller Trees

Trees are annoying, our world would be better with more concrete, don't you agree? Well, we can't remove trees from everywhere, but we can make them smaller in our games!

Even smaller trees, if you didn't guess it already, is a mod that will make your trees very small (wow really?). This is useful expecially in maps like Black Forest, but I find it helpful even in Arabia or Arena, to spot units more easily and to have a cleaner view of the map.

Trees modified by the Even smaller trees mod
Trees modified by the "Even smaller trees" mod

Trees are too small? Then you can try Small Trees mod, which could be a good compromise between the two situations.

Go to the download page

3) Improved Extended Tooltips

Improved Extended Tooltips is not necessarily an improvement for your gameplay, but it will be helpful in case you want more information about units and buildings while playing.

You will get more details about attack bonuses, armor classes, move speed, reload time, creation time, accuracy, line of sight, blast radius, special attacks and other attributes.

Improved tooltip for the Elite Skirmisher
Improved tooltip for the Elite Skirmisher

Go to the download page

4) Short Walls

The Chinese built the Great Wall some time ago, but when we play we might want to spot units more easily, right?

Well, if you, like me, have troubles finding sheeps and boars sometimes, I am sure that Short Walls will come in handy! This will make all walls smaller, and even kinda cuter if you want.

Short walls mod applied on the walls
"Short walls" mod applied on the walls

Just a side note, it can happen that walls placed in oblique will look a bit weird in some cases.

Go to the download page

5) Interactive Build Order Guide

In my opinion this is the best mod for single player training to improve your skills!

Interactive Build Order Guide allows you to load scenarios and practice in-game with several build orders!

Reading a build order can be difficult and I really think this mod will help you moving some steps forward and increase your ELO. Of course in a real game you'll have to adapt. There are many ways to learn a build order properly. You can print a paper and keep it on a side while playing, ALT-Tab in game to take a look at the guide, memorize the number of villagers to assign to a resource or the time to build the barracks, but you'll have to play it anyway.

Example of a build from the Interactive Build Order Guide mod
Example of a build from the "Interactive Build Order Guide" mod

Some of the build orders you can learn with this mod:

  • 22 pop scouts
  • 23 pop archers
  • 28+2 pop knights
  • 27+2 pop boom
  • 26 pop full water
  • 26 pop hybrid
  • ... and many more

Go to the download page

6) Knock Out Area Attack Cursor

I find it hard to shoot with Mangonels and Bombard Cannons. Knock Out Area Attack Cursor helps me getting it right. Of course, misses and mistakes will still be a thing.

This mod will add a big red crosshair on the terrain when you manually shoot with some units, like Mangonels, Onagers, Bombard Cannons.

Red crosshair displayed on the terrain with the Knock out area mod
Red crosshair displayed on the terrain with the "Knock out area" mod

Finally, no more friendly fire! Are you ready to splash those juicy crossbowmen? Please record that moment and link the video down here in the comments!

Go to the download page

7) Villager Highlighter

This is probably a minor improvement, but I find it useful.

When you produce villagers you might find it difficult to understand which ones are producing and which ones are queueing. Idle Town Centers? What is that? Just an old problem that Villager Highlighter will bury forever!

Icons of the villagers being created are blue
Icons of the villagers being created are blue

Go to the download page

8) Brandnew Resource Panel with Annoying Idle Villager Button

Another minor improvement, it will make your resources panel better, with colors for each resource, and it will add an annoying indicator so you can easily see that there are idle villagers.

The resource panel uses different colors for each resource
The resource panel uses different colors for each resource

You know, those lazy builders just want to laze around behind your back, while you are focused fighting and microing your archers. You turn your eyes away for a second, and here are 30 villagers doing nothing.

Brandnew Resource Panel with Annoying Idle Villager Button is the way to go!

Go to the download page

9) Age of Mandala - Range Mod

Age of Mandala is a set of different mods, and the Range Mods will be very useful to improve your games.

Basically, you will see more clearly the range a building has, for your own buildings and for enemy buildings too. Some of the mods also work with the foundations, so while a tower or castle is being built you can see how far its arrows will go.

No more dead scouts under enemy TCs (unless you are Daut) and no more surprise castles in da face!

Here is the list of the Range mods:

Screenshot showing how the Castle foundation range mod is in the game
Screenshot showing how the "Castle foundation range mod" is in the game

Of course, these mods can become annoying sometimes and fill your maps with weird lines. For me, it works kinda good most of the times, but it can be a bit confusing in large team games. Try them and let me know!

10) Simplified Minimap Colors

Simplified Minimap Colors modifies the colors of the minimap to make them less confusing, expecially when trying to spot units or resources.

No green minimaps, and the hills will be in 2D.

A minimap with the Simplified Colors mod applied
A minimap with the Simplified Colors mod applied

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Go to the download page

11) Dark Age Town Center

Sometimes sheeps are hard to see under the Town Center, and this mod will make them easier to see by removing some parts of the building.

This works only in the Dark Age. When you reach Feudal Age, the aspect of the Town Center will go back to its original form.

Screenshot showing the Dark age town center mod in the game
Screenshot showing the "Dark age town center" mod in the game

Dark Age Town Center also supports the Enhanced Graphics Pack.

Go to the download page

12) Plants Remover

Not much to say. Plants Remover will remove some of the useless plants you have on the map, making it cleaner while you play.

Go to the download page

13) Anne_HK Boar Pointer

Ever wondered where the hell your boars are hiding? Well, this happens often to me, so I find this mod quite useful, expecially in some maps.

It will put a piggy indicator over your boars. It does not work with elephants and other animals, but it's still good for most use cases.

Screenshot for the Boar Pointer Mod
Screenshot for the Boar Pointer Mod

What are you waiting for? Go to the download page!

14) Anne_HK Monk Pointer (Always Visible)

Who let the monks out? Wo-wo-wo-wo-lololo. Now, monks will not be hiding so easily from us anymore! Basically this adds an arrow indicator on top of all your monks! And it is always visible!

Screenshot for the monk pointer mod
Screenshot for the monk pointer mod

There are two variations, actually:

And remember: The monk gang is back!

15) Anne_HK Building Foundation Label (with Player Color)

If you like those nice icons on the buildings that you can see in CaptureAge, then you will like also this!

Screenshot for the Building Foundation Label mod
Screenshot for the Building Foundation Label mod

The mod adds some good looking colored icons on the buildings foundations, helping you understand and remember what you are building, and also what your enemies are building!

Interested? Head to the download page!

16) Anne_HK Bigger and Eye-catching Relic

No more missing relics on the map! Just kidding, you will still probably miss some of them.

But this mod will make the relics bigger and place a star over them, so they will be easier to see when you are scouting or scrolling the map. Sounds good, right?

Screenshot for the Relic pointer mod
Screenshot for the Relic pointer mod

Then just go to the download page!

Conclusions

I hope you found this list useful! To get all the updates, follow me on Facebook and subscribe to my Youtube channel! If you wish, you can make a donation!

Leave a comment below with your feedback or share a mod you think is worth trying!

Also read:

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  • 2024-02-28 11:23:18

    Author: eartahhj

    Sure, these mods are all publicly available on the official Age of Empires website, the links are all in the article!

  • 2024-02-28 11:18:22

    can you share this mods freely ?

  • 2023-02-20 20:54:48

    Author: eartahhj

    @Rich Hologram thank you for your feedback!

  • 2023-02-20 20:52:57

    Author: Rich Hologram

    thank you for your effort here, i definitely found this information useful. keep up the good work lad. πŸ‘πŸΌπŸ‘πŸΌπŸ‘πŸΌ