
Introduction
Philip IV in Age of Empires Mobile is a Legendary Swordsman hero renowned for his strategic abilities, making him a strong addition to any lineup focused on sustained damage and tactical advantages. As a Tactician, he excels at coordinating Swordsman units, enhancing their damage while weakening enemy forces. His signature skill, “Sovereign Supremacy,” increases the damage dealt to enemies, while his commander skill, “Charisma of Monarch,” boosts his allies’ damage and applies debuffs to the enemy. This combination makes Philip IV particularly effective in extended battles such as city sieges or rallies, where sustained strategic damage and tactical control are crucial. For more detailed strategies and optimizations, check out this Age of Empires Mobile Philip Guide.
Philip IV’s abilities in Age of Empires Mobile provide exceptional synergy with other heroes, particularly those who can complement his strengths in supporting allies and weakening enemies. As a Tactician Swordsman, Philip IV thrives when paired with heroes who focus on enhancing strategy damage and reducing the enemy’s combat effectiveness.
For example, pairing him with heroes like Sun Tzu or Theodora amplifies his strategic value. Sun Tzu is renowned for his ability to deal massive strategy damage, which synergizes perfectly with Philip IV’s buffs. His skill set and strategic focus, when combined with Philip IV’s debuffs and damage boosts, create a formidable force that increases the overall damage output of the team. Theodora, on the other hand, excels in support, reducing incoming damage to her forces and increasing the effectiveness of charging skills. Together, these heroes allow Philip IV to maximize his role as both a damage dealer and a tactical leader, ensuring that his team can both dish out and absorb significant damage.
Philip IV’s tactical role is essential for compositions that focus on strategy over raw damage. While he may not be the highest direct damage dealer, his value comes from his ability to weaken enemy forces while simultaneously bolstering his own team’s effectiveness. This makes him a critical component in team strategies that rely on sustained damage and debuffs, such as those seen in prolonged battles, city sieges, or rallies. His “Sovereign Supremacy” signature skill and “Charisma of Monarch” commander skill play pivotal roles in these scenarios, enabling him to not only boost the damage of his allies but also apply debuffs that cripple enemy units and heroes.
Understanding how to pair Philip IV with the right heroes and units is crucial to fully unlocking his potential in battle. His unique abilities offer tactical advantages that are best realized when combined with the correct supporting heroes, such as those who can take advantage of his debuffs or enhance the overall strategy damage of the team. Additionally, players should be mindful of the broader synergy between Philip IV’s skills, hero pairings, and the game’s evolving meta to optimize his effectiveness. By carefully considering these factors, players can elevate their strategic gameplay, ensuring that Philip IV remains an essential and powerful leader on the battlefield.
Rarity: Legendary Specialties: Tactician Attack Buff Unit Type: Swordsmen Select Level (1-120): Level: 1 Might: Armor: Strategy: Siege:Philip skills
Philip IV’s skillset is centered around dealing strategy damage and disrupting enemy strategy. His Commander skill, “Charisma of Monarch,” makes him an offensive powerhouse, enabling him to deal strategy damage to a target while stealing a substantial amount of strategy from the enemy commander for six seconds. This not only weakens the opponent but also amplifies Philip IV’s subsequent attacks. His Signature skill, “Sovereign Supremacy,” further cements his role as a strategy damage specialist. This charging skill unleashes a wave of strategy damage after a three-second charge, and increases the target’s strategy damage taken for three seconds.
This combination of abilities allows Philip IV to effectively cripple enemy forces, especially those who rely heavily on strategy-based defense mechanisms. His primary skills, “Sovereign Supremacy” and “Charisma of Monarch”, serve as powerful tools for weakening opponents and boosting his allies’ capabilities. When deployed together, these skills significantly reduce the enemy’s effectiveness while enhancing the offensive potential of his own forces, especially when those forces are composed of Swordsmen—Philip IV’s ideal troop type. The strategic synergy here is crucial, as it sets the stage for overwhelming his foes by taking away their advantages and strengthening his team’s resilience and attack power.
Beyond these two skills, Philip IV’s full skill set includes a variety of other potent abilities that further elevate his strategic role. “High Spirit” is an especially valuable skill, boosting the activation chance of all of his active skills. Notably, it increases the activation rate of his charging skills—especially “Sovereign Supremacy”—which allows him to deliver powerful, game-changing attacks more consistently. This makes Philip IV not only a tactical powerhouse but also a more reliable hero in critical moments when his team needs a decisive strike.
Further augmenting his offensive capabilities is “Strategy Master’s Gift”. This skill enhances his strategy damage output, further boosting the impact of his skills on the battlefield. Additionally, it increases the activation chances of his signature active skills, like “Sovereign Supremacy,” ensuring that his most powerful abilities are more likely to trigger when needed most. This makes him particularly effective in prolonged engagements, where consistent damage output is key to turning the tide of battle in his favor.
Philip IV also brings versatility with “Conflagration”, which adds additional damage over time with a burn effect. This skill is particularly effective when facing groups of enemies or units with high health pools, as it ensures continued damage even after the initial attack. This, combined with his other skills, makes him a multi-faceted hero who can adapt to a variety of battlefield situations.
Meanwhile, “War Tactic” provides a strategic healing option, ensuring that his forces can stay in the fight longer while maintaining offensive pressure. This skill adds survivability to Philip IV’s team, which is especially important in extended battles such as sieges or rally fights where the ability to sustain combat effectiveness is crucial.
Finally, “Suppression” is a valuable debuff skill that reduces both enemy might and strategy. By lowering these two crucial stats, Philip IV makes his enemies more vulnerable to all forms of attack—particularly strategy-based damage. This makes him a formidable commander against powerful strategy-focused enemies, allowing him to turn the tide by reducing their defensive capacity and making them more susceptible to follow-up attacks from his team.
When these skills are used in combination, Philip IV becomes a devastating force on the battlefield, capable of crippling enemy forces while simultaneously providing support to his own. The combination of damage-dealing abilities, debuffs, and healing options makes him a versatile and reliable hero who excels in both offensive and defensive strategies. By pairing him with the right units and heroes, players can maximize his potential and ensure that he remains a key player in any strategic lineup.
Charisma of MonarchCommander skill
Deals strategy damage to the target (damage rate: 128.14 with strategy bonus) and siphons 23.84 strategy from the enemy commander for 6 seconds, enhancing your tactical advantage.
Signature skill
Enters a charging state, and after 3 seconds, deals strategy damage to the enemy troop (damage rate: 71.52% with strategy bonus) while also increasing the target’s strategy damage taken by 3.73% (with strategy bonus) for 3 seconds.
Deals strategy damage to the enemy troop (damage rate: 40.14% with strategy bonus) and reduces the enemy commander’s Might or Strategy by 7.45 (with strategy bonus) for 6 seconds. This ability effectively lowers the target’s power, weakening their offensive or defensive capabilities for a short duration.
Boulder TrapEnters a charging state, and after 3 seconds, deals strategy damage to the enemy troop (damage rate: 76.93% with strategy bonus). This ability focuses on delivering a strong burst of strategy damage after a short delay, allowing for impactful attacks when timed effectively.
ConflagrationDeals strategic damage to the enemy troop (damage rate: 59.60%, strategy bonus) and applies a burn effect, causing additional strategic damage every second (damage rate: 6.06%, strategy bonus) for 6 seconds.
War TacticDeals strategic damage to the enemy troop (damage rate: 56.56%, strategy bonus) and restores your troop’s units (recovery rate: 31.31%, War Tactic strategy bonus).
High SpiritIncreases the activation chance of the hero’s active skills by 3.64% (or 4.55% for charging skills).
Strategy Master’s GiftIncreases the hero’s strategic damage by 8.94% and the activation chance of signature active skills by 3.03%.
Unit Pairings
Swordsmen units are highly effective under Philip IV’s command, largely due to his focus on strategy damage and skill enhancement, making them a natural fit for his leadership. Philip IV’s Charisma of Monarch skill deals significant strategy damage and allows him to steal strategy from the enemy commander, further empowering the swordsmen by weakening the opponent’s strategic capabilities. This enhances the overall damage output of the swordsmen, allowing them to deal more devastating blows during combat.
Additionally, his Sovereign Supremacy signature skill increases the strategy damage dealt to enemy troops, while also making them more susceptible to taking additional strategy damage for a short period. This synergy works particularly well with swordsmen, as it allows them to capitalize on both the initial damage and the sustained increased vulnerability of the enemy.
Philip IV also boosts the effectiveness of active skills with his High Spirit and Strategy Master’s Gift skills. These abilities enhance the activation chance of his active skills, which is beneficial for maintaining consistent offensive pressure. For swordsmen, this means their damage output is further amplified by having more opportunities to trigger powerful skills during battle.
In terms of survivability, Philip IV’s ability to recover units with his War Tactic skill (which also deals strategy damage) ensures that swordsmen units can stay in the fight longer, maintaining both offensive and defensive capabilities. This support mechanism provides a balanced advantage when engaging enemies.
Overall, Philip IV’s combination of strategy damage amplification, increased skill activation, and recovery effects makes him an ideal leader for swordsmen units, ensuring they perform at their best across various battle scenarios. This makes swordsmen a highly versatile and powerful choice under his command, especially for those looking to maximize strategy damage and sustainability.
Hero Pairings
For optimal hero pairings with Philip IV, two of the most recommended choices are Sun Tzu and Theodora, both of whom significantly enhance his strategy-focused playstyle.
Sun Tzu
A powerful pairing with Philip IV, Sun Tzu is one of the game’s top strategy damage dealers. His “Ultimate Strategist” skill boosts strategy damage each time he uses a skill, stacking the damage for high burst output. Since Philip IV’s signature skill, “Sovereign Supremacy,” increases the strategy damage an opponent takes, their synergy creates a potent combination, maximizing burst damage through coordinated attacks.
Theodora
Theodora brings a different set of strengths to Philip IV’s lineup, focusing on support and survivability. Her signature skill, “Dynastic Co-rule,” not only reduces the damage taken by troops but also increases the damage of charging skills, which directly benefits Philip IV’s high-damage abilities. Additionally, Theodora’s “Maneuver” skill can skip the charging state of Philip IV’s signature skill up to 75% of the time, allowing for faster activation of his powerful abilities.
Both pairings capitalize on Philip IV’s strengths, either by enhancing his direct damage output (with Sun Tzu) or by improving his skill activation speed and damage resistance (with Theodora).
Philip Talent Tree
Philip IV’s talent tree build is designed to maximize his effectiveness as a strategy damage dealer, focusing on boosting his damage output and enhancing the activation of his signature skill. The “Commander Damage” branch increases the effectiveness of his “Charisma of Monarch” skill, which deals substantial strategy damage while stealing strategy from the enemy commander. This synergizes well with his other abilities, especially in combination with the “Skill Damage” branch, which boosts the damage dealt by Philip IV’s signature skill, “Sovereign Supremacy.” This skill already has one of the highest base damage rates in the game, and increasing its damage further allows Philip IV to deal massive strategy damage.
The “Strategy” branch is another key component, as it increases Philip IV’s strategy stat, thereby boosting the damage dealt by all of his skills and improving his resistance to incoming strategy damage. Additionally, the “Signature Skill Activation” branch enhances the activation chance of his signature skill. Key talents in this branch, such as “Strategy Master’s Gift,” not only improve the activation chance of charging skills but also boost the activation of all signature skills, allowing for more frequent use of his high-damage abilities.
We recommend prioritizing the “Strategy Master’s Gift” talent early in the game, as it significantly boosts both strategy damage and skill activation. This build allows Philip IV to inflict substantial damage on enemy forces, though alternative talent builds may be more suitable depending on playstyle preferences or hero pairings.
Gear Recommendations
For optimizing Philip IV’s performance in battle, it’s recommended to prioritize gear that enhances his core strengths, particularly his strategy damage. Since Philip IV excels at dealing high strategy damage, equipping gear that boosts his strategy stat will significantly increase the effectiveness of his abilities, including his signature skill, “Sovereign Supremacy.” Additionally, amplifying his skill damage through gear can further capitalize on his already high base damage, allowing him to inflict even more powerful hits, especially when paired with talents or heroes that enhance skill damage.
Another key recommendation is to focus on gear that improves the activation chances or damage of charging skills. Since Philip IV’s signature skill depends on entering a charging state, gear that supports this can help trigger his high-damage abilities more frequently, maximizing his potential in combat. While specific gear pieces are not explicitly detailed, selecting items that enhance these attributes, along with considering set bonuses, will complement his strategy damage and skill activation strengths, allowing for a more effective overall build. Experimenting with different gear combinations and adapting to the current game meta will help you fine-tune your strategy for Philip IV’s optimal performance.
Conclusion
Philip IV stands out as a powerful Tactician Swordsman in Age of Empires Mobile, specializing in devastating strategy damage. To unlock his full potential, players should carefully consider hero pairings, unit compositions, talent builds, and gear choices.
Philip IV excels when paired with other strategy damage dealers, such as Sun Tzu and Theodora. These pairings create a potent synergy, amplifying their collective damage output and creating formidable offensive marches. Utilizing Swordsman units under Philip IV’s command allows players to maximize the benefits he provides to this troop type.
By investing in talent tree branches that enhance Philip IV’s strategy damage, skill damage, and signature skill activation, players can further boost his offensive capabilities. Selecting gear that complements these strengths, particularly items that increase strategy, skill damage, or charging skill effectiveness, will maximize his impact on the battlefield.
Players should stay informed about the evolving game meta, as new heroes, units, and gear are introduced, which may lead to more effective strategies and pairings for Philip IV. The information presented in this guide provides a solid foundation for understanding Philip IV’s strengths and maximizing his effectiveness in Age of Empires Mobile. Experimentation and continuous learning are key to achieving strategic dominance on the battlefield.