Introduction

Best Free to Play Pikemen Army in Age of Empires Mobile: Pikemen are a cornerstone of any successful army in Age of Empires Mobile, offering exceptional defense and the ability to counter cavalry units with precision. Known for their resilience on the battlefield, they’re perfect for players who prefer a calculated, defensive approach that turns the tide of battle through strategic positioning and well-timed counterattacks.

There’s something undeniably satisfying about watching cavalry units, who pride themselves on speed and overwhelming force, meet their match as they crash headfirst into a disciplined wall of spears. If you enjoy the thrill of holding your ground, punishing overconfident enemies, and grinding down opponents with relentless resilience, Pikemen are the troops for you. Whether you’re defending key cities, holding choke points, or leading a slow, methodical march across the map, Pikemen give you control over the pace and outcome of every battle.

This guide will show you how to build the strongest free-to-play (F2P) Pikemen army, ensuring you maximize their potential without spending a dime. Success as an F2P player in Age of Empires Mobile relies on smart decision-making and efficient use of resources, and with Pikemen as your core unit, the battlefield becomes your chessboard.

We’ll cover everything you need to know to transform this defensive powerhouse into an army that wins wars. From selecting the best heroes who amplify your Pikemen’s strengths to understanding how to strategically position your troops for maximum impact, you’ll learn how to dominate opponents with tactics, patience, and a bit of spear-wielding flair. Building an F2P army doesn’t mean settling for less—it means playing smarter, staying disciplined, and proving that skill and strategy win the day.

Best Free to Play Pikemen men Army in Age of Empires Mobile: Why Pikemen?

Pikemen aren’t just about defense—they’re a direct answer to cavalry-heavy opponents who rely on speed and brute strength to overwhelm their enemies. Cavalry, while fast and deadly, are vulnerable to a well-placed wall of Pikemen, and knowing this gives you a strategic edge. Positioning your Pikemen effectively not only neutralizes the enemy’s most mobile threats but also forces them to fight on your terms.

Their ability to stand strong under pressure makes them essential for defending critical choke points on the battlefield or reinforcing city walls under siege. But Pikemen’s value doesn’t stop there. When properly supported by strong leadership and smart positioning, they can become a punishing offensive force as well—slowly but surely pushing through enemy lines while cutting down anyone who comes too close. If you enjoy playing a patient, methodical game and forcing your opponents into costly mistakes, Pikemen are your ideal troops to dominate and frustrate the battlefield.

Best Free to Play Pikemen Army in Age of Empires Mobile: Early-Game Powerhouse

Building a powerful Pikemen army without spending money requires strategic planning and a focus on unlocking heroes that enhance their strengths. By assembling the right team, you can leverage the Pikemen’s natural ability to counter cavalry and excel in defensive roles while holding your ground in both PvE and PvP battles. Here are the three heroes that form the backbone of the strongest free-to-play (F2P) Pikemen army:

Richard I – Richard is the cornerstone of any Pikemen army and is accessible through the Legendary Advent event. As an F2P player, prioritizing Richard is a must, as he combines offense and defense seamlessly. His skills make him a formidable leader, dealing substantial might-based damage to multiple enemies while also increasing the might of allied heroes. Richard’s ability to strengthen the offensive power of your Pikemen, coupled with his natural synergy for counterattacks, allows your army to punish opponents who underestimate your defensive wall. Unlocking Richard early will give you a significant edge, so focus on obtaining him as soon as the opportunity arises.

Boudica – Boudica is another essential hero for an F2P Pikemen army, offering a significant upgrade as you progress through the game. Like Richard, she is obtainable through a later Legendary Advent event, and her abilities perfectly complement Pikemen’s playstyle. Skills like Forceful Retaliation and Whirlwind Sweep amplify counterattack damage and allow your Pikemen to turn the tide of battle against aggressive enemy forces. By improving their retaliatory power, Boudica ensures that your Pikemen not only withstand enemy assaults but also deal punishing damage in return. As your army grows stronger, her presence will solidify your Pikemen’s reputation as a durable, hard-hitting force.

Frederick Barbarossa – Frederick transforms your F2P Pikemen army into a nearly unstoppable defensive powerhouse, but unlocking him requires patience and dedication. He can be obtained during the Legendary Advent event featuring both Richard and Atilla, where you need to reach the 60-spin milestone to collect enough tokens. Frederick’s skills focus on boosting durability and sustainability, which are critical for Pikemen formations. His signature ability, Peaceful Haven, provides healing and improves survivability, enabling your army to endure long battles and outlast opponents. By keeping your Pikemen alive longer, Frederick maximizes the effectiveness of counterattacks and solidifies your defensive dominance.

Together, Richard, Boudica, and Frederick create a perfectly synergized trio that enhances the natural strengths of Pikemen while addressing their weaknesses. Richard brings might and offensive leadership, Boudica adds retaliatory power, and Frederick ensures sustainability through healing and defense. This combination is ideal for tackling challenging PvE content, where survival and damage output are key, as well as holding your own in PvP battles against more aggressive opponents. By prioritizing these heroes and focusing on their development, you can build a free-to-play Pikemen army that punches well above its weight and dominates the battlefield.

Best Free to Play Pikemen Army in Age of Empires Mobile: Maintaining Momentum: Adapting Your Pikemen Army for the Later Stages

As your city develops and you unlock advanced features in Age of Empires Mobile, it becomes critical to adapt and refine your F2P Pikemen strategy to stay competitive. By focusing on hero progression, skill upgrades, and resource efficiency, you can ensure that your Pikemen army remains a dominant force well into the later stages of the game.

Hero Rank and Skill Upgrades

To keep your army effective, focus on increasing the rank of key heroes like Richard and Boudica. Reaching Rank 3 offers a significant power spike without requiring an overwhelming investment of medals, making it an ideal target for F2P players. While Rank 5 unlocks their full potential, it requires patience and consistent effort.

Alongside rank upgrades, prioritize upgrading critical skills. For Boudica, enhancing Whirlwind Sweep is essential, as its stacking damage boosts Pikemen’s effectiveness during extended battles. Combine this with Forceful Retaliation, which further amplifies counterattack damage, allowing your Pikemen to punish aggressive enemies efficiently. Similarly, for Frederick Barbarossa, focus on leveling up Peaceful Haven to maximize healing and sustain during prolonged encounters. Since durability is the backbone of your Pikemen army, ensuring Frederick’s skills are optimized is key to success.

Refining Your Strategy During Transition

In the mid-game phase, before you obtain Frederick Barbarossa, it’s important to use alternative options to maintain momentum. Heroes like Darius the Great can fill the third slot in your Pikemen army as a temporary substitute. His skills, Roar of Victory and Weak Spot Attack, provide decent offensive support for your Pikemen while you work toward acquiring Frederick.

If progress slows down, temporarily shifting to another readily available F2P army, such as Warrior Swordsmen, can be a smart choice. This allows you to remain competitive in PvE and PvP while you continue collecting tokens for Frederick through the Legendary Advent event. However, avoid investing heavily in temporary heroes like Joan of Arc or others who will eventually be replaced, as this can drain valuable resources needed for your primary heroes.

Late-Game Optimization

As you transition into the later stages, continue to invest in Richard, Boudica, and Frederick, as their synergy ensures your Pikemen army remains a competitive powerhouse. Focus on refining their gear and experimenting with advanced ring combinations. Rings like “Sacred Sage” significantly enhance turn-based skills, such as Boudica’s and Richard’s abilities, further increasing the Pikemen army’s damage output and defensive sustainability.

Staying adaptable is also crucial in the late game. Pay attention to the meta, as popular troop types and strategies can shift over time. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of enemy armies will allow you to make smart tactical decisions, such as positioning your Pikemen to counter cavalry or reinforcing chokepoints against infantry-heavy forces.

Key Takeaway

A well-constructed F2P Pikemen army is not just effective—it can dominate opponents throughout every stage of Age of Empires Mobile. By carefully prioritizing hero progression, optimizing skill upgrades, and refining your strategy as you unlock new features, you can establish a resilient and powerful force that thrives in both offense and defense. With patience, planning, and resourceful gameplay, your Pikemen army will prove that a free-to-play approach can hold its own against any challenge.

Best Free to Play Swordsmen Army in Age of Empires Mobile: Pikemen Alternatives

While Pikemen offer incredible long-term value, the path to acquiring heroes like Frederick Barbarossa can take time. For players looking for a faster, more accessible army to dominate the early game, Warrior Swordsmen are an excellent alternative. This F2P composition features heroes who are easier to obtain, upgrade, and synergize effectively, giving you a solid foundation for both PvE and PvP combat. Here’s a breakdown of how to build and optimize your Swordsmen army.

Hero Lineup

The ideal Swordsmen trio consists of Josephine, Hammurabi, and King Derek, all of whom are obtainable through regular gameplay and events:

Josephine: As your starting Swordsmen hero, Josephine is immediately available and serves as the backbone of your early-game army. Her accessibility ensures that you can begin building a strong, balanced lineup right from the start without relying on luck or events. Josephine’s skills offer a reliable mix of offensive power and defensive stability, making her incredibly versatile for both PvE and PvP battles. Her ability to deal steady Might damage ensures your Swordsmen remain a threat on the battlefield, while her defensive buffs allow your troops to sustain longer fights, which is especially valuable during prolonged engagements or challenging early-game encounters.

Beyond combat, Josephine’s consistent presence in your roster makes her a perfect hero to upgrade steadily over time, as her impact grows with each rank and skill improvement. This makes her a low-risk, high-reward investment for free-to-play players. Her role as a durable and dependable Swordsmen commander allows you to experiment with different strategies and pairings while maintaining a strong, stable core for your army. Whether you’re clearing early-game PvE stages, participating in events, or holding your ground in PvP, Josephine’s balance of offense and defense ensures that she remains an essential part of your lineup as you progress in Age of Empires Mobile.

Hammurabi: Hammurabi joins your army as a seventh-day login bonus, making him a natural addition to your F2P roster. His ability to inflict consistent Might damage and the Root effect makes him crucial for setting up powerful combos, ensuring your Swordsmen can hit harder and more frequently.

King Derek: Obtained through the Giants Roar event, King Derek is the hero that completes the Swordsmen lineup. This recurring event provides a reliable way to acquire Derek’s tokens and eventually max out his potential. King Derek’s skills complement Hammurabi perfectly, allowing you to unleash devastating damage through their synergy.

Synergistic Power

The strength of this Swordsmen army lies in the synergy between Hammurabi and King Derek, which focuses on maximizing Might damage output:

Hammurabi’s Signature Skill (Earth Crush): Hammurabi applies the Root effect to enemies, dealing Might damage over six seconds. The Root not only deals damage but also sets up your next move for even greater impact.

King Derek’s Signature Skill: King Derek deals devastating Might damage to rooted enemies. By triggering his skill immediately after Hammurabi’s Earth Crush, you can amplify the total damage dealt, overwhelming opponents quickly and efficiently.

This simple yet effective two-step combo allows your Swordsmen army to perform well above its level, especially against unprepared opponents who lack resistance to sustained Might-based damage.

Advantages of the F2P Swordsmen Army

Easy to Obtain and Upgrade: Josephine, Hammurabi, and King Derek are all accessible through regular gameplay events, login rewards, and free activities. This makes it easy to build and develop your Swordsmen army without relying on premium resources.

Strong Early-Game Dominance: The synergy between Hammurabi and King Derek provides a high damage output that can overwhelm opponents, especially in the early stages where armies are still developing.

Hero Flexibility: Beyond their use in a Swordsmen army, Josephine, Hammurabi, and King Derek can transition seamlessly into Archer-focused lineups later in the game, giving you flexibility when expanding or diversifying your army compositions.

Transitioning to the Late Game

While this Swordsmen army thrives in the early and mid-game, it’s important to prepare for the late game where specialized hero combinations will shine. Use this lineup as a stepping stone to acquire additional resources, medals, and tokens, allowing you to unlock and upgrade other heroes as needed. The principles of hero synergy, skill optimization, and strategic skill sequencing will continue to be essential as you adapt your army for higher-level battles.

By building and mastering this F2P Swordsmen army, you can dominate the battlefield early on, secure resources for future growth, and lay the groundwork for even more powerful armies. Focus on synergy, consistent upgrades, and efficient progression, and your Swordsmen will prove to be a force to be reckoned with.

Best Free to Play Pikemen Army in Age of Empires Mobile: Conclusion

Building a formidable Pikemen army as a free-to-play player in Age of Empires Mobile is not only possible but highly rewarding. The key to success lies in patience, strategic hero prioritization, and consistent upgrades. By focusing on the core mechanics and heroes outlined in this guide, you’ll develop a Pikemen army capable of excelling in both PvE challenges and competitive PvP battles.

The foundation of a powerful F2P Pikemen army begins with acquiring Richard and Boudica through the Legendary Advent event. Richard serves as a reliable front-line hero with outstanding counterattack potential, while Boudica’s skills like Whirlwind Sweep and Forceful Retaliation deliver significant damage boosts and further amplify Pikemen’s counterattacking strength. Once these two heroes are secured, focus on unlocking Frederick Barbarossa through the same event by reaching the 60-spin milestone. Frederick’s healing and defensive abilities, particularly Peaceful Haven, are critical for keeping your army resilient in prolonged engagements.

In the early stages, use temporary heroes like Darius the Great as placeholders to maintain army progression while you work toward acquiring Frederick. However, avoid over-investing in temporary units to conserve resources for your long-term lineup. Instead, focus on consistently upgrading hero ranks, targeting Rank 3 as an initial power spike that balances growth with resource efficiency. Key skills like Whirlwind Sweep, Forceful Retaliation, and Peaceful Haven should remain your priority, as they significantly enhance your army’s damage output and survivability.

As you progress, continue adapting your strategy to match the evolving game meta. Experiment with different ring combinations, such as Sacred Sage, to optimize skill effectiveness and increase your army’s overall power. By staying flexible and refining your approach, your Pikemen army will remain competitive throughout the game’s later stages.

Building a successful F2P Pikemen army is a marathon, not a sprint. By making smart decisions, prioritizing the right heroes, and staying focused on long-term progression, you can create a well-rounded and dominant force that thrives on the battlefield. Whether you’re conquering PvE challenges or holding strong in PvP, your Pikemen army will prove to be a valuable asset in your Age of Empires Mobile journey.