The Vikings build order in Age of Empires IV starts with Longhouses, not Houses: Viking Villagers are recruited automatically and for free until you hit your Villager capacity, and every Longhouse raises that cap, so the opening is about keeping capacity ahead of your Town Center. From there you put your Food into early Bondi and Berserkers for a raid, add Farmsteads or Bee Skeps to your Longhouses, and age up with the landmark that fits your plan.
The Vikings launched with Raiders of the North on October 29, 2026, and players are still testing openings, so rather than copy anyone’s build we lay out the opening step by step from the developers’ own Vikings civilization page, with the decision points marked. Specific numbers marked as data come from the launch-build values players have pulled from the game files (patch 17.0.12182).
What Makes the Vikings Opening Different
Age of Empires IV usually asks you to keep your Town Center queuing Villagers and pay 50 Food each. The Vikings skip that. Under Northern Migration, Town Centers recruit Villagers automatically at no cost until the Villager capacity is reached, and the developers say building an early Longhouse “insures the recruitment of Villagers is uninterrupted.”
Three things follow from that:
- Your Food is free for the army. Food other civilizations spend on Villagers can go to Bondi, Berserkers and your Feudal Age landmark.
- A late Longhouse costs you Villagers. If capacity runs out, production stops until the next Longhouse finishes. The data puts each Longhouse at 150 Wood for +10 Villager capacity and +25 maximum population.
- Your army can heal itself. Living off the Land lets Viking infantry heal by gathering from any Food source, so a damaged raiding party can recover on Berries, Deer or Boar instead of walking home.
Dark Age: The First Minutes
- Send starting Villagers to Food and Wood. Wood comes first because your first Longhouse needs it.
- Build your first Longhouse early. Do it before you reach the starting Villager cap so the Town Center never pauses. Keep one Villager building Longhouses as your Villager count climbs.
- Add an economic attachment. In the Dark Age a Longhouse can take a Farmstead (vegetable fields that gather Food faster than Farms) or Bee Skeps (passive Gold). The data puts both at 200 Wood. A Farmstead helps a Food-hungry infantry opening; Bee Skeps help you bank Gold for the age-up and for Berserkers.
- Pick your raid unit. Bondi (spearmen with a Shield Wall buff) and Berserkers (fast dual-axe shock troops) are both available in the Dark Age. The developers write that “early raids are possible with the strength of the Bondi and Berserkers.”
- Start a Saga. Sagas are quests you can finish at any time for a permanent bonus. Two fit a Dark Age plan: Jofurr’s Hunt Saga (Villagers gather faster and carry more) and Ulfr’s Forester Saga (more torch damage and range, which helps raiding).
Feudal Age: Pick a Landmark
The age-up costs 400 Food and 200 Gold, as for most civilizations, and you choose one of two landmarks. The data describes them this way:
| Landmark | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Baugr Fort | Acts as a Barracks, all Barracks work faster, and Bondi and Berserkers upgrade to Hardened at once | An infantry push |
| Konungr Hall | A feast every 60 seconds for Food that grows with your Longhouses, and recruits Shield Maidens | A safer, economic game |
Once you are in the Feudal Age:
- Buy the Smithy and Pasture and Loom attachments. These slowly research weapon damage and armor for you, and the developers say “it is usually good to buy these early.”
- Train a Völur. It can move between Longhouses to boost their production, or be sacrificed on a Relic to found a Sacred Grove that buffs nearby units and slowly recruits Berserkers. Sacred Groves are your free army, so defend them.
- Add Hirdmen. The Vikings’ armored Man-at-Arms (an Early Hirdman in the Feudal Age, per the data) becomes the backbone of a melee army.
Castle Age and Beyond
The developers’ route to the Castle Age is Valdemar Castle, which upgrades every Palisade to Danevirke walls with far more health and torch resistance, and pairs with Jylland Knights, a cheaper heavy cavalry that refunds some Gold when it dies. The alternative, the Gullinn Temple, acts as a Sacred Grove according to the data and lets Völur place Groves on Sacred Sites, which suits a Berserker-heavy army. Research Hagl Brodda if you are adding archers: it makes them fire two extra arrows at random.
In the Imperial Age the Vikings can reach 210 maximum population whichever landmark you build, and the Kongens Dør Cathedral unlocks Folkekirken for 220. Leikr Training at the University is the last big boost for melee infantry.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Floating at the Villager cap. The most expensive Viking mistake. Watch your Villager capacity, not your population, and build the next Longhouse before you need it.
- Forgetting the attachments. A Longhouse without an attachment is only capacity. Plan which ones go where.
- Raiding without healing. Pull damaged Berserkers back to a Food source and let Living off the Land top them up.
- Leaving Sacred Groves undefended. They are worth protecting with Bondi.
For the full roster behind this build, see our guide to every Raiders of the North unit, and our best civilizations guide covers where the Vikings sit in the meta. What the expansion added beyond the Vikings is in our Raiders of the North launch report.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Vikings build Houses in Age of Empires 4? They build Longhouses instead. Each one raises your Villager capacity and maximum population and can take one economic or military attachment.
Do you have to queue Villagers as the Vikings? No. Town Centers recruit Viking Villagers automatically and at no cost, as long as you are under your Villager capacity.
Which Feudal Age landmark should Vikings build? Baugr Fort for an infantry push, since it upgrades Bondi and Berserkers on completion; Konungr Hall for a steadier economy with Food feasts and Shield Maidens.
What is the best Vikings unit early? Berserkers and Bondi are both available from the Dark Age. Berserkers raid and hit hard; Bondi protect against cavalry.
How do you get more Berserkers as the Vikings? Sacrifice a Völur on a Relic to found a Sacred Grove, which recruits Berserkers over time, or build the Gullinn Temple in the Castle Age.