Most “Age of Mythology: Retold” guides still open with the same line: four pantheons, twelve gods, pick Zeus if you’re new. That was true at launch on September 4, 2024 [1][2]. It hasn’t been true since April 21, 2026, when the Obsidian Mirror expansion added the Aztecs and pushed the roster to seven full pantheons and 23 major gods [1][4]. This guide treats that as the baseline, not a footnote — with a full pantheon breakdown, a Favor comparison no single competing guide has assembled across all seven civilizations, and a concrete answer to “which one do I start with?”
Quick Start: Your First Game
Pick Greek and Zeus for game one. Its Favor system (Temple worship) and unit roster are the most standard RTS mechanics in the whole roster, with no unusual resource loop layered on top [1][7][8].
- Install the base game (25GB free space, 8GB RAM minimum) [10] — see our budget PC build guide if you’re unsure your rig qualifies.
- Start a skirmish against one Easy AI on a land-heavy map before touching multiplayer.
- Pick Greek, then Zeus as your major god.
- Build a Temple in the Archaic Age immediately and assign 2-3 villagers to worship for Favor [7].
- Keep villager production constant — never let a Town Center sit idle [8].
- Push to the Classical Age as soon as your economy supports it — there’s little to do strategically in the Archaic Age beyond gathering and building up [8].
- At each age-up, actually read both Minor God options before picking — the choice locks in a unique god power, myth unit, and tech tree for the rest of the match [12].
- Scout your surroundings early with a cheap unit before committing to a build order.
The 7 Pantheons at a Glance
Every pantheon in Retold now has either three or four major gods, and each major god determines your starting god power, your civilization’s core bonus, and which Minor Gods you can pick at each age-up [12].
| Pantheon | Major Gods | Added | Core Identity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greek | Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter | Launch (Sep 2024); Demeter Feb 2026 [13] | Balanced infantry/hero civ, closest to a standard RTS [1][9] |
| Egyptian | Ra, Isis, Set | Launch | Passive Monument-driven Favor, mobile Priest healing [1] |
| Norse | Odin, Thor, Loki, Freyr | Launch; Freyr Mar 2025 | Combat-earned Favor, hero-unit (Hersir) focus [1][12] |
| Atlantean | Kronos, Oranos, Gaia | Launch | Flexible tech tree, Oracle-based Favor [1][12] |
| Chinese | Fuxi, Shennong, Nüwa | Immortal Pillars, Mar 4 2025 [3] | Territory-expansion “Favored Land” economy [3][7] |
| Japanese | Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo | Heavenly Spear, ~Sep 30 2025 [5][6] | Shrine-based Favor plus a separate combat-XP Bushido system [6] |
| Aztec | Huitzilopochtli, Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl | Obsidian Mirror, Apr 21 2026 [4] | Sacrifice-driven “Devotion” economy built around Tonalli [4] |
Verified against World’s Edge’s own patch notes and expansion pages as of build 19.10195 (April 2026) [1][3][4] — values may shift with future balance updates.
How Major and Minor Gods Actually Work
Your major god is a one-time choice at the start of the match. It locks your starting god power (used once, ever), your civilization’s passive bonus, and — critically — which two Minor Gods you’re offered at each of the game’s three age-ups [12]. Pick a Minor God and you get a unique god power, a myth unit only that god grants, and one or two exclusive technologies. Pick Zeus’s Hera at the Classical Age and you get a completely different toolkit than picking Zeus’s Hermes — same major god, divergent match.
This is where most new players get tripped up: they treat the major god as the whole decision and click through Minor God prompts without reading them. Since each Minor God pick is permanent for that match, an unread click can lock you out of the one myth unit that would have countered your opponent’s army.
Favor Isn’t the Same Resource Twice
Every pantheon spends Favor on myth units and god powers, but no two pantheons generate it the same way — and this is the one system that changes your entire early game depending on who you pick.
| Pantheon | How Favor Is Generated | Early-Game Implication |
|---|---|---|
| Greek | Villagers worship at a Temple; Zeus gets +20% rate [7] | Costs you worker time — build the Temple early or fall behind |
| Egyptian | Monuments generate Favor passively over time [7] | Zero worker cost, but slow to ramp — plan around the delay |
| Norse | Combat itself generates Favor [7] | You’re pushed to fight early rather than turtle |
| Atlantean | Stationary Oracles generate Favor the longer they stand still [7] | Rewards careful map control over aggression |
| Chinese | “Favored Land” — connected building footprints around your Town Center [7] | Base layout becomes a Favor decision, not just defense |
| Japanese | Mikos build and pray at Shrines; a separate Bushido meter fills from combat XP [6] | Splits your economy between a passive and a combat-driven track — treat this as community-reported, not official patch-note-confirmed [6] |
| Aztec | “Devotion” — Favor from fallen units on the battlefield, including your own sacrificed villagers in an emergency [4] | The exact favor-per-sacrifice curve is still being mapped by the community rather than published in official notes [11] — expect a steep early return that tapers fast |
The practical read: Greek and Egyptian are the two most beginner-forgiving Favor systems because neither punishes you for playing passively. Norse and Aztec actively push you toward combat to keep your economy running — pick either only if you’re comfortable fighting early and often.
Which Pantheon Should You Start With?
There’s no single right answer — it depends on what kind of player you are, not just what’s “strongest.”
| Player Type | Recommended Pantheon | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New player | Greek (Zeus) | Most standard RTS feel, forgiving Favor system, no unusual resource loops to learn on top of the base game [1][7] |
| Casual player | Egyptian (Isis) | Passive Monument Favor and mobile Priest healing reduce the amount of active micromanagement needed to stay competitive [1][7] |
| Hardcore / optimiser | Norse (Loki) or Aztec (Huitzilopochtli) | Combat-linked Favor rewards precise, aggressive play and punishes passive turtling — high skill ceiling, high risk [1][4] |
| Completionist | Chinese or Japanese | Newest-feeling systems (Favored Land territory shaping, the Shrine/Bushido split) with the least community documentation to lean on, which is exactly the appeal if you’ve already cleared the base four [3][6] |
If you already own the base game and are deciding whether the expansions are worth it: Immortal Pillars and Heavenly Spear are both a year-plus old and thoroughly balanced at this point, while Obsidian Mirror’s Aztec sacrifice mechanic is the newest and least-patched system in the game as of this guide — expect more balance passes there than anywhere else in the roster [4].
Mistakes That Cost New Players Games
Three mistakes show up constantly in beginner matches, and none of them are about micro skill.
Letting Favor cap out. Unlike food, wood, or gold, capped Favor is pure waste — you’re not stockpiling it, you’re losing the ability to generate more until you spend it. Queue myth units before you’re actually ready to use them so the resource never sits idle [8].
Ignoring the counter system. Human soldiers beat Heroes, Heroes beat myth units, and myth units beat human soldiers — a closed loop, not a hierarchy. An army of only human soldiers will lose to a handful of myth units regardless of how many you have [8].
Turning off the Villager Priority System. Retold’s auto-distribution feature (introduced specifically in this remaster, not the 2002 original) balances gatherers across food, wood, and gold automatically. New players who disable it to “stay in control” consistently under-produce compared to players who let it run and only override it when they know exactly why [8].
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Age of Mythology: Retold worth buying if I never played the 2002 original?
Yes — Retold is built for players with zero history with the series. The mythology framing (major/minor gods, myth units, God Powers) is explained in-game as you play, and the 50-mission campaign across the base game and three expansions functions as an extended tutorial rather than assuming prior knowledge [1].
Do I need to buy all three expansions to play competitively?
No. Ranked and custom multiplayer both support mixed lobbies where some players own expansions and others don’t — you simply can’t pick a pantheon you don’t own. The base four pantheons (Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Atlantean) remain fully viable on their own; the expansions add variety, not a power requirement [1].
Why do Greek and Norse have four major gods when every other pantheon has three?
Demeter (Greek) and Freyr (Norse) were added later as standalone “New Gods Pack” releases rather than full expansions — smaller, single-god additions to two of the game’s most popular pantheons, not new pantheons of their own [13].
What PC do I need to run this?
Modest by 2026 standards: an Intel i3-4130-class CPU, 8GB RAM, and a GTX 645-class GPU will run it, though 16GB RAM is recommended for larger multiplayer matches [10]. If you’re building or buying new, our $500 gaming PC build guide comfortably clears these requirements.
Sources
- World’s Edge Studio. Age of Mythology: Retold — official game page. Age of Empires.
- World’s Edge Studio. Age of Mythology: Retold Is Available for Pre-Order Now. Age of Empires.
- World’s Edge Studio. Pre-Order Age of Mythology: Retold – Immortal Pillars. Age of Empires.
- World’s Edge Studio. Age of Mythology: Retold – Obsidian Mirror Available Now and Update 19.10195. Age of Empires.
- World’s Edge Studio. Get a Sneak Peek at Age of Mythology: Retold – Heavenly Spear. Age of Empires.
- Community reporting on the Heavenly Spear Japanese pantheon’s major gods and Favor mechanics (Amaterasu/Tsukuyomi/Susanoo, Miko/Shrine, Bushido) — cross-referenced across multiple gaming-press guides, not independently confirmed in official patch notes.
- TheGamer. How To Gain Favor In Age of Mythology: Retold.
- Hardcore Gamer. Age of Mythology: Retold: 8 Tips And Tricks We Wish We Knew Sooner.
- Hardcore Gamer. 10 Best Gods To Use in Age of Mythology Retold.
- Age of Mythology: Retold on Steam. Valve.
- Community-tracked reporting on the Aztec Devotion Favor curve (Obsidian Mirror) — figures not published in official World’s Edge patch notes as of this guide.
- AOEDB.net. All Gods Guide – Age of Mythology: Retold.
- World’s Edge Studio. Available Now for Age of Mythology: Retold – Expansion Pass with New Gods Pack: Demeter. Age of Empires.
I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.