AOE3 Inca 1v1 guide. — The Definitive Guide to Inca Theory —

Overview

It is not known how to play Inca, so this is how. VIDEO WIP (work in progress)

Introduction

Disclaimer: As of 4/14/2021, Patch Update 23511, No changes to Inca to note. New Artillery unit introduced to Age4. This is a guide for AOE3:DE in competitive 1v1 (Definitive Edition)
Last Updated: 4/26/21

Patch 20322 Summary:
The new patch gives identity to the Inca civilisation. It’s map-centric gameplay makes them the strongest civilisation to utilises Native Embassys and Allied Forces. Not only do they recieve hero bonuses to Native Allies, but, there are also critical cards such as Native Treaties which ships (5) Carib Bowmen, or, (2) Bolas Riders + (2) Mapuche Clubman, or, (5) Zapotec Warriors.

The Inca are a new civ in AOE3, with many new and exciting mechanics for out-of-the-box tricks.
This Guide showcases only the viable tools in competitive 1v1, and what they are good for.

(Note: If you forget to choose which ally to side with, Don’t Panic! The Devs noticed this, and whether you ship Native Treaties Late, you will still receive the shipment as if they were waiting!)

A key feature of the Inca are the Priestess, which allows conversions of Treasure Guardian Animals (Wololo). After Update 20322, this is no longer shipped in Age1, but now instead of (2) Priestess in AgeII, is now +3 Priestess with The Wise Woman.

CS [Ceque System] With the use of Ceque system you can ship 2 shipments in Age1 and save a shipment in Age2, allowing double the tempo compared to other civilisations.

AA [American Allies] Changes to AA mean you must choose at the start of the game what strategy you will go for. In almost all situations choose Zapotec. Mapuche in all Treaty and Team games.

Native Treaties [NT] The star-child of this guide and the literal Hidden-Buff of Patch 20322. This card got a makeover that wasn’t included in the patch-notes. Reworked from giving 1 of each, to now: (7) Carib Bowmen, or, (2) Bolas Riders + (2) Mapuche Clubman, or, (7) Zapotec Warriors. (total worth 700 resources) With any Allied Tribes from the map Additional to the card.

Video Tutorial

WIP

Early Booming: (00:00-04:20)

• Start the game by immediately creating a Tambo/Trade Post [TP] with your Hero. If there are no trade-routes, create 1 Kancha House, + 1 market.

• Make up to 11 Villagers. Send all Villagers to Hunt for fast Age up.

• First Homecity Shipment, Send ‘Ceque System’. Use the Chasqui to scout the enemy.
• Second Homecity Shipment, Send ‘American Allies’, and Side with ‘Zapotecs’ (See appendix for why)

• By 3 Minutes, Age button [The Wise Woman] with 3 Priestess, and send 6 Villagers on Wood, 5 on Food. (we are aiming for 600Food to send the Big Button in AgeII)

• Build 1 Kancha house and 1 Community Plaza.

Be ready to set your Age (3) Priestess rally point to Community Plaza, and (3) Tambo Travois to the nearest Trade Site

This is your standard opening with aggressive raid, good against Germany, Japan, Lakota etc.
• 3 Priestess on and Switch to exp dance at Community Plaza (You can put more villagers on Community Plaza if you want to All-In at 8 Minutes.
• Use the Reserved Shipment for Age2 to send 3 Tambo Travois

• With the Tambo Travois, construct 1 on each Native Allied Settlement on the Map, and Excess on Trade Posts… Protect the Tambo with your Chasqui and Hero
• Your next Shipment will be Native Treaties, Followed by Any Military Card, and set the rally point closer to egress
• You must Time the attack with your Town Center Big Button (6) Plumed Spearman. If you misjudge, refer to the next step to recover

This is the age2 greedy semi-FF, aimed more at utilising the Priestess. Good against France, Portuguese, Sweden etc.

• Switch to production dance at Community Plaza
• instead of 600 food on transition. Opt all villagers on Wood
• First Shipment in Age2 to send 600w
• build kancha houses and walls
• Second Send Chicha Brewing
  
• Send 700gold
  
• Age3 with The Messenger
• On transition: train Zapotecs and Jungle Bowmen. Switch to Spawn Priestess, otherwise, use EXP dance. FIRST SHIPMENT: 5 Priestess (or 7 bolas warriors if you are late). Send 2 Towncentre travois if safe. Send Curare before military engagement. Chimu runners are a must. [/list]
  

Military Booming: (04:20-08:00)

• As soon as you have built all Trade Sites with Tambos, set the waypoint and time your TC Big Button…
• Community Plaza on EXP to pump all remaining military cards, OR, 600w and Chicha Brewing to 700g.

• Send all military cards, and/or 600w to build before our army

• Either you go all-in and send all cards in Age2, or transition to Age3 and win in booming.

If we ever lose tempo, you can put all villagers on the Community Plaza to forego gathering at all… remember to turn on the War-Dance at the Community Plaza.

• We should gradually build >10-14 on food to maintain the food demand of constant Jungle-Bowmen/Zapo production. By <9 minutes we should be maxed-out with Kancha Houses and >4 on goldmines to anticipate Age3.

Age3: Outscaling the Enemy: (08:00-12:00+)

The strength of this opening is not finished after the initial strong start of this guide. Patch #13088 introduced slight buffs to the Inca mid-late game. Namely, 6 Bolas to 7 Bolas in AgeIII, and 6 Hauranca to 7 Hauranca in AgeIV. The strength of the Inca is in their turtling in late-game (given you lose no Kancha Houses). The backbone to this economy being the Priestess.

In Age3,

• Send 5 Priestess (If you are currently being attacked, send 7 Bolas, which can save you in a pinch)
• Send 3x Builder Travois, and build 1 Warhut, 1 Kallanka, 1 Farm (Or 3 Warhuts if you’re being attacked)…
  The Farm is for building 14 Llamas
• Send 2 Town Centre Travois
• Switch to Production at Community Plaza and begin to Boom. You will outscale the opponent
• OR, stay in EXP ceremony, and continue to pump out all your useful cards:
  Consider the following: AA (Good for Stalemates), 7 Bolas x3 (good incase of lack of army), Unity cards, decrease cost of all upgrades

Native Alliances

• (7) Zapotec Lightning Warrior (280f, 420w) = 700res
• +20% Melee Infantry Damage
• +10% Food Gather (Not herds)

Strong Siege Damage, Strong Ranged Resist. Essentially Halberdiers. Use cover mode to reduce damage taken. Can engage in most melee skirmishes. Cannot survive without ranged support. AgeIV use (10) Jesuit Allies to compliment the Dragoon composition of your army.

• (2) Bolas Riders, (2) Mapuche Ironwood Clubman = (380f, 310w) = 690res
• -10% gold on unit cost. (Not a lot, but useful in treaty)
• +50% Siege on Melee Infantry (Opt to have Mayan Allies in IV, but due to the length may be best for Team games/Treaty)

Best in Team Games. The Units are AOE effective, but they are lacking in kill potential. You will not use Mapuche Bolas Warriors until Age3-4, which is a waste in unit composition. You will not use their upgrades until Age3-4.The AgeIV (10) Mapuche Allies can upgrade to champion level for free.

• (7) Carib Blowgunners = (455f, 245w) = 700res
• +10% Ranged and Melee Infantry Damage
• +Hero Spawn Location
• +1.0 Ranged Infantry damage on Villagers

Very weak against cavalry. can be easily countered as a result. Very useful in situations where the opposing civ is infantry focused. Useful against Ottomans. AgeIV can use (15) Tupi Allies

Cards and Descriptions

TEAM Inca Bridges, Road Building; both able to outmanoeuvre the opponent in a late-game or early game skirmish. Mobility is key to winning high-elo games. (Against: Chinese/Russian)

4 Llama is a great shipment to go into a Fast Fortress Age if you are behind on tempo. Extended games should bring 4 Llamas and 700 Coin. (Against: Swedes/Dutch)

Curare: The majority of the army composition will be Zapotec Lightning Warriors with Jungle Bowman. This card punishes enemy hit-and-run tactics, and wins out prolonged engagements. (Against: Haudenosaunee/Ports)

5 Priestess Age 3 provides a huge boost to exp trickle rate, effectively giving you continuous card-shipments in Age3. This is necessary due to Inca weak late-game. Priestess was nerfed to 1.5 from 2

WIP: Small Pond Maps you should add Naval cards to control center.

WIP:
Best Map – Saguenay, Great Plans, Tradepost and variety Native Settlements
Worst Map – Kamchatka – No Native Settlements

Conclusion:

The new Inca Changes have given it a unique difference (With many complaining they were too alike the Aztecs). This new change strictly divides the two. The Inca are a civilisation that revolved around the map, and should be played according to the map they are in. Native Treaties, American Alliances, and the Hero Buff, all describe the playstyle.

Compared to other Native Civs, the Inca can utilise the support of the surrounding map. Their main army composition is solid, but with the aid of a ranged infantry, or a melee frontline, can turn the tide of many engagements.
It’s units are food and wood heavy and economically slower than other civilisations with need of an immediate economic shipment. Nevertheless, their Tambos (Trade-posts) supplement the need for resource with EXP by Trickle-rate. Not to be underestimated, they are useful in more than a few situations.
This is the same for the Priestess Ageup [The Wise Woman] with the new addition of 3 Priestess, (1) more than before. Priestess is essential in the Inca deck, being an effective defense in conversion, able to deter any intruders into raiding, and also a strong addition to shipment speed. The Inca rival that of Spain and the Aztecs, with their mobility in speed and in shipments, they make an elusive opponent.

• Details will be posted in the appendix of the guide at the bottom.

• Be wary of micro, and try not to lose your Warchief needlessly.

• Early FF/FI and cannons are the biggest threats to an early All-in. Inca have little to no answers to cannon+. At Age3, 8 Priestess’s can produce infinite exp shipments, so utilise your Age3 cards wisely.

• An Early rush before 3:20 minutes is a telltale sign that the opponent intends to raid your Travois on age up. The Chieftan Ageup will soon be redefined in the game, so it is easily countered with The Wise Woman (3) priestess who are able to convert raiders.

• Finally, Civs with large trash units that are expendable, such as Russia/China require us to build Chimu Runners. These Civs give resistance to the All-in. If you foresee an All-in failing, pull back, and fight another time.

Comparative Analysis

Preliminary Calculations for nerds
Gather rate of Villagers: Hunt = 0.84f/s
Gather rate of Villagers: Wood = 0.5f/s
Gather rate of Villagers: Crate = 8w/s
Kancha Production Rate: Food = 0.6f/s
Kancha Build Time: 15s.
Priestess Dance Time: 1.5
Llama Dance Time: 0.25 – 0.5
Villager Dance Timeb: 1.0

Q. TBA Further Testing. What is the Downtime between first shipment and second shipment?
Calculation of Times known:
1 Vil = 2 Minutes Break-Even
Time to Age-up: 90seconds
Time to send Shipment: 40seconds
Time to gather 600w (1 Villager): ~60s.
Time to gather 300w (1 Villager): ~30s.
Time to gather Llama 400f (1 Villager): Testing
Time to Gather Llama 400f (2 villagers): Testing
Etc.

Kancha:
36 food per minute per Kancha (pre-Chicha Brewing)
54 food per minute per Kancha (post-Chicha Brewing)
Difference between Post-Patch: est 700-1000 Food(?) at 10min.
Break-even of Kancha with Chicha Brewing at 10-13 Houses
Break-Even of 1 Kancha House = 5 mins.

The amount of wood collected with 1 villager in 190s = 95w.
(190 = 90s + 40s + 60s: is the time to beat for 600w once it arrives and is gathered. It has a total of 11 Villagers, 10 on wood, 1 on food for the purpose of this calculation. +/- with 15vils).
The amount of wood collected with 10 villagers in 190s = 950w. (From the time we’ve aged, and the time the shipment has been gathered).

WIP
O.G. rush decks like these have the earliest army production of all decks. How will it fair against Zapotecs? How much resources do we lose for foregoing 300w?

This is gong to be obviously higher, but slower to produce Zapotecs. Calculations WIP.

[TBA – WIP]
This starter is the most flexible economic deck for the Inca. Will greed be cost effective against a Native army?

Common with 4 Villager start is this build Order. This is efficient if there are no Trading Post Sites in the map.

Here’s the crunch. By the time we’ve spawned 4 Villagers we’ve spent our first card on 2xLlama, but at least we’ve aged up with 15-16 Vills. Here’s how much those 4 extra Vills are giving us during those 190seconds of gathering wood = 380wood.
380w would have built 2.8 Kancha Houses, 1f/s ≤190s <190 food.
We would have lost ~200w and made 190f if we aged up with 15vils.

Sending the Ceque System over the standard 4 Villager Big Button is optimal in maps with a Trade Post Route. Where other civilisations reach AgeII with 2 Homecity Shipment, Ceque System does it with 3.

Addressing Concerns:
Chimu Runners Nerfed from Wood to Gold
Kancha Nerfed from 1.0 to 0.9
Priestess Nerfed from 2.0 to 1.5
Thunderbolts of Illapa Moved to Age4
Elite, Champion, and Legendary Upgrades no longer provide range bonus
Plumed Spearman Siege from 42 to 35
Chasqui corrected to deal less damage to villagers
INF 2 Priestess(i) Nerfed to INF 1 Priestess(i)
Chimu Runners Speed Nerfed from 6.5 to 6.25
Coca Cultivation (Estate Big Button) Reduced Build Limit from 20 to 10
American Allies No longer provides Carib, Mapuche, Zapotec Allies, but you select 1

Personal Opinion:
If the devs are reading this, this is a suggestion. Decrease the cost of Kancha Houses from 135w to 130w (This reflects the changes from Update 20322, Torps from 125w to 135w.) The value of Kanchas verse value of Torps/Shrines is lower overall. Finally, I would add curare to Carib Blowgunners once researched.

TESTING:
There is currently a bug where converted units can still be killed by allied units if they are still tasked to do so…
There is currently a bug which prevents Tambo-Travois from constructing Tambos once they arrive at their locations. [Fixed?][They have a low risk of failing]

– 11/27/2020 Guide created: Theory-Crafted Decks
– 12/1/2020 Readability issues
– 12/9/2020 Chicha Brewing Nerfs
– 1/17/2021 Priestess Opening incorporated into Build
– 1/20/2021 Corrected Figures for New Patch
– 3/17/2021 Update #20322, Revised guide
– 3/17/2021 Removed Priestess Opening from guide
– 3/19/2021 Ceque System Opening incorporated into Build.