Keep
Defensive - ImperialBase values, before building technologies. Masonry and then Architecture each give buildings "+10% HP, +1/+1 Armor": late in a game, the real numbers are higher.
Prerequisites
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Try it freeDescription
"The ultimate defensive tower. Available from the Imperial Age, it features maximum range, attack, and durability for stone towers."
Strategic Analysis
Strategic Role
The Keep is the pinnacle of tower defense. With 8 range and high attack, it can devastate infantry and archers that stray too close. Essential for tower-based defensive strategies.
Key Tactics
Ultimate Defense
Upgrade all your Guard Towers to Keeps in Imperial Age. The increased stats make them formidable obstacles.
Siege Protection
Place Keeps near your Castles. They can help protect against siege while the Castle provides additional fire.
Resource Denial
A Keep on enemy gold forces them to bring siege or lose villagers. An excellent way to control the map.
Warning
Even Keeps fall quickly to Trebuchets. Never rely solely on towers; they are supplements to your army, not replacements.
Stats Analysis
Keeps have 50% more HP than Guard Towers and even better attack and range. They are the ultimate static defense.
Hit Points
2250 HP
Very durable. Can survive significant punishment, especially with Masonry and Architecture.
Range
9
Maximum range for towers. Outranges all non-siege units in the game.
Pierce Armor
10 PA
High pierce armor means archers deal minimal damage. Focus on melee or siege to destroy Keeps.
Placement Tip
Upgrade Guard Towers to Keeps in Imperial Age. Prioritize towers protecting critical areas.
Timing Tip
Research Keep upgrade early in Imperial Age if you have significant tower investments.
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Other Buildings
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Context & meta
The Keep is the Imperial Age upgrade of the Guard Tower, built for 125 stone over 80 seconds. It has 2,250 HP, 8 attack, 3 melee/9 pierce armor, 8 range, 10 line of sight and a garrison capacity of 5. The official help describes a ranged tower whose garrison protects units; Ranged Soldiers and Villagers fire additional projectiles. It is strong against Ranged Soldiers, but weak against units at close range, especially rams. A Keep is a fixed control point, not a complete army, and its value depends on where its range changes movement.
History & balance
Keep is the final step in the tower progression: Guard Tower first, then the Imperial Age upgrade at the University. The official help assigns line-of-sight upgrades to the Town Center, attack and range to the Blacksmith, and attack, HP, armor and ship attack to the University. That history explains why a Keep feels like an investment in an existing defensive network rather than a standalone technology. It concentrates the tower line's purpose into 2,250 HP, 8 range and stronger projectile support for garrisoned Ranged Soldiers and Villagers.
In pro play
Place a Keep where its 8 range and 10 line of sight protect a decision, not merely where stone is available. A resource route, a narrow approach or a forward position can become harder to cross when five units garrison inside and ranged units or Villagers add projectiles. The 2,250 HP and 9 pierce armor make the structure durable against ordinary arrows, but the fixed footprint means it cannot rescue a distant fight. Build the network around the army, keep vision on the approach, and spend stone when the position will force movement or buy time for your mobile units.
How to counter it
The classic mistake is to attack a Keep with ordinary Archers or to park units under its fire while the structure is still protected. The official Weak vs. is units at close range, especially rams. Capped Rams have 190 pierce armor and Siege Rams 195, so the ranged tower's 9 pierce armor and extra arrows do not make a ram push disappear; the counter must reach the building and work at its weakness. Bring close-range pressure, cover the approach and do not confuse a static defense with invulnerability. If you keep losing to Keeps without knowing what to build or when, that is exactly what AoE Coach does: it reads your match-up and gives you the counter composition and timing.