Palisade Gate
Defensive - DarkBase 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.
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Try it freeDescription
"Wooden gate that allows units to pass through Palisade Walls. Opens automatically for friendly units."
Strategic Analysis
Strategic Role
Palisade Gates provide passage through your walls without breaking them. They are stronger than regular Palisades but still vulnerable.
Key Tactics
Entry Points
Place Palisade Gates at strategic locations to let your units move in and out while keeping enemies out.
Defensive Position
Gates can be used to create choke points. Units attacking through a gate can be focused down.
Emergency Escape
Use gates to provide escape routes for villagers being raided outside your walls.
Warning
Gates are often targeted by attackers because they are weaker than Stone Gates. Consider upgrading or protecting them.
Stats Analysis
Palisade Gates have more HP than Palisade Walls but are still weak compared to Stone Gates.
Hit Points
400 HP
60% more HP than Palisade Walls, but still falls quickly to military.
Cost
20 Wood
Cheap but not free. Consider minimizing gates to reduce costs.
Placement Tip
Place gates where you need access but not where attacks are likely. Consider double-walling behind gates.
Timing Tip
Build Palisade Gates when walling in Dark or Feudal Age.
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Other Buildings
AoE Coach analysis
Context & meta
The Palisade Gate is the Feudal-Age walling tool that open-map games are built around. Built into a line of Palisade Walls for just 30 wood, it lets your own units pass while keeping enemies out, and it can be locked and unlocked on demand — the backbone of "walling in" on Arabia to buy time against early aggression. With 240 HP it is fragile by design: a couple of Rams or a handful of infantry will chew through it, so it buys time rather than creating safety. It also cannot be converted by enemy Monks. Knowing when and where to drop a Palisade Gate is one of the highest-value micro skills in the early game.
History & balance
Walling is one of the defining strategic layers of Age of Empires II, and the Palisade Gate is its Feudal-Age keystone. Across Definitive Edition patches, the balance between early aggression and "boom behind walls" has been tuned repeatedly, and the humble Palisade Gate sits at the center of it: cheap enough to throw down early, fragile enough that a committed attacker can break through. Its ability to be locked (blocking everyone) or unlocked (letting allies through) makes it far more flexible than a plain wall segment, and its immunity to Monk conversion means it can never be turned against you. It is a small building with an outsized influence on how open-map games open.
In pro play
At the top level, fast, clean walling is a hallmark of great defensive play. Pros use Palisade Gates to seal the few gaps in their base while keeping a controlled exit for their own Scouts or villagers, buying the seconds needed to reach Castle Age safely against a Scout rush or Man-at-Arms opening. The technique is placement and timing: a gate dropped one tile too far can be run around, and locked at the wrong moment it traps your own army outside. On maps like Arabia, the ability to wall a base with minimal wood while still moving units in and out is often the difference between surviving Feudal aggression and losing your economy to raids.
How to counter it
If an opponent has walled with Palisade Gates and Walls, break the wood — do not bang your head on it. Battering Rams and the Ram line are built for exactly this and shrug off arrow fire while they demolish. Infantry are the budget option: the Militia-line, and especially any civilization with a bonus versus buildings (Goths, Vikings, Celts, Slavs), tears through 240 HP quickly. Even a few villagers can chop a Palisade Gate down if left alone. The strategic point is that a Palisade Gate only buys time — it is meant to delay you — so bring the right tool early instead of feeding units into a choke. If you keep getting walled out and stuck unable to reach the enemy economy, AoE Coach reads your match-up and tells you what to add — Rams, infantry, or a different angle of attack — and when.