South American Openings: Mapuche, Muisca and Tupi in the Feudal Age

The three new civilizations from The Last Chieftains — Mapuche, Muisca and Tupi — share a common design axis: the Settlement. This unique building acts as an economic dropsite and, depending on the civilization, unlocks defensive military production, healing auras or garrison slots for Villagers. Because Settlements reshape how you structure the first ten minutes of a game, a standard European opening template will not translate cleanly to these civs.

Across the four South American civilizations, the Champi line is shared. It starts with the Champi Scout in the Dark Age and reaches the Champi Warrior in the Castle Age. Incas additionally have Slingers. Champi are all-purpose Infantry for scouting and raiding, strong against Foot Archers, Siege Weapons and buildings, and weak against Cavalry; Slingers are useful against Infantry. Any opening should account for when the relevant regional unit joins the army.

This guide walks through three Feudal-Age openings, one per civilization, each targeted at the unique economic or military bonus the civilization is built around. These are not the only viable paths — they are the ones that most directly exploit the identity of each civ. Pick the opening that matches your map and matchup, and be ready to deviate when the opponent denies your plan.

The Mapuche bonus that shapes this opening is twofold: Foragers drop off +25% food, and Settlements can train the Spearman and Skirmisher lines directly. Combined, these two bonuses can support an efficient Feudal transition while letting you use a forward Settlement for Spearman- and Skirmisher-line production instead of immediately adding both buildings.

Build order: start with 6 Villagers on sheep, 4 on berries (where the extra food dropped off by foragers is useful), 1 lure boar, 2 on wood, then continue on wood and food until 21–22 pop. The extra food can support an earlier click-up, but the exact timing depends on the map and execution. While transitioning, scout for a safe forward position near the opponent's gold or wood line, and drop a Settlement there as soon as you hit Feudal.

From that forward Settlement, produce Spearmen and Skirmishers in alternating batches. The Mapuche Feudal HP bonus (+5 HP to Infantry, Slingers and Skirmishers) makes these trash units meaningfully more durable in trades than their generic counterparts. Six Spearmen and six Skirmishers can pressure Villagers while your main base continues to transition toward Castle Age and your first Castle for Kona production.

This opening snowballs when the opponent is committed to a standard archer or scout build, because your Skirmishers out-HP their Skirmishers and your Spearmen threaten any scout follow-up. It is weaker into pure ranged civs that wall early, in which case you should pivot toward Castle Age and avoid a drawn-out Feudal fight.

The Muisca civilization bonus Advancing to the next Age costs -50% gold halves the gold portion of each age-up. For the Castle Age, the usual 200 gold becomes 100 gold after the bonus. Paired with Settlements cost -33%, this supports a resource-efficient Fast Castle build.

Build order: 6 sheep, 4 berries, 1 lure boar, 3 on wood early, 3 on gold. The early gold mining looks unusual for a Fast Castle but it is needed for the (already discounted) age-up and early Monk production. Push for Feudal at 22 pop around the 11:00–11:30 mark, then immediately transition: build a Market, a Blacksmith and a Monastery. Continue to gold and farm transitions while clicking up to Castle Age as soon as the 800 food / 100 gold after the bonus is available.

Around 15:00–15:30 you should hit Castle Age with 3–4 Monks in production and a Settlement near your army rally point. The Settlement heals nearby human units, providing support around your army. From here, the Muisca faith bonus applies: Monks regain faith 50% faster than generic Monks, meaning you can attempt conversions more often in skirmishes.

Do not forget that Champi Warriors and Archery Range units have +1 melee armor in Feudal and +2 in Castle. A mixed army of 4 Monks, 6 Champi Warriors and 6–8 Archers covers several common threats while using the gold saved during the age-up.

The Tupi civilization starts with +25 of each resource. That is 25 food, 25 wood, 25 gold and 25 stone on top of the standard 200 food / 200 wood start. The effective result is approximately one extra Villager's worth of resources that compounds over the first ten minutes, letting you get an earlier Loom, an earlier House or an earlier Barracks without falling behind on idle TC time.

Another bonus that shapes this opening: Archery Range and Barracks upgrades cost -50% food. This discount does not automatically apply to Blacksmith technologies such as Fletching or Forging. Combined with the unique Blackwood Archer — a Foot Archer trained in pairs at 35 wood and 45 gold per unit with 0.5 population each and an 18-second train time — the Tupi can build an efficient ranged mass after reaching the Castle Age.

Build order: standard 22-pop Feudal with 6 sheep, 4 berries, 1 lure boar, 7 on wood, then farm transitions. Use your +25 starting resources to buy an earlier Barracks at around 20 pop. In Feudal, add an Archery Range and use generic archers plus a few Spearmen for defense. Research Fletching only when its normal cost fits; after reaching Castle Age, begin paired Blackwood production and mix it with your generic archers.

A key long-term edge: Fallen units return 15% of their cost. This means every army you lose is partially refunded, which makes aggressive Feudal trades far less punishing than for most civilizations. Do not over-commit a single army, though — 15% is a softener, not a full refund.

The most common mistake across all three civilizations is ignoring the Settlement as an economic building. Players used to Lumber Camps and Mining Camps often drop Settlements too late or in the wrong location. For Mapuche and Muisca, the Settlement is also a military or support structure — place it where you can use its secondary function, not only where raw resources are closest.

A second frequent mistake is treating Champi Warriors as a complete Scout substitute. Champi are all-purpose Infantry for scouting and raiding, strong against Foot Archers and weak against Cavalry; they cost food and gold and are not Eagle Warriors. Keep them in small raiding groups and use actual Scouts for information when available.

A third mistake, specific to the Muisca, is forgetting to research Monastery technologies before committing to Monk-heavy fights. Redemption, Atonement and Sanctity are still required to make Monks effective, regardless of the civilization's faith recovery bonus. A non-upgraded Monk with 50% faster faith is still a non-upgraded Monk.

Finally, Tupi players commonly under-use the Blackwood Archer. Because the unit trains in pairs and costs 0.5 population each, you can run multiple Archery Ranges producing them after Castle Age. A small group does not exploit the population efficiency as well as a sustained mass, but the useful number depends on the matchup.

Closed maps such as Arena, Hideout or Black Forest punish aggressive Feudal plans. On these maps, skip the Settlement-based pressure opening and go for a generic Fast Castle instead. Muisca can be well suited to a closed-map Castle Age thanks to the discounted age-up — choose whether to fight in Feudal based on the map and opponent.

Water and hybrid maps change the priority entirely. Mapuche and Tupi have limited water tools, while Muisca benefits from Natural gold sources lasting 15% longer. On hybrid maps, choose a Dock-first or land opening for Muisca based on the map; do not base the decision on a Fishing Ship whale-gold mechanic.

Against heavy cavalry civilizations like Franks, Lithuanians and Huns, the Mapuche Settlement pressure plan suffers because 6 Spearmen cannot stop a committed Knight push once the opponent reaches Castle Age. Pivot earlier toward your own Castle Age and the Kona bonus damage on wounded targets, which synergizes with Pikemen holding the line.

Against Eagle Warrior civs (Aztecs, Mayans), the Tupi Blackwood Archer swarm is vulnerable to Eagle raids on the woodlines that feed your production. Add Spearmen garrisons and consider a slower, walled opening. As a general rule: the Feudal openings described above are most natural on open land maps (Arabia, Hill Fort, Dry Arabia) and less suited to maps that reward booming or deny early fights.