Spoeft’s Thor Guide: Matchups and Build Orders
By Spoeft · vanilla
Adapt Thor’s opening to Norse, Greek, and Egyptian opponents, with detailed land and water builds and additional openings by DeathAndPain and Sam_Ham.
Adapting Your Opening
Personally I'm not such a fan of build orders, because many people tend to mess up completely after their Ulfsark has been bolted, or they can't find the food right away. It's very important to be able to adapt to the situation. But a basic build order is always handy — just tweak it and you'll be fine.
Thor vs Norse
Thor vs Odin/Thor on High Hunt
Vs Odin, go for an aggressive 4:45 advance so you can attack rather early and take map control — your Thor eco is stronger in the beginning anyway.
Build Order
Cast Dwarven Mine as soon as the game starts
Put your 2 starting dwarves on it
Queue 5 gatherers to hunt
Research Hunting Dogs in your Ox Cart and drive it to hunt
Once 2 gatherers are on an animal, shoot the second closest deer for favor
As soon as you have 1 favor, research Pig Sticker
Ulfsark scouts toward middle, build first house by a TC or tower
Gatherer → Ox → Gatherer to a forest (4 on wood total)
Dwarf to Dwarven Mine (shift-click existing dwarves to regular mine after DM depletes)
Ulfsark builds temple forward, near a critical resource
Dwarf → Ox → Dwarf to gold mine (5 on gold total)
Dwarf to hunt (7 hunters now)
Another Dwarf to wood and gold
Advance — you should have 7 food, 4 wood, 5 gold
During advance: Get Pick Axe and Hand Axe. Make a Hersir from your temple before eco upgrades — you need him more.
Classical Strategy
If his temple is outside his town: Make some Ulfsarks for their fast training time and move in to take it down. Have your Ulfsark and Hersirs build houses and barracks — the goal is to outproduce your opponent.
Keep producing Ulfsarks, Throwing Axemen, and some Raiders
Base your economy on what army you're making — no point stacking wood when your army costs food
Get an armory up on time
If you can't break his base, pull back, save resources, and get hack/damage upgrades
Never forget to make Valkyries — they heal, fight, and raid
Don't save for Heroic while you're both pumping units — it might kill you
Once you take his base: Send Raiders to raid, build military buildings by gold mines and food sources to lock him in. You can run into his town if he's weakened enough, or take map control and get Heroic.
In Heroic: 2nd TC + Hill Fort by his closest gold mine. This alone causes many resignations.
If his temple is inside his town: It comes down to outraiding. You have an early advantage making Dwarves onto food for more Raiders, but long-term Gatherers gather faster — don't go full Dwarf.
Pump Raiders with damage upgrades (more important than hack upgrades for raids)
Kill villagers but don't suicide Raiders into TC fire
Hit Heroic around 10 minutes, 2nd TC + Hill Fort by gold, finish with Flaming Weapons
Vs Thor: Same strategy. The difference is no eco advantage — it comes down to micro.
Thor vs Loki on High Hunt
Build order matters here — you need to advance fast and stop his rush.
Dwarven Mine → 2 starting dwarves on it
Queue 5 gatherers to hunt, Hunting Dogs + Pig Sticker
Build house by tower guarding gold
2 Gatherers to wood near TC
Dwarf → Ox → Dwarf to gold mine (shift-click existing dwarves from DM)
Another Dwarf to gold (5 total)
Dwarf to food, Dwarf to wood
Build temple early and forward!
Advance at 3:05-3:10During advance: Keep making Hersirs. Don't get Pick Axe or Hand Axe — too expensive for your weak eco right now.
Upon Classical:
Find his forward base with your Ulfsark and charge immediately — every second counts
Chase his Ulfsark with yours (you advanced first, yours is stronger)
Take down his houses with Hersirs
All units build 1 barracks, then resume attacking
Spam Ulfsarks for fast training — the goal is to flood
After his base is dead, make 3-4 Raiders and raid while your infantry pushes his town
Micro carefully — save army, each fight costs a lot of resources
Get Heroic, 2nd TC, Hill Fort, Flaming Weapons to finish
Minor god choice: In vanilla, almost always Freyja. In Titans, go Forseti — you get a free Troll that helps a lot.
Thor vs Norse on Low Hunt (Oasis etc.)
Same build order but skip Hunting Dogs and Pig Sticker unless you have 4+ zebras. Go 5 on wood, advance around 5:05 with solid eco. Focus on Raiders, avoid big fights, start farming early. Get Heroic around 10 minutes for 2nd TC, then lock off all gold mines. On Ghost Lake, build a market early — gold is scarce.
Thor vs Loki on Oasis
He likely won't rush without food. Make Raiders (expensive for him to counter food-wise), go Forseti for Healing Spring, and make lots of Throwing Axemen. Attack his food constantly, micro well, and outplay with strong military + healing.
Thor on Water Maps
vs Norse on Mediterranean
4:18 advance with constant production from 2 docks:
Dwarven Mine → 2 dwarves on it
5 Gatherers to wood with starting Ox
Ulfsark builds dock and house
From now on, make pure Dwarves
Ulfsark scouts for pigs — send to TC (don't scout far like on land)
2 Dwarves to Dwarven Mine
Dwarves to pigs, then alternate gold
Build temple, 2nd dock, and armory on time
~7 fishing boats, no more
During advance: Switch food dwarves to wood. Target: 7-9 fish, ~14 wood, 5 gold. Make 1 Hersir for houses.
Upon Classical: Pump boats immediately. Steal his fish — vanilla has no shooting docks so the sea is yours early. If he isn't contesting water, upgrade towers, claim all fish, build barracks in TC fire range, and produce army. 10-minute Heroic is achievable with all that fish food.
vs Norse on Anatolia and Midgard
Starting dwarves to wood
3-4 Gatherers to wood
Dwarven Mine → 2 dwarves on it
Alternate Gatherer/Dwarf to wood until 8 total
Then food — sheep on Anatolia, cows on Midgard
Dwarf → Ox → 2 Dwarves to gold (5 total), rest to food
Advance ~5:20 with good fish/wood eco
Conquer sea, get Heroic around 8:30-9:00. TCs, Hill Forts, boom, Flaming Weapons to finish.
Thor vs Greeks
High Hunt Maps
Similar to vs Norse but you can advance a bit later vs Hades (he hides in his town):
Dwarven Mine → 2 dwarves gold
5 Gatherers food, Hunting Dogs, shoot deer for favor, Pig Sticker
Gatherer → Ox → 2 Gatherers wood
Dwarf gold
Gatherer food
2 Gatherers wood
Dwarf food
Dwarf → Ox → Dwarf gold
Advance (~5:00)
Good enough eco for all upgrades during transition, armory, and 2 barracks on arrival. Make Raiders and play aggressively — push him back, take map control, but don't overspend on army. Aim for 10-12 minute Heroic with full pop and all Classical eco upgrades.
Key: Get lots of pierce upgrades — mass Toxotes eat Norse units. If you survive Classical through raids and map control and hit Heroic way before him, make walls and Hill Forts everywhere.
Mythic choices: Baldr or Tyr — both good depending on situation. If you still have FW and he has Cease Fire, go Tyr for FW + Fimbulwinter combo. If he's turtling, Baldr's Ballistas and Fire Giants work for slow siege.
Low Hunt Maps (Oasis etc.)
5 on wood in Archaic, farm early, make Raiders to kill villagers. Get Heroic around 10-11 minutes for 2nd TC, then Heavy Raiders for more HP.
Water Maps (Mediterranean)
Don't use 4:18 vs Greeks with Cease Fire — they'll garrison ships, cast CF, and come back with 3 docks pumping. Instead, use the 5:20 build with flaming arrows:
Same build order as Anatolia/Midgard vs Norse
Build armory early and research Flaming Arrows
He advances early with lots of boats — garrison yours, get 2nd dock up
At 5:20 arrival, pump boats from gathering points inside docks
With better upgrades, ungarrison and fight to reclaim fish
Build 3rd dock if needed, get Heroic ~12 minutes, then TCs + Hill Fort + FW
vs Hoplite rush: Upgrade towers, build barracks in TC range, make Ulfsarks and Throwing Axemen for fast training. Wall off one side if possible once you have some boats out.
Water Maps (Anatolia and Midgard)
Same as vs Norse — good fish eco, early Heroic, strong pop and upgrades.
Thor vs Egyptians
High Hunt
Vs Ra: Early advance and cut him off gold. Simple.
Vs Isis on Watering Hole: Aggressive 4:35 advance with 2 Ulfsarks. Scout well and wall him in completely. Build in the middle where TCs are usually located, lock off his sides. Let him sit until ~6:00 thinking he can FH safely, then charge at 6:30 and break buildings and villagers.
If he has a huge barracks army, pull back to your middle where you have 4-5 barracks and flood
Keep repairing walls, microing fights, and holding him in until his mine runs out
Kind of lame but extremely effective
Vs Set: Fight constantly, keep up raids, try to get Heroic first, then TCs and Hill Forts.
Water Maps (Mediterranean)
Vs all three Egyptian gods, use 4:18 advance. Isis and Set have Anubis and fast advance — be careful and micro well. Ra is easier — conquer sea, he has no good god powers to protect himself. Don't overcommit at enemy docks — save for armory upgrades, then make Raiders to take docks on land.
Water Maps (Anatolia and Midgard)
Vs Ra: Take sea completely, get huge food boost. On Anatolia, build barracks in middle with some walls, Heroic on time, Hill Fort for TCs.
Vs Isis/Set: Serpent Snakes are excellent on map sides. On Anatolia, conquer one side completely and stay behind snakes on the other. Keep building in the middle — hard with Ancestors but not impossible with good micro and flanking.
Universal Tips
Never have idle buildings or units — idle is a waste of pop and resources
Hotkey your TC and barracks — check every 10 seconds during fights without scrolling away
Micro is the key to having more and stronger army while spending the same resources
On water maps, once you control the sea, pull land fights near the water — boats backing up ground troops do massive damage
Try to switch strategies — don't be predictable game after game
Build Order Reference
Thor Basic Land Build Order
Cast Dwarven Mine (DM)
2 starting dwarves to DM
Queue 5 gatherers for food
Ulfsark builds house next to tower
Hunting Dogs in Ox Cart, send to hunt
Ulfsark scouts
Kill animals for 1 favor → Pig Sticker
Gatherer → Ox → Gatherer → Gatherer to wood
Dwarf to Dwarven Mine
Ulfsark builds temple forward
Dwarf → Ox → Dwarf to gold
Shift-click 3 DM dwarves to regular mine after depletion
Dwarf to hunt
Dwarf to wood, Dwarf to gold
Advance
Thor Basic Water Build Order (by DeathAndPain)
Queue 5 villagers and 2 dwarves
Set TC rally to nearest straggler tree
Initial dwarves and ox to straggler; cast Dwarven Mine at TC
Waypoint dwarves from straggler to DM
Ulfsark builds dock then house, then scouts
Build 2nd dock when affordable; make fishing boats ASAP
5 queued villagers to wood (straggler then forest)
2 queued dwarves to gold (DM then mine) — 4 dwarves on gold total
Keep dwarves auto-queued to wood
Make cart for dwarves when DM runs low
Near 400 food, send some dwarves to gold for temple
Fast Simple Classic Advance (by DeathAndPain)
Initial 2 dwarves to DM
Get Hunting Dogs and Pig Sticker
6 gatherers with initial ox → hunting
3 gatherers with new cart → wood
Dwarves with new cart → gold until you begin advance
Make temple at 80 wood
Make one more house while advancing
Repelling a Loki Rush (High Hunt)
DM → initial dwarves to it
Queue 5 gatherers to hunt
Hunting Dogs + Pig Sticker (at 1 favor)
Build house
Start building temple early
2 villagers to wood
Dwarf + Ox to nearest gold mine
When DM depletes, send initial 2 dwarves to gold too
Dwarf to gold (5 total)
Dwarf to food, Dwarf to wood
Advance at 3:05-3:10!
Keep making Hersirs while advancing
Upon Classical: all units build 1 longhouse, then spam Ulfsarks
Attack his forward base immediately
Notes: Skip Pick Axe and Hand Axe — too expensive. In vanilla go Freyja, in Titans go Forseti.
Alternative Land High Hunt Build Order (by Sam_Ham)
DM next to TC, starting dwarves to it
Send Ox to hunting, research Hunting Dogs
7 villagers to hunting
Gather 1 favor → Pig Sticker
Villager → Ox → 3 villagers to wood
4 dwarves → Ox to gold
1 villager to wood, 1 to food
Build temple as soon as you have resources — middle of map vs less aggressive civs