Guide

Introduction

This guide covers Zeus strategies for Age of Mythology: Retold. Zeus remains one of the strongest gods in Retold with versatile options — from the classic Athena Hoplite rush to the devastating hidden Minotaur push.

For classic AoM/Titans Zeus guides, see the Athena Rush and Basic Zeus guides on this site.

Zeus Bonuses (Retold)

• Hoplites move 12% faster
• Infantry deal x1.5 damage to buildings
• Villagers generate favor 25% faster
• God Power — Bolt: Instantly kill any single unit on the map
• Technology — Olympic Parentage: Heroes gain +25% HP

Minotaur Rush Build Order (Athena)

One of the strongest aggressive openers in Retold — hit Classical around 3:45 with hidden Minotaurs in your Temple for a devastating timing attack.

Archaic Age

1. 4 villagers to food (build Granary on hunt)
2. 2 villagers to gold (build Storehouse)
3. 2 villagers to wood
4. Build Temple as soon as you have 150 gold — use force drops to speed this up
5. 4 more villagers to food
6. 2 more to gold
7. Place 2 villagers at the Temple for favor
8. 1 food villager builds a House
9. Force drop food to reach 400 → advance with Athena
10. Pre-queue a Greek hero during advance

Classical Age

1. Direct new villagers to food until 8 total on food
2. Immediately queue 3 Minotaurs and hide them inside your Temple
3. Build a Barracks with 1 wood villager
4. 1 villager to favor, 2 to gold
5. Research Labyrinth of Minos to upgrade Minotaurs
6. Train Achilles as your hero
7. Start Hoplite production from Barracks

The Push

• Move out with 3 Minotaurs + Achilles + Hoplites
• Target enemy production buildings and villagers
• Use Bolt on the highest-value target (enemy hero, key myth unit, or Titan Gate later)
• Keep Hoplite production running — their building damage bonus is key

Pro tip: Grab a relic and put it in your Temple. When the opponent scouts your Temple, they'll assume it's just housing a relic, not 3 Minotaurs waiting to demolish their base.

Standard Macro Build (Hermes)

A more flexible, economy-focused approach:

1. Standard food/gold/wood opener
2. Advance with Hermes for Ceasefire + Spirited Charge (cavalry speed)
3. Build 2-3 Stables upon Classical
4. Mass Hippikons and raid constantly
5. Use Ceasefire to cancel enemy god powers or protect forward TC construction
6. Transition to Heroic with strong economy

Classical Unit Composition by Matchup

Opponent	Composition	Notes
Greek	All cavalry + Centaurs	Don't make archers. Raid — don't fight head-on vs heroes
Egyptian	Hippikons + Toxotes	Good vs Spear/Slinger combo. Fight straight up
Norse	Centaurs + Hippikons	Norse Hersirs are slow — Centaurs dance around them
Atlantean	Light military, boom	They counter you too easily. Rush to Heroic ASAP
Chinese	Hippikons + Heroes	Raid hard, target peasants and Kuafu

Minor God Path

Aggressive Path

Athena → Dionysus → Hera

• Restoration + Bronze + Lightning Storm = maximum combat power
• Best for ending games by Heroic/early Mythic

Balanced Path

Hermes → Dionysus → Hephaestus

• Ceasefire + Bronze + Plenty = flexible, strong in all situations
• Forge of Olympus discounts armory techs by 75%

Late Game Path

Athena → Apollo → Hephaestus

• Restoration + Underworld Passage + Plenty = macro-heavy, great for team games

Key Tips for Retold

• Force drops are crucial. Learn to force-drop resources at key moments to hit age-up timings faster
• Temple villagers for favor. Keep 2-3 villagers at the Temple — Zeus' faster favor rate means faster myth units
• Bolt timing matters. Save Bolt for maximum impact — don't waste it on a cheap unit
• Infantry building damage. This bonus is massive. Hoplites chew through buildings — use it to snipe TCs and production
• Manage population. Myth units take 3-5 pop. Build houses proactively