FoE Aztec Settlement: Intro & Strategy

The Aztec Settlement is the fourth Cultural Settlement in Forge of Empires. Unlike Vikings, Japan and Egypt, it only unlocks in the Colonial Age – after researching the technology "Colonies". You start with 5,000 cocoa beans as starting capital. The settlement features a mini-game (Courtyard Market) as an additional goods source, and roads cost cocoa beans here.

Overview

Roads cost cocoa beans – only build as many as you need for building connections.

Buildings & Production

Residential buildings (cocoa beans + population)

Residential buildings provide population and cocoa beans – but they need a road connection to produce. Once the shrine is unlocked, the production of residential buildings loses importance and they no longer necessarily need to be connected to a road.

Goods buildings

All goods buildings have identical production values – only the good differs:

Diplomacy buildings (cocoa beans + diplomacy)

From the 10h cycle onwards, bean production per hour drops dramatically (Simple Shrine: only ~42/h). In practice: prefer the 1h and 5h cycles, use 10h overnight.

Cocoa beans per hour comparison:

Expansions

Tip: Always use the good with the lowest quantity for expansions – production time stays the same, you just need fewer units.

Optimal flow

Phase 1: Start (evening, ~8 pm)

• Build 7 Macehualtin Huts + 3 roads + 2 Vegetable Gardens
• Place 11 Honoring Sculptures in free spaces (5 diplomacy each)
• Complete the first two quests right away
• Start a 10h or 20h production run for the night

Phase 2: Early phase (day 1–2)

• Demolish honoring sculptures → build Simple Shrines (20 diplomacy + cocoa beans)
• Unlock the Quetzal Aviary (quest 6) → Courtyard Market becomes available
• Place a Texcotzingo (120 diplomacy, no road)
• First expansion with stone figures (10 pieces)
• Target: ~6 shrines, 4 huts, 2 vegetable gardens

Phase 3: Mid phase (day 2–4)

• Unlock Maize Farm + Stone Carver
• Replace huts with Yaoteguihua Residences (saves space, more cocoa beans)
• Decorative / Ornamental Statues for diplomacy gaps
• Second expansion with stone figures
• Target: 4 goods buildings in parallel

Phase 4: Late phase (day 4+)

• Sun Stone (126 diplomacy, no road) for large diplomacy quests
• Great Temple (210 diplomacy + cocoa beans/24h) for the final push
• 2 Pipiltin Palaces (quest 16)
• Collect 3,000 cocoa beans and produce 20 of each good → complete the settlement

TL;DR: 7 huts + 2 vegetable gardens → shrines → 4 goods buildings → Sun Stone + Great Temple. Prioritize the stone carver (cheapest expansions). Logging in three times a day is enough.

Rewards

Emissaries & Slots

The settlement unlocks 4 emissaries. The slots are located in your capital's Town Hall – you can choose from all emissaries of all settlements, a slot is independent of the settlement.

Jade Statue (secondary building)

2×2, 5 levels – fragments only if you finish within the time limits:

Level 5 provides guild goods and coins. The time windows get tighter with each playthrough – from playthrough 12 the gold deadline is around 10.5 days.

Sun Temple (main building)

4×3, 9 levels plus an "Ascended" level (orange). This lasts only 28 days, after which the building falls back to the normal max level. Unlocked by one more playthrough after reaching level 9 – that's the "∞" entry in the table above.

The Sun Temple provides coins, supplies and Forge Points (up to 10) as well as goods (up to 40). Boost: +30% defense for the attacking army. Motivated: double coins plus bonus.

Tips for a smooth run

• Cocoa beans are the bottleneck. Goods production costs 1,000–4,000 beans per cycle – plan your production accordingly. The Texcotzingo is the best coin source here.
• Use roads sparingly. Only residential, goods, shrine and temple buildings need a connection.
• Play the Courtyard Market daily. Once per day, up to 3 rounds – one of the best goods sources in the settlement. In the final push it can cover missing good requirements.
• Maximize the x4 chance: With 5h cycles you get more chances at the bonus than with longer productions.
• Only produce as much as needed. Overproduction is a waste of time – produce specifically for the next quest goals and unlocks.
• Use pickaxes sparingly. Obstacles can be removed (quest reward or diamonds) – use them to create one large connected building area instead of many small ones.

Duration & time management

You get the Sun Temple and emissaries regardless of duration – the time limits only affect the jade statue fragments. The Aztecs are one of the slower settlements; activity is key to holding the gold deadline.