How to defend against rushes in PvP in Age of Empires Online

[Bubboy]

When I play a PvP game and the enemy rushes me there am no way I can win? Anyone who knows an effective strategy for defending against rushes? I already tried many things but can’t solve this problem. Please if anyone has any idea or has any strategy which help me to defend against rushes.

[RyanInt]

Scouting is very important. Good players tend to build watch post very early to monitor the enemy base. This help you see what exactly is coming so you can counter your enemy effectively. I see many newer players build their Barracks or Archer range way too late. You want to pop out some military units early because you can use them offensively and defensively! Your best offense is literally your best defense!

[AZUL]

Towers can be a good basic defense in the early stages of the game, especially against Toxote rushes. They also have a physiological effect as well, that if most players see a tower shooting their archers, the run them away. However, towers have a minimum range, so the player may just run all their Toxotes and stay at the tower base, if the tower is outside Town Center range. A good basic 'turtle' strategy is to build towers so their base is covered by the Town Center fire, or have towers support each other. My fastest rushes have been stopped by a few measly towers.

[RockOn]

I would say the above advice is very bad and won't work against good people. You'd need multiple towers to protect each of your resource types, and if it were me, I'd just run under tower fire to snipe out villagers, and then retreat whenever you garrison. Even if I lose a bunch of tox, you still lost tons of resource gathering time, and several villagers per run-by, whilst my economy is continuing to expand without harassment (or resources wasted on towers/stone mining)

[Squibbit]

I think what most people consider as a rush isn't a rush at all. Iron Age warfare is part of the game and if you don't make units at that stage, you're not playing the properly. This doesn't mean that you can't be defensive and go for a fast Golden Age, but you still need to make units. Build Toxote (+spearmen if you see saris) and guard your base from harassment. Build watch posts around your base and intercept any attack.