head to head
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.

Optimization · Mind & Math
The original historical RTS of advancing ages, booming economies, and rushing armies.

Optimization · Mind & Math
A siege-war MMORPG defined by clan politics, PvP reads under castle warfare, and deep class optimisation.
Age of Empires leans Optimization (Mind & Math); Lineage 2 leans Optimization (Mind & Math).
Age of Empires leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Age of Empires
APM and micro under pressure
Lineage 2
Auto-attack systems limit individual twitch expression
Age of Empires leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Age of Empires
Scouting and countering human strategies
Lineage 2
Castle sieges and clan PvP demand reading opponent strategies
Age of Empires leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Age of Empires
Fog of war and map resources
Lineage 2
Drop rates and spoil variance are historically brutal
Age of Empires leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Age of Empires
Build orders and eco timing dominate
Lineage 2
Class synergies and party compositions for sieges are well-studied
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.