Age of Empires units - strategies

Cavalry

	Unit	?	Age	Cost	Research/Upgrade cost	HP	Damage	Range	Armor	Speed	Train at
	Scout	S	Tool	100	-	60	3	-	-	fast	Stable
	Chariot	R	Bronze	40 60	-	100	7 (x2 vs Priest)	-	resistance to conversion	fast	Stable
	Cavalry	C	Bronze	70 80	-	150	8 (+5 vs infantry)	-	-	fast	Stable
	Heavy Cavalry	C	Iron	70 80	350 125	150	10 (+5 vs infantry)	-	1+1 piercing	fast	Stable
	Cataphract	C	Iron	70 80	2000 850	180	12 (+5 vs infantry)	-	3+1 piercing	fast	Stable
	War Elephant	E	Iron	170 40	-	600	15 trample, not upgradable	-	-	slow	Stable

Description: Cavalry units are fast but weaker in melee battle than Infantry units. Their purpose is to take out shooters (Siege Weapons and Archers). The Scout and the War Elephant play quite a different role in combat than the other Cavalry units.
Strongest against: Missile units
Counterattack: Infantry

Tips:

• The Scout's purpose truly is scouting only. He behaves not like other units and will not attack unless you tell him to. He can see enemies before he is spotted and should avoid direct combat. A single Scout can make a great difference and prevent you from running into towers.
• Chariots are perfect Priest killers, they are fast and have strong bonuses against these pesky Priests.
• Strategically, the War Elephant is much like infantry: strong but rather clumsy. He should be escorted by faster Cavalry units that take out the shooters and Priests. The damage of the War Elephant cannot be upgraded, so his value decreases as you get the upgrades. He can attack multiple units at once, though, making him effective against hordes of footmen.
• Even though the Heavy Cavalry has bonuses against Infantry, he should not try to fight against them or he will not live very long. Take advantage of his bonuses against missile weapons (+1 piercing armor)!

Siege Weapons

Unit

?

Age

Cost

Research/Upgrade cost

HP

Damage (Area)

Range

Armor

Speed

Train at

Fire rate

Stone Thrower

C

Bronze

180 80

-

75

50 (1x1)

10, min. 2

-

slow

Siege Workshop

1/5s

Catapult

C

Iron

180 80

300 250

75

60 (2x2)

12, min. 2

-

slow

Siege Workshop

1/5s

Heavy Catapult

C

Iron

180 80

1800 900

150

60 (3x3)

13, min. 2

-

slow

Siege Workshop

1/5s

Ballista

B

Iron

100 80

-

55

40

9, min. 3

-

slow

Siege Workshop

1/3s

Helepolis

B

Iron

100 80

1500 1000

55

40

10, min. 3

-

slow

Siege Workshop

2/3s

Description: Siege Engines are designed to be used against buildings, but Ballistas and especially the Helopolis ("City Killer") do also very well against troops. Researching Ballistics makes a great difference because you get predictive firing that will help you to hit moving targets. All Siege Engines are helpless if attacked from a close range and destroyed quickly. Protection is very important.
Strongest against: Buildings (towers!), Archers; Ballistas also against other troops if protected.
Counterattack: Cavalry, Infantry, Villagers, but not Priests

Tips:

• While a Helepolis does more damage than a Heavy Catapult against units, Catapults can take down buildings and walls more quickly because of their larger damage radius.
• A Catapult or Ballista without a Hoplite is a dead Catapult.
• If someone tries to convert your siege engines, aim them at the Priest and he will never try again :-)
• Make sure you do not occasionally move them too close to a tower.
• Helepolis are just awesome against units due to their high fire rate. The upgrade is very expensive, though.
• Catapults tend to kill your guys as well as the enemy if their damage radius is upgraded. Tell them to attack ground at the spot where the enemy is coming from to prevent that.
• Once Ballistics is researched, you can only attack Siege Engines by walking in a zigzag line. Because the trajectory of Ballista bolts is very flat, units cannot hope to duck under a flying bolt without being hit (unlike in Warcraft).

Fishing, Trade and Transport

	Unit	?	Age	Cost	Upgrade Cost	HP	Armor	Speed	Train at	Capacity
	Fishing Boat	F	Stone	50	-	45	-	medium	Dock	15
	Fishing Ship	F	Bronze	50	50 100	75	-	fast	Dock	20
	Trade Boat	R	Stone	100	-	200	-	fast	Dock	20 goods
	Merchant Ship	R	Bronze	100	200 75	250	-	fast	Dock	20 goods
	Light Transport	T	Tool	150	-	150	-	medium	Dock	5 units
	Heavy Transport	T	Iron	150	150 125	200	-	fast	Dock	10 units

Description: Fishing ships gain food, merchant ships trade your goods for gold, and your transports carry your troops to other islands. All ships are twice as resistant than land units to conversion.

Tips:

• While the upgrades for the Fishing Boat and the Light Transport to the better ships that have an increased capacity are a must, the upgrade for the Trade Boat does not yield much.
• If a Merchant Ship has to wait to get its load of gold, check the stockpiled gold in dock and also your resources (maybe you just ran out of food). Do not worry if a Merchant Ship is attacked, it can take quite a few hits. Repair it when it comes home to your dock.
• Repair your Transports and Merchant Ships when they are damaged! They carry valuable goods.
• Check your fishing boats from time to time to see whether they are still fishing or just sitting around because they could not find any more fish.

War Ships

	Unit	?	Age	Cost	Upgrade/Research Cost	HP	Damage (Area)	Range	Armor	Speed	Train at	Fire rate
	Scout Ship	E	Tool	135	-	120	5	5	-	fast	Dock	-
	War Galley	E	Bronze	135	150 75	160	8	6	-	fast	Dock	-
	Trireme	E	Iron	135	250 100	200	12	7	-	fast	Dock	-

Description: There are only two type of Ships in AoE: the Scout ship that can be upgraded up to the Trireme and the Catapult Trireme. Triremes fire much more often than Catapult Triremes and are indeed a danger for them if controlled properly, taking advantage of the fact that the Catapults tend to overshoot.
Strongest against: Ships that are not upgraded yet to the same level, defenseless Transports and Villagers :-)
Counterattack: Siege Weapons, Priests (when the ships are near the shore), Ships with better upgrades, Catapult Triremes or Juggernauts with Ballistics

Tips:

• Do not even try to fight against War Ships of a higher Age (e. g. Scout Ships against War Galleys). Both upgrades double the strength of the ships in battle.
• When fighting against Juggernauts, do not forget to keep your fleet in motion so the Juggernaut shots will (hopefully) miss. Try to make the Juggernaut miss with his first shot and then take advantage of the higher fire rate and (hopefully) higher numbers of the Triremes (they cost no gold after all). If Ballistics is researched, you will have to change the direction, too. It will be very hard then for your Triremes, so get Juggernauts as well if you can.
• Be careful when persecuting Transports or Merchant Ships, you may run into towers and Catapults.
• Never move too close to the shore - you will not want to be attacked by Infantry and Cavalry whose range is 0. Keep in mind that ground troops can also move on shallows. This terrain type where both ships and ground troops can move has not existed in Warcraft.

Catapult Ships

Unit

?

Age

Cost

Upgrade/Research Cost

HP

Damage (Area)

Range

Armor

Speed

Train at

Fire rate

Catapult Trireme

C

Iron

135 75

300 100

120

35 (1x1)

9

-

fast

Dock

1/5s

Juggernaut

C

Iron

135 75

2000 900

200

35 (2x2)

10

-

fast

Dock

1/5s

Description: The second ship type is a kind of Siege Weapon for the sea. Once Ballistics is researched and you have upgraded the Catapult Triremes, your Juggernauts will rule the sea. Unupgraded Catapult Triremes can be sunk by normal Triremes if the player who controls them has clue of the game (see above).
Strongest against: Pretty much anything when upgraded to Juggernaut.
Counterattack: Catapults, more Juggernauts with Ballistics :-)

Tips:

• Juggernauts are the latest advancement in the Iron Age and will rule the sea then. They can take down towers easily (keep an eye out for Catapults, though). Their power is unmatched, and so are their costs.
• Catapult Triremes have the strong attack of a Juggernaut, but are much more fragile. Escort them with Triremes if possible!
• Only six out of twelve tribes can get Juggernauts. If you are going to play a heavy seas campaign (does not HSC sound familiar?), keep this in mind when choosing the tribe. A strategy with these ships should always involve an upgrade to the Juggernaut.
• If the islands on the map are small, players are forced to build near the shore, and these buildings will be wiped out very quickly with Catapult Triremes.