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"Infantry. Only good against other infantry."
In-game description
The War Elephant is an elephantine Egyptian cavalry unit in Age of Mythology that is trained at the Migdol Stronghold from the Heroic Age.
Strengths and Weaknesses
File:Grk-h-hippeus.png Hippeus • File:Grk-h-prodromos.png Prodromos •  Spearman •  Jarl • War Elephant •  Berserk •  Camel Rider •  Huskarl •  Hersir •  Raiding Cavalry
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File:Grk-h-toxotes.png Toxotes • File:Grk-h-hypaspist.png Hypaspist •  Cheiroballista •  Chariot Archer •  Throwing Axeman •  Axeman
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Technologies
General Technologies
| Image | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| File:Shared-t-copper-weapons.png | Copper Weapons | +10% damage |
| File:Shared-t-bronze-weapons.png | Bronze Weapons | +10% damage |
| File:Shared-t-iron-weapons.png | Iron Weapons | +10% damage |
| Image | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| File:Shared-t-copper-armor.png | Copper Armor | -15% Hack Vulnerability |
| File:Shared-t-bronze-armor.png | Bronze Armor | -15% Hack Vulnerability |
| File:Shared-t-iron-armor.png | Iron Armor | -15% Hack Vulnerability |
| File:Shared-t-copper-shields.png | Copper Shields | -15% Pierce Vulnerability |
| File:Shared-t-bronze-shields.png | Bronze Shields | -15% Pierce Vulnerability |
| File:Shared-t-iron-shields.png | Iron Shields | -15% Pierce Vulnerability |
| Image | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| File:Grk-t-levy-infantry.png | Levy Infantry | -20% training time |
| File:Grk-t-conscript-infantry.png | Conscript Infantry | -20% training time |
Myth Technologies
| Image | Name | God | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:Grk-t-phobos-spear-of-panic.png | Phobos' Spear of Panic | Ares | +1 divine damage |
| File:Grk-t-sarissa.png | Sarissa | Athena | +10% hack damage, +1 attack range |
| File:Grk-t-aegis-shield.png | Aegis Shield | Athena | -15% pierce vulnerability |
| File:Grk-t-oracle.png | Oracle | Apollo | +4 Line of Sight |
| File:Grk-t-dionysia.png | Dionysia | Dionysus | +5% hit points |
Upgrades
| Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:Infobox-age2.png Classical Age | File:Shared-t-medium-infantry.png Medium Infantry | File:Infobox-food.png 150, File:Infobox-gold.png 150, File:Infobox-time.png 20 seconds | Upgrades Hoplites to Medium: +10% hit points, +10% damage, +1 Line of Sight |
| File:Infobox-age3.png Heroic Age | File:Shared-t-heavy-infantry.png Heavy Infantry | File:Infobox-food.png 300, File:Infobox-gold.png 300, File:Infobox-time.png 30 seconds | Upgrades Hoplites to Medium: +15% hit points, +20% damage, +1 Line of Sight); requires Medium Infantry |
| File:Infobox-age4.png Mythic Age | File:Shared-t-champion-infantry.png Champion Infantry | File:Infobox-food.png 500, File:Infobox-gold.png 400, File:Infobox-time.png 40 seconds | Upgrades Hoplites to Medium: +20% hit points, +30% damage, +1 Line of Sight); requires Heavy Infantry |
Relic Bonuses
| Image | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Armor of Achilles | -5% hack vulnerability |
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Canopic Jar of Imsety | +25% training speed |
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Gaia's Book of Knowledge | +3.0 attack multiplier vs. Titans |
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Pelt of Argus | +6 Line of Sight |
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Thundercloud Shawl | -5% pierce vulnerability |
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Gungnir, Odin's Spear | +5% attack |
Gameplay
War Elephants are incredibly strong and can destroy almost everything in their path. Due to their large bonus attack against buildings and high pierce armor, they can act as a third Egyptian siege unit, along with Siege Towers and the Catapult. Their main drawbacks are that they are expensive (each costing 250 resources), very slow, and take up 5 population slots.
As well as being slow, War Elephants are large. This makes them easy to hit with arrows, though they can shrug them off to some extent due to their decent pierce armor. Like all cavalry, War Elephants are weaker against infantry, but due to their fair hack armor and massive hit point total, only a large group of infantrymen will prevail against them. The best way to defeat these mighty units is to use anti-cavalry units such as the Katapeltes. Failing that, myth units with instant-kill special abilities, such as the Cyclops, Mummy, or Medusa, or other powerful myth units like Azure Dragons and Fire Giants can dispatch them quickly.
History
"The Egyptian War Elephant is expensive and slow, but is mighty in combat, particularly against buildings. They can be defeated by large groups of infantry or by Camels and Prodromos. The generals of ancient times, tracing back at least to Hannibal, were intrigued by the use of elephants in battle. The size and strength of the beasts were enough to shake any troops, but especially those who had never seen the animal before. In practice, elephants may have been more for show than effectiveness. Wounded elephants were difficult to control and likely to disrupt friends as much as foes. They were used as platforms for commanders and archers, and were ideal for breaking into dense enemy formations if they could be coaxed to do so. While the Indians first introduced elephants to the Mediterranean, the Ptolemies of Egypt were the first to use the larger African elephants in warfare. Classical texts are very clear that generals knew to counter war elephants with pigs."
In-game compendium
Gallery
Trivia
- There is an undocumented "Medium Elephants" upgrade (automatically granted after advancing to Heroic Age): increases attack and hit points by 10%.[1] In standard games, this change is not observable, as War Elephants are not available to train before the Heroic Age and are trained with the technology already in effect.
- When a player saves a game after researching the Champion Elephants upgrade, upon loading that saved game, the unit name reads as "Heavy Elephant", despite the fact that the unit retains the Champion upgrade.
- When this occurs, and the War Elephant happens to be the player's favorite or most trained human unit in a standard game, the Favorite Soldier Count under the Mythology tab of the player when viewing the Achievements Aftermath is displayed as "Heavy Elephants".
Video
List of Units
