Achilles

"Mounted Hero. Good against myth units. Switches to a ranged attack to fight flying units. Collects Relics."
In-game description

Achilles is the Classical Age hero for Hades. He is based on the the character of the same name who was a near-immortal and a great warrior who fought in the Trojan War.

Special Abilities

	Name	Description
	Sacred Hands	Can pick up Relics and drop them off at a Temple.
	Scourge of the Skies	Switches to a ranged attack to fight flying units.

Technologies & Relic Bonuses

General Technologies

	Name	Description
	Copper Weapons	+10% damage
	Bronze Weapons	+10% damage
	Iron Weapons	+10% damage
	Ballistics	Fires more accurately at moving targets.

	Name	Description
	Copper Armor	-15% Hack Vulnerability
	Bronze Armor	-15% Hack Vulnerability
	Iron Armor	-15% Hack Vulnerability
	Copper Shields	-15% Pierce Vulnerability
	Bronze Shields	-15% Pierce Vulnerability
	Iron Shields	-15% Pierce Vulnerability

Myth Technologies

Name	God	Description
Olympian Parentage	Zeus	+25% hit points, -50% training time
Oracle	Apollo	+4 Line of Sight
Sun Ray	Apollo	+10% anti-flying damage, projectiles reveal the surrounding area
Dionysia	Dionysus	+5% hit points

Bonuses

Age Bonuses

	Name	Description
	Heroic Age	+15% hit points, +20% damage, +1 damage multiplier against myth units.
	Mythic Age	+20% hit points, +30% damage, +1 damage multiplier against myth units.

Relic Bonuses

	Name	Description
	Arrows of Heracles	+5% attack
	Hermes' Winged Sandals	+10% movement speed
	The Khopesh of Horus	+1.0 attack bonus multiplier vs. myth units
	Pelt of Argus	+6 Line of Sight
	Thundercloud Shawl	-5% pierce vulnerability
	Tyrfing, Angantyr's Sword	Regenerate +10% of damage dealt

Gameplay

Achilles is the best armored Greek hero. As with all Greek heroes he is very powerful against myth units but is strong enough to take on most units in the game. As a mounted hero, he is fast and can chase down fleeing units.

Mythology

"◆ Age -- 35
◆ Homeland -- Scyros
◆ Occupation -- Hero of the Trojan War
A great warrior and Greek champion in the Trojan War, he was nearly invulnerable, having been dipped in the River Styx as a child by his mother, Thetis. During the dipping, however, he had been held by the tendon in one of his heels (the Achilles tendon). Following an argument with Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks outside Troy, Achilles refused to fight and the war began to go in Troy's favor. A friend donned Achilles' armor hoping to re-inspire the Greeks, but he was slain by the Trojan champion, Hector. Enraged, Achilles rejoined the fight, slew Hector, and dragged his body around the city. Guided by the gods, Paris of Troy hit Achilles in his heel with a poisoned arrow, and the great warrior died."
In-game compendium

Gallery

Trivia

Achilles is the only Hero who cosmetically reflects shield upgrades in-game. This is due to the fact that his unit texture was supposed to be used for the cut unit Cataphract, which was supposed to be a trainable cavalry for Hades.
Due to balancing reasons, Achilles is not "nearly immortal".
After the fall of Troy, Achilles (represented by a Cataphract) can briefly be seen leading the Greek army out of the city, making it possible he survived the events of the Trojan War in Age of Mythology.
- This is an oversight, originally Achilles was one of the Troy campaign heroes, but he was removed because Ensemble Studios either thought there were too many disposable characters, script changes/issues or because the events of Age of Mythology's Troy is set within the last weeks of the war, and by then Achilles was killed (this can be confirmed by the appearance of the "Armor of Achilles" relic in Scratching the Surface scenario).
In the Beta, Achilles was going to be infantry hero, with a unique model.

Video

List of Units