Odin

Odin is a Norse major god who focuses on Great Hall units.

Attributes

God Power

Name	Description
Great Hunt	Increases the number of animals in the target area. If there are none, it spawns a few Elk.

Technology

Name	Description
Hamask	Berserks move and attack faster as they lose hitpoints. (+0.25% for every missing 1% hit point)

Unique Units

Name	Description
Raven	Flying scout unit that has no attack. Two appear for free above the player's Temple as soon as one is built. The ravens reappear if killed.

Bonuses

Hunters gather 10% faster.
Great Hall units generate +25% favor in battle.
Human units and heroes regenerate 0.5 hit points per second.
Two Raven scouts spawn once the first Temple is built, and respawn a short time after being killed.

Minor Gods

Classical Age
Name	Focus
Freyja	Cavalry
Heimdall	Towers and navy

Heroic Age
Name	Focus
Skadi	Throwing Axemen
Njord	Ships and Hill Forts

Heroic Age
Name	Focus
Baldr	Siege and cavalry
Tyr	Infantry

Strengths

Odin's focus is on human soldiers (especially elite ones) and siege weapons.

All his human soldiers regenerate hit points, which means that less resources need to be spent replacing fallen soldiers; this is a rare ability for the Norse. As a raiding god, Odin relies on early aggression to win a battle. This is made easier thanks to his minor god roster, many of whom improve cavalry. Odin also grants extra hit points to the powerful Hill Fort units, helping them to survive, especially his Huskarls and Jarls who regenerate as well. Furthermore, Norse siege weapons are weak, and extra hit points are welcome. The Lone Wanderer technology makes rushes with Berserks even quicker, and also makes them more efficient at scouting. A Berserk will also take less time to reach enemy territory where they can begin building a forward base. On water maps such as Islands, Odin also has access to numerous technologies that improve his navy and the Kraken myth unit (if Njord is worshiped in the Heroic Age), making him a fearsome opponent on the water.

In addition, from the Classical Age onward, Odin gains two Ravens. These are the only dedicated scouts available to Norse civilizations. In the Extended Edition, the Ravens now appear as soon as a Temple has been built, enabling Odin worshipers to scout even earlier. Finally, as of Patch v1.02, Odin makes hunting more efficient, which is a useful economic bonus on some maps. His god power, Great Hunt, ties in with this as it adds further huntable animals that are hunted more quickly.

Weaknesses

Alongside Gaia, Odin is considered one of the weakest Major Gods in Age of Mythology by competitive players. As of The Titans, Town Centers could be built as early as the Classical Age, making it harder for Odin to raid. His Jarls, who are his strongest soldiers, are still vulnerable to the arrows of defensive structures, especially once the enemy has researched Crenellations. Without access to Bragi in the Heroic Age, Odin is vulnerable to attacks consisting mainly of cavalry. The Norse lack a heavy cavalry counter unit, forcing them to rely on the Berserk who is a light counter. Without access to the Swine Array technology, Odin's Berserks will stand no chance, especially against an army of Cataphracts.

Before Retold, although his human soldiers regenerate, the rate is very slow overall and even slower when a unit isn't idle. In Retold, the regeneration rate is constant irrespective of the state of the unit. Since the Norse are an aggressive civilization and their infantry are responsible for constructing buildings, soldiers will always be in movement, leaving no time for them to rest and regain their lost health.

Mythology

"The oldest and chief of the Norse gods, Odin had risen to prominence in the pantheon because of his love of battle. This made him popular with the Vikings when they began raiding out of Scandinavia. To his great fortress hall Valhalla he gathered those slain in battle. Called the einherjar (glorious dead), these warriors were preserved by Odin to supplement the gods in their final battle against the giants at Ragnarok.
Odin was not a warrior himself, but inspired warriors into going berserk in battle, feeling and fearing nothing. Sacrificial hangings were part of the worship of Odin, and suicide by hanging was thought to be a shortcut to Valhalla. Odin was held in high regard by jarls and other Norse nobility, while the common people feared Odin and worshipped Thor. Odin was also the god of wisdom. He had thrown one of his eyes into Mimir's well in trade for a drink of wisdom. He hung himself from the cosmic tree, Yggdrasil, to learn the knowledge of the dead, and then was revived by magic. He was kept informed about events elsewhere by his two ravens that scouted the world and reported back. Odin was to be killed during Ragnarok by Fenrir, the wolf spawned by Loki. Worship of Odin diminished as the Vikings gave up raiding for more peaceful pursuits. The Anglo-Saxons gave his name (Woden) to the fourth day of their week, Wednesday.
"Odin gives whatever meat is set before him on the table to his two wolves, Geri and Freki, for he himself requires no food. For Him, mead is both meat and drink."
-- Glyfaginning 39"
In-game compendium

Trivia

Odin was originally going to have an additional bonus that enabled cavalry to produce gold when attacking buildings.
- The Age of Mythology guidebook incorrectly attributes this to Thor.
- According to Greg Street on Age of Mythology Heaven, this was changed as it was "not very noticeable".