Elite Battle Elephant

"Stronger than Battle Elephant. Slow and heavy cavalry."

- Age of Empires II description

The Elite Battle Elephant is a cavalry unit in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas that can be trained at the Stable once the Imperial Age is reached. It is a slow yet very powerful and resilient heavy cavalry unit. Elite Battle Elephants deal trample damage.

Tactics
Similar to Persian War Elephants, but on a lesser scale, Elite Battle Elephants are tough and durable. They move slowly and are vulnerable to units that deal damage at range. As cavalry units, they are also vulnerable to enemy Pikemen and Camels. Mamelukes are particularly effective against them. Because they are big, move slowly and don't have a ranged attack, Scorpions (which also deal bonus damage) and Mangonels are also effective against them. They can be easily converted by enemy Monks, so they should be deployed with supporting units, preferably units with range.

Each civilization that has access to Elite Battle Elephants has specialties that benefit them, making their use different:

Burmese
Both Burmese unique technologies benefit their Elite Battle Elephants: Howdah gives them +1/+2 armor, making them more resilient particularly to ranged attacks, and Manipur Cavalry gives +6 attack bonus against buildings. In combination, that makes them a fairly viable choice for sieging. Having access to all technologies from the Stable and the Blacksmith aids their fighting capabilities.

Khmer
Khmer Elite Battle Elephants move 15% faster, get +3 attack out of Tusk Swords, and get full upgrades from both Stable and Blacksmith. This probably makes the Khmer have the best Elite Battle Elephants, especially in the late game. It must be mentioned, though, that the Khmer lack both Heresy and Faith, leaving their Elite Battle Elephants very prone to conversion.

Malay
The Malay Elite Battle Elephants come in kind of weak defensively, lacking Chain Barding Armor, but they are 25% cheaper to make it up. In late game, the Malay Elite Battle Elephants are probably the weakest. Still, they get full coverage against conversion (unlike their Burmese, Khmer, and Vietnamese counterparts).

Vietnamese
The Vietnamese Elite Battle Elephants are the most resilient of them all as they get another 30 HP out of the Chatras technology. They also get full armor from the Blacksmith. That makes them perfect for the Vietnamese as they can act as meat shields to protect their excellent archers. The fact that they lack Blast Furnace and Husbandry does little harm in the Vietnamese's case.

Civilization bonuses

 * Burmese: Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
 * Khmer: Elite Battle Elephants are 15% faster.
 * Malay: Elite Battle Elephants are cheaper.
 * Vietnamese: Conscription is free.

Team bonuses

 * A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, Conscription and unique technologies that benefit Elite Battle Elephants are researched 25% faster.
 * A team containing Huns: Elite Battle Elephants are created 20% faster. Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
 * A team containing Teutons: Elite Battle Elephants are more resistant to conversion.

Rise of the Rajas

 * Malay: Initially, Elite Battle Elephants are 20% cheaper. With patch 5.3, that bonus is increased to 25%.

Trivia

 * A fully upgraded Burmese Elite Battle Elephant boasts 9 pierce armor, the highest among cavalry (tied with the Elephant Archer).
 * With 23 attack, a fully upgraded Khmer Elite Battle Elephant has the second strongest attack of all units outside of the siege and gunpowder section. Only the Elite War Elephant has a stronger attack (24).
 * A fully upgraded Vietnamese Elite Battle Elephant has 350 HP, a value that is only beaten by the War Elephant (620 HP) and rivaled by the Elephant Archer (350 HP).