Hero (Age of Mythology)

Heroes are one of the three basic unit types in Age of Mythology. They share two core characteristics: they are powerful against Myth Units and they can pick up Relics and store them in Temples. In accordance with the rock-paper-scissors combat system, heroes are indifferent against human soldiers and can be beaten by them, especially when at a numerical disadvantage. As can be seen from the pictures below, all Heroes have a special glow surrounding them. Each of the game's four cultures has heroes with quite different characteristics.

Age Advance Bonuses
Unlike human units, Heroes do not benefit from standard upgrades such as Medium Infantry. They do however automatically gain an (undocumented) bonus to their hit points and attack at the start of the Classical, Heroic and Mythic Ages. These bonuses are listed below.

Greek Heroes
Greek players are able to train Heroes at the Town Center once they have built a Temple, and at the Fortress once one has been built. As shown in the table below, each Greek civilization has individual, named heroes, all of which are famous figures in Greek mythology.

A new hero becomes available at the start of each Age. This means that Greek players are limited to a maximum of four heroes (or five with Poseidon). However, Greek heroes are far stronger than those of the other three cultures. They can slay myth units with ease and can hold their own against human soldiers, so long as they are not numerically overwhelmed. The three Greek Heroes of a given age are very similar to each other up to the Mythic Age. The Heroes in the Mythic Age vary more and each has its own special attack.

Age Advance Bonus

 * +10% hit points, +10% attack

Norse Heroes
The Norse have one main type of Hero and another that is only rarely in play. Both types are considered Infantry units, though, as usual with Heroes, they do not benefit from infantry upgrades. Nevertheless they are susceptible to counter-infantry units such as the Hypaspist, and, like other Norse infantry, they can build and repair buildings.

The main Norse Heroes are the Hersirs, captains of the Viking army, who are trained at the Temple. Generally average melee fighters, they are formidable against myth units but not cost-effective against human soldiers. Additionally, Mythic Age players who worship Baldr can use the Ragnarok god power. This instantly transforms all Gatherers and Dwarves into Heroes of Ragnarok, which are like Hersirs but more powerful.

Age Advance Bonus

 * +10% hit points, +10% attack

Egyptian Heroes
Pharaohs and Priests are the standard heroes of the Egyptians. The Egyptian player starts the game with a Pharaoh, who does not occupy any population slots. If killed, he soon rises again at the Town Center. The Pharaoh is able to empower buildings, improving all of the building's functions, and heal allied units. He is not particularly strong, but he does gain 20% attack per Age advance. The Mythic Age minor god Osiris grants New Kingdom, which gives the player a second Pharaoh. Osiris' god power transform a Pharaoh into the Son of Osiris. This is the strongest hero in game, with dramatically increased hit points and a deadly chain lightning attack which can attack up to four units.

The Egyptians start with one Priest and more can be trained at the Temple from the Archaic Age. Priests are weaker than the Pharaoh but can be mass-produced. Like the Pharaoh, they can heal units, and can build Obelisks, which help with scouting by providing a continuous Line of Sight. Priests are very weak against human units, but very good against myth units when massed, especially slower ones.

Age Advance Bonuses

 * Pharaoh: +10% hit points, +20% attack
 * Son of Osiris: +10% hit points (added to base of 420 HP)
 * Priest: +10% hit points, +10% attack

Atlantean Heroes
The Atlanteans do not train their Heroes but create them from regular human units. Transformation costs around 175% of the unit's original cost plus a small amount of favor. Units that can be transformed are the Citizen, Oracle, Murmillo, Katapeltes, Turma, Arcus, Contarius, Destroyer and Fanatic. All these specially created hero units have large bonuses against myth units. They retain the multipliers they had before and the characteristics, so the Katapeltes Hero is still considered an infantry unit and has a large bonus against Cavalry. The heroes have slightly improved hit points, speed and LOS over their non-heroic counterparts, though their other upgrades (e.g. Medium Infantry) are lost. However, their Age Advance bonus is greatest in the Classical Age, giving them an early boost.

Turning ordinary units into heroes is expensive early on and increases the number of population slots the unit occupies, which may push a player over the population limit. This prevents training of units to replace them. To help combat this, Prometheus grants the player the Heart of the Titans technology which decreases the cost of turning human units into heroes, plus the Valor god power which transforms a small group of human units for free.

Age Advance Bonuses

 * Classical Age: +20% hit points, +20% attack
 * Heroic Age: +10% hit points, +10% attack
 * Mythic Age: +5% hit points, +5% attack