| “ | Anti-building siege weapon. Resistant to most ranged attacks. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Capped Ram is a non-ranged siege unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Siege Workshop once the Imperial Age is reached. Compared to the Battering Ram, the head of the Ram is now capped with a metal head, thus making it deal 25 more damage against buildings. Another notable feature is that the Capped Ram upgrade allows Rams to deal splash damage to adjacent structures and units. The upgrade is available to all civilizations except Bengalis, Dravidians, Gurjaras, and Hindustanis, which get the Armored Elephant line instead of rams.
Rams are very useful in tearing down enemy Walls and clear makeshift obstructions. Also, Rams perform outstandingly against stationary Trebuchets. A Capped Ram can garrison up to six foot units (infantry, archers, or Villagers). Only infantry units improve the speed and attack against buildings.
Tactics[]
The Capped Ram functions very similarly to its predecessor, the Battering Ram, as an anti-building siege unit with exceptional pierce durability and a massive weakness against melee units. Compared to the Battering Ram, the Capped Ram has +25 hit points, +25 anti-building bonus damage, +1 ram armor, and a blast radius of 1.5 (the Battering Ram has none). The latter makes it much better at tearing down massed walls and bases. The low cost of the upgrade makes it almost always worth getting if using rams.
While the Capped Ram is useful, it is usually only a stepping-stone toward the stronger Siege Ram. For civilizations that do not have the Siege Ram, players will typically opt for Bombard Cannons instead.
Further statistics[]
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Buildings, Trebuchets, Archers |
| Weak vs. | Mangudai, Onagers, melee units especially Magyar Huszars |
| Upgrades | |
| Hit points |  Furor Celtica (+40%, Celts only)
|
| Attack |  Siege Engineers (+20% attack against buildings) Torsion Engines (increases splash damage radius, Ethiopians only)
|
| Armor |  Ironclad (+4/+0, Teutons only)
|
| Speed | Drill (+50%, Mongols only)
|
| Line of Sight | Siege Engineers (+1)
|
| Conversion defense |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max, Sicilians only)
|
| Upgrades |  Siege Ram
|
Civilization bonuses[]
Aztecs: Capped Rams are created 11% faster.- Bulgarians: Upgrading to Siege Ram costs -50%.
- Burmese: Researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
- Celts: Capped Rams attack 25% faster. Capped Rams can convert herdable animals even if enemy units are next to them.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Capped Rams are 15% cheaper.
- Cumans: Capped Ram available in the Castle Age.
- Georgians: Capped Rams receive -20% damage (-40% instead of -25%) when fighting from higher elevation.
- Portuguese: Capped Rams cost -20% gold.
- Slavs: Capped Rams are 15% cheaper.
- Spanish: Researching technologies that benefit Capped Rams provides 20 gold each.
- Tatars: Capped Rams deal +20% damage (+50% instead of +25%) from elevations.
Team bonuses[]
- Celts: Capped Rams are created and upgraded 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster.
- Malians: Researching Siege Engineers is 80% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Capped Rams are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Capped Rams are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
The Age of Kings[]
The Conquerors[]
- Up to four Infantry and foot archers can be garrisoned inside Capped Rams.
- Heresy introduced.
- Celts: Furor Celtica introduced. It gives Capped Rams +50% hit points.
- Mongols: Drill introduced.
- With patch 1.0b, the upgrade to the Siege Ram costs 1,000 food.
The Forgotten[]
- Villagers can be garrisoned in Rams.
- Garrison capacity of Capped Ram is increased to 5.
- Celts: Furor Celtica gives +40% HP to Capped Rams.
- Teutons: Ironclad introduced.
Definitive Edition[]
- Bulgarians: with update 42848, upgrading to Siege Ram costs -50%.
- Portuguese: with update 42848, technologies are researched 30% faster.
Dynasties of India[]
- With update 61321, siege units and ships are now resistant to armor-ignoring attacks, similarly to buildings.
- Hindustanis: With update 61321, Capped Rams is removed from their technology tree, and replaced with Armored and Siege Elephants.
Return of Rome[]
- With update 87863, Capped Ram move speed increased from 0.5 to 0.6 and garrison capacity increased from 5 to 6.
Trivia[]
- The Capped Ram is one of only four upgraded forms of military units (the other three being the Man-at-Arms, the Long Swordsman, and the War Galley) to be available to all civilizations which have Battering Rams.
- With -3, the rams have the lowest melee armor of all units.
- In addition to all infantry and foot archer units (and such-classed Hero units), Capped Rams can also be garrisoned with Villagers. Further, they can be garrisoned with unique Scenario Editor units Photonman and Penguin. They can never be garrisoned with Petards, Saboteurs, Kings or Queens (or similar Hero units), Monks (and other Monk-like units), Merchants, or animal units like Hunting Wolves or Furious the Monkey Boy.
History[]
| “ | Rams were simple and effective weapons for breaking into fortifications. The typical battering ram was a stout log mounted on wheels or suspended from a frame so it could swing forward and backward. Any wall could be knocked down given enough time. Capping the point of a battering ram with iron greatly improved the battering ram. The capped ram did more damage and lasted longer before needing replacement. | ” |
Gallery[]
