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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires. For other uses of the name in the series, see Cataphract.

Upgrade of Heavy Cavalry. The Cataphract is the ultimate cavalry unit. It has more hit points, attack strength, and armor than Heavy Cavalry.
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Cataphract is a heavy cavalry unit in Age of Empires available at the Stable in the Iron Age. It is the upgrade of the Heavy Cavalry requiring 1,600 food, 600 gold (before Return of Rome, it also needed Metallurgy to be researched). Only a certain number of civilizations have the ability to train this unit.

Availability chart[]

Aoede cataphract available Available Aoede cataphract unavailable Unavailable
x indicates that the civilization can fully upgrade their Cataphracts, i.e. gets Nobility, Chain Mail Cavalry and Conscription.
+ indicates that the civilization has at least one civilization bonus that benefits the combat strength of the Cataphract.

Gameplay[]

Cataphracts are the strongest hand cavalry in the game besides hero units. They deal +7 damage bonus against Light infantry. Their fast speed, good pierce armor, and high hit points let them chase Villagers, foot archers, and Slingers. Thus, it can eliminate ranged units very quickly, but are rather ineffective against Centurions and War Elephants. Despite their bonus against Legionaries, they are not cost effective against them due to being three times more expensive. However, they are quite effective in terms of population space, in particular if the enemy has not researched Logistics yet.

While a somewhat handy unit just by itself, the cost of the upgrade is so ridiculously high that many players find it pointless to research, as it generally does not pay off. In deathmatches, Cataphracts are considered to be a good way for non-chariot civilizations to take on Catapults.

Comparison among civilizations[]

Civilization Assyrian AOE DE ROR icon Assyrians Choson AOE DE ROR icon Choson Macedonian AOE DE ROR icon Macedonians Persian AOE DE ROR icon Persians Shang AOE DE ROR icon Shang Yamato AOE DE ROR icon Yamato
Cost 70 food
80 gold
70 food
80 gold
70 food
80 gold
70 food
80 gold
70 food
80 gold
60 food
68 gold
Hit Points 240 276 240 276 276 276
Training Time 32 32 40 26.67 40 40
Armor 5+6/3 5+4/3 5+6/3 5+6/3 5+6/3 5+6/3
Extras -40% Storage Pit upgrade cost +2 Line of Sight
4x conversion resistance
10% faster attack -30% Stable upgrade cost

Further statistics[]

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Archers, siege weapons, Scythe Chariots, Camel Riders
Weak vs. War Elephants, Legionaries, Centurions
Upgrades
Hit points NobilityIcon Nobility (+15%)
Attack Toolworking Toolworking (+2)
Metalworkingicon Metalworking (+2)
Metallurgyicon Metallurgy (+3)
Armor Leatherarmorcavalryicon Leather Armor Cavalry (+2/+0)
Scalearmorcavalryicon Scale Armor Cavalry (+2/+0)
Chainmailcavalryicon Chain Mail Cavalry (+2/+0)
Creation speed RoR Conscription Conscription (+25%)

Civilization bonuses[]

  • Choson AOE DE ROR icon Choson: Storage Pit technologies that benefit Cataphracts are 40% cheaper.
  • Macedonian AOE DE ROR icon Macedonians: Cataphracts have +2 Line of Sight and are four times more resistant to conversion.
  • Shang AOE DE ROR icon Shang: Cataphracts attack 10% faster.
  • Yamato AOE DE ROR icon Yamato: Cataphracts are 15% cheaper.

Team bonuses[]

  • Palmyran AOE DE ROR icon Palmyrans: Technologies that benefit Cataphracts are researched 30% faster.
  • Persian AOE DE ROR icon Persians: Cataphracts are created 20% faster.

Changelog[]

ReturnRome-AoEIcon Age of Empires[]

  • Heavy Cavalry can be upgraded to Cataphracts only if Metallurgy is researched.
  • Cataphracts have 180 hit points, 3 armor, 1 pierce armor, +5 attack vs infantry, and cost 2,000 food, 850 gold to upgrade.
  • Cataphracts have 1.5 reload time.
  • Yamato AOE DE ROR icon Yamato: Cataphracts are 30% cheaper.

RomeIcon The Rise of Rome[]

  • Yamato AOE DE ROR icon Yamato: Cataphracts are 25% cheaper.

Age of Empires Definitive Edition icon Definitive Edition[]

  • Cataphracts have 200 hit points, 4 armor, and cost 1,600 food, 750 gold to upgrade.
  • With update 9, Cataphracts have 220 hit points and 2 pierce armor.
  • With update 38862, Cataphracts have 240 hit points, 5 armor, 3 pierce armor, +7 attack vs infantry, and cost 1,600 food, 600 gold to upgrade.
  • Yamato AOE DE ROR icon Yamato: Cataphracts are 20% cheaper.

AoE2Icon-ReturnRome Return of Rome[]

  • Researching Metallurgy is no longer required to upgrade Heavy Cavalry to Cataphracts.
  • Upon release, Cataphracts had 220 hit points. With hotfix 85208, they have 240 hit points again.
  • Upon release, Cataphracts had 1.3 reload time. With update 87863, they have 1.5 reload time again.
  • Shang AOE DE ROR icon Shang: Cataphracts attack 10% faster.
  • Yamato AOE DE ROR icon Yamato: Cataphracts are 15% cheaper.
  • Team bonuses added:
    • Palmyran AOE DE ROR icon Palmyrans: Technologies benefiting Cataphracts are researched 30% faster.
    • Persian AOE DE ROR icon Persians: Cataphracts are trained 20% faster.

History[]

The cataphract was an improvement on ancient heavy cavalry represented by Alexander the Great's Companions. The Companions wore only helmets, greaves, and cuirass (breastplate). Cataphracts wore chain mail that covered more of the body and often armored their horses partially also. This gave greater protection against arrows and hand-to-hand weapons. Cataphracts were very expensive to equip, however, and appeared in the armies of only the most warlike and wealthy cultures.
Age of Empires manual

Trivia[]

  • None of the Mediterranean civilizations has access to Cataphracts.
  • Being unavailable to both Greeks and Romans, Cataphracts are the unique unit of the Byzantines in Age of Empires II, which are the geographical and cultural successor of the two civilizations in the Middle Ages, respectively.

Gallery[]

Video[]

Tech tree[]

Stable
Requires
AOEDE Barracks icon Barracks
Stone Age Icon (DE)
Tool Age Icon (DE)
Bronze Age Icon (DE)
Iron Age Icon (DE)
Scout Chariot
Requires
Wheelicon Wheel
Aoede scythe chariot available
Cavalry Heavy Cavalry Cataphract
Camel Rider War Elephant Armored Elephant
Units in Age of Empires
CivilianReturnofrome female villager icon Villager · Returnofrome trade cart icon Trade Cart
OtherAoE2 DE priest icon Priest · Slinger-0 Slinger · Returnofrome artifact icon Artifact
Civilian ship1 Fishing Boat Fishing Boat · 2 Fishing Ship Fishing Ship
3 Trade Boat Trade Boat · 4 Merchant Ship Merchant Ship
5 Light Transport Light Transport · 6 Heavy Transport Heavy Transport
InfantryClubman Clubman · AxemanAoEDE Axeman
Short Swordsman Short Swordsman · Broad Swordsman Broad Swordsman · AoE nuRoR Long Swordsman icon Long Swordsmen · Returnofrome legionary icon Legionary
HopliteDE Hoplite · AoE nuRoR Phalangite icon Phalangite · Returnofrome centurion icon Centurion
ArcherBowman aoe1de Bowman
Improved Bowman22 Improved Bowman · Composite Bowman Composite Bowman
Chariot Archer111 Chariot Archer
Horse Archer Horse Archer · Returnofrome heavy horse archer icon Heavy Horse Archer
EAICON DE Elephant Archer
CavalryScout-0 Scout
ChariotDE Chariot · ScytheDE Scythe Chariot
Cavalry111 Cavalry · Returnofrome heavy cavalry icon Heavy Cavalry · Returnofrome cataphract icon Cataphract
War ElephantDE War Elephant · Returnofrome armored elephant icon Armored Elephant
Camel RiderDE Camel Rider
SiegeStone ThrowerDE Stone Thrower · CatapultDE Catapult · Returnofrome heavy catapult icon Heavy Catapult
BallistaDE Ballista · Returnofrome helepolis icon Helepolis
War Ship7 Scout Ship Scout Ship · 8 War Galley War Galley · 9 Trireme Trireme
Catapult Trireme Catapult Trireme · Returnofrome juggernaut icon Juggernaut
10 Fire Galley Fire Galley
Scenario Editor-only units
Short Swordsman Chieftain · Donkey caravan aoe2DE Donkey · Clubman Explorer · Returnofrome heavy cavalry icon General · AoE2 DE priest icon High Priest · Returnofrome horse icon Horse · HeavyCavalryDE Mercenary (removed) · Penguin aoe2DE Penguin · AoE2 DE priest icon Pharaoh · 5 Light Transport Raft · Returnofrome artifact icon War Chest
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