Centurion (Age of Empires)

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

Centurion
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Heavy Infantry
Civilization	See table
Age	Iron Age
Requires	N/A
Training
Trained at	Academy
Food	60
Gold	40
Training time	36 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	160
Melee attack	30
Reload time	1.5
Melee armor	8
Pierce armor	0
Speed	0.87
Line of Sight	4
Upgraded from
Upgraded from	Phalangite

“	Upgrade of Phalanx. The Centurion is the ultimate elite infantry unit. It has more hit points, attack strength, and armor than the Phalanx.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Centurion is a heavy infantry unit in Age of Empires that can be trained at the Academy as the final form of the Hoplite.

Availability chart

Available	Unavailable
Carthaginians+ Greeks-+ Macedoniansx-+ Minoansx Phoenicians Romansx- Sumerians Yamato-	Assyrians Babylonians Choson Egyptians Hittites✝ Lac Viet Palmyrans Persians Shang

^x indicates that the civilization can fully upgrade their Centurions' combat statistics, i.e. gets Metallurgy, Chain Mail Infantry and Tower Shield.

^- indicates that the civilization does not get Conscription.

⁺ indicates that the civilization has at least one civilization bonus that benefits the combat strength of their Centurions.

^✝ indicates Centurions were previously available for this civilization.

Gameplay

The Centurion is the final and most powerful Academy unit, upgrading from the Phalangite. It is one of the game's elite upgrades, so costs an extremely expensive 1,800 food, 700 gold to research. Before Return of Rome, it also needed Aristocracy to be researched at the Government Center, which should still be researched, as it increases Academy units' low base speed, making them faster than any other foot units (with the exception of Villagers with Wheel researched).

The Centurion is the most lethal melee combatant in the game, and vies with the Fire Galley and Helepolis as the most damaging unit of any type against individual troops. In addition to its extreme damage output, it shrugs off extraordinary amounts of melee damage (including Stone Thrower-line projectiles) with its thick armor and high hit points. It is usually able to defeat the far more expensive Armored Elephant and Cataphract unless there is a significant disparity in damage/armor upgrades.

In addition to melee supremacy, Centurions are also useful for tearing down enemy fortifications. Only War Elephants and Fire Galleys do more damage to towers, plus Stone Throwers and Catapult Triremes against other building types.

Note that the Centurion's thick armor doesn't apply to the piercing damage of arrow or Ballista bolt attacks; resisting these will require shield upgrades or the Macedonians' civilization bonus.

Like all heavy infantry, the Centurion is vulnerable to ranged units, especially the Priest (which can convert them to the opposite side before the Centurion reaches combat range), the Helepolis (which inflicts massive piercing damage from a long distance), and the Horse Archer (which is agile enough to outmaneuver them between shots). However, the Centurion does have far higher hit points than its predecessors, making it more capable of surviving long enough to close the gap to melee range.

Of the civilizations able to train the Phalangite, only the Palmyrans and (since Return of Rome) Hittites are unable to further upgrade it to the Centurion. Centurions add +10 melee attack, +40 hit points, and +1 melee armor over the Phalangite, or +13 melee attack, +40 hit points and +3 melee armor over the Hoplite.

Comparison among civilizations

Civilization	Carthaginians	Phoenicians	Sumerians	Minoans	Macedonians	Yamato	Romans	Greeks
Cost	60 food, 40 gold							48 food, 32 gold
Hit Points	200	160
Attack	30+4			30+7				30+4
Armor	8+4/0+3		8+6/0+1	8+6/0+3	8+6/0+5	8+6/0+2	8+6/0+3
Movement Speed	1.095							1.365
Training Time	28.8				36
Extras					+2 Line of Sight 4x conversion resistance

Further statistics

Strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry, infantry, buildings
Weak vs.	Archers, Priests, siege weapons

Upgrades
Attack	Toolworking (+2) Metalworking (+2) Metallurgy (+3)
Armor	Leather Armor Infantry (+2/0) Scale Armor Infantry (+2/0) Chain Mail Infantry (+2/0) Bronze Shield (0/+1) Iron Shield (0/+1) Tower Shield (0/+1)
Movement speed	Aristocracy (+25%)
Creation speed	Conscription (+25%)

Civilization bonuses
Hit points	Carthaginians (+25%)
Armor	Macedonians (0/+2)
Conversion resistance	Macedonians (4x)
Line of Sight	Macedonians (+2)
Movement speed	Greeks (+30%)
Resource cost	Greeks (-20%)

Team bonuses
Creation speed	Carthaginians (+20%)

Team bonuses

• Carthaginians: Researching Aristocracy and upgrading to Centurion is 20% faster.
• Palmyrans: Researching technologies that benefit Centurions are 30% faster.

Changelog

Age of Empires

• Phalanxes can be upgraded to Centurions only if Aristocracy is researched.
• Centurions have 1.5 reload time.
• Greeks: Centurions have +33% speed.
• Centurions are visually identical to Phalanxes.

Definitive Edition

• Greeks: Centurions have +30% speed and cost -20%.

Return of Rome

• Researching Aristocracy is no longer required to upgrade Phalangites to Centurions.
• Centurions receive a unique model to visually differentiate them from Phalangites.
• Upon release, Centurions had 2.0 reload time. With update 87863, they have 1.5 reload time again.
• Palmyrans (team bonus): Technologies benefiting Centurions are researched 30% faster.

Heroes

There is one hero in the game with the appearance of a Centurion:

• Hadrian

History

“	The smallest tactical unit in the Roman army trusted with independent maneuver was the century, standing 100 man strong (later 80 with the remaining 20 comprising administrative staff and hangers-on). Each century was commanded by a Centurion, a veteran promoted from the ranks after demonstrating bravery, skill, discipline, and leadership. The century was roughly equivalent to the modern infantry platoon and the Centurion was a combination of modern infantry platoon commander (usually a Lieutenant) and top sergeant. Centuries were further organised into cohorts - six centuries per cohort (480 men total) - with the most senior centurion taking overall command of the cohort, akin to a modern infantry company and infantry company commander (usually a Captain or Major). Centurions were the backbone of the legions that built and defended the Roman Empire.	”
—The Age of Empires manual

Trivia

• The Centurion has the highest attack of all units outside of siege weapons, 30-37 depending on upgrades. Average damage per second is just behind the Fire Galley at 20-24.7 versus 24-30.
• With 8-14 melee armor, the Centurion has the highest melee armor of all units in the game.
• The Greek Centurion is the fastest foot soldier in the game, with 1.365 speed.
• All of the Mediterranean-styled civilizations have access to the Centurion while none of the Mesopotamian-styled ones had access to them. With Return of Rome, Sumerians and Hittites switched architecture sets, resulting in the Egyptian-styled civilizations completely lacking Centurions.

Gallery

Attack animation in all angles in Return of Rome

Attack animation in the Definitive Edition

Centurions in Return of Rome with a distinct model

The Hoplite unit line in Return of Rome, with the Centurion on the right

A Centurion in the Definitive Edition

Many views of the Centurion in the Definitive Edition

A group of Centurions in the original game. They have the same appearance as the Phalanx

A Western Roman Centurion

Achievement icon

Centurion attacking sprite in Return of Rome

CENTURION vs EVERY UNIT - Age of Empires- Definitive Edition

Technology tree

				Requires Stable
	➞		➞		➞
					➞		➞