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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties of India. For the unit in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, see Chakram Thrower (Age of Empires III). |
| “ | Gurjara unique infantry unit with ranged melee attack. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Chakram Thrower is a unique unit of the Gurjaras in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties of India, trained from the Castle. It is an infantry unit with ranged melee attack, and unleashes volleys of deadly metal discs. It is effective against groups of enemy units, as their chakrams cause damage to multiple units in a straight line, like the Scorpion. Of note is that when targeting a building, the unit does not do any passthrough damage.
Chakram Throwers can be upgraded to Elite Chakram Throwers in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
With the Gurjaras' heavy focus on light cavalry and camel units, infantry can become a problem for them to handle. Chakram Throwers are the Gurjaras' main answer to large groups of light infantry, able to hit multiple targets in a line, akin to a Scorpion. They also perform well against Elite Skirmishers. Whether Hussars, Huszars and camel units counter them or are countered by them depends on the situation. They are a bit more difficult to handle and should be dealt with via the Gurjaras' very strong Camel Riders.
The Chakram Thrower's base attack is actually quite low (akin to rams). Due to lacking Blast Furnace, an Elite Chakram Thrower can only attain up to 6 attack, so their damage is heavily reduced by melee armor. However, the player must not be deceived by the low attack damage. A well-positioned group of Chakram Throwers can wreak massive havoc on enemy infantry even if they only dealt 1 damage, as the chakram's pass-through properties mean that they can hit several enemies at once. In theory, a group of 30 Chakram Throwers would be able to demolish a similarly sized group of fully upgraded Elite Teutonic Knights (which have 110 hit points and 13 melee armor) in only four hits, provided that each chakram thrown is able to hit each Teutonic Knight.
The Chakram Thrower is one of the most micro-intensive units in the game, as effective use of the unit requires that the chakrams are able to travel through as many enemy units as possible. To accomplish this, a Gurjara player must position their Chakram Throwers accordingly and keep them huddled together rather than spread out. When dealing with groups of enemies, targeting the closest enemy or ordering an attack move usually means that the chakrams will not hit as many enemy units as they could. Rather, the player will want to target a unit in the middle of the enemy formation, ensuring that all the chakrams fly together in the same line and cause as much damage as possible.
The low base damage does require that Chakram Throwers be massed in order to be effective; small numbers of them will not deter a large group of infantry. Due to their relatively longer creation time for a unique infantry unit, massing them can be difficult, especially if the Gurjaras lose any Castles.
Since they are infantry with no base pierce armor, Arbalesters, Hand Cannoneers, and Slingers will make short work of Chakram Throwers. Additionally, due to Chakram Throwers only having up to 6 range (even though their projectile travels further than said range) and very few hit points, Onagers and Scorpions will easily demolish them, though they take significant damage if the Chakram Throwers are able to hit them. Additionally, high hit point units such as Battle Elephants or Paladins will easily withstand the damage that Chakram Throwers can put out. Since Shrivamsha Riders absorb all types of projectiles, they are also very good at dealing with Chakram Throwers.
One often overlooked advantage for Chakram Throwers is their moderately good speed. They are as fast as Celts' Spear units. This is a good comparison since both civilization lack Squires. Units like Huskarls and Berserks with Squires and Eagle Warriors without Squires sit in the same speed tier. The Chakram Throwers' speed and melee damage means that they are also quite effective at dealing with enemy siege weapons such as rams and Trebuchets.
Comparison with similar units[]
Ranged infantry[]
 Throwing Axeman line
|
 Gbeto line
|
 Chakram Thrower line
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 55 food, 25 gold | 50 food, 40 gold | 65 food, 30 gold |
| Training time | 17 seconds | 17 seconds | 15 seconds |
| Line of Sight | Range + 2 | Range + 1 | Range + 2 |
| Rate of Fire | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Movement speed | 1 | 1.25 | 1.15 |
| Other properties | Range can be increased by 1 Civilization has access to Blast Furnace |
Food cost can be decreased by 25% Causes 100% pass-through damage Civilization lacks Squires | |
 Castle Age
|
Non-Elite | ||
| Hit points | 60 | 35 | 40 |
| Melee attack | 7 | 10 | 3 |
| Attack bonus | +1 vs Eagle Warrior | +1 vs Eagle Warrior +1 vs Standard Building |
+1 vs Eagle Warrior +1 vs Standard Building |
| Range | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Attack delay | 1 | 1 | 0.8 |
| Armor | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 |
| Upgrade cost | 1,000 food, 750 gold | 900 food, 600 gold | 1,000 food, 650 gold |
| Upgrade time | 45 seconds | 45 seconds | 45 seconds |
 Imperial Age
|
Elite | ||
| Hit points | 70 | 45 | 50 |
| Melee attack | 8 | 13 | 4 |
| Attack bonus | +1 vs Eagle Warrior | +2 vs Eagle Warrior +2 vs Standard Building |
+2 vs Eagle Warrior +2 vs Standard Building +1 vs Infantry |
| Range | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Attack delay | 0.82 | 1 | 0.8 |
| Armor | 1/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 |
Gurjara units[]
 Militia line
|
Chakram Thrower line
|
 Archer line
|
 Hand Cannoneer
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 50 food, 20 gold | 65 food, 30 gold | 25 wood, 45 gold | 45 food, 50 gold |
| Training time | 21 seconds | 15 seconds | 27 seconds | 34 seconds |
| Movement speed | 0.9 | 1.15 | 0.96 | 0.96 |
| Rate of Fire | 2 | 2 | 2-0.3 | 3.45 |
| Attack delay | N/A | 0.8 | 0.35 | 0.35 |
| Attack properties | N/A | Attacks in a straight line Causes 100% pass-through damage |
Can track moving targets | Attacks in a straight line |
| Castle Age
|
 Long Swordsman
|
Chakram Thrower
|
 Crossbowman
|
|
| Hit points | 60 | 40 | 35 | N/A |
| Attack | 9+2 melee | 3+2 melee | 5+2 pierce | |
| Attack bonus | +6 vs Eagle Warrior +3+2 vs Standard Building |
+1 vs Eagle Warrior +1+2 vs Standard Building |
+3 vs Spearmen | |
| Range | 0 | 5 | 5+2 | |
| Line of Sight | 6 | Range + 2 | Range + 2 | |
| Armor | 1+2/1+2 | 1+2/0+2 | 0+2/0+2 | |
| Upgrade cost | 300 food, 100 gold | 1,000 food, 750 gold | N/A | |
| Upgrade time | 60 seconds | 45 seconds | ||
| Imperial Age
|
 Two-Handed Swordsman
|
 Elite Chakram Thrower
|
Crossbowman
|
Hand Cannoneer
|
| Hit points | 60 | 50 | 35 | 40 |
| Attack | 12+2 melee | 4+2 melee | 5+3 pierce | 17 pierce |
| Attack bonus | +8 vs Eagle Warrior +4+2 vs Standard Building |
+2 vs Eagle Warrior +2+2 vs Standard Building +1 vs Infantry |
+3 vs Spearman | +10 vs Infantry +2 vs Ram +1 vs Spearman |
| Range | 0 | 6 | 5+3 | 7 |
| Line of Sight | 7 | Range + 2 | Range + 2 | Range + 2 |
| Armor | 1+3/1+4 | 1+3/0+4 | 0+2/0+2 | 1+2/0+2 |
Further statistics[]
As Chakram Throwers are unique to the Gurjaras, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Non-ranged units with little melee armor, Eagle Warriors, Elite Skirmishers |
| Weak vs. | Ranged siege weapons, heavy cavalry, Shrivamsha Riders |
| Conditional matchups | Monks, archers, heavy infantry |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Arson (+2 against standard buildings)
|
| Armor |  Scale Mail Armor (+1/+1) Chain Mail Armor (+1/+1) Plate Mail Armor (+1/+2)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted)
|
| Resource cost |  Kshatriyas (-25% food)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%) Kasbah (+25%, with Berber allies only)
|
| Team bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Conversion resistance |  Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
|
| Line of Sight |  Armenians (+2)
|
Team bonuses[]
Bulgarians: Blacksmith technologies are researched 80% faster.- Goths: Researching Arson is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Devotion and Heresy is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Technologies that benefit Chakram Throwers are researched 25% faster.
Changelog[]
Dynasties of India[]
- Originally, Chakram Throwers had 50% pass-through damage like other units. With update 73855, it was changed to 100%.
- Originally, (Elite) Chakram Throwers had 5 (6) attack. With update 73855, it was reduced to 3 (4).
- With update 73855, Elite Chakram Throwers have +1 attack vs Infantry. With update 78174, they receive the intended +1 vs Condottieri.
Trivia[]
- The Chakram Thrower lacks the most technologies as a unique unit in their own civilization, lacking Squires and Blast Furnace as an infantry.
- The typical chakram weapon usually has an outer diameter of 12–30 cm, much smaller than the one depicted in-game and in the unit icon, which is enlarged for visual aid.
History[]
The chakram is a throwing weapon from the Indian subcontinent. It is circular with a sharpened outer edge and a diameter of 12–30 centimetres (4.7–11.8 in).
| “ | ... and they have some steel wheels, which they call chakarani, two fingers broad, sharp outside like knives, and without edge inside; and the surface of these is of the size of a small plate. And they carry seven or eight of these each, put on the left arm; and they take one and put it on the finger of the right hand, and make it spin round many times, and so they hurl it at their enemies, and if they hit anyone on the arm or leg or neck, it cuts through all. And with these they carry on much fighting, and are very dexterous with them. | ” |
| —The Portuguese chronicler Duarte Barbosa wrote (c. 1516) of the chakram being used in the Delhi Sultanate. | ||
Gallery[]
Videos[]
