Chariot Archer (Age of Empires)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires. For the similar unit in Age of Mythology, see Chariot Archer (Age of Mythology).

Chariot Archer
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Mounted archer
Civilization	See table
Age	Bronze Age
Requires	Wheel
Training
Trained at	Archery Range
Food	40
Wood	70
Training time	40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	70
Pierce attack	4
Attack bonus	0 vs. Priests
Reload time	1.5
Range	7
Projectile speed	8
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Armor class	Archers (-2) Mounted units (+4)
Speed	1.66
Line of Sight	9
Ability	Has level 2 conversion resistance

“	A powerful archery unit that combines the speed and mobility of the Chariot and the attack strength of the Improved Bowman.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Chariot Archer is a powerful archer unit in Age of Empires. It combines the speed and mobility of the Chariot and the attack strength of the Improved Bowman. The Wheel technology is a prerequisite to train any chariot unit.

Civilizations

Available	Unavailable
Assyrians+ Babyloniansx+ Egyptiansx+ Hittitesx+ Lac Vietx+ Palmyrans Phoenicians+ Shang- Sumerians	Carthaginians Choson Greeks Macedonians Minoans Persians Romans Yamato

^x indicates that the civilization can fully upgrade their Chariot Archers' combat statistics, i.e. gets Nobility, Alchemy, Craftsmanship and Chain Mail Archers.

^- 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 Chariot Archers.

Gameplay

The Chariot Archer is a popular Bronze Age unit because of its combined speed, strength, range of attack, and the fact that it costs no gold, which makes it a so-called trash unit. Its speed allows it to fly right past towers and catch Villagers quickly. It possesses 7 range, allowing it to find exposed units or for reconnaissance. As it is fast and has good range, it is strong in numbers.

The Chariot Archer also dealt triple damage against Priests and was highly resistant to conversion before update 38862.

Comparison among civilizations

Chariot Archers are a fairly common unit. Thus, only civilizations with noteworthy Chariot Archers are compared in this table.

Civilization	Assyrians	Egyptians	Hittites	Babylonians	Phoenicians	Lac Viet
Hit Points	70	107	80
Attack	4+1		4+2	4+1
Rate of Fire	1.12	1.5
Training Time	32					25.6
Armor	0+6/0			0+6/0+1	0+4/0	0+8/0
Extras					+2 Line of Sight

Further statistics

Strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Infantry, Villagers, Priests
Weak vs.	Cavalry, siege units, Horse Archers, Elephant Archers

Upgrades
Hit points	Nobility (+15%)
Attack	Alchemy (+1)
Range	Woodworking (+1) Artisanship (+1) Craftsmanship (+1)
Accuracy	Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Armor	Leather Armor Archers (+2/0) Scale Armor Archers (+2/0) Chain Mail Archers (+2/0)
Creation speed	Conscription (+25%)

Civilization bonuses
Hit points	Egyptians (+33%)
Attack	Hittites (+1)
Armor	Babylonians (0/+1) Lac Viet (+2/0)
Attack speed	Assyrians (+22/33% in the Bronze/Iron Age)
Creation speed	Lac Viet (+25%)

Team bonuses
Line of Sight	Phoenicians (+2)

Indirect civilization bonuses

• Babylonians: Wheel is 30% cheaper.
• Hittites: Wheel is 50% cheaper and faster to research.

Indirect team bonuses

• Palmyrans: Researching technologies that benefit Chariot Archers is 30% faster.

Changelog

Age of Empires

• Chariot Archers have +7 damage vs. Priests, ×8 conversion resistance, and 6 frame delay.
• Assyrians: Chariot Archers fire 36% faster (but stated 40%).

Definitive Edition

• Chariot Archers have +8 damage vs. Priests and 27 frame delay. After update 9, Chariot Archers no longer do bonus damage vs. Priests.
• With update 38862, Chariot Archers have ×2 conversion resistance.
• Assyrians: Chariot Archers fire 33% faster (but stated 25%).

Return of Rome

• Team bonuses added:
  • Palmyrans: Researching technologies that benefit Chariot Archers is 30% faster.
  • Phoenicians: Chariot Archers have +2 Line of Sight.
• Assyrians: With update 93001, Chariot Archers fire 22%/33% faster in the Bronze/Iron Age.

Heroes

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

• Ramesses

History

“

Around 1700 BC, two existing technologies of military consequence, the chariot and the bow, were merged to create a fearsome new military weapon the chariot archer. Armored archers carried in fast chariots dominated the battlefields of the civilized world for the next 500 years and remained useful for some time after that. In the open ground of the settled plains and river valleys, the chariot archer was devastating due to its speed, mass, and firepower. Chariot archers were typified by the Egyptian nobility and pharaohs of the New Kingdom, 1552-1069 BC, who prided themselves on their archery. The first recorded battle of history, Megiddo in 1460 BC, was fought with chariots carrying archers. The chariot archer was the dominating battlefield weapon from China to Greece from about 1600 to 1200 BC, according to the historical and archaeological record. The long reign of chariot armies was due to several factors, including most importantly the placement of a composite bow archer in the basket with the driver and using the chariot as a mobile firing platform. The fast-firing chariot archer was devastating against slow, poorly armored infantry in the open areas of the civilized cultures. The glorious vision of elite archers from the nobility fighting from their expensive chariots and wheeling around the battlefields at will pervaded all civilized cultures of the time.

”

Gallery

A Chariot Archer in the Definitive Edition

A group of Chariot Archers.

A duo of Chariot Archers.

Unused icon related to Chariot Archer, possibly for an unlocking technology for Chariot Archer and Chariot

Achievement icon

Definitive Edition icon

CHARIOT ARCHER vs EVERY UNIT - Age of Empires- Definitive Edition

A war chariot in action by Angus McBride

A Pharaoh on a war chariot

Technology tree

		Requires Barracks
	➞		➞			➞
								➞
				Requires Improved Bow	➞
				Requires Wheel