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Elevation is a feature indicating the height of the ground and is present as a basic element in all games of the Age of Empires series, in some of which it has gameplay implications while in others it is purely visual.
Age of Empires[]
Like in Age of Empires II, units and buildings have a boost to their attack and defense when uphill compared to the enemy.
Age of Empires II[]
Units and buildings gain a +25% attack multiplier when attacking downhill (i.e. from higher elevation or above cliffs), and a -25% attack penalty when attacking uphill. The base bonus/malus of 25% is fixed, no matter if the source and target are apart by 1 elevation level or more. This leads to units on higher ground having a 66.66% advantage over lower-ground enemies; a unit on lower ground will be 40% worse than the higher-ground enemy.
Elevation has an additional function in this game which determines where buildings can be placed. Farms, gates, and all 1×1 and 2×2 buildings (e.g. towers, walls, and most drop sites) can be placed on any elevation as long as the terrain is valid. Other buildings with 3×3 size or above have strict placement restrictions, which is detailed in the video embedded in the Gallery section below. Most 3×3 buildings can also be placed at the corner edge of two slopes (except the northern edge), even if placing on the sides of the slopes is forbidden. Town Centers and Trade Workshops must always be placed on completely flat terrain.
The original game has elevations 1 to 7. In update 141935, elevations 8 to 16 were introduced.
Certain civilization bonuses are related to elevation:
- Georgians: Buildings receive -20% damage (-40% instead of -25%) on higher elevations.
- Tatars: Units and primary projectiles of buildings deal +20% (+50% instead of +25%) damage from higher elevations.
Age of Mythology[]
In all versions of Age of Mythology before Retold, elevation combat bonuses apply. The minimum and maximum elevation levels are 5 and 15. Most, but not all, units and buildings at higher elevation have a 1.25× multiplier vs. targets downhill, while those below have a 0.8× multiplier vs. targets uphill. Some caveats regarding this which differs from the previous games:
- It considers the actual height of the attacker and the target as defined in the game files, rather than just the height of the ground they are standing on.
- There is a cutoff elevation difference of 4 for the multipliers to apply, so units on a gentle slope will not have any bonus against each other.
- It is applied for only specific buildings and ground ranged units, always excluding flying units and all melee units. It affects:
- Slingers
- Throwing Axemen
- Pharaohs
- Peltasts
- Toxotes
- Priests
- Chariot Archers
- Arci
- Arci (Hero)
- Turmae
- Turmae (Hero)
- Gastraphetes
- Chiron
- Odysseus
- Hippolyta
- Reginleif (SPC)
- Fortresses
- Watch Towers
- Town Centers
- Citadel Centers
- Palaces
- Hill Forts
- Migdol Strongholds
- Bandit Migdols
- Trolls
- Centaurs
- Medusai
- Sentinels
- Satyrs
- Lampades
- Among buildings and ranged units, it does not affect those with beam attacks (Mirror Towers, Petsuchoi), or lightning attacks (Son of Osiris, Man O' War), and also some regular ranged attackers like Manticore.[1]
In Retold, elevation no longer factors into the damage dealt, thus being rendered purely cosmetic.
Age of Mythology is the only game where elevation can be modified by players in an ongoing match. This is done by placing buildings on hills which causes the part of the sloped ground to become flat, through abilities of units like the Centimanus, and god powers such as Meteor, Undermine, and the temporarily "ground ripples" caused by Earthquake.
The underwater seafloor/riverbed also has an elevation, which is less relevant as most naval units always float at the water surface. The exceptions are the Titan and the Umibōzu which "walk" on the ground underwater. In cases where the underwater elevation is too deep below the water surface, these units can visually appear to fully sink into the water.
Age of Empires III[]
Elevation is purely cosmetic in Age of Empires III.
Age of Empires IV[]
In Age of Empires IV, being on higher elevation grants units greater Line of Sight.
Chronicles[]
The same elevation bonuses and restrictions of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition apply here.
Certain civilization bonuses are related to elevation:
- Macedonians: Take 10% less damage from enemies on higher elevation.
- Thracians: Buildings except Town Centers do not have elevation restrictions.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ A Guide To Using Elevation by Angel Sith on aom.heavengames.com