| “ | Slow and heavy cavalry. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Elite Battle Elephant is a cavalry unit in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas that can be upgraded from the Battle Elephant at the Stable once the Imperial Age is reached. It is a slow yet very powerful and resilient cavalry unit, in some way similar to the Elite War Elephant, but weaker and cheaper. It is considered a regional unit, as it is only available to Southeast Asian civilizations, Bengalis, and Vietnamese. All civilizations that have access to Battle Elephants, except the Dravidians, can upgrade them to Elite Battle Elephants and have special bonuses and/or technologies that benefit them. Elite Battle Elephants deal 25% trample damage.
Tactics[]
Elite Battle Elephants are tough, durable and costly, similar to Persian Elite War Elephants, but on a lesser scale. They are characterized by high hit points, moderately slow speed and very high food costs. They are brute force units which deal trample damage, making them more effective as the size of army grows. As bulky melee units with high attack and trample damage, they are great against melee units, even if latter have some mild attack bonuses. Heavy Camel Riders do not perform well against Elephants, unlike regular Cavalry. Despite being slow and unable to catch even foot archers, they have enough hit points to survive archer fire for a long time. Even the worst Elite Battle Elephants survive 50 Arbalester shots, same as an Elite Boyar. As such, they are also good as a meatshield for allied ranged units.
They take almost double bonus damage from Spear units and Kamayuks. As high-value and slow units, they are the prime target for enemy Monks. By design, elephant civilizations lack Heresy. Elite Mamelukes are particularly effective against them with hit-and-run tactics, high base melee attack, and attack bonus. Further, Flaming Camels deal bonus damage for a total of 200 damage (before armor and blast distance are taken into account) against elephant units, and are thus extremely lethal against packed groups of Elite Battle Elephants. All counters of Elite Battle Elephants can be dealt with foot archers, which happen to be cheap and have almost the same movement speed after Husbandry.
Cavaliers may be preferred to Elite Battle Elephants for the Burmese and Khmer as Imperial Age cavalry when need be, because Elite Battle Elephants are slower and more expensive. The Bengalis can use their unique unit, the Ratha, to transform their military. They shine in pitched battles, not raiding. Another factor contributing for the use of the Elite Battle Elephant is lack of Paladin for elephant civilizations. One last advantage Elite Battle Elephants have over other units is a population efficiency factor, which is particularly important in the late Imperial Age when players reach their population limit and the only way to keep improving the army is by training units with better stats. Also, each civilization that has access to Elite Battle Elephants has specialties that benefit them, which makes their use different:
Bengalis[]
Bengali Elite Battle Elephants take -25% bonus damage, are more resistant to conversion, and attack 20% faster with Paiks. As such, Halberdiers and Monks are less effective. They are also more effective in melee combat and taking down buildings due to Paiks. Since the Bengalis have very confined tactics due to lacking military tree, Elephants and Rathas are the only two effective military choices for Bengalis.
It is possible for the Bengalis to make a triple elephant composition which includes the Armored Elephant, Battle Elephant, and Elephant Archer, though it costs a lot and is mostly only seen in the very late game.
Burmese[]
Burmese Elite Battle Elephants have +1/+1 armor. Both Burmese unique technologies benefit their Battle Elephants, too: Howdah gives them +1/+1 armor (for a total of +2/+2 armor in combination with their civilization bonus) and Manipur Cavalry gives +4 attack bonus against archers. Burmese Elite Battle Elephants are a strong option against archers, while being respectable against melee units too. With Howdah researched, an Arbalester only deals 1 damage per hit to a Burmese Elite Battle Elephant if both players have all Imperial Age Blacksmith technologies researched.
Since the Burmese have no concrete answer to ranged units due to abysmal Elite Skirmishers and lacking other forms of anti-archer units, their Elite Battle Elephants may be a delay and protect their common used unit - Arambai - to deal with.
Khmer[]
Khmer Elite Battle Elephants move 10% faster and get +3 attack from Tusk Swords. This probably makes the Khmer Elephants the most rounded Elephants, being good against melee units and buildings due to the latter, and foot archers due to the former. Elite Battle Elephants can reach 21 attack there, a value that makes them very dangerous offensive tools. It is possible for the Khmer to perform a "Battle Elephant rush". Thanks to the Khmer good food economy, civilization bonus, and unique technology, they have the strongest Battle Elephants throughout the game.
The Khmer can also add their excellent Scorpions to aid their Elephants against most units.
Malay[]
Malay Elite Battle Elephants are very cheap, costing -35% (65 food, 46 gold). They are much less dangerous individually, lacking even Chain Barding Armor. The lack of Bloodlines is unpleasant, but much less significant. They are still ready to be used against melee units, especially considering that the Malay are the only civilization with access to Battle Elephants who have Heresy.
However, the Malay Elite Battle Elephants have the same resistance against ranged attack as Elite Boyars, while costing almost the same as Elite Steppe Lancer. The Malay Elite Battle Elephant can be seen as the "Leitis" of Elephants, crushing every thing in melee combat (thanks to cheaper cost), but dying to archers unlike others.
Vietnamese[]
Vietnamese Elite Battle Elephants are the most tanky of them all as they get another 100 HP out of the Chatras technology. They get all relevant upgrades except Blast Furnace, which neither hurts Elephants in general, nor is it a problem for Vietnamese ones which are meant to be a meatshield for their excellent archers. The Vietnamese are the only Elephant civilization whose Elephants play a supportive role, and also with the best foot archers. The combination of Battle Elephants + Rattan Archers is very hard to deal with.
Comparison among civilizations[]
| Civilization |  Bengalis
|
 Burmese
|
 Khmer
|
 Malay
|
 Vietnamese
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 100 food, 70 gold | 100 food, 70 gold | 100 food, 70 gold | 65 food, 46 gold | 100 food, 70 gold |
| Hit Points | 320 | 320 | 320 | 300 | 420 |
| Attack | 14+4 | 14+4 | 14+7 | 14+4 | 14+2 |
| Rate of Fire | 1.666 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Armor | 1+3/3+4 | 1+5/3+6 | 1+3/3+4 | 1+1/3+1 | 1+3/3+4 |
| Movement Speed | 0.99 | 0.99 | 1.08 | 0.99 | 0.99 |
| Extras | Resistant to conversion -25% bonus damage |
 Faith (+4 min, +4 max) is 50% cheaper+4 attack vs archers |
 Heresy (die upon getting converted)
|
Further statistics[]
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Most melee units, buildings, foot archers |
| Weak vs. | Halberdiers, Kamayuks, Genoese Crossbowmen, Mamelukes, mounted archers, Monks, War Elephants, Flaming Camels |
| Upgrades | |
| Hit points |  Bloodlines (+20) Chatras (+100, Vietnamese only)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2) Tusk Swords (+3, Khmer only) Manipur Cavalry (+4 against archers, Burmese only)
|
| Firing rate | Paiks (+20%, Bengalis only)
|
| Armor |  Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2) Howdah (+1/+1, Burmese only)
|
| Speed |  Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Conversion defense |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) (Malay only)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%)
|
Civilization bonuses[]
- Bengalis: Elite Battle Elephants take -25% bonus damage, are more resistant to conversion, and deal +2 attack against Skirmishers.
- Burmese: Battle Elephants have +1/+1 armor and researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
- Khmer: Elite Battle Elephants are 10% faster.
- Malay: Elite Battle Elephants are 35% cheaper.
- Vietnamese: Conscription is free.
Team bonuses[]
- Bulgarians: Researching cavalry armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
- Gurjaras: Elite Battle Elephants are created 25% faster.
- Huns: Elite Battle Elephants are created 20% faster. Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Elite Battle Elephants are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Elite Battle Elephants are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
Rise of the Rajas[]
- Elite Battle Elephants have an attack of 16.
- Elite Battle Elephants train in 28 seconds.
- Elite Battle Elephants deal 50% trample damage.
- Elite Battle Elephants have 10 bonus damage against buildings and stone defenses.
- Elite Battle Elephants cost 120 food, 70 gold.
- Initially, Elite Battle Elephants have a blast radius of 0.5. With patch 5.7, the radius is 0.4.
- Burmese: Initially, Howdah increases the armor of Elite Battle Elephants by +1/+2. With patch 5.7, the effect is lowered to +1/+1.
- Burmese: Initially, Manipur Cavalry gives Elite Battle Elephants +6 attack against buildings. With patch 5.3, the bonus is spread over the two building classes (building and standard building) equally.
- Khmer: Elite Battle Elephants are 15% faster.
- Malay: Initially, Elite Battle Elephants are 20% cheaper. With patch 5.3, the bonus is increased to 25%. With patch 5.7, the bonus is increased to 30%.
- Vietnamese: Initially, Chatras gives Elite Battle Elephants +30 HP. With patch 5.7, the bonus is increased to +50 HP.
Definitive Edition[]
- Elite Battle Elephants have an attack of 14.
- With update 34699, Elite Battle Elephants train in 24 seconds.
- With update 39284, Elite Battle Elephants deal 25% trample damage.
- With update 42848, Elite Battle Elephants have 7 bonus damage against buildings and stone defenses.
- Burmese: With update 37650, Manipur Cavalry gives Elite Battle Elephants +6 attack against standard buildings and no damage against buildings, so it does not get partially negated by Masonry.
- Khmer: With update 42848, Elite Battle Elephants are 10% faster.
- Vietnamese: Husbandry added to their technology tree.
Lords of the West[]
- Malay: With update 47820, Elite Battle Elephants are 40% cheaper.
Dawn of the Dukes[]
- Burmese: With update 51737, Howdah is restored to its initial effect at +1/+2 armor. With update 56005, Manipur Cavalry gives Elite Battle Elephants +5 attack against archers.
- Vietnamese: With update 54480, Chatras gives Elite Battle Elephants +100 HP.
Dynasties of India[]
- With update 61321, Burmese Battle Elephants get +1/+1 armor as a civilization bonus, Howdah grants +1/+1 armor to Battle Elephants again, and Manipur Cavalry cost decreased to 400 food and 400 gold.
- With update 73855, Elite Battle Elephants costs 110 food, 70 gold.
- Bengalis: With update 81058, Elite Battle Elephants get +2 attack against Skirmishers.
Return of Rome[]
- With update 87863, Elite Battle Elephants' Line of Sight was increased from 5 to 8.
The Mountain Royals[]
- With update 95810, Elite Battle Elephant base movement speed increased from 0.85 to 0.88.
Victors and Vanquished[]
- With update 128442, Elite Battle Elephant cost decreased from 110 food, 70 gold to 100 food, 70 gold, and base movement speed increased from 0.88 to 0.9.
- Malay: With update 111772, the Battle Elephant discount civilization bonus was decreased from -40% in the Imperial Age to -35%.
- With update 125283, Elite Battle Elephant conversion resistance increased from 0 to 2, increasing minimum/maximum conversion times by +2.5 in-game seconds.
Heroes[]
There are two heroes in the game with the appearance of an Elite Battle Elephant:
- Bayinnaung (HD)
- Suryavarman I
Trivia[]
- The rider of the Elite Battle Elephant (and its standard counterpart) is wielding a ngao, a long polearm weapon meant to be used to attack ground troops below the elephant. While the rider is seen using it during the attack animation in conjunction with the elephant, it is purely cosmetic.
- Additionally, for the rider to be able to use the weapon, a second rider at the rear who acts as a dedicated mahout is required, as it is very hard to handle the animal while attacking at the same time. Even so, most of the war elephants in South East Asia utilized four riders; the front rider who wielding a kho ngao (a special variant of ngao with an additional hook to control the elephant in emergency cases) and giving the command to his rear counterpart, the rear rider/mahout who is mainly tasked with handling the animal, and two dedicated troops on a howdah, wielding various kinds of polearms to defend the ride.
- After update 37650 of the Definitive Edition, elephant heads will appear peeking out of Transport Ships loaded with 10 Elite Battle Elephants or other elephant units.
- Since update 54480, a fully upgraded Vietnamese Elite Battle Elephant has 420 HP, a value that is only beaten by the fully upgraded normal War Elephant (470 HP) and Elite War Elephant (620 HP), making it the unit with the second highest HP. Note that this is more than double the HP of a fully upgraded Paladin (180 HP). It can defeat the Burmese Elite Battle Elephant in 1 vs 1.
- A fully upgraded Khmer Elite Battle Elephant has 21 attack, making them the Stable unit with the highest attack, as well as tied with the Aztec Champion and the Elite Teutonic Knight for the third highest attack of all land units outside of siege and gunpowder units, only behind the Elite Leitis with 4 Relics collected and the Elite Shotel Warrior with 22 attack, and the Elite War Elephant with 24 attack.
- A fully upgraded Burmese Elite Battle Elephant has 9 pierce armor, making them the Stable unit with the highest pierce armor, as well as the melee cavalry with the highest one. Also, it is tied with the Elite Elephant Archer and the Tatar Elite Genitour for the highest one for any mounted unit, as well as with the Imperial Skirmisher, which has 9 pierce armor, for the third highest pierce armor in the game. This value is only beaten by the Elite Rattan Archer, the Elite Huskarl, the Inca Elite Eagle Warrior, the Lithuanian Elite Skirmisher with 10 pierce armor, and the Lithuanian Imperial Skirmisher with 11 pierce armor. It can take up to 320 Arbalester shots, which is more than the Elite War Elephant can take (207 shots). It is also the Stable unit with the second highest melee armor, with 6.
- Elite Battle Elephants are the most nerfed unit, as their upgrade price and time, attacks, trample damage, and bonus against buildings have all been weakened, but with only train time reduced, mostly because they can turn the tide of team games in the late game and be very hard to counter, especially the Khmer one. Because of this, the Elite Battle Elephants from other civilizations suffered considerably from these changes, making them not as worthy to use. Due to this, all were buffed specifically to be better in combat in later updates (with the Burmese one getting back the former effect from the Howdah technology, the Malay Battle Elephant discount being bigger in the Imperial Age, and the Vietnamese Castle Age unique technology, Chatras, providing twice the hit points as before). It also made the Bengalis a very weak civilization due to the former nerf of this unit, which is a core unit for them. Further improvements were made for the unit, such as cheaper food cost, faster speed, cheaper upgrade cost (though still more expensive compared to at release) and more Line of Sight. Due to these changes, the Khmer Battle Elephants are even slightly faster than when realeased.
- The fully upgraded Malay and Vietnamese Elite Battle Elephants lose to fully upgraded Elite Boyars in 1 vs 1 combat (since update 50292).
- None of the Elite Battle Elephants are only just fully upgraded.
- The Burmese are the only civilization with both unique technologies affecting Elephants.
- The Vietnamese are the only civilization with no civilization bonus affecting Elephants directly.
- The Malay are the only civilization with no unique technology affecting Elephants.
Gallery[]
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