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Slow and heavy mounted archer.
Age of Empires II description

The Elite Elephant Archer is a heavy mounted archer in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten. It has low speed but very high hit points, and is available at the Archery Range in the Imperial Age. It is the upgrade of the Elephant Archer.

Originally, (Elite) Elephant Archers were the Castle unique unit of the Indians. In Dynasties of India, they lose that status to now become a regional unit for the Bengalis, Dravidians, and Gurjaras (but not for the Hindustanis).

Tactics[]

Slow and durable, the Elite Elephant Archer is the toughest archer unit in the game. This durability comes at a cost, however; it is the most expensive archer unit in the game considering civilization bonuses. It does not come with an increased offensive capability in exchange for this cost, with the same attack and basic rate of fire as the Heavy Cavalry Archer. An army of Elite Elephant Archers will have dramatically more hit points, but a fraction the offensive power of an equal-cost army of standard archers. However, the strength of this unit relies on a population-efficiency factor rather than on a cost effectiveness.

Compared to its predecessor, the Elite Elephant Archer has +50 (+21.7%) hit points, +1 attack, and +15% accuracy, all of which make it a very important upgrade.

Like the other elephant units, Elite Elephant Archers are highly vulnerable to Halberdiers and Monks. Being also a mounted archer, they are highly vulnerable against Elite Skirmishers. Furthermore, Flaming Camels deal bonus damage, for a total of 200 damage against elephant units, and are thus simply lethal for packed groups of Elite Elephant Archers.

While vulnerable to said counter units, they survive against other units much better than standard archers. While most foot and mounted archers die to the Onager in one and two shots respectively, they can take five and still be alive. Their huge size also means that Onagers are hitting only a few units at once. While the example of the Onager is an extreme case, their resilience to attacks is incomparable to most archers. In addition to their hit points, they have 2 pierce armor naturally, which makes them stronger against archers. Compared to melee elephants, whose biggest counters are Monks, the Elite Elephant Archer at least has a fighting chance, unlike melee elephants which get converted before reaching the Monks.

The Elite Elephant Archer's high hit points dictate that it should be used as a damage sponge, like the War Elephant. However, being ranged means that they will be at the back most of the times. This can be circumvented by using units with even more range. While Crossbowmen fulfill that criteria, it is impractical to use two units fulfilling the same role. Good examples include Monks and ranged siege weapons. This was a design issue for the Indians, as they had three units fulfilling the ranged support role, viz Elite Elephant Archers, Heavy Cavalry Archers, and Hand Cannoneers, any combination of which could not achieve much.

Each civilization that has access to the Elite Elephant Archer has bonuses and unique technologies that may make their use a bit different. However, since none of the civilizations have Parthian Tactics, it will be ignored.

Bengalis AoE2 Bengalis[]

Bengali Elite Elephant Archers specialize in defense, receiving -25% bonus damage and conversion resistance, as well as full Blacksmith and Stable technologies. This makes them a highly efficient option, as it enables this unit to resist Halberdiers and Monks (in some cases even defeating them, if those counter-units are deployed in similar numbers).

Their unique technology Paiks increases their fire rate by 20%, more than offsetting the fire rate boost of Thumb Ring, which they lack. They are still limited to 85% accuracy, which is manageable. While they can still serve a defensive role, and can be reasonably effective when massed in the late game, they are still vulnerable to Elite Skirmishers due to the huge bonus damage they take, which can limit all-in use.

Dravidians AoE2 Dravidians[]

Dravidian Elite Elephant Archers are the slowest, but most offensively powerful, of the three. They do not get access to Husbandry or Bloodlines, rendering them slower than the other alternatives, and comparably vulnerable when facing melee damage. However, they are better against ranged attack than Gurjaras, which do not have Ring Archer Armor.

With all attack technologies, plus their civilization bonus that makes Elite Elephant Archers fire 25% faster, they are the fastest-firing archers in the game, slightly outclassing even Mongol mounted archers. This makes them the most reasonable choice as the bulk of an army, rather than as a damage sponge; even being more cost-efficient than Arbalesters against some high-armor units. Even better, they regenerate 30 hit points per minute after Medical Corps is researched, which roughly compensates for the lack of Bloodlines, and can make them an extremely efficient option in the long term, if protected.

Gurjaras AoE2 Gurjaras[]

Gurjara Elite Elephant Archers Gurjara Elite Elephant Archers are the easiest to deploy of all three as they start with +25% faster creation speed due to their team bonus, and can cost -25% food with their Kshatriyas technology.

However, their improvements in the Imperial Age make them significantly different than the other two civilizations' Elite Elephant Archers. Firstly, they lack Ring Archer Armor, but have the Frontier Guards technology, the latter of which increases their (and Heavy Camel Riders') melee armor by +4 for a total of +3 over other Elite Elephant Archers and is much more expensive. Hence, they are relatively weaker against archers but more resilient against melee units, especially Hussars. Next, they have access to Heresy but not Faith.

While Gurjara Elite Elephant Archers have several potent bonuses, their broadly poor late game, high technology investment, and the presence of the Elite Shrivamsha Rider unit (which broadly fills the same anti-archer role) makes this a particularly niche unit to justify.

Comparison among civilizations[]

Civilization Bengalis AoE2 Bengalis Dravidians AoE2 Dravidians Gurjaras AoE2 Gurjaras
Cost 80 food, 70 gold 80 food, 70 gold 60 food, 70 gold
Hit points 300 280 300
Armor 0+3/2+4 0+3/2+4 0+6/2+2
Speed 0.99 0.9 0.99
Firing rate 1.67 1.36 1.7
Accuracy 85% 100% 100%
Extras Receive -25% bonus damage
Resistant to conversion
Regenerate 0.5 HP/s Created 25% faster
HeresyDE Heresy (die upon getting converted)
Similarities
  • Pierce attack - 7+4
  • Range - 4+3
  • Attack bonus - none

Further statistics[]

Strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Slow non-ranged units, archers
Weak vs. Halberdiers, Kamayuks, Berserks, Genoese Crossbowmen, Huskarls, Mamelukes, Heavy Camel Riders, Elite Eagle Warriors, Monks, Elite Skirmishers, Heavy Scorpions, Flaming Camels
Technologies
Hpicon aoe2de Hit points BloodlinesDE Bloodlines (+20)
AoE2DE icon HP Regen Regeneration UniqueTechCastle-DE Medical Corps (regenerate 30 HP per minute, Dravidians only)
Attack FletchingDE Fletching (+1)
BodkinArrowDE Bodkin Arrow (+1)
BracerDE Bracer (+1)
ChemistryDE Chemistry (+1)
Rangeicon aoe2de Range FletchingDE Fletching (+1)
BodkinArrowDE Bodkin Arrow (+1)
BracerDE Bracer (+1)
Accuracy ThumbRingDE Thumb Ring (increases accuracy to 100%)
BallisticsDE Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Armor PaddedArcherArmorDE Padded Archer Armor (+1/+1)
LeatherArcherArmorDE Leather Archer Armor (+1/+1)
RingArcherArmorDE Ring Archer Armor (+1/+2)
UniqueTechImperialDE Frontier Guards (+4/+0, Gurjaras only)
Conversion resistance Devotion icon AoE2DE Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)
FaithDE Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
HeresyDE Heresy (die upon getting converted, Gurjaras only)
AoE2DE icon Reload Time Attack speed ThumbRingDE Thumb Ring (+18%)
UniqueTechCastle-DE Paiks (+20%, Bengalis only)
AoE2DE icon Movement Speed Movement speed HusbandryDE Husbandry (+10%)
Resource cost UniqueTechCastle-DE Kshatriyas (-25% food, Gurjaras only)
Creation speed ConscriptionDE Conscription (+33%)
Civilization bonuses
Damage resistance Bengalis AoE2 Bengalis (-25% bonus damage)
Conversion resistance Bengalis AoE2 Bengalis (+3 min, +1 max)
AoE2DE icon Reload Time Attack speed Dravidians AoE2 Dravidians (+25%)
Team bonuses
Conversion resistance Teutons AoE2 Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
Line of Sight Tatars AoE2 Tatars (+2)
Creation speed Britons AoE2 Britons (+10%)
Gurjaras AoE2 Gurjaras (+25%)
Magyars AoE2 Magyars (+25%)

Team bonuses[]

Changelog[]

AoE2-DLCicon-2 The Forgotten[]

  • The Elite Elephant Archer is the unique unit of the Indians, which do not have access to Ring Archer Armor.
  • Elite Elephant Archers cost 110 food, 80 gold.
  • The upgrade to Elite Elephant Archer costs 1,200 food, 800 gold and takes 60 seconds.
  • Elite Elephant Archers have 350 hit points, 4 pierce armor, -2 archer and 0 cavalry archer armor, a reload time of 2.5, 0.8 speed, 100% accuracy, and 25 seconds training time.

AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African Kingdoms[]

  • Indians AoE2 Indians get access to Ring Archer Armor.
  • Elite Elephant Archers cost 100 food, 80 gold.
  • The upgrade to Elite Elephant Archer costs 1,000 food, 800 gold.
  • Elite Elephant Archers have 330 hit points, 3 pierce armor.

AoE2-DLCicon-4 Rise of the Rajas[]

AoEIIDE icon Definitive Edition[]

  • With update 37650, Elite Elephant Archers cost 100 food, 70 gold and their reload time is reduced to 2.0.

AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of India[]

Trivia[]

  • The Elephant Archer is the first and only unit in Age of Empires II to lose its unique unit status.
  • In the mod version Forgotten Empires and the retail version The Forgotten, up to patch 3.4, the Elephant Archer was represented by an Age of Empires Composite Bowman mounted atop a War Elephant. The Elephant Archer got redesigned in patch 3.5. Further redesigns were made in patch 3.6.
  • Since patch 3.6, Elephant Archers have a wheel-like symbol at their sides. The symbol is known as Dharmachakra (lit: wheel of law) and symbolizes the spiritual change in Buddhism.[1]
  • After update 37650 of the Definitive Edition, elephant heads will appear peeking out of Transport Ships loaded with 10 Elite Elephant Archers or other elephant units.
  • Every time the Elephant Archer attacks, the arrows will launch from the elephant's head instead from the rider's bow.
  • The Elephant Archer was often seen by players as one of the worst unique units in the game. This was mostly because of their highly situational uses, fairly high cost, and the amount of weaknesses that they had due of the great amount of armor classes. Changes in Dynasties of India were aimed at making it more viable since it is created at Archery Ranges, moves slightly faster and costs less food. The unit has been nerfed accordingly, but it is now easier to use.
    • Additionally, the Elite Elephant Archer received additional -5 cavalry archer armor, meaning they receive an extra +7 bonus attack from Skirmishers, Genitours, and Camel Archers. This extra bonus damage was reduced in update 66692 to +4.
    • Before Dynasties of India, non-elite Skirmishers did not receive the intended +2 attack bonus against Elite Elephant Archers as a bug due to not having the corresponding armor class of attack.
  • The usage of an archer on top of a war elephant can be traced back to the Carthaginian era as a countermeasures against cavalry, therefore a war elephant is still able to attack enemy at close range. The lack of a melee attack of the Elite Elephant Archer is due to limitations of the game engine.
  • In the beta, Elephant Archers had the same pierce armor as now, and Parthian Tactics did not affect their attack against Pikemen.
  • No civilization with access to Elite Elephant Archers can fully upgrade them, as all three civilizations lack Parthian Tactics and at least one other technology. The Gurjaras lack Ring Archer Armor, the Dravidians lack Husbandry and Bloodlines, and Bengalis lack Thumb Ring. However, the Bengali Elite Elephant Archer can be regarded as the closest to a fully upgraded one thanks to Paiks, which compensates for lacking Thumb Ring's fire rate.

History[]

People from the Pre-Indic Indus civilization were the first to tame elephants, roughly around 4,000 years ago in Indus valley for agricultural purpose. Later on, Indic-speaking newcomers from the steppes introduced horses and familiarized themselves with tame elephants. The first military application of elephants dates from around 1100 BC and is mentioned in several Sanskrit hymns. War elephants were used either to charge and trample enemy troops directly, or to carry archers and spear throwers who can attack from the top. Elephant's sheer height and mass offered considerable protection for their riders.[2]

Gallery[]

Videos[]

References[]

Units in Age of Empires II
CivilianMaleVillDE Villager · Tradecart aoe2DE Trade Cart · FishingShipDE Fishing Ship · Trade cog aoe2DE Trade Cog · King eu aoe2DE King
ReligiousMonk aoe2DE Monk
InfantryMilitiaDE Militia · Manatarms aoe2DE Man-at-Arms · Longswordsman aoe2DE Long Swordsman · Twohanded aoe2DE Two-Handed Swordsman · Champion aoe2DE Champion
Spearman aoe2DE Spearman · Aoe2-infantry-2-pikeman Pikeman · Halberdier aoe2DE Halberdier
ArcherArcher aoe2DE Archer · Crossbowman aoe2DE Crossbowman · Arbalester aoe2DE Arbalester
Skirmisher aoe2DE Skirmisher · Elite skirmisher aoe2DE Elite Skirmisher
Hand cannoneer aoe2DE Hand Cannoneer
Cavalryarcher aoe2DE Cavalry Archer · Heavycavalryarcher aoe2de Heavy Cavalry Archer
CavalryScoutcavalry aoe2DE Scout Cavalry · Lightcavalry aoe2DE Light Cavalry · Hussar aoe2DE Hussar
Knight aoe2DE Knight · Cavalier aoe2DE Cavalier · Paladin aoe2DE Paladin
Camelrider aoe2DE Camel Rider · Aoe2 heavycamelriderDE Heavy Camel Rider
SiegeBattering ram aoe2DE Battering Ram · Capped ram aoe2DE Capped Ram · Siege ram aoe2DE Siege Ram
Mangonel aoe2DE Mangonel · Onager aoe2DE Onager · Siege onager aoe2DE Siege Onager
Scorpion aoe2DE Scorpion · Heavyscorpion aoe2DE Heavy Scorpion
Bombard cannon aoe2DE Bombard Cannon
Trebuchet aoe2DE Trebuchet
Petard aoe2DE Petard
Siegetower aoe2DE Siege Tower
War shipTransportship aoe2DE Transport Ship
Galley aoe2DE Galley · War galley aoe2DE War Galley · Galleon aoe2DE Galleon
Fire galley aoe2DE Fire Galley · Fireship aoe2DE Fire Ship · Fastfireship aoe2DE Fast Fire Ship
Demoraft aoe2DE Demolition Raft · Demoship aoe2DE Demolition Ship · Heavydemoship aoe2de Heavy Demolition Ship
Cannon galleon aoe2DE Cannon Galleon · Elite cannon galleon aoe2de Elite Cannon Galleon
Regional
InfantryEaglescout aoe2DE Eagle Scout · Eaglewarrior aoe2DE Eagle Warrior · EliteEaglewarrior aoe2DE Elite Eagle Warrior
ArcherAoe2de DOI elephant archer icon Elephant Archer · ElephantArcherIcon-DE Elite Elephant Archer
CavalryBattle elephant aoe2DE Battle Elephant · Elite battle elephant aoe2DE Elite Battle Elephant
Steppelancericon Steppe Lancer · Elitesteppelancericon Elite Steppe Lancer
Xolotlicon Xolotl Warrior
AoE2DE Armored Elephant icon Armored Elephant · AoE2DE Siege Elephant icon Siege Elephant
War shipAoE2 Dromon Dromon
Unique
ReligiousMissionaryIcon-DE Missionary · AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest
InfantryBerserkIcon-DE Berserk · Aoe2de Chakram Chakram Thrower · CondottieroIcon-DE Condottiero · Aoe2-icon-flemish-militia Flemish Militia · GbetoIcon-DE Gbeto · Aoe2de Ghulam Ghulam · HuskarlIcon-DE Huskarl · JaguarWarriorIcon-DE Jaguar Warrior · KamayukIcon-DE Kamayuk · Karambitwarrioricon-DE Karambit Warrior · AoE2 DE Legionary new icon Legionary · Aoe2-icon--obuch Obuch · SamuraiIcon-DE Samurai · Aoe2-icon-serjeant Serjeant · Shotelwarrioricon-DE Shotel Warrior · TeutonicKnightIcon-DE Teutonic Knight · ThrowingAxemanIcon-DE Throwing Axeman · Aoe2de Urumi Urumi Swordsman · AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest · WoadRaiderIcon-DE Woad Raider
ArcherArambaiicon-DE Arambai · CamelArcherIcon-DE Camel Archer · ChukoNuIcon-DE Chu Ko Nu · AoE2 CompositeBowman Composite Bowman · ConquistadorIcon-DE Conquistador · GenitourIcon-DE Genitour · GenoeseCrossbowmanIcon-DE Genoese Crossbowman · Imperialskirmishericon-DE Imperial Skirmisher · JanissaryIcon-DE Janissary · Kipchakicon Kipchak · LongbowmanIcon-DE Longbowman · MangudaiIcon-DE Mangudai · PlumedArcherIcon-DE Plumed Archer · Aoe2de ratha ranged Ranged Ratha · Rattanarchericon-DE Rattan Archer · SlingerIcon-DE Slinger · WarWagonIcon-DE War Wagon
CavalryBallistaelephanticon-DE Ballista Elephant · BoyarIcon-DE Boyar · Aoe2de camel scout Camel Scout · CataphractIcon-DE Cataphract · Aoe2de roman unique centurion icon Centurion · Aoe2-icon-coustillier Coustillier · Flaming camel icon Flaming Camel · ImperialCamelRiderIcon-DE Imperial Camel Rider · Keshikicon Keshik · Konnikicon Konnik · Leitisicon Leitis · MagyarHuszarIcon-DE Magyar Huszar · MamelukeIcon-DE Mameluke · AoE2 Monaspa Monaspa · Aoe2de ratha melee Melee Ratha · AoE2 Savar Savar · Aoe2de shrivamsha rider Shrivamsha Rider · TarkanIcon-DE Tarkan · WarElephantIcon-DE War Elephant · Aoe2-icon-winged-hussar Winged Hussar
SiegeAoe2-icon--houfnice Houfnice · Aoe2-icon-hussite-wagon Hussite Wagon · OrganGunIcon-DE Organ Gun
War shipCaravelIcon-DE Caravel · LongboatIcon-DE Longboat · Aoe2de Thirisadai Thirisadai · TurtleShipIcon-DE Turtle Ship
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