The Hersir is the regular Norse hero unit in Age of Mythology, available in the Archaic Age once a Temple has been built. Like other Heroes, Hersirs are strong against myth units and can pick up Relics. Like other Norse infantry, Hersirs can build and repair buildings. In addition, Hersirs earn double the favor in combat compared to Norse human units and, starting in Classical Age, each existing Hersir generates a trickle of 0.6 favor per minute.
God bonuses and upgrades[]
Specific[]
Loki: Hersirs move 10% faster. They can also summon random Norse myth units in battle, once enough favor has been earned.- Hall of Thanes ( Forseti) increases hit points by 10% and speed by 1.
General[]
- Eyes in the Forest ( Loki) increases Line of Sight by 3.
- Classical Age, Heroic Age, Mythic Age increases hit points and attack by 10%.
- Copper Weapons, Bronze Weapons, and Iron Weapons increase attack by 10%.
- Hammer of the Gods ( Thor) increases attack by 10%.
- Copper Mail, Bronze Mail, and Iron Mail decrease hack vulnerability by 15%.
- Meteoric Iron Mail (Thor) decreases hack vulnerability by 10%.
- Copper Shields, Bronze Shields, and Iron Shields decrease pierce vulnerability by 15%.
- Dragonscale Shields (Thor) decreases pierce vulnerability by 10%.
- Levy Longhouse and Conscript Longhouse decrease training time at the Longhouse by 20%.
Resource trickle comparison[]
There are quite a few means of auto-generating resources in Age of Mythology.
| Resource generator | Civilization | God | Resource | Rate (per minute) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ring of the Nibelung
|
N/A | Gold | 18 | |
| Ship of Fingernails
|
Food | 24 | ||
| Ankh of Ra
|
Favor | 2.4 | ||
 Vaults of Erebus
|
 Greeks
|
 Hades
|
Gold | 45 |
 Plenty Vault
|
 Hephaestus
|
180 | ||
| Food | 180 | |||
| Wood | 180 | |||
 Monument
|
 Egyptians
|
All | Favor | 4.9 - 6.9 |
 Flood of the Nile
|
 Isis
|
Food | 45 | |
 Hersir
|
 Norse
|
All | Favor | 0.6 In combat: 1.2 |
 Town Center
|
 Atlanteans
|
All | Favor | 6.3 Horns of Consecration (Rheia): 7.56
|
 Garden
|
 Chinese
|
All | Food | 30 House Altars (Dabo Gong): 36
|
| Wood | 30 House Altars (Dabo Gong): 36
| |||
| Gold | 30 House Altars (Dabo Gong): 36
| |||
| Favor | 3 House Altars (Dabo Gong): 3.6
| |||
 Nü Wa
|
3.6 House Altars (Dabo Gong): 4.2
| |||
 Sacrifices
|
 He Bo
|
6 | ||
- Notes
-
- Gardens can be tasked to generate any resource, but they only generate one at a time.
- The Plenty Vault generates all three resources simultaneously.
Strategy[]
Hersirs have an average attack and armor. They excel in two areas – defeating myth units and generating favor. Norse players find generating favor more difficult than those of other civilizations, so the extra favor Hersirs generate is very important. Both the double favor and accumulated favor effects become more noticeable when Hersirs are massed. In combat, Hersirs are strong against myth units, and, as they generate lots of favor while fighting them, can help their player to create his own myth units in retaliation. However, because they are slow-moving melee units, Hersirs are rather less effective against ranged myth units. Furthermore, they are mediocre against human soldiers and therefore not cost-effective at combating them. Loki's Hersirs move faster and can summon random myth units when in combat, making them even more useful, particularly at early raiding.
As Jarls also have an attack bonus against myth units and are quite versatile, some players might want to field them instead of Hersirs. However, as they are Heroes, Hersirs have three crucial advantages over Jarls: they are immune to myth units' special attacks, they have a larger attack bonus against myth units, and all myth units have an attack penalty against them.
Changelog[]
Age of Mythology[]
- Hersirs have 4.2 speed.
The Titans[]
- With patch 1.02, Hersirs built Town Centers faster in Deathmatches.
Extended Edition[]
- Hersirs have 4.3 speed.
Possible Hersir names[]
Like Pharaohs, each Hersir has a name instead of their info box reading "Hersir (Hero)". Their names are unique and often vaingloriously comical. All Hersirs receive a random name when trained, made up of three parts. The three parts are independent of each other.
First part: Agnar, An, Alfr, Alvi, Ari, Arinbjorn, Arngeir, Arngrim, Arnfinn, Asgeirr, Askell, Asvald, Bard, Baror, Bersi, Borkr, Bjarni, Bjorn, Brand, Brandr, Cairn, Canute, Dar, Einarr, Eirik, Egill, Engli, Eyvindr, Erik, Eyvind, Finnr, Floki, Fromund, Geirmundr, Geirr, Geri, Gisli, Gizzur, Gjafvaldr, Glumr, Gorm, Grmir, Gunnarr, Guomundr, Hak, Halbjorn, Halfdan, Hallvard, Hamal, Hamundr, Harald, Harek, Hedinn, Helgi, Henrik, Herbjorn, Herjolfr, Hildir, Hogni, Hrani, Hrolf, Ivarr, Jimmy, Jon, Jorund, Kalf, Ketil, Kheldar, Klaengr, Knut, Kolbeinn, Kolli, Kollr, Lambi, Magnus, Moldof, Mursi, Njall, Oddr, Olaf, Orlyg, Ormr, Ornolf, Osvald, Ozurr, Poror, Prondir, Ragi, Ragnvald, Refr, Runolf, Saemund, Siegfried, Sigmundr, Sigurd, Sigvat, Skeggi, Skomlr, Slode, Snorri, Sokkolf, Solvi, Surt, Sven, Thangbrand, Thjodoft, Thorod, Thorgest, Thorvald, Thrain, Throst, Torfi, Torix, Tryfing, Ulf, Valgaror, Vali, Vifil, Vigfus, Vika, Waltheof
Middle part: Aesir, Axe, Bear, Berg, Biscuit, Blade, Blood, Blue, Boar, Board, Bone, Cage, Cave, Cheese, Code, Coffee, Death, Dragon, Dwarf, Eel, Egg, Elk, Fjord, Flame, Flour, Forge, Fork, Fox, Frost, Furnace, Goat, God, Gold, Granite, Griffon, Grim, Haggis, Hall, Hamarr, Helm, Horn, Horse, House, Huskarl, Ice, Iceberg, Jarl, Kelp, Kettle, Kraken, Lake, Long, Mace, Maelstrom, Mail, Mammoth, Man, Many, Mead, Mountain, Noun, Oath, Owl, Pain, Peak, Pot, Rat, Raven, Red, Refreshingbeverage, Ring, Rock, Root, Rune, Salmon, Sap, Sea, Shield, Ship, Sky, Slush, Smoke, Snow, Spear, Squid, Steam, Stone, Swine, Three, Tongue, Torch, Tree, Troll, Ulfsark, Umlaut, Unsightly, Valkyrie, Wave, White, Woman, Worm, Wyvern
Last part: Admirer, Arm, Back, Baker, Basher, Beard, Bearer, Bender, Blade, Blender, Blood, Boiler, Bone, Boot, Borer, Born, Bow, Breaker, Breeder, Bringer, Brow, Builder, Chaser, Chiller, Collar, Counter, Clubber, Curser, Dancer, Dottir, Dreamer, Drinker, Drowner, Ear, Eater, Face, Fearer, Foot, Friend, Fury, Gorer, Grim, Grinder, Grower, Growth, Hacker, Hall, Ham, Hammer, Hand, Hands, Head, Hilt, Hunter, Killer, Leg, Licker, Liker, Lost, Lover, Masher, Mender, Minder, Miner, Mocker, Monger, Neck, Rage, Rhyme, Rider, Ringer, Roarer, Roller, Sailor, Screamer, Sequel, Server, Shield, Shoe, Singer, Skinner, Slinger, Slugger, Smasher, Sniffer, Son, Stinker, Sucker, Sword, Tail, Tamer, Taster, Thigh, Tongue, Tracker, Washer, Wielder, Wing, Wisher, Wrath
History[]
| “ | The commanders of the Viking raids were not the kings or jarls, but chieftains of middle rank called hersir. These were independent landowners comparable to medieval knights in wealth and influence. A hersir had better equipment than most of his warriors, including perhaps chain mail and the ownership of his own longboat and horse (though like any good Viking, he would still dismount to fight). | ” |
| —In-game help section | ||
Trivia[]
- Though countered by counter-infantry, Hersirs themselves are not classified as infantry. They do not benefit from infantry-line upgrades or Relics like Gaia's Book of Knowledge (increases infantry damage against Titans).
- Hersirs were originally unique Norse upgrades for the Hirdman, a heroic version.
- Hersirs die angrily, in contrast to other unit deaths, which are either in surprise, shock, or neutral.
- There is an Elite Hersir technology in the game files which doubles the Hersir's hit points and increases its attack. It is unavailable to research by any player and does not appear in the tech tree, but can be researched for a player via a trigger in the Scenario Editor. Unlike other technologies, it does not have an icon and does not appear as an upgrade in the unit's expanded infobox when applied. It is likely a technology that was originally meant to be available for the Norse in-game, but was never implemented as such.
Gallery[]
| Heroes obtainable in random maps in Age of Mythology | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| God |  Archaic Age
|
 Classical Age
|
 Heroic Age
|
 Mythic Age
|
| Greeks
| ||||
| All |  Hippocrates
|
|||
 Zeus
|
 Jason
|
 Odysseus
|
 Heracles
|
 Bellerophon
|
 Poseidon
|
 Theseus
|
 Hippolyta
|
 Atalanta
|
 Polyphemus
|
 The Argo
| ||||
| Hades
|
 Ajax
|
 Chiron
|
 Achilles
|
 Perseus
|
| Egyptians
| ||||
| All |  Pharaoh
|
|||
 Priest
| ||||
 Osiris
|
 Son of Osiris
| |||
| Pharaoh (second)
| ||||
| Norse
| ||||
| All | Hersir
|
|||
 Baldr
|
 Hero of Ragnarok
| |||
| Atlanteans
| ||||
| All |  Citizen (Hero)
|
 Murmillo (Hero)
|
 Arcus (Hero)
|
 Fanatic (Hero)
|
 Katapeltes (Hero)
|
 Contarius (Hero)
| |||
 Oracle (Hero)
|
 Turma (Hero)
|
 Destroyer (Hero)
| ||
| Chinese
| ||||
| All |  Monk
|
|||
 Fu Xi
|
 Immortal (8)
|
|||
| Others | Immortal (2)
|
Immortal (2)
|
Immortal (2)
|
Immortal (2)
|