Flying unit (Age of Mythology)

This article is about the flying units in Age of Mythology. For the flying units in other games, see Airborne unit.

Flying units in Age of Mythology are units that are capable of flying or hovering in the air. On the basis of traversing terrain, they are the third type of unit in the game, after land units and naval units. Unlike these, flying units can traverse any type of terrain, regardless of obstacles. Flying units are a distinct unit type, unlike land or naval units.

All flying units capable of attacking have a ranged attack, with the exception of the Qiongqi, which can only attack in its grounded form. Most flying units are myth units. In addition to the standard flying units available in random map scenarios, there are also campaign-exclusive units and cheat units.

Flying units, with the exception of the Sky Lantern, cannot capture units and buildings which are capturable, such as herdable animals, Plenty Vaults, Hesperides Trees, etc.

List of flying units

• Caladria
• Nidhogg
• Onmoraki
• Pegasus
• Phoenix
• Qinglong
• Qiongqi
• Raven
• Roc
• Sky Lantern
• Stymphalian Bird
• Vermilion Bird (Extended Edition)
• Yinglong
• Zhuque

Campaign-exclusive

• Servant of Kronos (Kronny Flying)
• Harpy

Scenario Editor-exclusive

• Harpy Scout (before Retold)
• Vulture Scout (before Retold)

Nature

Mother Nature-controlled birds do not have the AbstractFlyingUnit unit type introduced in Retold, although they have FlyingUnit behavior flag. While they cannot be interacted with in most circumstances, they can be killed if caught in the target area of a Lightning Storm.

• Eagle
• Harpy
• Hawk
• Parrot
• Flying Red Crowned Crane
• Vulture

Cheat units

• Flying Purple Hippo
• UFO (since Retold)

Greeks

The Greeks only have the Pegasus, a scout trainable for all three major gods, from the Temple in the Archaic Age. The Pegasus can be obtained as a respawning unit by all pantheons with the Bridle Of Pegasus Relic. The Greeks are the only pantheon without access to any damage-dealing flying unit.

Egyptians

The Egyptians have the Roc, a large flying unit that cannot attack, but instead can transport units, taking them over water, cliffs, and enemy walls. It is trainable by Ra and Isis through the worship of Sobek (Hathor before Retold).

They also have the Phoenix, a battle unit that breathes fire and can respawn from an egg if killed, trainable by Isis and Set through the worship of Thoth.

Norse

The Norse have two units: the Raven (available to worshipers of Odin only), a respawning scout unit that cannot attack and is always spawned in a pair, and the Nidhogg, a powerful dragon summoned by Hel's god power, available only to Loki and Freyr.

Atlanteans

The Atlanteans have the Caladria, a flying healer that can slow down enemy units but otherwise cannot attack, available through the worship of Oceanus in the Classical Age as Oranos or Gaia.

There is also the Stymphalian Bird, a flying bird that shoots bronze feathers at foes, available for Oranos and Gaia as well, through the worship of Theia in the Heroic Age.

Chinese (Immortal Pillars)

The Chinese have access to the Pioneer, who can release Sky Lanterns to temporarily scout an area. They also have several flying myth units, including the Zhuque (available through Zhurong), the azure dragon Qinglong (available through Gonggong), and the mighty rain dragon Yinglong (who can be summoned by Huangdi's god power). Additionally, the Qiongqi, available through Houtu, can switch between a flying form and a terrestrial form.

Japanese

The Japanese have a single flying unit, the Onmoraki, a battle unit that can spawn Wretches with its special ability, available through the worship of Ōkuninushi in the Mythic Age. In turn, Ōkuninushi is only accessible to Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi.

Chinese (Tale of the Dragon)

The Chinese have a single flying unit, the Vermilion Bird, available through Chongli, who in turn is only available to Fu Xi and Nü Wa.

Strategy

The main advantage of flying units is that they are not constrained by any obstacles on the map. They can fly over land, sea, rocks, forests, cliffs, and walls, exploring every corner of the map. This makes them generally excellent at scouting, providing they have decent speed and Line of Sight. It also means that they can bypass enemy front lines to attack wherever the enemy is most vulnerable.

Airborne units cannot be targeted by non-projectile melee units, as well as the Fafnir. As myth units (apart from the Sky Lantern), they are best targeted by ranged heroes, such as the Priest, Godi, and Arcus Hero. They can also be killed with other ranged units (e.g. ranged heroes, myth units, and soldiers), ranged fortifications, and ranged ships (especially archer ships).

Sky Lanterns have very low hit points, so they can easily be taken down by any ranged unit or building. However, doing so may cause an area hazard to spawn once the Mythic Age technology Sky Fire is researched.

Airborne units are also immune to the effects of ground-based god powers which target the LogicalTypeHandUnitsAttack unit type or which explicitly exclude flying units:

• Curse
• Earthquake
• Locust Swarm
• Meteor
• Frost
• Tempest
• Inferno
• Implode*
• Blazing Prairie
• Great Flood
• Kusanagi
• Smiting Gust
• Thunder Burst

Since update 18.12962, flying units also are not affected by the Shennong's Farm stealth bonus.

Trivia

• The Chinese in Immortal Pillars have the most flying units of any pantheon, at five (including the Pioneer's Sky Lantern).

Gallery

A few of the Chinese flying units

A Chinese Zhuque and an Egyptian Phoenix